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He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations,
Psalms 105:44 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
  • KJV And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
  • BSB He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,
  • NASB He also gave them the lands of the nations, So that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
  • NLT He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted.

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 gave them the lands of the nations and the fruit of others' labor. It matters because He fulfilled His promise of an inheritance for His people.

Overview

In the conquest God granted Israel the land of Canaan, including its cities and fields (Joshua 21:43-45). This realized the promise of land given to Abraham. The earthly inheritance points beyond itself to the eternal inheritance secured for believers in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Ps 78:55He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
  • Josh 24:13I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
  • Deut 6:10–11It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build,
  • 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.
  • Josh 24:8“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
  • Ps 44:2–3You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.
  • Ps 135:10–12who struck many nations, and killed mighty kings,
  • Neh 9:22–25Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
  • Josh 23:4Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.
  • Ps 136:21–22And gave their land as an inheritance; for his loving kindness endures forever;
  • Ps 80:8You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.
  • Josh 21:43So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it.
  • Josh 13:7–33Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
  • Josh 5:11They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, in the same day.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 105:44YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 105:44 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.