Reference: Heir
Easton
Under the patriarchs the property of a father was divided among the sons of his legitimate wives (Ge 21:10; 24:36; 25:5), the eldest son getting a larger portion than the rest. The Mosaic law made specific regulations regarding the transmission of real property, which are given in detail in De 21:17; Nu 27:8; 36:6; 27:9-11. Succession to property was a matter of right and not of favour. Christ is the "heir of all things" (Heb 1:2; Col 1:15). Believers are heirs of the "promise," "of righteousness," "of the kingdom," "of the world," "of God," "joint heirs" with Christ (Ga 3:29; Heb 6:17; 11:7; Jas 2:5; Ro 4:13; 8:17).
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So she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, - for the son of this bondwoman must not inherit with my son with Isaac.
then did Sarah wife of my lord, bear a son to my lord, after she had become old, - so he gave to him all that he had;
And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;
And unto the sons of Israel, shalt thou speak, saying, - When, any man, shall die, having no son, then shall ye cause his inheritance to pass over to his daughter. And, if he hath no daughter, then shall ye give his inheritance unto his, brethren. read more. And if he hath no brethren, then shall ye give his inheritance unto the brethren of his father. And, if his father hath no brethren, then shall ye give his inheritance unto his blood-relation that is near unto him of his family, and he shall possess it, - So shall it serve the sons of Israel as a regulative statute, As Yahweh commanded Moses.
This, is the thing which Yahweh hath commanded, as to the daughters of Zelophehad saying: Unto whomsoever it may be good in their eyes, let them become wives, - save only unto the family of the tribe of their father, let them become wives.
but the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, - for, he, is the beginning of hi strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.
For, not through means of law, doth the promise belong unto Abraham or unto his seed, - that he should be heir of thee world; but, through a righteousness by faith.
And, if children, heirs also - heirs, indeed, of God, but co-heirs with Christ, - if, at least, we are suffering together, in order that we may also be glorified together.
Now, if, ye, are of Christ, by consequence ye are, Abraham's seed, according to promise, heirs.
Who, is an image of the unseen God, Firstborn of all creation, -
At the end of these days, He hath spoken unto us in his Son, - whom he hath appointed heir of all things, through whom also he hath made the ages;
Wherein God, being, more abundantly disposed to shew forth unto the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his counsel, mediated, with an oath, -
By faith, Noah, having received intimation concerning the things not yet seen, filled with reverence, prepared an ark to the saving of his house - through which he condemned the world, and, of the righteousness by way of faith, became heir.
Hearken! my brethren beloved: - Hath not, God, chosen the destitute in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Fausets
(Heir, (See BIRTHRIGHT; INHERITANCE,) refers exclusively to land.) The Mosaic law enforced a strict entail; the property was divided among the sons, the oldest receiving a double portion (the father not having the right, as the patriarchs had, of giving a special portion to a favorite son: Ge 48:22), the rest equal shares (De 21:17). If there were no sons it went to the daughters, on condition that they married in their own tribe; otherwise they forfeited the inheritance (Nu 27:8 ff; Nu 36:6 ff). The son of an heiress, as with the Athenians, bore the name not of his father but of his maternal grandfather. If there were no daughters the property went to the brother; if no brother, to the paternal uncle; lastly, to the next of kin. The aim was to keep the land in the family and tribe. Succession thus was a matter of right, not of favor; the Hebrew yarash, "to inherit," means possession and even forcible possession (De 2:12; Jg 11:24).
A distribution of goods ("personal", ousia) was sometimes made in the father's lifetime (Lu 15:11-13); the land ("real property", kleeronomia) could only be divided after the father's death (Lu 12:13). If a brother died childless the surviving brother should wed his widow and raise seed to his brother. The Mosaic law herein adopted existing usages, which also prevail still in S. Africa, Arabia, among the Druses and tribes of the Caucasus (Ge 38:8-9; De 25:5-10; Mt 22:23-25). Childlessness was regarded as such a calamity that the ordinary laws of forbidden degrees of affinity in marriage (Le 18:16) were set aside.
