The passing of property at the owner’s death to those entitled to succeed. The major rule for ancient Israel stated that if a man died without leaving a son, his property was transferred to his daughter. If he had no daughter, his property was assigned to his brothers. If he had no brothers, it was assigned to his father’s brothers. If there were none, the property was assigned to the nearest relative in his own clan (Num 27:8-11). There is a supplementary rule that required the daughter who inherited to marry into a family of her father’s tribe, preferably into the family of her father’s brothers (Num 36:6; Num 36:11). Biblical legislation also established the right of the firstborn to inherit a double portion of his father’s possessions, i.e., twice as much as that received by each of his brothers (Deut 21:17). It furthermore prohibited the father from conferring the right of the firstborn upon a younger son (Deut 21:16), which had been a prevalent practice in earlier times (Gen 21:10; Gen 27:37; Gen 48:18-20; 1Chr 5:1). In addition to its legal usage, the term “inheritance” is used in theological contexts to affirm the relationship between God and people (Deut 9:26; Deut 9:29; Jer 10:16; Ps 28:9; Gal 3:7-14). In the NT Jesus on one occasion refused to judge the rectitude of an unequal inheritance (Luke 12:13). He also told parables involving such bequests (Matt 21:38; Luke 15:12). The Pauline Letters speak of God’s kingdom or of salvation as inheritance (Eph 5:5; Col 3:24; Heb 9:15; 1Pet 1:4).
