Mosaic covenant

According to George E. Mendenhall, covenants were originally established as legal customs and then later were replicated in the field of religion.

The Israelites followed the form of the suzerainty treaty, a particular type of covenant common in the Near East and were bound to obey stipulations that were set by God, not Moses.

[4] In addition to Mendenhall's input and perspective, M. Weinfeld argues that there are two forms of covenants to have occurred throughout the Hebrew Bible: 1.)

These translate to a “political treaty” as evidenced by the Hittite Empire, and a "royal grant" as shown through the covenants tied to Abraham and David.

[5] In the Hebrew Bible, God established the Mosaic covenant with the Israelites after he saved them from slavery in Egypt in the book of Exodus.

The Book of Acts says that after the ascension of Jesus, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was killed when he was accused of speaking against the Second Temple and the Mosaic Law.