Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 180:719 (Jul 2023)
Article: Comparing Contexts Of “Love” In Ancient Near Eastern Treaties And Covenants
Author: Joey Sungman Woo

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Comparing Contexts Of “Love” In Ancient Near Eastern Treaties And Covenants

Joey Sungman Woo

Joey Sungman Woo is a PhD student in Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas.

Abstract

Many scholars find similarities between Deuteronomy 13 and 28 and Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty (EST). Similarly, the foundational term “love” in Deuteronomy 6:5 has been compared to “love” in EST. This article investigates the contextual relationship for “loyal love” in Neo-Assyrian treaties and the late second-millennium Hittite treaties and compares them with Deuteronomy. It demonstrates the covenant-forming relationship in Deuteronomy is incontestably closer to late second-millennium suzerain-vassal relationships than to seventh-century Assyrian treaties.

Since the time of de Wette, it has been hotly debated whether Deuteronomy should be dated to the seventh century BC during Josiah’s reign or to the twelfth (or fourteenth) century BC in connection with Mosaic authorship.1 Since then, many scholars like Wiseman, Weinfeld, Frankena, Moran, and more recently Levinson have found similarities between Deuteronomy and the Esarhaddon Succession Treaty (EST)2 (seventh c. BC) in form

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and content (Deut 13; 28).3 On the other hand, Mendenhall, Kitchen, Kline, Thompson, and more recently Berman see greater similarities between Deuteronomy and Hittite treaty documents (late second millennium BC; ca. 1380–1180).4

An important issue here is the historical connection between Israel and Assyrian/Hittite treaties, which is considered a crucial

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standard for validating a genuine parallel.5 EST (VTE) proponents, like Frankena, find its historical connection through Manasseh exiled into Assyria (historical comparative approach), whereas Hittite proponents rely on Hittite’s major influence on the ancient Near East or universally shared concept in its time (typological approach). Recently, Johnston has suggested the possibility that Moses became aware of the Hittite treaty tradition/formulary thro...