Bible Dictionary
HERITAGE
Heritage is an allotted possession, inheritance, portion, or special property. Scripture speaks of Israel’s land inheritance and, spiritually, of believers as God’s treasured possession.
Definition
Heritage is an allotted possession, inheritance, portion, share, property, or peculiar right. It may refer to land received as an inheritance, to a people belonging specially to God, or to a possession assigned in another sense.
Biblical Usage
The Old Testament applies heritage to the land transferred from the Canaanites to Israel and to Israel as Yahweh’s heritage. In Ephesians 1:11, the term is applied to believers, understood as God’s peculiar possession.
Historical Background
The principal Hebrew term is related to giving or allotting, while the New Testament terminology expresses receiving an allotted possession. The entry associates heritage with land, property, and a specially possessed people.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>her'-i-taj (nachalah, from nachal, "to give"; kleroo): That which is allotted, possession, property, portion, share, peculiar right, inheritance; applied to land transferred from the Canaanites to Israel (Ps 11:6; 136:22); to Israel, as the heritage of Yahweh (Joe 3:2, etc.). In the New Testament (Eph 1:11) applied to believers, the spiritual Israel, as God's peculiar possession (Ellicott, Eadie).</p>