From monarch to bishop: Covenant, Torah, and community formation in the Old Testament and the Anglican Communion

Anglican Theological Review, Winter 2003 by Newman, Judith H

For our purposes, it is especially relevant to treat two covenants, one conditional, the other unconditional, which represent broadly two theological traditions in the Old Testament. The conditional covenant that dominates the Pentateuch is the Sinai covenant, rooted in ancient memories of the Exodus. Because of its importance to the tradition, the narrative in Exodus 19-40 describing its constitution seems to have attracted many editorial hands, because there are multiple theological perspectives in evidence. This is signaled by the use of two names for the desert mountain where the theophany takes place, Horeb and Sinai.4 As it is framed in its redacted form, covenantal promises and rewards are premised on obedience; punishments ensue for disobedience. Already within the Exodus 19-40 narrative, we see the Israelites breaking their covenant vows by worshiping an idolatrous calf, and Moses, the powerful prophetic mediator, must intercede on their behalf to renew the covenant with God. Deuteronomy offers another version of the conditional Sinai covenant, now cast as the speech of Moses on the plains of Moab, addressing the generation who will enter the land.

As Frank Cross and Patrick Miller have pointed out, the development of Israel's covenant ideas, especially the Sinai covenant, should be understood within the social context of family structure, that is, kinship relations.5 Kinship structure had three levels of organization: the lowest, and the one that held the strongest ties on the individual was the "father's house" or beit 'ab, which would correspond to our understanding of an extended family household, which might include sixty to one hundred members. The next level would be the clan, mishpahah, comprising a number of battei 'ab. The next level of social organization is the tribe, or shebet. The eponymous twelve sons of Jacob in Genesis, for example, reflect the tribal organization during the time of the monarchy. I should remark that such tribal kinship organization continues to be the dominant pattern in many parts of the world.

To take one example of how family ties entail certain obligations, kinship bonds between family members required that if a man was sold into debt slavery, the man's next-of-kin was responsible for redeeming him from that status. There were various situations that called for redemption. All of the social structure and its interrelationships, from extended family unit, to clan, to tribe, can be understood in these terms. Interpersonal and intertribal relations in Israel's early period were the way in which relationship between Yahweh and Israel was understood-in familial terms.

Covenant can be understood as a way in which someone or some group not a part of the kinship unit was brought into it, a legal means of creating a new kinship bond between people. For example, David and Jonathan were not kin, but made a covenant of brotherhood with each other, and David ultimately showed his hesed, that is "covenant loyalty"6 to Jonathan's son, Mephiboshet, after Jonathan's death (1 Sam. 18:1, 3; 20:17).7 The Sinai covenant that God makes with Israel puts them into kinship obligation. God has in fact already graciously redeemed Israel from slavery; the covenant assures the continuance of the newly formed kin relationship, provided that Israel observes the covenant stipulations.