Deuteronomy 32:9

Summary

The verse presents a poetic parallelism declaring that Jacob — described as "his people" — constitutes the allotted share and measured inheritance belonging to Yehovah. The imagery draws on ancient land-division practices, where portions of territory were formally measured and assigned.

Key words

• ki ("for", H3588A) — a subordinating/asseverative particle opening the clause, connecting this verse to the preceding description of nations being apportioned among divine beings.
• chelek ("portion of", H2506A) — construct noun meaning an allotted share, here in construct with Yehovah (H3068G), naming what belongs specifically to him.
• amo ("his people", H5971A + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, standing in apposition to chelek Yehovah, identifying that portion as "his people."
• chevel ("measured portion of", H2256M) — literally a measuring cord or rope; by metonymy it denotes the plot of land marked out by that cord, paralleling chelek.
• nachalato ("his inheritance", H5159 + H9023) — construct noun with suffix, denoting a hereditary possession, paired with chevel to complete the second half of the parallel structure.

What the text says

The verse is built as a two-line synonymous parallelism. Line one states chelek Yehovah amo — "the portion of Yehovah [is] his people" — using chelek (H2506A), a term for an allotted share. Line two states Ya'akov chevel nachalato — "Jacob [is] the measuring-cord of his inheritance" — using chevel (H2256M), a word whose base meaning is a physical cord used to measure land, extended to mean the plot itself. The two lines are chiastic: "his people" appears at the end of line one, "Jacob" at the start of line two, with both nouns functioning as the same referent split across the parallel structure. The construct chains (chelek Yehovah, chevel nachalato) both express possession, but through different semantic domains — one abstract ("share"), one concrete and metrological ("measuring line/plot") — reinforcing the same idea through two land-allotment metaphors.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete text) reads μερὶς Τυρίου ("portion of Tyre") where the Hebrew has chelek Yehovah ("portion of Yehovah"); it also places Ἰσραήλ ("Israel") at the very end of the verse, whereas the Hebrew places Ya'akov ("Jacob") at the start of the second line, right after amo ("his people"). The Vulgate (Pars autem Domini, populus ejus: Jacob funiculus hæreditatis ejus) follows the Hebrew word order and parallel structure closely, rendering chevel as funiculus ("small cord"), matching the Hebrew's land-measuring imagery.