It is interesting and important to note that Israel's history was
in most respects like that of other growing nations. In the
beginning pastoral society and tribal government develop among
savages primarily through the domestication of animals. The young
of the animals slain in the hunt are kept first as pets: then, when
as a result of the thriftless nature of the savages supplies at
times become scarce, the pets are slain for food. As pets become
more common and population increases, the advantage of breeding for
use is apparent, and private property, in distinction from
community possessions, appears. The growing herds naturally
develop the need of regular service. To meet this need the
institutions of permanent marriage and bondage arise and the wife
or wives and the slaves perform the added work. With the custom of
fixed marriage and the possibility of tracing ancestry through the
father, comes in time ancestral government. The Hebrews seem to
have had this type of government, even in the days of Abraham; and
it lasted until the tribes broke up into clans and families, when
they acquired permanent homes and became agriculturists in the land
of Canaan.
Many of the characteristics of the tribe disappear almost entirely,
as wandering nomads settle in a fixed abode, and the patriarchal
rule changes to that of a royal or democratic government. Customs
become fixed in formal statutes. Property in land becomes more
important than that in herds. War becomes the business of a
special army, instead of the frequent duty of all.
But in the tribe there is little competition. All work for the
community, or for the family, rather than for individual interests.
Each man is primarily responsible, not to the state, but to the
head of his family or clan, who in turn answers for his family to
the tribal chief.
Certain of these tribal institutions and ideals have left their
indelible impress on modern society. The tribe was exclusive.
All those not born into the tribe had no right, no welcome there,
for their coming would tend to restrict the common pasturage. They
would be a burden. Though the tent-dweller might be hospitable to
a guest, an alien had no rights except on sufferance. If he were
needy and were received, he usually became a serf or slave. And
yet this exclusiveness is the germ of our patriotism, a noble trait
that may ultimately, but not soon, be replaced by a cosmopolitan
love for humanity.
Allied to this is the personal bond, that obtains in the tribe,
instead of the territorial unity of the modern state. A Frenchman
is such because he is born in France; an Israelite is such because
he is the son of Abraham and knows his people as his blood kinsmen.
This personal tie makes for peace and democracy. Building on this
Jewish tribal trait, Jesus calls all men brethren because sons of a
common Father. His Kingdom of God, likewise, is not territorial.
Its citizens are bound together by the tribal bond of a common
brotherhood and fatherhood. Thus the lessons, so deeply impressed
in the childhood of the race, have a large and growing significance
for the present and future.
_Questions for Further Consideration_.
What reasons may be given to prove that love for humanity is a
virtue more useful to modern civilization than patriotism?
Does the movement for universal peace find any encouragement in the
teachings ascribed to Moses?
On what grounds can the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites be
defended? How did it differ from the taking of Tripoli by Italy?
Or of Porto Rico by the United States?
In the light of the oldest records, was Moses' work in your
judgment accomplished by natural or supernatural methods?
What were the chief characteristics of Moses? What place does he
hold in history?
Is modern socialism in any way a revival of the principles
underlying the old tribal organization? How far did Jesus in his
idea of the Kingdom of God build on the old tribal idea?
_Subjects/or Further Study_.
(1) Characteristics of the Wilderness South of Palestine.
Hastings, _Dict. Bib_. III, 505-6. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist_.,
42, 43.
(2) The Religion of Moses. Hastings, _Dict. Bib_., Extra Vol.
631-634; Marti, _Old Testament Religion_, 36-71.
(3) Compare the tribal organization and customs of the Israelites
with those of the American Indian tribes of to-day. Publications
of the _Indian Association_; publications of the _Mohonk
Conferences_.