Properly, something inherited , i.e. (abstractly) occupancy , or (concretely) an heirloom ; generally an estate , patrimony or portion
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נַחֲלָה (nachalah) is the Hebrew word for inheritance, the portion that comes to you not by earning but by belonging. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 222 occurrences, covering the concrete land-inheritance of the tribes in Canaan, the mutual nachalah-relationship between YHWH and Israel, and the Levites' unique nachalah in YHWH himself rather than land.
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Full entry for נַחֲלָה (H5159) · Open the biblical lexicon
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) is the Hebrew word for inheritance, the portion that comes to you not by earning but by belonging. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 222 occurrences, covering the concrete land-inheritance of the tribes in Canaan, the mutual nachalah-relationship between YHWH and Israel, and the Levites' unique nachalah in YHWH himself rather.
The BSB source-word alignment has 222 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include as an inheritance (24), inheritance (24), the inheritance (18), an inheritance (13), his inheritance (12).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 31:14. Its strongest book concentrations include Joshua (50), Numbers (46), Deuteronomy (25), Psalms (23).
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) is the Hebrew word for inheritance, the portion that comes to you not by earning but by belonging. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 222 occurrences, covering the concrete land-inheritance of the tribes in Canaan, the mutual nachalah-relationship between YHWH and Israel, and the Levites' unique nachalah in YHWH himself rather than land. The theology of nachalah is the theology of gift: what you possess by virtue of who you belong to, not by what you have accomplished.
Psalm 16:5 gives nachalah its most intimate personal use: 'YHWH is my chosen portion (chelqi) and my cup; you hold my lot (gorali). The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful nachalah.' The psalmist's nachalah is not land but YHWH himself. In the same way that the Levites had YHWH rather than land (Num 18:20), the psalmist claims the same: YHWH as the nachalah, as the portion that constitutes the beautiful inheritance. This is one of the OT's boldest declarations of covenant intimacy: YHWH himself is the inheritance.
Deuteronomy 4:20 captures the bilateral nachalah: 'YHWH has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own nachalah, as you are this day.' Israel is YHWH's nachalah — the people who belong to him, his inheritance from among the nations. Deuteronomy 32:9 makes the claim from the other direction: 'YHWH's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his nachalah.' Both directions are present: YHWH is Israel's nachalah (the ultimate inheritance) and Israel is YHWH's nachalah (the people he prizes). The nachalah is mutual.
Numbers 18:20 is the foundation of the Levitical nachalah: 'YHWH said to Aaron: You shall have no nachalah in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your nachalah among the people of Israel.' The Levites receive no land-nachalah because YHWH himself is their nachalah. This makes them the most paradoxically wealthy of all the tribes: they have YHWH as their inheritance. The Psalm 16 psalmist generalizes this: every covenant person who says 'YHWH is my nachalah' stands in the Levitical posture — no land-claim, but the ultimate inheritance.
Psalm 37:11 gives nachalah its messianic-eschatological use: 'But the meek shall inherit (yarash) the earth/land.' The meek (anavim) who wait for YHWH receive the nachalah-land as their portion — the very land that the wicked seem to possess with violence. Jesus quotes this directly in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:5, 'blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth').
For the preacher, נַחֲלָה (nachalah) gives the congregation the most important truth about possession: what truly belongs to you is what YHWH gives by belonging, not by striving.
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) appears about 222 times in the local Hebrew index. Numbers and Joshua use it heavily for the tribal land-distribution. Deuteronomy develops the bilateral nachalah: YHWH as Israel's nachalah and Israel as YHWH's nachalah. Numbers 18:20 establishes the Levitical nachalah as YHWH himself. The Psalms use nachalah for the psalmist's personal portion in YHWH (Ps 16:5), for the land-nachalah of the meek (Ps 37:11), and for YHWH's own nachalah among the nations (Ps 2:8).
Isaiah uses nachalah for the restored people's permanent possession (Isa 60:21). Jeremiah calls YHWH 'the portion of Jacob' (Jer 10:16). The NT inherits the entire framework through the concept of the heavenly inheritance (Eph 1:18, 1 Pet 1:4).
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
YHWH as the personal nachalah: 'YHWH is my chelqi (portion/share) and my cup; you hold my gorali (lot).' The psalmist's nachalah is not measured in land-boundary surveys but in the quality of the one who constitutes his inheritance. The 'pleasant places' and 'beautiful nachalah' (v. 6) are the joyful description of what it means to have YHWH as your lot. The cup (kos) and the chelqi (portion) are the imagery of a meal and a land-allotment simultaneously — the intimate daily provision and the permanent covenantal belonging.
This verse is Leviticus 18:20 personalized: not just the Levites, but every person who says 'YHWH is my nachalah.'
Yet the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
Israel as YHWH's nachalah: 'to be a people of his own nachalah.' The exodus is the act by which YHWH claimed his nachalah — the iron furnace of Egypt is where the refining of YHWH's inheritance-people occurred. The extraordinary claim: YHWH's nachalah is not land but people. The people are YHWH's prized possession, taken from Egypt at great cost. Deut 32:9 adds the cosmic frame: 'YHWH's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his nachalah' — among all the nations (apportioned to the sons of God in 32:8), YHWH's own share is Israel.
Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
The Levitical nachalah as YHWH himself: 'I am your chelqekha (portion) and your nachalatekha (inheritance).' The Levites receive no territory because they receive the ultimate territory: YHWH. This is the OT's most concentrated statement of the God-as-inheritance theology. The Levites are paradoxically the most wealthy of all Israel's tribes — their nachalah cannot be divided, sold, or lost. Every application of Psalm 16:5 ('YHWH is my nachalah') is a Levitical posture available to the whole covenant community.
But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.
The meek's nachalah: 'the anavim (meek/humble) shall inherit (yarash, the possession-verb) the land (eretz).' Against the apparent prosperity of the wicked (vv. 1-2, 7-9), the psalm insists that the meek will receive the nachalah. The 'land' (eretz) is the concrete OT inheritance — the promised land — that the meek will possess when the wicked are cut off. Jesus quotes this directly in Matthew 5:5: 'blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.'
The NT's expansion of eretz to include the new creation gives the nachalah its eschatological scope: not just the land of Canaan but the renewed earth.
The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the Lord of Hosts is His name.
YHWH as the chelq of Jacob: 'the portion (chelq) of Jacob is not like these' — the idols are vain and perishing (vv. 14-15), but YHWH is the chelq. The maker of all things is Jacob's portion — the one who made what the idols imitate is the one who belongs to Israel as their nachalah. The reciprocal formula appears: YHWH is Jacob's chelq, and Israel is the tribe of YHWH's nachalah. The mutual possession is the covenant's most intimate claim: I am yours and you are mine, as nachalah.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Inherited land or property securing family continuity and identity within Israel's covenant promise and tribal allocation system.
Inherited land or property securing family continuity and identity within Israel's covenant promise and tribal allocation system.
properly, something inherited, i.e. (abstractly) occupancy, or (concretely) an heirloom; generally an estate, patrimony or portion BDB: possession Usage: heritage, to inherit, inheritance, possession. Compare 5158.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 222 lexical occurrence verses.
The settlement of towns reflects continuity with God’s promised inheritance. Isaiah 19:23-25
Its threatened loss underscores the covenant dimension of exile; what God granted can be forfeited through rebellion. Micah 1:10-16
Israel’s designation underscores covenant continuity within expanded mercy. Nehemiah 11:25-36
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) gives the preacher Scripture's most important theology of gift: what you truly possess is what comes to you by belonging, not by striving. The land-inheritance of the tribes (Josh 11:23) was not earned by superior virtue — it was given by promise to Abraham's descendants. The Levitical nachalah (Num 18:20, YHWH himself) is the paradox at the center: the tribe with no land has the only inheritance that cannot be lost.
Psalm 16:5 personalizes this for every believer: 'YHWH is my nachalah.' The preacher can give the congregation this reorientation — your inheritance is not your bank account, your career success, or your family legacy. Your nachalah is YHWH: the one who holds your lot, who drew the pleasant lines, who is himself the beautiful inheritance. Against the anxiety of not having enough, Psalm 16's nachalah-language says: if you have YHWH, the lines have fallen in pleasant places.
Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5 give the congregation the paradox of the meek's nachalah: the ones who are not grasping for the earth are the ones who will inherit it. The NT's heavenly nachalah (1 Pet 1:4, 'an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you') is the Levitical nachalah extended: not land, not temporal treasure, but the imperishable possession of the one who is himself the inheritance.
Ps.16.5
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) comes from the root נָחַל (nachal, H5157, to possess or inherit by assignment). Related words: nachal (H5157, to inherit/possess), nachala (H5159, the inheritance itself), nachali (my inheritance). The verb form yarash (H3423, to inherit, to possess, to dispossess) is the action of taking possession of a nachalah. Chelq (H2506, portion/share) and goral (H1486, lot) are closely related terms often paired with nachalah in the same verse (Ps 16:5).
The Greek kleronomia (G2817, inheritance) is the LXX's standard translation of nachalah, and the NT's inheritance-language (Eph 1:11, 14, 18; 1 Pet 1:4; Col 3:24; Rev 21:7) directly inherits the nachalah framework. Kleronomia (literally, a lot-inheritance) even preserves the lot/goral imagery of Numbers 26:55-56.
The NT's nachalah-theology reaches its fullest expression in Ephesians 1 and 1 Peter 1. Ephesians 1:11 — 'in him we have obtained an inheritance (eklerotheemen, we received a lot/kleros), having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things' — applies the nachalah-by-belonging to the church: we receive the inheritance by being 'in him,' not by earning.
Ephesians 1:14 calls the Spirit the 'guarantee (arrhabon) of our inheritance (kleronomia) until we acquire possession of it.' First Peter 1:4 gives the nachalah its fullest eschatological description: 'to an inheritance (kleronomian) that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.' The contrast with the land-nachalah is explicit: the earthly nachalah was perishable, could be defiled, and would fade — the heavenly kleronomia is none of these.
Matthew 5:5 applies Psalm 37:11 directly: 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit (kleronomeo) the earth.' Revelation 21:7 — 'The one who conquers will inherit (kleronomeo) these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son' — is the bilateral nachalah of Deut 4:20 and Deut 32:9 brought to eschatological completion: I am your God (YHWH as nachalah) and you are my son (Israel as YHWH's nachalah).
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