What Does Ezekiel 46:16 Mean?
Thus says the Lord GOD, If the lifted one gives a gift to any of his sons, its portion is theirs, and theirs to hold.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance.THE KEY
Here, giving does more than transfer value: it places lasting belonging into a son’s hands.
THE MEANING
A gift given to a son becomes more than a moment of generosity: it settles into a share he can hold as inheritance. The verse joins giving, belonging, and continuity, the gift placed in the son’s hands becomes a continuing possession.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that every gift from someone in authority is only temporary: a gift given to a son becomes his possession by inheritance.
THE ROOT
מַתָּנָה
mattanah
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
give, set, place
Mattanah, “gift,” grows from natan, “give, set, place.” The shared seed makes the gift an act of placing a share into the sons’ keeping; the verse’s next movement turns that placement into inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
natan: give, set, place
נָתַן
The verb behind “gift” presents giving as placing something into another’s care.
mattan: gift, present
מַתָּן
This related noun names what is given, tying the gift directly to the act that places it.
נַחֲלָה
nahalah
GROWS FROM
נחל
nachal
inherit, receive or assign as a share
“portion” in this verse is nahalah. Nahalah names the share received through inheritance, while forms of the same root describe receiving or assigning an inheritance. Here, the son receives the gift as a share meant to continue with him.
ALSO GROWS
nachal: inherit, receive as a share
נָחַל
The verb shows inheritance as something received, not merely named.
hinchil: cause to inherit, assign as an inheritance
הִנְחִיל
This form shows the other side of the verse’s movement: a share is placed with someone as an inheritance.
אֲחֻזָּה
achuzzah
GROWS FROM
אחז
achaz
take hold, grasp, hold
“theirs to hold” in this verse is achuzzah. The sons’ possession is described with the language of holding. The verse joins holding with receiving: inheritance is the share they receive and then hold as their own.
ALSO GROWS
achaz: take hold, grasp, hold
אָחַז
The verb reveals the concrete action beneath the word “possession.”
achuzzah: possession, property
אֲחֻזָּה
The noun names what is held, framing the sons’ inheritance as a share in their keeping.
THE PATTERN
A received share belongs to its heir, and inheritance carries that belonging forward.
And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass over to his daughter.The good one leaves an inheritance to his children's children; the strength of those who miss the mark is stored away for the aligned.So you are no longer a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through the Anointed One.THE THREAD
But if he gives a gift of his holding to one of his servants, it is his until the year of release, and after that it returns to the lifted one; but his holding stays with his sons.Both verses use the word for “gift,” מַתָּנָה (mattanah), from נָתַן (natan), “give, set, place.” Verse 17 turns on who receives it: a servant’s gift returns, while the son’s gift in verse 16 becomes an inheritance.
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