Greek · Strong's G1242
διαθήκη
diathḗkē (dee-ath-AY-kay)
noun, feminine
A binding disposition or covenant—God's solemn arrangement with His people, ratified in blood and fulfilled in Christ.
Diathēkē is the Septuagint's standard rendering of the Hebrew berith (covenant). In secular Greek the word often meant "last will and testament," but the biblical writers take it up to translate Yahweh's covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—solemn, blood-sealed commitments that bind the parties and define the terms of relationship.
The New Testament uses diathēkē about thirty-three times. Jesus appropriates it at the Last Supper: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25), echoing Jeremiah 31:31-34. Paul contrasts the old covenant mediated by Moses with the new covenant of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6-14; Galatians 4:24). Hebrews develops the theme most fully: Christ is the mediator of a better covenant, established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6), one which forgives sins decisively and writes the law on the heart (Hebrews 8:8-13; 10:15-18).
Hebrews 9:15-22 plays on the dual nuance of diathēkē as both "covenant" and "testament": a will only takes effect at the death of the testator, and so the new covenant required Christ's death to take effect. The result is that everything the old covenant pointed toward—forgiveness, access to God, a transformed heart—belongs to the people of the new covenant in Him.
Common English renderings
- covenant
- testament
Key verses
"for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins."
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"And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you."
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"who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
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"But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises."
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"And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
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"and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel."
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Related words