Deuteronomy 18:1-2

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ¹  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ²  18:2 They ³  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ⁴  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

Joshua 13:14

13:14 However, Moses ⁵  did not assign land as an inheritance ⁶  to the Levites; their inheritance ⁷  is the sacrificial offerings ⁸  made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed ⁹  them.

Joshua 13:33

13:33 However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance ¹⁰  to the Levites; their inheritance ¹¹  is the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed ¹²  them.

Joshua 14:3

14:3 Now Moses had assigned land ¹³  to the two-and-a-half tribes east of the Jordan, but he assigned no land ¹⁴  to the Levites. ¹⁵ 

Joshua 18:7

18:7 But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. ¹⁶  Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land ¹⁷  east of the Jordan which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.”

Psalms 16:5

16:5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; ¹⁸ 

you make my future secure. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 73:26

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ²⁰ 

but God always ²¹  protects my heart and gives me stability. ²² 

Psalms 142:5

142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my security ²³  in the land of the living.”

Lamentations 3:24

3:24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, ²⁴ 

so I will put my hope in him.

Ezekiel 44:28

44:28 “‘This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I am their property. ²⁵ 

Ezekiel 44:1

The Closed Gate

44:1 Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut.

Colossians 3:21-23

3:21 Fathers, ²⁶  do not provoke ²⁷  your children, so they will not become disheartened. 3:22 Slaves, ²⁸  obey your earthly ²⁹  masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord. 3:23 Whatever you are doing, ³⁰  work at it with enthusiasm, ³¹  as to the Lord and not for people, ³² 

Revelation 21:3

21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence ³³  of God is among human beings. ³⁴  He ³⁵  will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. ³⁶ 

[18:1]  ¹ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

[18:1]  ² sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[18:2]  ³ tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).

[18:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”

[13:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “did not assign an inheritance.”

[13:14]  ⁷ tn That is, “their source of food and life.”

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Or “offerings made by fire.”

[13:14]  ⁹ tn Or “promised” (Heb “spoke”).

[13:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Moses did not assign an inheritance.” The word “land” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what the inheritance consisted of.

[13:33]  ¹¹ tn That is, “their source of food and life.”

[13:33]  ¹² tn Or “as he promised”; Heb “as he spoke to.”

[14:3]  ¹³ tn Or “assigned an inheritance.”

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “no inheritance.”

[14:3]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in their midst.”

[18:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the priesthood of the Lord.”

[18:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “inheritance.”

[16:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, the portion of my possession and my cup”; or “the Lord [is] the portion of my possession and my cup.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel, and to a cup of wine, which may symbolize a reward (in Ps 11:6 it symbolizes the judgment one deserves) or divine blessing (see Ps 23:5). The metaphor highlights the fact that God is the psalmist’s source of security and prosperity.

[16:5]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “you take hold of my lot.” The form תּוֹמִיךְ (tomikh) should be emended to a participle, תוֹמֵךְ (tomekh). The psalmist pictures the Lord as casting his lot (a method used to allot landed property) for him, thus assuring that he will receive a fertile piece of land (see v. 6). As in the previous line, land represents security and economic stability, thus “you make my future secure.”

[73:26]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ²¹ tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ²² tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[142:5]  ²³ tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[3:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “My soul said…” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I ).

[44:28]  ²⁵ sn See Num 18:20; Deut 10:9; 18:2; Josh 13:33; 18:7.

[3:21]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps “Parents.” The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.a).

[3:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “do not cause your children to become resentful” (L&N 88.168). BDAG 391 s.v. ἐρεθίζω states, “to cause someone to react in a way that suggests acceptance of a challenge, arouse, provoke mostly in bad sense irritate, embitter.”

[3:22]  ²⁸ tn On this word here and in 4:1, see the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:22]  ²⁹ tn The prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) does not necessarily qualify the masters as earthly or human (as opposed to the Master in heaven, the Lord), but could also refer to the sphere in which “the service-relation holds true.” See BDAG 577 s.v. κύριος 1.b.

[3:23]  ³⁰ tn The present progressive “are doing” was used in the translation of ποιῆτε (poihte) to bring out the idea that Paul is probably referring to what they already do for work.

[3:23]  ³¹ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[3:23]  ³² tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.

[21:3]  ³³ tn Or “dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”

[21:3]  ³⁴ tn Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi).

[21:3]  ³⁵ tn Grk “men, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:3]  ³⁶ tc ‡ Most mss (א Ï^K) do not add the words “[as] their God” (αὐτῶν θεός, autwn qeos) after “he will be with them.” The mss with these words include A 2030 2050 2329 al. The Andreas group (Ï^A) also has the words, but in a different arrangement with the preceding (ἔσται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν θεὸς αὐτῶν, estai met’ autwn qeo" autwn). Not only do the words float, but scribes may have been motivated to make a connection here more directly with Isa 7:14; 8:8; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Zech 8:8. In light of sufficient external evidence as well as the possibility that the longer reading is theologically motivated, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.