its endlessness and indestructibility, whereas incorruption apparently relates to the organism or body that God gives them, one that is inherently beyond decay, ruin or destruction. It therefore appears that God grants them the power to be self-sustaining, not dependent upon outside sources of energy as are his other creatures, fleshly and spirit. This is a stirring evidence of God’s confidence in them. Such independent and indestructible existence, however, does not remove them from God’s control and they, like their Head Christ Jesus, continue subject to their Father’s will and directions.—1 Cor. 15:23-28.

INDIA

(Inʹdi·a) [Heb., Hodʹdu; compare Sanskrit Sindhu, meaning “sea, great river” and therefore evidently referring primarily to the Indus River].

The exact area designated by the Bible name “India” is uncertain. (Esther 8:9) Scholars generally suggest that it denotes the area drained by the Indus River and its tributaries, that is, the Punjab region and perhaps also Sind. The testimony of the historian Herodotus (III, 88, 94; IV, 44) indicates that “India” first became a part of the Persian Empire during the rule of Darius Hystaspis (c. 522-486 B.C.E.). In the time of Ahasuerus (considered to be Xerxes I, son of Darius Hystaspis) India still constituted the eastern limit of the empire. (Esther 1:1) Inscriptions of Xerxes I also list India as part of his domain.

Archaeological evidence shows that a civilization flourished in the Indus Valley centuries before the Persian period. The most ancient sites there give evidence of city planning and attention to sanitation. Streets were carefully laid out to form blocks, and a drainage system led from the homes into bricklined sewers. The cities also had large public baths.

Likely the Indus Valley was settled not long after the language of Babel’s builders was confused. A comparison of the ancient civilization of the Indus Valley with that of Mesopotamia does, in fact, reveal similarities. These include the erection of structures like the ziggurat platforms of Mesopotamia, sculptures of the human figure with heads having the masklike features typical of ancient Mesopotamian sculpture, and pictographic signs that bear a resemblance to early Mesopotamian forms. Assyriologist Samuel N. Kramer has suggested that the Indus Valley was settled by a people who fled from Mesopotamia when the Sumerians took control of the area.

INDUSTRIOUSNESS

Steady and persevering activity; painstaking effort; zeal; diligence; constant, regular or habitual occupation. Commonly the term implies lawful and useful labor. It is opposite to slothfulness or idleness.

The Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible that are sometimes translated “industrious” or “industriousness” are more often rendered “earnest,” “earnestness,” and other forms of such words are frequently translated “endeavor,” “do [one’s] utmost.”

JEHOVAH AND JESUS CHRIST

Industriousness is a quality of Jehovah God. “Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one [of the army of things he has created] is missing.” (Isa. 40:26) His creation, with its beauty and intricacy and the evidence of his loving care in every detail, stands as proof of his untiring industriousness. (Ps. 19:1; 139:14; Isa. 40:28) Jehovah’s Son follows his pattern. He said: “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.”—John 5:17.

JEHOVAH’S SERVANTS

Industrious activity has also been a mark of God’s true servants from the beginning. Abel was a doer of “righteous” works. (1 John 3:12) Noah exerted himself vigorously in building the huge ark, at the same time being “a preacher of righteousness.” (2 Pet. 2:5) Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and the prophets were all men of action, desirous of getting a Job done well. (Gen. 18:6-8; 31:38-42; 39:1-6; Ex. 40:16; 1 Sam. 17:32-37; Heb. 11:32-38) The young man Jeroboam, though he later proved unfaithful to God, was made an overseer by King Solomon because of his being “industrious” (AV; RS; Heb., “a doer of work”). (1 Ki. 11:28) Jeroboam’s industriousness no doubt played a part in his becoming ruler over the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel.

ADMONITION TO CHRISTIANS

The Christian writer James, an industrious man who was evidently overseer of the Christian congregation at Jerusalem, writes: “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” (Jas. 2:17) For this reason, Christians are admonished not to slack their hands or become weary in well doing, but to “show the same industriousness so as to have the full assurance of the hope down to the end, in order that you may not become sluggish, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Heb. 6:11, 12; compare Proverbs 10:4; 12:24; 18:9.) Jesus Christ told his disciples: “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able.” (Luke 13:24) Paul himself was an example of this.—Col. 1:29; 2 Thess. 3:7-9.

