Biblical Covenant Research Articles

An Examination of Maslow's Theory through the Development of Biblical Covenants

An Examination of Maslow's Theory through the Development of Biblical Covenants

Unveiling the Meaning of Love אהב: Between Politics and Romance in the Story of David and Jonathan

This study investigates the evolving interpretation of the relationship between David and Jonathan in the book of Samuel. Recent scholarship has sparked controversy by suggesting a possible homosexual connection between the two figures. This research challenges such interpretations by revisiting the concept of love (אהב) within ancient Near Eastern and biblical covenants, drawing on the foundational work of William Moran. Employing textual criticism and exegesis, the analysis focuses on the Hebrew terms חפץ and נעם used in 1 Samuel 19:1 and 2 Samuel 1:23, 26. By examining these terms alongside supporting evidence from the Hebrew Bible and ancient Aramaic texts, the study argues that these words carry primarily political connotations, signifying "delight" or "pleasantness" (חפץ) and "loveliness" or "beauty" (נעם), rather than romantic love. This novel interpretation reframes the understanding of David and Jonathan's bond, emphasizing its political significance within the broader narrative.

Diffusionism and the Hebrew Bible

The Diffusionist model has been used to explain cultural similarities in many fields of the humanities including anthropology, archaeology and ancient history. Diffusionism has often formed the presuppositions of those who have attempted to explain the similarities between certain elements of the Hebrew Bible and texts from other cultures of the Ancient Near East. This paper questions the appropriateness of Diffusionism as an explanation for common features found in ancient Israel and the Near East. Four particular cases of similarity are examined to test the merits of Diffusionism: accounts of the Flood, laws concerning the ‘goring ox’, biblical covenants and Near Eastern treaties, and creation accounts.

Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption by Daniel I. Block

Reviewed by: Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption by Daniel I. Block Reed Lessing daniel i. block, Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021). Pp. vii + 680. $54.99. After fifty years of studying Israel's Scriptures, Block presents his magnum opus—calling his book a "Here I stand" account of his findings (p. xiv). Although in his index B. provides two pages of cited works, the vast majority of the book's footnotes reference only biblical texts. In other words, B. does not interact—at least overtly—with other OT scholarship. He writes, "My primary desire in producing this volume is to celebrate the grace of God in designing and implementing his grand plan of redemption and to invite conversation on the plan generally and in its details" (p. xiv). His meticulously organized presentation of covenants in the Bible, then, is the author's academic and personal confession of faith. Foundational to B.'s work is the fact that he rejects the idea that there are conditional and unconditional covenants. Instead, he proposes that covenant theology is better understood through the lens of function rather than duration. That is to say, biblical covenants are either missional/communal or administrative, and they undergird what B. calls the Bible's four movements: redemption's background (Genesis 1–2); the need for redemption (Genesis 3:1–11:26); God's agents of redemption (Genesis 11:27–Malachi 4:6); and the arrival and mission of the Redeemer (Matthew–Revelation). Each of B.'s investigations into these four movements begins with sections exploring missional/communal covenants and ends with a similar analysis of the Bible's administrative covenants. One of the strengths of B.'s work is his consistent probing of the historical and literary contexts that give rise to the Bible's different covenants. Along the way, he structures his discussions from what he calls the cosmic and Adamic covenants, the Israelite (or patriarchal) covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the NT covenant. Throughout the book, B. provides in-depth exegeses and word studies. For example, on p. 111 he gives the semantic spectrum of yārēʾ words: terror, fright, anxiety, awe, reverence, submission, allegiance, trust. The book includes forty-three diagrams and twenty-two tables. Block understands the Noahic covenant as God saying, "I will establish my covenant [with the cosmos] with you" (p. 16). This is the case, B. argues, because the entire universe needs restoration because of Adam's fall. "The narrator [of Genesis] is silent concerning a reciprocal sign of commitment from the second party, but clearly that party is the earth itself" (p. 39). The rest of the First Testament does not let this vision of creation's renewal die (e.g., Hos 4:1–3; Jer 31:35–36). The author further maintains that the grammar of Gen 6:18—literally, "to establish, confirm a covenant"—implies that a preexisting covenant is already in place. This is the covenant God made with Adam. Among other texts to make his point, B. points to Hos 6:7: "But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me" (ESV). Following Genesis 11, God's covenant with Adam decreases while his covenant with Abram/Abraham takes center stage. "Instead of a triangular relationship involving God, the earth, and all living creatures, this relationship involved God, Israel, and the land of Canaan" (p. 68). After divine dealings with the patriarchs, the term "covenant" appears twentyeight additional times in the Pentateuch—the most important ones come at Sinai (Exodus 19–24), where God ordains Israel into priestly service for the sake of the world. Exodus 32–Leviticus 26 renews and completes this covenant. Forty years later, as narrated in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reaffirms it with Israel on the plains of Moab. The piel verb [End Page 482] in Deut 1:5, bēʾēr, means "to put into effect." It was necessary, B. contends, to reinstitute Sinai because the new generation of Israelites had not participated in the earlier covenant ratification. Upon entering the promised land, Israel repeatedly failed to hold up its part of the...

