Reference: Covenant
American
The word testamentum is often used in Latin to express the Hebrew word which signifies covenant; whence the titles, Old and New Testaments, are used to denote the old and new covenants. See TESTAMENT.
A covenant is properly an agreement between two parties. Where one of the parties is infinitely superior to the other, as in a covenant between God and man, there God's covenant assumes the nature of a promise, Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33-34; Ga 3:15-18. The first covenant with the Hebrews was made when the Lord chose Abraham and his posterity for his people; a second covenant, or a solemn renewal of the former, was made at Sinai, comprehending all who observe the law of Moses. The "new covenant" of which Christ is the Mediator and Author, and which was confirmed by his blood, comprehends all who believe in him and are born again, Ga 4:24; Heb 7:22; 8:6-13; 9:15-23; 12:24. The divine covenants were ratified by the sacrifice of a victim, to show that without an atonement there could be no communication of blessing and salvation form God to man, Ge 15:1-8; Ex 24:6-8; Heb 9:6. Eminent believers among the covenant people of God were favored by the establishment of particular covenants, in which he promised them certain temporal favors; but these were only renewals to individuals of the "everlasting covenant," with temporal types and pledges of its fulfilment. Thus God covenanted with Noah, Abraham, and David, Ge 9:8-9; 17:4-5; Ps 89:3-4, and gave them faith in the Savior afterwards to be revealed, Ro 3:25; Heb 9:15.
In common discourse, we usually say the old and new testaments, or covenants-the covenant between God and the posterity of Abraham, and that which he has made with believers by Jesus Christ; because these two covenants contain eminently all the rest, which are consequences, branches, or explanations of them. The most solemn and perfect of the covenants of God with men is that made through the mediation of our Redeemer, which must subsist to the end of time. The Son of God is the guarantee of it; it is confirmed with his blood; the end and object of it is eternal life, and its constitution and laws are more exalted than those of the former covenant.
Theologians use the phrase "covenant of works" to denote the constitution established by God with man before the fall, the promise of which was eternal life on condition of obedience, Ho 6:7; Ro 3:27; Ga 2:19. They also use the phrase, "covenant of grace or redemption," to denote the arrangement made in the counsels of eternity, in virtue of which the Father forgives and saves sinful men redeemed by the death of the Son.
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And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you,
After these things the word of LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, thy exceedingly great reward. And Abram said, O lord LORD, what will thou give me, since I go childless. And he who shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? read more. And Abram said, Behold, thou have given no seed to me. And, lo, a man born in my house is my heir. And, behold, the word of LORD came to him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir, but he who shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in LORD, and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. And he said to him, I am LORD who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, O lord LORD, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shall be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for I have made thee the father of a multitude of nations.
And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people. And they said, All that LORD has spoken will we do, and be obedient. read more. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant: Thy seed I will establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says LORD: My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says LORD: I will give my law{s (LXX/NT)} in their inward parts, and I will write {them (LXX/NT)} in their hearts. And I will be their God, and th And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant. There they have dealt treacherously against me.
whom God set forth an expiatory sacrifice through faith in his blood, for proof of his justice, because of the passing over of the sins that have formerly occurred
Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what law, of works? No, but by a law of faith.
For I, through law, died to law, so that I might live to God.
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, And to the seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, who is Christ. read more. And I say this, a covenant previously confirmed by God in Christ, the law, which happened four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul in order to make the promise useless. For if the inheritance is from law, it is no longer from promise. But God has given it to Abraham through promise.
Which things are allegorized, for these are two covenants, indeed one from mount Sinai giving birth for bondage, which is Hagar.
But now he has obtained a superior ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a superior covenant, which has been enacted upon superior promises. For if that first one was faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. read more. For, finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says Lord, and I will perfect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says Lord. Because this is the covenant that I will ordain with the house of Israel after those days, says Lord, giving my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be to them for a God, and they will be to me fo And they will, no, not teach each man his fellow citizen, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because all will know me, from their small as far as their great. Because I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their lawlessness I will no, not further remember. In saying, New, he has made the first old. And what is becoming old and obsolete is near disappearance.
And these things thus having been prepared, the priests indeed enter into the first part of the tabernacle continually, accomplishing the services.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant. read more. For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives. Whereupon neither has the first been dedicated without blood. For of every commandment according to law that was spoken by Moses to all the people, after taking the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God made for you. And likewise he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the service. And almost all things, according to the law, are cleansed with blood, and remission does not occur without bloodshed. Indeed therefore, a necessity was for the models of the things in the heavens themselves to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these.
Easton
a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means "to cut," and hence a covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Ge 15; Jer 34:18-19).
The corresponding word in the New Testament Greek is diatheke, which is, however, rendered "testament" generally in the Authorized Version. It ought to be rendered, just as the word berith of the Old Testament, "covenant."
