In ancient Israel possessions were passed on to the living sons of a father, but the eldest son received a double portion (Deuteronomy 21:17 ). Reuben lost preeminence because of incest with Bilhah (Genesis 35:22; Genesis 49:4; 1 Chronicles 5:1 ), and Esau surrendered his birthright to Jacob (Genesis 25:29-34 ). These examples show that possession of this double portion was not absolute. Sons of concubines did not inherit unless adopted. Jacob's sons by the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah (Genesis 30:3-13 ) inherited (Genesis 49:1 ) because those offspring were adopted by Rachel and Leah. Sarai promised to adopt the offspring of her maid Hagar when she gave Hagar to Abram (Genesis 16:2 ) but went back on that promise after Isaac's birth (Genesis 21:10 ).

Women were not to inherit from their fathers except in the absence of a son (Numbers 27:1-11 ). Before this ruling from the Lord, if a man had no offspring, the inheritance went to his brothers, to his father's brothers, or to his next kinsman.

Because the Hebrew words did not necessarily presuppose a death, they could be used in reference to God's granting of the land to Israel (Joshua 1:15; Numbers 36:2-4 ). Levites had no share of the land, and the Lord Himself was their “inheritance” (Numbers 18:20-24; Deuteronomy 10:9; Deuteronomy 18:2; Joshua 13:33 ). Jeremiah used the concept of “inheritance” to refer to the restoration of Israel to the land from “the north” after the time of punishment (Jeremiah 3:18-19 ).

Israel is the “inheritance” of the Lord (Jeremiah 10:16 ). Psalm 79:1 speaks of Jerusalem and the Temple as God's “inheritance.” In a broader sense, however, God can be said to “inherit” all nations ( Psalm 82:8 ).

Anything given by God can be called an “inheritance.” In Psalm 16:5 the pleasant conditions of the psalmist's life were his “inheritance” because he had chosen the Lord as his lot. In Psalm 119:111 God's testimonies are an “inheritance.” In Job 27:13 “heritage” refers to God's punishment of the wicked. Proverbs 3:35 compares the honor the wise “inherit” with the disgrace of the fool.

In the New Testament “inheritance” can refer to property (Luke 12:13 ), but it most often refers to the rewards of discipleship: eternal life (Matthew 5:5; Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29-30 and parallels; Titus 3:7 ), the kingdom (Matthew 25:34; James 2:5; negatively 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:50 ), generally (Acts 20:32; Ephesians 1:14 ,Ephesians 1:14,1:18; Revelation 21:7 ). Christ is the Heir par excellence ( Matthew 21:38 and parallels; Hebrews 1:2 ). Through Christ Christians can be heirs of God and “fellow heirs” with Christ (Romans 8:17; compare Ephesians 3:6 ). Only Hebrews makes explicit use of the idea of “inheritance” as requiring the death of the testator, Christ. A “will” requires a death to come into effect, so the death of Christ brings the new “covenant”/”will” into effect (Hebrews 9:16-17 ). See Covenant; Land; Promise .

Fred L. Horton, Jr.