My Neighbor's Landmark:
Short Studies in Bible Land Laws
by Frederick Verinder
A. The Encroachments
of
Injustice
The setting
up of a privileged class —
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| "He (the King) will take your fields, and your vineyards and your oliveyards,
even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And He will take
the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers,309
and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants,
and your goodliest young men,310 and your asses, and put them to his
work. He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king, which ye shall
have chosen you" (1 Sam. 8:14-18; cp. Ezek. 46:16-18; Jer. 22:13-17,
on which see
above, Chap. 7 § 3). |
309 R.V.m., eunuchs.
310 LXX, goodliest herds. |
"Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves:
every one loveth gifts [i.e. bribes], and followeth after rewards:
they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow
come unto
them. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One
of Israel, Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me
of Mine
enemies" (Isa. 1:23, 24).
— leads
to land monopoly —
"The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The Lord will
enter into judgment with the ancients of His people, and the princes thereof:
for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What
mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith
the Lord God
of hosts"(Isa. 3:13-15).
"Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there
be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the
midst of the earth!" (Isa. 5:8 [R.V.]; cp. Mic. 2, 3, on which see above, Chap.
3. § 10).
"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which
they have prescribed; to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away
the right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that
they may rob the fatherless" (Isa.
10: 1, 2).
— and
extremes of riches and poverty. |
| "Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous
for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;311 that pant after the
dust of the earth on the head of the poor,312 and turn aside the way
of the meek: … and they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to
pledge every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned313 in the
house of their god" (Amos 2:6-8). |
311 This expression is probably connected with
the practice of selling land by the transfer of a shoe (cp. 8:6 and
Ruth 4:7). In
1 Sam. 12:4, the LXX reads: "Of whose hand have I received a bribe
or a pair of shoes?" cp. Ecclus. 46:19. "The shoe may therefore be
regarded as the title-deed of the needy man's inheritance, which the
rich man has appropriated" (Horton in Century Bible, ad loc. quoting Expository Times, 12:378.)
312 This could only mean that the land-hunger is so great that
they desire even the dust which rests on the poor man's head, perhaps
sprinkled
on it as a sign of mourning" (Horton). The LXX suggests to Prof.
G. A. Smith the rendering: "Who trample to the dust of the earth the heads
of the poor."
313 R.V., of such as have been fined. |
"For among My people are found wicked men; they watch,
as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is
full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; therefore they are
become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they
overpass in deeds of wickedness: they plead not the cause, the cause
of the fatherless, that they should prosper; and the right of the needy
do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord:
shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" (Jer. 5:6-29
[R.V.]).
B. The Effects of
Land Monopoly
The denial of equal rights in land drives
drives men to the least productive soil — produces poverty — hunger
in the midst of plenty — homelessness — misery in overcrowded
cities — crime — and black despair. |
"There are that remove the landmarks;
They violently take away flocks and feed them.314
They drive away the ass of the fatherless,
They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
They turn the needy out of the way:
The poor of the earth hide themselves together.
Behold, as wild asses in the desert
They go forth to their work, seeking diligently for meat;
The wilderness yieldeth them food for their children.315
They cut their provender in the field;
And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
They lie all night naked without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast,
And [R.V.m.] take in pledge that which is on the poor:
So that they go about naked without clothing,
And being an-hungred they carry the sheaves;
They make oil within the walls of these men;
They tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.
From out of the populous city men groan,
And the soul of the wounded crieth out:
Yet God imputeth it not for folly.
These are of them that rebel against the light
They know not the ways thereof.
Nor abide in the paths thereof.
The murderer riseth with the light, he killeth the poor and needy;
And in the night he is as a thief.
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight,
Saying, No eye shall see me:
And he disguiseth his face.
In the dark they dig through houses:
[R.V.m.] Which they had marked for themselves in the daytime;
They know not the light.
For the morning is to all of them as the shadow of death;
For they know the terrors of the shadow of death.
