The revelation of the Mosaic Law reminds us that man is but a steward of the land which he momentarily occupies; our responsibility is to use it justly.
Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [2] and donkeys he will take for his own use.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
Thank you. This is a nice article and it is good to be reminded of the jubilee in the Old Testament. It resonates with other ancient customs that hold that private property is the beginning of social injustice, through averice. To most ancient societies ownership of the land is incomprehesible. It simply cannot be. So its beginning had to be through force.
A very thoughtful piece which dovetails nicely with my own substack where I explore the biblical approach to land tenure. I am rather surprised to see the Georgist solution proposed by the author. Admittedly it would be more helpful and equitable than our current approach, but the guarantee of inalienable land tenure so well explicated in the earlier part of this essay is not included in it, and this seems to me a glaring omission. Unless we start there, we won't end up there...
Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [2] and donkeys he will take for his own use.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
Thank you. This is a nice article and it is good to be reminded of the jubilee in the Old Testament. It resonates with other ancient customs that hold that private property is the beginning of social injustice, through averice. To most ancient societies ownership of the land is incomprehesible. It simply cannot be. So its beginning had to be through force.
A very thoughtful piece which dovetails nicely with my own substack where I explore the biblical approach to land tenure. I am rather surprised to see the Georgist solution proposed by the author. Admittedly it would be more helpful and equitable than our current approach, but the guarantee of inalienable land tenure so well explicated in the earlier part of this essay is not included in it, and this seems to me a glaring omission. Unless we start there, we won't end up there...