H2506a H2506a
Portion, share, or allotted tract; one's assigned part of goods, land, or covenantal inheritance.
Heleq captures the ancient Near Eastern idea that life's goods — spoils, food, land, even one's relationship with God — come as measured portions. After battle, warriors divide the heleq of plunder (Gen 14:24; 1 Sam 30:24). In the land apportionment traditions, it narrows to a specific tract or plot, as in 'the portion of Naboth' at Jezreel (2 Kgs 9:10, 36-37). Most strikingly, the Psalmist declares 'The LORD is my heleq' (Ps 16:5), where the word ascends from material share to spiritual patrimony — a sense reflected in Spanish herencia and German Erbteil, both meaning 'inheritance' rather than mere 'portion.'
Senses
1. portion, share, allotment — The broad, dominant sense: an allotted portion or share of something divisible — spoils of war (Gen 14:24), food offerings (Lev 6:17), or one's lot in life (Eccl 9:6, 9). The 61 occurrences span concrete distribution (Num 31:36, 'portion of the booty') to abstract destiny (Eccl 11:2, 'give a portion to seven'). Spanish parte, French part, and German Anteil all render this general distributive meaning. The preposition be- with heleq indicates 'having a share in' something, including political allegiance (2 Sam 20:1). 61×
AR["حِصَّةُ","حِيلِق","قِسْمٌ","نَصيباً","نَصيبٌ","نَصيبُ","نَصِيبٌ","نَصِيبَ","نَصِيبُ"]·ben["অংশ"]·DE["Anteil","Anteil-von","Teil","[חלק]","ein-Anteil","einen-Anteil"]·EN["a-portion","portion","portion-of"]·FR["[חלק]","part","part-de","portion","portion-de","un-portion"]·heb["חֵלֶק","חלק"]·HI["भाग","हिस्सा"]·ID["bagian"]·IT["[חלק]","porzione","porzione-di","un-porzione"]·jav["bagean","bageyan","bagian","bagéan","bagéan-ipun","bagéyan","panduman","peranganipun"]·KO["몫이","몶","몶이","부분이","분깃이","분깍","분깍(접)","분깍-이","분깍이","분량을"]·PT["parte","porção","porção-de"]·RU["доли","долю","доля","удел","удела","части","часть"]·ES["la-porción-de","parte","parte-de","porción","porción-de"]·SW["fungu","fungu-la","sehemu","sehemu-ya"]·TR["pay","payı","payımız"]·urd["حصہ"]
Gen 14:24, Gen 31:14, Lev 6:17, Num 18:20, Num 18:20, Num 31:36, Deut 10:9, Deut 12:12, Deut 14:27, Deut 14:29, Deut 18:1, Deut 32:9 (+38 more)
2. tract of land, plot — A geographical narrowing to a specific tract or plot of land, viewed as a bounded parcel rather than an abstract share. This sense clusters around the Naboth-Jezreel narrative: 'in the plot of Jezreel' (2 Kgs 9:10, 36, 37) and Amos 7:4. German der Teil and Spanish la porcion here denote a measurable piece of real estate — the field itself, not the right to it. Only four occurrences carry this concretely spatial sense. 4×
AR["الْحَقْلَ","في-حَقْلِ"]·ben["-অংশকে","জমিতে-"]·DE["der-Teil","in-Anteil-von"]·EN["in-portion-of","the-portion"]·FR["dans-part-de","part"]·heb["ב-חלק","ה-חלק"]·HI["बखेलेक","भाग।"]·ID["di-ladang"]·IT["[החלק]","in-porzione-di"]·jav["Ing-pekarangan","ing-pekarangan","warisan"]·KO["그-밭을","밭에서"]·PT["a-porção","na-porção-de"]·RU["на-участке","удел"]·ES["En-porción-de","en-porción-de","la-porción"]·SW["katika-shamba-la","sehemu"]·TR["tarlasında","tarlayı"]·urd["-حصہ","حصے-میں"]
3. inheritance, patrimony — A single but theologically significant occurrence in Psalm 16:5: 'The LORD is the portion of my inheritance (heleq-i).' Here the word transcends material allocation to express covenantal patrimony — God himself as the believer's permanent, inalienable possession. Spanish mi herencia and German mein Erbteil both shift from 'share' to 'inheritance,' signaling the deeper register. This anticipates the Levitical principle that God is the priests' heleq in lieu of land (Num 18:20). 1×
AR["حِصَّتِي"]·ben["আমার-অধিকারের"]·DE["mein-Erbteil"]·EN["my-inheritance"]·FR["part"]·heb["חלקי"]·HI["मेरी-मीरास-का"]·ID["warisanku"]·IT["porzione"]·jav["bagian-kula"]·KO["기업-의"]·PT["minha-herança"]·RU["удела-моего"]·ES["mi-herencia"]·SW["fungu-langu"]·TR["mirasımın"]·urd["میرے-بٹوارے-کا"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. חֵ֫לֶק n.m. Jos 18:5 portion, tract, territory—ח׳ abs. Gn 31:14 +; cstr. Gn 14:24 +; sf. חֶלְקִי ψ 16:5 + 6 times; חֶלְקְךָ Nu 18:20 Ec 9:9; חֶלְקֶ֑ךָ ψ 50:18; חֶלְקֵךְ Is 57:6; חֶלְקוֹ Hb 1:16 + 5 times; חֶלְקָם Gn 14:24 + 3 times; pl. חֲלָקִים Jos 18:5 + 5 times; sf. חֶלְקֵיהֶם Ho 5:7;— 1. portion, share: a. of booty Gn 14:24(×2) Nu 31:36 (P) 1 S 30:24(×2). b. of food Lv 6:10 (P); ח׳ כּח׳…