Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
- KJV And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
- NKJV Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
- NASB Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.
- NLT And the Lord said to Aaron, “You priests will receive no allotment of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your share and your allotment.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God told Aaron he would have no land inheritance, because the LORD Himself was his portion and inheritance.
Overview
The priests received no territorial allotment; instead, God Himself was their inheritance, a profound privilege above any land. Having the LORD as one's portion is the highest blessing, treasured throughout Scripture by the faithful. This points believers to find their ultimate inheritance not in earthly possessions but in God Himself, secured through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ezek 44:28In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
- Deut 10:9That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.
- Josh 13:33To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, just as He had promised them.
- Deut 18:1–2The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance.
- Lam 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
- Josh 18:7The Levites, however, have no portion among you, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave them beyond the Jordan to the east.”
- Josh 14:3For Moses had given the inheritance east of the Jordan to the other two and a half tribes. But he granted no inheritance among them to the Levites.
- Deut 12:12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
- Deut 14:27And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
- Ps 16:5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- Ps 142:5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Rev 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
- Num 18:23–24The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Deut 14:29Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
- Num 26:62The registration of the Levites totaled 23,000, every male a month old or more; they were not numbered among the other Israelites, because no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.
- 1 Cor 3:21–23Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
- Josh 13:14To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 18:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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