covenant

1. A binding agreement; a compact. See synonyms at bargain.
2. Law.
   1. A formal sealed agreement or contract.
   2. A suit to recover damages for violation of such a contract.
3. In the Bible, God's promise to the human race.

To promise by or as if by a covenant.

To enter into a covenant.

[Middle English, from Old French, from present participle of convenir, to agree. See convene.]

A promise in an indenture, or any other formal debt agreement, that certain activities will or will not be carried out.

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The purpose of a covenant is to give the lender more security. Covenants can cover everything from minimum dividend payments to levels that must be maintained in working capital.

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1. Language in a loan agreement by which the borrower pledges to do certain things and refrain from others. An affirmative covenant may require the borrower to maintain adequate property insurance, make timely loan payments, and provide audited financial statements. A negative covenant (also called a restrictive covenant) prohibits the borrower from selling or transferring assets, defaulting, or taking specific actions that would diminish the value of the collateral or impair the value of the lender's ability to collect the loan. Failure to perform as agreed might cause the lender to accelerate the loan, or call (demand full payment of) the loan.

2. Enforceable clause in a bond contract protecting the interests of bondholders. There are various kinds of bond covenants: an agreement to charge sufficient fees, common in municipal bonds, to produce the required revenue (a rate covenant); an agreement not to sell or encumber the project (a negative covenant); an agreement to maintain adequate insurance and debt service (a protective covenant).

Promise written into Deeds and other instruments agreeing to performance or nonperformance of certain acts, or requiring or preventing certain uses of the property.
Example: Deed covenants are often used to:

• maintain a land parcel in a specified use such as residential

• enforce architectural and design standards

• control the Density of future development

• prohibit certain practices, such as the sale of liquor

noun

1. A legally binding arrangement between parties: agreement, bond, compact, contract, convention, pact. See agree/disagree.
2. An agreement, especially one involving a sale or exchange: bargain, compact, contract, deal, transaction. See agree/disagree.
3. A declaration that one will or will not do a certain thing: assurance, engagement, guarantee, guaranty, pledge, plight, promise, solemn word, vow, warrant, word, word of honor. See obligation.

verb

1. To enter into a formal agreement: bargain, contract. See agree/disagree.
2. To guarantee by a solemn promise: pledge, plight, promise, swear, vow. Idioms: give one's word of honor. See agree/disagree, obligation.

Definition: pact, promise
Antonyms: disagreement

v

Definition: agree
Antonyms: break, disagree

An undertaking about a future action or other performance understood to be binding on the person giving it. A covenant shares certain features with a promise, but the two have been distinguished in various ways. Covenants were legally enforceable when bare promises were not. Thomas Hobbes denied that a mere promise created a (moral) obligation, but argued that a covenant (in certain circumstances) did. For Hobbes, a covenant involved the promise of future performance given in return for a benefit either received or expected, whereas a promise was a simple statement about the will of the promissor. In Hobbes's writings, and more generally, an especially important covenant involved a promise of obedience or allegiance sufficient to ground a political obligation: his version of the social contract which creates the state was a covenant of every man with every other man to relinquish rights of self-government in favour of the sovereign. This was more than a mere promise, because each man received the benefit of the undertakings given by others.

— Andrew Reeve

For more information on covenant, visit Britannica.com.

The Bible records numerous covenants. In Genesis 6:18, God, after telling Noah of His intent to destroy all life, informs him that he will be granted a covenant and be saved by means of the ark he has constructed. After the Flood, God again invokes a covenant (although it is not clear if this is the same covenant or a new one) in which He obligates Himself never again to destroy all of life by flood (Gen. 9:8). Covenants are also common between individuals in the Bible (e.g., Gen. 21:28; Josh. 9:15, etc.).

Establishment of a covenant was usually marked by a ceremonial act. For instance, Genesis 26:26-33 tells of a covenant being accompanied by a meal as well as an oath; Jeremiah 34:18 refers to passing between the "halves" of a calf cloven in two (see below). Another common feature of covenants in the Bible is the designation of an ot or symbol of the covenant, such as the rainbow of Genesis 9:13 or the monument of stones erected by Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:51). The covenants of the Bible resemble other legal documents of the Ancient Near East.

Three covenants recounted in the Bible have figured significantly in subsequent Jewish history. They are the covenant between the pieces, the covenant of Circumcision, and the Sinaitic covenant.

The covenant between the pieces (Gen. 15:7-21) In response to Abraham's query as to how he will know for certain that he is to inherit the Land of Canaan<, God instructs him to take a number of animals and cut them in half. Abraham arranges the halves opposite one another. God promises Abraham the land between "the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates," informing him that his right to the land will not be realized until his descendants have undergone an extended exile. A "flaming torch" (symbolically representing God) then passes between the animal parts.

