Covenant Throughout The Old and New Testaments

Agreements these days are usually typed contracts that are composed by a lawyer and signed in front of a witness. However, it has not always been so formal. During the years the Old Testament was written, agreements and deals were primarily verbal contracts between two participants. Those contracts took on many forms and different customs were associated with each. These contracts also called covenants and have many different uses and meanings throughout the bible. Some commitments made in these covenants had been accompanied by self-maledictory oaths or curses that would have been implemented if the covenants were violated (New International Version 25). There are numerous ways to translate the word covenant, and many different types of covenants that are in use throughout the Old and New Testaments.

In the Old Testament the covenants were used by the people to make agreements among themselves. God also participated in these agreements and made promises with specific people and tribes throughout the Old and New Testament. In the bible the word covenant means ‘to cut’ (Monk), which is why when two people made a covenant they would walk through the cut bodies of slain animals (New International Version, ( Jer 34;14). Although, it was customary for both parties to benefit from such an agreement, it was not always customary for the covenant to be mutual. Many of the covenants made between God and his followers were contingent upon their loyalty to him. “Covenant concepts, used for the relationship between God and his people, form a large part of the Bible's skeletal structure” (Foster 206). Most covenants had specific implications and between the participating individuals. There are different types of covenants currently in use in t...

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