Bible Strands
Psalms 135:12
He gave their land as an inheritance, as a heritage to His people Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the gathered worshipers, recounting God’s defeat of Sihon, Og, and the Canaanite kings. This declaration bridges a historical summary of conquest and a closing doxology on God’s enduring name.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָתַן (naṯan) translates literally as “he gave,” while נַחֲלָה (naḥălâ) means “an inheritance” or “heritage.” The text repeats נַחֲלָה for emphasis, framing the territory as a permanent, divinely assigned possession.
The thread — This allocation motif appears in Psalms 78:55, where God drives out nations and apportioned an inheritance, and Psalms 136:21, which repeats the phrase “gave their land as an inheritance.” The distribution framework also mirrors Numbers 33:54, which commands dividing the territory by lot among clans.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that Israel’s territorial possession originated from divine grant rather than human military effort. It demands recognition of the land as a fixed heritage tied to God’s covenant action.
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 their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.
Cross-references
- Psalms 78:55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
- Psalms 136:21 and He gave their land as an inheritance, His loving devotion endures forever.
- Numbers 33:54 And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.
- Deuteronomy 29:8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
- 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 12:7 And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance
- Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.