In the primitive society there was imbalance between wants and
satisfaction civilization being in its infancy, there was lack of effective
incentives towards economic activities. The old economic order was virtually
static which did not need any elaborate explanation. It was only during the
days of a highly development stages of tribal economy that division of labor
appeared due to an increase in population and productive skill and commodities
began to be produced for exchange. Anthropologists have failed to provide
information regarding the economic practices which accompanied this per-scientific complex economic transformation. Contemporary legends are the
treasure-house of those ideas and practices and their information is gleaned
from the archaeologists, from collections of myths and from history preserved
in cuneiform and hieroglyphic writings. The economic thought of Hebrews is
contained in the old testament the period of which covers a vast span of about
2,350 years . Theirs was an organized tribal economy functioning under normal
conditions. In comparison with the influence
of scientifically developed modern economic theories, the scattered
economic ideas of Hebrews and their economic practices exercised more control.
To quote Eric Roll-“the views of Hebrew prophets, set in the ethical system of
a patriarchal society, may appear extremely primitive to modern economist but
their power to influence men’s minds is not necessarily inferior to that of
many a refined and scientific theory actually, it is often great”. In those
biblical days land was the main form of property. Wealth was measured in land,
number of slaves, personal talents, animals and pieces of silver and other
precious metals. The owner of a plot of land was the owner of all resources
above and below the surface of land. People attached great important to
hereditary ownership and land could be sold only when all the members of the
family agreed. According to the inheritance laws, the first claim on property
went to the eldest son. If there was no son, it went to daughter and in the
absence of daughter it might go to brother, uncle etc. As people had passed
from the pastoral stage and had permanently settled, agriculture became their
main occupation. According to H.E. Barnes, settled agriculture with a certain
degree of permanence first appeared in Egypt. The usual practice was to leave
the land fallow during the 7th year for recuperation. It was a shower of “rest
unto the land” in modern economic agricultural economy it is necessary for soil
conservation. The sixth of agriculture productivity was exceptionally
productive which was generally expected to produce food for the next three
years.