Based upon this passage and Jeremiah 34:18 (see above), it seems clear that a common way of enacting a covenant was for both parties to pass through the halves of slaughtered animals. The meaning of this was probably something akin to a curse being laid upon anyone violating the agreement---that he suffer the same fate as the animals between whose parts he has passed. This method of finalizing an agreement explains the Hebrew terminology "to cut a covenant" (li-kherot berit). Traditional sources view the covenant between the pieces as a legally binding commitment by God to grant perpetual ownership of the Land of Canaan, subsequently Erets Israel, to Abraham's progeny.

The covenant of circumcision (Gen. 17) The Bible recounts the appearance of God to Abraham, when the latter is 99 years old. God promises to grant Abraham a covenant and reiterates various other promises. He commands Abraham to circumcise all male descendants and slaves, explaining that this will be the ot---symbol---of the covenant. Abraham obeys, circumcising himself, his slaves, and his 13-year-old son Ishmael. Subsequently, every newborn male child is to be circumcised at the age of eight days.

The Sinaitic covenant (Ex. 19-24) This covenant is generally understood to be a renewal and expansion of Abraham's covenant with God. Some three months after the Exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel arrive at Mount Sinai. Moses ascends the mountain and returns with a decree from God to establish a covenant according to which the children of Israel will obey God and thus be considered unique among the peoples, a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. The people agree and there follows a great theophany during which the entire people experiences God. The content of this theophany is the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). With the conclusion of the Decalogue, the people, fearful and overwhelmed by the experience of the Deity, demand that Moses henceforth serve as mediator. There follows a large body of additional legislation, which Moses records and submits to the people for final confirmation. When the people declare their approval, Moses sprinkles the blood of sacrifices upon them: "Behold, this is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you in agreement with all these words" (Ex. 24:8). Moses and the elders then partake of a ceremonial meal.

The Sinaitic covenant between man and Deity is the biblical covenant par excellence. It contains all the trappings of a legal act. The text emphasizes the voluntary nature of this covenant. Prior to the theophany and subsequent to the additional legislation, the children of Israel are required to voice their consent. The covenant is marked by ceremonial acts---the bringing of sacrifices, the sprinkling of their blood upon the people, the meal consumed by Moses and the elders---evidently to finalize the agreement. After the covenant is finalized, Moses is invited to ascend the mountain to receive the "tablets of stone," subsequently known as the tablets of the covenant.

While recent research has shown significant parallels between Ancient Near Eastern treaties and the Sinaitic covenant, the idea of a covenant or treaty between the Deity and an entire people is unique to the Israelite religion and central to its development. Fundamentals of the Israelite religion such as the liberation from myth, the personal relationship with God, revelation, and the kingship of God are all rooted in the notion of covenant. Throughout the Bible, the covenant functions as the legal basis of the relationship between God and the people with whom He has contracted. Thus the prophets reprove the people using the formulations of a law suit (see for example Hos. 4:1) in which God calls heaven and earth to witness (Isa. 1:2 et. al).

The uniqueness of the covenant resides less in the content of its laws than in the revelation of those laws by the Deity. Law promulgated in the covenant is not the fiat of a particular ruler or the wisdom of sages but the command of God. The belief in God's revelation to an entire people rather than to one particular visionary or priest was also unprecedented. Since the laws of the Torah were given to the entire nation, the nation as a whole became responsible for their observance. The covenant related not only to cultic considerations but to moral ones as well. Thus, not only worship and cult but morality and the functioning of society become expressions of the Divine will. Moral law is no longer secular but religious.

The notion of covenant remained central in all subsequent Jewish thought. If the Exodus was traditionally perceived as the central motif of Judaism, the covenant was viewed as its central mechanism. The Exodus was understood theologically to offer an alternate view of reality; one based not on the principle of power as expressed in Egyptian slavery but rather on the premise of a concerned and benevolent Creator who intervenes in history and guarantees its ultimate redemption. In the covenant, God is seen as calling upon the Jewish people to be loyal to Him and live according to the principles of the Exodus. Contemporary Jewish theologians continue to view the idea of a covenant between the Jewish people and God as a relevant and fundamental principle of Jewish doctrine. Thus, Joseph Dov Soloveichik distinguishes between two covenants: the covenant of "Egypt," or fate, which binds all Jews to their shared history, suffering, and responsibility; and the covenant of "Sinai," which is a covenant of destiny in which the Jew realizes his "historic being" through Halakhah. The Reform thinker Eugene Borowitz allows for revisons of the covenant by each generation on condition that they are appropriate to the situation and remain true to the basic nature of the covenant.

"Covenant" means "contract" or "promise."

