Ancient Near Eastern Treaty Traditions and Biblical Covenants: Recent Surveys (original) (raw)

"Hittite Treaties & Biblical Covenants"

A Critical Research Involving the form and Content of Hittite Treaties and its similarities as Archaeological Evidence for the Structures Found in Biblical Covenants throughout the Old Testament. The Influence of Pagan Legality which influenced Hebrew Religious Culture as demonstrated in Old Testament Studies.

Biblical covenant and Hittite isiul reexamined

Vetus Testamentum, 2011

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 išḫ iul. The išḫ iul 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.

The Hebrew Biblical Bérit in Light of Ancient Near Eastern Covenants and Treaties

Canon&Culture, 2020

A short historical survey of scholarly interpretations of the concept of bérit in the Hebrew Bible is offered in this article as a background to understanding the urge for different interpretations offered by scholars in recent decades. The survey starts with a detailed discussion of the contribution of Mendenhall’s interpretations of the biblical covenant in light of legal treaties from the Ancient Near East during the second millennium BCE. Those mainly Hittite international treaties opened the door for a new interpretation of the biblical texts in light of legal rather than just religious relations between the God of Israel and his people. The second part of the article shows how the Hittite treaty-documents have led to new interpretations of the Hebrew Bible covenant, based on ancient Near Eastern legal-political as well as cultic material, and how it may still be used in current research, together with Mesopotamian-Akkadian documents, which were also brought into that discussion. The major dispute between scholars today is the attempt to pose an historical measurement on the possible connection between the Hittite legal documents titled in Hittite išḫiul- which are dated to the second half of the second millennium, and the Akkadian documents titled adê mainly of the first millennium BCE, with the Hebrew Bible texts drawn during the first millennium.

Covenant and International Relations in the Ancient Near East: A Preliminary Exploration

To a great extent, ancient Near Eastern international relations operated within covenantal frameworks. In light of renewed interest in world history and the Near East in the discipline of International Relations, this article provides a preliminary exploration of the important practice of covenanting as an alternative account of balance- of-power dynamics. The notion, structure and diffusion of the covenant as a common practice have been discussed to great detail in other disciplines, such as, for example, Old Testament Studies. Dialogue with these studies will be pursued, but covenanting is here addressed also in some of its primary sources in light of the English School approach. As it turns out, the practice accounts for a number of peculiarities in alliance formation of the period. The preliminary findings are contrasted with alternative IR accounts of ancient Near Eastern power-balancing.

Ancient Near Eastern Treaties/Loyalty Oaths and Biblical Law

The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law, 2019

The chapter surveys evidence from West Asian and Mesopotamian sources, focusing on texts written in Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Hittite. Although modern scholarship distinguishes international treaties from domestic loyalty oaths, the difference is not recognized in ancient Near Eastern documents. Both types of agreements are discussed under five headings: relationships between treaties and other legal documents; the concept of the vassal treaty; forms; ratification; and covenants with gods. Each heading points to areas of ongoing research and discussion. These include the administration of oaths; difficulties in identifying vassal treaties; origin and development of treaty forms; and motivations for producing treaty documents. Among issues relevant to biblical studies are links between treaties and dynastic promises; categorization of biblical treaty texts; the role of sacrifice; and connections between covenants and vows.

Chapter 4. Deuteronomistic Covenant and Hittite Treaties

Because George E. Mendenhall proposed that the form of the covenant evident in the book of Deuteronomy derived from the Hittite empire and its subjugation treaties, this study looks next at the Hittite empire. Mendenhall argued that the treaties of ⁄uppiluliuma I, Mur¡ili II, and Muwatalli II (ca. 1344–1271 B.C.E.) resembled the covenant in the book of Deuteronomy. This study will review, first, the scholarship concerning Mendenhall’s proposal and other studies that relate the DH to the Hittites. In order to get behind the religious presuppositions of the treaties, this study looks, second, at the religion of the Hittites. Third, in order to understand the presuppositions of imperialist war evident in the treaties, this study analyzes the annals and war reports. Fourth, in order to get a sense of the purpose and function of the Hittite subjugation treaties, this study looks at the treaties within a much wider scope than that analyzed by Mendenhall and others. The chapter finishes with a comparison of the Hittite ideological worldview and the deuteronomistic covenant.