Covenant in the Persian Period

After the temple fell and the Davidic monarchy collapsed, with Judeans scattered into exile and others struggling on in the land, the old idea of covenant did not fade. It grew stronger. These twenty-two essays trace how writers of the Neo-Babylonian, Persian and early Hellenistic periods reworked the covenant made at Sinai, alongside the Abrahamic, Davidic and Priestly covenants, into a new way of thinking about who Israel was.

Contributors from Canada, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States range from Genesis to Chronicles, reading historiographic, Levitical, prophetic, priestly and wisdom texts for the many ideas of covenant they hold, at home and in the diaspora. Richard J. Bautch's volume suits students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible who want a broad, serious account of how early Jewish identity was shaped.