Deuteronomy 32:9

32:9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people,

Jacob is his special possession. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 18:8

18:8 He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance. ² 

Deuteronomy 21:17

21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved ³  wife as firstborn and give him the double portion ⁴  of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power ⁵  – to him should go the right of the firstborn.

Deuteronomy 33:21

33:21 He has selected the best part for himself,

for the portion of the ruler ⁶  is set aside ⁷  there;

he came with the leaders ⁸  of the people,

he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord

and his ordinances with Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁹  – 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. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 10:9

10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance ¹¹  among his brothers; ¹²  the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him.

Deuteronomy 14:27

14:27 As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you.

Deuteronomy 12:12

12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages ¹³  (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). ¹⁴ 

Deuteronomy 26:13

26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering ¹⁵  from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. ¹⁶  I have not violated or forgotten your commandments.

Deuteronomy 14:29

14:29 Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.

Deuteronomy 3:13

3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁷  (All the region of Argob, ¹⁸  that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim.

Deuteronomy 14:25

14:25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money, ¹⁹  and travel to the place the Lord your God chooses for himself.

Deuteronomy 29:26

29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ²⁰ 

Deuteronomy 26:14

26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; ²¹  I have obeyed you ²²  and have done everything you have commanded me.

[32:9]  ¹ tc Heb “the portion of his inheritance.” The LXX and Smr add “Israel” and BHS suggests the reconstruction: “The Lord’s allotment is Jacob, the portion of his inheritance is Israel” (cf. NAB). While providing good parallelism, it destroys a fine chiastic structure: “allotment” (a), “his people” (b), “Jacob (b’), and “inheritance” (a’).

[18:8]  ² tn Presumably this would not refer to a land inheritance, since that was forbidden to the descendants of Levi (v. 1). More likely it referred to some family possessions (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV) or other private property (cf. NLT “a private source of income”), or even support sent by relatives (cf. TEV “whatever his family sends him”).

[21:17]  ³ tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.

[21:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (piy shÿnayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).

[21:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ’on; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the first fruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”

[33:21]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מְחֹקֵק (mÿkhoqeq; Poel participle of חָקַק, khaqaq, “to inscribe”) reflects the idea that the recorder of allotments (the “ruler”) is able to set aside for himself the largest and best. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 444-45.

[33:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “covered in” (if from the root סָפַן, safan; cf. HALOT 764-65 s.v. ספן qal).

[33:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “heads” (in the sense of chieftains).

[18:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[10:9]  ⁶ sn Levi has no allotment or inheritance. As the priestly tribe, Levi would have no land allotment except for forty-eight towns set apart for their use (Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-42). But theirs was a far greater inheritance, for the Lord himself was their apportionment, that is, service to him would be their full-time and lifelong privilege (Num 18:20-24; Deut 18:2; Josh 13:33).

[10:9]  ⁷ tn That is, among the other Israelite tribes.

[12:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”

[12:12]  ⁸ sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.

[26:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away.

[26:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:13]  ⁹ sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).

[3:13]  ¹⁰ sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.

[14:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bind the silver in your hand.”

[29:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[26:14]  ¹² sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.

[26:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.