Latin - “Con” = ‘together’ plus “venire” = ‘to come’ à
“to come together”
A Covenant is an agreement, an arrangement between two parties, by which they are bound to certain responsibilities - with agreed penalties for defaulting - and are given access to certain privileges 1.
No single English word is an adequate equivalent. ‘Agreement’ and ‘Special arrangement’ point in the right direction but fall rather short of its full meaning. ‘Contract’, ‘bond’ and ‘guarantee’ also touch some aspects of covenant but again fail to express the whole 1.
The lexicon definition 3 illustrates this breadth of meaning.
Other definitions: -
A bond in blood sovereignly administered 4.
A gracious relationship of love between God and humanity, a relationship in which God takes the initiative 5
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 6
The idea of covenant is more than just a contract - that is true but falls short of the full truth of the Gospel. Covenant involves giving life and exchanging persons 11.
It is true to say that all of God’s dealings with his people, in every generation, have been on the basis of covenant 2.
Origins of the word: -
Hebrew word ‘Berit’
Possible origins -
Derived from ‘barah’ - ‘to eat’ (ß
explains why covenants are often associated with a meal) 7
Derived from Akkadian (Middle Assyrian) ‘biritu’ - ‘to clasp, fetter, bind’ (ß
the uniting aspect) 8
Derived from Hebrew ‘tyrb’ - in the sense of cutting (ß
points to sacrifice, circumcision, separation from the world, etc) 3
Application 10
“Karat berit le” = ‘to make a covenant to’ and indicates that a superior is condescending to make a covenant with an inferior. This is used to describe God’s covenant with man.
“Karat berit im” = ‘ to make a covenant with’ - a covenant between equals.
The ‘karat’ bit refers to cutting (though I haven’t found a link to ‘tyrb’ above) so literally - “to cut a covenant“.
Hence sacrifice inaugurates the covenant. The parties would cut animals in two and then walk between the pieces. This was as if to say “If I fail to fulfill my part of the covenant may I be killed and cut in two like these”. Compare Jer 34 v 18 with Gen 15 below. In the case of Abraham, only God passed between the pieces because God takes on himself the obligations of both parties. In most cases the slaughtered animals would be eaten as a meal celebrating the new covenant. Thus we have a wedding reception to celebrate a marriage, and we have Passover and communion ‘meals’ to recall God’s covenant with us.
Jeremiah 34
18 The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces
Gen 15
He also said to him, "I am the LORD , who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD , how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" 9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." 17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land,
Q2a Why is the Covenant so important?
The idea of Covenant is key to our understanding of God. It tells us:
He is the suzerain, we are the vassals
He is not a wild god given to random acts, but his requirements can be understood and followed.
Covenant relationships are found at every stage of the Bible -
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Deuteronomy, David, New Testament
And these Covenants build on those that have gone before, increasing the intensity and extent of the blessings from them. The Bible is the unfolding story of God’s Covenant with mankind.
Q2b Do other key ideas flow from it?
Dispensationalism - the doctrine that God has dealt with people under different ‘house rules’ in different ages. This is countered by those that say that whatever the details of the prevailing covenant, faith has always been the key. I agree with both views, and think they are just different ways of looking at it.
The relationship between Israel and the Church. We know that believing gentiles are grafted into the vine of Israel, and that unfruitful branches (unbelieving Jews) are cut off from it. But does the church replace Israel? Do the eschatological promises concerning Israel refer to the spiritual sons of Abraham ie the church, or do they still apply exclusively to the political nation/ethnic group of modern Israel? Are these two ideas mutually exclusive? Can the promises relate spiritually and allegorically to the church and also practically to the nation?
Mixed up in the above question is the following one - does the modern nation of Israel have a God-given right to the land of Palestine, or have those rights been forfeited by Judah’s covenant unfaithfulness in former millennia and by the modern nation’s covenant failure to care for the ‘alien’ Palestinians within her?
Are the 144,000 in Revelation literal Jews? How do the above questions influence and or stem from the various eschatological interpretations?
Salt as a binding sign of covenant both in the Bible and in other eastern cultures. To eat salt with someone bound you in covenant with them. It is thought that the words salt and blood (sal and sangre in Spanish) have a common root, so salt in the context of covenant is a symbol of blood, the blood of the covenant. Some heretical sects have even used salt in the place of wine at Eucharist.12
Q3c How did the Covenant affect daily life in Isarel
See Appendix 2 “Major Social Concerns of the Covenant“ 9.
Refer also to the recent TV documentary about modern Jews living according to a strict interpretation of the Pentateuch. Unfortunately I didn’t see this but my boss did and described how every detail of their lives, including things we would determine to be private and intimate, were governed by reference to the Torah and its interpretation by the local Rabbi.
The other major aspect is discipline. To be in the covenant is a high privilege, with responsibilities to match. The individual that breaks covenant injures the whole community. Consider Exodus 32v26 - the Levites that rallied around Moses were ordered to go through the camp killing their fellow Israelites who had sinned. And when Achan steals some devoted things and hides hem in his tent, the first consequence is that Israel are humiliatingly defeated in their next battle, the second consequence is that Achan is identified and stoned to death, along with his family and flocks (Joshua 6 and 7). After the Exile, when some men intermarry with pagans, Ezra intervenes to insist that they be ‘put away‘ before God‘s judgement falls. In the New Covenant Paul says “Expel the immoral brother from among you” (not “make him a Bishop”). We are very quick to claim Covenant promises, but very reluctant to fulfil Covenant responsibilities.
Q3 Give 1 or 2 examples from different periods of OT history, of the Covenant‘s role in Israel‘s existence.
Joshua - the invasion and conquest of the promised land.
2 Chron 13 - Abijah quotes the Davidic covenant as justification for his war against Jeroboam, and God gives him the victory.
The exile - brought about by neglect of Israel’s covenant duties incurring the covenant curses of Deuteronomy.
Q4 What place has the Covenant in the rise of the monarchy in Israel - why was Saul rejected, David affirmed and Solomon judged?
When Jacob {Israel} blessed his sons and their descendants, he said “The sceptre will not depart from Judah.” Whilst not strictly in the normally designated Covenants, these blessings formed the basis for God’s allocation of the land by lot. And similarly, God brought about his intention to have Judah as the royal household. But first he had to teach Israel what to look for in a king - not the one who was strong in their eyes, but the one selected by God.
In civil terms, Saul was quiet a good monarch for the times. But he had serious character flaws
Lacking confidence, he hid amongst the baggage on his coronation day (1 Sam 10v22)
He disobeyed God and made excuses. (1 Sam 13)
He disobeyed God, and when denounced by the prophet, made lying excuses, even after the previous experience. Compare this to David’s repentance when his sin was exposed. Saul’s apparent repentance was distress at the punishment and loss of face, rather than genuine repentance. (1 Sam 15, 2 Sam 13)
After this his personality changed and he became prone to violent mood swings. These became part of the path by which God brought David into the court.
Not so much a character flaw - he was a Benjaminite, not part of the tribe of Judah
David was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Sam 13v14). This does not mean he was sinless, or that he was shining example of righteousness. In fact the story often suggests otherwise. But in the midst of is weakness there was a reliance on God, and a willingness to repent when the sin was exposed. God similarly knows our weaknesses. He is not looking for us to defend our actions or make excuses, but simply to rely on him for everything. In this way, his covenant is established with us to, in repentance and faith.
Solomon started off as a man of God, building the temple etc. But he broke covenant by marrying foreign women and accepting, even adopting, their pagan worship. As well as building God’s temple, he built pagan high places. I Kings 11 v 9 - God became angry with him because he turned away from the Lord, who had appeared to him twice. And so God tears the kingdom from his hand. But because of his covenant with David, he does not do it in the lifetime of Solomon, and he leaves a remnant of the house of David on the throne of Judah.