Moses allowed the obligation to be evaded, if the brother-in-law preferred the indignity of the widow loosing his shoe off his foot, in token of forfeiting all right over the wife and property of the deceased, as casting the shoe over a place implies taking possession of it (Ps 60:8; 108:9); also the indignity of her spitting in his face, so that his name becomes a byword as the barefooted one, implying abject meanness. The office then devolved on the nearest kinsman (Ru 2:20; 3:9-13; 4:1-12). Naomi, being past age of marriage, Boaz takes Ruth her daughter-in-law, and has also to redeem the sold inheritance of Elimelech, Naomi's husband. The child born is reckoned that of Naomi and Elimelech (Ru 4:17), Chilion being passed over. Naomi, not Ruth, sells the land (Ru 4:3). A Jew could never wholly alienate his land by sale (Le 25:23-24).
A kinsman, or the owner, could at any time redeem it at a regulated charge (Le 25:23-27). At the year of Jubilee it reverted without charge (Le 25:28). Jer 32:6-9; Elimelech's nearest kinsman would not exercise his right of redemption, lest he should mar his own inheritance; namely, if he should have but one son by her, that son would be Elimelech's legal son, not his; so the succession of his own name would be endangered. The inalienability of land made Naboth reject as impious Ahab's proposal (1Ki 21:3); typifying Christ's inalienable inheritance of a name more excellent than that of the angels (Heb 1:4). Houses in walled towns (not in unwalled villages, as being connected with the land) and movables could be alienated for ever; a wise law, essential to progress and marking the superiority of Jewish legislation to that of most nations.
Wills were unknown among the Jews until Herod made one. The subdivision of land by the absence of the law of primogeniture, and the equal division among sons except double to the oldest, suited a country like Palestine of hills and valleys, not admitting much horse labour and agricultural machinery on the large scale which large farms require. Small farms suited the hand labour required for the terraces reaching to the tops of the hills. The numerous towns in Galilee, moreover, had their wants best supplied by numerous petty farms. Subdivision tends also to the multiplication of population, and so to repairing the waste of life caused by wars. It attaches large numbers to their country, as proprietors, eager to defend the soil which is their own, and on which each ate of his own vine and fig tree (Isa 36:16).
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Then said Judah to Onan, Go in unto thy brothers wife, and fulfil the duty of a brother-in-law unto her, - and raise up seed, to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed would not be his, - and so although he did go in unto his brothers wife, yet made he waste upon the ground, so as not to give seed to his brother.
But, I, have given to thee one mountain-track above thy brethren, - which I took out of the hand of the Amorite, with my sword and with my bow.
The shame of thy brother's wife, shalt thou not uncover, - the shame of thy brother, it is.
The land moreover shall not be sold beyond recovery, for, mine, is the land, - for, sojourners and settlers, ye are with me.
The land moreover shall not be sold beyond recovery, for, mine, is the land, - for, sojourners and settlers, ye are with me. And, in all the land of your possession, a right of redemption, shall ye give to the land.
And, in all the land of your possession, a right of redemption, shall ye give to the land. When thy brother waxeth poor, and so selleth aught of his possession, then may his kinsman that is near unto him come in, and redeem that which was sold by his brother. read more. And, when, any man, hath no kinsman, - but his own hand getteth enough, so that he findeth what is needed to redeem it, then shall he reckon the years since he sold it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it, - and shall return to his possession. But, if his hand have not found enough to get it back unto him, then shall that which he sold remain in the hand of him that bought it, until the year of the jubilee, - and shall go out in the jubilee, and he shall return unto his possession.
And unto the sons of Israel, shalt thou speak, saying, - When, any man, shall die, having no son, then shall ye cause his inheritance to pass over to his daughter.
This, is the thing which Yahweh hath commanded, as to the daughters of Zelophehad saying: Unto whomsoever it may be good in their eyes, let them become wives, - save only unto the family of the tribe of their father, let them become wives.
And in Seir, dwelt the Horim aforetime, but, the sons of Esau, dispossessed them, and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead, - as did Israel unto the land of his own possession, which Yahweh had given unto them.
but the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, - for, he, is the beginning of hi strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.
