The origin and development of biblical covenants: Judaism
Historical background
The 100 years between 1250 and 1150 bce saw the complete destruction, or reduction to virtual impotence, of every major political state in the eastern Mediterranean region and the beginning of a “dark age” that has yielded very few written materials from which historical conclusions can be drawn. The reasons for the universal catastrophe are far from clear, but the reversion of society to communities of peasants and shepherds with a subsistence level economy can be well illustrated archaeologically. The earliest biblical traditions illustrate the conditions in Palestine at this time, though it is a difficult task to distinguish genuine ancient traditions from the use of the past by biblical writers to give religious validity to social realities or institutions of much later date.
In view of the highly elaborate social structure of the old Bronze Age states—with its apex in the military aristocracy, a highly complex priesthood, and ritual—and the equally complex social structure of the many local enclaves and tribes—each with its particular god—the monotheistic and ethically centred religious ideology of early Israel has been regarded for millennia as a miracle of “revelation,” which cannot be explained on the basis of usual historical principles and concepts. Yet, ancient Israel was a historically existent community created, and precariously maintained, by a unity of which the religious ideology was the foundation for two centuries, until military considerations resulted in the formation of a political centralization of power about 1000 bce. The covenant tradition is the only instrument by which the effective functioning of that unity can be understood, and its importance is underlined by the biblical traditions themselves. The structure of the Hittite treaties now makes available an historical precedent that enables scholars to understand the structure of early Israelite thought and consequently its functional operation in history.