The Hierarchy of Estates in Land and Naboth's Vineyard

Abstract

According to 1 Kgs 21.1–16, following Naboth's refusal to sell Ahab his vineyard, Jezebel arranged for the execution of Naboth on false charges, paving the way for Ahab to take possession of Naboth's land. Commentators have long puzzled over the legal basis of this land transaction. Some posit that Ahab was a distant relative of Naboth entitled to redeem ancestral property following Naboth's death, others that Ahab held the royal right to seize land at will. The narrative, however, supports neither reading. This article proposes that Ahab's acquisition of Naboth's vineyard is better understood in light of anthropologist Max Gluckman's work on the hierarchy of estates in land. This study traces the relevance of Gluckman's thesis to several ancient Near Eastern land transaction texts and to 1 Kgs 21.1–16. Naboth was publicly shown to have failed in his duty to honor those with administrative rights in land. He thus forfeited his rights to that land and his vineyard reverted to the king.