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TheHebrew Bible makes reference to a number ofcovenants (Hebrew:בְּרִיתוֹת) with God (YHWH). These include the Noahic Covenant set out inGenesis 9, which is decreed between God and all living creatures, as well as a number of more specificcovenants withAbraham, the wholeIsraelite people, theIsraelite priesthood, and theDavidic lineage of kings. In form and terminology, these covenants echo the kinds of treaty agreements existing in the surrounding ancient world.
TheBook of Jeremiah, verses31:30–33 says thatYHWH will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. MostChristians believe thisNew Covenant is the"replacement" or "final fulfilment" of theOld Covenant described in theOld Testament and as applying to thePeople of God, while some believe both covenants are still applicable in adual-covenant theology.
The Hebrew termבְּרִיתbĕriyth for "covenant" is from a root with the sense of "cutting", because pacts or covenants were made by passing between cut pieces of flesh of ananimal sacrifice.[1]
There are two major types of covenants in the Hebrew Bible: the obligatory type and the promissory type.[2] The obligatory covenant is more common with theHittite peoples, and deals with the relationship between two parties of equal standing. In contrast, the promissory type of covenant is seen in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. Promissory covenants focus on the relationship between the suzerain and the vassal and are similar to the "royal grant" type of legal document, which include historical introduction, border delineations, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses. In royal grants, the master could reward a servant for being loyal. God rewarded Abraham, Noah, and David in his covenants with them.[3] As part of his covenant with Abraham, God has the obligation to keep Abraham's descendants as God's chosen people and be their God. God acts as the suzerain power and is the party of the covenant accompanied by the required action that comes with the oath whether it be fire or animals in the sacrificial oaths. In doing this, God is the party taking upon the curse if he does not uphold his obligation. Through history there were also many instances where the vassal was the one who performed the different acts and took the curse upon them.[4]
Weinfeld believes that similar terminology and wording can connect the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants with ancient Near Eastern grants, as opposed to being largely similar to the Mosaic covenant, which, according to Weinfeld, is an example of asuzerainty treaty. He goes on to argue that phrases about having a "whole heart" or having "walked after me [God] with all his heart" strongly parallels with Neo-Assyrian grant language, such as "walked with royalty". He further argues that in Jeremiah, God uses prophetic metaphor to say that David will be adopted as a son. Expressing legal and political relationships through familial phraseology was common among Near Eastern cultures. Babylonian contracts often expressed fathership and sonship in their grants to actually mean a king to vassal relationship.[5]
Further underlying the idea that these covenants were grant-like in nature is the similar language used in both. In the grant ofAshurbanipal, an Assyrian, to his servant Bulta, he describes Bulta's loyalty with the phrase "kept the charge of my kinship". Abraham similarly kept God's charge in Genesis 26: 4–5: "I will give to your descendants all these lands...in as much as Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my rules and my teachings."[6]
According to Mendenhall, pressures from outside invaders led the loosely bound Israelite tribes to converge into monarchical unity for stability and solidarity. He also argues that during this consolidation, the new state also had to unify the religious traditions that belonged to the different groups to prevent dissent from those who might believe that the formation of a state would replace direct governance from God. Therefore, Mendenhall continues, these loosely bound tribes merged under the Mosaic covenant to legitimize their unity. They believed that to obey the law was to obey God. They also believed that the king was put into power as a result of God's benefaction, and that this accession was the fulfillment of God's promise of dynasty to David. Mendenhall also notes that a conflict arose between those who believed in the Davidic covenant, and those who believed that God would not support all actions of the state. As a result, both sides became relatively aloof, and the Davidic covenant and the Mosaic covenant were almost entirely forgotten.[7]
Students of the Bible hold differing opinions as to how many major covenants were created between God and humanity, with numbers ranging from one to at least twelve. (Seecovenant theology anddispensationalism for further information on two of the major viewpoints.) Some scholars classify only two: a covenant of promise and a covenant of law. The former involved an oath taken by God – a word of promise instead of command – while the latter is known in the Bible as "the Law".[8]
The Noahic covenant recounted in Genesis 9:9-17 applies to all ofhumanity andall other living creatures.[9] In this covenant with all living creatures, God promises never again to destroy alllife onEarth byflood[10] and creates therainbow as the sign of this "everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth".[11]
Ahead of the covenant (in Genesis 9:1-7),Noah and the generations of his posterity were required by God to procreate, and not to shed human blood (murder), because mankind was made in the image of God. Jews are forbidden to consume meat with the blood in it, but Bnei NoahNoahidism are allowed the blood of a living animal (Maimonides, Laws of Kings and Wars, Chapter IX Law 10).[12]Alexander Maclaren notes that while the termcovenant "usually implies a reciprocal bond, both parties to which come under obligations by it, each to the other. But, in this case, there are no obligations on the part of man or of the creatures. This covenant is God's only."[13]Samaritans who believe only in theWritten Torah do not consider outsiders to be subject toMosaic law or thepatriarchal covenant but regardless considers theNoahic covenant to beDivine law that is not enforced nor envisioned in the lens ofuniversalism but rather are a fundamentalmoral code which is to expected for a nation or culture to be considered virtuous outside the covenant. Foreigners are allotted different inheritances and powers outside of the Israelite people according to the book of Deuteronomy and the commentary ofMemar Marqah.[14][15][16][17][18]
The book of Genesis includes a number of promises by God toAbraham paired with actions by Abraham, notably in Genesis 12, 15, 17, and 22. Only the promises of Genesis 15 ("covenant of the pieces") and Genesis 17 ("covenant of circumcision") are referred to in the text by the term "covenant" (brit).
| Verses | Name | Abraham's action | God's promise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis 12:1–3 | - | Migrates to the promised land | To make of Abraham a great nation and bless Abraham and make his name great so that he will be a blessing; to bless those who bless him and curse him who curses him; all peoples on earth would be blessed through Abraham. |
| Genesis 15 | Covenant of the pieces or "Covenant between the parts" (Brit bein HaBetarim) | Offers several animal sacrifices | To give Abraham's descendants all the land from the river of Egypt to theEuphrates.[19] Later, this land came to be referred to as thePromised Land (see map) or theLand of Israel. |
| Genesis 17 | Covenant of circumcision (brit milah) | Circumcises himself and his family, and commits to doing so in perpetuity (thebrit milah ritual inJudaism). | To make Abraham the father of many nations and of many descendants and give "the whole land ofCanaan" to his descendants.[20] The covenant was forAbraham and his "seed" (offspring),[21] both of natural birth and adoption.[22] |
| Genesis 22:16–18 | - | Demonstrates willingness to sacrifice his son | To make Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars and sand, and to defeat and inherit their enemies. |
The covenants with Abraham were later alluded to by Abraham,[23] and their contents were reaffirmed to his son Isaac[24] and his grandson Jacob.[25] In later generations, God's covenant with the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) was repeatedly cited as a reason for God to perform kindness to their descendants, the people of Israel.[26]
In the documentary hypothesis, the promises of Genesis 12, 15, and 17 are attributed toJahwist,Elohist andPriestly sources.[27]
The Abrahamic covenant is part of a tradition of covenantal sacrifices that dates to the third millennium BC. The animals that are slaughtered in the covenant in Genesis 15 are considered a sacrificial offering. And it is that covenant which preserves the sacrificial element alongside the symbolic act.[4]
According to Weinfeld, the Abrahamic covenant represents a covenant of grant, which binds the suzerain. It is the obligation of the master to his servant and involves gifts given to individuals who were loyal serving their masters. In the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, it is God who is the suzerain who commits himself and swears to keep the promise. In the covenant there are procedures for taking the oath, which involve a smoking oven and a blazing torch. There are many similarities between Genesis 15 and the Abba-El deed. In Genesis 15 and similarly in the Abba-El deed, it is the superior party who places himself under oath. The oaths in both, moreover, involve a situation wherein the inferior party delivers the animals while the superior party swears the oath.
Covenants in biblical times were often sealed by severing an animal, with the implication that the party who breaks the covenant will suffer a similar fate. In Hebrew, the verb meaning to seal a covenant translates literally as "to cut". It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of theforeskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant.[28]
TheMosaic covenant made with Moses and the Israelite people at Horeb-Sinai, which is found inExodus 19–24 and the book ofDeuteronomy, contains the foundations of the written Torah. In this covenant, God promises to make theIsraelites histreasured possession among all people[29] and "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation",[30] if they follow God's commandments. As part of the terms of this covenant, God givesMoses theTen Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17); these are later embellished orelaborated on in the rest of the Torah. The blood of sacrificialoxen is thereafter sprinkled on the altar (Exodus 24:6) and on the people (Exodus 24:8) to seal the covenant.
Beyond its central religious purpose, the Mosaic covenant was also political. It established Israel as a holy nation and gave them a new sense of national identity.
