גּוֹרָל

From the study of Joel 3:3

Range of meaning

Goral is a lot: a small stone or marked token cast or drawn to settle an allotment. By extension it means the share that falls to someone ('my lot', Ps 16:5) or their destiny. It was used for dividing land (Josh 14–19), assigning duties (1 Chr 24–26), choosing between goats on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:8) and dividing spoil. The verb yadad, 'cast', is used only with goral.

Against the English

English 'cast lots' is accurate. A modern reader may picture idle dice-gambling, but here the scene is the formal division of captured people among the victors, the way soldiers divide loot.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase yaddu goral appears in Obad 11 (foreigners casting lots over Jerusalem) and Nah 3:10 (lots cast for the nobles of Thebes, who were bound in chains). In all three the objects are conquered people. Compare Ps 22:18, lots for clothing. Dividing captives by lot is also known from ancient Near Eastern and Greek war practice.

From the study of Psalm 16:5

Range of meaning

(1) The lot itself, a marked stone or token that was cast or drawn to make a decision (Lev 16:8, the two goats on the Day of Atonement; Prov 16:33). (2) The portion decided by the lot, especially a tract of land (Josh 15:1; 17:14; 18:11). (3) By extension, one's destiny or appointed place (Isa 17:14; Jer 13:25; Dan 12:13 'you will rise to your lot at the end of the days').

Against the English

English 'lot' still carries all three senses (cast lots, a building lot, one's lot in life), so the rendering is good. What modern readers may miss is the picture: lots were cast 'before Yahweh,' and the result was understood as his decision.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 26:55–56 and Josh 14–19 (land divided by lot); Josh 18:6–10 (Joshua casts lots 'before Yahweh' at Shiloh); Prov 16:33 ('The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh'); Mic 2:5 (no one 'to cast the line by lot' in the assembly). The Dead Sea Scrolls use 'lot' (gôrāl) heavily for a person's destiny and for the side they belong to ('the lot of God' and 'the lot of Belial').

From the study of Ezekiel 24:6

Range of meaning

A lot: a marked stone or token cast to reach a decision. It was used to divide land (Josh 18–19), to pick out a person (Jonah 1:7), to choose the goats on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:8), and by conquerors to share out captives (Joel 3:3; Obad 11; Nah 3:10).

Against the English

BSB 'cast no lots for its contents' and KJV 'let no lot fall upon it' keep the image. ESV and NASB give its meaning as 'without making any choice'. NIV has 'in whatever order it comes'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nahum 3:10 describes lots cast over the nobles of Thebes when it fell. Ezekiel's 'no lot' fits the same world of the aftermath of a siege.