Psalms 135:12
in Psalms 135He gave their land as an inheritance, as a heritage to His people Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And gave their land for a heritage, A heritage unto Israel his people.
KJV
And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.
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This verse in Psalms 135
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
struck down the firstborn of Egypt
on Psalms 135:8-12
The recital runs from the firstborn of Egypt and the signs against Pharaoh to the kings struck down and their land given to Israel. John Gill reads Sihon and Og as named because they were the first slain and the most powerful. Psalm 136:19 to 22 names the same two.
This site's exposition
as a heritage to His people Israel
The land of Sihon and Og was the first land given as an inheritance, to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh at Numbers 32:33. Inheritance translates nachalah, land held by a people through the generations. The land of Canaan was given next, under Joshua.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
All these things which the Psalm records simply, do we read likewise in others of the Lord's books, and there the hand of the Lord is great. When thou seest what has been done to the wicked, take heed lest it be done to thee. ...But when the good man sees what the wicked has suffered, let him cleanse himself from all iniquity, lest he fall into a like punishment, a like chastisement. Then ye have thoroughly understood these things. What did God then? He drove out the wicked, "And he gave their land for an inheritance, even an inheritance to Israel His servant" (ver. 12).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And gave their land for an heritage,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And gave their land for an heritage ... - See the notes at Psa 111:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
O Lord, Your name is eternal Like Your greatness and Your authority then, so is it also now, and You have the power to judge and to avenge us.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתַ֣ן | venatan | and he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אַרְצָ֣ם | ʾartzam | land their | H776 → | 2504 times |
| נַחֲלָ֑ה | nachalah | an inheritance | H5159 → | 222 times |
| נַ֝חֲלָ֗ה | nachalah | an inheritance | H5159 → | 222 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל | leyisrael | to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַמּֽוֹ׃ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וְנָתַ֣ןand he gave
venatanH5414 →2011 times
אַרְצָ֣םland their
ʾartzamH776 →2504 times
נַחֲלָ֑הan inheritance
nachalahH5159 →222 times
נַ֝חֲלָ֗הan inheritance
nachalahH5159 →222 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥לto Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַמּֽוֹ׃people his
amoH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 78:55He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
it leads to
- Joshua 13:7
Now therefore divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
- Psalms 44:2
With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.
- Nehemiah 9:22–25
You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.
- Deuteronomy 6:10–12
And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you…
- Psalms 136:18–22
and slaughtered mighty kings— His loving devotion endures forever.
- Joshua 13:7
Through
Joshua 12:7And 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…
it leads to
- Joshua 11:17
from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to…
- Joshua 11:17
Through
Deuteronomy 29:8We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 3:12–13
So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with…
- Numbers 32:33
So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the…
- Deuteronomy 3:12–13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 135; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.