This word is used (1) of a covenant or compact between man and man (Ge 21:32), or between tribes or nations (1Sa 11:1; Jos 9:6,15). In entering into a convenant, Jehovah was solemnly called on to witness the transaction (Ge 31:50), and hence it was called a "covenant of the Lord" (1Sa 20:8). The marriage compact is called "the covenant of God" (Pr 2:17), because the marriage was made in God's name. Wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a "covenant with death" not to destroy them, or with hell not to devour them (Isa 28:15,18).
(2.) The word is used with reference to God's revelation of himself in the way of promise or of favour to men. Thus God's promise to Noah after the Flood is called a covenant (Ge 9; Jer 33:20, "my covenant"). We have an account of God's covernant with Abraham (Ge 17, comp. Le 26:42), of the covenant of the priesthood (Nu 25:12-13; De 33:9; Ne 13:29), and of the covenant of Sinai (Ex 34:27-28; Le 26:15), which was afterwards renewed at different times in the history of Israel (De 29; Jos 1:18; 2Ch 15; 23; 29; 34; Ezr 10; Ne 9). In conformity with human custom, God's covenant is said to be confirmed with an oath (De 4:31; Ps 89:3), and to be accompanied by a sign (Ge 9; 17). Hence the covenant is called God's "counsel," "oath," "promise" (Ps 89:3-4; 105:8-11; Heb 6:13-20; Lu 1:68-75). God's covenant consists wholly in the bestowal of blessing (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:33-34).
The term covenant is also used to designate the regular succession of day and night (Jer 33:20), the Sabbath (Ex 31:16), circumcision (Ge 17:9-10), and in general any ordinance of God (Jer 34:13-14).
A "covenant of salt" signifies an everlasting covenant, in the sealing or ratifying of which salt, as an emblem of perpetuity, is used (Nu 18:19; Le 2:13; 2Ch 13:5).
COVENANT OF WORKS, the constitution under which Adam was placed at his creation. In this covenant, (1.) The contracting parties were (a) God the moral Governor, and (b) Adam, a free moral agent, and representative of all his natural posterity (Ro 5:12-19). (2.) The promise was "life" (Mt 19:16-17; Ga 3:12). (3.) The condition was perfect obedience to the law, the test in this case being abstaining from eating the fruit of the "tree of knowledge," etc. (4.) The penalty was death (Ge 2:16-17).
This covenant is also called a covenant of nature, as made with man in his natural or unfallen state; a covenant of life, because "life" was the promise attached to obedience; and a legal covenant, because it demanded perfect obedience to the law.
The "tree of life" was the outward sign and seal of that life which was promised in the covenant, and hence it is usually called the seal of that covenant.
This covenant is abrogated under the gospel, inasmuch as Christ has fulfilled all its conditions in behalf of his people, and now offers salvation on the condition of faith. It is still in force, however, as it rests on the immutable justice of God, and is binding on all who have not fled to Christ and accepted his righteousness.
CONVENANT OF GRACE, the eternal plan of redemption entered into by the three persons of the Godhead, and carried out by them in its several parts. In it the Father represented the Godhead in its indivisible sovereignty, and the Son his people as their surety (Joh 17:4,6,9; Isa 42:6; Ps 89:3).
The conditions of this covenant were, (1.) On the part of the Father (a) all needful preparation to the Son for the accomplishment of his work (Heb 10:5; Isa 42:1-7); (b) support in the work (Lu 22:43); and (c) a glorious reward in the exaltation of Christ when his work was done (Php 2:6-11), his investiture with universal dominion (Joh 5:22; Ps 110:1), his having the administration of the covenant committed into his hands (Mt 28:18; Joh 1:12; 17:2; Ac 2:33), and in the final salvation of all his people (Isa 35:10; 53:10-11; Jer 31:33; Tit 1:2). (2.) On the part of the Son the conditions were (a) his becoming incarnate (Ga 4:4-5); and (b) as the second Adam his representing all his people, assuming their place and undertaking all their obligations under the violated covenant of works; (c) obeying the law (Ps 40:8; Isa 42:21; Joh 9:4-5), and (d) suffering its penalty (Isa 53; 2Co 5:21; Ga 3:13), in their stead.
Christ, the mediator of, fulfils all its conditions in behalf of his people, and dispenses to them all its blessings. In Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24, this title is given to Christ. (See Dispensation.)
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And LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it. For in the day that thou eat of it thou shall surely die.
And God said to Abraham, And as for thee, thou shall keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
So they made a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
if thou will afflict my daughters, and if thou will take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us, see, God is witness between me and thee.
Therefore the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
And LORD said to Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread, nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
And every oblation of thy meal-offering thou shall season with salt, nor shall thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering. With all thine oblations thou shall offer salt.
and if ye shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,
then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land.
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to LORD, I have given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before LORD to thee and to thy
Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. And it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the sons of Israel.
For LORD thy God is a merciful God. He will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore to them.
who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew he his own sons, for they have observed thy word, and keep thy covenant.
Whoever he is who shall rebel against thy commandment, and shall not hearken to thy words in all that thou command him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.
And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country, now therefore make ye a covenant with us.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live, and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
Therefore deal kindly with thy servant, for thou have brought thy servant into a covenant of LORD with thee. But if there be in me iniquity, kill me thyself, for why should thou bring me to thy father?
