covenant

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The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Translation commentary on Isaiah 24:5

The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants: The sinfulness of the people contaminated the land itself (compare Deut 21.1-9). The Hebrew verb rendered polluted refers to religious impurity, not environmental pollution. Several translations render it “defiled” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “desecrated” (Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Under its inhabitants is an unusual expression. The Septuagint is clearer with “through/by those who inhabit it” (similarly New International Version, Revised English Bible). Good News Translation gives a helpful model for the first two lines, saying “The people have defiled the earth.”

For they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant: The conjunction for introduces the reason for the earth’s bad condition. It is caused by the sins of its people. There are three synonymous expressions here, which is typical for Isaiah. The laws, statutes and covenant clearly refer to God’s laws and covenant. Good News Translation makes this explicit with “by breaking God’s laws and by violating the covenant he made to last forever.”

They have transgressed the laws has the sense of overstepping the boundary established by the Torah, God’s Law. In other words, the people have broken it. The Hebrew word rendered laws (torah) refers to more than just legal requirements; it points to all that Yahweh taught the people (see the comments at 2.3).

Violated the statutes means the people have disobeyed Yahweh’s commands. This line is parallel with the previous one. Some languages may need to combine them (so Good News Translation). A model that does this is “they have broken and transgressed Yahweh’s laws.”

The people have also broken the everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant refers to the eternal covenant God made with all of creation through Noah in Gen 9.8-17. This is the first time the term covenant occurs in Isaiah. It is a key concept in the Bible. Contemporary English Version says “agreement,” which is a good alternative. If it is necessary in the receptor language to identify who made the covenant (that is, God), Good News Translation provides a good model. See also both examples below.

We suggest the following examples to translate this verse:

• The earth lies polluted because the people have disobeyed God’s teachings, overturned his statutes, and broken the eternal covenant with him.

• The earth is dirty/impure since its inhabitants have disobeyed Yahweh’s teachings, changed his laws, and failed to live by his covenant that he keeps for ever.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .