Property

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

In Real Estate

• Genesis 23:17–18 So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over to Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
• Genesis 26:20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Rights in, violated

• Genesis 21:25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
• Genesis 26:18–22 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them. Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there. But the herdsmen of…

Dedicated

• Leviticus 27:16–25 If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it — fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed. If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation. But if he…

See Land

Dwellings

Alienated for debt

• Leviticus 25:29–30 If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains his right of redemption until a full year after its sale; during that year it may be redeemed. If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its buyer and his descendants. It is no…

By absence

• 2 Kings 8:1–6 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.” So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and h…

In villages, inalienable

• Leviticus 25:31–33 But houses in villages with no walls around them are to be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess. So whatever belongs to the Le…

Dedicated

• Leviticus 27:14–15 Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it. But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him.

Confiscation of (Naboth' s vineyard)

• 1 Kings 21:15–16 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who refused to give it to you for silver. For Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.” And when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to t…

Priests exempt from taxes

• Genesis 47:22 However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.

Entail of

• Numbers 27:1–11 Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood befo…
• Numbers 36:1–9 Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them, saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lo…

Inherited

• Ecclesiastes 2:21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

Landmarks of, not to be removed

• Deuteronomy 19:14 You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
• Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Personal

Rights in, sacred

• Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
• Deuteronomy 5:21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Laws concerning trespass of, and violence to

• Exodus 21:28–36 If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible. But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be…
• Exodus 22:9 In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.
• Deuteronomy 23:25 When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Strayed, to be returned to owner

• Leviticus 6:3–4 or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit— once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,
• Deuteronomy 22:1–3 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother. If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home to remain with you until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to hi…

Hired

• Exodus 22:14–15 If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution. If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.

Loaned

• Exodus 22:10–15 If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching, an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must…

Sold for debt

• Proverbs 22:26–27 Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

Rights of redemption of

• Jeremiah 32:7 Behold! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.’

Dedicated to God, redemption of

• Leviticus 27:9–13 If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy. He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy. But i…
• Leviticus 27:26–33 But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it s…

In slaves

• Exodus 21:4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.