Thoughts on Moshe Weinfeld and the like

So, today I was able to incorporate Moshe Weinfeld's article "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament And in the Ancient near East." His article is a seminal article in the field of ancient near East background for understanding the Old Testament. He basically proposes that the proper historical background for understanding the Davidic covenant is the Royal grant treaties, which have their source in the second millennium Hittite covenant documents.

In addition, I was also able to incorporate some reflection on how to categorize various scholars with regard to the topic of the Davidic covenant. I came up with a distinction, which I call covenantal minimalism and maximalism – a minimalist is someone who at the very least recognizes the fact that there is a covenantal framework which is at work in the Hebrew Bible – this framework is operative at the very least at the level of literature. This is a broad category that can include just about any scholar. A maximalist therefore is someone who not only recognizes the covenantal background but also accept that background as something which has literal historical referent. This means that the Davidic covenant – or whatever else may referred to the Davidic covenant – has its roots in an actual, unified, identifiable, and intelligible historical event. A maximalist gives priority to the fact that the literature bears witness to a single historical reality.

This may not be a satisfying distinction for everyone, but it's helpful in recognizing the different research goals, which given scholars are pursuing. Some are pursuing goals which are focused at understanding the world of the text – the world that the text bears witness to. Others are merely interested in understanding the subtext – the possible world that may have given rise to the text. I do not find this latter goal particularly helpful or beneficial for enhancing our understanding of the biblical text. This goal is not necessarily evil or counterproductive but it's certainly not the most productive gold pursue, especially one takes into account that exposition of the Scriptures is an exposition for the church – it's not merely academic – all biblical knowledge is missional.