ABSTRACT
Inequality is first condemned in the Hebrew Bible, in some of the earliest surviving texts after the invention of the alphabet, in prophetic texts dating from the 8th century bce, 2500 years before Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Economic crisis is often set off by war, but the Bible gives perhaps the earliest recorded example: from the mid-8th century bce, Assyria in a series of annual military campaigns created the first extended empire in history, bringing not just the kingdoms of Israel and Judah within its orbit but also, at its height, conquering the entire Fertile Crescent. The prophetic definition of corrupt materialism as a sin punishable by exile became normative in Judaism. In modern times, imperialism inevitably brought back these ancient prophetic warnings. Rudyard Kipling, who revered the language of the Bible, describes the British Empire at the height of its power and wealth with the fearful echoes of the prophetic warnings.
