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KINSHIP BY COVENANT:
A Biblical Theological Study of
Covenant Types and Texts
In the Old and New Testaments
A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Theology
Marquette University
By Scott Walker Hahn, B.A., M.Div.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
May 1995
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UMI Number: 9600849
Copyright 1996 by
Hahn, Scott Walker
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Abstract Scott Hahn
Kinship By Covenant: A Biblical Theological Study of
Covenant Types and Texts in the Old and New Testaments
Drawing from D. J. McCarthy’s findings on the family-properties of covenants,
Part One analyzes various OT covenants between God and his people in terms of the
father-son relationship as a basic interpretive category. Three covenant-types are
differentiated (kinship, treaty, grant) by distinguishing which party swears the oath
(both, vassal, suzerain). Kinship and covenant are also correlated with oath-swearing
and curse-bearing, all of which are used to classify and explicate God’s covenants
with Abraham (Gen. 15,17,22), and Israel (Sinai, Levitical, Deuteronomic, Davidic),
in the light of the momentous occasions when God swore covenant oaths (e.g., Gen.
22:16-18; Num. 14; Deut. 32:40; 1 Sam. 2-3; Ps. 110:1-4).
In Part Two, our findings are applied to Galatians 3-4 and Hebrews 1-9, where
Christ’s death is shown to fulfill the Old Covenant and ratify the New Covenant grant
of divine sonship. This reveals how God keeps his sworn covenant promises accord
ing to the merciful ingenuity of his redemptive plan to reunite Israel and the Gentiles
- by entering into solidarity with them in their common plight - to constitute one
worldwide familia Dei. The arguments of Galatians and Hebrews reflect typological
correlations of divine covenants in salvation history, and are advanced by the strate
gic deployment of OT texts according to the author’s respectful awareness -- and de
liberate evocation - of their original contextual meanings. The use and meaning of
diatheke in Gal. 3:15 and Heb. 9:16-17 is explained as "covenant-oath" (versus "last
will and testament"), entailing a curse-bearing death.
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Using canonical criticism, we uncover unique features of scriptural narratives:
(1) As the (only) righteous and blessed firstborn son, Shem may be narratively
identified with Melchizedek, as presupposed in the Targums, and (we argue) in Heb.
7:1-28. (2) Royal-priestly primogeniture prevails until the golden calf, when the
firstborn of Israel forfeit this to the Levites at Sinai (Ex. 4:22; 19:5-6; 32:7-29). (3)
Deuteronomy reforms Israel according to a bi-covenantal constitution where the
twelve "lay" tribes are reduced to vassalage under the Levites, and then subjected to
the persistent curses of the Deuteronomic covenant (cf. Ezek. 20:3-25). (4) The
Aqedah is charged with redemptive symbolism - securing God’s oath and pre
enacting its fulfillment in the Passover, the Temple sacrifices atop Moriah, and
Christ’s death. (5) Paul sees the New Covenant pre-enacted in the Abrahamic cov
enant; whereas the author of Hebrews sees it pre-enacted in the Davidic covenant.
In this way, the New Testament presents the New Covenant as both preceding and
superceding the Old Covenant (i.e., the Mosaic covenant). (6) Paul sees Israel’s
violation of the Sinai covenant leading to the Deuteronomic covenant curses (e.g.,
exile); whereas the author of Hebrews interprets the violated Sinai covenant as
leading to the symbolic - but ineffectual and imperfect -- renewal via the Levitical
covenant. In either case, Christ’s curse-bearing death perfectly renews and fulfills
Israel’s broken covenant. (7) Finally, this familial conception of the covenant calls
for a radical re-thinking of Christ’s curse-bearing death in terms of Trinitarian life-
giving love, rather than simply a display - and propitiation - of God’s just wrath.
Christ’s sacrifice is the instrumental means to fulfill God’s purpose for his children,
i.e., our filial deification (fihi in filio). through the power of the Spirit ("of sonship").
