Meredith George Kline (December 15, 1922 – April 14, 2007) was an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. He also had degrees in Assyriology and Egyptology.
Building on the legacy of Geerhardus Vos, Kline was an influential voice for covenant theology in the Reformed tradition, providing both new insights into biblical accounts and critical engagement with contemporary biblical scholarship. He is, perhaps, best known for his contributions on the subject of ancient suzerain–vassaltreaties, specifically on the relationship of treaties from the 2nd millennium BC to covenants found in the Bible.
Theologian John Frame has called Kline "the most impressive biblical theologian of my lifetime," adding that Kline's work "is orthodox, yet often original, and it always provides [a] rich analysis of Scripture."[4]
In 2000, a festschrift was published in Kline's honor: Creator Redeemer Consummator: A Festschrift for Meredith G. Kline, ed. H. Griffith and J. R. Muether (Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press), featuring scholars (and former students) such as Tremper Longman and Charles Lee Irons.
Publications
Some of Kline's many publications include:
Books
Kline, Meredith G. (1958). The Habiru: Kin or Foe of Israel (PhD). OCLC39846689.
——— (1963). Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary (1st ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. OCLC23320371.
——— (2001). Glory in Our Midst: A Biblical-Theological Reading of Zechariah's Night Visions. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. ISBN978-1-579-10599-0. OCLC50337531.
——— (2006). Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview (reissue ed.). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. ISBN978-1-597-52564-0. OCLC70160948.
——— (2012). Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary (reissue ed.). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. ISBN978-1-610-97698-5. OCLC799060467.
———; Irons, Lee (2000). "The Framework View". In Hagopian, David G. (ed.). The Genesis Debate: Three Views on the Days of Creation. ISBN978-0-970-22450-7.