THE ‘FAMILY, LAND AND GOD’ TRIANGLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE OFFER OF A SOCIAL READING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

Abstract

The affiliation of the family with the land, ownership rights as necessary for a sufficient means of existence on one hand, and God’s blessings on the other, is a founding triangle constituting the basic principles of every ancient society. The triangle is also described in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. For many centuries, the ‘nation-land-God’ triangle has been an undisputed foundation for the sustainability of every society. The ancient intuition foresaw the inalienable constituents of society as still being worth remembering for modern man. However, in the 21st century, all three constituents could be described and named differently. Our reflections go far beyond the ancient book (or rather, collection of 39 books) composed more than 2,000 years ago for the needs of society in Ancient Israel. The house, the household, was the key concept for both the family, posterity and economics in Biblical times, and so it is today. We tend to think that family ties and economic relationships are separate concepts, but they are made by affiliation with the land, and changes in relations between the three elements have a deep impact on the stability of the nation, with far-reaching consequences.