Gender, Inheritance, and Biblical Law: A Contextual Reading of Numbers 27:1–11 in Dialogue with Marghi Customary Practice

Abstract

Despite growing global advocacy for gender equity, women’s inheritance rights remain significantly constrained within many African customary legal systems, including those of the Marghi of Northeastern Nigeria. This article examines Numbers 27:1–11, the narrative of the daughters of Zelophehad, as a pivotal biblical legal text that challenges patriarchal inheritance norms and affirms women’s legal agency. The study aims to explore how this biblical account can meaningfully engage Marghi customary inheritance practices in ways that promote gender equity without dismissing indigenous legal traditions. The research employs a qualitative, interdisciplinary approach that integrates historical-critical and literary exegesis of the biblical text with socio-legal analysis and contextual hermeneutics grounded in African theology. The findings reveal that the Zelophehad narrative legitimises women’s claims to inheritance through due legal process and establishes a model of adaptive legal reform rooted in justice, communal stability, and moral accountability. When placed in dialogue with Marghi customary practice, the text exposes structural limitations in women’s access to inheritance while offering a normative framework for reform that is both culturally sensitive and theologically grounded. The article concludes that Numbers 27:1–11 provides a viable ethical resource for reimagining inheritance laws in Marghi society and similar contexts. By bridging biblical law, gender studies, and African customary jurisprudence, this study contributes to the scholarly discourse on religion, law, and social transformation, emphasising the relevance of biblical texts in contemporary debates on gender equity and legal reform.