Covenant

Old Testament18

1. Genesis 2:16topical floor

   And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

   ›Commentary on Genesis 2:161 voice

   “Knowing once more how the will of man could sway to either side, in anticipation God secured the grace given them by a command and by the place where he put them. For he brought them into his own garden and gave them a law so that, if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow or pain or care, besides having the promise of incorruption in heaven.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 2:16→

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2. Genesis 2:17topical floor

   but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 2:172 voices

   “What is the difference between saying 'ye shall die' and 'ye shall die the death'? We ought to point out that there is nothing superfluous in the command of God. Here is my solution. Since life and death are contradictory ideas, in unaffected language we say 'we live in life' and 'die in death.'

   “Knowing once more how the will of man could sway to either side, in anticipation God secured the grace given them by a command and by the place where he put them. For he brought them into his own garden and gave them a law so that, if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow or pain or care, besides having the promise of incorruption in heaven.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 2:17→

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3. Genesis 8:16topical floor

   “Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 8:161 voice

   When Noah was ordered to enter the ark and was entrusted with the safeguarding of the seed of the earth, he was given this command, which reads, "Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you." He had separated them from their wives, so that with the help of chastity they might escape the deep and that worldwide destruction. However, after the cessation of the flood, the command was "Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you."

   Everything gathered on Genesis 8:16→

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4. Genesis 8:20topical floor

   Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.(opening verse of the passage)

   ›Commentary on Genesis 8:202 voices

   “And Noah builded an altar - Hitherto he had done nothing without particular instructions and commands from God but altars and sacrifices being already of Divine institution, he did not stay for a particular command thus to express his thankfulness.

   “Noah builded an altar - As we have already seen that Adam, Cain, and Abel, offered sacrifices, there can be no doubt that they had altars on which they offered them; but this, builded by Noah, is certainly the first on record. It is worthy of remark that, as the old world began with sacrifice, so also did the new. Religion or the proper mode of worshipping the Divine Being, is the invention or institution of God himself; and sacrifice, in the act and design, is the essence of religion.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 8:20→

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5. Genesis 9:1topical floor

   And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.(opening verse of the passage)

   ›Commentary on Genesis 9:11 voice

   “And God blessed Noah--Here is republished the law of nature that was announced to Adam, consisting as it originally did of several parts. Be fruitful, &c.--The first part relates to the transmission of life, the original blessing being reannounced in the very same words in which it had been promised at first [Ge 1:28].

   Everything gathered on Genesis 9:1→

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6. Genesis 9:8topical floor

   Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,(opening verse of the passage)

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7. Genesis 12:1topical floor

   Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.(opening verse of the passage)

   ›Commentary on Genesis 12:12 voices

   “Get out for thyself (so some read it), that is, for thy own good. Note, Those who leave their sins, and turn to God, will themselves be unspeakable gainers by the change, Prov. ix. This command which God gave to Abram is much the same with the gospel call by which all the spiritual seed of faithful Abram are brought into covenant with God.

   “This call included two promises: the first, showing the land of his future posterity; and the second, that in his posterity all the earth was to be blessed (Ge 12:2). Abraham obeyed, and it is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as a striking instance of his faith (Heb 11:8).

   Everything gathered on Genesis 12:1→

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8. Genesis 15:1topical floor

   After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 15:12 voices

   “You have probably heard a great many sermons on the first part of the text, "I am your shield," so, on this occasion, I am going to leave that portion in order to more fully consider the second part—"I am your exceeding great reward." Notice, first, the circumstances under which these words were spoken to Abraham. It must have been in his memory that not very long before, he had parted from his nephew, Lot, and had given him his choice as to which way he would go with his flocks and his herds.

   “The word of the Lord came unto Abram - That is, God manifested himself to Abram, in a vision - Which supposeth Abram awake, and some sensible token of the presence of the divine glory, saying, Fear not Abram - Abram might fear lest the four kings he had routed, should rally and fall upon him.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 15:1→

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9. Genesis 15:9topical floor

   And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”(opening verse of the passage)

   ›Commentary on Genesis 15:92 voices

   “God appointed that each of the beasts used for his service should be three years old, because then they were at their full growth and strength. God must be served with the best we have. We do not read that God gave Abram particular directions how to manage these, knowing that he was well versed in the custom of sacrifices.

   “Take me a heifer - עגלה eglah, a she-calf; a she-goat, עז ez, a goat, male or female, but distinguished here by the feminine adjective; משלשת meshullesheth, a three-yearling; a ram, איל ayil; a turtle-dove, תר tor, from which come turtur and turtle; young pigeon, גוזל gozal, a word signifying the young of pigeons and eagles. See Deu 32:11. It is worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or commanded to be sacrificed under the Mosaic law is to be found in this list.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 15:9→

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10. Genesis 15:18listed key text

    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—(opening verse of the passage)

    ›Commentary on Genesis 15:182 voices

    “The Lord made a covenant - כרת ברית carath berith signifies to cut a covenant, or rather the covenant sacrifice; for as no covenant was made without one, and the creature was cut in two that the contracting parties might pass between the pieces, hence cutting the covenant signified making the covenant.

    “He had said before, To thy seed will I give this land, ch. xii. But here he says, I have given it; that is, (1.) I have given the promise of it, the charter is sealed and delivered, and cannot be disannulled. Note, God's promises are God's gifts, and are so to be accounted.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 15:18→

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11. Genesis 17:1topical floor

    When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.(opening verse of the passage)

    ›Commentary on Genesis 17:12 voices

    “What God requires that we should be to him. The covenant is mutual: Walk before me, and be thou perfect, that is, upright and sincere; for herein the covenant of grace is well-ordered that sincerity is our gospel perfection.

    “BELOVED, all Scripture is the Word of God but some Scripture is expressly so. Much of its teaching comes through inspired men but some of it was spoken by God's own mouth, directly and without instrumentality. Such are the Words now before us which were of old spoken to Abram by the Almighty God. These sentences ought for this reason to be regarded with peculiar reverence and considered with double attention. The glow of Divinity is fresh upon the lines— bend, then, your souls to the understanding of them.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 17:1→

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12. Genesis 17:19topical floor

    But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

    ›Commentary on Genesis 17:191 voice

    “If Abraham, in his prayer for Ishmael, meant that he would have the covenant made with him, and the promised seed to come from him, then God did not answer him in the letter, but in that which was equivalent, nay, which was every way better. (1.) God repeats to him the promise of a son by Sarah: She shall bear thee a son indeed.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 17:19→

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13. Genesis 21:22topical floor

    At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.(opening verse of the passage)

    ›Commentary on Genesis 21:222 voices

    “Abimelech and Phichol--Here a proof of the promise (Ge 12:2) being fulfilled, in a native prince wishing to form a solemn league with Abraham. The proposal was reasonable, and agreed to [Ge 21:24].

    “At that time - This may either refer to the transactions recorded in the preceding chapter, or to the time of Ishmael’s marriage, but most probably to the former. God is with thee - מימרא דיי meimera daiya, the Word of Jehovah; see before, Gen 15:1. That the Chaldee paraphrasts use this term, not for a word spoken, but in the same sense in which St. John uses the λογος του Θεου, the Word of God, (Joh 1:1), must be evident to every unprejudiced reader. See on Gen 15:1 (note).

    Everything gathered on Genesis 21:22→

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14. Genesis 21:27topical floor

    So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.(opening verse of the passage)

    ›Commentary on Genesis 21:272 voices

    “And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well--Wells were of great importance to a pastoral chief and on the successful operation of sinking a new one, the owner was solemnly informed in person.

    “Took sheep and oxen - Some think that these were the sacrifices which were offered on the occasion, and which Abraham furnished at his own cost, and, in order to do Abimelech the greater honor, gave them to him to offer before the Lord.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 21:27→

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15. Genesis 22:16topical floor

    saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

    ›Commentary on Genesis 22:161 voice

    “Abraham lifted up his eyes . . . and behold . . . a ram, &c.--No method was more admirably calculated to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it (Joh 8:56).

    Everything gathered on Genesis 22:16→

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16. Genesis 26:3topical floor

    Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

    ›Commentary on Genesis 26:31 voice

    “Sojourn in this land - In Gerar, whither he had gone, Gen 26:1, and where we find he settled, Gen 26:6, though the land of Canaan in general might be here intended. That there were serious and important reasons why Isaac should not go to Egypt, we may be fully assured, though they be not assigned here; it is probable that even Isaac himself was not informed why he should not go down to Egypt. I have already supposed that God saw trials in his way which he might not have been able to bear.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 26:3→

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17. Genesis 26:26topical floor

    Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.(opening verse of the passage)

    ›Commentary on Genesis 26:262 voices

    “Then Abimelech went to him--As there was a lapse of ninety years between the visit of Abraham and of Isaac, the Abimelech and Phichol spoken of must have been different persons' official titles. Here is another proof of the promise (Ge 12:2) being fulfilled, in an overture of peace being made to him by the king of Gerar.

    “(Verse 26.) And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his counselor, and Phicol the commander of his army. Regarding Ahuzzath his counselor, in Hebrew it means his group of friends: it signifies not so much a single person as a crowd of friends who came with the king, among whom was also Phicol the commander of his army.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 26:26→

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18. Genesis 26:30topical floor

    So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

    ›Commentary on Genesis 26:302 voices

    “He made them a feast - Probably on the sacrifice that was offered on the occasion of making this covenant. This was a common custom.

    “Then Abimelech went to him--As there was a lapse of ninety years between the visit of Abraham and of Isaac, the Abimelech and Phichol spoken of must have been different persons' official titles. Here is another proof of the promise (Ge 12:2) being fulfilled, in an overture of peace being made to him by the king of Gerar.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 26:30→

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