(Job 24:2-17 [RV.]).
|
314 LXX, flocks with their shepherd.
315 Prof. Peake (Century Bibl,
ad. loc.) suggests the rendering: "Behold, as wild asses of the
desert they go forth, seeking diligently the prey of the wilderness. There
is no bread for the children" |
Land
monopoly, by its economic wastefulness —
|
| "In mine ears saith the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate,
even great and fair, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield
one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield
but an ephah"316 (Isa. 5: 9, 10 [R.V.]; cp. Amos 3:15). |
316 An ephah (dry measure) and a bath (liquid
measure) were each the tenth part of a homer (Ezek. 45:11). Homer
= about 90 gallons. |
"And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I judge between
cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats. Seemeth it a small thing
unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with feet
the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep [R.V. clear] waters,
but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that
which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled
with your feet."
"Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold I, even I, will judge between
the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side
and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have
scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more
be a prey; and I will judge
between cattle and cattle." (Ezek. 34:17-22 cp. Prov. 13:23
[R.V.]).
— brings
evil upon the robbers, —
"Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him
of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them;
ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins;
ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in
the gate from their
right" (Amos 5:11, 12 [R.V.]).
"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against
the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord
of Hosts" (Mal. 3:5).
"Go to now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your
silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall
eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. Behold,
the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is if you kept back by
fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears
of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your
pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of
slaughter" (Jas. 5:1-5 [R.V.]; cp. Job 20; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10, 17).
"But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes,
and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth;
for a spoil, and none saith, Restore" (Isa.
42:22).
Luxury brings social deterioration and carelessness about national welfare.
"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion … the notable men of the chief of
the nations, to whom the house of Israel come! … Ye that put far away the
evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that lie upon beds of
ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the
flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that sing idle songs to
the sound of the viol; that devise for themselves instruments of music, like
David's; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments;
but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they
go
captive with the first that go captive … Saith the Lord, … I abhor
the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city
with all that is therein. And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men
in one house, that they shall die. … For, behold, the Lord commandeth,
and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with
clefts. … Ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness
into wormwood" (Amos 6:1-13 [R.V.]).
Idle and luxurious
ladies —
"Moreover the Lord said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk
with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and
making a tinkling with their feet: therefore the Lord will smite with a scab
the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their
secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their anklets,
and the cauls, and the crescents; the pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers;
the head tires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the perfume boxes,
and the amulets; the rings, and the nose jewels; the festival robes, and the
mantles, and the shawls, and the satchels; the hand mirrors, and the fine linen,
and the turbans, and the veils. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet
spices there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle a rope; and instead
of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth;
branding instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in
the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and
sit upon the ground. And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day,
saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called
by thy name; take thou away our
reproach" (Isa. 3:16—4:1 [R.V.]; cp. the four preceding verses, 3:12-15;
32: 9-14).
— incite
their husbands to further injustice.
"Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which
oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say unto their lords, Bring, and
let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness, that, lo, the days shall
come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with
fish hooks. And ye shall go
out at the breaches, every one straight before her. … And I also have given
you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places:
yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord" (Amos 4:1-3, 6 [R.V.]; and
cp. the rest of the chapter).
The parlous plight of the poor.
"The destruction of the poor is their poverty" (Prov. 10:15).
"Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us:
Behold, and see our reproach.
Our inheritance is turned unto strangers,
Our houses unto aliens.
We are orphans and fatherless,
Our mothers are as widows.
We have drunken our water for money;
Our wood is sold unto us.
Our pursuers are upon our necks:
We are weary, and have no rest"(Lam. 5:1-5 [R.V.]).
"The needy shall not always be forgotten,
Nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever" (Ps. 9:18). |
C. The Restoration of
Equal Rights
Nehemiah holds
a mass meeting —
|
| "Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their
brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters,
are many; let us get corn, that we may eat and live. Some also there were that
said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses; let us
get corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed
money for the King's tribute upon our fields and our vineyards. Yet now our flesh
is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we
bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our
daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help
it; for other men317 have our fields and vineyards. |
317 The Lucian recension of the LXX reads "for the nobles" (see
next verse). |
"And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then
I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers
[or deputies], and said unto
them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I held a great assembly
against
them."
