These questions provide the central aims for Oswald's study. Thus God lives permanently on the mountain, dwells in heaven, approaches in a cloud, and descends to the summit, while theophany also changes in location. The process by which these typologies are interwoven and the social context out of which they were created are described in chapter 4. Oswald seeks to demonstrate in chapters 3 and 4 that incoherence in the present form of the text must be read in light of its formation, and that the process of growth must be grounded in concrete social and political contexts. The results can be summarized in three phases.
Law is essential throughout the development of the literature.
There is no theophany independent of law. The Book of the Covenant is central to the EG, as the legal charter for an exilic community located at Mizpeh and led by Gedaliah. The covenant texts emphasize an exclusive allegiance with YHWH to express opposition to Persian influence. The dtrGG idealizes the office of the people as a qa4ha4l and the temple as part of the larger community as opposed to the priestly vision of a temple state. It envisions Judah as a temple state.