NUM392 We may now proceed to examine the areas in which a biblically prescribed harsh treatment appears to be contrary to established principles of compassion. A survey reveals two distinct concerns of early Judaism. One was the survival of monotheism in an ocean of paganism. The other was the eradication of bloodshed in a primitive society where feuds were normally resolved by murder. In both of these areas the Bible demands strict justice untempered by mercy. The promise of the Land of Canaan to the Children of Israel was contingent upon their acceptance of monotheism. Moses warned that the Canaanites must be expelled and their idols destroyed [this verse]. Coexistence with the Canaanites, a morally corrupt people, would have aborted the growth of monotheism at its very inception. The harsh decree of expulsion was an emergency measure which did not establish an ethical norm. It was never applied to the pagans of other countries, for their practices posed no danger to the viability of monotheism in Palestine. Thus when the prophet Jonah rued God's willingness to forgive the Ninevites (4:2), God retorted: "Shall I not have compassion for Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons?" (4:11). In every situation where idolatry threatened to weaken the will of the people to uphold monotheism, the Bible warns against permitting compassion to undermine the determination to uproot idolatry. This admonition was couched in the oft-repeated classical phrase: "Thine eyes shall not pity them" (Deuteronomy 7:16). It applied equally to pagans and to backsliding Jews guilty of inciting the people to revert to idolatry (Deuteronomy 13:9). Continued at [[DEUT934]] Deuteronomy 19:13 pity BLOCH 64).