Ancient Near Eastern Treaty Traditions and Biblical Covenants: Recent Surveys

Three recent books survey ancient Near Eastern treaty texts and discuss their relevance to biblical covenants. Kitchen and Lawrence present the most extensive anthology now available. Altman tends to concentrate on Hittite diplomacy, while Charpin highlights evidence from Old Babylonian city-states. Taken together, they demonstrate that biblical scholars should bear in mind the flexibility of these political instruments when making comparisons to ancient Israel’s covenantal traditions.

“We the People of Israel”: Covenant, Constitution, and the Supposed Biblical Origins of Modern Democratic Political Thought

AbstractAs an originally political term, study of the concept of “covenant” has long demonstrated the intersection of biblical studies and political theory. In recent decades, the association between covenant and constitution has come to the forefront of modern political thought in attempts to find the origins of certain democratic ideals in the descriptions of biblical Israel, in order to garner either religious or cultural authority. This is exemplified in the claims of Daniel J. Elazar that the first conceptual seeds of American federalism are found in the covenants of the Hebrew Bible. Taking Elazar’s work as a starting and end point, this paper applies contemporary biblical scholarship to his definition of biblical covenant in order to reveal the influences of his own American political environment and that of the interpreters he is dependent upon. The notion that biblical covenant or its interpretation remains a monolithic or static concept is overturned by a survey of the diverse receptions of covenant in the history of biblical scholarship from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries, contrasting American and German interpretive trends. As such, I aim to highlight the reciprocal relationship between religion and politics, and the academic study of both, in order to challenge the claim that modern political thought can be traced back to biblical conceptions.

A Harmony of Judeo-Christian Eschatology and Messianic Prophecy

This essay presents a selective overview of the main themes of Judeo-Christian eschatological prophecy. Particular attention is paid to the significance of successive biblical covenants, prophecies of the “day of the Lord,” differences between personal and collective resurrection, and expectations of the Messianic era. Although the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament lived and wrote in diverse historical and social contexts, their foresights were remarkably consistent and collectively offered a coherent picture of the earth’s last days, the culmination of human history, and the prospects of the afterlife. This coherence reflects the interrelated character of Judaic and Christian theology and the unity of the Judeo-Christian faith.

The Biblical Covenant in Shakespeare by Mary Jo Kietzman

The Biblical Covenant in Shakespeare by Mary Jo Kietzman

Sacred Covenant and Huguenot Ideology of Resistance: The Biblical Image of the Contractual Monarchy in Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos

The Bible had been a fundamental source of legitimacy for the French monarchy, with biblical imagery wielded as a powerful propaganda weapon in the ideological warfare which the kings of France often had to wage. All Christian monarchies tried to build around themselves a sacral aura, but the French kings had soon set themselves apart: they were the “most Christian”, anointed with holy oil brought from heaven, endowed with the power of healing, and the eldest sons of the Church. Biblical text was called upon to support this image of the monarchy, as the kings of France were depicted as following in the footsteps of the virtuous kings of the Old Testament and possessing the necessary biblical virtues. However, the Bible could prove a double-edged sword which could be turned against the monarchy, as the ideological battles unleashed by the Reformation were to prove. In search for a justification for their resistance against the French Crown, in particular after 1572, the Huguenots polemicists looked to the Bible in order to find examples of limited monarchies and overthrown tyrants. In putting forward the template of a proto-constitutional monarchy, one of the notions advanced by the Huguenots was the Biblical covenant between God, kings and the people, which imposed limits and obligations on the kings. This paper aims to examine the occurrence of this image in Vindiciae, contra tyrannos (1579), one of the most important Huguenot political works advocating resistance against tyrannical kings, and the role it played in the construction of the Huguenot theory of resistance.