— to
demand the abolition of land monopoly without compensation — |
| "And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren
the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and would ye even sell your
brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace,
and found never a word. Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good:
ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach
of the heathen our enemies. And I likewise, my brethren
and my servants, do lend them money and corn on usury. I pray you, let
us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day,
their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also
the hundredth part318 of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the
oil, that ye exact of them." |
318 (?) One per cent, per month. Usury
= interest. |
— and
his proposed reforms are unanimously adopted. |
| Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them;
so will we do, even as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took
an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. Also
I shook out my lap,319 and said, So God shake out every man from his
house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus
be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and
praised the Lord. And the people did
according to this promise." |
319 Cp. Acts 18:6. |
He abolishes unjust taxes
and land speculation. |
| "Moreover, from the time I was appointed to be their governor in
the land of Judah … I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the
governor. But the former governors that were before me laid burdens upon
the people, and
took of them bread and wine, beside320 forty shekels of silver: yea, even
their servants lorded over the people: but
so did not I, because of the fear of God … neither bought we any land".
(Neh. v. 1-16 [R.V. with m.]) |
320 R.V.m. at the rate of Vulg., quotidie =
daily. |
His
reforms are carried out.
"And the princes of the people dwelt in Jerusalem: the rest of the people
also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem
the holy city … but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession
in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the
Levites [etc.]. … And the residue of Israel, of the priests, the Levites,
were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance. … And
for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt
in Kiriath-arba,
and the towns thereof, and in Dibon
[etc.]. … (Neh. 11. [R.V.]).
Ezekiel demands
land restoration.
"My princes shall no more oppress My people; but they shall give the land to
the house of Israel according to their tribes (Ezek. 45:8
[R.V]). |
D. The Coming Reign of Justice
|
|
With
equal rights to land restored —
"Ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people,
and I will be your God" (Ezek. 36:28).
— men
shall enjoy the produce of their labor.
"Then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to My servant Jacob. And
they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build
houses, and plant vineyards" (Ezek. 28:25, 26).
"The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength, Surely
I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and strangers shall
not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored: but they that have garnered
it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have gathered it shall drink
it in the courts
of My sanctuary" (Isa. 62: 8, 9 [R.V.]).
"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards,
and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall
not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My
people, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not
labor in vain, nor bring
forth for calamity" (Isa. 65: 21-23 [RV.]).
"Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel:
again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the
dances
of them that
make merry. Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria:
the planters shall plant, and
shall enjoy the fruit thereof. … And they shall come and sing in
the height of Zion, and shall flow together unto the goodness of the Lord,
to the corn,
and to the wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the
herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow
any more
at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and
the old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort
them,
and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of
the priests with
fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the
Lord" (Jer. 31: 4, 5, 12, 13, 14; cp. Ps. 34: 12- 16; 1 Pet. 3:10-12).
— in
happy childhood and hale old age. |
| "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women
dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his
hand for every age.321 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys
and girls playing in
the streets thereof " (Zech. 8: 4, 5);
Cp.1 Macc. 14: 9. |
321 R.V.m. for multitude of days. |
There
will be security and plenty at home —
"For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast: neither
was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the adversary:
for I set all men every one against his neighbor. But now I will not be unto
the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. For
there shall be the seed of peace; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground
shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause
the
remnant of this people to inherit all these things. … These are the things
that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the
judgment of truth and peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine evil in
your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things
that I hate, saith the
Lord" (Zech. 8:10-12, 16, 17 [R.V.]).
"The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase,
and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the
hand of those that made bondmen of them. And they shall no more be a prey to
the heathen, neither shall the beast of the earth devour them; but they shall
dwell
securely, and none shall make them afraid." (Ezek. 34:27, 28; [R.V.m] cp. 36:29,
30).
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains
shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again
the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,
and
inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof;
they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them
upon
their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I
have given them, saith the Lord thy God " (Amos 9:13-15).
— and
peace at home and abroad.
"Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a
fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment
shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful
field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness
quietness and confidence for ever. And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation,
and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isa.
32:15-18 [R.V.]).
"And he shall judge between many peoples, and shall reprove strong nations afar
off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war anymore. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his
fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts
hath spoken
it" (Mic. 4:3, 4; cp. Isa. 2:4, 65:25; 1 Macc. 14: 12, 13).
"In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under
the vine and under the fig-tree" (Zech. 3:10). |
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