The Covenant Formula: An Exegetical and Theological Investigation

(Hardback)

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God's covenant with Israel is one of the most important themes of Old Testament scholarship: 'I will be your God, you shall be my people'. Yet this has only rarely been the focus of a comprehensive study.Professor Rendtorff explores the different ways the covenant formula is used in the Bible, its structural and theological functions, the connections between covenant and election.An important contribution to a canonical interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.

Reviews

'Rendtorff's study of all the passages using the "covenant formula" in biblical order is a helpful contribution to a synchronic reading of the Old Testament text... It will provide students with an excellent introduction to covenant theology in the Bible.' John Barton, Oxford 'Rendtorff's study is careful, detailed, and animated by his concern that Christians take seriously the ongoing viability of God's covenant with those of the Jewish faith. The book is a helpful corrective to the tendency of some past treatments to divide Old Testament covenants into different traditions.' Dennis T. Olson, Princeton Theological Seminary, Interpretation '...it is warmly recommended and should be in libraries catering for degree-level Old Testament work.' Richard Coggins, Theological Book Review 'This series will be a welcome forum for thoughtful debate, and could be important in giving appropriate reverence to the elders while advancing the serious discussion of issues on which the biblical studies now in vogue depend more than they may realise.' Gerard J. Norton OP, University of Birmingham, Reviews in Religion and Theology 'The study is one of the most illuminating among those written on the covenant and the covenant formula... Rendtorff has produced a pioneering contribution on covenant theology which cannot be overlooked.' Zeitschrift fur Katholische Theologie '..one of the outstanding postwar German biblical scholars...' Robert P. Carroll, University of Glasgow, Theology '..signficant for its angle of approach as much as for its actual contents.' Dr John Goldingay, Church Times 'This will be of importance to those interested in covenant theology.' Dianne Bergant, The Bible Today
The Master's Seminary Journal 11.2 (Fall 2000)Highlights: "Anyone performing detailed research in the area of OT covenants must read The Covenant Formula."

Author Bio

Rolf Rendtorff is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, University of Heidelberg.