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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And God will speak to Noah and to his sons, saying, And I, behold I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you.
After these words, the word of Jehovah was to Abram in a vision, saying, Thou shalt not fear, Abram: I a shield to thee, thy reward great exceedingly. And Abram will say, My Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give to me, and I going childless, and the son of Masek in my house, he Eliezer of Damascus? read more. And Abram will say, Behold, to me thou gavest no seed, and behold the son of my house shall inherit me. And behold, the word of Jehovah was to him, saying, This shall not inherit thee, for truly he who shall come forth from thy bowels shall inherit thee. And he will bring him forth without, and will say, Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if thou shalt be able to count them: and he will say to him, So shall be thy seed. And he believed in Jehovah; and it shall be reckoned to him justice. And he will say to him, I am Jehovah who brought thee from Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he will say, My Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?
I, behold my covenant with thee, thou being father of a multitude of nations. And thy name shall no more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham, for the father of a multitude of nations have I given thee.
And Moses will take half of the blood, and put in basins; and half the blood he sprinkled upon the altar. And he will take the book of the covenant and read in the ears of the people: and they will say, All which Jehovah spake we will do, and we will heed. read more. And Moses will take the blood, and sprinkle upon the people, and will say, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah made with you concerning all these words.
I cut out a covenant to my chosen, I sware to David my servant, Even to forever I will prepare thy seed, and I built up to generation and generation thy throne, Silence.
And I, this my covenant with them, said Jehovah: my spirit which is upon thee, and my word which I put in thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth, and from the mouth of thy seed, from the mouth of thy seed's seed, said Jehovah, from now and even forever.
For this the covenant that I will cut out with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah; I gave my law in the midst of them, and upon their heart will I write it; and I was to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people. And they shall teach no more a man his neighbor and a man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah: for they all shall know me to their small and even to their great, says Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and to their sin I will have no more remembrance
And they as man passed by the covenant: there they acted faithlessly against me.
Whom God had set before a propitiatory by faith in his blood, for a manifestation of his justice by passing over of sins before existing, in the sufferance of God;
Where then boasting? It was excluded. By what law? of works? No: but by the law of faith.
For I through the law died to the law, that. I might live to God.
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition. And to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as to many; but as to one: And to thy seed, who is Christ. read more. And I say this, the covenant confirmed before by God in Christ, the law, having been after four hundred and thirty years, does not annul, to neglect the promise. For if of the law the inheritance, no more of promise: and God has favored Abraham by promise.
Which things are spoken figuratively: for these are the two covenants; one truly from mount Sinai, begetting to bondage, which is Agar.
And now he has attained a more distinguished office, in how much also he is mediator of a better covenant, which was legislated upon better promises. For if that first was faultless, then place was not to be sought for the second. read more. For rebuking them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will complete for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah a new covenant: Not according to the covenant which I made to their fathers in the day of my taking their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they remained not in my covenant, and I heeded them not, says the Lord. For this the covenant which I will set to the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; giving my laws into their mind, and upon their hearts will I write them: and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people: And they should not teach each his neighbor, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from their little even to their great ones. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their injustices will I remember no more. In saying new, he has made the first old. And that made old and becoming weak is near destruction.
And these thus prepared, truly to the first tent the priests always came in, to complete the divine services.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward. read more. For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives. Wherefore neither was the first consecrated without blood. For every command spoken according to law by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of calves and he-goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and also the book, and he sprinkled all the people, Saying, This the blood of the covenant which God enjoined to you. And also the tent, and all the vessels of the service, he poured all over likewise with blood. And almost all things are purified according to the law with blood; and without blood-letting there is no remission. Therefore truly a necessity for the patterns of things in the heavens to be purified with these; and the heavenly things themselves 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.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah God will appoint to the man, saying, From every tree of the garden eating, thou shalt eat. But from the tree to know good and evil thou shalt not eat from it, for in the day of thy eating from it, dying, thou shalt die.
And God will say to Abraham, Thou shalt watch my covenant., thou, and thy seed after thee to their generations. This my covenant which ye shall watch between me and beween you, and between thy seed after thee; every male among you to be circumcised.
And they will make a covenant, at the well of the oath, and Abimelech will rise up, and Phicol, the leader of his army, and they will turn back to the land of the Philistines,
If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives to my daughters, no man is with us, seeing God a witness between me and between thee.
And the sons of Israel shall watch the Sabbath to do the Sabbath for their generation, a covenant forever.
And Jehovah will say to Moses, Write to thyself these words; for upon the mouth of these words, I made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he will be there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he ate not bread and drank not water. And he will write upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words.
And every offering of thy gift, thou shalt salt with salt; and thou shalt not cause the salt of the covenant of thy God to cease from thy gift: upon every offering of thine thou shalt bring near salt
And if ye shall reject my laws. and if your soul shall abhor my judgments so as not to do all my commands, to your breaking my covenant:
And I remembered my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaak, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
All the offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall lift up to Jehovah, I gave to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, for a law forever: it a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah to thee, and to thy seed with thee.
For this, say, behold me giving to him my covenant of peace. And it shall be to him and to his seed after him, the covenant of the priesthood forever, because he was jealous for his God; and he shall expiate for the sons of Israel.
For Jehovah thy God a merciful God; he will not desert thee, and he will not destroy thee, and he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware to them.
