It would appear as though the fullest treatment of the
tyrIB.
motif in the Pentateuch is to be found in Deuteronomy. Boadt400 affirmed that ―…the book of Deuteronomy is written in covenant language from beginning to the end…‖.Furthermore, the Deuteronomic Code401 which is the core of the book of Deuteronomy, or its precursor referred to as ―Ur Deuteronomion‖ or ―Proto Deuteronomy‖, has been proposed as the book of the law found during the repairs of the Temple, and that subsequently catalysed Josiah‘s reform.402
The book of Deuteronomy presents at least two instances of
tyrIB.
in the lifetime of Moses. The first is the Sinai pericopy ascribed to the JE source which is fully incorporated (Deuteronomy 5:1-21). The second is a re-enactment of thetyrIB.
in the Plain of Moab. The Moab ratification gives insight into the full development of thetyrIB.
concept in Deuteronomy. Only Deuteronomy preserved the full formal structure of the state treaty prevalent in the Ancient Near East. This form is not fully preserved in the traditions antedating D. Only D has all the characteristic traits of the Hittite and Neo Assyrian Treaty form. This is fully explained by Weinfeld with the statement-… It is, moreover, interesting to note that it is particularly those formal elements which give the treaty its binding judicial validity- the blessing and curses, the invocation of witnesses, the oath-imprecation, the deposit, the periodic readings, the duplicates and copies- that are completely lacking in the covenants in Exodus and Joshua 24.. 403
It is important to note the relationship between the Sinai pericope and the Covenant in the plain of Moab, as pictured by Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy used Horeb
400 L. Boadt, 1984. Reading the Old Testament.174
401 The term Deuteronomic Code refers precisely to Deuteronomy 12-26, which is seen as the original core of the Book of the law found by Hilkiah the High Priest during the temple repairs in the reign of Josiah.
402 This is the current scholarly consensus and has informed the dating of the Deuteronomic code to a period roughly corresponding to the reign of Josiah.
403 M. Wenfield 1972.66
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to signify the mountain of God instead of Sinai. It subsumed the Sinai experience with an emphasis on the Ethical Decalogue as the main document of the
tyrIB.
at Sinai.4.2.2.1 The Ethical Decalogue according to D
Deuteronomy appropriates the Ethical Decalogue in the Sinai periscope of E, in its entirety. A comparison of the two traditions of the Ethical Decalogue Deuteronomy 5:1-21 and Exodus 20: 2-17 unequivocally advocates interdependence of the two. There are two probable explanations for this interconnectedness. First, it is probable that the redactors of D had access to the Elohist document; alternatively, D may share dependence on the same source with the Elohist. It has been presupposed among source critics that D had access to both J and E documents, either as separate documents or in the combined form JE.404 Joel S. Baden endeavoured to show that J and E were independent documents when they were used by D.405 Some scholars have undertaken a careful comparison between the two versions of the Ethical Decalogue. Yuichi Osumi, for instance, has identified twenty differences between the text of the Exodus and Deuteronomy versions of the Ethical Decalogue406, but he did not give enough consideration to the use of the phrase
ytiªao ha'är>yIl.
in the Deuteronomic Version. Also, the probability of Deuteronomic Code sharing dependence on a common source with the Elohist has not been given proper investigation. If however, Deuteronomic Code derives from the Covenant Code,407 which, in turn derives from the Ritual Decalogue408; and if the Ethical Decalogue also derived from the Ritual Decalogue, then a harmonisation of proposition of the various scholars on the interconnectedness of thesetyrIB.
traditions logically leads to the presupposition that the Ritual Decalogue may actually have served as the common basis of the Ethical Decalogue in both D and E source Strata. Since the Ritual Decalogue is ascribed to J, this position would uphold Baden‘s thesis that J and E were independent documents when they were used by D409.The position of the Ethical Decalogue in D, and the observable changes it has undergone reflects D‘s portrayal of the Sinai/Horeb
tyrIB.
. This present position in404 J. S. Baden. 2009. J, E, and the Redaction of the Pentateuch .99
405 J. S. Baden. 2009. 197
406 Osumi Y. 2012. One Decalogue in Different Texts. Pentateuchal Traditions in the Late Second Temple Period. A. Moriya. & G. Hata. Eds. 27-28
407 D. McDonald. An Introduction to the Pentateuch. 143; R Westbrook. & B. Wells 2009. Everyday Law in Biblical Israel: An Introduction. 131-132
408 R. H. Pfeifer. 1931. Transmission of the Book of Covenant. 102
409 J. S. Baden. 2009. J, E, and the Redaction of the Pentateuch p.197
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the canon as presented in Exodus, and portrayed in bold relief by Deuteronomy, suggests that the Ethical Decalogue alone was the content of the Stone Tablets; and this served as the deposits of the
tyrIB.
,410 while the Covenant Code supplies the details of the stipulations at Sinai/Horeb. According to Deuteronomic presentation, the Ethical Decalogue ―became the basic document of thetyrIB.
