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Craig White's Literature Courses Covenant |
 Genesis 8: the rainbow as a sign of Yahweh's covenant with Israel after Noah's flood |
Oxford English Dictionary Covenant 1.a. A mutual agreement between two or more persons to do or refrain from doing certain acts; a compact, contract, bargain . . . (No longer in ordinary use, exc. when coloured by legal or theological associations.)
7.a. Scripture. Applied esp. to an engagement entered into by the Divine Being with some other being or persons.
Genesis
9.8-11: Then God spoke to Noah . . .
saying: "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with
you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature
that is with you . . . . Thus I establish My covenant
with you: Never again . . . shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And
God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and
you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual
generations: I set My rainbow in the
cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
Covenants between the God of the Old Testament (Yahweh) with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses granted the Jews lands and rights in exchange for the people's fulfillment of obligations such as the keeping of the Sabbath, exclusive worship, etc.
American Puritans and Pilgrims often understood their relationship with God and each other in terms of a covenant.
For instance, the Mayflower Compact the Pilgrims composed aboard the Mayflower in 1620:
We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation . . . .
Or, from Puritan Governor John Winthrop's Model of Christian Charity (1631):
Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work. . . . Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it . . . .
Politically and theologically, the idea of a covenant may be secularized to describe a social contract in which people united with each other but also with a higher principle or a deity.
Comparably, marriage is often described as a "covenant" according to the same terms: persons are bound together on earth but also to God above. On the other hand, marriage as a civil ceremony may be described more as a "social contract" that may be redefined or changed by personal, group, or legal agreements. (e.g. "no-fault divorce")