He saying to his father and to his mother, I saw him not, and his brethren he knew not, and he knew not his sons; for they watched thy sayings and they will keep thy covenant.
Every man who shall resist thy mouth, and shall not hear thy words according to all which thou shalt command him, he shall die: only be strong and be active.
And they will come to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and will say to him and to the men of Israel, From a land far off we came: and now cut out to us a covenant.
And Joshua will make peace to them, and will cut out to them a covenant to preserve them alive: and the chiefs of the assembly sware to them.
And Nahash the Ammonite will come up and encamp against Jabesh-Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh will say to Nahash, Cut out to us a covenant, and we will serve thee.
And do thou mercy with thy servant; for into a covenant of Jehovah thou didst bring thy servant with thee: and if there is iniquity in me, do thou kill me; and wherefore wilt thou bring me even to thy father?
Remember to them, O my God, for the pollutions of the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
To do thine acceptance, O my God, I delighted; and thy law in the midst of my bowels.
I cut out a covenant to my chosen, I sware to David my servant,
I cut out a covenant to my chosen, I sware to David my servant,
I cut out a covenant to my chosen, I sware to David my servant, Even to forever I will prepare thy seed, and I built up to generation and generation thy throne, Silence.
He remembered his covenant forever, the word he commanded to a thousand generations. Which he cut out with Abraham, and his oath to Isaak. read more. And he will set it for a law to Jacob, to Israel an eternal covenant: Saying, To thee will give the land of Canaan, the line of your inheritance:
To David a chanting. Jehovah spake to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand and I will set thine enemies the stool to thy feet
Forsaking the friend of her youth, and forgetting the covenant of her God.
Because ye said, We cut out a covenant with death, and with hades we did this; when this overflowing scourge passed through it shall not come to us, for we set falsehood our refuge, and in ahewe hid ourselves.,
And your covenant with death was obliterated, and your league with hades shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through and ye. were for a treading down to it
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall turn back and come to Zion with a shout of joy and eternal joy upon their heads: and they shall attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Behold my servant, I will hold fast in him; my chosen, my soul delighted; I gave my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, and be shall not lift up, and he shall not cause his voice to be heard without read more. A broken reed he shall not break, and bedimmed flax shall he not quench it: he shall bring forth judgment to truth. He shall not be weak, and he shall not break, till he shall set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law: Thus said God Jehovah, creating the heavens and stretching them out; and spreading out the earth and its productions; giving breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those going upon it: I Jehovah called thee in justice, and I will hold by thy hand, and I will guard thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for the light of the nations,
I Jehovah called thee in justice, and I will hold by thy hand, and I will guard thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for the light of the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the bound out of prison, those sitting in darkness out of the house of the prison.
Jehovah was pleased for sake of his justice; he will magnify the law and make glorious.
And Jehovah inclined to crash him; piercing him when his soul shall be set a sacrifice for sin, he shall see seed, he shall prolong the days, and the delight of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. And be shall see of the labor of his soul, he shall be satisfied: by his knowledge my just servant shall justify for many; and he shall bear their iniquities..
And I, this my covenant with them, said Jehovah: my spirit which is upon thee, and my word which I put in thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth, and from the mouth of thy seed, from the mouth of thy seed's seed, said Jehovah, from now and even forever.
For this the covenant that I will cut out with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah; I gave my law in the midst of them, and upon their heart will I write it; and I was to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people.
For this the covenant that I will cut out with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah; I gave my law in the midst of them, and upon their heart will I write it; and I was to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people. And they shall teach no more a man his neighbor and a man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah: for they all shall know me to their small and even to their great, says Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and to their sin I will have no more remembrance
Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season;
Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season;
Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I cut out a covenant with your fathers in the day of my bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants, saying, From the end of seven years ye shall send away a man his brother, the Hebrew who shall be sold to thee, and serving thee six years, and send him away free from thee; and your fathers heard not to me and inclined not their ear
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts. The chiefs of Judah, and the chiefs of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land passing between the parts of the calf.
And, behold, one having come said to him, Good teacher, what good shall I do, that I might have eternal life? And he said to him, Why sayest thou me good? None is good except one, God; but if thou wouldst come into life, keep the commands.
And Jesus, having come near, spake to them, saying, All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth:
Praised the Lord God of Israel; for he reviewed and he has made a redemption for his people, And he raised up a horn of salvation to us in the house of David, his servant; read more. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, from forever: Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all hating us; To do mercy with our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant: The oath which he sware to Abraham our father, To give to us, fearlessly, delivered from the hands of our enemies, To serve him in sanctity and justice before him all the days of our life.
And a messenger was seen to him from heaven, strengthening him.
And as many as received him, he gave them authority to be the children of God, to them believing on his name:
For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son:
I must work the works of him having sent me, while it is day: night comes, when none can work. While I be in the world, I am the light of the world.
As thou gavest him the power of all flesh, that every one which thou hast given him, he should give to them eternal life.
I honoured thee upon earth: I finished the work which thou hast given me that I should do.
I manifested thy name to the men which thou hast given me from the world: they were to thee, and thou hast given them to me; and they have kept thy word.
I ask for them: I ask not for the world, but for them thou hast given me: for they are to 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, which ye now see and hear.
Therefore, as by one man sin came into the world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: and sin is not charged, being no law. read more. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, and upon them not having sinned upon the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is the type of him about to be. But not as the fall, so also the favor. For if for the fall of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace, of one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many. And not as by one having sinned, the gift: for truly the judgment of one to condemnation, but the favor of many falls to justification. For if by the fall of one, death reigned by one; much more they receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of justice in life shall reign by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the fall of one for all men to condemnation; so also by the justification of one for all men to justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were constituted sinful, so also by the obedience of one shall many be constituted just.
For him not knowing sin, he made sin for us; that we might be the justice of God in him.
And the law is not of faith: but, The man having done them shall live in them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been a curse for us: for it has been written, Cursed every one hanging upon a tree:
And when the completion of the time was come, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under the law, That he might redeem them under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Who, being in the form of God, thought not robbery to be equal to God But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men: read more. And found in fashion as man, he humbled himself, being obedient until death, and the death of the cross. Wherefore God has also exceedingly exalted him, and favored him as a gift with a name above every name: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of the heavenlies, and of terrestrial things, and things under earth And every tongue should avow that the Lord is Jesus Christ, to the glory of the Father.
In hope of eternal life, (which God, not false, promised before eternal times;
For God promising to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, sware by himself, Saying, Truly will I praise thee, and multiplying will I multiply thee. read more. And so, having endured long, he gained the promise. For truly men swear by the greater: and the oath for confirmation to them the end of all controversy. In which God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise the firmness of his counsel, he intervened by an oath: That by two unalterable deeds, in which it is impossible for God to deceive we might have a strong consolation, taking refuge in holding firmly the hope set before: Which we have as an anchor of the soul, unshaken and firm, and entering into that further within the veil.; Where the forerunner, Jesus, went in for us, according to the order of Melchisedec, being a high priest forever.
And now he has attained a more distinguished office, in how much also he is mediator of a better covenant, which was legislated upon better promises.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Wherefore coming into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering then wouldest not, but a body hast thou adjusted to me:
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 will say to him, Take to me a heifer of three, and a goat of three, and a ram of three, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
And he will say to him, Take to me a heifer of three, and a goat of three, and a ram of three, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
And Jacob will say to his brethren, Gather stones; and they will take stones and make a heap; and they will eat there upon the heap.
And Jacob will say to his brethren, Gather stones; and they will take stones and make a heap; and they will eat there upon the heap. And Laban will call it the heap of testimony, and Jacob called it the heap of witness.
And Laban will call it the heap of testimony, and Jacob called it the heap of witness.
And Moses will take the blood, and sprinkle upon the people, and will say, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah made with you concerning all these words.
And Moses will take the blood, and sprinkle upon the people, and will say, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah made with you concerning all these words.
And every offering of thy gift, thou shalt salt with salt; and thou shalt not cause the salt of the covenant of thy God to cease from thy gift: upon every offering of thine thou shalt bring near salt
And every offering of thy gift, thou shalt salt with salt; and thou shalt not cause the salt of the covenant of thy God to cease from thy gift: upon every offering of thine thou shalt bring near salt
All the offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall lift up to Jehovah, I gave to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, for a law forever: it a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah to thee, and to thy seed with thee.
All the offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall lift up to Jehovah, I gave to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, for a law forever: it a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah to thee, and to thy seed with thee.
Ask of me and I will give the nations thine inheritance, and thy possession the extremities of the earth.
Ask of me and I will give the nations thine inheritance, and thy possession the extremities of the earth.
Forever will I watch my mercy to him, and my covenant was firm to him.
Forever will I watch my mercy to him, and my covenant was firm to him.
Jehovah was pleased for sake of his justice; he will magnify the law and make glorious.
Jehovah was pleased for sake of his justice; he will magnify the law and make glorious.
Surely saying, In Jehovah to me justice and strength: even to him shall he come; and all being angry against him shall be ashamed.
Surely saying, In Jehovah to me justice and strength: even to him shall he come; and all being angry against him shall be ashamed. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
In his days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell with confidence: and this his name which he shall be called: Jehovah Our Justice.
In his days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell with confidence: and this his name which he shall be called: Jehovah Our Justice.
Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season;
Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season;
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts.
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts. The chiefs of Judah, and the chiefs of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land passing between the parts of the calf.
The chiefs of Judah, and the chiefs of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land passing between the parts of the calf.
And they as man passed by the covenant: there they acted faithlessly against me.
And they as man passed by the covenant: there they acted faithlessly against me.
And Jesus having answered said to him, Permit now; for so it is suitable for us to complete all justice: then he permitted him.
And Jesus having answered said to him, Permit now; for so it is suitable for us to complete all justice: then he permitted him.
Think not that I have come to abolish the law, or the prophets: for I have come not abolish, but to complete.
Think not that I have come to abolish the law, or the prophets: for I have come not abolish, but to complete.
For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, having been poured out for many, for the remission of sins.
For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, having been poured out for many, for the remission of sins.
For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, having been poured out for many, for the remission of sins.
For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, having been poured out for many, for the remission of sins.
For all shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
For all shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
And I set to you, as my Father set to me, a kingdom;
And I set to you, as my Father set to me, a kingdom;
Therefore from the works of the law shall no flesh be justified before him: for by the law the knowledge of sin.
Therefore from the works of the law shall no flesh be justified before him: for by the law the knowledge of sin.
For the law works wrath: for where is no law, no transgression.
For the law works wrath: for where is no law, no transgression.
Therefore, as by one man sin came into the world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned:
Therefore, as by one man sin came into the world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: and sin is not charged, being no law.
(For until the law sin was in the world: and sin is not charged, being no law.
(For until the law sin was in the world: and sin is not charged, being no law.
(For until the law sin was in the world: and sin is not charged, being no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, and upon them not having sinned upon the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is the type of him about to be.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses, and upon them not having sinned upon the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is the type of him about to be. But not as the fall, so also the favor. For if for the fall of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace, of one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many.
But not as the fall, so also the favor. For if for the fall of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace, of one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many. And not as by one having sinned, the gift: for truly the judgment of one to condemnation, but the favor of many falls to justification.
And not as by one having sinned, the gift: for truly the judgment of one to condemnation, but the favor of many falls to justification. For if by the fall of one, death reigned by one; much more they receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of justice in life shall reign by one, Jesus Christ.)
For if by the fall of one, death reigned by one; much more they receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of justice in life shall reign by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the fall of one for all men to condemnation; so also by the justification of one for all men to justification of life.
Therefore as by the fall of one for all men to condemnation; so also by the justification of one for all men to justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were constituted sinful, so also by the obedience of one shall many be constituted just.
For as by one man's disobedience many were constituted sinful, so also by the obedience of one shall many be constituted just. And the law entered, that the fall might abound. And where sin abounded, grace superabounded:
And the law entered, that the fall might abound. And where sin abounded, grace superabounded:
What then shall we say? The law sin? It may not be. But I knew not sin except by the law: for I knew not lust, if the law said not, Thou shalt not eagerly desire.
What then shall we say? The law sin? It may not be. But I knew not sin except by the law: for I knew not lust, if the law said not, Thou shalt not eagerly desire. And sin, having taken occasion by the command, wrought in me every lust. For without law sin dead.
And sin, having taken occasion by the command, wrought in me every lust. For without law sin dead. And I was living without law once: and the command having come, sin came back to life, and I died.
And I was living without law once: and the command having come, sin came back to life, and I died.
For Christ the end of the law for justice to every one believing.
For Christ the end of the law for justice to every one believing. For Moses writes the justice of the law, That the man having done these things shall live in them.
For Moses writes the justice of the law, That the man having done these things shall live in them.
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition.
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition.
What then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, (till the seed come to whom it was promised;) appointed by angels in the hand of a mediator.
What then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, (till the seed come to whom it was promised;) appointed by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and this not of you: the gift of God:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and this not of you: the gift of God:
At these last days spake to us in the Son, whom he set heir of all things, by whom also he made the times;
At these last days spake to us in the Son, whom he set heir of all things, by whom also he made the times;
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this he is mediator of a new covenant, that death having been, for redemption of the transgressions for the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward.
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward.
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward.
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward.
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward.
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward. For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives. Wherefore neither was the first consecrated without blood.
Wherefore neither was the first consecrated without blood. For every command spoken according to law by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of calves and he-goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and also the book, and he sprinkled all the people,
For every command spoken according to law by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of calves and he-goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and also the book, and he sprinkled all the people, Saying, This the blood of the covenant which God enjoined to you.
Saying, This the blood of the covenant which God enjoined to 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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah God will appoint to the man, saying, From every tree of the garden eating, thou shalt eat. But from the tree to know good and evil thou shalt not eat from it, for in the day of thy eating from it, dying, thou shalt die.
But from the tree to know good and evil thou shalt not eat from it, for in the day of thy eating from it, dying, thou shalt die.
And I set up my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come in to the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
And God will speak to Noah and to his sons, saying, And I, behold I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you. read more. And with every breathing thing which is with you, of birds, of cattle, and of every living thing of the earth with you, from all going out of the ark, to every living thing of the earth. And I established my covenant with you; and all flesh shall not be dissipated any more by the waters of a flood and there shall not be any more a flood to destroy the earth. And God will say, This is a sign of the covenant which I give between me and between you, and between every breathing thing living which is with you for future generations.
And God will say, This is a sign of the covenant which I give between me and between you, and between every breathing thing living which is with you for future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and between the earth. read more. And it shall be in my giving a cloud upon the earth, and the bow was seen in the cloud. And I remembered my covenant which is between me and between you, and between every breathing thing living of all flesh; and the waters shall not any more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow shall be in the cloud; and seeing it to remember the lasting covenant between God and between every breathing thing living of all flesh which is upon the earth. And God will say to Noah, This the sign of the covenant which I established between me and between all flesh which is upon the earth.
And he will take to him all these, and he will divide them, asunder in the midst, and will put each of its parts divided, opposite its companion: and the birds he divided not
And the sun shall be going down, and it was thick darkness, and behold a furnace of smoke and a lamp of fire that passed over between these pieces. In that day Jehovah cut out a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed gave I this land from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates:
And I will give my covenant between me and between thee, and I will multiply thee with might exceedingly. And Abram will fall upon his face, and God will speak to him, saying, read more. I, behold my covenant with thee, thou being father of a multitude of nations. And thy name shall no more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham, for the father of a multitude of nations have I given thee. And I made thee fruitful with might exceedingly, and I gave thee for nations, and kings shall come forth from thee. And I set up my covenant between me and between thee, and between thy seed after thee to their generations for a covenant of eternity; to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.
And I set up my covenant between me and between thee, and between thy seed after thee to their generations for a covenant of eternity; to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee. And I gave to thee and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings with all the land of Canaan for an eternal possession; and I was God to them. read more. And God will say to Abraham, Thou shalt watch my covenant., thou, and thy seed after thee to their generations. This my covenant which ye shall watch between me and beween you, and between thy seed after thee; every male among you to be circumcised. And ye circumcised the flesh of your uncircumcision; and it was for a sign of the covenant between me and between you. And the son of eight days shall be circumcised, every male of your generations being born in the house, and he bought with silver, from every son of the stranger which is not of thy seed. He shall be circumcised with circumcising, he being born in thy house, and bought with thy silver: and my covenant was in your flesh for an eternal covenant And the uncircumcised male which shall not be circumcised in the flesh of his uncircumcision, and that soul shall be cut off from its people: he broke my covenant And God will say to Abraham, Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, for Sarah her name. And I blessed her, and I gave thee also a son of her: and I blessed her and she was for nations, and kings of people shall be from her. And Abraham will fall upon his face and laugh, and will say in his heart, Shall there be born to the son of a hundred years? and shall Sarah the daughter of ninety years, bring forth? And Abraham will say to God, O for Ishmael to live before thee And God will say. Truly, Sarah thy wife, shall bring forth to thee a son, and shall call his name Isaak: and I set up my covenant with him for a lasting covenant, and to his seed after him. And for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I blessed him and made him fruitful, and I multiplied him with might exceedingly: twelve chiefs shall he beget, and I will give him into a great nation. And my covenant will I set up with Isaak whom Sarah shall bring forth to thee at this appointed time in another year.
And Abraham will take sheep and oxen, and give to Abimelech; and they two made a covenant
And he will make to them a drinking, and they will eat and drink. And they will rise early in the morning, and they will swear, a man to his brother, and Isaak will send them away and they will go from him in peace.
Now come thou we will make a covenant, I and thou; and it was for witness between me and between thee. And Jacob will take a stone and raise up a pillar. read more. And Jacob will say to his brethren, Gather stones; and they will take stones and make a heap; and they will eat there upon the heap. And Laban will call it the heap of testimony, and Jacob called it the heap of witness. And Laban will say, This heap a witness between me and between thee this day, for this its name was called Gilead: And watchtower: for he said Jehovah will watch between me and between thee when we shall be concealed a man from his Mend.
And watchtower: for he said Jehovah will watch between me and between thee when we shall be concealed a man from his Mend.
And Jacob will sacrifice a sacrifice upon the mount, and will call to his brethren to eat bread, and they will eat bread, and they will pass the night in the mount
And God will hear their groaning, and God will remember his covenant with Abraham, with Isaak and with Jacob.
And now if hearing, ye shall hear to my voice, and watch my covenant, and ye were to me wealth above all peoples, for to me is all the earth.
And Jehovah will say to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, Ye saw that from the heavens I spake with you. Ye shall not make to me gods of silver, and gods of gold ye shall not make to yourselves.
And he will take the book of the covenant and read in the ears of the people: and they will say, All which Jehovah spake we will do, and we will heed.
And he will take the book of the covenant and read in the ears of the people: and they will say, All which Jehovah spake we will do, and we will heed. And Moses will take the blood, and sprinkle upon the people, and will say, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah made with you concerning all these words.
And he will say, Behold, I make a covenant before all thy people: and I will do wonders which were not created in all the earth, and in all nations; and all the people where thou art among them saw the work of Jehovah: for it is a fearful thing which I do with thee. Watch to thyself what I command thee this day: behold me driving out from before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. read more. Watch to thyself lest thou shalt make a covenant with those dwelling in the land which thou goest upon it, lest it shall be for a snare in the midst of thee. For their altars thou shalt lay waste, and their pillars thou shalt break, and their images thou shalt cut of For thou shalt not worship another God: for Jehovah, his name is Jealous; he is a jealous God. Lest thou shalt make a covenant to those dwelling in the land and they committed fornication after their gods, and sacrificed to their gods, and call to thee, and thou didst eat from his sacrifice; And thou didst take from his daughters to thy sons, and they committed fornication after their gods, and they made thy sons commit fornication after their gods. Thou shalt make to thee no molten gods. The festival of unleavened thou. shalt watch. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened, which I commanded thee, for the appointment of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou earnest forth out of Egypt. All opening the womb is to me: all thy cattle, the male, the firstling of the ox or sheep. And the first-born of the ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep: and if thou shalt not ransom, thou shalt break his neck. Every first-born of thy sons thou. shalt ransom, and he shall not be seen before me empty. Six days thou shalt work, and in the seventh day thou shalt cease: and in ploughing and in harvest thou shalt cease. And the festival of seven thou shalt make to thee, the first fruits of the harvest of wheat, and the festival of collection of the circuit of the year. Three times in the year all thy males shall be seen before the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel. For I will dispossess the nations from before thee; and I enlarged thy bound: and a man shall not desire thy land in thy coming up to see the face of Jehovah thy God, three times in the year. Thou shalt not slaughter upon leaven, the blood of my sacrifice; and the sacrifice of the festival of the pass-over shall not be left to morning. The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring to the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother's milk. And Jehovah will say to Moses, Write to thyself these words; for upon the mouth of these words, I made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he will be there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he ate not bread and drank not water. And he will write upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words.
