Program / Course 6: Old Testament Theology and History / Lesson 2.1
What you will learn
- Define covenant and explain how it differs from a contract and from a simple promise.
- Describe the typical parts of an ancient Near Eastern treaty.
- Explain what the comparison with Deuteronomy and Exodus can show and what it cannot.
- Distinguish conditional covenants from covenants given as a grant.
The big idea
A covenant is a solemn, binding relationship between two parties, sealed by an oath and usually marked by a sign. The Old Testament uses the idea for marriage, for friendship, for treaties between nations and for the bond between God and a people. Ancient treaties help show how such a bond was spoken of, but the biblical covenants are not merely copies of them. They begin with God’s act and ask for a response of trust and obedience.
Key terms
- Covenant
- A solemn, binding relationship established by oath, with promises and obligations, and often a sign or ceremony.
- Berit
- The Hebrew word usually translated covenant. The common phrase is to cut a covenant, which probably recalls a ritual of cutting animals.
- Suzerain
- A great king who rules over lesser kings called vassals.
- Vassal treaty
- A treaty in which a great king commands a lesser king’s loyalty and promises protection in return.
- Royal grant
- A gift of land or office from a king to a faithful servant, in which the king takes the obligation on himself.
- Blessings and curses
- The rewards and penalties listed in a treaty for those who keep or break its terms.
- Diatheke
- The Greek word used in the Septuagint to translate berit. It can mean covenant or will, which is why English Bibles say Old and New Testament.
Background
The word covenant is old-fashioned, and many people hear it as a legal contract. A contract is an exchange of goods or services between parties who may otherwise be strangers. A covenant creates a relationship, often with the language of family, such as father and son, or husband and wife. Its failures are betrayals, and not only breaches. The prophet Malachi can call marriage a covenant (Malachi 2:14), and the book of Samuel speaks of a covenant between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18).
In the ancient Near East, kings made covenants with one another and with their subjects. Surviving treaties show the language and form of such agreements. In the twentieth century, scholars noticed that certain parts of the Torah, especially Deuteronomy, resemble these forms, and that thought opened a large field of study. The comparison has been enlightening and also contested, and the lesson sets out both.
The next lessons treat individual covenants. This one asks what the word means and how the ancient world used it.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Covenants in everyday life
The Hebrew Bible uses covenant for many relationships. Abraham and Abimelech make one at Beersheba over a well (Genesis 21). Jacob and Laban set up a heap of stones as witness (Genesis 31). Jonathan and David bind themselves in friendship. Marriage is described in these terms. In each case an oath is spoken, witnesses are named, and a ritual or a sign marks the event.
The ritual is often a meal or a sacrifice. Genesis 15 describes animals cut in two and a smoking pot passing between the pieces, a scene that Jeremiah 34 recalls when Judah’s leaders broke a covenant. Most readers understand the act as a solemn way of saying that the parties would suffer if they broke their word.
Step 2: The shape of an ancient treaty
Treaties from the Hittite Empire in the second millennium BC, and from Assyria in the first, show a recurring pattern. A typical treaty begins with a preamble that names the great king. It continues with a historical prologue that recounts what the king has done for the vassal. Then come the stipulations, the duties of the vassal. A treaty also provides for storing a copy and reading it aloud, calls the gods as witnesses, and ends with blessings for faithfulness and curses for betrayal.
The vassal was to love and serve the suzerain alone. The language of love is used in these treaties as the language of loyalty, which helps explain why the Bible can command Israel to love the Lord.
Step 3: What the comparison shows
Scholars such as George Mendenhall in the 1950s pointed to the likeness between the treaty form and the covenant at Sinai and in Deuteronomy. In Exodus 20, God introduces himself, recalls the rescue from Egypt, and gives commands. Deuteronomy ends with blessings and curses (chapters 27 to 30), calls heaven and earth as witnesses, and directs that the law be read to the people.
The comparison is useful, but scholars disagree about how closely the biblical texts follow a given form. Some hold that Deuteronomy is close to Hittite treaties, which would suggest an early date. Others hold that it is closer to the Assyrian treaties of the seventh century BC, which would suggest a later date and a deliberate answer to Assyria. The parallels show that covenant language was familiar and do not by themselves settle the date of any book.
Step 4: Treaty and grant
Not every ancient covenant is a vassal treaty. In a royal grant, a king rewards a servant with land or a dynasty, and the king binds himself by promise. Some scholars see the promises to Abraham and to David as closer to this model, because the weight falls on what the giver will do. The Sinai covenant, by contrast, stresses what Israel must do in return.
This difference sits behind much later debate on whether certain covenants are conditional or unconditional. The distinction helps, but the texts often mix promise and demand, as later lessons will show.
- How does a covenant differ from a contract?
- What does it mean that covenants are marked by signs and oaths?
- Which parts of the ancient treaty form can you recognize in Deuteronomy?
- What can the comparison with treaties show about the world in which the Torah was written?
- What does it not prove about when a book was written or who wrote it?
- Is a promise that rests on the giver alone more or less demanding than a treaty? Why?
