The belief that a personal covenant existed between the tribal leader and the special divinity who guided his steps seems to have been widespread among nomadic societies. Take, for example, the abundance of Amorite names in which a word meaning either "father," "brother," or "people" replaces the word "god" -- words like Avi-ezer and Ahi-ezer, meaning "my father is my help" and "my brother is my help." It is as though a pact had been made between the leader and the divinity that turns the tribe into the god's family; the god takes the tribe under his aegis, and in return the tribe pledges itself to worship only that god. In this light the exceptional phenomenon of "the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," which belonged to the phase of ancient nomadism, can be understood. God's recurrent promise to the Patriarchs -- on the one hand to defend the tribe and multiply its descendants, and on the other to settle it in an inhabited land -- express the primordial longings of roving tribesmen.

Navigating the Bible
© 1995 World ORT Union