Testament vs Covenant
[incomplete]
In Christian Latin use of testāmentum. Orig. a misuse of the word, arising from the fact that Greek διαθήκη, ‘disposition, arrangement’, was applied both to a covenant (pactum, fœdus) between parties, and to a testament or will (testamentum). Prob. largely due to the use of διαθήκη (in the sense ‘covenant’) in the account of the Last Supper immediately before Christ's death, and its consequent association with the notion of a last will or testament.
The Latin words pactum, fœdus and testamentum were indiscriminate translated by the Greek word διαθήκη.
4. Scripture. A covenant between God and man: = covenant n. 7. Obs. or arch.
c1315 Shoreham i. 541
Þys hys þe chalis of my blode Of testament newe.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter cxxxi. 12
If þi sunnys hafe kepid my testament.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Baruch ii. 35
And Y shal sette to them an other testament euere durende.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Acts vii. 8
He ȝaf to him the testament of circumcisioun.
▸c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xi. 25
This cuppe is the newe testament in my blood.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12886
Þe ald testament hir-wit nu slakes, And sua þe neu begining takes.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12718
Quen drightin gan to sprad his grace..þe testament bigan he neu.
c1430 Lydgate Letabundus 248 in Minor Poems
In Reioysshyng of Crystes glad comynge; Two testamentys that day wer maad bothe Oon.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xliv. 216
His elect mother and arke of testament, Of holy chyrche the blessed lumynary.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 6
Able ministers of the New Testament [Gk. διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης: Wyclif, able mynistris of the newe testament, 1881 R.V. ministers of a new covenant].
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 14
In the reading of the old testament [R.V. at the reading of the old covenant].
5. Hence, through the application of παλαιὰ and καινὴ διαθήκη, in the Itala and Vulgate vetus and novum testamentum, to the Mosaic and Christian ‘covenants’ or ‘dispensations’ (cf. 2 Cor. iii. 6, 14 cited in 4), the term passed in early Christian Latin (and thence in the languages of the West) to the books or records of the old and new covenants. (This transition of sense took place many centuries before the adoption of the word in English, where the name was simply taken over from Latin or French in this transferred use.)
a. Each of the two main divisions of the Sacred Scriptures or Bible, the Old and the New Testament , consisting of the books of the old or Mosaic and the new or Christian covenant or dispensation respectively.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 120,
I sal yow schew wit myn entent Brefli of aiþere testament.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Prol.,
Þe lare of þe ald testament & of þe new.
▸a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 293
In þe olde testament me redeþ... In þe newe testament.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) Introd. 3
As the old testament beryth witnesse.
1532 T. Elyot Let. in Bk. named Gouernour (1880) I. Introd. p. lxxix,
Thei..doo peruse euery daye one chapitre of the New Testament.
c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 235
A Large window full of fine paintings—the history of the testaments.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 161. ¶4
In the Old Testament we find several Passages more elevated and sublime than any in Homer.
b. The New Testament as distinct from the Old; a copy of the New Testament; a volume containing this. Common in Greek Testament.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 148
So quhene, the psalme and testament to reid Wtin this land was nevir hard nor sene.
7 a. Scripture. Applied esp. to an engagement entered into by the Divine Being with some other being or persons. The Hebrew word bĕrīth is also the ordinary term for a contract, agreement, alliance, or league between men. It is constantly rendered in the Septuagint by διαθήκη ‘disposition, distribution, arrangement’, which occurs in Aristophanes in the sense ‘convention, arrangement between parties’, but usually in classical Greek meant ‘disposition by will, testament’.
Accordingly, the Old Latin translation of the Bible (Itala) appears to have uniformly rendered διαθήκη by testamentum, while Jerome translated the Hebrew by foedus and pactum indifferently. Hence, in the Vulgate, the Old Testament has the old rendering testamentum in the (Gallican) Psalter, but Jerome's renderings foedus, pactum elsewhere; the New Testament has always testamentum. In English Wyclif strictly followed the Vulgate, rendering foedus, pactum, by boond, covenaunt, rather indiscriminately, testamentum in the Psalter and New Testament always by testament. So the versions of Rheims and Douay.
