“To these the land shall be divided as an inheritance, according to the number of names.
Parallel translations
- WEB “To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.
- KJV Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.
- BSB “The land is to be divided among the tribes as an inheritance, according to the number of names.
- NASB “Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.
- NLT “Divide the land among the tribes, and distribute the grants of land in proportion to the tribes’ populations, as indicated by the number of names on the list.
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
The land is to be divided as an inheritance proportioned to the number of names in each tribe.
Overview
God commands that the land be allotted according to tribal size, ensuring fairness so larger tribes received larger portions. The principle reflects God's just governance, and the very word inheritance points forward to the imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for believers (1 Peter 1:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Josh 14:1These are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed to them,
- Josh 11:23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. The land had rest from war.
- Ps 105:44He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
- Dan 7:27The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
- Rev 21:27There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
- Rev 5:10and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
- Gen 12:2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
- Matt 5:5Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
- Ezek 47:22It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
- Gen 12:7Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
- Ps 49:14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
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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 26:53 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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