Covenant

A covenant is a legal binding of two parties, not necessarily equals and a description of the blessings and curses that attend it. God created no explicit covenant with Adam at creation, asking only that he be fruitful and multiply. After the flood, God covenanted with Noah on behalf of his future offspring never to destroy the earth again and requiring that humankind refrain from blood. God covenanted again with Abraham in a lengthy process, promising him heirs uncountable; the sign of the covenant was circumcision - an acknowledgement that God controls reproduction. God's final covenant in the Tanakh is with Moses on behalf of the people of Israel. It is contracted in a fiery cloud and requires that Israel obey not only the universally applicable Ten Commandments, but also the highly detailed laws in the Book of the Covenant, ritually channeled through the blood sacrifices mediated by...