The 16th cent. English versions at length used covenant entirely in Old Testament (including the Psalter), and Tyndale introduced it into 6 places in the New Testament. These the Geneva extended to 23, and the Bible of 1611 to 22 (in 2 of which Gen. had testament), leaving testament in 14 (in 3 of which Gen. had covenant). The Revised Version of 1881 has substituted covenant in 12 of these, leaving testament in 2 only (Hebrew ix. 16, 17).
Thus bĕrīth, διαθήκη, fœdus (pactum), covenant are applied to God's engagement with Noah and his posterity, Gen. vi. 18, ix. 9–17; to that made with Abraham and his posterity, Gen. xvii, of which the token was circumcision; to the institution of the Mosaic Law, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8, and to that law or its observance itself, whence the expressions book of the covenant (i.e. of the law), ark of the covenant, blood of the covenant (i.e. of beasts ritually sacrificed), land of the covenant (= promised land, Canaan).
The covenant with the Israelites, in its various phases, is commonly called the Old Covenant, in contrast to which the prophets made promise of a new covenant, Jer. xxxi. 31; and this name καινὴ διαθήκη (New Covenant ortestament) was, according to St. Luke xxii. 20, applied by Jesus to the new relation to man which God had established in Him. In this sense it is also used by St. Paul and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who contrast these two covenants (Gal. iv. 24, Hebrew viii. 13, ix. 15, etc.), also called by commentators the Temporal and the Eternal Covenant (cf. Hebrew xiii. 20).
▸a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxxi. 31
Y shal smyte to the hous of Irael and to the hous of Iuda newe pes couenaunt, not after the couenaunt that y couenauntede with ȝoure fadris [Heb. viii. 8, I schal ende a newe testament].
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2667
Hald ȝee þe couenand o þis wi[s], Do your knauebarns to circumces.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1975
A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now mi rainbow see.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Heb. viii. 8,
I shal make with the house of Israel and with the house of Iuda a new couenant [earlier versions testament].
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxiv. 28
And he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, the ten Commandements.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. viii. (heading)
And the temporall Couenant with the Fathers [is abolished] by the eternal Couenant of the Gospel.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xii. 24
The mediatour of the new Couenant [margin testament].
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xi. 892
And makes a Covenant never to destroy The Earth again by flood.
1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns i. xvii. 330
Oh how I love thy holy word, Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
c. The two divisions of the Scriptures, belonging to the Mosaic and Christian dispensations respectively, are sometimes called the Books of the Old and the New Covenant, instead of the usual form O. and N. Testament (Greek παλαιὰ and καινὴ διαθήκη).
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxxiv. 628
The Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, all which together we call the newe Couenant or the newe Testament.
1796 Newcome (title) ,
An attempt towards revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures or the new Covenant of Jesus Christ.
d. (Greater) Book of the Covenant , Little Book of the Covenant: names given by O.T. critics to certain portions of the Book of Exodus, viz. ch. xx. 22– xxiii, and ch. xxxiv. 11– 26 respectively.
8. Theol.
a. Covenant of Works, Covenant of Grace: the two relations which are represented as subsisting between God and man, before and since the Fall. The Covenant of Works (or of Life) was made with Adam for himself and his posterity upon condition of obedience; the Covenant of Grace (or of Redemption) with ‘the Second Adam’ and with his elect in him, for their deliverance from the misery and penalty into which they had fallen through transgression of the covenant of works. The theology of the covenants, or Federal Theology, was first elaborated by Koch or Cocceius (1603–1669); and attained great vogue in the 17th c., esp. among the Puritans. It is prominently developed in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and its accompanying Catechisms.
a1640 J. Ball Treat. Covenant of Grace (1645) 8
The Covenant of workes, wherein God covenanteth with man to give him eternall life upon condition of perfect obedience in his own person. The Covenant of Grace, which God worketh with man promising eternal life upon condition of believing.
1643–7 Westm. Conf. Faith vii,
Of Gods Covenant with Man.
1647 Assembly's Larger Catech. A. xxxi,
The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.
1647 Humble Advice Assembly of Divines conc. Shorter Catechism (new ed.) 8
When God had created Man, he entered into a Covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect Obedience.
1656 Bp. J. Taylor Answer to Bp. of Rochester 105
Only the Covenant of works God did make with all men till Christ came; but he did never exact it after Adam.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding 351
Thus..was my Soul..tossed sometimes headlong into despair, sometimes upon the Covenant of Works.
1774 J. W. Fletcher Disc. in First Pt. Equal Check 34
An account of the two [grand] covenants, that God entered into with man.
b. Applied to the engagement with God which is entered into by believers at their baptism, or admission into the visible church.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.vi,
The couenand or condition maid in baptyme.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 154
Baptisme implyeth a couenant or league betweene God and man.
1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation iv. 200
Yet have they not anie more power to make them members of Gods Church (if they be not under the visible covenant).
1645 Direct. Publ. Worship 43
To improove and make the right use of their Baptisme; and of the Covenant sealed thereby betwixt God and their soules.
1786 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 325
That solemn service, the renewing of our covenant with God.
The citations in chronological order.
1300a Cursor Mundi 120, I sal yow schew wit myn entent Brefli of aiþere testament.
1315cc Shoreham i. 541 Þys hys þe chalis of my blode Of testament newe.
1340a R. Rolle Psalter cxxxi. 12 If þi sunnys hafe kepid my testament.
1340a R. Rolle Psalter Prol., Þe lare of þe ald testament & of þe new.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Acts vii. 8 He ȝaf to him the testament of circumcisioun.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Baruch ii. 35 And Y shal sette to them an other testament euere durende.
1382▸a Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxxi. 31 Y shal smyte to the hous of Irael and to the hous of Iuda newe pes couenaunt, not after the couenaunt that y couenauntede with ȝoure fadris [Heb. viii. 8, I schal ende a newe testament].
1384▸c Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xi. 25 This cuppe is the newe testament ...
1387▸a J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. ...(1869) II. 293 In þe olde testament ... In þe newe testament.
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12718 ... his grace..þe testament bigan he neu.
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12886 Þe ald testament hir-wit nu slakes, ...
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1975 A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now ...
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2667 Hald ȝee þe couenand o þis wi[s], Do your ...
1430c Lydgate Letabundus 248 i...Two testamentys that day wer maad bothe Oon.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) Introd. 3 As the old testament beryth witnesse.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xliv. 216 His elect mother and arke of testament, ...
1532 T. Elyot Let. in Bk. named Gouernour (1880) I. Introd. p. lxxix, Thei..doo peruse euery daye one chapitre of the New Testament.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.vi, The couenand or condition maid in baptyme.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Heb. viii. 8, ... house of Iuda a new couenant [earlier versions testament].
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 148 So quhene, the psalme and testament to...
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxxiv. 628 The Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, all which together we call the newe Couenant or the newe Testament.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 154 Baptisme implyeth a couenant or league ...
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 14 In the reading of the old testament ...
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 6 Able ministers of the New Testament [Gk. διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης: Wyclif, able mynistris of the newe testament, 1881 R.V. ministers of a new covenant].
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxiv. 28 And he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, ...
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. viii. (heading) ... the temporall Couenant ... Couenant of the Gospel.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xii. 24 The mediatour of the new Couenant [margin testament].
1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation iv. 200 ... (if they be not under the visible covenant).
1640a J. Ball Treat. Covenant of Grace (1645) 8 The Covenant of workes,... The Covenant of Grace,...
1643–7 Westm. Conf. Faith vii, Of Gods Covenant with Man.
1645 Direct. Publ. Worship 43 ...and of the Covenant sealed thereby betwixt God and their soules.
1647 Assembly's Larger Catech. A. xxxi, The covenant of grace was made with Christ ...
1647 Humble Advice Assembly of Divines conc. Shorter Catechism (new ed.) 8 When God had created Man, he entered into a Covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect Obedience.
1656 Bp. J. Taylor Answer to Bp. of Rochester 105 Only the Covenant of works God did make with all men till Christ came; but he did never exact it after Adam.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding 351 Thus..was my Soul..tossed sometimes headlong into despair, sometimes upon the Covenant of Works.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xi. 892 And makes a Covenant never to destroy The Earth again by flood.
1710c C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 235 A Large window full of fine paintings—the history of the testaments.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 161. ¶4 In the Old Testament we find several Passages more elevated and sublime than any in Homer.
1774 J. W. Fletcher Disc. in First Pt. Equal Check 34 An account of the two [grand] covenants, that God entered into with man.
