Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
Parallel translations
- WEB Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
- BSB Indeed, the land must be divided by lot; they shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
- NKJV But the land shall be divided by lot; they shall inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
- NASB But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
- NLT But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to 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
Although portions are sized by population, the actual locations are assigned by lot.
Overview
God ordains that the land be divided by lot, so that placement rested on His sovereign choice rather than human preference (Proverbs 16:33). Combining proportion by size with location by lot held together fairness and divine appointment, teaching Israel that their inheritance came wholly from the Lord's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Num 33:54And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.
- Num 34:13And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:
- Josh 14:2By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.
- Josh 11:23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
- Prov 18:18The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.
- Josh 19:10And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid:
- Josh 19:32The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
- Acts 1:26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
- Josh 18:10–11And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
- Josh 19:40And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.
- Josh 19:24And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
- Rev 7:4–8And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
- Prov 16:33The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.
- Josh 17:14And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?
- Col 1:12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
- Josh 19:1And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah.
- Josh 18:6Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
- Josh 19:17And the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families.
- Num 26:56According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 26:55 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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