Elazar, Daniel J. Covenant and Polity in Biblical Israel: Biblical Foundations and Jewish Expressions Vol 1. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick. 1998

The account of Israelite government and history in the books of Joshua and Judges offer different expressions of God’s covenant forms and various governmental structures. One of the key political terms introduced in the Torah is Eved Adonai, the highest political leader of the Israelite nation. Constitutionally, a ‘prime minister’. Inherent in the concept of Eved Adonai is an understanding of the limitations of human political authority. The sovereignty of God the King over political organization underscores the rejection of monarchical reign as a legitimate political system.

Also inherent in the language of the Eved Adonai is the idea that leadership is not hereditary outside the priesthood. Again, calling for the sovereignty of God to move through the people of Israel, God selects each replacement for civil authority, beginning with the institution of Joshua as Moses’ replacement. This particular aspect of limited authority looks to the development of leadership in individuals through service to their country, and the divine instillment of what Elazar terms “charisma” into Israel’s leaders. The 17^th century puritans incorporated this aspect of Eved Adonai into the ordering of their colonies and wrote about this concept as the republican virtue. (240)

The Book of Joshua itself is constructed around the renewal of the covenant at three points. These markers are linear and correspond with the beginning, middle, and end of Joshua’s leadership over the people of Israel. The first renewing of the covenant takes place at their initial crossing over the Jordan and the erection of the stone altar. The second renewal takes place following the conquest of Canaan and the division of the land at Shechem. The third renewal is at Joshua’s farewell to the Israelite people once peacetime affords the families to return to domestic pursuits.

At each of these covenant renewals, the old covenant was not added to or amended but rather restored to its original form, essentially a conservative solution. Elazar calls it a republican solution “designed to guarantee the continuation of limited, popular government along with renewed national energy, based upon the continued distribution of powers between the tribe, on the one hand, and the national authorities, on the other. It’s republicanism is particularly marked since it was developed as an answer to the monarchists who argued that the only solution to the problem of effective government was centralized monarchy.”