Joshua 17:3

"But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Jehovah commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren: now therefore according to the commandment of Jehovah he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. And there fell ten parts to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged unto the rest of the sons of Manasseh."

This episode regarding the daughters of Zelophehad presupposes the prior existence of Numbers 26:33; 27:1-7. Also, the fact of Ephraim's receiving his inheritance first, and likewise the fight of Manasseh as the firstborn of Joseph presuppose and prove the prior existence of the Book of Genesis. The whole Book of Joshua, in fact, is written in the shadow of the entire Pentateuch!

Holmes, a man who actually bears the title of "Reverend!" calls this incident regarding Zelophehad's daughters "legal fiction," declaring further that, "The writer of Numbers 27:1ff (where is recorded the story of Zelophehad and his daughters) gave effect to it (a law announced by Moses) by the imaginary instance of Zelophehad and his daughters."[2] This kind of blatant infidelity masquerading as `scholarship' is still prevalent and has been widespread throughout the current century. The Samaritan ostraca, uncovered by archeologists, and dated about 770 B.C. "show tax payments in kind carry the names of districts such as Abiezer Helek, Shechem, Shemida, Noah, and Hoglah."[3] As Sizoo stated, "This adds further to our confidence in the history of the allotment of the land."[4] We are glad to add that such examples of the absolute integrity of the Bible are discovered by us almost daily in our long studies of the Bible, firmly grounding us in the conviction that the Holy Bible is THE MOST DEPENDABLE BOOK ON EARTH; THE MOST ACCURATE HISTORY ON EARTH; AND THE ONLY BOOK OF GOD'S WORD ON EARTH. He is a fool who dares to CONTRADICT a single declaration of the Holy Bible.

"The ten portions ..." of Joshua 17:5 were for the five living sons and the five daughters mentioned here. The mention of the High Priest in Joshua 17:4 has no significance whatever except that he was a part of the high court that distributed the land. It was his office that led to his being mentioned first. Boling's assertion that this passage is the "contribution of a later redactor,"[5] is grounded on nothing more substantial than the destructive IMAGINATIONS of critics. Why cannot they identify the alleged "redactor"? It has long ago become apparent that every appeal to an "editor" or a "redactor" is a confession that, as the Bible stands, it does NOT support their theories!