Psalms 16:5

the portion&c. Lit. the portion of my share and my cup: i.e. my allotted portion and cup. The word rendered sharedenotes a portion assigned, whether of land or property or food. The A.V., portion of mine inheritance, implies that Jehovah is compared to the share allotted him in the distribution of the land, a view supported by 5 b, 6; but my cupsuggests rather the idea of a portion of food: Jehovah is all that he needs to satisfy hunger and thirst. Comp. Psalms 42:2; John 6:35; and contrast Psalms 11:6.

Thou maintainest my lot Lit. thou holdest fast my lot. My welfare is in Thy hand; no man can rob me of it. But the form of the word rendered maintainestis anomalous; and context and parallelism seem to require a further statement of what God isfor the Psalmist rather than what He doesfor him. Hence some critics render, Thou art the possession of my lot.

The language used here reminds us of the Levites, who had no portion or inheritance, but Jehovah was their portion (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9; Deuteronomy 18:1). Israel was a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6); and spiritually, Jehovah was the portion of Israel (Jeremiah 10:16), and of individual Israelites (Psalms 73:26; Psalms 119:57; Psalms 142:5; Lamentations 3:24).