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.