What Does Numbers 27:10 Mean in the King James?
And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.
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 absence of a brother does not erase the inheritance; it redirects it along the father’s branch.
THE MEANING
If a man has no brothers, the inheritance passes to his father’s brothers. The missing branch changes who receives it, while the inheritance remains within the family line.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A missing direct heir means the inheritance has no destination and simply disappears.
THE ROOT
נַחֲלָה
naḥălāh
GROWS FROM
נחל
To inherit or possess; נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, inheritance) is what is received and held.
The verse’s inheritance is not merely property named for a recipient; it belongs to a word-family of receiving and possessing. The line of kinship determines who receives and holds it when the nearer branch is absent.
ALSO GROWS
nāḥal: To inherit or possess.
נָחַל
The verb shows the inheritance as something received and held, not something erased when one branch is missing.
naḥălāh: Inheritance or possession.
נַחֲלָה
This is the estate that continues through the family line to the next named relatives.
וּנְתַתֶּם
u-netatem
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place; נָתַן (natan) means to give or place.
“give” in this verse is u-netatem. The verb carries the sense of placing as well as giving: the inheritance is assigned to a particular branch of the family. Its holder changes, while its place in the line of kinship remains clear.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
The verb in this verse assigns the inheritance to the father’s brothers.
mattanah: A gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This related noun comes from the same root and shows the act of giving as something placed into another’s hands.
THE PATTERN
An inheritance follows recognized belonging, passing through a family line when a nearer heir is absent.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased 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 place: ye are witnesses this day.And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.THE THREAD
And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.The next verse carries נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, inheritance) onward: if there are no paternal uncles either, the estate goes to the nearest kinsman in the family. The branch changes, while the inheritance remains within the family line.
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