Hepher

Hepher was one of the thirty-one Canaanite city-state kingdoms Joshua defeated west of the Jordan (Joshua 12:17). It later became the ancestral district of the Manassite clan of Hepher — preserving the memory of Zelophehad, who had no sons but five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. When their father died in the wilderness, they petitioned Moses for their father's inheritance; the Lord ruled in their favor, and Israelite inheritance law was forever amended so that a man without sons would have his estate pass to his daughters (Numbers 27:1-11). Hepher itself was identified with Tell el-Muhaffar near Caesarea.