References1 MTP - Modular Training Programme -”Covenant”, Covenant College 1991, PO Box 90, Coventry CV7 9QT (Editor David Matthew BA)
2 MTP referring to TE McComiskey, The Covenants of Promise, Baker, 1985, p176
3 Studylight Lexicon Definition - (Apologies - internet URL lost)
4 MTP referring to O Palmer Robertson, Covenants: God’s way with his People, Great Commission Publications, 1987, p11
5 MTP referring to Adrio Konig, The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology: Toward a Christ Centred Approach, Marshall Morgan &Scott, 1989, p55
6 American Tract Society - (Apologies - internet URL lost)
7 MTP referring to un-named source
8 Ditto
9 Plagiarised shamelessly from David Gait, Major Social Concerns of the Covenant, Diocesan Reader Training Website
10 MTP referring to Jerusalem Weinfeld, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Eerdmans, 1983, vol 2, p 259
11 Scott and Kimberley Hahn, Rome Sweet Home - Our Journey to Catholicism, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1993, quoting John Keppley, Birth Control and the Marriage Covenant which has since been revised and re-titled “Sex and the Marriage Covenant"
12 Albert F Calvert FCS etc, Salt in Cheshire, E&FN Spon Limited, London, 1915. (This non-theological book is a history of the salt industry in Cheshire, but the introduction covers salt in a broader context with a surprising amount about salt as a sign of covenant in Middle Eastern societies)
Appendix 1
Lexicon Definition - (Apologies - “Studylight” internet URL lost
Original Word Word Origin
tyrb from (01262) (in the sense of cutting [like (1254)])
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
B@riyth ber-eeth'
Parts of Speech TWOT
Noun Feminine 282a
Definition
1. covenant, alliance, pledge
a. between men
1. treaty, alliance, league (man to man)
2. constitution, ordinance (monarch to subjects)
3. agreement, pledge (man to man)
4. alliance (of friendship)
5. alliance (of marriage)
b. between God and man
1. alliance (of friendship)
2. covenant (divine ordinance with signs or pledges)
2. (phrases)
a. covenant making
b. covenant keeping
c. covenant violation
Translated Words
KJV (284) - confederacy, 1; confederate, 1; confederate + (01167), 1; covenant, 264; league, 17;
NAS (285) - El-berith, 1; allied, 1; allies, 1; covenant, 275; covenants, 1; league, 2; treaty, 4;
Verse Count
KJV NAS
Genesis 24 Genesis 24
Exodus 13 Exodus 13
Leviticus 8 Leviticus 8
Numbers 5 Numbers 5
Deuteronomy 26 Deuteronomy 26
Joshua 21 Joshua 21
Judges 4 Judges 5
1 Samuel 7 1 Samuel 7
2 Samuel 6 2 Samuel 6
1 Kings 12 1 Kings 12
2 Kings 10 2 Kings 10
1 Chronicles 13 1 Chronicles 13
2 Chronicles 15 2 Chronicles 15
Ezra 1 Ezra 1
Nehemiah 4 Nehemiah 4
Job 3 Job 3
Psalms 21 Psalms 21
Proverbs 1 Proverbs 1
Isaiah 12 Isaiah 12
Jeremiah 21 Jeremiah 21
Ezekiel 16 Ezekiel 16
Daniel 6 Daniel 6
Hosea 5 Hosea 5
Amos 1 Amos 1
Obadiah 1 Obadiah 1
Zechariah 2 Zechariah 2
Malachi 6 Malachi 6
Appendix 2
1.Personhood
Everyone's person is to be secure
(Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17; Ex 21:16-21; Lev 19:14; Dt 24:7; 27:18)
2. False Accusation
Everyone is to be secure against slander and false accusation
(Ex 20:16; Dt 5:20; Ex 23:1-3; Lev 19:16; Dt 19:15-21)
3. Women
No woman is to be taken advantage of within her subordinate status in society
(Ex 21:7-11, 20, 26-32; 22:16-17; Dt 21:10-14; 22:13-3-; 24:1-5)
4. Punishment
Punishment for wrongdoing shall not be so excessive that the culprit is dehumanised
(Dt 25:1-5)
5. Dignity
Every Israelite's dignity and right to be God's freedman and servant are to be honoured and safeguarded
(Ex 21:2, 5-6; Lev 25; Dt 15:12-18)
6. Inheritance
Every Israelite's inheritance in the promised land is to be secure
(Lev 25; Nu 27:5-7; 36:1-9)
7. Property
Everyone's property is to be secure
(Ex 20:15; Dt 5:19; Ex 21:33-36; 22:1-15; 23:4-5; Lev 19:35-36; Dt 22:1-4; 25:13-15)
8. Fruit of Labour
Everyone is to receive the fruit of his labours
(Lev 19:13; Dt 24:14; 25:4)
9. Fruit of the Ground
Everyone is to share the fruit of the ground
(Ex 23:10-11; Lev 19:9-10; 23:22; 25:3-55; Dt 14:28-29; 24:19-21)
10. Rest on the Sabbath
Everyone, down to the humblest servant and the resident alien, is to share in the weekly rest of God's Sabbath
(Ex 20:8-11; Dt 5:12-15; Ex 23:12)
11. Marriage
The marriage relationship is to be kept inviolate
(Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18; see also Lev 18:6-23; 20:10-21; Dt 22:13-30)
12. Exploitation
No one, however disabled, impoverished or powerless, is to be oppressed or exploited
(Ex 22:21-27; Lev 19:14, 33-34; 25:35-36; Dt 23:19; 24:6, 12-15, 17; 27:18)
13. Fair Trial
Everyone is to have free access to the courts and is to be afforded a fair trial
(Ex 23:6, 8; Lev 19:15; Dt 1:17; 10:17-18; 16:18-20; 17:8-13; 19:15-21)
14. Social Order
Every person's God-given place in the social order is to be honoured
(Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16; Ex 21:15, 17; 22:28; Lev 19:3, 32; 20:9; Dt 17:8-13; 21:15-21; 27:16)
15. Law
No one shall be above the law, not even the king
(Dt 17:18-20)
16. Animals
Concern for the welfare of other creatures is to be extended to the animal world
(Ex 23:5, 11; Lev 25:7; Dt 22:4, 6-7; 25:4)
Appendix 3
Extract from Rome Sweet Home 11
P 27, discussing the author’s introduction to Catholic views on contraception
“Marriage is not a contract involving merely an exchange of goods and services. Rather, marriage is a covenant, involving an exchange of persons.
Kippley’s argument was that every covenant is enacted and renewed; and that the marital act is a covenant act. When the marriage covenant is renewed, God uses it to give new life. To renew the marital covenant and use birth control to destroy the potential for new life is tantamount to receiving the Eucharist and spitting it on the ground.
Kippley showed that the marital act demonstrates the powerful life-giving love of the covenant in a unique way. All other covenants show God’s love and transmit God’s love, but it is only in the marital covenant that the love is so real and powerful that it communicates life.
In the Protestant tradition, covenants and contracts were understood as two words describing the same thing. But studying the OT lead me to see that, for the ancient Hebrews, covenants and contracts were very different. In Scripture, contracts simply involved the exchange of property, whereas covenants involved the exchange of persons, so as to form sacred family bonds. Kinship was thus formed by Covenant. (Understood from an OT background, the concept of covenant wasn’t theoretical or abstract.) In fact, covenant kinship was stronger than biological kinship; the deeper meaning of divine covenants in the OT was God’s fathering of Israel as his own family.
When Christ formed the New Covenant with us, then, it was much more than a simple contract or legal exchange, where he took our sin and gave us his righteousness, as Luther and Calvin explained it. Although true, this fell short of the full truth of the gospel.
What I discovered was that the New Covenant established a worldwide family in which Christ shared his divine sonship, making us as children of God. As a covenant act, justified meant sharing in the grace [NB RC concept of ‘grace’ is different from Protestant use of the word - Simon] of Christ as God’s own sons and daughters; being sanctified meant sharing in the life and power of the Holy Spirit. In this light, God’s grace became something much more than divine favour, it was the actual gift of God’s life in divine sonship.
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