And every offering of thy gift, thou shalt salt with salt; and thou shalt not cause the salt of the covenant of thy God to cease from thy gift: upon every offering of thine thou shalt bring near salt
And I remembered my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaak, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
And yet also this in their being in the land of their enemies, I did not reject them, and I did not abhor them, to cut them off, and to break my covenant with them: for I Jehovah their God.
All the offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall lift up to Jehovah, I gave to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, for a law forever: it a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah to thee, and to thy seed with thee.
Jehovah cut not out this covenant with our fathers, but with us, we, these here this day, all we living.
In my going up to the mount to take the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, and I shall dwell in the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate not bread and I drank not water:
And it shall be from the end of forty days and forty nights, Jehovah gave to me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant.
to And I shall turn and come down from the mount, and the mount burnt with fire: and the two tables of the covenant upon my two hands.
And I will write upon the tables the words which were upon the first tables which thou brakest, and put them in the ark.
And I shall turn and come down from the mount, and shall put the tables in the ark which I made; and they shall be there as Jehovah commanded me.
Cursed the man, who shall make a graven and molten thing, an abomination of Jehovah, the work of the hand of the artificer, and put it in hiding: and all the people answered and said, Amen.
These the words of the covenant which Jehovah commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
And watch ye the words of this covenant, and do them, so that ye shall be circumspect in all things which ye shall do.
And they will come to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and will say to him and to the men of Israel, From a land far off we came: and now cut out to us a covenant.
And Joshua will cut out a covenant to the people in that day and will set to him a law and a judgment in Shechem.
And Joshua will say to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be to us for a testimony, for it heard all the sayings of Jehovah which he spake with us: and it was to you for a testimony lest ye shall lie to your God.
And Jonathan and David will cut out a covenant in his loving him as his soul
And all the old men of Israel will come to the king to Hebron; and king David will cut out for them a covenant in Hebron before Jehovah, and they will anoint David for king over Israel
And Jehoida will cut out the covenant between Jehovah and between the king, and between the people, to be for a: people to Jehovah; and between the king and between the people.
And the king will stand by the pillar, and he will cut out a covenant before Jehovah to go after Jehovah, and to watch his commands and his testimonies and his laws, with all the heart and with all the soul, and to raise up the words of this covenant written upon this book. And all the people will stand in the covenant
Now with my heart to cut out a covenant to Jehovah the God of Israel, and he will turn back from us the burning of his anger.
And now we will cut out a covenant to our God to bring forth all the wives, and those being born of them upon the counsel of my lord, and of those trembling at the command of our God; and according to the law it shall be done.
And they will give their hand to bring forth their wives; and being guilty, a ram of the flock for their guilt.
For with the stones of the field they covenant, and the beast of the field was at peace with thee.
I cut out a covenant for mine eyes; and why shall I show myself attentive to a virgin?
Will he cut out a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant forever?
The secret of Jehovah to them fearing him; and his covenant he will cause them to know.
Look to thy covenant: for the dark places of the earth were filled with habitations of violence.
For they counseled together with the heart: they will cut out a covenant against thee:
I cut out a covenant to my chosen, I sware to David my servant,
To those watching his covenant, and to those remembering his charges to do them.
Which he cut out with Abraham, and his oath to Isaak.
Forsaking the friend of her youth, and forgetting the covenant of her God.
My son, if thou becamest surety for thy friend, thou didst strike thy hands for a stranger;
A man wanting heart will strike the hand, pledging a pledge before his friend.
Thou shalt not be with those striking the hand with those pledging for debts.
Because ye said, We cut out a covenant with death, and with hades we did this; when this overflowing scourge passed through it shall not come to us, for we set falsehood our refuge, and in ahewe hid ourselves.,
And your covenant with death was obliterated, and your league with hades shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through and ye. were for a treading down to it
I Jehovah called thee in justice, and I will hold by thy hand, and I will guard thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for the light of the nations,
Thus said Jehovah, In a time of acceptance I answered thee, and in the day of salvation I helped thee: and I will guard thee, and I will give thee for a covenant of the people to cause the earth to stand, to cause to inherit the inheritance of desolations,
For this the water of Noah to me: as I sware to the water of Noah from again passing over the earth; thus I sware from being angry against thee and from rebuking upon thee.
Incline your ear, and come to me, and hear, and your soul shall live; and I will cut out with you an eternal covenant, the sure mercies of David.
And I, this my covenant with them, said Jehovah: my spirit which is upon thee, and my word which I put in thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth, and from the mouth of thy seed, from the mouth of thy seed's seed, said Jehovah, from now and even forever.
For I Jehovah love judgment, hating robbery for burnt-offering; and I gave their works in truth, and I will cut out to them an eternal covenant
Behold the days coming, says Jehovah, and I cut out the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant
Behold the days coming, says Jehovah, and I cut out the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant
For this the covenant that I will cut out with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah; I gave my law in the midst of them, and upon their heart will I write it; and I was to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people.
And I cut out to them an eternal covenant that I will not turn back from after them, to do them good; and I will give my fear in their heart not to turn away from me.
In those days and in that time I will cause the sprout of justice to spring up to David; and he did judgment and justice in the land.
Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season; Also my covenant shall be broken with David ray servant from there being to him a son reigning upon his throne; and with the Levites, the priests, from serving me.
Thus said Jehovah, If not my covenant of the day and of the night, the laws of the heavens and the earth I set not up.
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts.
To Zion shall they ask the way, thither their faces: Come ye, and we will join ourselves to Jehovah an eternal covenant; it shall not be forgotten.
