Scarcely less in importance than the grape was the olive, which grew abundantly all over Palestine. It was used as a food, either green or ripe, much more commonly than with us. The rich oil which was obtained by pressing the berries was also a very valuable commodity for food (2 Chron 2. 10) and was used in cooking (Lev 2. 4) and as a kind of butter with bread (Exod 29. 23). It was also employed as an ointment for wounds and in sickness (Luke 10. 34; James 5. 14) and for ceremonial purposes (1 Sam 10. 1; 16. 1; Psa 23. 5). Placed in small vessels in which a wick was floated the olive oil was a valuable illuminant (Exod 25. 6; 27. 20; Zech 4. 3, 11-14; Matt 25. 3). The use of oil was regarded as a luxury which might be too freely enjoyed (Prov 21. 17). The abundance of the yield of oil is evident from its appearance as an export from Judah to Tyre (2 Chron 2. 10; Ezek 27. 17).

The fig is constantly mentioned as a valuable tree in Palestine (Num 13. 23). It is coupled with the olive and the vine (Jer 5. 17; 8. 13; Joel 1. 7-12; Hab 3. 17f.). To dwell under one's own vine and fig tree was the expression of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 4. 25; Mic 4. 4; Zech 3. 10; 1 Macc 14. 12). The figs were eaten fresh, of which the early ones were best (Isa 28. 4; Jer 24. 2; Mic 7. 1), or dried and pressed into a kind of cake (1 Sam 25. 18; 30. 12).

Palm trees flourished in the neighborhood of Jericho (Judg 1. 16; 3. 13; Deut 34. 3; 2 Chron 28. 15) yielding the dates, which were much esteemed. Pomegranates were freely used as food (Num 13. 23) and the juice as a wine (Sol Song 8. 2).

Honey, while very plentiful, so that it was included among the exports (Ezek 27. 17), seems to have been the product of wild bees (1 Sam 14. 25; Deut 32. 13; Psa 81. 16; Matt 3. 4). It was a valued article of food (Judg 14. 9; 2 Sam 17. 29; Psa 19. 10; Luke 24. 42 marg.), but the wise men knew that so rich a sweet was to be enjoyed with moderation (Prov 25. 16).

Linen garments were extensively used by the Hebrews (Lev 13. 47, 59) and were doubtless made from their own flax, for this plant was produced by the Canaanites (Josh 2. 6) and continued to be a staple crop (Hosea 2. 9).

83. THE TENURE OF LAND

Certain grazing, and even arable lands, were probably held in common by the people of the community. But other property was definitely owned and inherited. We have no means of knowing how the individual Hebrew families acquired title to such possessions. The idealistic division of the land by lot, which the priestly writers sketched many centuries later (Josh 18 and 19), could not have taken place while the Canaanites were still so largely in possession; and in any case this refers only to the division among the tribes and not to individuals.

The earliest legislation contains no reference to land tenure. In the Deuteronomic Code is the provision, "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set" (19. 14; 27. 17), indicating that land was definitely delimited and owned. The incident of Naboth shows that land was held as an inheritance which it was considered improper to alienate (1 Kings 21. 3). When anyone was obliged to sell his land for any reason there seems to have been some right of the near of kin to redeem it, that it might not be permanently lost to the family (Jer 32. 6-10; Ruth 4. 1-6). However, Isaiah's denunciation of those "that join house to house, that lay field to field" (5.8) shows that the loss of the patrimony was by no means uncommon, and that the great estates were built up by such means.

We have noted the provision for the liberation of the Hebrew slaves in the seventh year both in the Book of the Covenant and in the Deuteronomic Code. A like provision for the land to lie fallow during the seventh year appears in the Book of the Covenant (Exod 23. 1of.). This was

probably the result of the experience of the needs of the soil which many peoples have discovered, but there was added in the Hebrew legislation the beneficent provision that the crops of the fallow year should be for the poor of the land. It is not implied that the whole land should lie fallow at the same time, but that each field should have its regular sabbatic rest. In the Deuteronomic Code, as we shall note, there was a seventh-year provision for the release of debt (15. If.). This latter was probably a common year for the whole nation.