To prevent their being inactive or unfruitful as Christians, they must ‘contribute in response [to God’s promises] all earnest effort’ in supplying to their faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godly devotion, brotherly affection and love. (2 Pet. 1:4-8) This calls for the constant application of industrious perseverance (2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 4:11) and unflagging attention. (Heb. 2:1) Much of the strength for this comes through the help of Jehovah’s spirit. What could more strongly express the need for industriousness than the apostle Paul’s counsel: “Do not loiter at your business. Be aglow with the spirit. Slave for Jehovah”? This requirement of industriousness applies to all ministers (“let us be at this ministry”), but with special force to those in positions in which they preside over meetings and activities in the congregation, for “he that presides, let him do it in real earnest.”—Rom. 12:7, 8, 11.

A rule in the congregation

In the Christian congregation, needy ones receiving material help from the congregation must be industrious ones. The Scriptural rule is: “If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.” The exhortation to those not working is to get busy, “that by working with quietness they should eat food they themselves earn.” (2 Thess. 3:10-12) A professed Christian who refuses or neglects to provide for his household “has disowned the faith and is worse than a person without faith.” (1 Tim. 5:8) Even widows who were needy, before being put on the congregation’s list for regular provision of material assistance, had to have a record of Christian activity, having “diligently followed every good work.”—1 Tim. 5:9, 10.

REWARDS OF INDUSTRIOUSNESS

Rich rewards come to the industrious person both now and in the future. “The hand of the diligent one is what will make one rich.” (Prov. 10:4) “The hand of the diligent ones is the one that will rule.” (Prov. 12:24) Their soul “will be made fat.” (Prov. 13:4) The industrious wife is one whose “sons have risen up and proceeded to pronounce her happy; her owner rises up, and he praises her.” Of her, it is proclaimed: “Give her of the fruitage of her hands, and let her works praise her even in the gates.” (Prov. 31:28, 31) Above all, the spiritual brothers of Christ are told: “Do your utmost to make the calling and choosing of you sure for yourselves; for if you keep on doing these things you will by no means ever fail. In fact, thus there will be richly supplied to you the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”—2 Pet. 1:10, 11.

INGATHERING, FESTIVAL OF

See FESTIVAL OF BOOTHS.

INHERITANCE

Any property passing at the owner’s death to the heir or to those entitled to succeed; anything received from progenitors or predecessors as if by succession. In Israel the inheritance applied primarily to land possessions, although it was used with respect to movable property as well. The Bible speaks of the inheritance of things of a spiritual nature also. Spirit-begotten Christians are called “heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ.” They look forward, if they remain faithful, to “the everlasting inheritance.”—Rom. 8:17; Heb. 9:15.

PATRIARCHAL PERIOD

The faithful Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob possessed no land, except for the field with the cave used as a burial place and the field near Shechem purchased by Jacob. (Gen. 23:19, 20; 33:19) Concerning Abraham’s residence in Canaan the Christian martyr Stephen said: “Yet he did not give him any inheritable possession in it, no, not a footbreadth; but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and after him to his seed, while as yet he had no child.” (Acts 7:5) The inheritance that these men passed on consisted of their cattle and their movable goods. The firstborn son inherited a double portion (two parts) of the property as compared with that allotted to other sons. In the case of the patriarch Job, his daughters received an inheritance in among their brothers. It is not stated whether this included land inheritance.—Job 42:15.

The father could transfer the birthright for a cause, giving the firstborn’s inheritance to a younger son. In the instances of this noted in the Bible, it was not through whim or favoritism, but there was a basis on which the father determined to make the change in the birthright inheritance. Ishmael, as Abraham’s oldest son, was prospective heir for about fourteen years. (Gen. 16:16; 17:18-21; 21:5) But at Sarah’s request and with Jehovah’s approval, Abraham dismissed Ishmael, then about nineteen years of age. Isaac then possessed the firstborn’s right and later received everything that Abraham had, with the exception of gifts that Abraham gave to sons later born to him by Keturah. (Gen. 21:8-13; 25:5, 6) Reuben the firstborn of Jacob lost his birthright inheritance by reason of fornication with his father’s concubine. (Gen. 49:3, 4; 1 Chron. 5:1, 2) Jacob gave the greater blessing to Ephraim, Joseph’s younger son, rather than to Manasseh the older.—Gen. 48:13-19.

