Inheritance: Edit history

Biblical Occurrences

In the Old Testament, inheritance chiefly refers to an allotted portion of land. Numbers 26:52–56 commands that the land of Canaan be divided by lot according to the population of each tribe. Joshua 13–21 records how this division was actually carried out in the time of Joshua. According to Joshua 18, the portions of the remaining tribes were determined by casting lots before the LORD at Shiloh.

The Levites did not receive land as an inheritance. Numbers 18:20, Deuteronomy 10:9, and other passages state that the LORD is their inheritance. Instead, the Levites received a number of cities together with their surrounding pasturelands (Joshua 21). The term is also used in the reverse sense: Deuteronomy 32:9 calls the people of Israel the LORD's inheritance, and Psalm 127:3 says, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD."

Background and Original Languages

The Hebrew word chiefly translated "inheritance" in the Old Testament is naḥalah, which denotes a portion or possession passed down from generation to generation. The Greek word in the New Testament, klēronomia, is related to klēros, meaning "lot" or "portion." Words of similar meaning are also rendered "heritage" or "portion."

Land received as an inheritance could not be sold in perpetuity. Leviticus 25:23 explains that this is because the land belongs to God. In the year of Jubilee, land that had been sold returned to its original family (Leviticus 25:8–12). The institution by which a relative bought back land that a person had sold because of poverty is that of the kinsman-redeemer, and the story of Boaz in Ruth 4:4–10 is the classic example. The following two narratives are also read against this background:

• The daughters of Zelophehad, who died without sons, inherited their father's portion (Numbers 27:1–11).
• Naboth refused to sell the vineyard he had inherited from his ancestors to King Ahab (1 Kings 21).

Meaning in the New Testament

The New Testament broadens the meaning of inheritance from land to the inheritance of salvation promised by God. Ephesians 1:14 calls the Holy Spirit "the earnest of our inheritance," and Colossians 1:12 speaks of being "partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." First Peter 1:4 speaks of "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away," reserved in heaven. Matthew 5:5 says that the meek "shall inherit the earth." Paul calls those who belong to Christ by faith "heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26–29).

Interpretation and Debates

• Fulfillment of the land promise: Dispensationalism tends to hold that the land promise will be literally fulfilled for ethnic Israel. The covenant theology tradition tends to hold that the promise is expanded and fulfilled in Christ in the new heavens and the new earth.
• Translation of Ephesians 1:11: The original can be rendered "we have obtained an inheritance" (as in the KJV) or understood to mean that believers were made God's inheritance, that is, His possession; the standard Korean translation, the New Korean Revised Version, takes the latter sense. Wording therefore differs among translations (Ephesians 1:11).
• Can the inheritance be lost?: Ephesians 5:5 warns that the sexually immoral and others have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. Calvinists read this warning as a mark indicating that such people are not true believers and affirm the perseverance of the saints. The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions read it as a warning that even believers can lose their inheritance if they fall away from the faith.
• Method of casting lots: The text states only that the land was divided by lot and does not specify the method. Explanations connecting this to the Urim and Thummim are interpretations that go beyond the text.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, the term became familiar through the Korean Revised Version of the Bible, though it is sometimes confused with a Korean homophone meaning a business or company. Psalm 127:3 is frequently cited in Korean sermons on childbirth, infant baptism, and the family. Psalm 16:6, "yea, I have a goodly heritage," is also often used as an expression of thanksgiving.