Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 75:1 (NA 2024)
Article: The כִּי Clause In Exodus 19:5c And Its Significance For An Old Testament Mission Theology
Author: Robin Routledge

TynBull 75:1 (2024) p. 55

The כִּי Clause In Exodus 19:5c And Its Significance For An Old Testament Mission Theology

Robin Routledge

Continental Theological Seminary, Brussels
[email protected]

Abstract

Many take Exodus 19:3–6 to set out the uniqueness of Israel’s relationship with God (v. 5ab) and the particular role and responsibility Israel has in relation to the rest of the world (v. 6). This raises an important question. Was choosing Israel God’s main priority, or was his intention, from the start, to redeem the whole world, with the choice of Israel part of that wider purpose? This article argues that the translation of the clause in verse 5c, introduced by the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki), is relevant to that discussion. In the context of the use of כִּי in the wider OT, it discusses the main interpretations of the כִּי clause in Exodus 19:5c – asseverative, causal, concessive, and explanatory. It concludes in favour of a causal understanding and points to the implications for an understanding of the mission theology of the OT.

1. Introduction

Exodus 19:3–6 is important in setting out the uniqueness of Israel’s relationship with God (‘out of all nations you will be my treasured possession’)1 and also, in my view, the particular role and responsibility the people have in relation to the rest of the world (‘you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’).2

TynBull 75:1 (2024) p. 56

What, though, is the purpose lying behind God’s choice of Israel? Is it part of God’s intention to choose, set apart, and redeem a particular group of people who would enjoy a close relationship with him, albeit with a responsibility to the rest of the world and with the possibility of others being drawn into the same relationship? Or does it have a wider significance, suggesting that God’s prior commitment is to the whole world, and the choice of a particular people, rather than being an end in itself, is a means to redeem and restore a fallen creation? In that case, Israel was chosen both to model the relationship that God intended for all peoples from the start, and to play a part in bringing those other peoples to him. To put the question another way: was God’s main priority to choose, set apa...