On Ash Wednesday (March 5), the church enters the holy season of Lent, in which we focus on Christ’s righteousness, sufferings and death, and the new testament in His blood. Much ink has been spilt over the decision of St. Jerome to translate the Greek “diatheke” as “testamentum” in his Latin Vulgate, which ultimately influenced the King James Version’s selection of “testament” as a translation of this term. This, in turn, led to our common division of “Old Testament” (2 Corinthians 3:14) and “New Testament” (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 9:15). However, diatheke can also mean “covenant,” which is how many recent English translations, such as the ESV, render the term (except in Hebrews 9:16–17, where it opts for “will,” as in, “last will and testament”). Lutherans tend to prefer the translation “testament” over “covenant,” since covenants in the Bible sometimes require works on the part of humans. But in no case does a testament (a will) involve the works of the beneficiary — not to mention that it must be put into effect by the death of the testator. As we will see, even “covenant” can be understood correctly — provided that we pay attention to context and keep in mind the proper distinction between Law and Gospel.
Rev. Carl Roth, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins Sarah to talk about the “Searching Scripture” feature in the March 2025 issue of the Lutheran Witness titled “Covenant or Testament?” on Jeremiah 31:31–34. This year, “Searching Scripture” is themed “Opening the Old Testament” and will walk through ways that the Old Testament witnesses to Jesus Christ and His grace, mercy and peace, delivered through the holy Christian church. Follow along every month and search Scripture with us!
Find online exclusives of the Lutheran Witness at witness.lcms.org and subscribe to the Lutheran Witness at cph.org/witness.
Jeremiah 31:31–34
The New Covenant
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org
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