1. an inheritance, property received (or to be received) by inheritance, (Isocrates, Demosthenes, Aristotle): Matthew 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 12:13; Luke 20:14.

2. what is given to one as a possession ((cf. English inheritance); see κληρονομέω, 2): διδόναι τί τίνι κληρονομίαν, Acts 7:5; λαμβάνειν τί εἰς κληρονομίαν, Hebrews 11:8 ((cf. Aristotle, eth. Nic. 7, 14, p. 1153b, 33)). Agreeably to the O. T. usage, which employs נַחֲלָה now of the portion of the holy land allotted to each of the several tribes (Joshua 13:23, 28, etc.), now of the whole territory given to Israel for a possession (Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 15:4, etc. — and nothing appeared to the Israelites more desirable than the quiet, prosperous, permanent possession of this land, see κληρονομέω, 2), the noun κληρονομία, lifted to a loftier sense in the N. T., is used to denote a. "the eternal blessedness in the consummated kingdom of God which is to be expected after the visible return of Christ": Galatians 3:18; Colossians 3:24 (τῆς κληρονομίας, genitive of apposition (Winer's Grammar, § 59, 8 a.)); Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:4; ἡμῶν, destined for us, Ephesians 1:14; τοῦ Θεοῦ, given by God, 18.

b. the share which an individual will have in that eternal blessedness: Acts 20:32; Ephesians 5:5.