TYRANTS, REBELS, AND THIEVES: HOW WE’VE ALL MISREAD OWNERSHIP IN THE BIBLE

Written by Abrie JF Kilian.

I. INTRODUCTION: THE BIBLICAL OWNERSHIP ILLUSION

“You are not your own… for you were bought with a price.”— 1 Corinthians 6:20

This apostolic salvo annihilates the illusion of self-sovereignty. It does not merely call the body to holiness—it torpedoes the modern myth of ownership in all its proud disguises. You do not own your breath. You do not own your land. You do not own your legacy. You are not your own.

Yet modern civilization is erected atop the very presumption this verse dismantles: that man is master, proprietor, and potentate of all he surveys. The doctrine of fee simple ownership—bequeathed by Roman emperors and feudal lords—enshrines property as perpetual, personal, and transferable at whim. Under this scheme, a man may pave paradise, erect an empire, or sell his inheritance to the highest bidder—all without once glancing toward heaven. But Torah thunders otherwise:

“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine” (Lev 25:23).

Modern courts may grant deeds. Divine law declares boundaries.

More insidious still, this heresy has breached the sacred walls of covenant. Marriage, once a holy entrustment, is now merchandised. Among even Torah-anchored patriarchs, a new distortion creeps in—woman, rendered a bespoke commodity, governed like estate, discarded like surplus. They invoke the term baʿal (בַּעַל)—‘lord’—but forget that Scripture applies true baʿalut only to YHWH. To confuse headship with ownership is to desecrate stewardship, collapse covenant into contract, and turn sacred union into soulless transaction.

Biblically, headship is not ownership. The priest may minister, but he does not own the Temple. The husband may lead, but he is no sovereign over the soul of his wife. Male authority is a derivative, bounded, and accountable. No man may claim what Heaven has only loaned.

From Genesis to Revelation, the witness is relentless: YHWH owns all land, breath, blood, and law. To mistake stewardship for sovereignty is not simply a theological error. It is treason against the Throne.

This article traces five pillars to collapse the ownership illusion and recover the sacred economy of trust:

1. YHWH Alone Is the Owner – dominion begins and ends with Him.

2. Bondservants Cannot Be Owners – submission nullifies sovereignty.

3. Mastery Is Not Ownership – function does not confer title.

4. The Bride Price Is Not Ownership – marriage is stewardship, not transaction.

5. Theft Is Trespass Against YHWH – to steal from man is to rob God.

“For the one who forgets he is a steward becomes the thief who believes himself an emperor.”

II. YHWH ALONE IS THE OWNER

The illusion of ownership crumbles under the weight of divine decree. When YHWH proclaims, “The land is Mine” (Lev 25:23), He does not whisper poetry—He issues a legal decree. This is no metaphor. It is a possessory statement of cosmic consequence. Jubilee, Sabbath, inheritance, and justice all hinge upon one immovable claim: YHWH is not merely Lord in sentiment; He is Owner in fact.

“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine. You are strangers and sojourners with Me.”— Leviticus 25:23

Here, the law of Jubilee becomes a theological earthquake. Even in the Promised Land, Israel holds no absolute claim. They may possess, but never own. They may inherit, but never alienate. The terminology is deliberate—gerim (גֵּרִים) and toshavim (תוֹשָׁבִים)—legal categories for resident non-owners. Even Canaan, the land of covenant, remains on divine lease.

“The earth is YHWH’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and those who dwell therein.”— Psalm 24:1

This is not tribal theology—it is cosmic title law. From the vineyards of Hebron to the moons of Saturn and beyond, all things belong to Him who formed them. Deuteronomy stretches the jurisdiction further:

“Behold, to YHWH your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.”— Deut 10:14

The Apostolic Writings confirm: His ownership extends not just over what you have, but who you are.

“You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body…”— 1 Corinthians 6:20

The claim is total: not merely your land, but your lungs; not just your field, but your flesh. Your breath is borrowed. Your body is held in trust. You are a fiduciary of your very frame.

These are not the ornaments of liturgy; they are the instruments of law. The Scriptures employ binding terminology:

• qanah (קָנָה) — “to acquire”

• li (לִי) — “belonging to Me”

• ēgorasthete (ἠγοράσθητε) — “you were bought”

  
  

Each term mirrors ancient Near Eastern possessory law. Divine ownership is not devotional hyperbole—it is covenantal jurisdiction. To claim sovereignty over what Heaven has sealed is not boldness—it is blasphemy.

“The moment a man claims sovereignty over that which YHWH has reserved, he transitions from steward to usurper.”

In Heaven’s register, there is no such thing as autonomous man—only accountable stewards. Land magnates, body brokers, and patriarchs with puffed chests must all reckon with this: possession is not permission.

We are tenants of time. Stewards of soil. Guardians of breath.

“We are tenants of time, caretakers of dust, and borrowers of breath. The inheritance may rest in our name, but the deed belongs to Another.”

III. BONDSERVANTS CANNOT BE OWNERS

“The head of Christ is YHWH.”— 1 Corinthians 11:3

Hierarchy, despite modern revulsion, is not tyranny—it is architecture. It is the revelation of function, of order, of glory rightly arranged. Paul sketches a divine chain of authority: God, Messiah, man, woman. Yet within this sacred structure, no station grants sovereignty. Even the Son, though begotten before all worlds, bends His will to the Father.

“I can do nothing on My own… I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”— John 5:30

Messiah’s authority is not self-appointed. It is received, reverently stewarded, and exercised within covenantal bounds. He is Son, yes—but also Servant. Heir, yes—but also Delegate. His words are not self-sourced; His power is not self-willed. He moves as a bondservant—faithful to the mission, loyal to the Master.

If the Son bows, what madness permits the servant to seize the crown?

Scripture’s vocabulary leaves no ambiguity. In Hebrew: ‘eved (עֶבֶד). In Greek: doulos (δοῦλος). Both mean bondservant—one owned by another, tethered in legal and relational dependence. A doulos does not dictate. An ‘eved does not possess. To wear the title ‘steward’ is to kneel in reverence. To grasp at ‘owner’ is to garb oneself in holy fraud.

This is not mere metaphor. It is the logic of every biblical office:

• The priest ministers only what is given.

• The prophet speaks only what is received.

• The king writes his own copy of Torah—not to alter it, but to be ruled by it (Deut 17:18–20).

So too, the husband is no crowned despot, but a tenant of sacred charge. His authority is not proprietary—it is provisional. He may not discard, exploit, or dominate without betraying the very charge he claims to uphold.

“The man who believes he owns his wife has forgotten that he does not even own his breath.”

Every headship—whether father, elder, king, or teacher—bears three unbending constraints:

1. Limits – You may rule, but only within what YHWH has ordained.

2. Accountability – You will give account, not to men, but to the Owner of all.

3. Purpose – You serve not self, but the One who appointed you.

“In the Kingdom, the taller the mantle, the lower the posture. Leadership is not privilege—it is peril in priestly robes.”

“Let not many of you become teachers,” James warns, “for you will incur a stricter judgment.”— James 3:1

IV. MASTERY IS NOT OWNERSHIP

Authority in Scripture is not the crown of autonomy but the yoke of accountability. From Eden to Ephesus, from patriarchs to apostles, those entrusted with rule are first shackled—to the Word, to the covenant, and to the true Owner of all. Leadership is not liberty; it is leash.

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord… For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church…”— Ephesians 5:22–24

Paul does not issue men a sceptre—he points at Messiah’s yoke. (Matthew 11:29-30) Headship is patterned not on power, but on Passion. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her” (Eph 5:25). Peter, the apostolic anchor, echoes: “Show her honour as the weaker vessel, as co-heirs of the grace of life” (1 Pet 3:7). This is no license to dominate. It is a summons to bleed.

“And YHWH Elohim took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to serve it (עָבַד, avad) and to guard it (שָׁמַר, shamar).”— Genesis 2:15

These are not the verbs of conquest—but of consecration. They are Levitical verbs—priestly terms of service and watchfulness. Adam was not enthroned—he was stationed. Even his dominion (Gen 1:28) was hedged by divine prohibition. The tree was not a trap—it was a boundary. His sin was not in eating—but in exceeding.

So too for every figure of Scriptural mastery:

• The High Priest may step behind the veil, but only with blood and trembling. He ministers—but owns neither the Temple nor the Presence.

• Joseph wields Pharaoh’s seal—but stores Pharaoh’s grain. His wisdom governs—but does not possess.

• The father leads his home (1 Tim 3:4–5), but his headship is tested by fruit, not force—by order, not oration—by integrity, not intimidation.

• The wife, like the wise woman of Proverbs, builds her house not by seizing the helm, but by stabilizing its soul. Her power is not positional, but generational. She governs atmosphere. She stewards honour. And she does so within the order she affirms, not overthrows.

  
  

In every case, authority in Scripture is not essential—it is entrusted. It is not a status, but a station—defined by mishmeret (מִשְׁמֶרֶת), a term of charge and accountability.

“True headship is the burden of responsibility, not the badge of supremacy.”

The legal analogy is guardian, not owner; trustee, not tyrant. The guardian is answerable. The trustee is dispensable. And both are replaceable if found unfaithful.

“A steward does not write the rules of the house; he obeys them until the Master returns.”

And if mastery is bounded, then marriage must be framed by covenant, not commerce. What then is the mohar? A purchase? Or a pledge? Let us now dismantle the illusion of ownership in ancient marriage law.

V. THE BRIDE PRICE IS NOT OWNERSHIP

The mohar (מוֹהַר)—often translated “bride price”—has become a favoured footnote in the lexicon of modern patriarchalism. Some wield it as proof that a woman is a commodity—acquired, annexed, absorbed. But Scripture will not abide this distortion. The mohar is not the price of a body; it is the pledge of a covenant. It does not purchase—it promises.

“Ask me ever so much mohar and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me.”— Genesis 34:12

So pleads Shechem, after defiling Dinah. His actions are vile, but his words reveal something ancient: the mohar is not barter—it is public repentance, a formal pursuit of restoration. The offer is not a transaction—it is a treaty of honour.

“He shall give the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver… and she shall be his wife…”— Deuteronomy 22:29

Here again, the mohar is judicial, not mercantile. It is reparation, not ransom. The woman is not handed off like livestock—she is acknowledged under covenant and assigned under Heaven.

The matter is illustrated vividly in Numbers 27, where the daughters of Zelophehad contest their right to inheritance. In the exceptional circumstance where no sons were present to inherit, these daughters were affirmed. Crucially, they understood that inheritance was not a private possession, but a sacred trust. Torah does not strip women of agency. They are heard, honoured, and entrusted—not commodified.

“For your Maker is your Husband…” — Isaiah 54:5“I remember… how as a bride you loved Me…” — Jeremiah 2:2

YHWH calls Himself both Israel’s and Judah’s Husband—not their owner, but their Redeemer. He woos, He weds, He warns—but He never trades His brides like livestock. To flatten this divine romance into mere possession is to betray the poetry of the covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31–34, Ezekiel 23:1–5, Jeremiah 33:24, Jeremiah 3:6–10)

“To equate the mohar with a market transaction is to insult the sacred.”

Women as Sacred Stewards

A woman is a bat Tziyon (בַּת צִיּוֹן)—not a commodity, but a consecrated heir. She is not sold; she is set apart. Not assigned to ownership, but entrusted to headship. Her value is not in her price—but in her purpose.

“The woman is not a transaction. She is a covenantal trust under divine guardianship.”

Warning to Men

Just as men must not crown themselves kings over what is not theirs, women must not cast off the mantle of headship ordained above them. Rebellion is not freedom—it is fracture.

“YHWH is witness between you and the wife of your youth…” — Malachi 2:14

The wife of a man is not the man's property; she is YHWH's daughter.

Reciprocal Accountability

Just as a man may not exalt himself into sovereignty, so a woman may not flatten headship into oppression. A rebellious wife is not breaking a social norm—she is trampling a sacred order.

“Headship is not tyranny. But rejection of it is not liberation—it is lawlessness with lipstick.”

Marriage as Sacred Co-Stewardship

Marriage is not a contract of competing claims—it is a covenant of mutual stewardship. Not egalitarian chaos, nor patriarchal tyranny, but divine order.

• The husband leads by guarding what is not his—he is accountable to YHWH, and responsible for his household.

• The wife honours by aligning with what is not hers—she is accountable to her husband, and responsible for the children entrusted by YHWH to their father.

“Neither party owns the other; both are owned by YHWH—and judged accordingly.”

VI. THEFT IS TRESPASS AGAINST YHWH’S ORDER

In Torah, theft is not merely an economic infraction—it is a spiritual mutiny. It is the unlawful seizure of what YHWH has allocated to another. It breaches more than personal space; it shatters sacred trust. Every possession—be it land, labour, or life—is held under divine allocation. To steal, then, is not to outwit a man—it is to defy his Master.

“If a man steals an ox or a sheep… he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”— Exodus 22:1

This is not market-driven compensation. It is covenantal restitution. Torah justice demands more than return—it demands repair. The offence is weighed not in silver, but in sacred imbalance. Restoration is the rule because trust, once broken, must be restructured.

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, wife, servant, ox…”— Exodus 20:17

Here, we are forbidden not only from stealing but from scheming. Covetousness is the embryo of theft—the silent conspiracy of the soul against YHWH’s apportionment. It is not desire—it is disdain. It is not longing—it is a spiritual lawsuit against divine providence.

“YHWH has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously…”— Malachi 2:14

The covenant binds both. As a man may not discard what is not his, so a woman may not defy whom Heaven has appointed. She is not merely the recipient of headship, but the steward of her spirit. Her words, emotions, and posture are held to a holy account. To rebel is not to reject a man, but to resist the One who crowned him. Submission builds. Rebellion burns. One honours the order of Heaven; the other trespasses against it in pride.

