“We the People of Israel”: Covenant, Constitution, and the Supposed Biblical Origins of Modern Democratic Political Thought
-
Sophia R. C. Johnson
Abstract
As an originally political term, study of the concept of “covenant” has long demonstrated the intersection of biblical studies and political theory. In recent decades, the association between covenant and constitution has come to the forefront of modern political thought in attempts to find the origins of certain democratic ideals in the descriptions of biblical Israel, in order to garner either religious or cultural authority. This is exemplified in the claims of Daniel J. Elazar that the first conceptual seeds of American federalism are found in the covenants of the Hebrew Bible. Taking Elazar’s work as a starting and end point, this paper applies contemporary biblical scholarship to his definition of biblical covenant in order to reveal the influences of his own American political environment and that of the interpreters he is dependent upon. The notion that biblical covenant or its interpretation remains a monolithic or static concept is overturned by a survey of the diverse receptions of covenant in the history of biblical scholarship from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries, contrasting American and German interpretive trends. As such, I aim to highlight the reciprocal relationship between religion and politics, and the academic study of both, in order to challenge the claim that modern political thought can be traced back to biblical conceptions.
References
Albright, W. F. 1968. The Biblical Period from Abraham to Ezra. New York: Harper & Row.Suche in Google Scholar
Alt, A. 1968. Essays on Old Testament and Religion. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.Suche in Google Scholar
Barr, J. 1977. “Some Semantic Notes on the Covenant.” In Beiträge zur Alttestamentlichen Theologie: Festschrift für Walther Zimmerli zum 70. Geburtstag, edited by H. Donner, R. Hanhart, and R. Smend, 23–38. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Reprinted in Bible and Interpretation: The Collected Essays of James Barr, vol. 2, 164–77. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.Suche in Google Scholar
Begrich, J. 1944. “Berit. Ein Beitrag zur Erfassung einer alttestamentlichen Denkform.” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZAW) 19: 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1515/zatw.1944.60.1-4.1.Suche in Google Scholar
Boer, R. 1998. “Western Marxism and the Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (JSOT) 78: 3–21, https://doi.org/10.1177/030908929802307801.Suche in Google Scholar
Burgess, M. 2012. “Daniel J. Elazar and Federalism as Covenant.” In In Search of the Federal Spirit: New Comparative Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives, 180–220. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606238.003.0007Suche in Google Scholar
Campbell Thompson, R. 1931. The Prisms of Esarhaddon and of Ashurbanipal found at Nineveh, 1927–28. London: British Museum.Suche in Google Scholar
Clements, R. E. 1967. Abraham and David: Genesis 15 and its Meaning for Israelite Tradition. Naperville: A.R. Allenson.Suche in Google Scholar
Cross, F. M. 1973. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.10.4159/9780674030084Suche in Google Scholar
Durkheim, É. 1965. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Glencoe: Free Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Elazar, D. J. 1995. Covenant and Polity in Biblical Israel: Biblical Foundations and Jewish Expressions. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.Suche in Google Scholar
Elazar, D. J. 2000. The Covenant Connection: From Federal Theology to Modern Federalism. Lanham, Maryland. Lexington Books.Suche in Google Scholar
Elcott, D. M., C. Colt Anderson, T. Cremer, and V. Haarmann. 2021. Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press.10.2307/j.ctv19m64b7Suche in Google Scholar
Feldmeier, R., and H. Spieckermann. 2011. God of the Living: A Biblical Theology, trans. Mark E. Biddle. Waco: Baylor University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Fohrer, G. 1966. “Amphiktyonie und ‘Bund’?” Theologische Literaturzeitung (ThLZ) 91: 894–901.Suche in Google Scholar
