It was first performed at L'église Saint-Eustache in Paris on March 15, 1900, with Jean Noté, baritone, Lydia Nervil, soprano, and the orchestra and chorus totaling 400, directed by a former pupil of Massenet, Eugène d'Harcourt.
[1] The work was preceded at its first performance by the French premiere of Das Liebesmahl der Apostel (given as La dernière Cène des Apôtres).
The first part (Moab - L'Alliance) depicts Moses' pact with God: that the Jews will obey His law if He allows them passage across the river Jordan to the promised land.
The second part (Jéricho - La Victoire) recounts the fall of Jericho, and in the third (Chanaan - La Terre Promise) the Jews reach Canaan and sing a hymn of praise to God.
[1] In a rare modern performance La Terre Promise was part of the 1992 Massenet Festival, (with Laurent Naouri among the cast).