A Lesson of Study
Inheritance and Erasure:
Rethinking Divine Right, Ancient Identity, and the Question of Land
By Beezone
Introduction: The Problem of Divine Title Deeds
I
The notion that a land could be promised by God to a specific people—a promise that transcends historical contingency—has shaped religious imagination for centuries. In the case of Israel and the “promised land,” this idea resonates not only in scripture but also in modern political and cultural history. What does such a claim rest upon? What precedents does it follow? And what complexities arise when that claim intersects with historical populations and evolving moral consciousness?
This essay is an exploration, not an argument. It seeks to understand the theological and textual foundation of the promise, the peoples who preceded the Hebrews in the land, and the mechanisms by which identity was shaped through divine figures. Rather than judging these dynamics, it examines their structures and consequences, raising questions that remain open.
The Basis of the ‘Divine Right’: Covenant or Conquest?
According to biblical tradition, the land of Canaan was promised to Abraham* and his descendants through a series of divine covenants. Genesis 15:18 declares: “To your descendants I give this land.” In J.H. Kurtz’s formulation in The Old Covenant, this is an unconditional act of divine election, not subject to human adjudication.¹
The realization of this promise is deferred. Kurtz cites Genesis 15:16, where God states that “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full,” implying a prerequisite of moral decline among the current inhabitants. The logic is that of divine timing, not immediate historical possession.
In later centuries, this promise has been interpreted in various ways. Louis Brandeis, writing in the early 20th century, frames it as a form of national revival.² In his view, Zionism offered a political and cultural renewal, grounded not solely in scripture but in modern ideas of nationality. Still, the claim to the land, in this view, remains linked to ancient inheritance.
Others, like Walter Brueggemann, have interpreted the biblical land promise as a complex theological construct—a gift bound up with expectations.³ The land, in this framing, is not simply given but entrusted. Such readings shift focus from possession to responsibility, raising questions rather than providing resolutions.
Who Were the Canaanites? The Pre-Existing Landscape
Archaeological and historical sources suggest that the land of Canaan was home to diverse and complex societies long before the Hebrews arrived. Amorites, Jebusites, Hittites, and other groups inhabited the region. The Jew Through the Centuries notes that the Hebrew tribes entered a land “already well peopled by men of diverse races,” and that their arrival did not immediately displace these populations.⁴
The biblical narrative, however, often compresses this history into a framework of divine judgment and conquest. The Canaanites are described less in their own right and more in terms of their function within Israel’s story. Kurtz refers to their eventual extermination or absorption, often under divine sanction.¹
Whether through gradual assimilation or forceful expulsion, the presence of these earlier peoples and their displacement forms a crucial background to the covenantal narrative. Their role, largely unvoiced in the canonical texts, opens a space for inquiry into the nature of memory and omission in sacred history.
II
In ancient narratives, divine messengers—angels, theophanies, visions—serve as intermediaries that authorize, affirm, or command. Kurtz’s detailed examination of “The Angel of the Lord” describes a figure who acts at times as God, and at other times as God’s emissary.¹
These figures functioned as more than messengers. They were part of the symbolic machinery through which identity and legitimacy were formed. They shaped narrative and theological boundaries.
Today, the role of such figures invites questions. How did divine authorization shape ancient conceptions of right and order? How do modern frameworks interpret or respond to the authority once embedded in these intermediaries? These are not questions with definitive answers, but their presence in the conversation complicates simple historical readings.
Considering the Framework: Land, Covenant, and Continuity
If the biblical land promise is approached not as a verdict but as a narrative construct, then it invites reflection rather than resolution. The covenant, in this view, becomes a frame through which generations have interpreted belonging, exile, return, and identity.
Some modern theologians have engaged this tradition by reexamining its implications. Brueggemann emphasizes the conditional and dialogical nature of covenant.³ Marc H. Ellis interrogates the promise in the light of more recent histories.⁵ Each offers not a replacement narrative, but an invitation to reconsider the categories we use.
The tension between permanence and contingency, between promise and presence, remains.
III
The story of Israel and the land of Canaan is a narrative of profound depth. Its theological claims are inseparable from its historical traces. Its figures—Abraham, Moses, the angel of the Lord—carry the weight of identity and meaning. And yet, beneath and beside them, there are other peoples, other voices, other histories.
This essay has not sought to decide the validity of ancient claims or to reconcile modern disputes. It has sought to understand the structural basis of those claims, the landscape into which they were projected, and the questions they raise about memory, identity, and presence.
Perhaps, in place of answers, it is the act of inquiry that remains most faithful to the tradition it examines.
¹ J.H. Kurtz, The Old Covenant, trans. Alfred Edersheim (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1859).
² Louis D. Brandeis, “The Jewish Problem and How to Solve It,” in Brandeis on Zionism, ed. Jacob de Haas (New York: Zionist Organization of America, 1915).
³ Walter Brueggemann, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002).
⁴ The Jew Through the Centuries, ed. James Parkes (London: Secker & Warburg, 1954).
⁵ Marc H. Ellis, Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004).
Bibliography
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Brandeis, Louis D. Brandeis on Zionism. Edited by Jacob de Haas. New York: Zionist Organization of America, 1915.
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Brueggemann, Walter. The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002.
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Ellis, Marc H. Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004.
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Kurtz, J.H. The Old Covenant. Translated by Alfred Edersheim. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1859.
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Parkes, James, ed. The Jew Through the Centuries. London: Secker & Warburg, 1954.
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* The traditional narrative of the Hebrew people—rooted in Abrahamic migration from Mesopotamia to Canaan, followed by Egyptian bondage and eventual Exodus—is widely accepted, often without rigorous scrutiny. Yet when this tale is examined with contemporary scholarly tools in archaeology, sociolinguistics, and historiography, serious cracks emerge. Read more >>>
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