A compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh)
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בְּרִית (berit) names a covenant, treaty, alliance, or other binding agreement. The word occurs in agreements between people as well as in the covenants God establishes, so the noun alone does not tell readers which parties, promises, obligations, signs, or sanctions are present.
Reader summary
Full entry for בְּרִית (H1285) · Open the biblical lexicon
בְּרִית (berit) names a covenant, treaty, alliance, or other binding agreement. The word occurs in agreements between people as well as in the covenants God establishes, so the noun alone does not tell readers which parties, promises, obligations, signs, or sanctions are present.
The BSB source-word alignment has 284 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of the covenant (65), a covenant (45), My covenant (35), covenant (32), the covenant (27).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 6:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (27), Genesis (27), Jeremiah (24), Joshua (22).
בְּרִית (berit) names a covenant, treaty, alliance, or other binding agreement. The word occurs in agreements between people as well as in the covenants God establishes, so the noun alone does not tell readers which parties, promises, obligations, signs, or sanctions are present. Those details must come from each passage. Genesis 15 presents the Lord making covenant with Abram and confirms the land promise in a solemn ceremony.
Exodus 19 places Israel's covenant obedience within the Lord's prior deliverance and His purpose for a treasured people. The Davidic texts join covenant and royal hope, while Jeremiah 31 promises a new covenant marked by God's instruction written within, true knowledge of Him, and forgiveness. Across these settings, berit helps readers follow God's faithful commitments without flattening Noah, Abraham, Sinai, David, and the new covenant into one undifferentiated arrangement.
The New Testament identifies Jesus' blood with the new covenant, but that fulfillment rests on the passages' developing covenant story rather than on the lexical meaning of berit by itself.
בְּרִית ranges from human treaties to the covenants God establishes. Each use must be read through its own parties, promises, obligations, signs, and place in the biblical story. The word marks a binding relationship, but context explains what that relationship contains.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
The Lord formally makes covenant with Abram and specifies the land promise. The divided-animal scene stresses the seriousness of the act and God's initiative, but the passage should govern how the ceremony is explained rather than a reconstructed treaty custom.
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
At Sinai, covenant keeping belongs to Israel's calling as the Lord's treasured possession among all nations. This covenant has its own historical setting and obligations and should not be treated as interchangeable with every other covenant.
Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?
David's final words ground royal hope in an everlasting covenant established and secured by God. The statement belongs to the Davidic setting and does not make every use of berit a royal promise.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Jeremiah announces a new covenant with Israel and Judah. The following verses identify its defining gifts: God's instruction within, covenant knowledge, and forgiveness.
You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:
The psalm recalls God's sworn covenant with David, then laments the apparent collapse of the king. Covenant promise becomes the basis for faithful lament and hope, not an excuse to ignore the psalm's crisis.
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.
Hebrew word. Covenant sealed through ritual blood sacrifice; God's binding commitment to His people, foundational to redemptive history
Covenant sealed through ritual blood sacrifice; God's binding commitment to His people, foundational to redemptive history
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh) BDB: covenant Usage: confederacy, (con-) feder(-ate), covenant, league.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 6 selected witnesses from 284 lexical occurrence verses.
בְּרִית is built from these roots:
The adulterous woman forsakes covenant, framing immorality as theological betrayal. Hosea 6:7-11
Nehemiah’s prayer is covenant-conscious from beginning to end. He interprets both the exile and the hope of restoration through God’s berît with Israel. This helps believers today read their own situation through the lens of God’s covenant in Christ rather than through vague spirituality or national narratives. Hosea 8:1-7
The written covenant underscores the seriousness and structure of renewed obedience. Isaiah 49:7-13
Shows the Servant as mediator of covenant restoration. Nehemiah 1:1-11
Explicit legal framework of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh. Nehemiah 10:1-39
Legal framework of indictment. Proverbs 2:12-22
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Covenant language gives biblical promises historical and relational shape. In Genesis 15, God confirms His promise to Abram. At Sinai, the redeemed people are summoned to covenant obedience. In the Davidic texts, covenant sustains hope for a faithful royal house. Jeremiah 31 addresses covenant breaking with God's promise to write His instruction within and forgive sin.
These passages belong together, but they are not interchangeable. A careful study lets each covenant retain its parties, terms, signs, and canonical role. The New Testament's new-covenant language then rests on this accumulated witness: Jesus gives Himself for the forgiveness Jeremiah promised and mediates the better covenant described in Hebrews. Berit does not prove every later theological conclusion at the word level.
It directs the teacher back to the covenant texts, where God's faithfulness, human responsibility, judgment, mercy, and fulfillment can be traced without collapsing their differences.
Gen.15.18
בְּרִית is a feminine noun used for human and divine agreements. The common idiom כָּרַת בְּרִית, often rendered 'make a covenant,' is literally 'cut a covenant,' but the idiom does not require readers to reconstruct the same ceremony in every occurrence. Syntax and passage context identify the parties and terms.
The Greek διαθήκη carries covenant language into the New Testament. Jesus speaks of the new covenant in His blood, and Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 to explain His priestly mediation. These texts fulfill and interpret the covenant story; they do not make the Old Testament covenants disposable or identical.
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