What Does Job 27:13 Mean in the King James?
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The oppressor’s inheritance is presented as a share received from the Almighty, not a possession power can author for itself.
THE MEANING
The verse places the oppressor’s portion and inheritance in relation to God. What they receive is an allotted share from the Almighty, not an outcome they define by their own power.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The oppressor’s power is not the final authority over what they inherit; their share is received from the Almighty.
THE ROOT
חֵלֶק
ḥēleq
GROWS FROM
חלק
ḥ-l-q
To divide, apportion, or assign a share.
English makes “portion” sound like a thing, while its root also carries the act of dividing and assigning a share. The verse presents the oppressor’s lot as apportioned, then names the Almighty as its source.
ALSO GROWS
ḥālaq: To divide or apportion.
חָלַק
The verb makes visible the act behind a portion: a share is set apart from a whole.
maḥălōqet: Division or dispute.
מַחֲלֹקֶת
This branch carries the root’s dividing sense into conflict over shares.
נַחֲלָה
naḥălāh
GROWS FROM
נחל
n-ḥ-l
To inherit, possess, or receive as an inheritance.
The heritage in this verse is a possession received, not merely a legacy left behind. Beside “portion,” it describes both the share assigned and what becomes someone’s inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
nāḥal: To inherit or take possession.
נָחַל
The verb shows the movement from receiving an inheritance to possessing it.
naḥălāh: Inheritance or possession.
נַחֲלָה
This noun names the received share that the verse says belongs to the oppressors’ lot.
עָרִיצִים
ʿārîṣîm
GROWS FROM
ערץ
ʿ-r-ṣ
To dread, tremble, or inspire terror.
“oppressors” in this verse is ʿārîṣîm. The Hebrew word points to ruthless, terror-bringing people, adding the dread their power spreads to the sense of oppression. The verse’s portion reaches those who make others live under fear.
ALSO GROWS
ʿārîṣ: A ruthless or violent person; a tyrant.
עָרִיץ
This singular form names the kind of person described in the verse’s plural “oppressors.”
ʿāraṣ: To dread, tremble, or terrify.
עָרַץ
The verb reveals the terror contained in the oppressors’ way of exercising power.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents inheritance as an allotted share whose source and security are held in relation to God.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,THE THREAD
For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.The same portion and inheritance language appears here, but God is the one who holds the share: his people are his portion. The shared roots frame possession as belonging held in relation to God, rather than something defined by power alone.
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