Contours of Old Testament Theology

18. Salvation and Obligation

18. SALVATION AND OBLIGATION Tbe symbol OJ "the mountain of God," where God meets with the people in a theophany of earthquake, wind, and fire, and enters into covenant relation with them, does not stand by itself. In the book of Deuteronomy it belongs to a larger pattern of symbolization that is characteristic of the Mosaic covenant. Covenant and Treaty One of the major advances in biblical studies in the twentieth century has been the discovery that the Mosaic covenant is analogous to a type of ancient treaty (or covenant) known as the "suzerainty" or overlord treaty, best illustrated in treaties found by archaeologists in the archives of the Hittite capital located in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The Hittites, who reached the height of their power about 1400 B.C., regulated relationships between their state and their vassals or client states by a treaty arrangement that has six component parts. To review what has become widely known: • First comes a preamble in which the covenant maker identifies himself: his name, titles, position of authority. • Second, there is a review of the previous history of relations between the Hittite king and the vassal, stressing the overlord's beneficent actions that should elicit gratitude and fidelity. • Third, there is a statement about continuing good relations, based on mutual faithfulness to conditions agreed upon. • Fourth, the treaty sets forth specific stipulations (laws), especially the requirement that the vassal is not to have an independent foreign policy. • Fifth, the gods of heaven and earth are invoked as witnesses, and in addition there is an appeal to natural phenomena such as mountains, seas, heaven, and earth. • Finally, the treaty concludes with the sanctions of blessing and curse: bless­ ing that would result from the protection of the overlord (political security, economic well-being, etc.), and curses in the form of every conceivable dis­ aster that would result from disobedience.' Many interpreters have been impressed with the affinity between the suzerainty treaty and the Mosaic covenant form, and a large literature has arisen on this subject.2 One striking indication of affinity is that the stipulations of the 1. An excellent example of the so-called suzerainty treaty is the 'Treaty Between Mursilis and Duppi-Tessub of Amurru," in ANET, 203-20. 2. Discussion was stimulated by the works of George E. Mendenhall, e.g., his article "Covenant," IDB 1 -.714-23. See my observations in Approaches to the Bible-. The Best ofBible Review, ed. Harvey Minkoff, 2 vols. (Washington, D C : Biblical Archaeology Society, 1994-95), "Menden­ hall Disavows Paternity of Gottwald's Marxist Theory," 2:114-19. 142 Salvation and Obligation 143 Mosaic covenant, according to the book of Deuteronomy, are sanctioned by the blessing and the curse. In a homiletical prologue to the Deuteronomic legislation (chapters 12-50) Moses invokes these divine sanctions. See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD [Yahweh] your God that I am commanding you today,- and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD [Yahweh] your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known. —Deut. 11.26-28 Some have gone so far as to say that Moses became familiar with the interna­ tional treaty form when he was serving in the pharaoh's court in Egypt. But this is unlikely. Some elements of the form, to be sure, are present in the Sinai story in Exodus 19-24, 32-34, but one has to stretch considerably to make the treaty form fit. Also, it is doubtful whether fugitives in the Sinai desert would have been influ­ enced by an international treaty form. It is possible that the treaty form influenced Israelite tradition at the time of the occupation of Canaan, when Israelite tribes were bound together in a tribal confederacy, for several of the elements are found in Joshua's covenant ceremony at Shechem (Joshua 24). More likely, the treaty form was influential during the monarchy, especially in Deuteronomic circles, when other versions (Assyrian) of the ancient treaty form were known. Whatever its significance for understanding Israel's social life and institutions, the suzerainty treaty form has a heuristic value in that it helps us to discover a pat­ tern of symbolism that we might have missed otherwise. After a long review of scholarly discussion, E. W. Nicholson concludes that "covenant" is "a metaphor drawn from...