In Judeo-Christian tradition, a covenant usually takes the form of God agreeing to do something provided the people play by the rules. The Hebrew patriarchs of the Old Testament, just like the inhabitants of Canaan with whom they lived, had pragmatic theologies. To them, "God" was not an abstract philosophical idea. Their approach was simple: their religions had to work, or they shopped elsewhere.

By way of illustration, Yahweh of the Hebrews was the warrior God who led them out of captivity by conquering the Egyptians. As long as they needed his help defeating the Canaanites they agreed to put him first, to "have no other gods before [him]." But when they settled in the Promised Land and needed fertile ground and good crops, they had no qualms about worshiping Baal and Astarte, the agricultural specialists.

With the advent of Christianity, theologians needed to explain why the God of the New Testament was so different from the God of the Old Testament, even though he was supposedly the same God, "who changest not." Soon after the Protestant Reformation, "covenant theology" was employed to formulate a systematic way to describe history as a series of developing, evolving covenants between God and the human race. The sixteenth-century reformers recognized two great covenants. The Old Covenant (Testament) is called the Covenant of Works. The New Covenant (Testament) has been named the Covenant of Grace. Under the first covenant, the provisions called for obeying the law to earn favor with God. Sabbath was celebrated on the seventh day, a well-earned rest after the labors of the long week of labor, following the commands of the law. But under the new covenant, God's grace comes first, an undeserved gift. Hence, worship was done on the first day of the week, after which the rest of the week was spent laboring to say "thank you" to God for the gift of grace already given, unearned but gratefully accepted. In this view, God's eternal covenant with Jesus Christ is fulfilled before the creation of the world, while all of human history is simply playing out the drama to its predestined conclusion.

But since the Reformation, some theologians have further refined the system by identifying in scripture a progressive, cumulative series of promises. Each was given when the human race was ready for it. Numerous covenants can be found in the Bible; below are several of the most significant.

The Covenant with Adam, part 1 (Genesis 2:17): The terms were simple. God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat a certain fruit, or they would die. (Adam ate the fruit, and "in Adam's fall, we sinned all," as the saying goes.)

The Covenant with Adam, part 2 (Genesis 3:15): Children of Adam and Eve were going to be constantly "at enmity" with Satan. (In many religious traditions, such enmity is continually emphasized.)

The Covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:1-17): This promise came with the sign of the rainbow. God said it was a reminder that "I will never again destroy the earth with a flood. Be fruitful and multiply." (God didn't destroy Earth again, and humans were fruitful and multiplied.)

The Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3): God said to Abraham, the father of three world religions, "Leave here and go to Canaan. I will bless your descendants and curse your enemies." (Abraham kept his part of the bargain. Some would argue that both descendants and enemies received both blessing and curses.)

The Covenant with Moses (Exodus 19:5): "Obey the Commandments and you will be a 'holy people.' (The Israelites fudged on this one from time to time but are still known as "God's chosen people.")

The Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:3): The covenant is here quoted exactly because it is causing tremendous political, personal, and national problems in our day.

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you this day, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he has scattered you.

(This one is rather uncanny. Because many Jews believe it has come to pass exactly as promised over the last two thousand years, it provides justification for them to claim Israel as the fulfillment of God's promise. It also gives American conservative Christians and Jews justification for a government policy endorsing Israel over the Palestinians and converts a political land battle into a holy war. Meanwhile, the Palestinians, who live there too, wonder why they should be bound by the promise of someone else's God.

The Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:12-16): God tells David, "I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed." (Well, the first provision was certainly fulfilled, as David's songs are widely read. And, although it took a long time, Israel has certainly been "planted." But the part about not being disturbed? Well, the Palestinians claim some promises, too.)

The "New Covenant" (Jeremiah 31:31-37): God says, "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.… I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts," instead of on tablets of stone. (The Christian Church claims to be the recipient of this promise, calling itself "the new Israel.")

Sources: Bucke, Emory Stevens et al, eds. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 4 vols. New York: Abingdon Press, 1962. Scofield Reference Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing. 1971.

Many of Israel's religious ideas are expressed in the terminology of human society and politics. Thus God is thought of as "Father," or as a "King," who gives "laws". One of the most original, pervasive and fruitful of these metaphors from human society is the idea that between God and man there is a covenant, that is, an explicit sworn agreement defining the terms of their relation. Very prominent in the Hebrew Scriptures, "covenant," also gives its name to the two parts of the Christian Bible, the "Old Covenant," and the "New Covenant." Rediscovery of the ancient political world in which Israel lived has set in motion an active restudy of biblical covenant ideas which has clarified and vivified the faded religious metaphor. Three points now seem fundamental. (a) The Bible presents no single unified covenant idea, but rather two principal – and almost converse-conceptions. One, the covenant of obligation is binding only upon the human partner; the other, the covenant of grant binds God to carry out a solemn promise. (b) These ideas are related to different types of ancient political instruments: the first to the treaty between a great king and a subordinate king, and the second to the royal grant. (c) The conception of a religious covenant changed with the progressive modification of political forms.

