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Psalm 61 · a question people ask

What is "the heritage of those who fear your name" (61:5)?

In the text

The psalm doesn't say. "For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name" (61:5) (tap heritage). Heritage is yerushah, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "possession, inheritance". This is its only use in the Psalms. The Hebrew Bible has it 14 times, seven of them in Deuteronomy, where it is land given: Mount Seir given "to Esau for a possession" (Deuteronomy 2:5), and "Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you" (Deuteronomy 3:20). The psalm says only that the heritage is "of those who fear your name" and that God has given it (61:5). It doesn't say whether it means land, a place in God's tent (61:4), or something else, and these notes don't choose.

The verses

“I will dwell in your tent forever. I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah. For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.”
Psalm 61:4-5 · World English Bible
“Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.”
Deuteronomy 2:5 · World English Bible
“until the LORD gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you.””
Deuteronomy 3:20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 61

Psalm 61: The rock that is higher than I

Psalm 61's rock, higher, tent and shelter (61:2-4) are four Hebrew words that Psalm 27:5 also has. Its "strong tower" (61:3) is a pair of Hebrew words found only three times in the Hebrew Bible, once as "The LORD’s name" (Proverbs 18:10). And it opens asking God to hear (61:1), then says, "you, God, have heard" (61:5).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions