Land, Credit and Crisis Agrarian Finance in the Hebrew Bible [Paperback]

Land, Credit and Crisispresents a new understanding of the financial culture of the Bible. Biblical Palestine was characterized by an over-abundance of arable land combined with a chronic lack of manpower and agricultural credit - circumstances which lead to much prophetic fulminating against merchants and the rich. The book reveals how the financial instruments and institutions of the time reflected a tough economic realism and argues that the image of the biblical prophet as a champion of social justice must be revised.

Philippe Guillaume is a trained agriculturalist, theologian and biblical archaeologist, and has taught Old Testament/Hebrew Bible in Switzerland, Lebanon and England. He is currently writing a Habilitationsschrift at the University of Berne.