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant:
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant:
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant: Thy seed I will establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac, read more. and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, To thee I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,
LORD says to my lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we are at agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hid ourselves unde
And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
And the ransomed of LORD shall return, and come with singing to Zion. And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. read more. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench, but he will bring forth justice in truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has set justice in the earth. And {in his name Gentiles will hope (LXX/NT)}. Thus says God, LORD, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth, he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk in it, I, LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles,
I, LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
It pleased LORD, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
Yet it pleased LORD to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied. By the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says LORD: My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says LORD: I will give my law{s (LXX/NT)} in their inward parts, and I will write {them (LXX/NT)} in their hearts. And I will be their God, and th
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says LORD: I will give my law{s (LXX/NT)} in their inward parts, and I will write {them (LXX/NT)} in their hearts. And I will be their God, and th And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
Thus says LORD: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season,
Thus says LORD: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season,
Thus says LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to thee, and has served thee six years. Thou shall let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not to me, nor inclined the
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it, the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf,
And behold one man having come to him, said, Good teacher, what good thing should I do so that I may have eternal life? And he said to him, Why do thou call me good? There is none good except one, God. But if thou want to enter into life, keep the commandments.
And Jesus having come, he spoke to them, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth was given to me.
Blessed is Lord, the God of Israel, because he came to help, and made ransom for his people. And he raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his boy David, read more. just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us, to do mercy with our fathers, and his holy covenant to be remembered, the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to give to us, without fear from the hand of our enemies, having been saved to serve him in piety and righteousness before him all our the days of our life.
And an agent from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him.
But as many as did accept him, to them he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
For neither does the Father judge any man, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night comes when no man can work. When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
just as thou gave him authority over all flesh, so that all things that thou have given him, he will give them eternal life.
I glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work which thou have given me that I should do.
I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gave me out of the world. They were thine, and thou gave them to me, and they have kept thy word.
I pray about them. I do not pray about the world, but about whom thou have given me, because they are for thee.
Therefore, exalted by the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out this that ye now see and hear.
Because of this, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, in that all sinned. For until law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. read more. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming man. But in this way also, the gift is not as the transgression. For if by the trespass of the one man the many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the gift is not as through one man who sinned, for indeed the judgment from one man was for condemnation, but the gift from many offenses is for righteousness. For if, by the offense of the one man, death reigned through the one man, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through an offense of one man was for condemnation for all men, so also through a righteousness of one man was for justification of life for all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were led sinful, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be led righteous.
For the man who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
And the law is not from faith, but the man who does them will live in them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is every man who hangs on a tree.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born from a woman, born under law, so that he might redeem those under law, so that we might receive the sonship.
who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God something to seize and hold. But he emptied himself, having taken a form of a bondman, having become in a likeness of men. read more. And having been found in a form like a man, he lowered himself, having become obedient until death, even of death from a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the heavenly, and the earthly, and the sub-earthly, and that every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
in hope of eternal life, which the non-lying God promised before times eternal,
For God who promised to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, swore by himself, saying, Surely indeed, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. read more. And this way, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men certainly swear by the greater, and of every dispute with them the oath is final for confirmation. By which God, wanting to demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutableness of his resolve, confirmed it by an oath. So that by two immutable events, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, having fled for refuge to seize the hope being openly displayed. Which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and that enters into the interior of the veil, where the forerunner, Jesus, entered for us, having become a high priest into the age according to the order of Melchizedek.
But now he has obtained a superior ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a superior covenant, which has been enacted upon superior promises.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering thou did not desire, but thou prepared for me a body.
Fausets
Hebrew berit, Greek diatheekee. From baarah "to divide" or" cut in two" a victim (Gesenius), between the parts of which the covenanting parties passed (Ge 15:9, etc.; Jer 34:18-19). Probably the covenanting parties eating together (which barah sometimes means) of the feast after the sacrifice entered into the idea; compare Ge 31:46-47, Jacob and Laban.
A COVENANT OF SALT, taken in connection with the eastern phrase for friendship, "to eat salt together," confirms this view. Salt, the antidote to corruption, was used in every sacrifice, to denote purity and perpetuity (Le 2:13; Mr 9:49). So a perpetual covenant or appointment (Nu 18:19; 2Ch 13:5). The covenant alluded to in Ho 6:7 margin is not with Adam (KJV "men" is better, compare Ps 82:7), for nowhere else is the expression "covenant" applied to Adam's relation to God, though the thing is implied in Ro 5:12-19; 1Co 15:22; but the Sinaitic covenant which Israel transgressed as lightly as "men" break their every day covenants with their fellow men, or else they have transgressed like other "men," though distinguished above all men by extraordinary spiritual privileges.
Covenant in the strict sense, as requiring two independent contracting parties, cannot apply to a covenant between God and man. His covenant must be essentially one of gratuitous promise, an act of pure grace on His part (Ga 3:15, etc.). So in Ps 89:28 "covenant" is explained by the parallel word "mercy." So God's covenant not to destroy the earth again by water (Genesis 9; Jer 33:20). But the covenant, on God's part gratuitous, requires man's acceptance of and obedience to it, as the consequence of His grace experienced, and the end which He designs to His glory, not that it is the meritorious condition of it. The Septuagint renders berit by diatheekee (not suntheekee, "a mutual compact"), i.e. a gracious disposal by His own sovereign will. So Lu 22:29, "I appoint (diatithemai, cognate to diatheekee, by testamentary or gratuitous disposition) unto you a kingdom."
The legal covenant of Sinai came in as a parenthesis (pareiselthee; Ro 5:20) between the promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in his promised seed, Christ. "It was added because of the (so Greek) transgressions" (Ga 3:19), i.e. to bring them, and so man's great need, into clearer view (Ro 3:20; 4:15; 5:13; 7:7-9). For this end its language was that, of a more stipulating kind as between two parties mutually covenanting, "the man that doeth these things shall live by them" (Ro 10:5). But the promise to David (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89; 2; 72; Isaiah 11) took up again that to Abraham, defining the line, the Davidic, as that in which the promised seed should come.
As the promise found its fulfillment in Christ, so also the law, for He fulfilled it for us that He might be "the Lord our righteousness," "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Jer 23:6; 1Co 1:30; Ro 10:4; Mt 3:15; 5:17; Isa 42:21; 45:24-25). In Heb 9:15-18 the gospel covenant is distinguished from the legal, as the New Testament contrasted with the Old Testament "Testament" is the better translation here, as bringing out the idea of diatheekee, God's gracious disposal or appointment of His blessings to His people, rather than suntheekee, mutual engagement between Him and them as though equals.
A human "testament" in this one respect illustrates the nature of the covenant; by death Christ chose to lose all the glory and blessings which are His, that we, who were under death's bondage, might inherit all. Thus the ideas of "mediator of the covenant," and "testator," meet in Him, who at once fulfills God's "covenant of promise," and graciously disposes to us all that is His. In most other passages "covenant" would on the whole be the better rendering. "Testament" for each of the two divisions of the Bible comes from the Latin Vulgate version. In Mt 26:28, "this is My blood of the new testament" would perhaps better be translated "covenant," for a testament does not require blood shedding. Still, here and in the original (Ex 24:8) quoted by Christ the idea of testamentary disposition enters.
For his blood was the seal of the testament. See below. Moses by "covenant" means one giving the heavenly inheritance (typified by Canaan) after the testator's death, which was represented by the sacrificial blood he sprinkled. Paul by testament means one with conditions, and so far a covenant, the conditions being fulfilled by Christ, not by us. We must indeed believe, but even this God works in His people (Eph 2:8). Heb 9:17, "a testament is in force after men are dead," just as the Old Testament covenant was in force only in connection with slain sacrificial victims which represent the death of Christ. The fact of the death must be "brought forward" (Heb 9:16) to give effect to the will. The word" death," not sacrifice or slaying, shows that "testament" is meant in Heb 9:15-20. These requisites of a "testament" here concur:
1. The Testator.
2. The heirs.
3. Goods.
4. The Testator's death.
5. The fact of His death brought forward. In Mt 26:28 two additional requisites appear.
6. Witnesses, His disciples.
7. The seal, the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the sign of His blood, wherewith the testament is sealed. The heir is ordinarily the successor of him who dies, and who so ceases to have possession. But Christ comes to life again, and is Himself (including all that He had), in the power of tits now endless life, His people's inheritance; in His being heir (Heb 1:2; Ps 2:8) they are heirs.
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And he said to him, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
And he said to him, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones, and they took stones, and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap.
And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones, and they took stones, and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap. And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
And every oblation of thy meal-offering thou shall season with salt, nor shall thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering. With all thine oblations thou shall offer salt.
And every oblation of thy meal-offering thou shall season with salt, nor shall thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering. With all thine oblations thou shall offer salt.
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to LORD, I have given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before LORD to thee and to thy
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to LORD, I have given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before LORD to thee and to thy
Ask of me, and I will give [thee] the nations for thine inheritance, and the outermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Ask of me, and I will give [thee] the nations for thine inheritance, and the outermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
I will keep my loving kindness for him for evermore. And my covenant shall stand fast with him.
I will keep my loving kindness for him for evermore. And my covenant shall stand fast with him.
It pleased LORD, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
It pleased LORD, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
Only in LORD, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength. Even to him men shall come, and all those who were incensed against him shall be put to shame.
Only in LORD, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength. Even to him men shall come, and all those who were incensed against him shall be put to shame. In LORD all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name by which he shall be called: LORD our righteousness.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name by which he shall be called: LORD our righteousness.
Thus says LORD: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season,
Thus says LORD: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season,
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it,
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it, the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf,
the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf,
But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant. There they have dealt treacherously against me.
But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant. There they have dealt treacherously against me.
But having answered, Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allows him.
But having answered, Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allows him.
Think not that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I came not to abolish, but to fulfill.
Think not that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I came not to abolish, but to fulfill.
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for remission of sins.
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for remission of sins.
