Memory and Covenant:The Role of Israel's and God's Memory in Sustaining the Deuteronomic and Priestly Covenants

Memory and Covenant applies new insights into the meaning and function of social memory to analyze the two major religions of the Pentateuch (D and P) and their relationship to one another. Ellman shows that for the deuteronomic tradition, memory is an epistemological and pedagogical means for keeping Israel faithful to its God and Gods commandments, even when Israelites are far from the temple and its worship. The pre-exilic priestly tradition, however, understands that the covenant depends on Gods memory, which must be aroused by the sensory stimuli of the temple cult.