, which had been handed down to Israel direct from YHWH by revelation, for all times‖.411 Deuteronomy, however, presents a revised form of the Covenant Code in form of the Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomy 12-26). Within the narrative structure of the book of Deuteronomy, the Deuteronomic Code is presented as the sum total of further enactment of laws during the 40 years of wilderness experience, but which hither-to had not been fully documented, and was yet to be given formaltyrIB.
expression. It is at the plain of Moab that this set of further promulgations by Moses under the direct guidance of the YHWH, were documented and imbued withtyrIB.
status.412 Prior to this event, they do not carry covenantal import. As it were, the Deuteronomic Code is meant to supersede and supplant the Covenant Code, while maintaining continuity with the Ethical Decalogue.413 The consequence of this for the present study is that it pictures a shift intyrIB.
concept from the reference to the terror of the Theophany at Sinai as the fear appeal mechanism in the Horeb/Sinai tradition to the use of the Oath-Imprecation formulae as the chief mechanism of fear Appeal. Sprinkle, for instance, has demonstrated that Exodus 19-24 is chiastic in structure and showed that the mention of instances of the giving of the covenant in 19 and 24 envelopes 20-23, thereby placing the theme of the ―fear of God‖ at the centre of the chiasm.414 In the Exegesis in Chapter three, it was found that the rootary
occurs in the feminine singular construct form with the 3rd person masculine singular suffixAt±a'r>yI
only once, and that is in the Exodus 20:20, which forms the core centre of the chiasm. It follows, therefore, that the fear appeal motif is deliberately used in the literary structure as it was incorporated into the Pentateuch. The Exegesis also reveals that the fear appeal motif is more apparent in Deuteronomy. It is only in Deuteronomy that the fear appeal is engaged through the deterrent principle of punishment. It is only in Deuteronomy that the punishment of violators of thetyrIB.
law is to serve as deterrent to others who will410 R. De Vaux. 1997. Ancient Israel.147
411 Albertz. R.1994. A History of Israelite Religion.130
412 S. Hultgren. 2007. From the Damascus Covenant to the Covenant of Community. 85
413 R. De Vaux.1997. Ancient Israel. 147
414 J. M. Sprinkle. 1994. The Book of the Covenant. 196
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―hear and fear‖; while the blessings of the faithful would be observed by others who will ―see and fear‖. The portrait of the effect of the reading of the book of the law on Josiah could, therefore, be seen as a demonstration of the effectiveness of the fear appeal mechanism inherent in Deuteronomy.
4.2.2.2 Renewal of covenant in the plain of Moab Deuteronomy 28:69 (Eng.19:1)
The exegesis revealed reports another instance of ratification of
tyrIøB.
under Moses, with the likelihood of the production of a distinct
tyrIB.
document.The basis of this position is pivoted on the implications of the variant readings of Deuteronomy 28:69.
ynEïB.-ta, tro±k.li hv,ªmo-ta, hw"åhy>
hW"ôci-rv,a] tyrIøB.h; yrE’b.dI •hL,a `brE(xoB. ~T'Þai tr:îK'-rv,a]
tyrIêB.h; db;äL.mi ba'_Am #r<a,äB.
laeÞr"f.yI
These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
The
tyrIB.
in the plain of Moab is referred to in the text as atyrIB.
apart from the one at Sinai/Horeb. Observing that this
tyrIB.
is found nowhere else in the Old Testament, Olson remarked that it should be regarded as an unexplained anomaly because it detracts from the once-and-for-all character of the Sinai/HorebtyrIB.
as presented throughout Deuteronomy.415 An answer to this seeming anomaly is proffered by Olson as well as Faur. Both agreed that there is a thematic and theological continuity between the Horeb Covenant and the covenant in the plain of Moab. Faur explained that the Sinai/HorebtyrIB.
sealed the~yrI)b'D>h;
tr<f,Þ[]
(Ten Commandment Exodus 34:28 Deuteronomy 5:22), while thetyrIB.
in the plain of Moab, sealed the further commandments which consisted of the~yjiÞP'v.Mih;w> ~yQIïxuh;w> hw"±c.Mih;
(commandments, statutes, and judgements Deuteronomy 5:31) which were received
415 D. T. Olson. 2003. How Does Deuteronomy Do Theology?. 98
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over the period of forty years wandering in the wilderness.416
In the canonical context of Deuteronomy, Sinai and Moab
tyrIB.
were conjoined as ―Covenant Law‖ and thetyrIB.
in the plain of Moab is presented to depict that the second generation of Israelites received the law a second time, only with some alteration intended to fit it for sedentary life. It was this legal code which regulated the social, political, economic and religious life of the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land.417 At this period, YHWH was their king. The Concept of YHWH as King, and the Covenant Code as the Law of YHWH for His people are inseparable issues at stake in thetyrIB.
concept reflected in Deuteronomy.The legislation and practice of occasional reading of the terms of the
tyrIB.
in the hearing of the people, and the