Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy 29 and the Assyrian text of the Esarhaddon Succession Treaty both address secret disobedience of a covenant. Instead of legal prosecution, each assigns punishment to divine forces and the curses spelled out in the covenant.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 29:20
Hebrew Bible
18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, ‘I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.’ This will destroy the watered ground with the parched. 20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger will rage against that man; all the curses written in this scroll will fall upon him, and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. 21 The Lord will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon 1:537-544
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
537 Just as a m[ule has n]o offspring, may your name, your seed, and the seed of your sons and your daughters disappear from the land. 540 Just as a germinal shoot of ma[lt, if it] is soaked with ma[sh...], does not sprout (and) a [...] does not return [...], may your [see]d and the seed of y[our] s[ons] and your daughters disappear [from] the face of your ground.
Date: 672 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Hittite and Aramaic treaties, then, like Deuteronomy 29 also deal with the eventuality of tacit rebellion. However, as the authorities cannot act as they do in chapter 13 against such passive violators of the covenant, their punishment must consequently be left to Heaven ... Similar formulations are repeatedly encountered in the epilogue sections or on the seal impressions of the ancient Near Eastern treaties ..."
Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), 106–107.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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