2 replies to this topic

[cadman]

Hi All,

I'm new in this forum.

Landed here from an Internet search while looking for an online version of TDOT.

I need on article to do my study.

Maybe someone can help?

Would someone be so kind as to scan and post here the pages for 'berit'?

Thanx...Chris

[anh Mike]

Next time do a search you might get a faster response.

link to online LEGAL are there.

http://www.biblesupp...8354-tdot-tdnt/

[Silverhair]

Hi All,

I'm new in this forum.

Landed here from an Internet search while looking for an online version of TDOT.

I need on article to do my study.

Maybe someone can help?

Would someone be so kind as to scan and post here the pages for 'berit'?

Thanx...Chris

Not sure if this will help in your studies but just in case here is what I found in the TWOT.

 

282 - brh

Hebrew Word: brh
Strong's Cross Reference: None
Definition: II. Assumed root of the following.

Derivative TWOT Number: 282a
Derivative Transliteration: berit
Derivative Strong's Cross Reference: H1285
Derivative Definition: covenant (ASV and RSV); between nations: a treaty, alliance of friendship; between individuals a pledge or agreement; with obligation between a monarch and subjects: a constitution; between God and man: a covenant accompartied by signs, sacrifices, and a solemn oath that sealed the relationship with promises of blessing for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking it.

The etymology of the word is uncertain. It may be related to the Akkadian word burru which means "to establish a legal situation by testimony with an oath" (CAD baru, p. 125); but some (O. Loretz, VT 16: 239-41) tie it to the Akkadian word birtu "a fetter" which is a derivative of the word meaning "between." L. Kohler claims the word was related to the root brh which has to do with the food and eating involved in the covenant meal (JSS 1: 4-7). The root is nowhere used as a verb in the OT nor is any other derivative of this root used, but the action involving covenant making employs the idiom "to cut a covenant" (Gen_15:18; etc.), that is making a bloody sacrifice as part of the covenant ritual, Kohler then would have the animal eaten in the covenant meal.

The covenant as a treaty or agreement between nations or individuals should be understood on the basis of whether the parties are equal or one is superior to the other. In Gen_14:13 Abraham and the Amorites were equal parties to a treaty but this is not true of Israel (under Joshua) and the Gibeonites (Joshua 9). Here the oath aspect of the covenant is shown to be most important. Even though the Gibeonite vassals were subject to a curse for having lied (Jos_9:22-23), Joshua and Israel were still obligated to provide protection for them. Much later when Saul failed in this sworn covenant obligation, his family suffered punishment (2 Samuel 21).

It was common practice to set up a stel a (stone) as a sign that a treaty had been established between two households or nations (cc Jacob and Laban, Gen_31:44-47). On both sides appeal is made to the deity as a witness showing that the covenant is unalterable. Moreover, as in the case at Sinai, Jacob and Laban offered a sacrifice in the mountain and shared a common meal (Gen_31:54-55). Other signs which sealed such a treaty were used, such as a marriage between two royal houses (1Ki_9:16). But the greatest tool for covenant making came to be the written document on which the words of the covenant, its terms in the form of promises and stipulations, were spelled out, witnessed to, signed and sealed. Such covenant documents abound (cl D. R. Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea, Baltimore, 1969). Behm concludes: "There is no firmer guarantee of legal security peace or personal loyalty than the covenant" (TDNT, II, p. 115; cf. Amo_1:9).

Apart from blood ties the covenant was the way people of the ancient world formed wider relationships with each other (Treaty and Covenant, D. J. Mccarthy, Rome, 1963, p. 175). The accounts of the relationship between David and Jonathan are the only unequivocal mention of a compact between two individuals in the OT (1Sa_18:3; 1Sa_20:8; 1Sa_23:18). It is spoken of as "a covenant of the Lord" because the Lord witnessed the transaction and protected the legal order.

In Israel's monarchy the covenant relationship between the people and the king provided a kind of limited constitutional monarchy which was unique in the world in that early age (2Sa_3:21; 2Sa_5:3; 1Ch_11:3). .

