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 and all peoples on earth would be blessed through Abraham. [17] Circumcision." Mark Popovsky. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Ed. David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden and Stanton Marlan. New York: Springer, 2010. pp. 153–154. Want to learn more about covenants? I recommend starting with the Pentateuch, which describes God’s covenants with Abraham and the Jewish people.

Various dates have been suggested for the compilation of the Book of the Covenant, ranging from the period of Moses to post-exilic times. The resort to parallels has often been determined by a scholar's presuppositions. Thus, the slave law in Exodus 21:2–6 has been explained as meeting the needs of defaulting debtors in early Israelite society, and alternatively, as reflective of the redemption of Jewish slaves from gentiles in the Persian period described in the Book of Nehemiah (5:8). Similarly, the absence of references to the monarchy has been used to support either a pre-monarchic date or a post-monarchic date. Likewise, the office of nasi, " *Chieftain " (22:7), is referred to elsewhere in the Bible in both early and late settings. As a final complication, one must deal with the "boomerang phenomenon" (Zakovitch) in which a law in an early collection was reinterpreted in a later one, the interpretation subsequently finding its way into the earlier collection once both collections found their way into the Torah. Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to the Church, at Kirtland, Ohio, February 4, 1831. This revelation instructs the Prophet and Church elders to pray to receive God’s “law” (see section 42). Joseph Smith had just arrived in Kirtland from New York, and Leman Copley, a Church member in nearby Thompson, Ohio, “requested Brother Joseph and Sidney [Rigdon] … live with him and he would furnish them houses and provisions.” The following revelation clarifies where Joseph and Sidney should live and also calls Edward Partridge to be the Church’s first bishop. a b Weinfeld, M. (1970). "The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient near East". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 90 (2): 196–199. doi: 10.2307/598135. JSTOR 598135. Revelation on Church organization and government, given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at or near Fayette, New York. Portions of this revelation may have been given as early as summer 1829. The complete revelation, known at the time as the Articles and Covenants, was likely recorded soon after April 6, 1830 (the day the Church was organized). The Prophet wrote, “We obtained of Him [Jesus Christ] the following, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation; which not only gave us much information, but also pointed out to us the precise day upon which, according to His will and commandment, we should proceed to organize His Church once more here upon the earth.” Blue Letter Bible: Dictionary and Word Search for zera' (Strong's 2233)". 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-10-12 . Retrieved 2011-11-21.Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 11; et al.). The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old Testament (Joshua–Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the Law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the Law. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 details the blessing/cursing motif. Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, at or near Fayette, New York, December 7, 1830. At this time, the Prophet was engaged almost daily in making a translation of the Bible. The translation was begun as early as June 1830, and both Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer had served as scribes. Since they had now been called to other duties, Sidney Rigdon was called by divine appointment to serve as the Prophet’s scribe in this work (see verse 20). As a preface to the record of this revelation, Joseph Smith’s history states: “In December Sidney Rigdon came [from Ohio] to inquire of the Lord, and with him came Edward Partridge. … Shortly after the arrival of these two brethren, thus spake the Lord.”

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 (Latin testamentum), [39] the original Greek word used in Scripture being diatheke (διαθήκη) [40] which in the Greek context only meant 'will (left after death)' and virtually never 'covenant, alliance'. [41] 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. [42] The reason is connected with the translation of the Hebrew word for covenant, brit (בְּרִית), in the Septuagint: see ' why the word Testament' in the New Testament article. Covenant” is one of those words that just keeps coming up when you read the Bible—and certainly when you study it. When we hear of “covenant” today, it sounds like lofty legalese for “contract,” or “agreement.” Raymond Westbrook, "What is the Covenant Code?" in Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law: Revision, Interpolation and Development, ed. B.M. Levinson (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 16. Joel S. Baden (24 April 2012). The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis. Yale University Press. pp.26–27. ISBN 978-0-300-15263-0. Covenants are not easily broken. The people making covenants often slaughter animals to demonstrate what should happen to the one who breaks the covenant. To break a covenant is a serious thing. Jonathan calls on God to kill him if he does not alert David of danger (1 Sa 20:13). When Saul breaks a covenant his forefathers swore to the Gibeonites, God punishes Israel with a three-year famine (2 Sa 21:1–2).Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Ezra Thayre and Northrop Sweet, at Fayette, New York, October 1830. In introducing this revelation, Joseph Smith’s history affirms that “the Lord … is ever ready to instruct such as diligently seek in faith.” a b Coogan, Michael D., A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 424 Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to David Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jr., and John Whitmer, at Fayette, New York, September 1830, following the three-day conference at Fayette, but before the elders of the Church had separated. Originally this material was published as three revelations; it was combined into one section by the Prophet for the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. a b Walvoord, John F. "Eschatological Problems VII: The Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant." Web: 19 Mar 2010. Eschatological Problems VII: The Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant

The Covenant Code, or Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah, at Exodus 20:22– 23:19; or, more strictly, the term Covenant Code may be applied to Exodus 21:1–22:16. [1] Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes said to have been given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai. This legal text provides a small but substantive proportion of the mitzvot (religious duties) within the Torah, and hence is a source of Jewish Law. Covenants involve promises. People don’t just join together at random: the agreement usually includes some kind of practical application. Sometimes it means not harming one another (Gn 31:50). Sometimes it means protecting one another (1 Sa 20). Sometimes it means agreeing not to obliterate a weaker people group (Jos 9:15). In some cases, it can have everlasting consequences—we’ll get to those later. Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the presence of six elders, at Fayette, New York, September 1830. This revelation was given some days prior to the conference, beginning September 26, 1830.Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Joseph Knight Sr., at Harmony, Pennsylvania, May 1829. Joseph Knight believed the declarations of Joseph Smith concerning his possession of the Book of Mormon plates and the work of translation then in progress and several times had given material assistance to Joseph Smith and his scribe, which enabled them to continue translating. At Joseph Knight’s request, the Prophet inquired of the Lord and received the revelation.

Michael D. Coogan, A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 62–68New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The New Covenant is a covenant made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all mankind. In the New Covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people. Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christian theologian John F. Walvoord maintains that the Davidic covenant deserves an important place in determining the purposes of God and that its exegesis confirms the doctrine of a future reign of Christ on earth. [33] While Jewish theologians have always held that Jesus did not fulfill the expectations of a Jewish messiah, Dispensational (historically grammatically literal) biblical theologians are almost unanimous that Jesus will fully fulfill the Davidic covenant, the provisions of which Walvoord lists as: The form and content of the code is similar to many other codes from the near east of the early first millennium BC. It also resembles the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. According to many scholars including Martin Noth and Albrecht Alt, the covenant code probably originated as a civil code with the Canaanites, and was altered to add Hebrew religious practices. Michael Coogan sees a noticeable difference between the Covenant Code and the non-biblical codes like the Code of Hammurabi. The Covenant Code, like other biblical codes, differs from these by including among the laws dealing with criminal and civil matters various regulations concerning worship. Both, however, set the laws in an explicitly religious context. [7] Relationship to the Ritual Decalogue [ edit ] Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to James Covel, at Fayette, New York, January 5, 1831. James Covel, who had been a Methodist minister for about forty years, covenanted with the Lord that he would obey any command that the Lord would give to him through Joseph the Prophet.