Concubinage was legal. In fact, in the Bible the concubine is sometimes designated “wife,” and the man with whom she lives, “husband.” Her father is called his father-in-law, and he is called her father’s son-in-law. (Gen. 16:3; Judg. 19:3-5) The sons of concubines were legitimate and therefore had an inheritance status equal to that of the sons of a regular wife.

Before Abraham had any children he spoke of his slave Eliezer as the prospective heir of his goods but was told by Jehovah that he would have a child as heir.—Gen. 15:1-4.

PERIOD OF THE LAW

Under the Law a father was prevented from constituting the son of a better-loved wife his firstborn at the expense of his actual firstborn from a wife less loved. He had to give to the firstborn a double portion of everything that he owned. (Deut. 21:15-17) When there were no sons, the inheritance went to the daughters. (Num. 27:6-8; Josh. 17:3-6) However, daughters who inherited land were required to marry only in the family of their father’s tribe, in order to prevent the circulation of their inheritance from tribe to tribe. (Num. 36:6-9) If there were no children, the order of passing on the inheritance was to (1) brothers of the deceased, (2) his father’s brothers, (3) the closest blood relation. (Num. 27:9-11) A wife received no inheritance from her husband. If there were no children, the wife was considered as owning the land until it was redeemed by the one having the right of repurchase. In such case the wife was repurchased along with the property. (Ruth 4:1-12) Under the law of brother-in-law marriage, the first child born to the woman by the repurchaser became heir of the deceased husband and carried on his name.—Deut. 25:5, 6.

Hereditary lands

The inheritance of the sons of Israel was given to them by Jehovah, who outlined the boundaries of the land to Moses. (Num. 34:1-12; Josh. 1:4) The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh were granted their allotment of territory by Moses. (Num. 32:33; Josh. 14:3) The rest of the tribes received their inheritance by lot at the direction of Joshua and Eleazar. (Josh. 14:1, 2) In harmony with Jacob’s prophecy at Genesis 49:5, 7, Simeon and Levi were not given a separate section of territory as inheritance. Simeon’s territory consisted of land (along with enclave cities) inside the territory of Judah (Josh. 19:1-9), while Levi was granted forty-eight cities throughout the entire territory of Israel. Since the Levites received the appointment to special service at the sanctuary, Jehovah was said to be their inheritance. They received the tithe as their portion or inheritance in return for their service. (Num. 18:20, 21; 35:6, 7) Families were given assignments within the territory of their tribe. As families would increase and sons would inherit, the land would be progressively divided up into smaller and smaller parcels.

Since land was kept in the possession of the same family from generation to generation, it could not be sold in perpetuity. The sale of land was, in effect, only the leasing of it for the value of crops it would produce, the purchase price being on a graduated scale according to the number of years until the next Jubilee, at which time all land possession would revert to the original owner if it was not repurchased or redeemed prior to the Jubilee. (Lev. 25:13, 15, 23, 24) This regulation included houses in unwalled cities, which were considered as part of the open field. As for a house in a walled city, the right of repurchase remained only for one year from the time of sale, at which time it became the property of the buyer. In the case of houses in Levite cities, the right of repurchase continued to time indefinite because the Levites had no inheritance of land.—Lev. 25:29-34.

The inviolability of the hereditary possession is illustrated in the case of Naboth’s vineyard, Naboth refusing either to sell it to the king or to exchange it for another vineyard; the crown did not have the right of eminent domain. (1 Ki. 21:2-6) A person could, however, devote a part of his inheritance to Jehovah for the sanctuary. If so, it could not be redeemed, but it remained the property of the sanctuary and its priesthood. If a man wished to sanctify part of his property for the temporary use of the sanctuary, he could do so, and if he later wished to redeem it, he could do this by adding a fifth of its evaluation. This doubtless protected the sanctuary treasury from loss and also created greater respect for the sanctuary and that which was offered in the worship of Jehovah. If the man did not want to repurchase his field but let it be sold by the priest to another man, then in the Jubilee it would be as a field devoted and would not be returned to the original owner but would remain the property of the sanctuary and its priesthood.—Lev. 27:15-21, 27.

From the foregoing it can be seen that wills had no place in Hebrew terminology or practice, the laws of inheritance obviating any necessity of such a document.