The Levitical Code (Lev 25) endeavored to bring these earlier requirements into consistency by the establishment of a regular seventh year in which all the land should lie fallow at the same time, "a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto Jehovah" (v. 4). Seven such periods of seven were then to be crowned by the fiftieth year, the Jubilee, in which also the land was to lie fallow (v. 11). Moreover, in this Jubilee year every man who had sold his ancestral estate was to receive it back without payment (vv. 13ff.). At any earlier time land which had been alienated could be redeemed by purchase (vv. 24ff.), but in any case all titles were to revert to the original owners at the Jubilee. This, of course, would be tantamount to an inalienable title to land, so that the owner could only sell the use of the land until the next Jubilee; that is to say, there could be a maximum lease of forty-nine years. This applied to farms and houses in villages, but not to city houses which could be sold in perpetuity (vv. 29-31).

The sabbatical year seems to have been observed in the postexilic times (1 Macc 6. 49, 53; Josephus, Antiquities, XIII, viii, 1; XIV, x, 6; xvi, 2; XV, i, 2. B. J., I, iv, 4), but there is no evidence that the Jubilee was ever more than an ideal. The reversion of all property to the families of the original owners every half a century would be an interesting social experiment, but we have no means of judging from Jewish history how it would work.

DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY

1. Read the book of Judges and note (1) the characteristics of various invaders from the desert, (2) the agricultural character of the inhabitants, (3) the Hebrew development to the agricultural stage.

2. Read the Book of the Covenant (Exod 20 to 23) and note its

agricultural provisions.

3. Read Deut 15 to 26 and note its agricultural provisions.

4. What do Deut 8. 7-9 and 1 Kings 4. 23-28 indicate regarding the products of Palestine?

5. The Israelites in Hosea's time were worshiping the Canaanitish Baals who, as they believed, had given them the agricultural gifts. The prophet insists that all the gifts are from Jehovah. Read ch. 2 and note the information conveyed regarding the products of Canaan.

6. What are the main social problems when man is in the agricultural stage?

7. Compare the joy of the vintage in Israel with that in Greece. What does this indicate regarding the attitude of men toward wine?

8. What differences do you see between the use of wine in ancient Palestine and modern social drinking?

9. An ardent temperance advocate once said that if Jesus ever drank fermented wine, he could not be his Saviour: What was the error in that man's point of view?

10.

What are the social reasons for the modern total abstinence and prohibition movements? What is the relation of the principle laid down in Rom 14 to those movements?

CHAPTER VIII

INDUSTRY, TRADE, AND COMMERCE

§ I. ARTISANS

THE Hebrews were not conspicuous for their ability as craftsmen. When David wanted a palace he had recourse to Phoenician workmen (2 Sam 5. 11). Solomon's temple and magnificent structures owed their beauty to the same skilled people (1 Kings 5. 6; 7. 13f.). It is significant that the Hebrew tradition of the origin of metal-working ascribed the art to Tubal-Cain (Gen 4. 22), and not to the line of Shem.

However, the Hebrews were not entirely without artisans. The simple tools of agricultural life would need some rude fashioning. It is especially noted that during the Philistine oppression no smiths were allowed in the land, indicating that they were usually available (1 Sam 13. 19). They were probably workers in copper, a metal from which most tools were then made (Deut 8. 9; 2 Sam 8. 8). The smiths were sufficiently numerous at the time of the captivity to be especially mentioned as carried away with the principal part of the population (2 Kings 24. 14-16).

The smiths of Babylonia are noted by the exile prophet (Isa 44. 12; 54. 16), and it is probable that the craft was somewhat developed in Judæa in postexilic times, for Sirach gives a very lively description of the smith at his work (38. 28).

The potter appears very early in most civilizations. Indeed, one of the methods of tracing the history of peoples is by the pottery remains in the buried cities. The pottery of the Canaanitish times has been found in many of the mounds of Palestine. "Earthen vessels" are mentioned in