The form of the covenant resembles thesuzerainty treaty in the ancient Near East.[31] Like the treaties, theTen Commandments begins withYahweh's identification and what he had done for Israel ("who brought you out of the land of Egypt"; Ex 20:2) as well as the stipulations commanding absolute loyalty ("You shall not have other gods apart from me"). Unlike the suzerainty treaty, theDecalogue does not have any witness nor explicit blessings and curses.[32] The fullest account of the Mosaic covenant is given in the book ofDeuteronomy.
God gave thesons of Israel theShabbat as the permanent sign of this covenant.[33][34]
The priestly covenant[35] (Hebrew:ברית הכהונהbrith ha-kehuna) is the covenant that God made withAaron and his descendants, theAaronic priesthood, as found in theHebrew Bible andOral Torah. The Hebrew Bible also mentions another perpetual priestly promise withPhinehas and his descendants.[36][37]
The Davidic royal covenant (2 Samuel 7) was made between God andDavid. It promised to establish David's dynasty forever, designating David and hisdescendants as the kings of theunited monarchy of Israel[38] (which included Judah).
This covenant is an important element inJewish messianism andChristian theology. InJewish eschatology, themessiah is believed to be a future Jewish king from theDavidic paternal line. TheHasmonean kings were not considered connected to the Davidic line,[39] but the general belief is that in the end of times God will select and appoint a king from the Davidic line.
Later in the Bible, the early covenants between God and the Israelites were reaffirmed through additional covenants enacted byAsa,[40]Hezekiah,[41]Jehoiada,[42] andJosiah.[43]
The Bible also describes a number of covenants made between different humans, for example between Abraham andAbimelech,[44] and betweenSolomon andHiram.[45]
Christian theologianJohn F. Walvoord maintains that the Davidic covenant deserves an important place in determining the purposes of God and that itsexegesis confirms the doctrine of afuture reign of Christ on earth.[46] While Jewish theologians have always held that Jesus did not fulfill the expectations of aJewish messiah, Dispensational (historically grammatically literal) biblical theologians are almost unanimous thatJesus will fully fulfill the Davidic covenant, the provisions of which Walvoord lists as:
The New Covenant is abiblical interpretation originally derived from a phrase in theBook of Jeremiah, in theHebrew Scriptures. It is often thought of as aneschatologicalMessianic Age orworld to come and is related to the biblical concept of theKingdom of God.
Generally,Christians believe that the New Covenant was instituted at theLast Supper as part of theEucharist, which in theGospel of John includes theNew Commandment.[47] A connection between theBlood of Christ and the New Covenant is seen in most modernEnglish translations of the New Testament[48] with the saying: "this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood".[49]
Christians see Jesus as the mediator of this New Covenant, and that his blood, shed at hiscrucifixion is therequired blood of the covenant: as with all covenants between God and man described in the Bible, the New Covenant is considered "a bond in blood sovereignly administered by God".[50] It has been theorized that the New Covenant is theLaw of Christ as spoken during hisSermon on the Mount.[51]
In the Christian context, this New Covenant is associated with the word 'testament' in the sense of a 'will left after the death of a person', the instructions for the inheritance of property (Latintestamentum),[52] the original Greek word used in Scripture beingdiatheke (διαθήκη)[53] which in the Greek context only meant 'will (left after death)' and virtually never 'covenant, alliance'.[54] This fact implies a reinterpreted view of the Old Testament covenant as possessing characteristics of a 'will left after death' in Christian theology and has generated considerable attention from biblical scholars and theologians.[55] The reason is connected with the translation of the Hebrew word for covenant,brit (בְּרִית), in theSeptuagint: see 'why the word Testament' in theNew Testament article.
The Mosaic covenant is referred to in a number of places in theQuran[56][57][58][59] as a reminder for the Jews, of whom two tribes inhabitedMedina at the time ofMuhammad. The verses also mention particular commandments of theDecalogue and, in God's words, admonishes the Jews for being insolent about it and displaying violence against the prophets – a group of them they called liars, and other prophets among them they killed –[Quran4:155],[5:70] even though they agreed to keep them at the time the covenant was made.
The Quran also states how God cursed the Children of Israel and made them suffer for breaking the covenant[4:155],[5:13] while also mentioning other covenants such a prophetic covenant with the Israelites in Quran3:81, theNoahic andAbrahamic covenants in Quran33:7, and in5:14 and7:169 acovenant made with the followers of Jesus (apparently[to whom?]