All of this covenant procedure provides the cultural setting in which God's relationship with his people is formulated. Modern studies on the meaning and the form of "covenant" in biblical theology have been vigorous since the appearance of George Mendenhall's Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East (Pittsburgh, 1955; see also BA 17.27-46, 49-76 and Old Testament Covenant: A Survey of Current Opinions, D. J. Mccarthy, Richmond, 1972). Mccarthy includes an excellent bibliography of covenant studies, pp. 90-108. For an evangelical theological treatment of this subject based on the source materials see the volumes entitled Treaty of the Great King (Grand Rapids, 1963) and By Oath Consigned (Grand Rapids, 1967) by M. G. Kline. Here Kline shows the suzerainty treaty found in the ancient near east is the key to understanding the form of God's covenant with ancient Israel. He maintains the Ten Commandments and the entire book of Deuteronomy and such sections as Joshua 24 are all based on a covenant pattern which has: 1. A preamble in which the suzerain is identified, 2. An historical prologue describing previous relations between the parties, 3. Stipulations and demands of the suzerain, 4. Swearing of allegiance with curses and blessings, that is Covenant Ratification, 5. Witnesses and directions for carrying out the treaty (see Treaty of the Great King, pp. 14, 28). In addition to the stipulations there may be a clause providing for the preservation and regular re-reading of the covenant. .

The notion that a covenant between God and man did not exist in the formative stages of Israelite history as presented in Genesis and Exodus cannot be taken seriously any longer. Yahweh as a tribal deity in early Israel bound to his people by natural but not ethical ties, as a covenant relationship implies, is also a fading viewpoint.

D. J. Mccarthy warns that the covenant concept in the OT presents a very rich and complex tradition and that the covenant is not primarily legalistic or moralistic but cultic, that is, tied to religious practice. He sees other analogies besides the treaty form as important, especially the family analogy-the father and son relationship in the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7) and the husband and wife relationship as in Hosea. Covenant theology which puts all biblical revelation in the covenant framework now has the support of OT specialists like W. Eichrodt who make the covenant concept the central and unifying theme of the OT (Theology of the Old Testament, London, 1967, cf. also J. Barton Payne, The Theology of the Older Testament). Eichrodt finds that the covenant concept proves Israel's religion was historical, that is, not the imagination of later generations. It also gave Israel great assurance of a beneficent God at a time when the deities were considered arbitrary originators of evil. Some scholars hold that the berit was sometimes monergistic, that is a one-sided unconditional promise. This view is opposed by Eichrodt and Kline, although espoused by J. Begrich, ZAW 60: 1-11 and Murray, The Covenant of Grace, London, 1954. Kline maintains that all divine-human covenants in the OT involve sanction-sealed commitment to obey. The law and promise aspects of God's covenant relationship with his people do not violate each other. Deu_29:13-14 shows the Sinaitic Covenant was an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant, both of which are called here "a sworn covenant." The Sinai renewal merely stressed man's responsibility where the Abrahamic Covenant emphasized God's promise. Many agree with Hillers (covenant, pp. 129-31) that the covenant (treaty) tradition is carried into the writings of the prophets in the so-called lawsuit (rib) pattern. The prophets indict the people as covenant breakers, sometimes relating this to the covenant pattern by calling heaven and earth to witness (cf. Isa_1:2-3, Isa_1:10-20; Jer_2:4-12; Mic_6:1-8; Psalms 50).

