The Covenant with Abraham and Its Historical Setting -- By: Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 127:507 (Jul 1970)
Article: The Covenant with Abraham and Its Historical Setting
Author: Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.


The Covenant with Abraham and Its Historical Setting

Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.

[Cleon L. Rogers, Jr., Missionary to Germany, Greater Europe Mission.]

In current Old Testament studies the concept of covenant has come to occupy a central place. The rich bibliographies appended to books and articles dealing with this subject indicate the tremendous emphasis which is being placed on the covenant. Walter Eichrodt has developed his influential work on Old Testament theology completely around the covenant theme.1 Although his work has been criticized for being perhaps too one-sided in this emphasis, nevertheless, it is now generally admitted that his emphasis is not at all out of step with the Ancient Near Eastern world.2 The discovery and publication of treaty texts of the ancient world have vastly increased our information regarding the historical background of the Bible. Yet the real surge of interest arose when these treaty texts began to be compared with the covenant passages of the Bible. The three outstanding works which have given impetus to this area of study are those by Mendenhall,

Baltzer, and more recently by McCarthy.3 However, the major concern of these works, as well as the ever-increasing literature dealing with covenants,4 is God’s covenant with Moses, but the covenant with Abraham is hardly considered at all.5 This arises primarily because the patriarchal narratives are viewed as either nonhistorical, or revised tribal traditions which have some kind of historical basis.6 This naturally has the effect of removing the covenant with Abraham from its historical setting and thus leads to all kinds of speculations as to its history and purpose.7

The intent of this study is to review the covenant concept of the ancient world and then to view the covenant with Abraham against this historical background.

I. The Concept of the Covenant in the Ancient World

The foundational term. The root meaning of the Hebrew word ברית is not exactly clear and its original significance has been given various interpretations.8 Some have connected the root with an Assyrian word which means fetter or bond. This view would stress the binding agent of the covenant.

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