Land ownership in the Pentateuch : a thematic study of Genesis 12 to Deuteronomy 34.

The aims of this thesis are to study how the Pentateuch
portrays land ownership and to answer some of the theological
questions which arise from the study. By considering the
Pentateuch as a literary work of art, relevant texts in their
finished form are analysed in their contexts.
The first Part, examining the stories of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob in Gen. 12-50, deals with the idea of land
ownership on two levels: (i) Yahweh's promise of the land to
each patriarch and statements about a future owning of the
land promised. The study of land promise accounts discusses
issues such as the identity and extent of the promised land,
the meaning of the giving of the land and the present and
future owners of the land. (ii) The other aspect is the
actual purchase of pieces of land and owning them, the
cultivating of vacant land and appropriating it, and the
digging of wells and claiming them.
The second Part, examining the stories of Liberation, the
Sinai Covenant and the Conquest in Exod. I--Num. 36, deals
with the idea of the ownership of land by Yahweh and by the
people of Israel. In the discussion of Yahweh's ownership is
included his claim to the whole earth, agricultural land and
a mountain sanctuary in the promised land. Regarding the
ownership of land by the Israelites, different methods of
possessing the land, rights and responsibilities of their
tenancy, Levitical use of the pasture land and the priestly
care of the dedicated land are discussed in detail.
The third Part is the Farewell Address of Moses in
Deuteronomy. Three ideas of land ownership are discussed in
detail: Yahweh's ownership of the entire heaven and earthi
the Isr~aelite ownership of the land possessed in Transjordan
and the land to be possessed in west Jordan and the
conditions of land ownership, and the ownership of land by
other ethnic groups.
In the Conclusion, some important questions identified
during the analysis of the texts are answered from the total
perspective of the study.