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for remission of sins.
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for remission of sins.
For every man will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt material.
For every man will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt material.
And I appoint to you, just as my Father appointed to me a kingdom,
And I appoint to you, just as my Father appointed to me a kingdom,
Because from works of law no flesh will be made right before him, for through law is knowledge of sin.
Because from works of law no flesh will be made right before him, for through law is knowledge of sin.
For the law works wrath. For where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
For the law works wrath. For where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
Because of this, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, in that all sinned.
Because of this, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, in that all sinned. For until law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
For until law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
For until law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
For until law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming man.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming man. But in this way also, the gift is not as the transgression. For if by the trespass of the one man the many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.
But in this way also, the gift is not as the transgression. For if by the trespass of the one man the many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the gift is not as through one man who sinned, for indeed the judgment from one man was for condemnation, but the gift from many offenses is for righteousness.
And the gift is not as through one man who sinned, for indeed the judgment from one man was for condemnation, but the gift from many offenses is for righteousness. For if, by the offense of the one man, death reigned through the one man, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
For if, by the offense of the one man, death reigned through the one man, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through an offense of one man was for condemnation for all men, so also through a righteousness of one man was for justification of life for all men.
So then, as through an offense of one man was for condemnation for all men, so also through a righteousness of one man was for justification of life for all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were led sinful, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be led righteous.
For as through the one man's disobedience the many were led sinful, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be led righteous. And the law entered so that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace was more abundant,
And the law entered so that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace was more abundant,
What will we say then? The law is sin? May it not happen! Yet I did not know sin except through law. For likewise I would not have known lust, if the law did not say, Thou shall not covet.
What will we say then? The law is sin? May it not happen! Yet I did not know sin except through law. For likewise I would not have known lust, if the law did not say, Thou shall not covet. But sin, having taken opportunity through the commandment, wrought in me every evil desire, for apart from law sin is dead.
But sin, having taken opportunity through the commandment, wrought in me every evil desire, for apart from law sin is dead. And I was alive once apart from law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
And I was alive once apart from law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
For Christ is the end of law for righteousness, to every man who believes.
For Christ is the end of law for righteousness, to every man who believes. For Moses writes in the righteousness from the law, that the man that does them will live in them.
For Moses writes in the righteousness from the law, that the man that does them will live in them.
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified.
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified.
Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the seed would come to whom it was promised, which was arranged through heavenly agents in the hand of a mediator.
Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the seed would come to whom it was promised, which was arranged through heavenly agents in the hand of a mediator.
For ye are saved by grace through faith, and this a gift of God, not from you,
For ye are saved by grace through faith, and this a gift of God, not from you,
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance.
And because of this he is mediator of a new covenant, so that a death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions against the first covenant, those who are called might take the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant. For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives. Whereupon neither has the first been dedicated without blood.
Whereupon neither has the first been dedicated without blood. For of every commandment according to law that was spoken by Moses to all the people, after taking the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
For of every commandment according to law that was spoken by Moses to all the people, after taking the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God made for you.
saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God made for you.
Hastings
The term is of frequent occurrence in the Bible, and is used in the general sense of a compact or agreement between parties, and also in the more technical and legal sense of an arrangement entered into by God, and confirmed or sealed with the due formalities. The Hebrew word (ber
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And LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it. For in the day that thou eat of it thou shall surely die.
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it. For in the day that thou eat of it thou shall surely die.
But I will establish my covenant with thee. And thou shall come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, read more. and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, nor shall there be a flood any more to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. read more. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
And he took all these for him, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half opposite the other. But he did not divide the birds.
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. In that day LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying, read more. As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shall be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for I have made thee the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful. And I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojourning, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. read more. And God said to Abraham, And as for thee, thou shall keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and you. And he who is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations: he who is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. He who is born in thy house, and he who is bought with thy money, must be circumcised. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. And I will bless her. And moreover I will give thee a son by her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother of] nations; kings of peoples shall be by her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, No, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee at this set time in the next year.
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech. And the two made a covenant.
And he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. And they rose up promptly in the morning, and swore one to another. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. read more. And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones, and they took stones, and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap. And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore the name of it was called Galeed, and Mizpah. For he said, May LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another,
and Mizpah. For he said, May LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another,
And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread. And they ate bread, and tarried all night on the mountain.
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be my own possession from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine,
And LORD said to Moses, Thus thou shall say to the sons of Israel, Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make [other gods] with me; gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make to you.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people. And they said, All that LORD has spoken will we do, and be obedient.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people. And they said, All that LORD has spoken will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant. Before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been wrought in all the earth, nor in any nation, and all the people among which thou are shall see the work of LORD, for it is an aw Observe thou that which I command thee this day. Behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. read more. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where thou go, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. But ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim, for thou shall worship no other god. For LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and [a man] calls thee and thou eat of his sacrifice, and thou take of their daughters to thy sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods, and make thy sons play the harlot after their gods. Thou shall make thee no molten gods. Thou shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days thou shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib thou came out from Egypt. All that opens the womb is mine, and all thy cattle that is male, the firstlings of cow and sheep. And the firstling of a donkey thou shall redeem with a lamb, and if thou will not redeem it, then thou shall break its neck. All the first-born of thy sons thou shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. Six days thou shall work, but on the seventh day thou shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest thou shall rest. And thou shall observe the feast of weeks, [even] of the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before lord LORD, the God of Israel. For I will cast out nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders. Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou go up to appear before LORD thy God three times in the year. Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning. The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shall bring to the house of LORD thy God. Thou shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. And LORD said to Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread, nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
And every oblation of thy meal-offering thou shall season with salt, nor shall thou allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering. With all thine oblations thou shall offer salt.
then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land.
