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ditions. The effort to harmonize the two proceeds upon the belief of the later compilers of the Bible that Yahweh was con- sidered as the one true God from the first. The only natural explanation is that the compilers of the Bible brought these conflicting traditions together, just as they did many others, without paying special attention to the differences between them. If it be said that they must, then, have been exceedingly care- less, the answer is, that the biblical material was not assembled by scientific historical critics, but by men who were intensely occupied with practical religious and social problems. As we pointed out in the first paper, the controlling motive in the preparation of the Bible is edification, or building-up, of men in the worship of God. Two sorts of people had a hand in this task — the prophets, who wanted men to be edified according to the prophetic idea ; and the priests, who wanted men to be edified according to the priestly idea. This purpose is enough to atone for such oversights as the one here in view.
Having thus emphasized the Sinai covenant as a phenom- enon of primitive religion, what are we to conclude as to the contents, or stipulations, of the covenant itself? Did Moses bring forward the Pentateuch, or the substance of it, in the name of Yahweh? Did he lay down the Ten Commandments and other laws? And did he claim for Yahweh a monopoly of Israel's worship which excluded other gods? We cannot here consider these questions finally, but will speak of them in a pre- liminary way. Granted that Yahwism at the Sinai period was only the religion of a local god, the giving of the Ten Com- mandments and other moral laws would have been superfluous. In the clan state of society, morality within the group is always regulated by the consuetudinary law that springs from the feel- ing of relationship; and it is rigidly enforced by the discipline of the clan-group. Israel at this time was not a nation, but at the most a few desert clans. And in the clan there is no need for written law. Nor could there have been a demand for ex- clusive worship of Yahweh. For after the settlement in Canaan the Israelites mingled the worship of Yahweh with that of other gods; and there was no protest against this practice for more
