Economic utopia of the Torah. Economic concepts of the Hebrew Bible interpreted according to the Rabbinical Literature

Esa Mangeloja ()

Method and Hist of Econ Thought from EconWPA

Abstract: Hebrew Bible offers alternative Economic utopia for building Theocratic society. In this paper, various economic concepts and themes are presented, as found in the Hebrew Bible. These economic concepts include taxation, property rights, labor market, social policy, banking, years of Sabbath and Jubilee, and business cycles. Most economic issues of the Bible are found in the texts of Torah, also known as five Books of Moses. These texts are analyzed by using classical Rabbinical commentaries for better insight. Contrary to the modern Economic theory which is based on the assumptions of scarcity of resources and unlimited needs of consumers, Economics of the Torah is based on God’s resources which are enough for all true needs of His people.

Keywords: Hebrew Bible; History of Economics; History of Economic Thought; Ancient Israel; Judaism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo and nep-hpe
Date: 2004-05-14
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 28
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpmh:0405004

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