Land, Credit and Crisis - Agrarian Finance in the Hebrew Bible (Hardcover, New)

Land, Credit and Crisis presents a new understanding of the financial culture of the Bible. Biblical Palestine was characterized by an over-abundance of arable land combined with a chronic lack of manpower and agricultural credit. These circumstances account for much contemporary prophetic fulminating against merchants and the rich. The book's close examination of the three pillars of the biblical financial system - the seventh-year shemittah, the jubilee, and the ban on interest - reveals how these financial instruments and institutions reflected a tough economic realism. The study argues that the image of the biblical prophet as a champion of social justice must be revised.