Word study
Inheritance
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: inheritance, inheritances. 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 “inheritance” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- נַחֲלָה nachălâhpossession, property, inheritancetranslated this way 195 times of its 216 uses · Strong’s H5159Noun · Translated: inheritance 191, heritage 13, territory 2, inheritances 2Full study and all 190 verses →
Genesis 31:14 And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?
Exodus 15:17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance — the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.
- נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 26 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H5157Verb · Translated: inheritance 11, inherit 7, receive an inheritance 3, possess 2Full study and all 56 verses →
Exodus 32:13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
Numbers 18:20 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.
- יְרֻשָּׁה yerushshâhpossession, inheritancetranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H3425Noun · Translated: inheritance 4, as 3, possession 3, land as an inheritance 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Joshua 1:15 until the LORD gives them rest as He has done for you, and your brothers also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”
Psalm 61:5 For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance reserved for those who fear Your name.
- יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 4 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
Genesis 21:10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
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.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κληρονομία klēronomíaan inheritancetranslated this way 14 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G2817Noun · Translated: inheritance 14Full study and all 14 verses →
Matthew 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
Mark 12:7 But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
- κλῆρος klērosa lot, portiontranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G2819Noun · Translated: lots 5, inheritance 2, lot 1, share 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
How to study a word well
- 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.
- 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.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- 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.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- 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.
What the Bible says about inheritance: passages by topic →
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.