Foster, G. M. 2003. Moral Reconstruction: Christian Lobbyists and the Federal Legislation of Morality, 1865–1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Gottwald, N. 1999. The Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of Religion of Liberated Israel, 1250–1050 B.C.E. London: Sheffield Academic Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Habermas, J. 1992. Faktizität und Geltung: Beiträge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaats. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.Suche in Google Scholar
Halpern, B. 1981. The Constitution of the Monarchy of Israel. Chico, California: Scholars Press.10.1163/9789004387072Suche in Google Scholar
Hastings, A. 1997. The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511612107Suche in Google Scholar
Ilany, O. 2018. In Search of the Hebrew People: Bible and Nation in the German Enlightenment. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.10.2307/j.ctv175t2Suche in Google Scholar
Jepsen, A. 1961a. “Gnade und Barmherzigkeit im Alten Testament.” Kerygma und Dogma 7: 261–71.Suche in Google Scholar
Jepsen, A. 1961b. “Berit. Ein Beitrag zur Theologie der Exilzeit.” In Verbannung und Heimkehr, edited by W. Rudolph, and A. Kuschke, 801–16. Tübingen: Mohr.Suche in Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Y. 1953. The Biblical Account of the Conquest of Palestine. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Y. 1963. The Book of Joshua: A Commentary. Jerusalem: Kiryat Sepher.Suche in Google Scholar
Kellenberger, E. 1982. häsäd wä’ämät als Ausdruck einer Glaubenserfahrung. Zurich: Theologischer Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Koch, C. 2008. Vertrag, Treueid Und Bund Studien Zur Rezeption Des Altorientalischen Vertragsrechts Im Deuteronomium Und Zur Ausbildung Der Bundestheologie Im Alten Testament. Berlin: de Gruyter.Suche in Google Scholar
Kurtz, P. M. 2015. “Axes of Inquiry: The Problem of Form and Time in Wellhausen and Gunkel.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 29 (2): 247–95, https://doi.org/10.1080/09018328.2015.1039830.Suche in Google Scholar
Kurtz, P. M. 2018. “Of Lions, Arabs, & Israelites: Some Lessons from the Samson Story for Writing the History of Biblical Scholarship.” JBR 5 (1): 31–48, https://doi.org/10.1515/jbr-2016-0029.Suche in Google Scholar
Kutsch, E. 1967a. “Gesetz und Gnade: Probleme des alttestamentlichen Bundesbegriffs.” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZAW) 79: 18–35, https://doi.org/10.1515/zatw.1967.79.1.18.Suche in Google Scholar
Kutsch, E. 1967b. “Der Begriff ברית in vordeuteronomischer Zeit.” In Das ferne und nahe Wort, edited by M. Fritz, 133–43. Berlin: Töpelmann.10.1515/9783110835755-015Suche in Google Scholar
Kutsch, E. 1968. “Von bryt su ‘Bund.’” Krygama und Dogma 14: 159–82.Suche in Google Scholar
Kutsch, E. 1973. Verheissung und Gesetz. Untersuchungen zum sogenannten “Bund” im Alten Testament. Berlin: de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110838299Suche in Google Scholar
Levin, C. 2004. Die Entstehung Der Bundestheologie Im Alten Testament. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Suche in Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M. 2008. The Right Chorale: Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.10.1628/978-3-16-151095-3Suche in Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M. 2009. “The Neo-Assyrian Origins of the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1.” In Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination: Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane, edited by D. A. Green, and L. S. Lieber, 25–45. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.003.0003Suche in Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M. 2010. “Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty as the Source for the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1.” Journal of the American Oriental Society (JAOS) 130: 337–47.Suche in Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M. 2020. “Revisiting the ‘and’ in Law and Covenant in the Hebrew Bible: What the Evidence from Tell Tayinat Suggests about the Relationship between Law and Religion in the Ancient Near East.” Maarav 24 (1–2): 27–44.10.1086/MAR202024104Suche in Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M., and J. Stackert. 2012. “Between the Covenant Code and Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty: Deuteronomy 13 and the Composition of Deuteronomy.” Journal of Ancient Judaism 3: 123–40, https://doi.org/10.13109/jaju.2012.3.2.123.Suche in Google Scholar
