"And may each one leave to his children after him his possessions in his halls and whatever dues of honour the people have rendered unto him."(293)
The same anxiety prompts his question to his mother in Hades, to which he obtains answer:--
"The fair honour ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) that is thine no man hath yet taken, but Telemachos holdeth in safety (thy) demesnes ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~})."(294)
(M133) The belief in the inseparability of the ancestral holding and the family was strong in Samaria at the time of Ahab. The King offered Naboth another vineyard better than his own in exchange for the one at Jezreel near the palace, or, should he prefer it, its worth in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, "The Lord forbid it me, that I should give _the inheritance of my fathers_ unto thee."(295)
Both the Hebrew narrators and the Greek translators describe Ahab finally as taking the vineyard at Naboth's death _by inheritance_ (LXX. { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), in spite of the violence of the means of acquiring it adopted by Jezebel.
The limited right of the prince to alienate from his family any part of his possessions is thus alluded to by Ezekiel:--
"Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty: after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them."(296)