The chapters I asked you to read comprise the covenant-making ritual

We want to link the idea of God’s “covenant” with “relationship”

– there were other “social covenants”: political, commercial and relational

• beneath the political and commercial covenants was a basic lack of trust

◦ in these contexts, covenants, contracts and treaties acted as guarantees

• one of loveliest relational covenants was that of Jonathan and David