Lincoln, B. 2012. Gods and Demons, Priests and Scholars: Critical Explorations in the History of Religions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226035161.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Lohfink, N. 1967. Die Landverheissung als Eid: eine Studie zu Gn 15. Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk.Suche in Google Scholar
MacDonald, N., eds. (2015). Covenant and Election in Exilic and Post-Exilic Judaism. Forschungen zum Alten Testament II. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.10.1628/978-3-16-154036-3Suche in Google Scholar
McCarthy, D. J. 1972. “Berit in Old Testament History and Theology.” Biblica 53: 110–21.Suche in Google Scholar
Mendenhall, G. E. 1954a. “Ancient Oriental and Biblical Law.” Biblical Archeologist 17: 26–46, https://doi.org/10.2307/3209259.Suche in Google Scholar
Mendenhall, G. E. 1954b. “Covenant Forms in Israelite Tradition.” Biblical Archeologist 17: 50–76, https://doi.org/10.2307/3209151.Suche in Google Scholar
Mendenhall, G. E. 1955. Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East. Pittsburgh: The Biblical Colloquium.Suche in Google Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2006. On the Origins of Constitutional Patriotism. Contemporary Political Theory 5: 278–96.10.1057/palgrave.cpt.9300235Suche in Google Scholar
Munn-Rankin, J. M. 1956. “Diplomacy in Western Asia in the Early Second Millennium B.C.” Iraq 18: 68–110, https://doi.org/10.2307/4199599.Suche in Google Scholar
Nelson, E. 2011. The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Political Thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.10.4159/9780674056749Suche in Google Scholar
Noth, M. 1960. The History of Israel. New York: Harper & Row.Suche in Google Scholar
Nötscher, F. 1965. “Bundesformular und ‘Amtschimmel’: Ein kritischer Überblick.” Biblische Zeitschrift 9: 181–214, https://doi.org/10.30965/25890468-00902003.Suche in Google Scholar
Oden, R. A.Jr. (1980). Hermeneutics and Historiography: Germany and America. In: Achtemeier, P.J. (Ed.), Society of Biblical Literature, 1980 Seminar Papers. Scholars Press, Chico, California, pp. 135–157.Suche in Google Scholar
Oden, R. A.Jr. (1987). The Place of Covenant in the Religion of Israel. In: Miller, P. D.Jr., Hanson, P. D., and Dean McBride, S. (Eds.), Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, pp. 421–47.Suche in Google Scholar
Pakkala, J. 1999. Intolerant Monolatry in the Deuteronomistic History. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Suche in Google Scholar
Parpola, S. 1997. Assyrian Prophecies. State Archives of Assyria 9. Helsinki: Helsinki University.Suche in Google Scholar
Perlitt, L. 1969. Bundestheologie im Alten Testament. Neukirchen Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Sakenfeld, K. D. 1978. The Meaning of Ḥesed in the Hebrew Bible. Harvard Semetic Monographs 17. Missoula: Scholar’s Press.10.1163/9789004386778Suche in Google Scholar
Schluchter, W., ed. (1981). Max Webers Studie Über Das Antike Judentum. Interpretation Und Kritik. Frankfurt Am Main: Suhrkamp.Suche in Google Scholar
Smith, A. D. 2008. The Cultural Foundations of Nations: Hierarchy, Covenant, and Republic. Oxford: Blackwell.10.1002/9780470696613Suche in Google Scholar
Smith, A. D. 2003. Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Smith, W. R. 1903. Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, edited by S. A. Cook. London: Adam and Charles Black.Suche in Google Scholar
Smith, W. R. 1972. The Religion of the Semites: The Fundamental Institutions. New York: Schocken Books.Suche in Google Scholar
Sternberger, D. 1990. Verfassungspatriotismus. Frankfurt: Insel.Suche in Google Scholar
Strehle, S. 2012. The Egalitarian Spirit of Christianity: The Sacred Roots of American and British Government. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.Suche in Google Scholar
