The two divisions in our Bible should be labeled The Old Covenant and the New Covenant, not the Old and New Testament.
When the Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek roughly 200 years before Jesus, they had two Greek words from which to choose in translating the Hebrew word for covenant, בְּרִית, _briyth_: συνθήκη, _suntheke_, and διαθήκη,_diatheke_.
In Luke 22:5, the haggling negotiation between Judas and the Temple leadership is rightly referred to as "They agreed (covenanted) to give him money," using the verbal form of _suntheke_. _Suntheke_ implies a negotiation, debating back and forth in order to come to an agreement.
But the Hebrew word for covenant does not involve negotiation. God does not negotiate; he imposes the terms of salvation. That's why the rabbis chose the Greek word Διαθήκη, _Diatheke_ for בְּרִית, _briyth_.
Luke 22:29 contrasts the negotiated covenant with Judas by using the verbal form of _diatheke_, where it is used twice and should be translated: "And I covenant (verbal form of _diatheke_) to you a kingdom, as my Father has covenanted to me."
The Father's covenant with the Son takes place in eternity, but it points in time first to God's having made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15:18, where God called down damnation on his own head if the promise to Abram failed (Genesis 15:8-17).
God fulfilled this promise when the Lord Jesus hung on the cross (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Galatians 3:10-14).
Why do Abraham's natural children, those who are of the Islamic and Jewish faiths not understand this? 2 Corinthians 3:14-17 makes it very clear. |
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