Eossible that it was the increasing intercourse ctween Israel and the heathen, and the fact that many of the latter were accepting the religion of Israel, which induced the author of P to preserve a record of this covenant. The Abrahamic covenant (Gn 17) was made with Abraham and his seed. It consisted of a promise of God, called also an oath ( Ex 6*), to multiply Abraham, to give Canaan to him and his seed, and to be their God (Gn 17*- '■ *) ; and it imposed on him and his seed the obligation of circumcision (v.'"). Circumcision is called the sign of the covenant but also the covenant itself (v.'"- "• "), just as the Sabbath is both the co\enant and the sign of it (Ex 31'*-"). As in Noah's covenant, the promise to Abraham and his seed regarded as a people was absolute (v.'), but in regard to individuals the penalty of neglecting circumcision was death (v.^*). 'I'he OT idea ia hardly that Abraham represented his seed ; his seed are conceived as existing — as they were when the author wrote (cf. Dt 29"). The Decalogue does not now stand in P, neither does it speak of any covenant at Sinai, except in the general reference Lv 26" 'the covenant of their ancestors,' at the Exodus; theonly partof the Decalogue spoken of as a covenant is the ■^al.^)ath (Ex 31'")." The ' ark of the covenant ' becomes ' the ark of the testimony' (my). P gives an account of the his- torical revelati(/n of the divine names, Eloliim, El Shaddai, and J". The covenant with Noah was made by Elohim, that with Abraham by El Shaddai, and a covenant made by J" might have been expected. It is wanting; the covenant in Ex 6'-' is the Abiahainic. Thus in P, (1) the only covenant with Israel is the Abrahamic ; all Israel's subsequent history, their mnltiplication in Egyjit and their entrance into Canaan, is but the fullil ment of this covenant (Ex 2^6<», cf. Ps 105'"). In P, as everywhere else, the essence of the cove- nant is, ' I will be their God' (Gn 17'"), or mori^ fully, ' I will take you to me for people, and I will be to you God '^ (Ex 6'). In the idea of P this promise was realized by God dwelling among the people on the one hand, and accepting their offerings on the other. Hence the need of the tabernacle, God's dwelling-place, oflerings, and ministrants. These are all divine institutions, creations and gifts of God, the fultilineut in detail of the covenant to be their God. And (2) the covenant is everlasting (Gn 17') ; it continues valid in the Exile and at all times, and it will yet prove effectual in the restoration of the people and in their being the people of God in truth (Lv 2B'""'"'). Neither in P nor in Ezk are the ritual institutions the means of salvation, they e-xjiress the stale of salvation, which is altogether of God ; and their performance merely conserves it. If a different way of thinking ever came to prevail, it arose long after P.
• Ai the history of creation (On V-V) ia written mainly to introduce the rest of the Sabbath, in which creation issueii, the Sabbath mit'iit have l»cen expected to be a covenant with creation and Adam. This is not the case, nor does OT speak of a covenant with Adam (Hos 6^ is obscure). In Sir 1417 ' tba covenant from the beginning was, tliou shalt die the death,' covenant appears « appointment, orvlinanco ; and death, t>cinK universal, la regarded «• the destiny of man from the be ginning.
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COVENANT
COVENANT
iv. The New Ojvenant.— As an idea in the religiouo liistory of Israel tlie new covenant means: tirst, that Israel's national existence and all lier institutions, civil and sacred, shall be dissolved (Hos 3") ; J" shall say of her, ' She is not my people, neither am I hers' (Hos 1* 2'). And secondly, that this divorce of Israel shall be but temporary — as it is, in fact, merely apparent (Is 40' 49"* 50'*- SI*"-) ; the relation between her and J" shall be renewed : ' I will say unto them which were not my people, Thou art my people ; and they shall say. Thou art my God' (Hos 2^ l'»). This is the faith and prediction of all the prophets, of Dt and of P (above in § iii.). The Exile was the dissolution of the relation between Israel and J", the rupture of the old covenant (Jer 31*^) ; the Restoration shall be the renewal of the relation, the establishment of a new covenant. But around the renewal of the relation gather all the religious ideals and aspirations of the prophets, the for- giveness of sin, righteousness and peace, and ever- lasting joy — the relation is renewed amidst the tumultuous jubilation of creation (Is 42'" 44-''^). In its visions of the new covenant OT becomes Christian. Jer. is the tirst to use the word new, but the term adds nothin" to what had been already said in the words spoken by J" to her who had been cast off : ' I will betroth thee unto me for ever ' (Hos 2'" 3'). In terms the new covenant is nothing but the old : ' I will be their God, and they shall be my people ' (Jer 31^) ; its novelty (apart from the reference to the future) lies in its subjective reality ; its terms are realized in their deepest sense. It is in this view only that its promises are 'better' (He 8'). The prophets and Dt insist greatly on the duties of the people, and assume that they are able to perform them. But when Jer. and Ezk. review the people's history, which has been one long act of unfaithfulness, they de- spair of the people (Jer 13^). To Jeremiah's expostu- lations the reply seems to come back, ' It is hope- less' (2^). Hope is now only in God. J" will make a new covenant with Israel, that is, forgive their sins and write His law on their hearts — the one in His free grace, the other by His creative act ; and thus the covenant idea shall be realized, ' I will be their God,' etc. The second part of the promise is developed in Deutero-Is. ' This is my cove- nant, saith J", my spirit which is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth ' (.'j9^') ; and even more fully in Ezk SG-^""-, cf. 11". In 20=""- Ezk. describes the act of making the new covenant, which is a repetition of that at the Exodus. This new, everlasting covenant is due to God's remem- brance of His former covenant (16'""). Both Jer. and Ezk. bring the new covenant into connexion with the DaWdic or Messianic covenant (Jer 33'*'"- »-», Ezk SV'-^, cf. 17-'^).