And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, for I am LORD their God,
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to LORD, I have given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before LORD to thee and to thy
LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
When I was gone up onto the mount to receive the tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant which LORD made with you, then I abode on the mount forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant.
So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which thou broke, and thou shall put them in the ark.
And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made. And they are there as LORD commanded me.
Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination to LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
These are the words of the covenant which LORD commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country, now therefore make ye a covenant with us.
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of LORD which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God.
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron. And king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
And Jehoiada made a covenant between LORD and the king and the people, that they should be LORD's people; between the king also and the people.
And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before LORD to walk after LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all [his] heart, and all [his] soul, to confirm the words of this coven
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with LORD, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to
And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives. And being guilty, [they offered] a ram of the flock for their guilt.
For thou shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
I made a covenant with my eyes. How then should I look upon a virgin?
Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou should take him for a servant forever?
The friendship of LORD is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant.
He has put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him. He has profaned his covenant.
He has put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him. He has profaned his covenant.
Have respect to the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
For they have consulted together with one consent. They make a covenant against thee:
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant:
which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac,
who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God
My son, if thou have become surety for thy neighbor, if thou have struck thy hands for a stranger,
A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor.
Be thou not one of those who strike hands, [or] of those who are sureties for debts.
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we are at agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hid ourselves unde
And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
I, LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles,
Thus says LORD, In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in a day of salvation I have helped thee. And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate he
For this is [as] the waters of Noah to me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with thee, nor rebuke thee.
Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the {faithful holy things (LXX/NT)} of David.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says LORD: My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed
For I, LORD, love justice. I hate robbery with iniquity. And I will give them their recompense in truth. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Behold, the days come, says LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
Behold, the days come, says LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says LORD: I will give my law{s (LXX/NT)} in their inward parts, and I will write {them (LXX/NT)} in their hearts. And I will be their God, and th
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. And I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
In those days, and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Thus says LORD: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
Thus says LORD: If my covenant of day and night [stand] not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it,
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces toward it, [saying], Come ye, and join yourselves to LORD in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish to thee an everlasting covenant.
For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant. And, behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things. He shall not escape.
Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says lord LORD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod. And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
And say to them, Thus says lord LORD: Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall no more be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. read more. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places in which they have sinned, and will clean And my servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell therein, they, and their sons, and their son's sons, forever. And David my servant shall be their ruler forev Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle shall also be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am LORD, who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And upon the wing of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate. And even to the f
And the overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken, yea, also the ruler of the covenant.
Then he shall return into his land with great substance. And his heart [shall be] against the holy covenant, and he shall do [his pleasure], and return to his own land.
For ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do [his pleasure]. He shall even return, and have regard to those who forsake th
Thus says LORD: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment of it, because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and did not remember the brotherly covenant.
As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
Yet ye say, Why? Because LORD has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou have dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And LORD, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he comes, says LORD of hosts.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And LORD, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he comes, says LORD of hosts.
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for remission of sins.
And he said to them, This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.
And behold, thou will be mute, and not able to speak until that day these things will come to pass, because thou did not believed my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
Likewise also the cup after dining, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood being shed for you.
Ye are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant that God made for our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in thy seed all the patriarchies of the earth will be blessed.
And the high priest said, Are these things so?
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
who are Israelites, of whom is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the divine service, and the promises,
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The man who delivers will come from Zion, and will turn away impiety from Jacob.
who also made us qualified helpers of a new covenant, not of a document, but of a spirit, for the document kills but the spirit makes alive.
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified.
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified.
Which things are allegorized, for these are two covenants, indeed one from mount Sinai giving birth for bondage, which is Hagar.
that ye were at that time independent of Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and alien of the covenants of the promise, having no hope and godless in the world.
Who saved us and who called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.
By which God, wanting to demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutableness of his resolve, confirmed it by an oath.
But now he has obtained a superior ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a superior covenant, which has been enacted upon superior promises.
But now he has obtained a superior ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a superior covenant, which has been enacted upon superior promises. For if that first one was faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. read more. For, finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says Lord, and I will perfect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says Lord. Because this is the covenant that I will ordain with the house of Israel after those days, says Lord, giving my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be to them for a God, and they will be to me fo And they will, no, not teach each man his fellow citizen, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because all will know me, from their small as far as their great. Because I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their lawlessness I will no, not further remember. In saying, New, he has made the first old. And what is becoming old and obsolete is near disappearance.
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid entirely in gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
For where a covenant is, a necessity is to present the death of the man who made the covenant. For a covenant is effective with the dead, since it is never enforced while the man who made the covenant lives.
saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God made for you.
By how much worse punishment do ye think he will deserve who has trampled the Son of God, and who considered profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who treated the Spirit of grace contemptuously?
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of an eternal covenant--our Lord Jesus--
Morish
To this subject as spoken of in scripture there are two branches:
1. man's covenant with his fellow, or nation with nation, in which the terms are mutually considered and agreed to: it is then ratified by an oath, or by some token, before witnesses. Such a covenant is alluded to in Ga 3:15; if a man's covenant be confirmed it cannot be disannulled or added to. When Abraham bought the field of Ephron in Machpelah, he paid the money "in the audience of the sons of Heth" as witnesses, and it was thus made sure unto him. Ge 23:16. In the covenant Jacob made with Laban, they gathered a heap of stones to be witness between them, and "they did eat there upon the heap." Ge 31:46. When the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the heads of Israel, "the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord, and . . . sware unto them." Jos 9:14-15. So to this day, if a stranger in the East can get the head of a tribe to eat with him, he knows he is safe, the eating is regarded as a covenant. In 2Ch 13:5 we read of 'a covenant of salt;' and to eat salt together is also now regarded as a bond in the East.
2. The covenants made by God are of a different order. He makes His covenants from Himself, without consulting man. With Noah God made a covenant that he would not again destroy the world by a flood, and as a token of that covenant, He set the rainbow in the cloud. Ge 9:8-17. This kind of covenant takes the form of an unconditional promise. Such was God's covenant with Abraham, first as to his natural posterity, Ge 15:4-6; and secondly, as to his seed, Christ. Ge 22:15-18. He gave him also the covenant of circumcision, Ge 17:10-14; Ac 7:8,
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And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, read more. and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, nor shall there be a flood any more to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
And, behold, the word of LORD came to him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir, but he who shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed be. read more. And he believed in LORD, and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and you. read more. And he who is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations: he who is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. He who is born in thy house, and he who is bought with thy money, must be circumcised. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.
And the agent of LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, By myself I have sworn, says LORD, because thou have done this thing, and have not withheld thy son, thine only son, read more. that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou have obeyed my voice.
And Abraham hearkened to Ephron. And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver that he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current [money] with the merchant.
And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones, and they took stones, and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap.
And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandment which I command you this day.
And it shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently to the voice of LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that LORD thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the ear
And the men took of their provision, and did not ask counsel at the mouth of LORD. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live, and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
Should ye not know that LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
And he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the righteousness of his faith during uncircumcision, for him to be father of all those who believe during uncircumcision (for righteousness to also be imputed to them),
Brothers (I speak according to a man), in the same way of a man, no man annuls or adds to a contract that has been ratified. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, And to the seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, who is Christ. read more. And I say this, a covenant previously confirmed by God in Christ, the law, which happened four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul in order to make the promise useless.
And if ye are Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise.
Smith
Covenant.
The Heb. berith means primarily "a cutting," with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two and passing between the parts in ratifying a covenant.
In the New Testament the corresponding word is diathece (diatheke), which is frequently translated testament in the Authorized Version. In its biblical meaning two parties the word is used--
1. Of a covenant between God and man; e.g. God covenanted with Noah, after the flood, that a like judgment should not be repeated. It is not precisely like a covenant between men, but was a promise or agreement by God. The principal covenants are the covenant of works --God promising to save and bless men on condition of perfect obedience --and the covenant of grace, or God's promise to save men on condition of their believing in Christ and receiving him as their Master and Saviour. The first is called the Old Covenant, from which we name the first part of the bible the Old Testament, the Latin rendering of the word covenant. The second is called the New Covenant, or New Testament.
2. Covenant between man and man, i.e. a solemn compact or agreement, either between tribes or nations,
or between individuals,
by which each party bound himself to fulfill certain conditions and was assured of receiving certain advantages. In making such a covenant God was solemnly invoked as witness,
and an oath was sworn.
A sign or witness of the covenant was sometimes framed, such a gift,
or a pillar or heap of stones erected.
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And he said, These seven ewe lambs thou shall take from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there they swore both of them.
And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
if thou will afflict my daughters, and if thou will take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us, see, God is witness between me and thee.
