[EGW
editors preface: One of our readers sent in the following
question: What determined the value of open land sold
in the Land of Promise? As with any question
concerning what we hope to learn from the Bible, we must always
strive to apply good hermeneutics and to let the Bible interpret
itself. What determined the value of open land sold in the Land of Promise? by David Churchill Under
the Mosaic Law, God provided that Israelites could sell all or
part of their land to raise money. However, in the Year
of Jubilee every 50 years, all land was to revert back to the
original family and all slave Israelites set free (see Leviticus
chapter 25
especially verses 13-17, 23-24, 39-46). This
was to preserve every familys land inheritance, thus protecting
each familys long-term source of food and income, in turn
protecting the familys ongoing existence. So essentially,
what was actually being sold were the crops that would have been
collected by the original family off the land during a negotiated
number of years between the last & the next Year of Jubilee.
The more years (i.e. crops) being sold, the higher the
selling price. |