Bible Strands
Psalms 105:44
He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the covenant community, recording the immediate post-Exodus transition when God transferred territorial authority from foreign rulers to Israel.
The words — The verb יִתֵּן (yi.Tten) translates “he gave,” and the noun עֲמַל ('a.mal) means “labor” or “toil,” specifying that the acquired territory was cultivated by others.
The thread — This pattern of unearned land acquisition recurs in Joshua 24:13, Psalm 78:55, and Deuteronomy 6:10.
Why it lands — The text states that the inheritance was granted by divine action rather than human effort, which directly precedes the command to keep God’s statutes and laws.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Cross-references
- Joshua 24:13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities that you did not build, and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’
- Psalms 78:55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
- Deuteronomy 6:10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
- Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to the allotments to their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.
- Joshua 24:8 Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand, that you should possess their land when I destroyed them before you.
- Psalms 44:2 With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.
- Joshua 23:4 See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.
- Nehemiah 9:22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.
- Psalms 80:8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
- Psalms 135:10 He struck down many nations and slaughtered mighty kings: