They shall have no inheritance: This reading is taken from the Latin Vulgate instead of the Hebrew, which reads “And it will be their inheritance.” Unfortunately, it is not clear what the pronoun “it” refers to, so many translations choose to follow the Vulgate here because they think it makes more sense (so Revised Standard Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible, Moffatt). But this pronoun may refer to the office of the priesthood which the previous verses talk about; for example, Good News Translation renders this clause as “The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given to be handed down from one generation to another.” This makes good sense and is the best model to follow. Inheritance usually refers to the land of Israel that God promised to Abraham and his descendants (see the comments on 35.15), but here it refers to the priesthood promised to Aaron and his descendants.

I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession: Like inheritance, possession also refers to land that a person legally owns. In most cultures owning a piece of land is a matter of great significance. Twice in this verse God says that, for the priests, he himself will fulfill this need to have land. Therefore they will have no land like that given to the other tribes on which to live and from which to make a living. The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to the people of Israel. God is addressing them through Ezekiel. This pronoun may be avoided by rendering you shall give them no possession in Israel as “they will not own property in Israel” or “They are not to hold property in Israel” (Good News Translation).

A model for this verse is:

• “It will be enough for the priests that they have the privilege of being my priests. Of all that I will give to my people, I will give myself to the priests as their share. They will not own any land in the land of Israel to provide what they need to live, because I will provide everything they need.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .