{b) The Roman and. the Roman-Greek laws of inheritance considerably affected the NT language. St. Paul, writing to persons who would not be familiar with Jewish law, refers to customs and laws which they would at once understand. Ac- cording to Roman law, sons must inherit, and a will leaving property away from sons was invalid (Ramsay, op. cit. p. 344). Sons and daughters inherited alike (Lightfoot on Gal 4''). Ramsay draws out the differences between strictly Roman law and the law in hellenized countries conquered by Rome, which was founded on Greek law : the Romans left much of the latter in force. Accord- ing to Greek law, a son could be disinherited (Ram- say, p. 367). In AsiaMinor and Athens adaugliter could inherit, and an adopted son probably married the lieiress {ib. pp. 340, 363). Daughters in Greek law had an indefeasible right to a doAvry {ib. p. 367). A minor came of age at the time fixed by his father's will ; if there was no will, the law fixed the period of nonage, but the Greek (Seleucid) law differed from the Roman as to the period [ib. p. 392). See Roman Law.
These facts help us to understand some passages in St. Paul whicli speak of the connexion between sonship and heirship. In Ro 8^'', Gal 3^^ 4'' the latter is deduced from the former. We are God's children, and therefore His heirs. ' Thou art no longer a bondservant but a son ; and if a son then an heir through God.' ' If ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to i)romise.' Or the sonship is deduced from the heirship ; in Gal 3' ' they which be of faith ' — who succeed as heirs to Abraham's faith [here the idea of succes- sion may be faintly seen] — ' the same are sons of Abraham.' In Col 3^"* bondservants are promised ' the recompense of the inlieritance,' but this is because by becoming Christians they become the sons of God. Similarly in He 12^ though the idea of inheritance is not explicitly mentioned, the promise (11^) can be attained only by suffering (cf. below, 3 (/)) ; and if Christians refuse this, they are 'bastards and not sons.' Bastards cannot inherit the promise.
3. Usage in the NT. — [a] The words KX-qpovofios, KXrjpovoiJ.ia, etc., are used literally, as in the Parable of the Vineyard (Mk 12", JSlt 2138, l^; 2u"), where, however, there is a metaphorical interpretation (see (c)) ; so in Lk 12'^ where Jesus is asked to divide the inheritance between two brothers, apparently to settle a dispute, and in Gal 4^, where the son, the heir, is as a servant during his nonage, though lord of all the property, the reference being to the Law and the Gospel. The words are also used literally in the NT of Canaan as the land of promise ; cf. Ac 7^ where it is meant that Abraham did not actually enter into possession ; and He 11^'-, where Isaac and Jacob are fellow-heirs {av/KX-qp-
544 HEIK, HEEITAGE, INHERITANCE
HELL
ov6iJi,oi) with Abraliam ; and He 12", wliere Esau failed to inherit the blessing. So in Gal 4^" (a quotation from Gn 21"') Ishniael, the son of the handmaid, may not inherit with Isaac, the son of the f reewoman ; this also is applied to the Law and the Gospel.
(6) From the literal sense the passage is easy to the metaphorical — the idea of the Messianic hope. Noah became 'heir of the righteousness which is according to faith' (He IF). Abraham was promised that he should be ' heir of the world ' (Ko 4'^) — a passage which has given some difficulty to commentators, as there is no such promise explicitly made in the OT ; the reference is pro- bably to Gn 12' 22'* and similar passages : in Abraham's seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed ; cf. Gn IS'*, and [of Isaac] 26^ This promise is quoted in Ac 3"^^ by St. Peter, and in Gal 3* by St. Paul. The reference in Ro 4^' can hardly be to the possession of Canaan, which would not be called ' the world ' (see also (d) below). By a somewhat different figure Israel is said in the OT to be God's inheritance or portion (Dt 9-^* ^^ 32") ; and in the LXX addition at tlie end of Est 4 the Jews are spoken of as ' thy [God's] original inherit- ance' (ttjj" 6^ dpxv^ KXrjpovo/j.lai' crov). Conversely, God is said to be the inheritance of the sons of Aaron or of the Levites (Nu 18-», Dt lO^, etc.). In the sense of the ' Messianic hope' (as in the more literal sense of the possession of Canaan) the words • inheritance ' and ' promise ' become almost identi- cal, as in Gal 3^\ He 6''^.
(c) The ' promise ' is fulfilled by Jesus becoming incarnate. He describes Himself as the Heir in the Parable of the Vineyard. He is the Heir because He is the Son, the First-born, as opposed to the servants — i.e. the prophets. In He P Jesus is called the ' heir of all things ' because He was the Instrument in creation through whom the Father made the worlds {tous alQvas). So in v.^ He is said to have ' inherited ' a more excellent name than the angels. The metaphor is doubtless based on Ps 2^ : the nations are given to Messiah as His inheritance (see Westcott, op. cit. p. 8).