Editorial
The mobilization of resources and their distribution is a central issue in the Bible and African life and culture. Often, there are problems concerning the mode of resource mobilization that either make the poor poorer or the rich richer, and how to effectively and evenly distribute these resources to alleviate or mitigate the suffering of the poor. The ancient Mediterranean society “was divided into the ‘haves,’ who are the elite and reside in cities, control the financial wealth of society and are economically endowed; and the ‘have nots,’ who live in villages and work for the elite and wealthy. The ‘have nots,’ who are usually the poor, practise reciprocity and hospitality where the problem of one family became the problem of all the families of the village.” The situation in the ancient world shares some degree of similarities with economic issues in contemporary African society.
In many cases, the poor complain of exploitation by the rich/wealthy or lack of attention towards their economic survival by the political class. The papers in IBSA-West Africa Journal Vol.1 examine economic issues in the Bible; and how they can be harnessed to provide some suggestions towards to lessen the economic tension on poor persons in Africa to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 – No Poverty in Africa by 2030.
The contributors in this volume approach their topics from either an exegetical perspective (interpretation of a biblical passage), methodological directions for the study of economic issues in the Bible, or a study of the economic phenomenon in the Bible. The findings in each paper engages with African realities of economic conditions.
Dr. Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh,
Managing Editor,
August, 2023.