History: Salvation History | Scripture | Canon

Making a Covenant

The historical background to the stories of the patriarchs:

1. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob may have come from a collection of legends, some influenced by contact with the Canaanites. These stories were woven together into a single "family epic".

2. These characters in the legends became, especially in Abraham, the personification of the whole people. Abraham stood for the people who came to acknowledge YHWH as their God.

   This personification is most evident in the story of Jacob and Esau, who represent Israel and Edom. (Gen 25:22-26)

3. There is strong contemporary evidence, which correlates with the nomadic way of life that is recorded in the Genesis accounts of the patriarchs. Travel far afield does not seem to have been especially rare. In roughly the period (1800 BCE) in which the Abraham account is situated, a period of political stability led to wide-ranging trade in the area.

The Call to Abraham:

1. The account of the call of Abraham (Gen 12:2-3) has three strains in it:
   
   

   1. To possess the land;
   2. To be a great nation;
   3. To be a blessing to the peoples of the earth.
   
   
   This call account records how these people thought of themselves in the monarchist period, when this was written. It also provides the form for how they will continue to think of themselves.

2. After the primeval story of Genesis 1-11, God's focus has shifted to this one man/family.

3. The promise the God has made to Abraham is repeated, as a thread running through the story. (Gen 12:7, 13:15, 15:5, 17:4, 18:18) The detailed covenant scene in Genesis 15 foreshadows the events of the Exodus and the covenant at Sinai. This is part of the Yahwist storyteller's craft, tying together the stories of the patriarchs with the later traditions.

4. The covenant was ratified in the practice of circumcision. Although this practice does not seem to have been known in contemporary Babylonia and Assyria, it was practiced in Egypt. (Both circumcision and female genital mutilation are still common practices among the people who live in these areas today.)

   In the Hebrew practice, it was associated with infancy and was not a puberty rite. Puberty rites tend to function to make one an adult member of the group/tribe. Circumcision in infancy associated the child with YHWH from his earliest days.

   Circumcision, while signifying the covenant, also became the covenant itself. Failure to circumcise one's sons removed them (and the parent) from the covenant.

How a Covenant Worked:

1. "I shall be your God and you shall be my people." This is the basic statement of the covenant. It is stated in terms of a relationship. Unlike a contract, when it is broken, it can be repaired.

2. God will ensure that the people prosper and inherit their land. In response, the people act in a way that shows their relationship to and fidelity to God. Circumcision is the sign of that response in the covenant with Abraham. Keeping the Law is the sign in the covenant with Moses.

3. In a contract, there is a quid pro quo. In a covenant, the response is the key. YHWH is the first actor. YHWH chooses this people. YHWH saves this people. "Because you have chosen us, because you have saved us, this is how we will live."

The Faith of Abraham in Relationship to People Living in the Land of Canaan:

1. The promise to Abraham is tied having posterity living in the land. Fertility is part of the covenant with YHWH.

2. Land and fertility were also the very real aspects of survival. In this physical environment, there were no guarantees. Without grass to feed the flocks, without a flock that could increase, without rain to ensure the growth of crops, any tribe or family was one year away from disaster and potential extermination.

3. In Canaanite religion, one of the "guarantees" of fertility was the sacrifice of the eldest son. From archeological evidence, this seems to have been performed with children about the age of two.

4. The sacrifice of Isaac in this context: Genesis 22:1-9

   This is cast as a "test of faith". God was thought to be omniscient, so why would he have to test Abraham's fidelity? This "test" is the literary device used so that the reader knows from the start that YHWH completely abhors child sacrifice and has no intention of asking this from Abraham.

   1. "The place in the distance" (vs. 3) is traditionally thought to be Mt. Zion, the sight of the temple. It is geographically very close to Gehenna, probably a place of Canaanite sacrifice to Molech. (Just west and south of the city, in the area leading to the Kidron valley.)

   2. There is ample evidence that the Israelites continued to flirt with Canaanite cults. Some may have completely abandoned their fidelity to the covenant with YHWH to engage in Canaanite cults. (See Jer. 19:4-5) Others may have strayed only occasionally, but this was nevertheless seen as a huge breach of the covenant.

   3. Abraham is moved to sacrifice his son, the pledge of YHWH's promise that his posterity will cover the earth. In this cultural context, he is caught between two modes of ensuring fertility - sacrificing his son or making sure that he lives.

   4. The response of God is to provide an animal to be sacrificed. In the Israelite tradition, animals would always substitute as the appropriate sacrifice, rather than their children. (See Lev. 12:2-8)

   5. Abraham's sacrifice of the ram is followed by a reiteration of the fertility promise of the covenant. (Gen. 22:17-18) The chapter concludes with a roll call of progeny born to Abraham's tribe.

5. YHWH was the God who demanded fidelity ("Do not go practicing the fertility cults associated with Baal") and guaranteed life. YHWH's guarantee of life did not demand death.

Bibliography:

1. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
2. McKenzies Dictionary of the Bible
3. The Catholic Study Bible, 2^nd edition, by Scott Hahn
4. "Faith Facts", Catholics United for The Faith (CUF)
5. Office for Catechesis of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago Catholic Scripture School, Covenant, Pages 1-3