UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

UC Davis Jewish Studies Program

Cultural Histories of the Hebrew Bible Summer Institute

Fran Sheppard

Lesson Topic: Abraham and Moses’ Covenant with the Hebrew god

Lesson Focus Question: How do the stories of Abraham and Moses reflect the relationship of the Jews to their God?

Lesson Teaching Thesis: As the founder of the Jewish religion, Abraham established the Jewish faith. His Covenant is the foundation of the Jewish belief in God’s protection in return for their loyalty and obedience. The Bible describes Abraham making an agreement with God which would provide his protection and blessing on the Jewish race if they remained faithful to him and followed his commandments. Moses’ statement to the Jews reaffirms this agreement. The Ten Commandments add specific laws and requirements.

Standard: 6.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Ancient Hebrews.

1.  Describe the origins and significance of Judaism as the first monotheistic religion based on the concept of one God who sets down moral laws for humanity.

2.  Identify the sources of the ethical teachings and central beliefs of Judaism (the Hebrew Bible, the Commentaries): belief in God, observance of law, practice of the concepts of righteousness and justice, and importance of study; and describe how the ideas of the Hebrew traditions are reflected in the moral and ethical traditions of Western civilization.

Common Core Standards:

6-8 Reading Standards for Literacy in History: Key Ideas and Details

1.  Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

6-8 Writing Standards for Literacy in History: Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

a. Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.

Reading Strategy: Highlighting and annotating the text to locate evidence to answer a focus question.

Primary Source: The books of Genesis (chapters 12, 17,) and Deuteronomy (chapter 10), Exodus 20: 3-14 of the Bible, King James Version

Primary Source Analysis: Students will read, highlight, annotate, analyze, and paraphrase. See worksheet.

Writing Instruction: After completing the reading, analyzing, and paraphrasing activities, students will respond to the Writing Response question.

Writing Question: How do the accounts of Abraham and Moses reflect the relationship of the Jews to their God?

Writing Strategy: The writing response is a structured analytical paragraph.


Ancient Hebrews: Abraham and The Covenant Name ______

(The Message of Ancient Days, pages 299-303)

Background:

A “covenant” is a special agreement between two parties (people or groups of people). In a covenant, each party agrees to do their part, and in exchange, the other party (person) will do their side of the agreement. In each of the following passages, there are specific actions that each party (in this case God and Abraham speaking for the Hebrew people) is promising to do.

According to Genesis, the first book of the Torah, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis tells of how God commanded a shepherd named Abraham from the city of Ur in Mesopotamia to move to Canaan, thought to be about 1900 B.C.E. God told him,

“Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

Genesis tells how God brought this new nation into being, beginning with the descendants of Abraham, called the Hebrews. Both Abraham and Moses made an agreement with God, to believe in and worship only one God.

(As you read, put a question mark by words that are unclear, and use a highlighter pen to mark the actions that God and the Hebrew people are promising to each other)

I. As it says in the Torah:

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said to him:

“I am God almighty, walk before Me and be blameless. And I will establish my covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendents after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendents after you. (Genesis, Chapter 17)

What would Abraham (and the Jews) need to do to receive the promises made by God? What were the promises God made to Abraham?

God’s requirement of Abraham: / God’s Covenant (agreement) with Abraham:

II. Moses and the Ten Commandments

The Torah teaches that during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai, where God spoke to him and gave him a message to pass on to his people.

“And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you, but only this: to revere the Lord your God, to walk only in his paths, to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and his statues which I am commanding you today for your good.” (Deuteronomy 10:12,13)

God’s Promise to Abraham: / God’s requirement of Abraham: / God’s message to the Jews from Moses
many descendants / Walk “before God” (with God?)
a new name / Walk “blameless” before God (sinless)
Be Exceedingly Fruitful
Abraham’s descendants would be king
Covenant with descendants
Question: How does Moses’ message to the Jews differ from the original Covenant between God and Abraham?
______
______
______
______
______
______
Vocabulary:
Multiply- to have many children
Exceedingly – very, extremely
Blameless – without sin or evil
Behold – “used to call attention, like saying listen to this”
Multitude - many / Fruitful – able to have many children
Descendants - children
Generations - descendants or future children and grandchildren
Revere – honor, respect, admire
Everlasting –eternal, lasting forever

III. The Ten Commandments

Then the Torah describes how Moses gave the Jews ten laws engraved on two stone tablets. These written laws are known as the “Decalogue” or the Ten Commandments. By accepting these ten laws as part of the covenant, the Israelites accepted God as their king, and these commandments as the laws of God’s kingdom.

