Atlas - The Covenant

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THE COVENANT

From Ancient Israel by Harry M. Orlinsky

[The covenant] was the tribal practice of entering into an agreement with one particular god, so that the deity would devote himself entirely to the covenanters, in return for their exclusive obedience and loyal trust. Abraham entered into a mutually exclusive agreement with God, "the God of Abraham," whereby Abraham was to recognize and worship no other deity and God was to protect and seek the welfare of Abraham and his family exclusively. In this regard, the Hebrews went far beyond their Mesopotamian counterparts, where the contractual relationship remained on a purely economic quid pro quo basis and the magic element played a most important role.

When Isaac renewed Abraham's covenant, God became "the Kinsman of Isaac." For Jacob, God was "the Champion of Jacob." Abraham's brother, Nahor, the one left behind in Haran, likewise adopted a personal god. When Abraham's grandson Jacob and Nahor's grandson Laban settled a dispute between themselves, Jacob said to Laban, "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Kinsman of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty" (Genesis 31:42). Whereupon Laban answered, "Let the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us" (verse 53).

It would be going too far to attribute to the patriarchal Hebrews a belief in the existence of one and only one God. In a sense they may be said to have practiced -- but without defining -- monotheism. While they probably did not think of denying the existence of other gods, and some mighty ones among them at that, the patriarchs attached themselves to one God, and Him alone they worshiped. With Him, the entered voluntarily into a convenant which was binding forever, never to be broken under penalty of severe punishment and, theoretically at least, even complete rejection. It is not possible to understand the subsequent career of Israel without understanding these two inseparable concepts which arose in patriarchal times: practical monotheism and the personal covenant between the patriarchal families and their God.