Genesis 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ¹  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ²  this land, from the river of Egypt ³  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Genesis 17:2

17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ⁴  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ⁵ 

Genesis 17:7

17:7 I will confirm ⁶  my covenant as a perpetual ⁷  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ 

Genesis 17:10

17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ⁹  Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹⁰ 

Exodus 24:7-8

24:7 He took the Book of the Covenant ¹¹  and read it aloud ¹²  to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey ¹³  all that the Lord has spoken.” 24:8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on ¹⁴  the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant ¹⁵  that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 34:27

34:27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write down ¹⁶  these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Deuteronomy 29:1

Narrative Interlude

29:1 (28:69) ¹⁷  These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. ¹⁸ 

Deuteronomy 31:16

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ¹⁹  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²⁰  are going. They ²¹  will reject ²²  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ²³ 

Nehemiah 13:29

13:29 Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, ²⁴  and the Levites.

Psalms 89:3

89:3 The Lord said, ²⁵ 

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

Psalms 89:34

89:34 I will not break ²⁶  my covenant

or go back on what I promised. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ²⁸  after I plant them back in the land,” ²⁹  says the Lord. ³⁰  “I will ³¹  put my law within them ³²  and write it on their hearts and minds. ³³  I will be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴ 

Jeremiah 33:20-25

33:20 “I, Lord, make the following promise: ³⁵  ‘I have made a covenant with the day ³⁶  and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people ³⁷  could break that covenant 33:21 could my covenant with my servant David and my covenant with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me. ³⁸  33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ³⁹ 

33:23 The Lord spoke still further to Jeremiah. ⁴⁰  33:24 “You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ⁴¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ⁴²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ⁴³  33:25 But I, the Lord, make the following promise: ⁴⁴  I have made a covenant governing the coming of day and night. I have established the fixed laws governing heaven and earth.

Acts 3:25

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ⁴⁵  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ⁴⁶  all the nations ⁴⁷  of the earth will be blessed.’ ⁴⁸ 

Hebrews 8:6-10

8:6 But ⁴⁹  now Jesus ⁵⁰  has obtained a superior ministry, since ⁵¹  the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted ⁵²  on better promises. ⁵³ 

8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. ⁵⁴  8:8 But ⁵⁵  showing its fault, ⁵⁶  God ⁵⁷  says to them, ⁵⁸ 

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

8:9 “It will not be like the covenant ⁵⁹  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ⁶⁰  my laws in their minds ⁶¹  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ⁶² 

[15:18]  ¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ² tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  ³ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:7]  ⁶ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ⁷ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ¹⁰ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[24:7]  ¹¹ tn The noun “book” would be the scroll just written containing the laws of chaps. 20-23. On the basis of this scroll the covenant would be concluded here. The reading of this book would assure the people that it was the same that they had agreed to earlier. But now their statement of willingness to obey would be more binding, because their promise would be confirmed by a covenant of blood.

[24:7]  ¹² tn Heb “read it in the ears of.”

[24:7]  ¹³ tn A second verb is now added to the people’s response, and it is clearly an imperfect and not a cohortative, lending support for the choice of desiderative imperfect in these commitments – “we want to obey.” This was their compliance with the covenant.

[24:8]  ¹⁴ tn Given the size of the congregation, the preposition might be rendered here “toward the people” rather than on them (all).

[24:8]  ¹⁵ sn The construct relationship “the blood of the covenant” means “the blood by which the covenant is ratified” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 254). The parallel with the inauguration of the new covenant in the blood of Christ is striking (see, e.g., Matt 26:28, 1 Cor 11:25). When Jesus was inaugurating the new covenant, he was bringing to an end the old.

[34:27]  ¹⁶ tn Once again the preposition with the suffix follows the imperative, adding some emphasis to the subject of the verb.

[29:1]  ¹⁷ sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[29:1]  ¹⁸ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[31:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

[31:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

[31:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:16]  ²² tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

[31:16]  ²³ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[13:29]  ²⁴ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Lucianic Greek recension, and the Syriac Peshitta read the plural הַכֹּהֲנִים (hakkohanim, “the priests”) rather than the singular reading of the MT, הַכְּהֻנָּה (hakkÿhunnah, “the priesthood”).