This heap is witness, and the pillar is witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shall not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country, now therefore make ye a covenant with us.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live, and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it, the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf,
Watsons
COVENANT. The Greek word ??????? occurs often in the Septuagint, as the translation of a Hebrew word, which signifies covenant: it occurs also in the Gospels and the Epistles; and it is rendered in our English Bibles sometimes covenant, sometimes testament. The Greek word, according to its etymology, and according to classical use, may denote a testament, a disposition, as well as a covenant; and the Gospel may be called a testament, because it is a signification of the will of our Saviour ratified by his death, and because it conveys blessings to be enjoyed after his death. These reasons for giving the dispensation of the Gospel the name of a testament appeared to our translators so striking, that they have rendered ??????? more frequently by the word testament, than by the word covenant. Yet the train of argument, where ??????? occurs, generally appears to proceed upon its meaning a covenant; and therefore, although, when we delineate the nature of the Gospel, the beautiful idea of its being a testament, is not to be lost sight of, yet we are to remember that the word testament, which we read in the Gospels and Epistles, is the translation of a word which the sense requires to be rendered covenant. A covenant implies two parties, and mutual stipulations. The new covenant must derive its name from something in the nature of the stipulations between the parties different from that which existed before; so that we cannot understand the propriety of the name, new, without looking back to what is called the old, or first. On examining the passages in Galatians 3, in 2 Corinthians 3, and in Hebrews 8-10, where the old and the new covenant are contrasted, it will be found that the old covenant means the dispensation given by Moses to the children of Israel; and the new covenant the dispensation of the Gospel published by Jesus Christ; and that the object of the Apostle is to illustrate the superior excellence of the latter dispensation. But, in order to preserve the consistency of the Apostle's writings, it is necessary to remember that there are two different lights in which the former dispensation may be viewed. Christians appear to draw the line between the old and the new covenant, according to the light in which they view that dispensation. It may be considered merely as a method of publishing the moral law to a particular nation; and then with whatever solemnity it was delivered, and with whatever cordiality it was accepted, it is not a covenant that could give life. For, being nothing more than what divines call a covenant of works, a directory of conduct requiring by its nature entire personal obedience, promising life to those who yielded that obedience, but making no provision for transgressors, it left under a curse "every one that continued not in all things that were written in the book of the law to do them." This is the essential imperfection of what is called the covenant of works, the name given in theology to that transaction, in which it is conceived that the supreme Lord of the universe promised to his creature, man, that he would reward that obedience to his law, which, without any such promise, was due to him as the Creator.
No sooner had Adam broken the covenant of works, than a promise of a final deliverance from the evils incurred by the breach of it was given. This promise was the foundation of that transaction which Almighty God, in treating with Abraham, condescends to call "my covenant with thee," and which, upon this authority, has received in theology the name of the Abrahamic covenant. Upon the one part, Abraham, whose faith was counted to him for righteousness, received this charge from God, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect;" upon the other part, the God whom he believed, and whose voice he obeyed, beside promising other blessings to him and his seed, uttered these significant words, "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In this transaction, then, there was the essence of a covenant; for there were mutual stipulations between two parties; and there was superadded, as a seal of the covenant, the rite of circumcision, which, being prescribed by God, was a confirmation of his promise to all who complied with it, and being submitted to by Abraham, was, on his part, an acceptance of the covenant.
The Abrahamic covenant appears, from the nature of the stipulations, to be more than a covenant of works; and, as it was not confined to Abraham, but extended to his seed, it could not be disannulled by any subsequent transactions, which fell short of a fulfilment of the blessing promised. The law of Moses, which was given to the seed of Abraham four hundred and thirty years after, did not come up to the terms of that covenant even with regard to them, for, in its form it was a covenant of works, and to other nations it did not directly convey any blessing. But although the Mosaic dispensation did not fulfil the Abrahamic covenant, it was so far from setting that covenant aside, that it cherished the expectation of its being fulfilled: for it continued the rite of circumcision, which was the seal of the covenant; and in those ceremonies which it enjoined, there was a shadow, a type, an obscure representation, of the promised blessing, Lu 1:72-73.
Here, then, is another view of the Mosaic dispensation. "It was added, because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made," Ga 3:19. By delivering a moral law, which men felt themselves unable to obey; by denouncing judgments which it did not of itself provide any effectual method of escaping; and by holding forth, in various oblations, the promised and expected Saviour; "it was a schoolmaster to bring men unto Christ." The covenant made with Abraham retained its force during the dispensation of the law, and was the end of that dispensation.
The views which have been given furnish the ground upon which we defend that established language which is familiar to our ears, that there are only two covenants essentially different, and opposite to one another, the covenant of works, made with the first man, intimated by the constitution of human nature to every one of his posterity, and having for its terms, "Do this and live;"
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And he said to him, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took all these for him, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half opposite the other. But he did not divide the birds.
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. In that day LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. And Isaac said to them, Why have ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? read more. And they said, We saw plainly that LORD was with thee. And we said, Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and thee. And let us make a covenant with thee, that thou will do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done to thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace. Thou are now the blessed of LORD. And he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. And they rose up promptly in the morning, and swore one to another. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. read more. And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather stones, and they took stones, and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap.
And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread. And they ate bread, and tarried all night on the mountain.
And there ye shall bring your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock. And there ye shall eat before LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand to, ye and your households, in which LORD thy God has blessed thee.
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it,
to do mercy with our fathers, and his holy covenant to be remembered, the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to give to us,
Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the seed would come to whom it was promised, which was arranged through heavenly agents in the hand of a mediator.
Because this is the covenant that I will ordain with the house of Israel after those days, says Lord, giving my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be to them for a God, and they will be to me fo