por'-shun: As far as a distinction between these words is possible in English, it lies in the fact that a "portion" is a "part" about whose destiny something is implied (Psalms 142:5, etc.). The Hebrew has no two synonyms similarly related, and in consequence the use of the words in English Versions of the Bible is settled either by rather arbitrary considerations (menah, is always "portion" in the Revised Version (British and American), but is "part" in the King James Version, Exodus 29:26; Leviticus 7:33; 8:29) or by the context, irrespective of the Hebrew word used. So "part" and "portion" both represent dabhar, 1 Kings 6:38; Nehemiah 12:47; peh, Zechariah 13:8; Deuteronomy 21:17; chebhel, Joshua 17:5 (Revised Version); Ezekiel 47:13; meros, Luke 11:36; 12:46. And in the vast majority of cases in the Old Testament both words represent simply some derivative of chalaq, normally the noun cheleq.

Burton Scott Easton

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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