Selling salvation, selling success: neoliberalism and the US Prosperity Gospel

Abstract Neoliberalism relies on optimism. Without faith in meritocracy—unwavering belief that rewards will eventually and justly come to those who work hard enough—support for the capitalist system and belief in neoliberalism would unravel. How that optimism is perpetuated in the face of persistent income inequality and exploitation within the workplace requires an examination of those cultural institutions which reinforce and reproduce optimism over practical experience. This research focuses on one particular religious institution of the USA—the Prosperity Gospel. The Prosperity Gospel is a modern, neoliberal variation of Pentecostalism that is premised on the belief that a Biblical covenant between the individual believer and God guarantees that believer blessings of health and wealth, provided she demonstrates adequate faith. Accordingly, for those who are less adept at navigating the business world, financial success is still available for those believers who can dedicate themselves with the same frenzied ambition to the spiritual world. The Prosperity Gospel thus supports and sustains neoliberalism; the Prosperity Gospel is an institution which provides refuge to individuals from the exigencies of the market as well as a social practice which reinforces individual responsibility and fault. The Prosperity Gospel is the spiritual articulation of neoliberalism as well as a reinforcing institution.

Consecrating Capitalism: The United States Prosperity Gospel and Neoliberalism

:Neoliberalism relies on optimism. Without faith in meritocracy—unwavering belief that rewards will eventually and justly come to those who work hard enough—support for the capitalist system and belief in neoliberalism would unravel. How that optimism is perpetuated in the face of persistent income inequality and exploitation within the workplace requires an examination of those cultural institutions which reinforce and reproduce optimism over practical experience. This research focuses on one particular religious institution of the United States—the Prosperity Gospel.The Prosperity Gospel is a modern, neoliberal variation of Pentecostalism that is premised on the belief that a Biblical covenant between the individual believer and God guarantees that believer blessings of health and wealth, provided she demonstrates adequate faith. Accordingly, for those who are less adept at navigating the business world, financial success is still available for those believers who can dedicate themselves with the same frenzied ambition to the spiritual world. The Prosperity Gospel thus supports and sustains neoliberalism; the Prosperity Gospel is an institution which provides ref-uge to individuals from the exigencies of the market as well as a social practice which reinforces individual responsibility and fault. The Prosperity Gospel is the spiritual articulation of neoliberalism as well as a reinforcing institution.

The Two Covenants: An Interpretation of the 4Q158 Fragments

The underlying assumption of this article is that fragments 1–4 and 14 of 4Q158 represent an independent composition, not related to fragments 5–12 of 4Q158, where Exodus 19–22 in its proto-Samaritan version is copied. Identification of a common denominator for fragments 1–4 and 14 (labelled here as 4Q158b) is the main task of this article. This study shows that 4Q158b expresses a particular exegetical understanding of the biblical covenants and that its author's intentions and exegetical processes are best clarified in light of the book of Jubilees. According to Jubilees, two covenants were made by God at the creation of the world: one with humanity and another with the people of Israel. 4Q158b collects biblical passages (Gen. 31–32; Exod. 3–4; Exod. 24) in which it discerns hints of various expressions of commitment to these two covenants between the period of Abraham and the events at Sinai. The author of the text rewrites these passages with the intent of revealing to the reader these covenantal references only hinted at in the Bible.

Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law. By David VanDrunen.

This book comes from systematic theology but uses a strong biblical element to make its case. The second volume of three on natural law, it is an attempt to recover Reformed theology on natural law, guided by classic Reformed covenant theology. Van Drunen calls for ‘a theological-ethical exploration of natural law that is grounded in the thorough exegesis of Scripture, set in the context of the larger biblical story of creation, fall, preservation, redemption and consummation, and developed upon a distinctively Protestant theological foundation’ (p. 9), In good Reformed tradition he sees the biblical covenants as the main organizational principle for biblical theology. Unlike the Reformers, however, he places a particular focus on the covenant with Noah. He does not see that as a ‘covenant of grace’ (as those with Adam, Jesus, other Old Testament figures, and the New Testament church) but rather as a ‘covenant of works’, alongside other reflections on nature/creation/life in the biblical tradition. The Noachic covenant as a universal covenant links up with the natural order and human society. Therefore the contrast is not between covenantal and not, rather it is between different types of covenant. Whilst the original covenant was of creation, with Adam, after the Fall natural law was refracted through the covenant with Noah. The original goal of a ‘new creation’ was postponed into an ever more eschatological future, but the plan of salvation was enacted through Jesus Christ. VanDrunen explores how the natural law involves ethical obligations and their consequences—it is law not in the sense of rules but through general principles, nature, and the moral order. It is divinely revealed through the medium of wisdom. He adopts a canonical approach in that interpreting individual parts of Scripture needs to be done in the context of the whole.

