Deuteronomy 10:9
New International Version
That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the LORD is their inheritance, as the LORD your God told them.)

New Living Translation
That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The LORD himself is their special possession, as the LORD your God told them.)

English Standard Version
Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)

Berean Standard Bible
That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.

King James Bible
Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

New King James Version
Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.)

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God spoke to him.)

NASB 1995
Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God spoke to him.)

NASB 1977
Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God spoke to him.)

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, just as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)

Amplified Bible
Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance [of tribal land] with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God has promised him.)

Christian Standard Bible
For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God told him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God told him.”

American Standard Version
Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him.)

Contemporary English Version
The LORD promised that he would always provide for the tribe of Levi, and that's why he won't give them any land, when he divides it among the other tribes.

English Revised Version
Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God spake unto him.)

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is why the tribe of Levi has no land of their own as the other tribes have. The LORD your God is their only possession, as he promised them.

Good News Translation
That is why the tribe of Levi received no land as the other tribes did; what they received was the privilege of being the LORD's priests, as the LORD your God promised.)

International Standard Version
That is why the descendants of Levi do not have a portion and an inheritance among their relatives. As for the LORD, he is their inheritance, just as the LORD your God told them.

Majority Standard Bible
That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.

NET Bible
Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance just as the LORD your God told him.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God spoke to him.)

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

World English Bible
Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
therefore there has not been a portion and inheritance for Levi with his brothers; YHWH Himself [is] his inheritance, as your God YHWH has spoken to him.

Young's Literal Translation
therefore there hath not been to Levi a portion and inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah Himself is his inheritance, as Jehovah thy God hath spoken to him.

Smith's Literal Translation
For this, there was not to Levi a portion and an inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah, he is his inheritance, as Jehovah thy God spake to him.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren: because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God promised him.

Catholic Public Domain Version
As a result, Levi has no portion or possession with his brothers. For the Lord himself is his possession, just as the Lord your God promised him.

New American Bible
For this reason, Levi has no hereditary portion with his relatives; the LORD himself is his portion, as the LORD, your God, promised him.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance with his kindred; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.)
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; because the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God promised him.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because of this there was no division or inheritance for Levi with his brothers, for LORD JEHOVAH is his inheritance, as LORD JEHOVAH your God said to him.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God spoke unto him.--

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore the Levites have no part nor inheritance among their brethren; the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he said to them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The New Tablets of Stone
8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day. 9That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him. 10I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.…

Cross References
Numbers 18:20
Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Joshua 13:14
To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The food offerings to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

Joshua 13:33
To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

Ezekiel 44:28
In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

Numbers 18:23-24
The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites. / For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Hebrews 7:5
Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham.

1 Corinthians 9:13-14
Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? / In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

Hebrews 7:13-14
He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. / For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; / you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Malachi 3:8-10
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. / You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. / Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.

Nehemiah 13:10-11
I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields. / So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts,

2 Chronicles 31:4-5
Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD. / As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously provided the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance—a tithe of everything.

2 Chronicles 31:19
As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around each of their cities or in any other city, men were designated by name to distribute a portion to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed by the genealogies.

Deuteronomy 18:1-2
The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance. / Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.


Treasury of Scripture

Why Levi has no part nor inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God promised him.

Deuteronomy 18:1,2
The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance…

Numbers 18:20-24
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel…

Numbers 26:62
And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

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Deuteronomy 10
1. God's mercy in restoring the two tablets
6. in continuing the priesthood
8. in separating the tribe of Levi
10. in hearkening unto Moses' plea for his people
12. An exhortation to obedience














That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers;
The tribe of Levi was set apart for priestly duties and service to God, which is why they did not receive a territorial inheritance like the other tribes of Israel. This distinction is rooted in their role as spiritual leaders and mediators between God and the people. Historically, the Levites were responsible for the tabernacle and later the temple services, which required them to be dispersed among the other tribes rather than concentrated in one area. This arrangement ensured that they could minister to all of Israel. The absence of a land inheritance underscores their unique calling and dependence on God for provision, as they were supported by the tithes and offerings of the other tribes.

the LORD is his inheritance,
This phrase highlights the spiritual inheritance of the Levites, which is a direct relationship and service to God. Unlike the other tribes, whose inheritance was physical land, the Levites' inheritance was spiritual and relational. This concept is echoed in the New Testament, where believers are described as a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), indicating that their ultimate inheritance is found in their relationship with God through Christ. The Levites' reliance on God for their sustenance and provision serves as a type of the believer's reliance on Christ for spiritual sustenance.

as the LORD your God promised him.
This promise refers to God's covenantal assurances to the tribe of Levi, which are found in various parts of the Pentateuch, such as Numbers 18:20-24. God's promises to the Levites were fulfilled through the provision of tithes and offerings, which supported their ministry. This promise also reflects God's faithfulness to His word and His provision for those who serve Him. The Levites' role and inheritance were a fulfillment of God's plan and a testament to His sovereign will. This assurance of God's promises is a theme that runs throughout Scripture, emphasizing His unchanging nature and the certainty of His word.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Levi
The third son of Jacob and Leah, whose descendants became the tribe of Levi. The Levites were set apart for religious duties and service to God.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal, self-existent nature and His relationship with Israel.

3. Inheritance
In the context of ancient Israel, inheritance typically referred to the land allotted to each tribe. The Levites were unique in that they did not receive a land inheritance.

4. Moses
The leader of the Israelites who delivered God's laws and instructions, including the allocation of land and duties among the tribes.

5. Promised Land
The land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Teaching Points
God as Our Inheritance
Just as the Levites found their inheritance in God, believers today are called to find their ultimate satisfaction and identity in their relationship with God rather than in material possessions.

Service Over Possession
The Levites' role emphasizes the importance of service to God and others over the accumulation of wealth or land. Christians are encouraged to prioritize serving God and His kingdom.

Trust in God's Provision
The Levites relied on God's provision through the tithes of the other tribes. This teaches us to trust in God's provision and faithfulness, even when we lack material security.

Spiritual Inheritance
Believers are reminded that their true inheritance is spiritual, found in Christ and the eternal life He offers, rather than in earthly possessions.(9) The Lord is his inheritance.--As He was the inheritance of Aaron, Moses' brother, whom he had recently taken to Himself, and to whose death Moses had just referred.

Verse 9. - (Cf. Numbers 18:20-24.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
That is why
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Levi
לְלֵוִ֛י (lə·lê·wî)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3881: Levites -- descendant of Levi

has
הָיָ֧ה (hā·yāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

no
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

portion
חֵ֥לֶק (ḥê·leq)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2506: Portion, tract, territory

or inheritance
וְנַחֲלָ֖ה (wə·na·ḥă·lāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

among
עִם־ (‘im-)
Preposition
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

his brothers;
אֶחָ֑יו (’e·ḥāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 251: A brother, )

the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

is his inheritance,
נַחֲלָת֔וֹ (na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

as
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

the LORD
יְהוָ֥ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ (’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

promised him.
דִּבֶּ֛ר (dib·ber)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 10:9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance (Deut. De Du)
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