Word study

Inherit

3 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: inherit, inherited. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “inherit” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 11 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb  ·  Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12

    Leviticus 20:24 But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance — a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

    Numbers 14:24 But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.

    Full study and all 204 verses →
  • נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 10 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H5157Verb  ·  Translated: inheritance 11, inherit 7, receive an inheritance 3, possess 2

    Deuteronomy 1:38 Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.

    Joshua 14:1 Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.

    Full study and all 56 verses →
  • נַחֲלָה nachălâhpossession, property, inheritancetranslated this way 2 times of its 216 uses · Strong’s H5159Noun  ·  Translated: inheritance 191, heritage 13, territory 2, inheritances 2

    Genesis 48:6 Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit.

    Proverbs 19:14 Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

    Full study and all 190 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • κληρονομέω klēronoméōI inherit, obtaintranslated this way 17 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G2816Verb  ·  Translated: inherit 16, never share in the inheritance 1, inherited 1

    Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

    Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

    Full study and all 17 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.