The Protectionist Purpose of Law: A Moral Case from the Biblical Covenant with Noah

Political and legal theorists sometimes assign attempts to define the purpose of law and government into one of two categories: protectionism indicates that law and government should protect people from the violation of their rights while perfectionism indicates that law and government should also actively promote virtue in the human community. In this essay I draw primarily from the biblical covenant with Noah (Gn 8:21–9:17), supplemented with other biblical and moral-theological considerations. I argue that protectionism, contrary to common assumptions, need not be individualist, subjectivist, or indifferent to the broader well-being of society. Furthermore, and chiefly, I argue that a strong (yet rebuttable) protectionist presumption ought to govern Christian ethical reflection upon the purpose of law and government.

The hand of God is over their hands(Q. 48:10): On the Notion of Covenant in al-Ṭabarī's Account of Karbala

This article is an analysis of the story of the killing of Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī at Karbala in 61/680, as it is presented by al-Ṭabarī. The main argument is that the notion of the divine covenant, which permeates the Qur'an, constitutes a framework through which al-Ṭabarī views this event. The Qur'anic idea of the covenant is read in structural/thematic continuity with the Hebrew Bible account of the covenant between Yahweh and the Hebrew people, which has, in turn, been traced back in its basic form to Late Bronze Era treaties between rulers and their vassals.The present study focuses on four speeches ascribed to Ḥusayn during the encounter he and his group had with the vanguard of the Kufan army led by al-Ḥurr. These are analysed in accordance with their use of Qur'anic covenant vocabulary. They are also categorised within the broader framework of the eight standard characteristics of Ancient West Asian and Biblical covenants, as presented by Mendenhall and Herion, which have recently been developed in a Qur'anic context by Rosalind Ward Gwynne. This article argues that al-Ṭabarī’s Karbala narrative presents the pact of loyalty to Ḥusayn as a clear extension of the divine covenant.

Covenantal Possibilities in a Post-Polemical Age: A Jewish View

Christian theology has always laid claim to the biblical covenant between God with the Jewish people. Judaism has always rejected this claim. With many Christian theologians now rejecting hard supersessionism and accepting the continuing role of the Jewish people in God's covenant, can Jewish theology see a role for Christians in the biblical covenant, and if so, how?

