019. VII. Abraham’s Call And Settlement In Canaan
§ VII. ABRAHAM’S CALL AND SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN
Genesis 11:28-29; Genesis 12:1-4 a, Genesis 12:6-8; Genesis 13:2; Genesis 13:6; Genesis 13:6 b, Genesis 13:7 a, Genesis 13:8-12 b, Genesis 13:13; Genesis 13:18
1. History of the house of Terah. Now Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity. And Abraham and Nahor took for themselves wives. The name of Abraham’s wife was Sarah, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Jiscah.
2.Abraham’s call and departure for Canaan. And Jehovah said to Abraham, Go forth from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, to the land that I will show thee, that I may make of thee a great nation; and I will surely bless thee, and make thy name great, so that thou shalt be a blessing. I will also bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse, so that all the families of the earth shall ask for themselves a blessing like thine own. So Abraham went forth, as Jehovah had commanded him, and Lot went with him.
3.Experiences in Canaan. Then Abraham passed through the land to the district of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh [oracular oak or terebinth]. And the Canaanites were then in the land. And Jehovah revealed himself to Abraham, saying, To thy descendants will I give this land; and there he built an altar to Jehovah, who had revealed himself to him. And he removed thence to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Jehovah and called upon the name of Jehovah.
4.Reason for the separation from Lot. Now Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And Lot also, who went with Abraham, had flocks and herds and tents, so that they could not dwell together. And when there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle, Abraham said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you ? separate yourself, I pray you, from me. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right; or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.
5.Lot’s choice. Then Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere (before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like the garden of Jehovah, as far as Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the Plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. And the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Jehovah.
6.Abraham at Mamre. But Abraham moved his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron.
I.Literary Form of the Abraham Stories. The eleventh chapter of Genesis marks the transition from the common Semitic traditions to the stories regarding the traditional forefathers of the Hebrews. Throughout the rest of Genesis the narratives are chiefly personal and biographical. Many extracts are introduced from the late priestly history. In chapter 14 is found what appears to be a late Jewish tale, based on the memory of an invasion of the eastern kings far back in the days of Hammurabi (cf. Introd., II, 10, 11); but most of the Abraham stories are taken from the early prophetic narratives. Each of these stories is, as a rule, a complete literary unit, bringing out like a flash-light picture some trait or incident in the life of the patriarch. Together they give an exceedingly life-like and majestic portrait of the character who stands at the beginning of Hebrew history.
II.Origin of the Stories. Except in the later Jewish story of Genesis 14, the setting and atmosphere of the Abraham stories are those of the wilderness, and of that peculiar type of nomadic life which may be studied to-day among the Bedouin tribes that wander up and down in the Arabian desert. The point of view and interest are also those of the nomad. It is probable that these stories were originally retold from generation to generation among the early Hebrews. At the same time it is evident that, like those of Babylonian or Aramean or Canaanite origin in §§ I-VI, they have been transformed and idealized. The idealization of Abraham’s character was almost inevitable, since he was the revered forefather of the Hebrew race. Analogies might be cited from almost every chapter of human history; Sargon, Menes, Romulus and King Arthur are only a few of many classic examples. In these marvellous stories associated with Abraham are voiced the later hopes and ideals of the Hebrew race. Those aspirations for widely extended territory, teeming population, and great prosperity, which were realized in full measure in the days of David and Solomon, are here embodied in divine promises to Israel’s traditional forefather. It was thus that the prophetic historians effectively taught the great truth that Israel’s later glories were but the realization of God’s gracious and eternal purpose.
III.Abraham in Later Jewish Traditions. The Abraham of later Jewish traditions is represented, sometimes as having been borne to heaven on a fiery chariot, there to receive to his bosom the faithful of his race, sometimes as the ardent foe of idolatry, and sometimes as the valiant warrior before whose sword even the great city of Damascus fell. In Genesis 14 he is a chivalrous warrior, as generous as he is brave and energetic, who, with his few followers, defeats the armies of Babylonia and Elam. The Abraham of the priestly historians is a faithful observer of the law through whom the covenant with his race, sealed by the rite of circumcision, is established; but the Abraham of the early prophets is the embodiment of their noblest ideals of faith and character.
