The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man

BOOK I.

shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven," Matt. v. 19. It is, therefore, with a kind of sacred .awe I undertake this work; praying God, that, laying aside every prejudice, I may demean myself a tractable disciple of the Holy Scriptures, and with modesty impart to my brethren, what I think 1 have learned from them : if happily this my pool- performance may serve to lessen the number of disputes, and help to clear up the truth ; than which nothing should be ac- counted more valuable.

Etymology II. As it is by words, especially the words of those of the word languages in which God was pleased to reveal his sacred mysteries to men, that we can, with hopes of success, come to the knowledge of things, it will be worth while more accurately to inquire into the import both of the Hebrew word ma, and the Greek StaS^icj], which the Holy Spirit makes use of on this subject. And first, we are to give the true etymology, and then the different significations, of the Hebrew word. With respect to the former, the learned are not agreed : some derive it from ma, which in Piel signifies to cut down ; because, as we shall presently observe, covenants were solemnly ratified by cutting or dividing animals asunder. It may be also derived from the same root in a very different sig- nification ; for as x-a properly signifies to create, so, metapho- rically, to ordain or dispose, which is the meaning And hence it is, that the Hellenist Jews make use of TO K Certainly it is in this sense that Peter, 1 Pet. ii. 13, calls e power appointed by men, and for human purposes, avQp KTiaig, " the ordinance of man ;" which, I think, Grotius has learnedly observed on the title of the New Testament. Others had rather derive it from rna (as iraw from raw), signifying, be- sides other things, to choose. And in covenants, especially of friendship, there is a choice of persons, between whom, of things about which, and of condition upon which, a covenant is entered into : nor is this improperly observed.

its different III. But rna is vai'iously taken in Scripture : sorne- sigmficauons. ^ mes improperly, and sometimes properly. Im- properly, it denotes the following things: 1st. An immutable ordinance made about a thing : in this sense God mentions " his covenant of the day, and his covenant of the night," Jer. xxxiii. 20. That is, that fixed ordinance made about the uninterrupted vicis- situde of day and night, which, chap. xxxi. 36, is called pn,that is, statute, limited or fixed, which nothing is to be added to, or taken from. In this sense is included the notion of a testament, or of a last irrevocable will. Thus God said, Numb, xviii. 19, " I have given thee and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee NTJ thy nba ma nVp pnV, by a statute for ever : it is a covenant of salt for ever." This observation is of use, more fully to explain

the nature of the covenant of grace, which the apostle -proposes under the similitude of a testament, the execution of which de- pends upon the death of the testator, Heb. ix. 15, 16, 17. To which notion both the Hebrew rm, and the Greek Static*}, may lead us. 2dly. A sure and stable promise, though not mutual. Exod. xxxiv. 10: " ma ma -33N ran behold, I make a covenant ; before all thy people I will do marvels." Isa. lix. 21 : " This is my covenant with them, my spirit shall not depart from them." 3dly. It signifies also a precept ; and to cut or make a covenant, is to give a precept. Jer. xxxiv. 13, 14 : "I made a covenant with your fathers, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother." Hence it appears in what sense the de- calogue is called God's covenant. But properly, it signifies a mutual agreement between parties with respect to something. Such a covenant passed between Abraham, Mamre, Escol, and Aner, who -are called, craK-mn^ja " confederates with Abraham," Gen. xiv. 13. Such also was that between Isaac and Abimelech, Gen. xxvi. 28, 29 ; between Jonathan and David, 1 Sam. xviii. 2. And of this kind is likewise that which we are now to treat of between God and man:

IV. No less equivocal is the Sta&qict) of the Greeks, The signifi . > which, both singularly and plurally, very often denotes cations of

a testament ; as Budoeus shows, in his Comment. Ling. " a0 '"" 1 - Grac. from Isocrates, ^Eschines, Demosthenes, and others. In this sense, we hinted, it was used by the apostle, Heb. ix. 15. Sometimes, also, it denotes a law, which is a rule of life ; for the Orphici and Pythagoreans denominated the rules of living, prescribed to their pupils, Stadqiccu, according to Grotius. It also often signifies an engagement or agreement ; wherefore Hesychius explains it by <ruvwjuo<ria, confederacy. There is none of these 'significations but will be of future use in the progress of this work.

V. Making a covenant, the Hebrews^ call marwna,

to strike a covenant, in the same manner 'as the Greeks covenant" 1 and Latins, ferire, icere, percutere fadus ; which ^^Q"** doubtless took its rise from the ancient ceremony of sectedani- slaying animals, by which covenants were ratified. Of ma 5 ' which rite we observe very ancient traces, Gen. xv. 9, 10. This was, then, either first commanded by God, or borrowed from some extant custom. Emphatical is what Polybius, book iv. p. 398, relates of the Cynsethenses, ITT! TMU o-^aytwv TSQ opKsg' KOI rag TTtorete iStSoo-av aX\7jXote, " over the slaughtered victims they took a solemn oath, and plighted faith to each other :" a phrase plainly similar to that God uses, Ps. 1. 5, rar -by, n*n -ma " those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." They also used to pass in the middle between the divided parts of the victim cut asunder, Jer. xxxiv. 18. Whoever wants to know