And I remembered my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I set up to thee an eternal covenant
And he despised the oath to break the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand, and doing all these he shall not escape.
As I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I contend with you, says the Lord Jehovah. And I caused you to pass under the rod I brought you into the bond of the covenant
And I cut out to them a covenant of peace, and I caused the evil beast to cease from the land: and they dwelt with confidence in the desert, and they slept in the forests.
And I took you from the nations and I gathered you from all the lands, and I brought you into your land.
And speak to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they went there, and I gathered them from round about, and I brought them to their land: And I made them for one nation in the land in the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be to them all for king: and they shall no more be for two nations, and they shall no more be divided into two kingdoms at all. read more. And they shall no more be defiled with their blocks and with their abominable things, and in all their transgressions: and I saved them from all their dwellings where they sinned in them, and I cleansed them: and they were to me for a people, and I will be to them for God. And my servant David a king over them; and one shepherd shall be to all of them: and in my judgments they shall go and they shall watch my laws and do them. And they shall dwell upon the land which I gave to my servant to Jacob which your fathers dwelt upon it, and they shall dwell upon it, they and their sons and their sons' sons, even to forever: and David my servant a prince to them forever. And I cut out to them a covenant of peace; it shall be an eternal covenant with them: and I gave them, and I multiplied them, and I gave my holy place in the midst of them forever. And my dwelling was with them, and I was to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah consecrating Israel in my holy place, being in the midst of them forever.
And he made strong the covenant to many one week: and half the week he shall cause the sacrifice and gift to cease, and upon the wing of abominations laying waste, even to the completion, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolation.
And with the arms of an overflowing they shall overflow from his face, and they shall be broken; and also the leader of the covenant.
And he shall turn back to his land with great property; and his heart against the holy covenant; and he did, and turned back to his land.
And the inhabitants of the desert, the Chittims came against him: and he was dejected, and he turned back, and was angry against the holy covenant: and he did, and turned back; and he shall understand for those forsaking the holy covenant
Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn it back, for their delivering over the whole captivity to Edom, and they remembered not the covenant of their brethren:
Also thou by the blood of thy covenant I sent forth thy bound ones from the pit no water in it
And ye said, For what? For that Jehovah testified between thee and between the wife of thy youth, which thou didst deal faithlessly against her, and she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant
Behold me sending my messenger, and he looked upon the way before my face: and suddenly Jehovah whom ye seek shall come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold him coming, said Jehovah of armies.
Behold me sending my messenger, and he looked upon the way before my face: and suddenly Jehovah whom ye seek shall come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold him coming, said Jehovah of armies.
For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, having been poured out for many, for the remission of sins.
And he said to them, This is my blood, that of the new covenant, being poured out for many.
And, behold, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day in which these things shall be, because thou didst not believe my words, which shall be completed in their time.
Likewise also the cup after supping, saying, This the cup, the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you:
Ye are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God set with our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in thy seed shall all families of earth be praised.
And the chief priest said, Hold these things thus?
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob; and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
Who are Israelites; whose the adoption as a son, and the glory, and covenants, and legislation, and divine worship, and solemn promises;
And so all Israel shall be saved: as has been written, The Deliverer shall come out of Sion, and turn away profanation from Jacob.
Who rendered as fitting servants of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, and the Spirit makes alive.
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition.
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition.
Which things are spoken figuratively: for these are the two covenants; one truly from mount Sinai, begetting to bondage, which is Agar.
That ye were in that time without Christy alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners from the covenants of solemn promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Who having saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before eternal times,
In which God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise the firmness of his counsel, he intervened by an oath:
And now he has attained a more distinguished office, in how much also he is mediator of a better covenant, which was legislated upon better promises.
And now he has attained a more distinguished office, in how much also he is mediator of a better covenant, which was legislated upon better promises. For if that first was faultless, then place was not to be sought for the second. read more. For rebuking them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will complete for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah a new covenant: Not according to the covenant which I made to their fathers in the day of my taking their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they remained not in my covenant, and I heeded them not, says the Lord. For this the covenant which I will set to the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; giving my laws into their mind, and upon their hearts will I write them: and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people: And they should not teach each his neighbor, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from their little even to their great ones. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their injustices will I remember no more. In saying new, he has made the first old. And that made old and becoming weak is near destruction.
Having the golden censer, and ark of the covenant surrounded on all sides with gold, in which was the golden urn having the manna, and Aaron's rod having budded, and the tables of the covenant;
For where a will, the necessity for the death of him having willed to be brought forward. For a will is firm by the dead: since it has no power when he having willed lives.
Saying, This the blood of the covenant which God enjoined to you.
Of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be deemed worthy. having trodden down the Son of God, and deemed the blood of the covenant common, in which he was consecrated, and having outraged the Spirit of grace?
And the God of peace, having brought up from the dead, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ,
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 will speak to Noah and to his sons, saying, And I, behold I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you. read more. And with every breathing thing which is with you, of birds, of cattle, and of every living thing of the earth with you, from all going out of the ark, to every living thing of the earth. And I established my covenant with you; and all flesh shall not be dissipated any more by the waters of a flood and there shall not be any more a flood to destroy the earth. And God will say, This is a sign of the covenant which I give between me and between you, and between every breathing thing living which is with you for future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and between the earth. And it shall be in my giving a cloud upon the earth, and the bow was seen in the cloud. And I remembered my covenant which is between me and between you, and between every breathing thing living of all flesh; and the waters shall not any more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow shall be in the cloud; and seeing it to remember the lasting covenant between God and between every breathing thing living of all flesh which is upon the earth. And God will say to Noah, This the sign of the covenant which I established between me and between all flesh which is upon the earth.
