Biblical theologians stress rightly the significance of redemptive history. But the events of history can never be divorced from the biblical text. As Waltke argues: “.. texts not only record history but also interpret the events through certain perspectives (Waltke, 43).” In other words, the text provides the proper interpretation of biblical historical events. Some attempt to cut a particular form of ancient treaty and impose it in its entirety into the Biblical text. However, the text is its own self-interpreter. Though ancient treaties can be used to aid the text, it must not substitute the authority of the text. As Waltke illustrates, the “Bible gives primacy to word over event.” In the biblical text God gives the command and such and such comes to pass, not the opposite. The events only serve to authenticate what has been written.
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