Bible: Old Testament: English Standard Version

Covenants were important aspects of social and political life in the ancient “Near East,” and they are the term that the Old Testament uses to describe the binding arrangements with which God enters into relationship with humans. Covenants, as practiced between persons or nations, operated like social contracts, with stipulations of agreements and penalties for both sides. When God makes a covenant with people, that covenant always contains promises that he binds himself to, usually along with stipulations for the humans’ conduct. However, even when people break those stipulations, God is portrayed as remaining faithful to his covenants. Four major covenants are described in the Old Testament: the Noahic Covenant (which God makes with Noah, his family, and all creation in Genesis 9); the Abrahamic Covenant (made with Abraham in Genesis 15 and 17); the Mosaic Covenant (made with all of Israel under Moses’s leadership, as recorded in Exodus 19 and 24); and the Davidic Covenant (made with David and his royal line in 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, and 2 Chronicles 7).