When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth, having, no son, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside to a stranger, - her husband's brother, shall go in unto her, and take her unto him to wife and do for her as a husband's brother. And it shall be, that, the firstborn which she beareth, shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, - so shall his name not be wiped out from Israel. read more. But, if the man like not to take his sister-in-law, then shall his sister-in-law go up unto the gate, unto the elders, and say - My husband's brother hath refused, to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he is not willing to do as a husband's brother unto me. Then shall the elders of his city call him and speak unto him, - and he shall stand and say, I like not to take her. Then shall his brothers wife come near unto him in the presence of the elders, and draw his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, - and respond and say, Thus shall it be done unto the man who will not build up the house of his brother. And his name shall be called in Israel, - The house of him who had his shoe drawn off.
What Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess, that, wilt thou not possess? and, whatsoever Yahweh our God hath set before us to possess, that, shall we not possess?
Then said Naomi, to her daughter-in-law - Blessed, be he of Yahweh, who hath not left off his lovingkindness to the living, and to the dead. And Naomi said to her - Near to us, is the man, of our own kinsmen, is he!
And he said, Who art, thou? And she said, I, am Ruth, thy handmaid, spread, therefore, thy wing over thy handmaid, for, a kinsman, thou art. And he said - Blessed, be thou of Yahweh, my daughter, for thou hast made thy last lovingkindness better than the first, - in not following after young men, whether poor, or rich. read more. Now, therefore, my daughter, do not fear, whatsoever thou shalt say, I will do for thee, - for all the gate of my people doth know, that, a virtuous woman, thou art. And, now, although it is true that, a kinsman, am I, yet is there a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry the night, and it shall be, in the morning, if he will act as kinsman to thee, well, let him so act, but, if he inclineth not to act as kinsman to thee, then will, I, so act to thee - by the life of Yahweh, - Lie still, until the morning.
Now, Boaz, went up to the gate, and sat him down there, and lo! the kinsman, passing by, of whom Boaz had spoken, so he said - Turn aside! and sit down here, such a one! And he turned aside, and sat down. Then fetched he ten men of the elders of the city, and said - Sit ye down here. And they sat down. read more. Then said he to the kinsman, The parcel of land that was our brother Elimelech's, is to be disposed of by Naomi, who hath returned out of the country of Moab;
Then said he to the kinsman, The parcel of land that was our brother Elimelech's, is to be disposed of by Naomi, who hath returned out of the country of Moab; and, I, thought, I would unveil thine ear, saying - Take it over in presence of such as are here seated, and in presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt act as kinsman, act as kinsman, but, if thou wilt not so act, only tell me - that I may know, for there is none who can set thee aside as kinsman, but, I, am after thee. And he said, I, will act as kinsman. read more. Then said Boaz, What day thou takest over the land from the hand of Naomi, also, of Ruth the Moabitess, wife of the dead, dost thou take it , to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. Then said the kinsman - I cannot act as kinsman for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance, - do, thou, for thyself act as kinsman in my right, for I cannot so redeem. Now, this aforetime, was the way in Israel, at a redeeming, and at an exchanging, to confirm every word: A man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour, - yea, this, was the way of taking to witness, in Israel. So the kinsman said unto Boaz, Take it over for thyself, - and he drew off his shoe. Then said Boaz to the elders, and all the people - Witnesses, are ye to-day, that I have taken over all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's, and Mahlon's, - from the hand of Naomi: Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, wife of Mahlon, have I taken over, to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off - from among his brethren, and from the gate of his dwelling- place, - Witnesses, are ye to-day! Then said all the people who were in the gate, and the elders - Witnesses!, - Yahweh grant the woman who is coming into thy house, to be as Rachel, and as Leah, which two of them did build the house of Israel. Do thou bravely, then, in Ephrathah, and proclaim thou a name in Bethlehem, And let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bare to Judah, - of the seed which - may Yahweh give thee, of this young woman.
And the women, her neighbours, gave him a name, saying, There is born a son to Naomi, - So they called his name Obed, he, was, the father of Jesse, the father of David.
And Naboth said unto Ahab, - Far be it from me, of Yahweh! that I should give up the inheritance of my fathers, unto thee!
Moab, is my wash-bowl, Upon Edom, will I throw my shoe, Over Philistia! raise shout of triumph.
Moab, is my wash-bowl, Upon Edom, will I throw my shoe, Over Philistia, raise a shout of triumph.
Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, - for, thus, saith the king of Assyria, Deal with me thankfully, and come out unto me, Then shall ye eat, Every one of his own vine and Every one of his own fig-tree, And drink every one the Waters of his own cistern:
And Jeremiah said, - The word of Yahweh came unto me saying: Lo! Hanameel son of Shallum thine uncle, hath come unto thee saying, - Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, for, thine, is the right of redemption to buy it. read more. So Hanameel son of mine uncle, came unto me, according to the word of Yahweh into the guard-court, and said unto me, Buy, I pray thee my field that is in Anathoth which is in the land of Benjamin, for, thine, is the right of inheritance, and, thine, the redemption, - buy it for thyself. So I knew, that the word of Yahweh, it was. And I bought the field from Hanameel son of mine uncle that was in Anathoth, - and weighed him the silver, seventeen shekels, was the silver;
On that day, there came unto him Sadducees, who say, there is, no resurrection - and they questioned him, saying - Teacher! Moses, said, If any man die not having children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. read more. Now there were, with us, seven brethren; and, the first, marrying, died, and not having seed, left his wife unto his brother.
And one from amongst the multitude said unto him - Teacher! bid my brother divide with me the inheritance.
And he said - A certain man, had two sons. And the younger of them said unto the father - Father! give me the share that falleth to me, of what there is. And, he, divided unto them the living. read more. And, after not many days, the younger son, gathering all together, left home for a country far away, and, there, squandered his substance with riotous living.
Hastings
Morish
This is used in various applications as of one coming into a possession. It is applied to the Lord when He came to Israel seeking fruit. They said in effect, "This is the heir: come let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours." Mr 12:7. Christ is appointed by God to be heir of all things. Heb 1:2. Believers are by grace made sons through Christ, hence heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Ro 8:17; Ga 4:7; cf. Joh 17:22.
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But, those husbandmen, unto themselves, said - This, is the heir: Come! let us slay him, and, ours, shall be, the inheritance.
And, I, the glory which thou hast given to me, have given to them, that they may be one, even as, we, are, one. -
And, if children, heirs also - heirs, indeed, of God, but co-heirs with Christ, - if, at least, we are suffering together, in order that we may also be glorified together.
So that, no longer, art thou a servant, but a son; and, if a son, an heir also, through God.
Smith
Heir.
The Hebrew institutions relative to inheritance were of a very simple character. Under the patriarchal system the property was divided among the sons of the legitimate wives,
a larger portion being assigned to one, generally the eldest, on whom devolved the duty of maintaining the females of the family. The sons of concubines were portioned off with presents.
At a later period the exclusion of the sons of concubines was rigidly enforced.
ff. Daughters had no share in the patrimony,
but received a marriage portion. The Mosaic law regulated the succession to real property thus: it has to be divided among the sons, the eldest receiving a double portion,
De 21:17
the others equal shares; if there were no sons, it went to the daughters,
on the condition that they did not marry out of their own tribe,
ff.; otherwise the patrimony was forfeited. If there were no daughters it went to the brother of the deceased; if no brother, to the paternal uncle; and, failing these to the next of kin.
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So she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, - for the son of this bondwoman must not inherit with my son with Isaac.
So Abraham rose up early in the morning - and took bread and a skin of water and gave unto hagar, - putting them on her shoulder and the child, and sent her forth, - so she went her way and wandered, in the desert of Beer-sheba.
then did Sarah wife of my lord, bear a son to my lord, after she had become old, - so he gave to him all that he had;
And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but, to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, - and then sent them away from Isaac his son while he himself yet lived, eastward unto the land of the east.
And unto the sons of Israel, shalt thou speak, saying, - When, any man, shall die, having no son, then shall ye cause his inheritance to pass over to his daughter. And, if he hath no daughter, then shall ye give his inheritance unto his, brethren. read more. And if he hath no brethren, then shall ye give his inheritance unto the brethren of his father. And, if his father hath no brethren, then shall ye give his inheritance unto his blood-relation that is near unto him of his family, and he shall possess it, - So shall it serve the sons of Israel as a regulative statute, As Yahweh commanded Moses.
This, is the thing which Yahweh hath commanded, as to the daughters of Zelophehad saying: Unto whomsoever it may be good in their eyes, let them become wives, - save only unto the family of the tribe of their father, let them become wives.
but the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, - for, he, is the beginning of hi strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.