Matthew 5:
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
What is this usage of "inherit"?5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
The first meaning has to do with inheritance after the death of someone. There is a more general meaning:
- "to receive a lot, receive by lot; especially to receive a part of an inheritance, receive as an inheritance, obtain by right of inheritance";
This develops into a special usage:2. universally, "to receive the portion assigned to one, receive an allotted portion, receive as one's own or as a possession; to become partaker of, to obtain".
Matthew 19:But as the Israelites after taking possession of the land were harassed almost perpetually by their hostile neighbors, and even driven out of the country for a considerable period, it came to pass that the phrase was transferred to denote the tranquil and stable possession of the holy land crowned with all divine blessings, an experience which pious Israelites were to expect under the Messiah: Psalm 24:13 (); Psalm 36:9, 11, 22, 29, 34 () Alex.; Isaiah 60:21; Tobit 4:12; ἐκ δευτέρας κληρονομήσουσι τήν γῆν, Isaiah 61:7; hence, it became a formula denoting to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom: Matthew 5:5.
They will obtain and partake in eternal life.29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.