And behold, the word of Jehovah was to him, saying, This shall not inherit thee, for truly he who shall come forth from thy bowels shall inherit thee. And he will bring him forth without, and will say, Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if thou shalt be able to count them: and he will say to him, So shall be thy seed. read more. And he believed in Jehovah; and it shall be reckoned to him justice.
This my covenant which ye shall watch between me and beween you, and between thy seed after thee; every male among you to be circumcised. And ye circumcised the flesh of your uncircumcision; and it was for a sign of the covenant between me and between you. read more. And the son of eight days shall be circumcised, every male of your generations being born in the house, and he bought with silver, from every son of the stranger which is not of thy seed. He shall be circumcised with circumcising, he being born in thy house, and bought with thy silver: and my covenant was in your flesh for an eternal covenant And the uncircumcised male which shall not be circumcised in the flesh of his uncircumcision, and that soul shall be cut off from its people: he broke my covenant
And the messenger of Jehovah will call to Abraham the second time out of the heavens. And he will say, By myself did I swear, says Jehovah, for because that thou didst this word, and didst not spare thy son, thine only. read more. That praising, I will praise thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand upon the lip of the sea; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be praised; because that thou didst listen to my voice.
And Abraham will listen to Ephron, and Abraham will weigh to Ephron the silver, which he spake in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, passing for traffic.
And Jacob will say to his brethren, Gather stones; and they will take stones and make a heap; and they will eat there upon the heap.
And Moses and the old men of Israel will command the people, saying, Watch every command which I command you this day.
And it being if hearing thou shalt hear to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to watch and to do all his commands that I command thee this day, and Jehovah thy God gave thee high above all the nations of the earth.
And the men will take of their food, and they asked not the mouth of Jehovah. And Joshua will make peace to them, and will cut out to them a covenant to preserve them alive: and the chiefs of the assembly sware to them.
Is it not to you to know that Jehovah God of Israel gave the kingdom to David over Israel forever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob; and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith which in uncircumcision: for him to be father of all believing through uncircumcision; for justice also to be reckoned to them:
Brethren, I speak according to man; Although a man's covenant, having been confirmed, none annuls, or orders an addition. And to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as to many; but as to one: And to thy seed, who is Christ. read more. And I say this, the covenant confirmed before by God in Christ, the law, having been after four hundred and thirty years, does not annul, to neglect the promise.
And if ye of Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the 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 will say, For the seven ewe lambs thou shalt take from my hand, in order to be to me for a testimony that I dug this well. For this he called that place, The well of the oath, for there they two aware.
Now come thou we will make a covenant, I and thou; and it was for witness between me and between thee.
If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives to my daughters, no man is with us, seeing God a witness between me and between thee.
A witness this heap, and a witness the pillar, if I will not pass over this heap to thee, and thou shalt not pass over to me, this heap and this pillar for evil.
And they will come to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and will say to him and to the men of Israel, From a land far off we came: and now cut out to us a covenant.
And Joshua will make peace to them, and will cut out to them a covenant to preserve them alive: and the chiefs of the assembly sware to them.
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts. The chiefs of Judah, and the chiefs of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land passing 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 will say to him, Take to me a heifer of three, and a goat of three, and a ram of three, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he will take to him all these, and he will divide them, asunder in the midst, and will put each of its parts divided, opposite its companion: and the birds he divided not
And the sun shall be going down, and it was thick darkness, and behold a furnace of smoke and a lamp of fire that passed over between these pieces. In that day Jehovah cut out a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed gave I this land from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates:
And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol, leader of his army. And Isaak will say to them, Wherefore came ye to me, and ye hated me, and will send me away from you? read more. And they will say, Seeing we saw that Jehovah was with thee: and we will say, There shall be an oath between us, between us and between thee, and we will make a covenant with thee. Wilt thou do evil to us as that we touched thee not, as that we did to thee only good, and we sent thee away in peace, thou now art praised of Jehovah. And he will make to them a drinking, and they will eat and drink. And they will rise early in the morning, and they will swear, a man to his brother, and Isaak will send them away and they will go from him in peace.
Now come thou we will make a covenant, I and thou; and it was for witness between me and between thee. And Jacob will take a stone and raise up a pillar. read more. And Jacob will say to his brethren, Gather stones; and they will take stones and make a heap; and they will eat there upon the heap.
And Jacob will sacrifice a sacrifice upon the mount, and will call to his brethren to eat bread, and they will eat bread, and they will pass the night in the mount
And bring there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, and your tenths, and the offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your voluntary gifts and the first-born. of your cattle and your sheep: . And eat there before Jehovah your God, and rejoice in all the stretching forth of your hand, ye and your houses in which Jehovah thy God blessed thee.
And I gave the men passing by my covenant who raised not up the words of the covenant which they cut out before me, the calf which they cut in two, and they will pass through between its parts.
To do mercy with our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant: The oath which he sware to Abraham our father,
What then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, (till the seed come to whom it was promised;) appointed by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For this the covenant which I will set to the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; giving my laws into their mind, and upon their hearts will I write them: and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people: