בְּרִית berīt – covenant, agreement, obligation
Semantic Fields:
Commitment
Author(s):
Paul Sanders, Michaël N. van der Meer
First published: 2025-06-16
Citation: Paul Sanders, Michaël N. van der Meer, בְּרִית berīt – covenant, agreement, obligation,
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2025
(WORK IN PROGRESS)
Introduction
Grammatical type: noun fem.
Occurrences: 287 HB (82/138/67); 10x Sir; 187x Qum; 1x Inscr. (Total: 485)
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Torah: Gen 6:18; 9:9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17; 14:13; 15:18; 17:2, 4, 7 (2x), 9, 10, 11, 13 (2x), 14, 19 (2x), 21; 21:27, 32; 26:28; 31:44; Exod 2:24; 6:4, 5; 19:5; 23:32; 24:7, 8; 31:16; 34:10, 12, 15, 27, 28; Lev 2:13; 24:8; 26:9, 15, 25, 42 (3x), 44, 45; Num 10:33; 14:44; 18:19; 25:12, 13; Deut 4:13, 23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:2, 9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 11, 15; 10:8; 17:2; 28:69 (2x); 29:8, 11, 13, 20, 24; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9;
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Nebiim: Josh 3:3, 6 (2x), 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 7:11, 15; 8:33; 9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16; 23:16; 24:25; Judg 2:1, 2, 20; 8:33; 9:4, 46; 20:27; 1 Sam 4:3, 4 (2x), 5; 11:1; 18:3; 20:8; 23:18; 2 Sam 3:12, 13, 21; 5:3; 15:24; 23:5; 1 Kgs 3:15; 5:26; 6:19; 8:1, 6, 21, 23; 11:11; 15:19 (2x); 19:10, 14; 20:34 (2x); 2 Kgs 11:4, 17; 13:23; 17:15, 35, 38; 18:12; 23:2, 3 (3x), 21; Isa 24:5; 28:15, 18; 33:8; 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:3; 56:4, 6; 59:21; 61:8; Jer 3:16; 11:2, 3, 6, 8, 10; 14:21; 22:9; 31:31, 32 (2x), 33; 32:40; 33:20 (2x), 21, 25; 34:8, 10, 13, 15, 18 (2x); 50:5; Ezek 16:8, 59, 60 (2x), 61, 62; 17:13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19; 20:37; 30:5; 34:25; 37:26 (2x); 44:7; Hos 2:20; 6:7; 8:1; 10:4; 12:2; Amos 1:9; Obad 1:7; Zech 9:11; 11:10; Mal 2:4, 5, 8, 10, 14; 3:1;
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Ketubim: Pss 25:10, 14; 44:18; 50:5, 16; 55:21; 74:20; 78:10, 37; 83:6; 89:4, 29, 35, 40; 103:18; 105:8, 10; 106:45; 111:5, 9; 132:12; Job 5:23; 31:1; 40:28; Prov 2:17; Dan 9:4, 27; 11:22, 28, 30 (2x), 32; Ezra 10:3; Neh 1:5; 9:8, 32; 13:29; 1 Chron 11:3; 15:25, 26, 28, 29; 16:6, 15, 17, 37; 17:1; 22:19; 28:2, 18; 2 Chron 5:2, 7; 6:11, 14; 13:5; 15:12; 16:3 (2x); 21:7; 23:1, 3, 16; 29:10; 34:30, 31 (2x), 32;
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Sira: 11:34A; 41:19B,Mas; 44:12Mas; 44:17B,Mas; 44:20B; 44:22B; 45:15B; 45:24B; 45:25B; 50:24B;
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Qumran: CD-A I:4, 17, 18, 20; II:2; III:4, 10, 11, 13; IV:9; V:12;; VI:2, 11, 19; VII:5; VIII:1, 18, 21; IX:3; X:6 (= 4Q270/4QDe fr6.IV:17); XII:11; XIII:14; XIV:2; XV:2, 3, 5, 6, 8; XVI: 1 (= 4Q271/4QDf ...); XVI:12 (= 4Q271/4QDf fr4.II:12); XIX:1, 13, 14, 16, 31, 33; XX:12 (2x), 17, 25, 29; (add 4Q266-271); 1QS I:8, 16, 18, 20, 24; II:10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 26 (rec.); III:11; IV:22; V:2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 22 (2x); VI:15, 19; VIII:9, 10, 16; X:10;
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Inscriptions: Vision of Gabriel 18.
Text Doubtful
A.1 DCH (ii:264-67) and DCHR (ii:274-77) distinguish a *בְּרִית II, ‘fetter’ (only in Ezek 20:37), and a *בְּרִית III, ‘splendour’ (only in Isa 42:6), from *בְּרִית I, ‘covenant’, ‘agreement’, ‘obligation’ (285x).
A.2 HALOT (157 s.v. בְּרִית) suggests to insert לֻחוֹת הַבְּרִית after שְׁנֵי לֻחוֹת הָאֲבָנִים in 1 Kgs 8:9 (see LXX: δύο πλάκες λίθιναι, πλάκες τῆς διαθήκης) and after שְׁנֵי הַלֻּחוֹת in the parallel verse 2 Chron 5:10 (no plus in LXX). However, although the phrase שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָאֲבָנִים לֻחוֹת הַבְּרִית occurs in Deut 9:11 (without שְׁנֵי in 9:9), there is not enough reason to add לֻחוֹת הַבְּרִית in 1 Kgs 8:9 and 2 Chron 5:10.
1 Root and Comparative Material
The etymology of בְּרִית is disputed. The most important derivations and proposed cognates are described hereafter.
A.1 The noun בְּרִית has been derived from the Akkadian noun birītu (sometimes barītu, bi/ertu), which means ‘in-between terrain, alley (between houses)’, etc. (CAD B, 252-54), or ‘space between, distance’, etc. (Black et al. 2000:45), but which can also mean ‘fetter’ (CAD B, 254: birītu 4.; Black et al. 2000:45: birītu II). This derivation of בְּרִית was advocated by Weinfeld (1973:783-84). Kutsch (1984:340) regarded it as incorrect, as it would not explain the expression כרת בְּרִית, which would literally mean ‘to cut a band/fetter’.
A.2 The noun בְּרִית has been derived from the Akkadian preposition birīt, ‘between’ (CAD B, 249-52; Black et al. 2000:45), which is comparable to the Hebrew preposition בֵּין, ‘between’. This derivation was proposed by Martin Noth (1957). Weinfeld (1973:783) rejected it because the coupling of בְּרִית with the overlapping preposition בֵּין (see, e.g., Gen 9:13, 16; 17:2, 7, 11) would result in a tautology (similarly Kutsch 1984:340), but also because of his reservations regarding the assumption that a preposition may have developed into a noun.
A.3 KBL (148 s.v. I ברה, 152 s.v. בְּרִית) derives the noun בְּרִית from the relatively rare Hebrew verb ברה, ‘to eat’ (2 Sam 13:5, 6, 13, etc.). Scholars pointed out that covenantal ceremonies often included a festive meal. Weinfeld (1973:783) and Kutsch (1984:340) rejected this derivation, since ברה seems to relate to recuperation or convalescence of sick and grieving people.
A.4 The noun בְּרִית has been interpreted as a derivative of the verb ברה II, which occurs only in 1 Sam 17:8 and is usually assumed to mean ‘to choose’. Kutsch (1984:340-41) connected the verb with Akkadian barû, ‘to look upon’, ‘to observe omens’, etc. (CAD B, 115-18; Black et al. 2000:39) and defended the translation ‘ersehen’ (‘to see’), pointing out that in Isa 28:15, 18, בְּרִית occurs in parallelism with the nouns חֹזֶה/חָזוּת, apparently derivatives of חזה, ‘to see’. Weinfeld, however, argued that the relationship between ‘observing’ and the concept of ‘pledging’, which בְּרִית implies, is too weak (Weinfeld 1973:783). Actually, HALOT (155) suggests that ברה II in 1 Sam 17:8 derives from the noun בְּרִית and means ‘enter into a בְּרִית with someone’.
A.5 Two texts form Ugarit possibly contain the word brt, ‘covenant’:
- The Ugaritic incantation KTU 1.82 contains the following text in line 5: hm tġrm lmt brtk. De Moor and Spronk interpreted brt as a cognate of Hebrew בְּרִית and translated the phrase as ‘You are pledging your covenant to Death’ (De Moor & Spronk 1984:240; De Moor 1987:176). Unfortunately, the context is damaged and the remaining text is difficult to interpret. An alternative interpretation connects brt with Akk. bārûtu, which means ‘act of divination’ (CAD B, 131-33; AHw i:110; Black et al. 2000:40). Assuming that this etymology is correct, the following two translations of the phrase are proposed in DULAT3: ‘if your forecast has committed (you) to death / Môtu’ (321-22 s.v. ġ-r-m), and ‘if you are bound (to pay) to death / Môtu (according to) your forecast / omen’ (238 s.v. brt). The latter translation occurs also with Del Olmo Lete (2014:111), who points out that the noun bārûtu occurs also in the Akkadian of Ugarit (2014:119).
- The Hurrian text KTU 1.128 from Ugarit contains the following words in lines 14-15: ʾilb15rt ʾil dn. Cross (1973:39) read these words as Canaanite divine names: ‘El of the covenant’ (cf. A.6) and ‘El the Judge’. Dijkstra, however, pointed out that the nomina recta after ʾil in the rest of this text are not Ugaritic but Hurrian words, also dn, which he translated as ‘powerful’. However, he interpreted ʾilb15rt as the divine name Ilabrat (Dijkstra 1993:161). It seems natural to regard brt as a Hurrian and not as an Ugaritic word, but the preceding word ʾil can best be interpreted as the divine name El, just like the other occurrences of ʾil in the text.
A.6 The suggestion that בְּרִית is a Canaanite word is based on the expression ʾilbrt in KTU 1.128 (see A.5) and the references to the deities בַּעַל בְּרִית, ‘Baal-Berith’, in Judg 8:33 and 9:4, and אֵל בְּרִית, ‘El-Berith’, in Judg 9:46. No possible cognates of בְּרִית (birītu, A.1; barû, A.4; bārûtu, A.5) are attested in the Akkadian El Amarna letters.
A.7 The word b-r-t occurs in Egyptian hieratic inscriptions from the time of the Nineteenth Dynasty (ca. 1292 to 1189 BCE). The Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae includes three occurrences of the word b-r-t in texts from the time of Seti I, and one from the time of Merneptah. Each of the three occurrences from the time of Seti 1 relates to an agreement implying compulsory labour, namely ploughing or harvesting. There are additional occurrences of b-r-t in hieratic texts from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, in which the word relates to an agreement, or forced labour, and in which it also seems to be a Canaanite loanword (Wimmer 2022:40-41; see also Ges18, 176 s.v. בְּרִית). A text from Medinat Habu from the reign of Ramses III reads: ‘Let us make a brt with each other!’
A.8 Perhaps relevant for the study of the etymological background of the noun בְּרִית is the common Semitic root
ברר/brr, ‘to be pure’. In Classical Hebrew this root occurs usually in the context of ‘cleaning’ objects (HALOT 162b-163) and has a cognate noun בֹּרִית, ‘alkaline salt extracted from soap plants’ (HALOT 159a). Its cognate adjective בר, ‘pure’, can be used for people (Job 11:4; Song 6:10), their heart (Ps 24:1; 73:1), and tongue (Sir 19:9). The root occurs particularly in Qumran documents (Byun 2011). Ugaritic also conveys this meaning ‘to be pure’ (of heart, KTU 2.8:4),
or ‘to be free of legal obligations (KTU 3.12:3-4) (DULAT3, 237). In Jewish Palestinian Aramaic the noun ברר means ‘purity, clearness’ (Sokoloff, DJPA, 115a).
The Classical Syriac adverb
ܒܪܪ
(brr, only in pass. part. ܒܪܝܪ) is used to convey the meaning of ‘simple, sincere, pure, innocent’ (Payne-Smith, CSD, 56b; Sokoloff, SLB, 189a). Whether Akkadian barāru and barīru A are related to this root remains dubious (CAD B, 106b-107a, 111b-112a), but in South Semitic languages and dialects this root is well-attested with the meaning ‘to be pure’. Thus in Nabatean and Palmyrene inscriptions the aphel of the verb brr occurs in the sense of ‘to purify’ (an object) (DNWSI 1, 203), Ge’ez brr I (ብር), ‘purify, make white’ (Leslau 2006:106b-107a); see also ancient Arabic and Classical Arabic BRR, ‘purify’ (II or III depending on the lexicon).
Important for the question of the etymological background of Hebrew בְּרִית is the fact that in Sabaic and Himyarite inscriptions the verb brr is attested not only with the meaning ‘to make upright’ in the causative stem (Hebrew hiphil, Arabic aphala), but also ‘to make a pledge’ or ‘oath’ in the reflexive stem (Hebrew niphal, Arabic inphaʿala) (DOSA, 59; SD, 31). In modern Arabic barra (بر) means ‘to be reverent, dutiful, devoted’ in the phaʿala formation (Hebr. qal), but also ‘to keep a promise’, ‘be true’, and ‘to warrant’, ‘to justify’ in the reflexive stem (Wehr, 61a). Hence, we find connotations like ‘to be upright’, ‘to be honest’, ‘to keep a promise’, ‘to be loyal’, with the Hebrew concept of ‘covenant making’ in cognate Semitic writings that possibly date back to the first millennium BCE.
2. Formal Characteristics
A.1 Bauer and Leander (BL, 604-05) regard בְּרִית as a fem. -it form derived from the ברה. Meyer (1969:22-23) regards בְּרִית as a qatl form. However, since the derivation of בְּרִית is questionable, these interpretations are also uncertain.
3. Syntagmatics
A.1 Among the verbs of which בְּרִית is frequently the object are כרת, קום, נתן:
- כרת qal, ‘to cut’, occurs with כרת as its object in Gen 15:18; 21:27, 32; 26:28; 31:44; Exod 23:32; 24:8; 34:10, 12, 15, 27; Deut 4:23; 5:2, 3; 7:2; 9:9; 28:69 (2x); 29:11, 13, 24; 31:16; Josh 9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16; 24:25; Judg 2:2; 1 Sam 11:1; 18:3; 23:18; 2 Sam 3:12, 13, 21; 5:3; 1 Kgs 5:26; 8:21; 20:34; 2 Kgs 11:4, 17; 17:15, 35, 38; 23:3; Isa 28:15; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 11:10; 31:31, 32, 33; 32:40; 34:8, 13, 15, 18; Ezek 17:13; 34:25; 37:26; Hos 2:20; 10:4; 12:2; Zech 11:10; Pss 50:5; 83:6; 89:4; Job 31:1; 40:28; Ezra 10:3; Neh 9:8; 1 Chron 11:3; 2 Chron 6:11; 21:7; 23:3, 16; 29:10; 34:31.
- קום hiph., ‘to establish’, occurs with בְּרִית as its object in Gen 6:18; 9:9, 11, 17; 17:7, 19, 21; Exod 6:4; Lev 26:9; Deut 8:18; Ezek 16:60, 62; Sir 45:24; 50:24.
- נתן qal, ‘to give’, occurs with בְּרִית as its object in Gen 9:12; 17:2; Num 25:12; Sir 44:22.
A.2 The most frequent verb expressing the breaking of a בְּרִית is פרר:
- פרר hiph., ‘to break’, occurs with בְּרִית as its object in Gen 17:14; Lev 26:15, 44; Deut 31:16, 20; Judg 2:1; 1 Kgs 15:19; Isa 24:5; 33:8; Jer 11:10; 14:21; 31:32; 33:20; Ezek 16:59; 17:15, 16, 18, 19; 44:7; Zech 11:10; 2 Chron 16:3; Sir 41:19.
4. Ancient Versions
Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions
A.1 Διαθήκη as dominant rendering of בְּרִית in LXX
In the LXX the noun διαθήκη is by far the most common rendering of Hebrew בְּרִית.
Διαθήκη is the rendering of ca. 267 out of the 287 occurrences of בְּרִית in MT.12
For the few exceptional renderings of בְּרִית, see A.3 below.
Since some occurences of בְּרִית in MT lack a counterpart in LXX (see A.4 below), διαθήκη is the LXX's translation in more
than 95 % of the instances.
Although the Hebrew term בְּרִית and the Greek term διαθήκη overlap semantically in as far as both concepts refer to an official arrangement, they differ with respect to the authority of the parties involved. Hebrew בְּרִית refers to an ‘agreement’, a ‘covenant’, something which implies consent from each of the parties involved. The Greek term διαθήκη (< διατίθημι, ‘to arrange’), however, occurs in ancient Greek documents outside the Jewish-Christian tradition — including the so-called apocryphal Jewish Testament literature, such as the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Testament of Abraham, Job etc. — almost exclusively in the sense of a ‘testament’, or ‘will’. This implies a unilateral arrangement devised by a higher authority for subordinate recipients, usually a disposition of property by a will provided by a testator to her or his heirs
(LSJ, 394b-395a; Adrados,
DGE V, 975a-b).
The use of this Greek word διαθήκη in the sense of ‘covenant’ is therefore typically ‘biblical Greek’, an example of ‘Greek words, Hebrew meanings’ (Hill 1967; Tov 1999:92-93), one of the best examples of a ‘calque’:
... some Greek words in the LXX have Hebrew meanings, i.e., the chief meaning of the Hebrew counterpart has been transferred to the Greek, which has then become part of the living language—these may be labeled calques (see e.g., בְּרִית = διαθήκη = “covenant” throughout the LXX, but “will, testament” in extra-biblical Greek). Calques may be expected to predate the Septuagint. (NETS, xvii)
Given the ubiquity of the equation בְּרִית and διαθήκη throughout the Greek translations of Hebrew Scripture (already in Gen 6:18, the first instance where the Greek translators had to decide upon the proper translation) it is probable that the equation was in use among Hellenistic Jews already before the Greek translation of the Pentateuch was made.
In the relatively late book of Ben Sira,
seven out of the ten attestations of the noun
בְּרִית
in Hebrew manuscripts still have a form of διαθήκη as Greek rendering:
Sir 41:19 (LXX 20); 44:12 (LXX plur), 20, 22 (LXX 23); 45:15, 24, 25.
Classical Greek has a variety of other terms to express the idea of a mutual agreement, e.g., κοινόν, ὅρκιον, σπονδαί, συνθήκη, συμβόλαιον, συνἀλλαγμα, or συγγραφή (see van der Meer 2024).
Several reasons may have played a role when Jews in the early Hellenistic period made the choice for the unusual equation of בְּרִית and
διαθήκη.
It may well be that terms with explicit pagan connotations, such as σπονδαί, were deliberately avoided. It is often stated that the logical equivalent for בְּרִית would have been συνθήκη rather than διαθήκη (e.g., Dodd 1935:31; Siegert 2001:262-64), but that term came in vogue in Greek writings from the Roman period onwards (hence its frequent use by Josephus, Aquila and Symmachus; see A.6 below). Furthermore, the term συνθήκη was used in the plural sense as ‘stipulations of an agreement’, not in the pars pro toto sense of an all-compassing regulation as presupposed by the use of the term בְּרִית (van der Meer 2024:124-26). Such observations also apply to other terms in the Greek semantic field of ‘covenant’, such as συμβόλαιον, συνἀλλαγμα, or συγγραφή, terms that are well attested by documentary papyri from Ptolemaic Egypt. It is probably even more important that these terms were used for common contracts with all sorts of connotations with juridical and economical bondage (van der Meer 2024:132). By contrast, the term διαθήκη was used almost always as high-register term for more important regulations than the contracts that could be discarded. Finally, the choice for διαθήκη instead of cognate Greek words for ‘covenant’ may also reflect the theological idea that God and humans should not be seen as equal partners. This may correspond with the observation that from the exilic period onwards the Hebrew term בְּרִית was used in the sense of a set of regulations ‘installed’ (הקים) or ‘given’ (נתן) by God to human recipients, rather than ‘cut’ (כרת) by partners on a more or less mutual basis (see
3. Syntagmatics).
For further discussion of the Greek term διαθήκη, see van der Meer 2024 and van der Meer, forthcoming.
A.2
Διαθήκη not as rendering of בְּרִית in LXX
In the LXX διαθήκη occurs also without a counterpart in MT, especially in references to the אֲרוֹן, ‘ark’.
In many cases, MT designates the ark of the sanctuary as
אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְהוָה, ‘ark of the covenant of YHWH’, or
אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית, ‘ark of the covenant’.
In the LXX אֲרוֹן is translated as κιβωτός.
Even when in MT the word בְּרִית is missing after אֲרוֹן,
the LXX often adds (τῆς) διαθήκης after κιβωτός; see
Josh 3:13, 15 (2x); 4:10, 11, 16; 6:9, 11, 12, 13;
1 Sam 5:4;
6:3, 18;
7:1 (2x);
2 Sam 6:10;
1 Kgs 2:26;
1 Chron 15:27;
16:4.
For omissions of διαθήκη after κιβωτός, see A.4.
For other occurrences of διαθήκη in the LXX without
a counterpart in MT, see
Exod 23:22;
Num 25:12 (LXXa: double rendering of בְּרִית);
Deut 29:19;
29:26 (LXXa);
Josh 24:33a (LXXa);
1 Sam 11:2;
22:8;
1 Kgs 8:9;
Isa 49:6;
2 Chron 25:4.
Furthermore, διαθήκη represents other words instead of בְּרִית in the following verses:
Exod 25:15 (LXXa; MT: אֲרוֹן);
27:21 (MT: עֵדֻת);
31:7 (MT: עֵדֻת);
39:35 (LXX 39:14; MT: עֵדֻת);
Lev 26:11 (MT: מִשְׁכָּן);
Deut 9:5 (MT: דָּבָר);
2 Sam 10:19 (LXXa:
διέθεντο διαθήκην;
MT: שׁלם hiph.);
Jer 34:16 (LXXa 41:16; MT: שֵׁם);
Ezek 16:29 (LXX plur.; MT: תַּזְנוּת);
Zech 11:14 (LXXa, etc.; MT: אַחֲוָה);
Dan 9:13 (MT: תּוֹרָה);
9:27.
A.3 Exceptional renderings of בְּרִית in LXX
-
Βααλβεριθ, DN: Judg 8:33 (part of mss; double rendering of בְּרִית: Βααλβεριθ εἰς διαθήκην for בַּעַל בְּרִית; other mss.: τῷ Βααλ διαθήκην); 9:4 (part of mss. for בַּעַל בְּרִית; other mss.: Βααλ διαθήκης);
-
Βαιθηλβεριθ, DN: Judg 9:46 (part of mss. for בֵּית אֵל בְּרִית; other mss.: οἴκου τοῦ Βααλ διαθήκης);
-
ἐντολάς (acc. plur of ἐντολή), ‘commands, orders’: 1 Kgs 11:11 (also LXXAnt);
-
οἶκος, ‘house’: 2 Chron 23:1 (apparently reading בית); LXXAnt: διαθήκη;
-
συνωμόται, ‘confederates’, for בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית: Gen 14:13.
A.4 Absence of renderings of בְּרִית in LXX
The following verses are omitted largely or entirely in the LXX, which
explains the absence of renderings of בְּרִית:
Josh 6:6;
1 Sam 18:3 (added in LXXAnt: διαθήκη); Jer 11:8; 33:20 (2x בְּרִית), 21, 25.
In 1 Sam 4:3, 4 (2x), 5, and 1 Kgs 8:6, (τῆς) διαθήκης is omitted after κιβωτός in the rendering of אֱלֹהִים/אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְהוָה, but in these cases (τῆς) διαθήκης does represent בְּרִית in LXXa and LXXAnt.
Renderings of בְּרִית are also missing in Deut 9:15;
1 Kgs 19:10 (in 19:14 also omission in LXXa, LXXAnt);
2 Kgs 17:15
(addition διαθήκη in LXXAnt);
Job 5:23?;
Dan 11:22;
2 Chron 16:3 (2nd, addition διαθήκη in LXXAnt).
A.5 Antiochene text of LXX (LXXAnt)
As several references above indicate, there is a tendency in LXXAnt to represent בְּרִית more consistently as διαθήκη.13
A.6 Other Greek translations
In Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, διαθήκη still occurs to represent
בְּרִית, but especially in Aquila and Symmachus — and only to a lesser extent in Theodotion — there is a strong tendency to represent בְּרִית by συνθήκη, ‘article of agreement’, later also ‘agreement’
(see HRCS3, 302, 1316, Appendix 214).
Peshitta (Pesh)
- ܩܝܡܐ (qyāmā < verb ܩܘܡ/qwm, ‘to rise, stand’), ‘covenant’, ‘oath’, ‘regulation’, ‘order’, ‘agreement’, etc.:15 by far the most frequent rendering, for instance, always in Torah;
- ܕܝܬܝܩܐ (dytyqʾ < Greek διαθήκη), ‘covenant’, ‘treaty’, ‘testament’:16 42 cases, e.g., Josh 3:3, 6 (2x), 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; 23:16; 24:25;
-
ܕܘܒܪ̈ܐ, plur of ܕܘܒܪܐ (dūbārā), ‘guidance’, ‘instruction’: Jer 33:20;
-
ܝܡܝܢܐ (yammīnā), ‘right (hand)’, ‘oath’: Josh 9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16;
-
ܡܘܡܬܐ (mawmāṯā), ‘oath’: Ezra 10:3 (plur); Neh 9:8 (plur), 32 (plur); 1 Chron 11:3; 2 Chron 15:12 (plur); 16:3; 21:7; 23:1, 3, 16; 34:31 (1st);
-
ܦܘܩܕܢܐ (puqdānā), ‘command, order’: Josh 7:11, 15;
-
ܫܪܟܐ (šarkā), ‘rest, remainder’: Neh 13:29;
-
ܫܪܪܐ (šrārā), ‘firmness’, ‘truth’: Neh 1:5;
-
ܝܡܐ (ymʾ) peal, ‘to swear’: Sir 44:17;
-
ܒܘܪܟܬܐ (burkṯā), ‘blessing’: Sir 44:22 (23)?.
c. Targumim (Tg: O/N/PsJ/Smr/J/K):
A.1 קְיָם as dominant rendering of בְּרִית
In the Targumim, the noun קְיָם
(including variant spellings) is the usual rendering of Hebrew בְּרִית. Jastrow describes its meaning as ‘[that which is established,] law, statute; covenant; oath, vow’ (DTT, 1359).
A.2 Exceptional renderings of בְּרִית
-
אוֹרָיתָא, ‘Torah, instruction’: Lev 26:25; Ezek 16:61;
-
דַחֲלָה, ‘fear, object of worship’: Deut 4:23;
-
קים pael, ‘to establish’: Ezek 16:8;
-
קינום, ‘oath’: 2 Chron 23:1 (secondary, first קְיָם?).
Vulgate (Vg)
-
amicitia, ‘friendship, league’: Exod 34:12 (plur); 2 Sam 3:12, 13;
-
foederatos, plur acc of foederatus, ‘federated one’: 1 Sam 11:1; foederatus: 1 Kgs 20:34 (1st, free);
-
foedus, ‘covenant’: Gen 6:18; 9:12, 13, 15, 16, 17; 14:13; 15:18; 17:2, 11, 13 (2nd), 19; 21:27, 32; 26:28; 31:44; Exod 2:24; 6:4; 23:32; 24:7, 8; 34:27, 28; Lev 2:13; 24:8; 26:25, 42 (1st), 45; Num 10:33; 25:12; Deut 5:2; 7:2; 9:11, 15; 10:8; 28:69 (29:1, 2x), 11 (29:12), 13 (29:14), 20 (29:21) 31:9, 16, 25, 26; Josh 3:3, 6 (1st), 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; 9:7, 11, 15, 16; 24:25; Judg 2:2; 8:33; 20:27; 1 Sam 4:3, 4 (2x), 5; 1 Sam 18:3; 20:8; 23:18; 2 Sam 3:21; 5:3; 15:24; 1 Kgs 3:15; 5:26 (Vg 5:12); 6:19; 8:1, 6, 21; 15:19 (2x); 20:34 (2nd); 2 Kgs 11:4, 17; 23:2, 3 (1st, 2nd), 21; Isa 24:5; 28:15, 18; 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 56:4, 6; 59:21; 61:8; Jer 14:21; 31:31; 34:13, 18; 50:5; Ezek 17:13, 18, 19; 20:37; 30:5; 37:26 (1st); Hos 2:20 (Vg 2:18); 8:1; 10:4; 12:2 (Vg 12:1); Amos 1:9; Obad 1:7; Zech 11:10; Mal 2:14; Pss 83:6 (82:6 PsH); 89:4 (88:4 PsH); Job 31:1; Dan 11:22; Ezra 10:3; Neh 9:8; 1 Chron 11:3; 15:25, 26, 28, 29; 16:6, 37; 17:1; 22:19; 28:2, 18; 2 Chron 5:2, 7; 15:12; 16:3 (2x); 23:1, 16; 29:10; 34:31;
-
ius, ‘law’, ‘right’, ‘duty’: Neh 13:29;
-
pactus, ‘agreement’: Gen 9:9, 11; 17:4, 7, 9, 10, 13 (1st), 14, 21; Exod 6:5; 19:5; 31:16; 34:10, 15; Lev 26:9, 15, 44; Num 18:19; 25:13; Deut 4:31; 5:3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9; 17:2; 29:8 (29:9), 24 (29:25); 31:20; 33:9; Josh 7:11, 15; 23:16; Judg 2:1, 20; 2 Sam 23:5; 1 Kgs 8:23; 11:11; 19:10, 14; 2 Kgs 13:23; 17:15, 35, 38; 18:12; 23:3 (3rd); Isa 33:8; 55:3; Jer 11:2, 3, 6, 8, 10; 22:9; 31:32 (2x), 33; 32:40; 33:20 (2x), 21, 25; 34:10, 15; Ezek 16:8, 59, 60 (2x), 61, 62; 17:14, 15, 16; 34:25; 37:26 (2nd); 44:7; 6:7; Mal 2:4, 5, 8, 10; Ps 25:10 (24:10 PsH), 14 (24:10 PsH); 44:18 (43:18 PsH); 50:5 (49:5 PsH), 16 (49:16 PsH); 55:21 (54:21 PsH); 74:20 (73:20 PsH); 78:10 (77:10 PsH), 37 (77:13(?) PsH); 89:29 (88:29 PsH), 35 (88:35 PsH), 40 (88:40 PsH); 103:18 (102:18 PsH); 105:8 (104:8 PsH), 10 (104:10 PsH); 106:45 (105:45 PsH); 111:5 (110:5 PsH), 9 (110:9 PsH); 132:12 (131:12 PsH); Job 5:23; 40:28 (Vg 40:23); Prov 2:17; Dan 9:4, 27; Neh 1:5; 9:32; 1 Chron 16:15, 17; 2 Chron 6:11, 14; 13:5; 21:7; 23:3; 34:32;
-
pax, ‘peace’: Josh 9:6 (free);
-
testamentum, ‘testament’, ‘covenant’: Num 14:44; Jer 3:16; Zech 9:11; Mal 3:1; Ps 25:10 (24:10 PsG), 14 (24:10 PsG); 44:18 (43:18 PsG); 50:5 (49:5 PsG), 16 (49:16 PsG); 55:21 (54:21 PsG); 74:20 (73:20 PsG); 78:10 (77:10 PsG), 37 (77:13(?) PsG); 83:6 (82:6 PsG); 89:4 (88:4 PsG), 29 (88:29 PsG), 35 (88:35 PsG), 40 (88:40 PsG); 103:18 (102:18 PsG); 105:8 (104:8 PsG), 10 (104:10 PsG); 106:45 (105:45 PsG); 111:5 (110:5 PsG), 9 (110:9 PsG); 132:12 (131:12 PsG); Dan 11:28, 30, 32; Sir 44:12 (plur), 20; 45:15 (19), 24 (30), 25 (31);
-
Baalbrith as divine name (בַּעַל בְּרִית): Judg 9:4;
-
Berith as divine name: Judg 9:46.
5. Lexical/Semantic Fields
6. Exegesis
7 Conclusion
Bibliography
For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.
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Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History and Religion of Israel, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gregorio del Olmo Lete, Incantations and Anti-Witchcraft Texts from Ugarit (SANER, 4), Boston & Berlin: De Gruyter.
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