Psalms 135:12

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

And gave their land for a heritage, A heritage to Israel, his people.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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נַחֲלָ֑ה

nachălâh

H5159

“inheritance”

Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 222× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 31:14

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H5157 (in its usual sense)

TWOT: 1342a

possession, property, inheritance, heritage - property - portion, share - inheritance, portion

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
5: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Grammatical profile

1 verb
5 nouns

Verb forms

וְנָתַ֣ן Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

נַחֲלָ֑ה inheritance H5159 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 13 words from the Hebrew and 13 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 6 Hebrew tokens and 10 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Psalms 135:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 78:55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Psalms 136:21–22 And gave their land as an inheritance; For his loving kindness endures forever;
Numbers 33:54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall you inherit.
Deuteronomy 29:8 and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.
Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. The land had rest from war.
Joshua 12:7 These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;
Psalms 44:1–3 We have heard with our ears, God; Our fathers have told us, What work you did in their days, In the days of old.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

You’re reading Greek Psalm 134 (Hebrew Psalm 135). The Septuagint counts the superscription, so verse numbers can differ from the Hebrew — chapter-level alignment, not verse-by-verse. Numbering follows Rahlfs.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Psalms 135:12 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְנָתַ֣ן אַרְצָ֣ם נַחֲלָ֑ה נַ֝חֲלָ֗ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל עַמּֽוֹ

And gave their land for a heritage, A heritage to Israel, his people.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Greek Psalm 134:12 Septuagint · lemma form

καί δίδωμι ὁ γῆ αὐτός κληρονομία κληρονομία ἰσραήλ λαός αὐτός

and gave their land for an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel his people.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Psalms 135:12 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Psa 135:12 And gave their land [for] an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

Ver. 12. And gave their land for an heritage] Which he might well do, as being the true proprietary and paramount.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. A. Alexander on Psalms

Joseph Addison Alexander

12. (Psa 135:12) And gave their land (as) a heritage, a heritage to Israel his people. The land of Canaan was an inheritance to Israel, not as the heirs of the Canaanites, but because it was to be transmitted from father to son, by hereditary right and succession. See above, on Psa 105:44; Psa 111:6.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

He showeth what fruit the godly conceive of God’s power, whereby they see how he destroyeth his enemies, and delivereth his people.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) Psa_105:44; Psa_111:6.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

12. an heritage] Cp. Deu_4:38.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever,.... The Lord himself endures for ever, in his nature, being, and perfections; and the fame of him, the fame of those acts of power and goodness before mentioned: the name of Christ endures for ever; his person and offices, his Gospel, which is his name; his children and people, who are called by his name, and in whom his name is perpetuated; the fame of his wondrous works in nature, providence, and grace; and especially of his great work of redemption and salvation;

and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations; or "the remembrance of them to, generation and generation"; to every age; the love of Christ is remembered by his people in every age, the blessings of his grace in redemption, justification, pardon, &c. and cannot be forgotten as long as his Gospel is preached, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper administered, and he has a people in the world, all which will be as long as the sun and moon endure, there will be a memorial of him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And gave their land for an heritage ... - See the notes at Psa 111:6.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Treasury of David

Charles H. Spurgeon

Ver. 12. And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people. Jehovah is Lord Paramount, and permits men to hold their lands upon lease, terminable at his pleasure. The nations of Canaan had become loathsome with abominable vices, and they were condemned by the great Judge of all the earth to be cut off from the face of the country which they defiled. The twelve tribes were charged to act as their executioners, and as their fee they were to receive Canaan as a possession. Of old the Lord had given this land to Abraham and his seed by a covenant of salt, but he allowed the Amorites and other tribes to sojourn in it till their iniquity was full, and then he bade his people come and take their own out of the holders' hands. Canaan was their heritage because they were the Lord's heritage, and he gave it to them actually because he had long before given it to them by promise.

The Lord's chosen still have a heritage from which none can keep them back. Covenant blessings of inestimable value are secured to them; and, as surely as God has a people, his people shall have a heritage. To them it comes by gift, though they have to fight for it. Often does it happen when they slay a sin or conquer a difficulty that they are enriched by the spoil: to them even evils work for good, and trials ensure triumphs. No enemy shall prevail so as to really injure them, for they shall find a heritage where once they were opposed by "all the kingdoms of Canaan."

Psalms 135:13*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

And gave their land for a heritage, a heritage unto Israel his people. (see Exo_6:8 Psa_78:55 Psa_136:21)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

He gave us their land as an inheritance

God's gift of the land to the Israelites is spoken of as if it were inheritance from father to son. AT: "He gave us their land to have forever" or "He gave us their land to be ours forever" (See: Metaphor)

Your name

His name here represents his fame or reputation. AT: "Your fame" or "Your reputation" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

inherit

people of God

name

endure

eternity

renown

generation

compassion

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Psalms, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 6 words (5 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nachălâh (“inheritance”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “inheritance” (nachălâh) shape what this verse is saying?
Psalms 78:55 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“inheritance” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וְנָתַ֣ן» is Qal Sequential Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and J. A. Alexander on Psalms read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 10 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 2 words in this verse.
“inheritance” occurs 2× in this single verse.
5 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.