The Priestly Covenant of Num_25:12-13, the Davidic Covenant of 2 Samuel 7 and the New Covenant of Jer_31:31 are all administrative aspects of the same covenant, God's Covenant of Grace. This covenant reaches its climax at the Incarnation where Christ representing his people fulfilled all the stipulations of the covenant and bore the curse they deserved for breaking it (cf. F. C. Fensham, "Covenant, Promise and Expectation in the Bible," Theologische Zeitschrift 23:305-22). Bibilography: Albright, W. F., "The Hebrew Expression for 'Making a Covenant' in Pre-Israelite Documents," BASOR 121:21-22. Begrich, J., "Betith. Ein Beitrag zur Eifassung einer alt. Denkform," ZAW 60: 1-11. Braulik, Georg, "Die Ausdrdcke filr 'Gesetz' im Buch Deuteronomium," Bib 51: 39-66. Brown, P. E., "The Basis of Hope," Interp 9: 35-40. Buis, Pierre, "Les Formulaires D'alliance," VT 16: 396-411. Campbell, K. M. "Rahab's Covenant," VT 22: 24344. Delcor, M., "Les Attaches Litteraires, l'origine et la Signification de l'expression Biblique 'Prendre a Temoin le Ciel et la Terre'," VT 16: 8-25. Coppens, J., "La Nouvelle Alliance en Jeremiah 31 and Jeremiah 31-34," CBQ 25: 12-21. Eichrodt, Walther, "Covenant and Law," Interp 20: 302-21. Fensham, F. Charles, "Clauses of Protection in Hittite Vassal-Treaties and the Old Testament," VT 13: 133-43., "The Covenant as Giving Expression to the Relationship Between Old and New Testament," Tyndale Bulletin 22: 82-94., "Did a Treaty Between the Israelites and the Kenites Exist?" BASOR 175: 51-54., "The Treaty Between Israel and the Gibeonites," BA 27.96-100., "The Treaty Between the Israelites and the Tyrians," Supp VT 17: 70-87. Freedman, David Noel, "Divine Commitment and Human Obligation," Interp 18: 419-31. Frankana, R., "The Vassal-Treaties of Esarhaddon and the Dating of Deuteronomy," OTS 14: 122-54. Gerstenberger, Erhard, "Covenant and Commandment," JBL 84: 38-51. Hillers, Delbert R., "A Note on Some Treaty Teminology in the Old Testament," BASOR 176: 46-47. Kevan, E. F., "The Covenants and the Interpretation of the Old Testament," EQ 26: 19-28. Kitchen, K. A. The Bible in its World, Patermoster, 1977, esp. "The Covenant at Sinai and in Moab," pp. 79-85. Kline, Meredith G., "Dynastic Covenant," WJT 23: 1-15. Kutsch, Emest, "Gesetz und Gnade," ZAW 79: 18-35. L'hour, Jean, "L'alliance de Sichem," RB 69: 5-36, 161-84, 350-68. Lang, G. H., "God's Covenants are Conditional," EQ 30: 86-97. Lincoln, C. F., "The Development of the Covenant Theory," BS 100: 134-63., "The Biblical Covenants," BS 100: 309-23, 442-49, 565-73. Mccarthy, Dennis J., "Berit and Covenant in the Deuteronomistic History," Supp VT 23: 65-85., "Covenant in the Old Testament: The Present State of Inquiry," CBQ 27: 217-40., "Hosea XII 2: Covenant by Oil," VT 14: 214-21., "Three Covenants in Genesis," CBQ 26: 179-89. Mendenhall, G. E., "Covenant Forms in Israelite Tradition," BA 17.50-76. Mitchell, John J., "Abram's Understanding of the Lord's Covenant," WTJ 32: 24-48. Muilenburg, James, "The Form and Structure of the Covenantal Formulations," VT 9: 374-67. Rand, James Freeman, "Old Testament Fellowship with God," BS 108: 227-36, 323-33; 109: 47-54, 151-63, 226-38. Robinson, T. H., " 'Covenant' in the O.T.," Exp T 53: 298-99. Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., "The Covenant with Abraham and its Historical Setting," BS 127: 241- 56. Rowley, H. H., "Moses and the Decalogue," BJRL 34: 81-118. Silving, Helen, "The State Contract in the Old Testament," JR 24: 17-32. Theil, Wilfried, "Sefer Berit," VT 20: 214-29. Thompson, J. A., The Significance of the Ancient Near Eastern Treaty Pattern," Tyndale House Bulletin 13: 1-6. Tsevat, M., "The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Vassal Oaths and the Prophet Ezekiel," JBL 78: 199-204. Tucker, Gene M., "Covenant Forms and Contract Forms," VT 15: 487-503. Van der Ploeg, J., "Studies in Hebrew Law," CBQ 12: 248-59. Weinfeld, M., "Covenant Terminology in the Ancient Near East and its Influence on the West, JAOS 93: 190-99., "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East," JAOS 90: 184-203., "Traces of Assyrian Treaty Formulae in Deuteronomy," Bib 56: 417-27. Whiteley, C. F., "Covenant and Commandment in Israel," JNES 22: 37-48. Widengren, George, "King and Covenant," JSS 2: 1-32. TDNT, II, 106-24, 126-29. TDOT II, pp. 253-78. THAT, I, pp. 339-52. E.B.S.

Hebrew Word: berosh
Strong's Cross Reference: None
Definition: See no. 289a.

Hebrew Word: barut
Strong's Cross Reference: None
Definition: See no. 281b.