Explication of the Judicial Laws of Moses, Part 1 · Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIIII. Whether Naboth might hauehave juſtly denyed to ſell his Vineyard to Ahab, or not?
1 King 21. 3. And Naboth ſaid to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me, that I ſhould giuegive the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
NABOTH juſtly refuſed to ſell his Vineyard to Ahab, it being his fathers inheritance; no man in Iſrael might ſell his inheritance, becauſe the Iſraelites were but the Lords foreign, or Farmers, the inheritance was the Lords, Levit. 25. 23. the Land ſhall not The Iſraelites might not ſell their land ſimplie.be ſold for ever, for the Land is mine, for yee are ſtrangers and ſojourners with me; therefore it was called Emmanuels Land, Eſay 8. 8. All that the Iſraelites might doe was this, they might morgage their land, but ſimplie they might not ſell it, becauſe the Inheritance was the Lords.
But it may be ſaid Iere. 32. 9. I bought the field of Hanameel Object. my Vncles ſonne that was in Anathoth, and I weighed him the money for it, even ſeventeene ſhekels of ſilver.
By the little price which Ieremiah gaue for this field Anſw. in Anathoth (being but ſeventeene ſhekels) it may be gathered that this was not a ſimple alienatiō of the ground,Hanam…el did not ſell his land, but morgaged it to Ieremiah. but onelyonly a morgaging of it; wherefore his vncle or his vncles children might hauehave redeemed this land from Ieremiah, and Ieremiah was bound to hauehave reſtored this Land to them againe: neither doth the publicke writing of this Inſtrument proue the ſelling of the Land ſimply, and the full dominion of it, but utile dominium for the time, as he who hath a peice of Land in morgage, may morgage it againe to another, but not ſimplie ſell it.
But it may be ſaid, that David bought the inheritance Anſw. of mount Moriah from Arauna the Iebuſite, therefore the ſimple right of the ground might be ſold.
It was permitted to the Iewes to ſell a houſe within Object. a walled Citie, and the Gardens or Orchards belongingWhat houſes or land the Iewes might ſell. unto it; but they might not ſell their grounds and Vineyards, neither the houſes nor the villages which hauehave no wals round about them, for they were reckoned as the fields in the Countrey. Secondly, this Hill Moria which was ſold, was ſold by a Iebuſite, and not by an Iſraelite; and the ceremoniall Lawes of the Iewes obliged not the Iebuſites. Thirdly, this was an extraordinary caſe, this ground was ſold for the building of the Temple, and David would not hauehave it without a price.
It may be ſaid, that the chiefe Prieſts tooke the thirtie Object. pieces of ſilver and bought a Potters field with it to bury ſtrangers in, Mat. 27. 7. therefore they might ſell a field, for they bought this field to bury ſtrangers in it.
Firſt, this field was not a fruitfull field, but a place Anſw. where the Potters made pots; and it ſeemeth that this field was adjacent to ſome poore houſe; So Ioſeph of Arimathea being of another tribe than thoſe of Ieruſalem (for Arimathea, or Rama was in the tribe of Ephraim; but a great part of Ieruſalem, with Mount Calvarie and Ieſephs Garden, wherein he had his Tombe, was in the tribe of Benjamin) yet he bought a Garden being neere Ieruſalem, and the Hill Calvarie, becauſe it was a thing which belonged to the houſe within the walled Citie.
If a man might not ſell his inheritance in Iſrael, how Object. could the Kings themſelues inlarge their poſſeſſions, or hauehave places of pleaſure proper for themſelues? but we reade that the Kings of Iuda & Iſrael had Orchards and Gardens, and places of buriall proper to themſelues, which was a part of their peculium, or proper right.
The Kings might hauehave Orchards and Gardens proper Anſw. to themſelues, & places of pleaſure, but they might not buy the propertie of any mans Land or Vineyard; Wherefore Naboth ſaid well, God forbid it me that I ſhould ſell my fathers inheritance: they were but uſufructuarij, but the Lord was Dominus fundi, and he that hath no right to himſelfe, cannot make a right to another.
Why might they ſell their houſes within a walled Citie, and not their fields and grounds in the Country? Levit. 25. 13.
The reaſon was this, they might not ſell their grounds,The reaſon why they might ſell their houſes within the walled Cities. that their poſſeſſions might be kept ſtill diſtinct; but becauſe many came to dwell in the walled Cities, and the houſes were not ſo diſtinguiſhed as the grounds and Vineyards, therefore they might ſell them: this was alſo done in favour of the Proſelytes, that they might hauehave a dwelling amongſt the people of God▪
The concluſion of this is; as the Iſraelites when they Concluſion. morgaged their Land, they had not power ſimplie to ſell it, becauſe the propertie was the Lords; therefore it was to returne unto him in the yeare of the Iubile: So, although the children of God morgage their part of the heavenly Canaan, yet becauſe the right is the Lords, it ſhall returne to them in the yeare of that great Iubile.