Lot, Lots
Lot, Lots
denotes (a) an object used in casting or drawing lots, which consisted of bits, or small tablets, of wood or stone (the probable derivation is from klao, “to break”); these were sometimes inscribed with the names of persons, and were put into a receptacle or a garment (“a lap,” Pro 16:33), from which they were cast, after being shaken together; he whose “lot” first fell out was the one chosen. The method was employed in a variety of circumstances, e.g., of dividing or assigning property, Mat 27:35; Mar 15:24; Luk 23:34; Joh 19:24 (cp., e.g., Num 26:55); of appointing to office, Act 1:26 (cp., e.g., 1Sa 10:20); for other occurrences in the OT, see, e.g., Jos 7:14 (the earliest instance in Scripture); Lev 16:7-10; Est 3:7; Est 9:24; (b) “what is obtained by lot, an allotted portion,” e.g., of the ministry allotted to the Apostles, Act 1:17, RV, “portion,” marg., “lot” (AV, “part”); in some mss. Act 1:25, AV, “part” (the RV follows those which have topos, “place”); Act 8:21; it is also used like kleronomia, “an inheritance,” in Act 26:18, of what God has in grace assigned to the sanctified; so Col 1:12; in 1Pe 5:3 it is used of those the spiritual care of, and charge over, whom is assigned to elders, RV, “the charge allotted to you” (plural, lit., “the charges”), AV, “(God’s) heritage.” From kleros the word “clergy” is derived (a transposition in the application of the term). See CHARGE, No. 4.
denotes (a) “to draw lots,” Joh 19:24; (b) “to obtain by lot, to obtain,” Luk 1:9, “his lot was,” lit., “he received by lot,” i.e., by Divine appointment; Act 1:17, of the portion “allotted” by the Lord to His Apostles in their ministry (cp. A, above); 2Pe 1:1, “that have obtained (a like precious faith),” i.e., by its being “allotted” to them, not by acquiring it for themselves, but by Divine grace (an act independent of human control, as in the casting of “lots”). See OBTAIN.
Note: For divide by lot see DIVIDE.