IV.The Prophetic Element. It can never be absolutely decided, and fortunately it makes little difference how far these Old Testament stories are exact records of the experiences of a certain early nomadic chieftain. The real father of the faithful, the Abraham whose deeds and character and faith are perennial sources of inspiration to-day, as in the past, lived in the glowing hearts of Israel’s early prophets. It is not strange that they have embodied in his biography many later beliefs and experiences of their race. Local traditions also traced to him the origin of several sacred places. Institutions which went back beyond the days of Moses were naturally associated with him or else with Isaac or Jacob. Thus the original kernel of tradition, under the varied national, institutional, and prophetic influences, gradually assumed its present form. Hence, these narratives are more than mere history: they are prophetic homilies, whose theme and illustrations are found in the past rather than the present or the future.
V.The Two Names. The final compiler of Genesis, in accord with the late priestly tradition of the covenant recorded in the seventeenth chapter, has designated the patriarch as Abram up to this point, and Abraham in the succeeding passages. In view of these late, arbitrary changes, it is impossible to determine which of the two forms of the name was used originally in the prophetic narratives. The same baffling difficulty also makes it impossible to prove or disprove the alluring hypothesis that certain of the traditions related originally to an Aramean ancestor of the Hebrews, who bore the name Abraham, and others to a Canaanite hero, Abram. The derivation of Abraham (the father of a multitude), offered by the late priestly writer in Genesis 17:5, is based simply on a similarity in sound to the Hebrew word (hamon) meaning multitude. It seems probable that the two forms are but dialectic variations of the familiar Hebrew name, Abiram, meaning, the father is exalted or the lofty one is father. The name has been found on a Babylonian tablet, coming from the reign of Hammurabi’s grandfather. It was therefore used as an individual name at least as early as 2000 B.C. Since the form Abraham is always used elsewhere in the Old Testament (except in two late priestly quotations in Genesis), it has been restored in the text.
VI.The Home of Abraham. The oldest Hebrew records agree in the fact that Haran of Aram-Naharaim, in eastern Mesopotamia, was the original home of Abraham and, therefore, of the earliest ancestors of the Hebrews. In § XI, 2 Abraham speaks of Aram as the land of his nativity (cf. also Genesis 22:20; Genesis 27:43; Genesis 28:10; Genesis 29:5, Deuteronomy 27 Joshua 24:2-3). This overwhelming weight of testimony is in accord with the facts of contemporary history (Introd., IV, xi). Only in the late priestly traditions and in what are apparently two editorial additions to the prophetic narratives (Genesis 11:28 and Genesis 15:7) is the origin of the Hebrews traced back to Ur of the Chaldees. Evidently the ancient Babylonian Ur, over five hundred miles southeast of Haran, is the city in the mind of the later scribes; but even the place names in the late priestly list of Abraham’s ancestors point to Aram rather than Babylonia (§VI, IX). Perhaps the fact that both Ur and Haran were devoted to the worship of the moon god Sin, and possibly the belief that Haran was founded by colonists from the older Babylonian city, are the basis of this very late Jewish tradition.
Haran, about sixty miles north of the Euphrates on one of its confluents, the modern Belikh, was an important city in antiquity, and is frequently mentioned on the Assyrian inscriptions. It was one of the stopping points on the great caravan route that ran from Babylonia to the eastern Mediterranean and was the trading centre for the surrounding nomadic and semi-agricultural population. It was natural that the moon, whose clear, cold light guarded the caravans across the desert and the nomads in their midnight marches, should here be worshipped. So famous was this ancient sanctuary that the moon god was known throughout northern Syria as the Baal or Lord of Haran. It is also significant that Sarah corresponds to the Babylonian Sharritu, the name of the goddess of Haran, the wife of the moon god worshipped at that place. Milcah, the name of Nahor’s wife, also corresponds to the Babylonian Milkatu, who, in the mythology of Haran, was the daughter of the moon god.
VII.The Divine Promise. To interpret and appreciate the early biblical stories, it is important to adopt the point of view of the prophetic narrators. All details—the method of revelation, the size of Abraham’s family, the nature of his journey, and the age in which he lived—are omitted, and attention is fixed only on the essential facts. To the patriarch came the divine call to break those bonds of land and kindred which are especially strong in the East, and to seek a new home and destiny in the great western world. With the call went the promise that he should become the father of a great nation and that the divine blessing would ever attend him, so that he and his descendants would enjoy renown and the most signal evidences of Jehovah’s favor. He should be so highly blessed that his friends would share the same divine favor, while his foes would be the objects of Jehovah’s wrath. Furthermore, all nations would see his God-given prosperity and crave like blessings for themselves.
