Good clip. I've often thought about how, in post-Exodus Hebrew culture, the means of producing wealth (land) was divided equally among families. The land could be bought or sold, inheritance rights existed, debt could be undertaken; it was assumed some would prosper and others would not.
But only for 50 years. At that point, all the land returned to the original families, who divided it among them afresh. The point seems to be that no one family would become too rich and powerful, and no family would become multi-generationally destitute. For all had equal access to the means of producing wealth every 50 years.
Imagine living in a society where everyone had a roughly equal shot at provi...

Good clip. I've often thought about how, in post-Exodus Hebrew culture, the means of producing wealth (land) was divided equally among families. The land could be bought or sold, inheritance rights existed, debt could be undertaken; it was assumed some would prosper and others would not.
But only for 50 years. At that point, all the land returned to the original families, who divided it among them afresh. The point seems to be that no one family would become too rich and powerful, and no family would become multi-generationally destitute. For all had equal access to the means of producing wealth every 50 years.
Imagine living in a society where everyone had a roughly equal shot at providing for themselves and their families, and where no one was dynastically rich or disastrously poor!