What Does Luke 12:13 Mean?
And someone from the crowd said to him, Teacher, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
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
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.THE KEY
The request asks the teacher to become a divider, making an inherited share something secured by splitting it between brothers.
THE MEANING
One voice asks an authority to make a brother divide what is inherited. The share is treated as something that can be secured through partition, while the brother remains the person from whom it must be divided. The verse leaves the claim unresolved, bringing the demand itself into view.
THE ROOT
μερίσασθαι
merisasthai
GROWS FROM
μερίζω
merizō
To divide or apportion into parts.
The verb carries both the act of splitting and the act of allotting a share. English “divide” can sound like a simple split, while this word also holds the question of who receives which portion.
ALSO GROWS
meros: A part or share.
μέρος
This related word shows the portion that emerges when something is divided.
meristēs: A divider or distributor.
μεριστής
This word names the person doing the dividing, a role the request asks the teacher to take on.
κληρονομίαν
klēronomian
GROWS FROM
κλῆρος
klēros
A lot or an allotted share.
The word for inheritance carries the idea of a possession received as an allotment. Beside “divide,” it makes the request about assigning portions of what has been received.
ALSO GROWS
klēronomos: An heir.
κληρονόμος
An heir is the one who receives an allotted share.
klēronomia: An inheritance.
κληρονομία
This related noun presents inheritance as a share received or assigned.
THE PATTERN
A claim to a portion raises the question of who has authority to assign or divide it.
But he recognizes the son of the hated as the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.For I say, through the favor given to me, to every one among you, not to think of himself above what he ought to think, but to think soundly, as God has divided to each a measure of trust.And he said to him, Man, who set me as a judge or a divider over you?THE THREAD
And he said to him, Man, who set me as a judge or a divider over you?The answer names the role the request quietly assigns him: divider. The same word family stands behind “divide” here and “divider” in the next verse, making the request’s hidden structure audible.
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