Marriage as a Covenant: A Study of Biblical Law and Ethics Governing Marriage Developed from the Perspective of Malachi

This work focuses on the interpretation of Malachi 2:10-16, which censures the lax marital practice of its contemporaries. In particular, the author investigates Malachi’s identification of marriage as a covenant in response to recent scholarly challenges to this identification. Taking the issues raised by Malachi as his point of departure, Hugenberger examines the nature of covenant and oath - including verba solemnia and oath-signs - and, in the light of these findings, explores the theory of marriage implied elsewhere in the Old Testament. Included in this investigation are an analysis of the concentric literary structure of Malachi and a study of the Old Testament’s ethical perspectives on divorce, polygamy and sexual fidelity.