God had begun his covenant with Abraham (then called Abram, Genesis 15:18). God continued it with Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 17:19; Exodus 2:24). Jacob’s twelve sons became the ancestors of Israel’s twelve tribes. Israel’s freedom from Egypt and settlement in Canaan had its basis in God’s promises to their ancestors, not on the Israelites’ own virtues (Deuteronomy 9:4–5).