Strømmen, H., and S. Ulrich. 2020. The Claim to Christianity: Responding to the Far Right. Norwich: SCM Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Sutcliffe, A. 2019. What Are Jews For?: History, Peoplehood, and Purpose. Princeton: Princeton University Press.10.1515/9780691201931Suche in Google Scholar
Tadmor, H. 1968. “The People and the Kingship in Ancient Israel: The Role of Political Institutions in the Biblical Period.” Journal of World History 11 (1): 46–68.Suche in Google Scholar
Tadmor, H. 1982. “Treaty and Oath in the Ancient Near East: A Historian’s Approach.” In Humanizing America’s Iconic Book, edited by G. M. Tucker, and D. A. Knight, 127–52. Chico: Scholars Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Vallance, E. 2005. Revolutionary England and the National Covenant: State Oaths, Protestantism and the Political Nation, 1553–1682. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Veijola, T. 1996. “Bundestheologische Redaktion im Deuteronomium.” In Das Deuteronomium und seine Querbeziehungen, edited by T. Veijola, 242–76. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Suche in Google Scholar
Veijola, T. 2000. Moses Erben: Studien zum Dekalog, zum Deuteronomismus und zum Schriftgelehrtentum. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.Suche in Google Scholar
Weinfeld, M. 1970. “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East.” Journal of Oriental and Asian Studies 90: 184–203, https://doi.org/10.2307/598135.Suche in Google Scholar
Weinfeld, M. 1973. “Covenant Terminology in the Ancient Near East and Its Influence on the West.” Journal of the American Oriental Society (JAOS) 93: 190–9, https://doi.org/10.2307/598892.Suche in Google Scholar
Wellhausen, J. 1883. Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels, Vol. 1 Berlin: Georg Reimer.Suche in Google Scholar
Whitley, C. F. 1963. “Covenant and Commandment in Israel.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 22 (1): 37–48, https://doi.org/10.1086/371709.Suche in Google Scholar
Wiseman, D. J. 1958. “The Vassal-Treaties of Esarhaddon.” Iraq 20 (1): 1–99, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021088900010202.Suche in Google Scholar
Wright, D. P. 2009. Inventing God’s Law How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Wright, J. L. 2020. “The Raison d’Être of the Biblical Covenant: Assessing Mendenhall’s Emphasis on Kinship.” Maarav 24 (1–2): 45–62.10.1086/MAR202024105Suche in Google Scholar
Zippelius, R., and T. Würtenberger. 2008. Deutches Staatsrecht. München: C.H. Beck.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Old Testament Imaginaries of the Nation in German, Dutch, and Anglo-American Protestant Political Thought
- The “Jew,” the Nation and Assimilation: The Old Testament and the Fashioning of the “Other” in German and Dutch Protestant Thought
- Creation, Fall and Political Order — Prussian Conservatism and the Old Testament
- Old Testament and Nationalism: Hebrew Bible, Jewish People, English Nation
- Abraham Kuyper and the Instrumental Use of Biblical Israel
- Reverse-Engineering the Covenant: Moses, Massachusetts Bay and the Construction of a City on a Hill
- The Old and the New Israel: The Cultural Origins of the Special Relationship
- “We the People of Israel”: Covenant, Constitution, and the Supposed Biblical Origins of Modern Democratic Political Thought
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Old Testament Imaginaries of the Nation in German, Dutch, and Anglo-American Protestant Political Thought
- The “Jew,” the Nation and Assimilation: The Old Testament and the Fashioning of the “Other” in German and Dutch Protestant Thought
- Creation, Fall and Political Order — Prussian Conservatism and the Old Testament
- Old Testament and Nationalism: Hebrew Bible, Jewish People, English Nation
- Abraham Kuyper and the Instrumental Use of Biblical Israel
- Reverse-Engineering the Covenant: Moses, Massachusetts Bay and the Construction of a City on a Hill
- The Old and the New Israel: The Cultural Origins of the Special Relationship
- “We the People of Israel”: Covenant, Constitution, and the Supposed Biblical Origins of Modern Democratic Political Thought