[89:3]  ²⁵ tn The words “the Lord said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. It is clear that the words of vv. 3-4 are spoken by the Lord, in contrast to vv. 1-2, which are spoken by the psalmist.

[89:34]  ²⁶ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:34]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”

[31:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ²⁹ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ³¹ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ³² tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ³³ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ³⁴ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[33:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” However, the Lord is speaking so the first person introduction has again been adopted. The content of the verse shows that it is a promise to David (vv. 21-22) and the Levites based on a contrary to fact condition (v. 20). See further the translator’s note at the end of the next verse for explanation of the English structure adopted here.

[33:20]  ³⁶ tn The word יוֹמָם (yomam) is normally an adverb meaning “daytime, by day, daily.” However, here and in v. 25 and in Jer 15:9 it means “day, daytime” (cf. BDB 401 s.v. יוֹמָם 1).

[33:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “you.” The pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43; 33:10.

[33:21]  ³⁸ tn The very complex and elliptical syntax of the original Hebrew of vv. 20-21 has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style. The text reads somewhat literally (after the addition of a couple of phrases which have been left out by ellipsis): “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that there is not to be daytime and night in their proper time then also my covenant can be broken with my servant David so that there is not to him a son reigning upon his throne [and also my covenant can be broken] with the Levites [so there are not] priests who minister to me.” The two phrases in brackets are elliptical, the first serving double duty for the prepositional phrase “with the Levites” as well as “with David” and the second serving double duty with the noun “priests” which parallels “a son.” The noun “priests” is not serving here as appositional because that phrase is always “the priests, the Levites,” never “the Levites, the priests.”

[33:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[33:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.” See v. 1. This is a continuation of “the second time.”

[33:24]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

[33:24]  ⁴² tn Heb “The two families which the Lord chose, he has rejected them.” This is an example of an object prepositioned before the verb and resumed by a redundant pronoun to throw emphasis of focus on it (called casus pendens in the grammars; cf. GKC 458 §143.d). Some commentators identify the “two families” as those of David and Levi mentioned in the previous verses, and some identify them as the families of the Israelites and of David mentioned in the next verse. However, the next clause in this verse and the emphasis on the restoration and regathering of Israel and Judah in this section (cf. 33:7, 14) show that the reference is to Israel and Judah (see also 30:3, 4; 31:27, 31 and 3:18).

[33:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and my people [i.e., Israel and Judah] they disdain [or look down on] from being again a nation before them.” The phrase “before them” refers to their estimation, their mental view (cf. BDB s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a[g]). Hence it means they look with disdain on the people being a nation again (cf. BDB s.v. עוֹד 1.a[b] for the usage of עוֹד [’od] here).

[33:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” See the translator’s note at the beginning of v. 20 for the style adopted here. Here the promise is in v. 26 following the contrary to fact condition in v. 25. The Hebrew text of vv. 25-26 reads: “Thus says the Lord, “If I have not established my covenant with day and night [and] the laws/statutes of heaven and earth, also I could reject the seed of Jacob and David my servant from taking from his seed as rulers over the seed of Abraham…” The syntax of the original is a little awkward because it involves the verbs “establish” and “reject” governing two objects, the first governing two similar objects “my covenant” and “the regulations” and the second governing two dissimilar objects “the seed of Jacob” and “my servant David from taking [so as not to take].” The translation has sought to remove these awkward syntactical constructions and also break down the long complex original sentence in such a way as to retain its original intent, i.e., the guarantee of the continuance of the seed of Jacob and of the rule of a line of David’s descendants over them based on the fixed order of God’s creation decrees.

[3:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.

[3:25]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[8:6]  ⁴⁹ sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).

[8:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.

[8:6]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “to the degree that.”

[8:6]  ⁵² tn Grk “which is enacted.”

[8:6]  ⁵³ sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.

[8:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”

[8:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

[8:8]  ⁵⁶ sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.

[8:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ⁵⁸ tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.

[8:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.

[8:10]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ⁶² tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.