I. Name

As utilized in the biblical materials relating to the legal sphere, the ‘witness’ (ʿēd) was a person who had firsthand knowledge concerning an event or fact and who could provide either an affirmation or a refutation of testimony presented (i.e. Gen. 31.45–52). The application of the role of ‘witness’ to members of the divine realm is especially relevant to the biblical metaphor of covenant. Ancient Near Eastern international treaty forms, from which the biblical ideal of covenant is derived, inv…