To make a covenant
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This Greek verb can describe arranging or assigning something and, in particular settings, making a covenant. Luke 22:29 uses it when Jesus speaks of bestowing a kingdom on His disciples as His Father has bestowed one on Him.
Reader summary
Full entry for διατίθεμαι (G1303) · Open the biblical lexicon
This Greek verb can describe arranging or assigning something and, in particular settings, making a covenant. Luke 22:29 uses it when Jesus speaks of bestowing a kingdom on His disciples as His Father has bestowed one on Him.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I will make (2), made [it] (2), bestow (1), has bestowed [one] (1), made (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 22:29. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (4), Luke (2), Acts (1).
This Greek verb can describe arranging or assigning something and, in particular settings, making a covenant. Luke 22:29 uses it when Jesus speaks of bestowing a kingdom on His disciples as His Father has bestowed one on Him. Acts 3:25 speaks of the covenant God made with the fathers, recalling the promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham's offspring. The object and surrounding words identify the arrangement being described.
Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 use the verb within the quoted promise of a covenant in which God's laws are placed in hearts and minds. Hebrews 9:16-17, in the BSB translation, speaks of a will and the death of the person who made it. That passage belongs within the argument about Christ's death and the promised inheritance. The verb alone does not settle every question about covenant and testament language. Its different settings should be explained from the passages rather than collapsed into a doctrine derived from its component parts.
Jesus' bestowed kingdom, the covenant promise to the fathers, Jeremiah's new-covenant promise in Hebrews, and the will analogy distinguish related uses through their stated objects and arguments.
And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father has bestowed one on Me,
Jesus speaks of bestowing a kingdom on the disciples within a conversation that contrasts domination with His own service. The promise should not be detached from that setting to authorize a present leader's claim to unrestricted rule.
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
Peter identifies his hearers as sons of the prophets and of the covenant made with their fathers. The Abrahamic promise of blessing for all families is followed by the Servant's blessing through turning people from wickedness.
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
The quoted covenant promise names the house of Israel and God's action of placing His laws in minds and hearts. The following promise of forgiveness belongs to the same passage and should remain part of the teaching.
In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it,
The BSB translation describes a will and the need to establish the maker's death. Read this within the surrounding argument about Christ's mediatorship, death, and inheritance, without claiming that the verb by itself resolves the covenant/testament discussion.
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
Hebrews returns to the promised covenant with God's laws written inwardly, then joins it with the promise that sins will be remembered no more. The surrounding argument locates this assurance in Christ's sufficient offering.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To establish a binding agreement or covenant, often with formal disposition of terms to involved parties.
To establish a binding agreement or covenant, often with formal disposition of terms to involved parties.
to place separately, arrange, dispose. Mid, only in NT;
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseI appoint, make
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
διατίθεμαι is built from these roots:
Hebrews 8:10 gives the covenant a stated content. God promises to put His laws in minds and hearts and to be God to His people; verse 12 adds forgiveness. A study of the verb should help the congregation hear those promises rather than replace them with a clever explanation of word parts. Jeremiah 31:31-34 supplies the quoted source, including the named houses of Israel and Judah.
Hebrews 9:15 then identifies Christ as mediator of a new covenant and connects His death with redemption and the promised inheritance. The will language that follows must be read within that argument. It is enough to explain the BSB translation carefully without claiming that one verb removes every interpretive question. In Luke 22, the bestowed kingdom is likewise heard beside Jesus' service. God's gracious commitment calls for attentive trust and faithful response, not a warrant for human domination.
Heb.8.10
The verb's surrounding object matters: a kingdom is bestowed, a covenant is made, and Hebrews' will analogy speaks of the person making it. Related covenant language must not be treated as though every grammatical form has one identical function or settles the whole theological argument.
Hebrews 8 and 10 explicitly quote Jeremiah 31's new-covenant promise. The connection is therefore supplied by the text itself, including inwardly written instruction and forgiveness. Acts 3:25 also recalls God's promise to Abraham. These witnesses should be heard in their own arguments without erasing the people named in the promises or deriving a complete covenant system from this verb alone.