Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father's relatives." – Numbers 27:4

Today's Scripture Reading (February 7, 2025): Numbers 27

A few years ago, I was involved in a dowry argument between families originating in a different nation and culture. It was a steep hill for me to climb because there was no such thing as a dowry expectation in my culture. When I married my wife, I was a poor student and had no money to give to my future father-in-law if that was what he demanded. As I learned more about the culture with which I was dealing, everything was couched in rural terminology. The woman who wanted to get married was worth so many cows. Once the woman's worth in cows was figured out, those cows needed to be translated into dollars. The man's family typically paid the dowry to the woman's family. Admittedly, to contemporary ears, it sounds like the purchase of a wife. But that was not how the practice was seen by the people involved. It was just the standard practice of the culture as a couple moved toward a wedding. 

Having become an expert in this kind of dowry payment (read those words with heavy sarcasm), my world was turned upside down again as I learned that that was not the practice in the biblical dowry payment. The practice, at least at the time of the daughters of Zelophehad, started with the basic understanding that women did not inherit land from their fathers. Men inherited land, and that inheritance was their financial security. Over the years, this would change, with only the oldest male receiving the land and the rest receiving a monetary payout. Still, economic security was handed down through the male line. Women received their financial security through their husbands. It still is somewhat true in our contemporary culture. Women are much more independent than they might have been historically, but they are often searching for someone to marry who will enhance the family's financial stability. The best advice I can give single men looking for someone to spend their lives with would be to go out and get a job. 

However, this didn't mean that historically, there was no way to enhance the financial stability of a daughter. And here we see the entrance of the dowry. Biblically, the dowry was a little more convoluted than the dowry situation with which I had been involved. Traditionally, the dowry was paid from the bride's father to the bride. This dowry was her security nest egg or a bit of help as the young couple attempted to survive. However, most, or all, of the dowry actually came from the groom. It proved to his future father-in-law that he could support his family. It is one reason why grooms were often a few years older than their wives. They had used that time to save up for the payment of the dowry,

One of the problems with the daughters of Zelophehad is that there is no evidence that any of these girls were married. As a result, the dowry might be in doubt, partially because there was no one to negotiate with the groom. The second problem was that it would seem that their father, who in the last years of his life had faithfully served God, was going to be erased from history. So, the daughters appear in front of Moses and other Israelite leaders with a request. Give us the land that would have been given to our father or brothers if we had any. That way, Zelophehad would be remembered, and the daughters would have the security the dowry would have customarily provided. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Numbers 28