The five daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah—heard that the Promised Land would be divided only among males and immediately went to the court. The Targum's version of (Numbers 27) adds a crucial detail the Torah omits: they came "trusting in the compassions of the Lord of the world." Their legal challenge was not presumptuous. It was an act of faith.
Their argument was sharper than the Torah records. Their father had died "for his own sin" and did not lead others astray—a critical legal distinction. Then they posed a dilemma the Targum makes more explicit: "If we are not reckoned as a son, and our mother claims the yibum (levirate marriage), our mother will take the portion of our father and of our father's brother." Either they inherit, or the entire estate shifts to their mother's new husband's family. They boxed the court into a corner.
The Targum identifies this as "one of the four cases of judgment brought before Moses the prophet" that required direct divine ruling. Moses could not resolve it alone—he brought their cause before God. And God's response was emphatic: "The daughters of Zelophehad have fitly spoken. This has been written before Me." The law they sought was not new legislation. It had always existed in God's plan, waiting for the right people to demand it.
The chapter then turns to Moses learning of his own death. God told him to ascend Mount Abarim and look at the land he would never enter. The Targum has Moses respond with one of the most selfless prayers in scripture. He asked God to appoint "a faithful man over the congregation, who may go out before them to set battle in array... that the congregation of the Lord may not be without the wise, nor go astray among the nations as sheep who go astray, having no shepherd."
God chose Joshua, "a man upon whom abides the Spirit of prophecy." Moses laid his hands on Joshua and "conferred a ray of his brightness upon him"—not the full radiance, but enough for the congregation to follow. When the new leader needed divine guidance, the Targum specifies that Elazar the priest would consult the Urim on his behalf. Joshua would lead by sword, but Elazar would lead by oracle.