“The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.”— Proverbs 14:1

To violate the marriage covenant is not merely relational betrayal—it is theft from Heaven’s registry. A wife is not a trophy, nor a slave—she is a trust. The man who abandons or abuses her does not merely dishonour her—he trespasses against the One who assigned her.

“To steal from man is to trespass against God, for all is held in trust under Heaven.”

Violations of Sacred Trust

• Adultery is not mere moral failure—it is unauthorised intrusion into another man’s covenantal domain.

• Coveting is not mere envy—it is the internal revolt against divine distribution.

• False witness is not mere deception—it is a forged title deed in the courtroom of God.

Daughters of Zion: Sacredly Protected

A woman is not a mere participant in a relationship—she is a vault of divine stewardship. To harm her—emotionally, sexually, spiritually—is to trespass into holy ground.

“To harm a daughter of Zion is to lay hands upon the sacred trust of the Almighty.”

Sons of Righteousness: Vindicated by Heaven

When a righteous man is betrayed by a rebellious wife, a corrupt system, or a slanderous peer, he is not alone. YHWH is not a passive observer. The Righteous Judge is not silent forever. His Son a competent Advocate.

“To rebel against a righteous man is to challenge the throne that appointed him.”

The Jubilee Echo: Divine Reset

Theft distorts. Jubilee restores.

• Jubilee returns the land to its rightful stewards.

• Jubilee resets roles distorted by pride or power.

• Jubilee repairs the fractured order and brings harmony back to Heaven’s blueprint.

“Justice in Torah is not vengeance—it is restoration. It does not merely punish—it repositions all things according to divine design.”

Now, having unmasked theft as rebellion, we reach the final verdict: ownership is an illusion. Stewardship is destiny. And humility—humility is the seal of the righteous man.

VII. CONCLUSION: RETURN TO COVENANTAL HUMILITY

“The earth is YHWH’s, and all its fullness.” — Psalm 24:1

Stewardship: The Sacred Architecture of Dominion

From Eden’s garden to Revelation’s city, the testimony of Scripture rings clear and uncompromising: YHWH owns all. Land, breath, time, inheritance, family—none belong to man. We are not proprietors, but pilgrims. Not creators, but custodians. Not sovereigns, but stewards.

“Who I am was granted by mercy; what I have was entrusted by Heaven.”

All we hold is leased, not earned. Entrusted, not invented. Dominion, where it exists, is always derivative. To forget this is not just ignorance—it is treason against the Throne.

Rebuke of Presumption: Dominion Without Covenant Is Fraud

Titles without submission are lies in sacred robes.

• The king who forgets Torah becomes a tyrant.

• The husband who forgets grace becomes a brute.

• The priest who forgets humility becomes a thief in the Temple.

• The father who forgets trust becomes a Pharaoh, not a patriarch.

• The wife who forgets submission becomes a saboteur of sacred order.

Even David’s crown was held on condition. Even Adam was exiled. Even Solomon’s brilliance dimmed beneath disobedience. Covenant is not optional—it is the operating system of divine appointment.

Call to Action: Return to Sacred Roles

Let each return to his station—not in arrogance, but in awe.

1. Husbands – Lead as stewards, not sovereigns. What you govern is not yours.

2. Wives – Submit in reverence, not rivalry. You are stewards under—not beside—the head appointed to you.

3. Rulers – Govern as delegates, not deities. You reign under Law, or not at all.

4. Believers – Treat all things—land, body, time, marriage—not as entitlements, but as entrusted tools.

“To steward is to kneel. To dominate is to forget.”

A Word to Fathers and Daughters: Choose Stewards, Not Seducers

In an age that exalts affection over allegiance and charm over covenant, let this be said with fire: Do not entrust a daughter of Zion to a man who cannot govern himself. Fathers—your gatekeeping is not optional. Daughters—your discernment is not romanticism, it is righteousness.

Affection is no substitute for fear of YHWH. Soft words without steel conviction are snares in silk.The altar of marriage is not a playground for emotion—it is a platform of transference, a sacred stewardship passed from house to house.

To give a daughter to a fool is not progressive—it is profane. To marry a man without mastery is to inherit future bondage.

Choose consecration, not charisma. Choose reverence, not resonance. For only the man under restraint of the Word can be trusted with the weight of a woman.

 Final Charge: Live as Stewards, Not Possessors

Let us live not as possessors, but as stewards. Not as takers, but as trustees. Let us pass on not just land or legacy, but law, light, and loyalty to YHWH. For we are strangers and sojourners with Him, and the land is His. (Leviticus 25:23)

This is not a poetic sentiment. It is the gravity of divine design.

Stewardship is the spine of sacred order.

Ownership is the mask of rebellion.

Humility is the inheritance of the righteous.

 OWNERSHIP IN THE BIBLE