Messianic Expansion

His life will repose in bounty, and his seed will inherit the earth.  Psalm 25:13  Robert Alter translation

Will inherit – When the ESV, NIV, NLT and NASB choose to translate ‘erets as “land,” we miss the vital connection between David’s poetry and Yeshua’s beatitude.  Translators may sometimes be justified in choosing “land” rather than “earth.”  “Land” is the preferred translation 1581 times while “earth” is used only 655 times.  Nevertheless, since either one could be used here, I believe we should use the one that connects David and Yeshua.  Who will inherit the earth (not the “land”)?

David’s answer is straightforward.  Those who inherit are the “lowly in justice,” the ones who are “keepers of His pact and precepts,” who “fear the Lord” and are “guided by Him.”  Yeshua summarizes David.  Those who inherit are the “meek,” a singularly unhelpful word for our time.  Since Yeshua’s beatitude is a citation from David’s thirty-seventh psalm, we should use David’s word—‘anawim.  And that certainly does not mean “meek.” 

When we examined Psalm 25:9, we learned that the root word ‘ana is used more than 200 times in the Old Testament.  This root carries the sense of being forced into submission or being afflicted with pain or punishment.  Only through extension does it come to mean a moral and spiritual condition.  Its initial sense lies in the arena of conflict, oppression and war.  A person who is ‘anaw is one who lives in both internal emotional affliction and external pain and suffering.  The afflicted will rejoice when they see God’s deliverance, find protection in His power and grace, and follow His laws.

Isn’t that exactly what happens to us in affliction?  We are forced to confront our oppressors and we are forced to confront our God.  Affliction is not passive.  We do not have the choice of avoiding something forced on us, whether it seems to come by accident or not.  How we respond to this forced submission is our only choice and our true responsibility.  The Old Testament context of this word means that we will see life very differently than stoic resignation to abuse.  We see that He is sovereign.  We see that His will prevails.  We see that affliction, suffering and pain pass through His grace before they touch our breath.   We see that submission is the hallmark of victory because it His will before ours.  We see that our response to trials and tribulations must come from His direction, not ours.  We must confront the demand to submit our quest for self-sufficiency to the authority of another.  If we are to live in God’s world, we must live as men and women who display power under bondage.

Who will inherit?  Those who have turned their strength into domesticated divine service, who have learned how to bend the yetzer ha’ra to the service of the yetzer ha’tov.  Are you inheriting the earth?

Topical Index:  ‘anawim, ‘ana, meek, humble, Matthew 5:5, Psalm 25:13, inherit