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OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements................................................................................................ iii
Introduction............................................................................................................. 1
A. Contemporary Covenant Research: Status Questionis.................... 1
B. Stated Goals and Purposes..................................................................5
C. Methodological Considerations.......................................................... 11
Part One: Covenant Types and Texts in the Old Testament
Chapter 1 - The Kinship-Type Covenant in the Old Testament.................. 26
A. Introduction...........................................................................................26
B. The Kinship-Type Covenant............................................................... 26
Excursus A - Kinship and. Family in the Old Testament 28
C. Examples of Secular Kinship-Type Covenants......................:...........38
D. Divine Kinship-Type Covenant (Exodus 24)...................................41
Excursus B - Covenant Ritual at Sinai (Exodus 24).................. 41
E. Conclusions............................................................................................51
Chapter 2 - The Treaty-Type Covenant in the Old Testament................... 54
A. Introduction...........................................................................................55
B. The Treaty-Type Covenant..................................................................56
Excursus C - Covenant and Oath in the Old Testament 57
C. Familial Terms and Relations............................................................ 75
D. Examples of Secular Treaty-Type Covenants..................................79
E. Divine Treaty-Type Covenants........................................................... 83
Excursus D - Distinctives of the Deuteronomic Covenant 94
F. Conclusions............................................................................................ 139
Chapter 3 - The Grant-Type Covenant in the Old Testament..................... 145
A. Introduction............................................................................................ 145
B. The Grant-Type Covenant.................................................................. 146
C. Comparisons and Contrasts................................................................. 148
D. Divine Grant-Type Covenant: The Noahic Covenant.................... 150
Excursus E - Shem in the Genesis Narratives.............................. 153
E. Conclusions............................................................................................ 166
Chapter 4 - The Abrahamic Grant-Type Covenant........................................ 168
Excursus F - Abram, Melchizedek and Salem (Gen. 14)........... 171
Excursus G - Aqedah and the Divine Oath (Gen. 22).................191
A. Conclusions.......................................................................................... 210
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Chapter 5 - The Levitical Grant-Type Covenant............................................. 212
Excursus H - Apostasy and Renewal (Ex. 32-34)....................... 226
A. Conclusions..............................................................................................295
Chapter 6 - The Davidic Grant-Type Covenant.................................................305
A. Conclusions............................................................................................ 367
Part Two: Covenant Texts and Types in the New Testament
Chapter 7 - Galatians 3-4: Covenant, Oath, and Divine Sonship.................. 370
A. Introduction.......................................................................................................370
B. Gal. 3:1-9 - God’s Promissory Oath to Abraham as the Gospel 398
C. Gal. 3:10-14 - Deuteronomic Covenant Curses Born by Christ 405
D. Gal. 3:15-18 - The Priority of the Abrahamic Covenant Oath ......... 439
E. Gal. 3:19-22 - Mosaic Law Added for Transgressions............................. 453
F. Gal. 3:23-29 - From a Servile Pedagogy to the Spirit of Sonship 460
G. Gal. 4:1-7 - From Servants to Sons in the Fullness of Times..................468
H. Gal. 4:21-31 - God Disinherits Abraham’s Circumcised Seed.................477
I. Conclusions........................................................................................................ 487
Chapter 8 - Hebrews 1-9: Covenant Oath & Royal Priestly Primogeniture.. 490
A. Introduction.................................................................................................... 490
B. Hebrews 1: Enthronement of the Firstborn Son as Priest-King..............496
C. Hebrews 2: God’s Firstborn Son Becomes Our Brother and Priest........506
D. Hebrews 3-4: God’s House, Christ the Son & Moses the Servant..........528