VIII.The Sanctuaries Associated with Abraham. Like Noah in the earlier story, Abraham at once responded to the divine command. As he passed through the land of Canaan and came to the oak or terebinth near Shechem, he received another revelation, and the promise that his descendants would in time possess this land as their own. The sacred oak is again mentioned in Judges 9:37, where it is called the Diviners’ Oak. As has been already noted (§I, vii), the early Semites believed that the deity spoke through certain trees. In Palestine to-day there are still many trees which the natives regard as sacred. Among the Canaanites this particular tree had apparently long been regarded as oracular. References in their traditions also indicate that the early Hebrews shared this ancient belief. At the scene of the revelation Abraham reared an altar, which tradition probably identified as the site of the sanctuary at Shechem (cf.Joshua 24:26). Also east of Bethel he built another altar, as a symbol of his devotion to Jehovah, and this was probably in the same way connected with the famous sanctuary at that place.
IX.Lot’s Choice. Even as the first part of this brief story illustrates the fact that Abraham’s eyes were fixed only on Jehovah and the future of his race, so the latter part emphasizes his fine disregard for things material. The strife between the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot is true to the nomadic life of the East. The heights east of Bethel command a superb view southward over the gray limestone hills of Judah on the right and the verdant valley of the Jordan on the left. It seems probable that the early narrator believed that this fertile plain, which he likens to the garden of Eden, extended southward, including the territory later occupied by the Dead Sea. Its southernmost limit is the town of Zoar, the Zoor or Zoora of Josephus, at the southern end of the Dead Sea. In these early traditions, therefore, the cities of the Plain are probably to be thought of as lying in the centre or southern end of the deep basin which now holds the bitter, barren waters of the Dead Sea (cf. further § IX, iii). Thither the choice of Lot, the traditional ancestor of the Moabites and Ammonites, carried him; while among the barren hills about Hebron the devoted servant of Jehovah dreamed of the realization of the divine promises and longed for new revelations.
IV.Historical Significance of the Stories. The table of the nations (§ VI) has illustrated the tendency among the early Hebrews to record tribal or national history in the form of personal biography. The same method still prevails among the Arabian tribes to-day. Thus interpreted, these opening Abraham stories represent the earliest chapter in Israel’s history. They state that the immediate ancestors of the Hebrews were nomads living in western Mesopotamia in the neighborhood of the ancient city of Haran. Thence the first group of immigrants moved westward, probably about 1500 or 1400 B.C., to find homes in the coast- lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Some, like the Ammonites and Moabites, in time settled along the eastern side of the Jordan and Dead Sea basin. Those from whom the Hebrews were descended, however, crossed over into Canaan. Among the rocky uplands they were allowed for a time to pitch their tents and pasture their flocks, even as do the Arabs in certain parts of Palestine to-day; but they sought in vain for a permanent place of abode in the already thickly populated territory west of the Jordan.
V.Aim and Teachings. The three distinct and yet related aims of the early prophetic historians are well illustrated in these opening stories. The first was to trace the outlines of Israel’s history and to interpret in the light of that record the divine purpose which was being realized in it. To their inspired eyes the later victories and prosperity of their race were but the fulfilment of Jehovah’s early promises. The second aim was to set before later generations in the person of their earliest ancestor a character that would inspire in his descendants the noblest ideals and aspirations. With the spirit of the true prophet,
Abraham leaves behind all that men usually cherish most and sets out on his long journey. In Canaan also he disregards his personal interests and is intent only upon knowing and doing the will of God. Self-sacrificing, courageous, obedient to the voice of God—he is supremely worthy to be the father of a prophetic nation. Blessed was the race that had such a character held up thus prominently before it! The third aim was to illustrate concretely, and therefore the more effectively, certain universal truths which had been revealed through the experiences of the Hebrew race. Clearly they stand forth from the simple narrative: (1) God guides those who will be guided. (2) For those who will be led by him, God has in store a noble destiny. (3) God can reveal himself to those alone who seek a revelation. (4) God’s revelations come along the path of duty and are confined to no place or land. (5) He that loseth his life shall find it. (6) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. (7) Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.