📖 Biblical Definition
Berit (בְּרִית) is the Hebrew word for covenant — a solemn, sworn, binding agreement, usually sealed in blood. Across Scripture, YHWH binds Himself to His people through a series of beritot: with Noah (creation-preservation, Genesis 9); with Abraham (election, Genesis 15, 17); with Moses (the law at Sinai, Exodus 19-24); with David (kingship, 2 Samuel 7); and the New Covenant (heart-renewal in Christ, Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8). The Hebrew idiom "to cut a covenant" (karat berit) recalls the bisected animals through which Abraham walked in Genesis 15:9-17 — the sworn pledge sealed in blood, with the threat: may I be as these if I break covenant. Christ Himself walked through that pledge.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew "covenant" — sworn binding agreement, often blood-ratified.
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The Hebrew word for covenant — the sworn binding agreement that structures all of Scripture's theology. Possibly from a root meaning "to cut," because covenants were ratified by cutting animals and walking between them (Gen 15). YHWH's berits with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the New Covenant in Christ run as the thread of redemptive history. The Bible is structured into Old and New Berit (Testament = covenant).
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 15:18 — "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land."
Jeremiah 31:31-33 — "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah... I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts."
Luke 22:20 — "This cup is the new testament (berit) in my blood, which is shed for you."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to vague agreement or contractual relationship; the blood-sworn, generational, life-and-death weight of berit thins.
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Modern "covenant" sounds like a fancy contract. Hebrew berit is heavier: animals cut, blood spilled, oaths sworn, generations bound. "Cut a covenant" was literal. To break covenant was to invite the animal's fate.
Recover the weight: every covenant in Scripture is blood-sworn. The New Covenant is sealed in Christ's own blood. The wine at the Lord's Supper isn't symbol-of-symbol; it is the cup of the New Berit.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew berit.
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['Hebrew', 'H1285', 'berit', 'covenant']
['Greek', 'G1242', 'diathēkē', 'covenant, testament']
Usage
"Berit is blood-sworn binding."
"Cut a covenant — the literal Hebrew picture."
"The New Berit is sealed in Christ's blood."