The Lord Is a Man of War: John Jasper, Covenant, and Apocalypse

John Jasper (1812-1901), a major if misunderstood figure in post-Civil War African American culture, exemplifies a preaching tradition that used biblical ideas of covenant and apocalypse to orient the faithful in the furnace of the post-Reconstruction South. Jasper's sermons, usually titled Do Move and Stone Cut Out of the Mountain Without Hands, are among the works that make him, in Ralph Ellison's words, one of the eloquent and heroic Negroes whose spirit still moves us through the contributions they made to the flexibility, music and idealism of the American language (Remembering 668). Recent scholarship has taken Jasper as being significant because of the disregard for natural law signaled in the Sun sermon's conventional rifle, which implies God's ability to alter the natural order, and so belies Southern assumptions that slavery and race domination are inherent in that order (Roberts 139). Scholars note too that [a]lthough the sermon is titled 'The Do Move,' Jasper's real purpose is to demonstrate the truthfulness and reliability of the power of (LaRue 33). Despite their insights, these views reflect over-reliance on the best-known but truncated and misleading version of this sermon, remain unaware of its emphasis on the God of Exodus, and fail to relate it to others, such as Stone Cut Out of the Mountain. Fuller reconstruction and contextualization place the two works centrally in the biblical covenant and apocalyptic traditions, with their assumption that God providentially directs history toward salvation of the covenant people. Not incidentally, this reconsideration also helps undermine the cliche that religious faith encourages acceptance of injustice. Jasper was born July 4, 1812, in Fluvanna County, Virginia, and remained a slave until emancipation. Converted in 1839, he began preaching the next year and built a reputation over many years largely on the funeral circuit (Randolph 10). (1) Following the Civil War, he was a minister in Petersburg, Virginia, helped organize Baptist churches in Weldon, North Carolina, and Richmond, and eventually founded Richmond's Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church (Randolph 28-33), remaining pastor until his death. Jasper is today known almost entirely for the Sun sermon, though in his lifetime and immediately after he was famed for others as well (see, e.g., Brawley 84-85). He is first known to have preached the sermon in early 1878 and he repeated it hundreds of times, often before white audiences. The title is not Jasper's, and is used here only for convenience. (2) The sermon has come down to us as a biblically based argument for a geocentric, flat-earth view of the universe, and yet is arguably about Exodus, covenant, and apocalypse as much as it is about the sun. The sermon's seemingly central concern with the sun is indeed partly an artifact of its being known, even today, almost exclusively in a shortened version excluding other material. This version was published (1908) seven years after Jasper's death by a white Baptist minister and admirer, William E. Hatcher, and this reconstructed excerpt represents the appropriation and celebration of only a part of the sermon's content. An earlier and more reliable biography of Jasper (1884), by Edwin Archer Randolph, the first African American law graduate of Yale, gives a better idea of the sermon's focus but is today almost unknown. (3) Further, since Jasper composed orally, accounts of his sermons are based on newspaper reports, including both summaries and purported dialect transcriptions. (4) Both the sermon and its author long held different meanings in African American and white traditions. Among whites of his day, Jasper was a figure of some renown. Though his was an African American congregation, white guests frequently attended and were received with unfailing courtesy (Hatcher 124-26), and a syndicate sent Jasper on tour to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and elsewhere in mid-1878 (Randolph 36; Hatcher 129-31). …

Biblical covenant and Hittite išiul reexamined

Ever since the literary comparison of the biblical covenant and Hittite treaties came under strong criticism, most scholars have avoided this area of study. However, the textual similarities have recently drawn scholars to reconsider this comparison again. This article details the state of research into the Hittite genre of texts to which the treaties belong, and which was called by the Hittites isiul. The isiul genre included both the treaty texts and the instructions texts. These types of texts were used by the Hittites as a means of creating and maintaining loyalty within the Hittite kingdom. Within the legal framework to which these texts belong, the instructions text will be brought to the fore to suggest a possible new background for the biblical covenant.

In Search Of A General Theory Of Medicaid

In Search Of A General Theory Of Medicaid

Conceptualising the notion of corporate brand covenant

PurposeThis paper aims to theorise the concept of corporate brand covenant.Design/methodology/approachChristian theology is drawn on to define and identify the source of the notion of covenant. Similarly, a review of the literature on the meaning and management of corporate branding is presented. Following a thorough review of the literature, the notion of a corporate brand covenant is conceptualised and discussed. This is firmly supported by a semiotic deconstruction of a corporate advertisement from HSBC.FindingsSix important findings emerged from the study. The first is the Christian theological insight into the notion of covenant. This finding drew the attention of corporate branding academics to the source of this phenomenon. Second, a total of six cardinal principles (initial scenario; a covenanter, a covenant and a covenantee; the covenant is binding on all parties; the covenant is perpetual; the covenant is irreversible; the covenant stems from God and is then handed on to man) were proposed. Third, a template highlighting how the biblical covenant is managed was conceptualised. Fourth, six mandatory components of corporate branding: firm's personality; corporate positioning; interactions; corporate communications; stakeholders; corporate reputation/image; were identified. Fifth, an integrative framework highlighting the points of linkages between the biblical covenant and the corporate brand‐oriented covenant was developed. Sixth, a new definition of corporate brand covenant was suggested and supported by a semiotic deconstruction of HSBC's corporate advertising campaign.Research limitations/implicationsThere is little literature devoted to corporate brand covenant. The majority of works addressing this concept have done so anecdotally. Thus, by addressing this phenomenon via a Christian theological lens, the study solidifies the corporate branding literature, which at the moment lacks a strong foundation in social science theory.Practical implicationsPractitioners are encouraged to remember that the successful management of a corporate brand begins with a thorough understanding of what a corporate brand covenant means. An understanding of this concept will enable managers to define and deploy strategies that will promote corporate branding issues.Originality/valueThe paper extends the frontiers of existing anecdotal discourse on corporate brand covenant. In so doing, a fuller and more robust understanding of the concept of corporate branding among academics and practitioners is achieved.