Examples
Abraham and Abimelech
At Beersheba, Abraham gives Abimelech animals, and seven lambs are set apart as witness that Abraham dug the well. The two men swear an oath and name the place (Genesis 21). It is a covenant between equals about a practical matter, sealed with oath and gift.
A marriage as covenant
Malachi 2:14 accuses a man of dealing treacherously with the wife of his youth and calls her his companion and the wife of his covenant. Here the covenant idea covers the most personal of human bonds.
Treaty language in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 28 lists blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience in strong detail. Readers see the likeness to treaty curses, and also see differences, since the text is addressed to a whole people and spoken by Moses as a prophet.
Different perspectives
Jewish readers
In Jewish thought the covenant, berit, is the foundation of Jewish identity, signified by circumcision and by the Sabbath and the Torah. Jewish readers treat the covenant at Sinai as binding on the Jewish people in every generation, not as a stage to be superseded.
Reformed Protestant readers
Reformed theology builds a system on covenant. It speaks of a covenant of grace running through the whole Bible, and many Reformed writers value the treaty comparisons as support for seeing God’s covenants as gracious initiatives with real obligations.
Catholic readers
The Catholic Church speaks of a series of covenants through which God prepares humanity for Christ, and it values the Old Testament covenants as still part of the one plan of salvation. The Catechism treats covenant as a central theme of Scripture.
Orthodox readers
Orthodox writers read the covenants as stages in God’s care for humanity, fulfilled in Christ, and stress their liturgical use. They are less concerned with systematic division and more with the unity of the divine economy.
Critical scholars
Many scholars treat covenant as a developing theme, arguing that its prominence in the Bible increased during or after the exile. Others hold it was central much earlier. The question is actively debated.
Why it matters
Covenant is the main lens through which the Old Testament speaks of God and Israel, and the New Testament builds on it. A reader who treats the word as a mere contract will miss the language of loyalty and love. A reader who treats ancient treaties as the whole explanation will miss how the Bible changes the form to speak of a God who rescues first and then commands.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: A covenant is just a contract.
Correction: Contracts exchange goods. Covenants create relationships, often modeled on family, and ask for loyalty. Breaking one is treachery.
Misunderstanding: Israel copied its covenants from Hittite treaties.
Correction: Israel used a form its world knew, as it used the forms of law and psalm. The content is distinct, since the suzerain is God and the prologue is a rescue. How closely each biblical text follows a treaty form is debated.
Misunderstanding: All the covenants in the Bible are of the same kind.
Correction: They differ in parties, terms and signs. Some stress God’s promise, some stress Israel’s duty. Later lessons study the differences.
Knowledge check
What is a covenant, and how does it differ from a simple promise?
A covenant is a solemn bond between parties, sealed by an oath and often a sign or ritual. A simple promise can be made by one person alone and need not create a lasting relationship. A covenant includes obligations on at least one side, calls on witnesses, and names consequences for faithfulness and betrayal. It is a relationship, not just a statement.
List four parts of an ancient vassal treaty.
The preamble names the great king. The historical prologue recounts his benefits. The stipulations give the vassal’s duties. Further parts provide for depositing and reading the treaty, name the gods as witnesses, and end with blessings and curses. Scholars find some or all of these elements in Exodus and Deuteronomy, though how closely is debated.
Why do scholars disagree about dating Deuteronomy from treaty forms?
Some find close likeness to Hittite treaties of the second millennium BC, which suggests an early date. Others find closer likeness to Assyrian treaties of the seventh century BC, which suggests a later setting. Because treaty forms are general and changed slowly, resemblance alone does not settle a date, and the evidence is read in different ways.
What is a royal grant covenant?
It is a gift from a king to a servant, such as land or a dynasty, in which the king binds himself to keep the promise. The weight lies on the giver’s obligation. Some scholars place the promises to Abraham and David in this category, in contrast to the Sinai covenant, which stresses Israel’s duties. The categories overlap in the texts.
Think it through
- In your own life, where do you see the difference between a contract and a covenant?
- Why might a nation under a powerful empire have used treaty language to speak of its God?
- What does it mean to say that God binds himself by promise?
- How should a reader treat a scholarly parallel that might change the date of a book?
Independent assignment
A treaty outline for Deuteronomy
In your own notebook, read Deuteronomy 1 to 4, 5 to 11, 12 to 26 and 27 to 30. Match each section to the parts of a treaty (preamble, prologue, stipulations, blessings and curses, witnesses). Write 250 to 400 words saying where the match is clear, where it is loose, and what the comparison does not show. Keep it for yourself.
Further study
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Read Deuteronomy 27 to 30 for the blessings, curses and renewal of the covenant.
- Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith Read the chapter on God’s covenant with man for the Reformed account in its own words.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the paragraphs on the Old Covenant for the Catholic account in its own words.
- Genesis 15 The covenant ceremony with Abraham.
- Exodus 20 The commandments introduced by the rescue from Egypt.
- Jeremiah 34 Judah’s leaders and the cut animals.
- Malachi 2 Marriage called a covenant.