I, the Lord, am your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods besides Me.

You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image….

You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your god….

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy…

Honor your father and your mother that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor.

You shall not covet (desire)...anything that is your neighbor’s.

(Exodus 20: 3-14)

Lesson Question: How did the Ten Commandments show the values of the ancient Hebrews?

Part I: As you can see, by accepting the Ten Commandments, the Hebrews agreed to worship only God. They also agreed to value human life, self-control, and justice. Over time the commandments shaped the development of Hebrew society.

Ancient Civilizations, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2006): page 228.

Underline the 4 ways (categories) of how they shaped society and list them below. Then, categorize the Commandments on the chart on page 7.

A.  ______

B.  ______

C.  ______

D.  ______

Ten Commandments / In your own words / What values or beliefs does it reflect?
You shall have no other gods besides Me. / (Example) They would have no gods beside the one Hebrew God
You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image
You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your god
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy
Honor your father and your mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor
You shall not covet (desire)...anything that is your neighbor’s

IV. Written Response:

Write a paragraph about how the Ten Commandments reflect the values of ancient Hebrew society. Explain how the commandments teach people how to live. Conclude with a sentence that describes why you think rules and laws were important to Ancient Hebrew society and why societies need laws.

Writing Question: How did the Ten Commandments show the values of the ancient Hebrews?

The Ten Commandments show the ancient Hebrews ______

______.

The commandments that explain the Hebrews relationship with God are______

______

They tell the Hebrews to______.

The commandments that describe how people should behave towards others (human life) are ______

______

because ______

______.

The commandments that show how people should value self-control ______

because ______

______.

The commandments that show how people should value justice______

______

These laws were important to Ancient Hebrew society because ______

______

______.

In my opinion, laws are important to a society because ______

______

______

______.

KEY: Ancient Hebrews: Abraham and The Covenant

(The Message of Ancient Days, pages 299-303)

Background:

A “covenant” is a special agreement between two parties (people or groups of people). In a covenant, each party agrees to do their part, and in exchange, the other party (person) will do their side of the agreement. In each of the following passages, there are specific actions that each party (in this case God and Abraham speaking for the Hebrew people) is promising to do.

According to Genesis, the first book of the Torah, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis tells of how God commanded a shepherd named Abraham from the city of Ur in Mesopotamia to move to Canaan in about 1900 B.C. God told him,

“Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

Genesis tells how God brought this new nation into being, beginning with the descendants of Abraham, called the Hebrews. Both Abraham and Moses made an agreement with God, to believe in and worship only one God.

(As you read, put a question mark by words that are unclear, and use a highlighter pen to mark the actions that God and the Hebrew people are promising to each other,)

I. As it says in the Torah KEY:

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said to him:

“I am God almighty, walk before Me and be blameless. And I will establish my covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendents after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendents after you. (Genesis, Chapter 17)

What would Abraham (and the Jews) need to do to receive the promises made by God? What were the promises God made to Abraham?

God’s requirement of Abraham / God’s Covenant(agreement) with Abraham:
Walk “before God” (with God?) / Will have many descendants
Walk “blameless” before God (sinless) / Get a new name
One of Abraham’s descendants would be king
Make you exceedingly fruitful
Will be Nations of you (your people)
Will have a Covenant with your descendants

II. Moses and the Ten Commandments KEY

The Torah teaches that during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai, where God spoke to him and gave him a message to pass on to his people:

“And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you, but only this: to revere the Lord your God, to walk only in his paths, to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and his statues which I am commanding you today for your good.” (Deuteronomy 10:12,13)

God’s Promise to Abraham: / God’s requirement of Abraham: / Moses’ message from God to the Jews
many descendants / Walk “before God” (with God?) / revere (worship and honor) God
a new name / Walk “blameless” before God (sinless) / walk only in his paths (obey God)
Be Exceedingly Fruitful / love God
Abraham’s descendants would be king / serve God with whole heart and soul
Covenant with descendants / keep and obey God’s commandments and statutes laws

Question: How does Moses’ message to his people differ from the original Covenant between God and Abraham?