1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns i. xvii. 330 Oh how I love thy holy word, Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
1786 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 325 That solemn service, the renewing of our covenant with God.
1796 Newcome (title) , An attempt towards revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures or the new Covenant of Jesus Christ.
The Latin words pactum, fœdus and testamentum were indiscriminate translated by the Greek word διαθήκη.
4. Scripture. A covenant between God and man: = covenant n. 7. Obs. or arch.
c1315 Shoreham i. 541
Þys hys þe chalis of my blode Of testament newe.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter cxxxi. 12
If þi sunnys hafe kepid my testament.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Baruch ii. 35
And Y shal sette to them an other testament euere durende.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Acts vii. 8
He ȝaf to him the testament of circumcisioun.
▸c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xi. 25
This cuppe is the newe testament in my blood.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12886
Þe ald testament hir-wit nu slakes, And sua þe neu begining takes.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12718
Quen drightin gan to sprad his grace..þe testament bigan he neu.
c1430 Lydgate Letabundus 248 in Minor Poems
In Reioysshyng of Crystes glad comynge; Two testamentys that day wer maad bothe Oon.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xliv. 216
His elect mother and arke of testament, Of holy chyrche the blessed lumynary.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 6
Able ministers of the New Testament [Gk. διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης: Wyclif, able mynistris of the newe testament, 1881 R.V. ministers of a new covenant].
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 14
In the reading of the old testament [R.V. at the reading of the old covenant].
5. Hence, through the application of παλαιὰ and καινὴ διαθήκη, in the Itala and Vulgate vetus and novum testamentum, to the Mosaic and Christian ‘covenants’ or ‘dispensations’ (cf. 2 Cor. iii. 6, 14 cited in 4), the term passed in early Christian Latin (and thence in the languages of the West) to the books or records of the old and new covenants. (This transition of sense took place many centuries before the adoption of the word in English, where the name was simply taken over from Latin or French in this transferred use.)
a. Each of the two main divisions of the Sacred Scriptures or Bible, the Old and the New Testament , consisting of the books of the old or Mosaic and the new or Christian covenant or dispensation respectively.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 120,
I sal yow schew wit myn entent Brefli of aiþere testament.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Prol.,
Þe lare of þe ald testament & of þe new.
▸a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 293
In þe olde testament me redeþ... In þe newe testament.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) Introd. 3
As the old testament beryth witnesse.
1532 T. Elyot Let. in Bk. named Gouernour (1880) I. Introd. p. lxxix,
Thei..doo peruse euery daye one chapitre of the New Testament.
c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 235
A Large window full of fine paintings—the history of the testaments.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 161. ¶4
In the Old Testament we find several Passages more elevated and sublime than any in Homer.
b. The New Testament as distinct from the Old; a copy of the New Testament; a volume containing this. Common in Greek Testament.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 148
So quhene, the psalme and testament to reid Wtin this land was nevir hard nor sene.
7 a. Scripture. Applied esp. to an engagement entered into by the Divine Being with some other being or persons. The Hebrew word bĕrīth is also the ordinary term for a contract, agreement, alliance, or league between men. It is constantly rendered in the Septuagint by διαθήκη ‘disposition, distribution, arrangement’, which occurs in Aristophanes in the sense ‘convention, arrangement between parties’, but usually in classical Greek meant ‘disposition by will, testament’.
Accordingly, the Old Latin translation of the Bible (Itala) appears to have uniformly rendered διαθήκη by testamentum, while Jerome translated the Hebrew by foedus and pactum indifferently. Hence, in the Vulgate, the Old Testament has the old rendering testamentum in the (Gallican) Psalter, but Jerome's renderings foedus, pactum elsewhere; the New Testament has always testamentum. In English Wyclif strictly followed the Vulgate, rendering foedus, pactum, by boond, covenaunt, rather indiscriminately, testamentum in the Psalter and New Testament always by testament. So the versions of Rheims and Douay.
The 16th cent. English versions at length used covenant entirely in Old Testament (including the Psalter), and Tyndale introduced it into 6 places in the New Testament. These the Geneva extended to 23, and the Bible of 1611 to 22 (in 2 of which Gen. had testament), leaving testament in 14 (in 3 of which Gen. had covenant). The Revised Version of 1881 has substituted covenant in 12 of these, leaving testament in 2 only (Hebrew ix. 16, 17).
Thus bĕrīth, διαθήκη, fœdus (pactum), covenant are applied to God's engagement with Noah and his posterity, Gen. vi. 18, ix. 9–17; to that made with Abraham and his posterity, Gen. xvii, of which the token was circumcision; to the institution of the Mosaic Law, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8, and to that law or its observance itself, whence the expressions book of the covenant (i.e. of the law), ark of the covenant, blood of the covenant (i.e. of beasts ritually sacrificed), land of the covenant (= promised land, Canaan).
The covenant with the Israelites, in its various phases, is commonly called the Old Covenant, in contrast to which the prophets made promise of a new covenant, Jer. xxxi. 31; and this name καινὴ διαθήκη (New Covenant ortestament) was, according to St. Luke xxii. 20, applied by Jesus to the new relation to man which God had established in Him. In this sense it is also used by St. Paul and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who contrast these two covenants (Gal. iv. 24, Hebrew viii. 13, ix. 15, etc.), also called by commentators the Temporal and the Eternal Covenant (cf. Hebrew xiii. 20).
▸a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxxi. 31
Y shal smyte to the hous of Irael and to the hous of Iuda newe pes couenaunt, not after the couenaunt that y couenauntede with ȝoure fadris [Heb. viii. 8, I schal ende a newe testament].
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2667
Hald ȝee þe couenand o þis wi[s], Do your knauebarns to circumces.
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1975
A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now mi rainbow see.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Heb. viii. 8,
I shal make with the house of Israel and with the house of Iuda a new couenant [earlier versions testament].
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxiv. 28
And he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, the ten Commandements.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. viii. (heading)
And the temporall Couenant with the Fathers [is abolished] by the eternal Couenant of the Gospel.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xii. 24
The mediatour of the new Couenant [margin testament].
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xi. 892
And makes a Covenant never to destroy The Earth again by flood.
1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns i. xvii. 330
Oh how I love thy holy word, Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
c. The two divisions of the Scriptures, belonging to the Mosaic and Christian dispensations respectively, are sometimes called the Books of the Old and the New Covenant, instead of the usual form O. and N. Testament (Greek παλαιὰ and καινὴ διαθήκη).
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxxiv. 628
The Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, all which together we call the newe Couenant or the newe Testament.
1796 Newcome (title) ,
An attempt towards revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures or the new Covenant of Jesus Christ.
d. (Greater) Book of the Covenant , Little Book of the Covenant: names given by O.T. critics to certain portions of the Book of Exodus, viz. ch. xx. 22– xxiii, and ch. xxxiv. 11– 26 respectively.
8. Theol.
a. Covenant of Works, Covenant of Grace: the two relations which are represented as subsisting between God and man, before and since the Fall. The Covenant of Works (or of Life) was made with Adam for himself and his posterity upon condition of obedience; the Covenant of Grace (or of Redemption) with ‘the Second Adam’ and with his elect in him, for their deliverance from the misery and penalty into which they had fallen through transgression of the covenant of works. The theology of the covenants, or Federal Theology, was first elaborated by Koch or Cocceius (1603–1669); and attained great vogue in the 17th c., esp. among the Puritans. It is prominently developed in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and its accompanying Catechisms.
a1640 J. Ball Treat. Covenant of Grace (1645) 8
The Covenant of workes, wherein God covenanteth with man to give him eternall life upon condition of perfect obedience in his own person. The Covenant of Grace, which God worketh with man promising eternal life upon condition of believing.
1643–7 Westm. Conf. Faith vii,
Of Gods Covenant with Man.
1647 Assembly's Larger Catech. A. xxxi,
The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.
1647 Humble Advice Assembly of Divines conc. Shorter Catechism (new ed.) 8
When God had created Man, he entered into a Covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect Obedience.
1656 Bp. J. Taylor Answer to Bp. of Rochester 105
Only the Covenant of works God did make with all men till Christ came; but he did never exact it after Adam.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding 351
Thus..was my Soul..tossed sometimes headlong into despair, sometimes upon the Covenant of Works.