E. Hebrews 5-6: Paraenesis Based Upon Divine Promises and Oaths 541
F. Hebrews 7: The Royal-Priestly Primogeniture of Shem-Melchizedek ... 568
G. Hebrews 8-9: The New Covenant in Christ’s Curse-Bearing Sacrifice .. 593
H. Conclusions.........................................................................................................631
Chapter 9 - Theological Reflections................................................................... 634
A. Methodological Considerations......................................................................634
B. Patristic Soundings............................................................................................637
C. Theological Implications............................................................................... 655
Bibliography................................................................................................................673
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iii
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my gratitude to the faculty of the Marquette University
Department of Theology for their teaching and guidance throughout the course of
my theological studies there. In addition, I would like to thank my students at Fran
ciscan University of Steubenville who ploughed through earlier (and even longer)
drafts of this thesis, and whose questions, comments and suggestions helped me to
clarify many points. Likewise, my gratitude goes out to my colleagues in the Theo
logy Department at Franciscan University for their support. Sincere thanks are also
due to the members of my dissertation board for all of their time, energy and work
on my behalf: Dr. Deirdre Dempsey, Fr. William Kurz, S.J., Fr. John Laurance, S.J.,
and Dr. John J. Schmitt. I wish to express special gratitude to my thesis supervisor,
Fr. Earl Muller, S.J., for his patient support, cogent criticism, and timely encourage
ment. Above all, I owe an incalculable debt of thanks to my wife Kimberly for her
unfailing love and untiring assistance at every point during the last ten years of
doctoral studies. Finally, I want to express my thanks and love to the five greatest
kids in the world, Michael, Gabriel, Hannah, Jeremiah, and Joseph, for the many
prayers and sacrifices - "for daddy’s dissertation" -- all of which were sorely needed
and greatly appreciated, more than I can say.
In conclusion, I dedicate this work to my own father, Fred Karl Hahn Jr., who
fell seriously ill and passed away during the writing of it. I thank God for him - the
one who showed me the meaning of fatherhood -- and for the hope that we will
someday come to share brotherhood, for ever in Christ.
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. Contemporary Covenant Research: Status ouestionis.
The 20th century is witness to a high concentration of study
and debate on the nature and meaning of covenant (rp"13) in the
Old Testament. The results are surveyed and summarized in a
number of studies.1 In his recent analysis of the stages and
trends in covenant research, E. W. Nicholson traces the line
of interpretive development in covenant research over the last
century,2 and how it reveals a general tendency among scholars
to overstate new insights at the expense of older ones, with
a predictable decline of clarity, balance, and consensus.
^ee R. A. Oden, "The Place of Covenant in the Religion
of Israel," in Ancient Israelite Religion, eds., P. D. Miller,
P. D. Hanson, and S. D. McBride (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1987), pp. 429-47; F. O. Garcia-Treto, "Covenant in Recent Old
Testament Studies," ASB 96 (1981): 10-19; W. Zimmerli, "The
History of Israelite Religion," in Tradition and Interpre
tation. ed., G. W. Anderson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979),
pp. 372-80; D. J. McCarthy, Old Testament Covenant: A Survey
of Current Opinions (Richmond, VA: John Knox, 1972) ; J. B.
Payne, "The B'RITH of Yahweh," in New Perspectives on the Old
Testament. ed., J. B. Payne (Waco, TX: Word, 1970), pp. 240-
64. D. R. Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1969); R. Faley, "The
Importance of the Covenant Conception in the Old Testament Re
ligion," in Rediscovery of Scripture: Biblical Theology Today
(Burlington, WI: St. Francis College, 1967), pp. 37-54. Also
see G. E. Mendenhall, "The Suzerainty Treaty Structure: Thirty
Years Later," in Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic
Perspectives. eds. E. B. Firmage, B. G. Weiss, J. W. Welch,
(Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990), pp. 85-100.
2E. W. Nicholson, God and His People: Covenant and Theo
logy in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986) , pp.
3-117; idem, "Israelite Religion in the Pre-Exilic Period: A
Debate Renewed," in A Word in Season, eds., J. D. Martin and
P. R. Davies (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1986), pp. 3-34; idem,
"Covenant in a Century of Study Since Wellhausen," OTS 24
(1985): 54-69.
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