Land and Property

The question of the laws concerning land and property, important and interesting in itself in any body of national law, acquires even greater interest in Mosaic law, which is founded on exceptional principles. Among all other peoples, the laws concerning land and property—the most important part of public-state law, constituting the material basis of national life—are the product of ordinary natural-historical conditions, and therefore bear upon them the indelible stamp of imperfection, abnormality, and all manner of deficiencies unavoidable in any human creation or institution. The case is different in Mosaic law. Here the laws concerning land and property are removed from the influence of natural-historical conditions; they are the work of Jehovah, who himself establishes both the general principle for them and the particular definitions. Hence these laws here acquire a special character that distinguishes them from the similar laws of other peoples, and present a particular interest to the scholar.