“Before we turn to specifics, please tell me, Peter’le, what was the object of land redemption?”
“The civilisation of ancient Israel was tribal. The object of the land redemption doctrine was to ensure that land – the insignia of property and prosperity – remained with the relevant tribe, clan and family.”
“Does the Pentateuch seek to regulate this?”
“It does. Chapter 25 of Leviticus says that all land belongs to God. It cannot be sold in perpetuity, because its possessors ‘are only strangers and sojourners [tenants]’. The text further provides that if poverty induces an owner to sell his land, his ‘nearest kinsman’ is entitled to buy it back, viz. redeem. If the land is not redeemed, it reverts to the original owner during the Jubilee year, which takes place every fifty years.”
“Is the redeemer obliged to act or does he just acquire a right?”
“All the text says is that the Go’el [redeemer] ‘shall come and redeem it’.”
“Does the land revert to the original owner upon redemption?” asked Theophil.
“The text is not clear. I believe it does.”
“Is the very same concept expressed in Ruth, Peter’le?”
“The custom elaborated in Ruth is far more detailed. It recognises a hierarchy of redeemers. If the next of kin fails to redeem, the right vests in the next in line. Ruth tells us that, in the instant case, the first in line was Ploni. The right vests in Boaz when Ploni waived his priority. But this is not the only way in which the custom applicable in Ruth differs from the concept found in the Pentateuch. Ruth links redemption to levirate marriages. When a person redeems land he also ‘acquires’ the original, deceased, owner’s wife. Their first born is regarded as the deceased’s son and the right of possession of the land vests in him. In the Bible, levirate marriages are treated as a separate principle.”
“I think, Peter’le, that there is yet a further distinction. According to Leviticus redemption applies only once the land has been sold. Under the custom applied in Ruth, the redeemer can step in as soon as the land is put up for sale.”
“Right you are, Maestro. Further, Ruth assumes a moral obligation where Leviticus articulates only a legal entitlement.”
“Am glad you see the point. Does any specific transaction recorded in the Old Testament apply this custom?”
“I think that Jeremiah chapter 32 is in point. I know that we are not concerned with prophecy or Jehudah’s history. But I need to clarify the background before I give details of the transaction.”
“Point taken; and it is valid. Please go ahead.”
“Chapter 32 is one of the prophet’s consolation sermons. It predicts that, after the ensuing devastation by Babylon, ‘houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought again in the land’ [32:15]. And he demonstrates his strong belief by redeeming a plot of land.”
“Turn to it, Peter’le. As you know, our subject is land redemption; not prophecy.”
“The episode took place during the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah, who was at that time locked up in the ‘court of the guards’, was visited by his cousin, who referred to a plot in Anathoth and told Jeremiah that ‘the right of inheritance is thine, and the right of redemption is thine; buy it for yourself’ [32:7]. Jeremiah decided to go ahead.”
“Can this be regarded as falling within the scope of the land redemption law spelt out in Leviticus.”
“It cannot, Maestro. Such a right (or duty) would accrue only if the cousin had sold his land to a third party. But, in my opinion, it is covered by the custom applicable in Ruth. Jeremiah acquired the land before the cousin had sold it out.”
“How about the procedure, which involved the execution of a deed? Boaz acquired the land when concluding the bargain by a declaration witnessed by the elders?”
“True, Maestro. But in Jeremiah’s such a procedure was ruled out by the political situation. Jerusalem was besieged and Jeremiah was, effectively, in prison. Acquisition by deed was the only means available.”
“Why did this custom fail to be given effect to in the Pentateuch, Peter’le? Let us, just for the moment, assume that the laws set out in the Five Books of Moses attempted, inter alia, to give customs the effect of law?”
“I am unable to give a comprehensive answer that falls within the scope of our subject. That said, it is of course possible that the custom related in Ruth applied only in Jehudah and, later, in Jehud. Such a geographically restricted custom may not have found its way into the Pentateuch. Let me emphasise that Jeremiah and Ruth take place within this realm.”
“It seems to me that we have really covered the land redemption issue, Peter’le. We better move to the next.”