COVENANT TREATY FORMAT

COVENANT TREATY FORMAT OF
ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN KINGDOMS AND THE
APPLICATION OF THAT FORMAT TO YAHWEH'S TREATY
WITH ISRAEL

Covenant Treaty formats that are similar to the treaties between ancient Mesopotamian and Near Eastern city-states and kingdoms appear in the Old Testament texts. In a Covenant Treaty, both the dominant King and his vassal swear an oath in treaty form, thereby creating a covenant bond between the two parties. A Covenant Treaty is ratified in three ways:

The vassal swears an oath of loyalty and alliance.
There is the offering of a sacrifice.
Finally, by eating the cooked meat of the sacrifice in a sacred meal.

For example, at the covenant ratification at Mt. Sinai, the people made a sacrifice and Moses sprinkled the blood on the people and on the altar that represented Yahweh the Great King (Ex 24:4-6). Then, the people swore an oath to obey Yahweh's commands and prohibitions (Ex 24:8). Finally, they ate a sacred meal binding the covenant between the two parties, Yahweh the Great King and Israel the vassal people (Ex 24:9-11). Biblical covenants with Yahweh, however, were unique in that they were not just a treaty between a Great King and His vassal(s), but they also created a family bond through the blood sacrifice with the Divine King and the subject of the Covenant Treaty becoming "one blood."

The standard Biblical covenant had five parts:

Preamble: Identifying the Lordship of the Great King and stressing his greatness, dominance, and immanence.
Historical Prologue:Recounting the Great King's previous relationship to his vassal with emphasis on the benefits of that relationship.
Ethical Stipulations: Enumerating the vassal's obligations to the Great King (the guide to maintaining the covenant relationship).
Sanctions: A list of the blessings for obedience and the curses/judgments that will fall on the vassals if they break the covenant.
Succession: Arrangements and provisions for the continuity of the covenant relationship over future generations.

Pagan covenant treaties had a sixth part calling on the pagan gods of both nations to witness the document.

Covenant Treaties of Old Testament:
One of the best examples of a Covenant Treaty in the OT is the Book of Deuteronomy written by Moses just before the new generation of the Sinai Covenant took possession of the Promised Land. It is a Covenant renewal treaty. The book naturally divides into five sections which correspond to the five parts of the ancient Covenant Treaty structure.

Preamble (1:1-5)
Historical Prologue (1:6-4:49)
Ethical Stipulations (5:1-26:19)
Sanctions (27:1-30:20)
Succession Arrangements (31:1-34:12)

When a vassal kingdom violated the terms of the covenant agreement, the Great Lord would send emissaries to warn the offenders of the coming judgment and enforcement of the curse sanctions. In the Bible, it was the mission of God's holy Prophets (who acted as God's prosecuting attorneys) to bring the message of the covenant Lawsuit to the offending nation = in Hebrew a 'rib' or riv. For example, Isaiah and Hosea brought a Covenant Lawsuit against Israel in the 8^th century BC; both Jeremiah and Ezekiel brought a Covenant Lawsuit against Judea in the 6^th century BC. Each prophet addressed the generation on which the covenant curses would fall. Some examples in Scripture:

Dt 4:26; 30:19; 32:1
Ps. 50:4-7
Isaiah 1:2 & 21; 3:13
Micah 6:1
The Book of Hosea [see 2:4 (2)-15 (13)];

Israelites, hear what Yahweh says, for Yahweh indicts ["brings a riv" = Hebrew for "covenant lawsuit" to] the citizens of the country: there is no loyalty, no faithful love, no knowledge of God in the country (Hosea 4:1).

The book of Hosea is laid out in the classic Covenant Treaty format:

Preamble: Hosea Chapter 1
Historical prologue: Chapters 2-3
Ethical Stipulations: Chapters 2-7
Sanctions: Chapters 8-9
Succession Arrangements: Chapters 10-14

For further study see Kline: Treaty of the Great King;
also, Sutton That you may Prosper: Dominion by Covenant.