1774 J. W. Fletcher Disc. in First Pt. Equal Check 34
An account of the two [grand] covenants, that God entered into with man.
b. Applied to the engagement with God which is entered into by believers at their baptism, or admission into the visible church.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.vi,
The couenand or condition maid in baptyme.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 154
Baptisme implyeth a couenant or league betweene God and man.
1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation iv. 200
Yet have they not anie more power to make them members of Gods Church (if they be not under the visible covenant).
1645 Direct. Publ. Worship 43
To improove and make the right use of their Baptisme; and of the Covenant sealed thereby betwixt God and their soules.
1786 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 325
That solemn service, the renewing of our covenant with God.
The citations in chronological order.
1300a Cursor Mundi 120, I sal yow schew wit myn entent Brefli of aiþere testament.
1315cc Shoreham i. 541 Þys hys þe chalis of my blode Of testament newe.
1340a R. Rolle Psalter cxxxi. 12 If þi sunnys hafe kepid my testament.
1340a R. Rolle Psalter Prol., Þe lare of þe ald testament & of þe new.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Acts vii. 8 He ȝaf to him the testament of circumcisioun.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Baruch ii. 35 And Y shal sette to them an other testament euere durende.
1382▸a Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxxi. 31 Y shal smyte to the hous of Irael and to the hous of Iuda newe pes couenaunt, not after the couenaunt that y couenauntede with ȝoure fadris [Heb. viii. 8, I schal ende a newe testament].
1384▸c Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xi. 25 This cuppe is the newe testament ...
1387▸a J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. ...(1869) II. 293 In þe olde testament ... In þe newe testament.
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12718 ... his grace..þe testament bigan he neu.
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12886 Þe ald testament hir-wit nu slakes, ...
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1975 A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now ...
1400a (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2667 Hald ȝee þe couenand o þis wi[s], Do your ...
1430c Lydgate Letabundus 248 i...Two testamentys that day wer maad bothe Oon.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) Introd. 3 As the old testament beryth witnesse.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xliv. 216 His elect mother and arke of testament, ...
1532 T. Elyot Let. in Bk. named Gouernour (1880) I. Introd. p. lxxix, Thei..doo peruse euery daye one chapitre of the New Testament.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.vi, The couenand or condition maid in baptyme.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Heb. viii. 8, ... house of Iuda a new couenant [earlier versions testament].
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 148 So quhene, the psalme and testament to...
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxxiv. 628 The Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, all which together we call the newe Couenant or the newe Testament.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 154 Baptisme implyeth a couenant or league ...
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 14 In the reading of the old testament ...
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. iii. 6 Able ministers of the New Testament [Gk. διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης: Wyclif, able mynistris of the newe testament, 1881 R.V. ministers of a new covenant].
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xxxiv. 28 And he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, ...
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. viii. (heading) ... the temporall Couenant ... Couenant of the Gospel.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xii. 24 The mediatour of the new Couenant [margin testament].
1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation iv. 200 ... (if they be not under the visible covenant).
1640a J. Ball Treat. Covenant of Grace (1645) 8 The Covenant of workes,... The Covenant of Grace,...
1643–7 Westm. Conf. Faith vii, Of Gods Covenant with Man.
1645 Direct. Publ. Worship 43 ...and of the Covenant sealed thereby betwixt God and their soules.
1647 Assembly's Larger Catech. A. xxxi, The covenant of grace was made with Christ ...
1647 Humble Advice Assembly of Divines conc. Shorter Catechism (new ed.) 8 When God had created Man, he entered into a Covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect Obedience.
1656 Bp. J. Taylor Answer to Bp. of Rochester 105 Only the Covenant of works God did make with all men till Christ came; but he did never exact it after Adam.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding 351 Thus..was my Soul..tossed sometimes headlong into despair, sometimes upon the Covenant of Works.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xi. 892 And makes a Covenant never to destroy The Earth again by flood.
1710c C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 235 A Large window full of fine paintings—the history of the testaments.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 161. ¶4 In the Old Testament we find several Passages more elevated and sublime than any in Homer.
1774 J. W. Fletcher Disc. in First Pt. Equal Check 34 An account of the two [grand] covenants, that God entered into with man.
1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns i. xvii. 330 Oh how I love thy holy word, Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
1786 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 325 That solemn service, the renewing of our covenant with God.
1796 Newcome (title) , An attempt towards revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures or the new Covenant of Jesus Christ.