OLD TESTAMENT – NEW TESTAMENT

INTRODUCTION

 

This terminology is found on the cover of many Christian bibles, and even when it is not present in print it is in the mind of essentially every person who has been exposed to any Christian preaching.  As generally understood, Old Testament refers to the Hebrew bible as a whole, and New Testament refers to the Gospels and letters that have been preserved from the writings of the apostles of Yeshua.  The implication of this terminology as it has been used for most of the past 2000 years is that the Hebrew scriptures have been superseded by the "New Testament".  This idea is primarily supported by a superficial understanding of Hebrews 8:13:

 

When he said, “A new testament,” he has made the first obsolete.  But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

 

The misunderstanding arises primarily due to confusion in the difference between the terms testament and covenant and their use in the Hebrew versus the Greek texts (as well as most translations into other languages) of the bible.

 

COVENANT

 

The classical Hebrew term for a covenant is ברית, and the corresponding term in Koine Greek is συνθηκη.  The term ברית occurs 287 times in the Hebrew bible, but συνθηκη occurs just 14 times in the LXX and mostly as a translation for terms other than ברית.  In the vast majority of cases the LXX uses the term διαθηκη as the translation for ברית.  The noun form does not occur in the New Covenant texts, but the verbal form συντιθημι does appear three times (Lk 22:5, Ac 23:20, Jo 9:22).

 

According to BDB the term ברית comes from the verbal root ברה, which has the base meanings of bind, treaty, covenant.  The Hebrew bible includes the following range of uses for the nominal term:

 

1.     ברית between two or more persons

·      treaty, alliance, covenant

·      constitution, ordinance

·      agreement, pledge

·      alliance of friendship

·      alliance of marriage

 

2.     ברית between God and man

·      alliance of friendship

·      covenant

·      keeping stipulations of a covenant

 

According to Liddell-Scott (classical and Koine Greek lexicon), συνθηκη is a nominal form derived from the verbal compound συντιθημι meaning put together, agree, make a covenant.  The listed range of meanings include the following:

 

1.     In early classical Greek a compound

2.     convention, compact

3.     article of a compact or a treaty

4.     Articles of agreement mostly in plural

5.     covenant, treaty

 

The fundamental characteristic of ברית, whether between two or more humans or between God and men, is that it is a binding agreement with stipulations and obligations for all parties involved.  When the agreement is between individuals of equal stature, the obligations are applied mutually.  When the agreement is between individuals of vastly different stature (e.g., a king and his subjects or YHWH and humans) the scope of obligations are generally vastly different.

 

TESTAMENT

 

The word for testament in the New Covenant texts is διαθηκη.  This is a nominal form derived from the verbal compound διατιθημι.  The nominal for occurs 34 times and the verbal form 6 times.  According to standard Greek usage during the first century CE, these terms mean the following:

 

1.     διατιθημι – to assign by will, make a will or testament

2.     διαθηκη – testament, will

 

The only place in the entire New Covenant writings where this standard Greek usage occurs is in Hebrews 9:16, 17:

 

For where a testament exists, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.  For a testament is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

 

Elsewhere the New Covenant use corresponds to that in the LXX by using the term διαθηκη as a translation for the Hebrew term ברית.  There is a modern Hebrew word for will, testament – צוואה – that is attested in Talmudic literature and later, but there is nothing of the sort in the Hebrew bible.  The reason for translating ברית in the Hebrew bible texts by διαθηκη in the LXX is now a matter of scholarly debate, and one that can never really be resolved.  Nevertheless, this practice continued throughout the New Covenant writings, and it has become the standard parlance in Christian churches.  The question of how to translate this Greek term remains a matter of scholarly debate.  Some maintain that the word should always be translated as testament, but others insist that it should be translated by covenant whenever it refers to one of the covenants in the Hebrew bible.

 

CONSEQUENCES

 

The confusion between the terms covenant and testament is the result of a mistranslation in the LXX, and mistranslations always have consequences.  The most prominent consequence arises directly from Hebrews 9:16, 17.  The most common Christian interpretation is Old Testament = Hebrew Bible, so the Hebrew Bible is obsolete and passing away.  This conclusion is just plain false on many levels. 

·      The Hebrew bible is filled with covenants being established both between men and between God and men.  Consider particularly the covenants between God and Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses…  Several times there were formal inauguration ceremonies, but neither God nor the individuals involved died before the covenant was in force.

·      From Hebrews 7 through 10 the author emphasizes that the “Old Testament” he is referring to is the Sinai Covenant that was established through Moses.  Consequently, the equation Old Testament = Hebrew Bible is the product of superficial reasoning and bad exegesis.  This covenant was initially inaugurated with an animal sacrifice, and then the covenant remained in force until its provisions were violated by the people.  There was at least one covenant renewal ceremony as recorded in Deut 27 ff, but finally YHWH did expel the people from the land because of their faithlessness.  However, the Abrahamic Covenant, which was unconditional on the part of God, guaranteed a future restoration.

·      According to the book of Hebrew, the “New Testament” is the New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-35.  This passage does in fact state that the New Covenant will replace the Old Covenant, which the people had broken.  Contrary to the teaching of many, or most, Christian leaders, this did not render Torah obsolete.  Rather than being based on the Ten Words, which had been inscribed on tablets of stone, YHWH would write his Torah on the hearts and the minds of his people, and they would all know him.  (See 2 Cor 3:2, 3.) Thus, the substance of Torah has not changed, just the means by which it is experienced by God's covenant people.