Book of the Covenant

Biblical Text and Contents

The phrase "book of the covenant" appears in Exodus 24:7. After Moses had written down the words of the LORD, he read this book to the people, and they answered, "All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient." Moses then sprinkled the blood of the sacrificial animals on the people and declared it "the blood of the covenant" (Exodus 24:8). Through this ceremony the Sinai covenant was ratified.

The text does not specify the extent of the book. The name is nonetheless commonly applied to Exodus 20:22–23:33, which immediately follows the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Its contents may be outlined as follows:

• Regulations on the altar and worship (20:22–26): no idols are to be made; altars are to be built of earth or of unhewn stone.
• Laws concerning slaves and bodily injury (ch. 21): the release of Hebrew servants in the seventh year, and penalties for murder, assault, and injury. The principle of retribution, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (21:23–25), is also found here.
• Laws concerning property and restitution (21:28–22:15): cases such as an ox goring a person, theft, and restitution.
• Protection of the vulnerable (22:21–27): strangers, widows, and orphans are not to be mistreated, and no interest is to be taken from a poor neighbor.
• Just judgment (23:1–9): false testimony and bribery are forbidden.
• Sabbath rest and feasts (23:10–19): the sabbatical year and the Sabbath, along with the three annual feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering.
• Promise and warning (23:20–33): the LORD's promise to send an angel to lead Israel into Canaan, and a warning not to serve the gods of that land.

Background

The Hebrew sefer means a book or scroll, and berit means covenant. The laws of the Book of the Covenant combine casuistic law (law framed by citing specific cases) in the conditional form "If…, then…" with apodictic commands of the form "Thou shalt not…." Scholars frequently compare these laws with ancient Near Eastern law codes such as the Code of Hammurabi. Views differ on when the Book of the Covenant was written and how it took shape. Traditionally it has been read as the words Moses received at Mount Sinai.

2 Kings 23:2 also mentions a "book of the covenant" found in the temple during the reign of King Josiah. A widely known view connects this book with Deuteronomy, and it is generally read as distinct from the Book of the Covenant in Exodus.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Book of the Covenant sets out the concrete terms of the covenant between God and Israel. The same principle recurs in Leviticus 24:17–22 and Deuteronomy 19:18–21, and the command to protect the stranger is carried forward in Leviticus 19:33–34.

In the New Testament, Jesus cited the principle of retribution and taught, "That ye resist not evil" (Matthew 5:38–42). At the Last Supper, Jesus' description of the cup as his "blood of the covenant" (Mark 14:24) and as the "new covenant" (Luke 22:19–20) recalls the covenant-making scene of Exodus 24. Hebrews 9:19–20 refers directly to Moses' sprinkling of blood on the book and the people. Hebrews 8:6–13 goes on to explain the new covenant through Christ by comparison with the Sinai covenant.

Interpretation and Debated Questions

Christian traditions differ on how the laws of the Book of the Covenant apply to believers today. In the Reformed tradition, the Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 19) divides the law into moral, ceremonial, and judicial law. The Confession holds that the judicial laws given to the nation of Israel expired together with that state, while the underlying principles of equity retain their significance. Lutheranism addresses the question within the distinction between law and gospel. Dispensationalism tends to regard the Mosaic law as the norm of a past dispensation.

Some provisions, such as those concerning slaves or capital punishment, are difficult for modern readers. Some interpreters read them as laws intended to restrain the customs of the time and protect the vulnerable; others read them as laws limited to the particular era and society of Israel.

In the Korean Church

The Feast of Harvest Thanksgiving (Maekchu Gamsajeol) observed by Korean churches is often grounded in the Book of the Covenant's command to keep "the feast of harvest" (Exodus 23:16). The Feast of Ingathering is commonly understood to be the same festival as the Feast of Tabernacles, and it is often mentioned as well when the biblical background of harvest thanksgiving is explained.