Israel

“This is the epitome of the stories that seem far too ugly to be in the Bible. This is not trickery of treachery at its most abysmal. It should be said, first of all, that the Hebrew Bible does not romanticize the history of the people of create it, to whom it is addressed, and who have preserved it faithfully over millennia. It is as if America

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“Questions about the covenant of Abraham that complicate its meaning arise from its very beginning. For example, the sign of the covenant is circumcision. Abraham is told that every male in his household must be circumcised, including slaves born in his house and those bought with money. This clearly anticipates the inclusion in the covenant of a

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“Abram again show little understanding of the nature of God. In imagining his relationship with God as exclusive, he denies respect to these strangers whose righteousness God Himself recognizes, values, and protects.

The moral appears to be that fear of outsiders, which amounts to contempt for them, leads to unrighteous behavior, and also that God

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