At one pole is the covenant of obligation. On the basis of previous acts of salvation, and without undertaking any specific obligations himself, God binds the people to abide by certain stipulations. If obedient, they will experience rich blessings, but if they are unfaithful, they will bring on themselves calamitous curses. More than a mere idea, this covenant was at times a social and political reality of powerful unifying force, since it bound the individuals and tribes of Israel together in allegiance to a common God and observance of fundamental social obligations to one another, such as respect for property, life and justice.

The secular model for this conception of covenant has emerged from the study of ancient treaties, after recovery of political archives of the Hittites. The Hittite treaties, dating from a time shortly before the emergence of the nation of Israel (Late Bronze Age), represent only one branch of a treaty tradition shared in essentials by all areas of the ancient Near East. Evidence suggests that in many respects Hittite treaties were much like those that earliest Israel would have known.

The typical treaty has five main parts. First is a preamble giving the titles of the "Great King," who grants the treaty. Next is a historical prologue, where the Great King sets forth his past dealings with the vassal king, stressing the major power's favors towards the minor ruler and his royal house. Then comes a series of explicit stipulations, the actions to be performed or avoided by the vassal (though not applying to the Great King.). Fourth is a list of the pact's witnesses, the gods both of the Great King and of the vassal. Fifth is a list of blessings to come on the minor king if he obeys, and curses if he disobeys.

It has been shown that this format was the model for the Israelite covenant of obligation, that is, for the Sinai covenant (Ex chap. 20) or the early covenant, described in Joshua chapter 24. God gives a covenant, based on his past acts of salvation ("I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt"); God himself does not swear to any specific future undertaking, whereas the people of Israel are tied to specific obligations toward the deity and toward one another. The ten Commandments, inscribed on the "tablets of the covenant," spell out what the obligations are; obedience to them offers great blessings but curses attend any transgression.

Along with such general analogies, scholars have detected similarities in detail between ancient treaties and biblical conceptions of a religious covenant. In Joshua chapter 24, the history of Israel before God is set as a prologue to the covenant, which is thereby vindicated as a greatful response to the divine king's past favors. Covenant blessings, and in even greater quantity, curses, abound in Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28. Still other aspects of biblical thought, such as the "love" of God and the "knowledge" of God now appear to be derived ultimately from the political vocabulary having to do with loyalty to a treaty partner. The prophets of Israel, moreover, predict the doom of an unfaithful people in colorful terms which seem to be related to curses traditionally associated with treaties. If one is horrified by Jeremiah's words (Jer 19:9) "I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters," one may at least reflect that he is echoing the terms of Assyrian treaties.

The covenant of grant is radically different, and follows a different ancient model. In the covenant with Noah, only God takes on an obligation: he will not again destroy the world by flood, and it is up to the deity to "remember" what he has promised. Similarly, God makes a covenant with the house of David. He will continue David's line forever; and not only is nothing demanded in return, but the divine favor will be maintained even if David's sons prove unfaithful (II Sam 7:1ff). The covenant with Abraham similarly involves a one-sided promise by God to grant his descendants the land of Canaan, circumcision being the "sign" of the covenant (see Gen chaps. 15 and 17). The "covenant between the parts" boldly depicts God, under the symbols of the smoking oven and the flaming torch, taking on a solemn sworn obligation by passing between the parts of severed victims, a dramatic transformation of the ritual performed by humans swearing to a covenant.

The function of this sort of covenant was to give stability and validity to important aspects of Israel's spiritual and social world: the natural order, the national home, and the divinely chosen royal dynasty. This type of covenant is based on the analogy with ancient royal grants of land and privileges.

Treaty forms and vocabulary changed over the centuries, and as the model changed, so did the religious vocabulary. Written not long before the end of Israel's first period of national independence, Deuteronomy echoes contemporary Assyrian treaties in structure, tone, and sometimes even words. "The skies above you shall be copper and the earth under you iron" is from Deuteronomy 28:23 – and echoes the vassal treaties of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon. Assuming that covenant ideas in Israel predate Deuteronomy, this illustrates how an ancient concept may be clothed in contemporary fashion. Even more radical adaptation is evident in St. Paul. Since the Greek word diatheke, used to translate the Hebrew berith ("covenant"), most commonly means "last will and testament," Paul plays on the meaning of the Greek legal term to prove that the covenant with Abraham is unchangeable, like a man's last will (Gal chap. 3).

In the NT, the OT concept is quoted and taken over. When Matthew at the end of the Sermon on the Mount quotes Jesus as speaking of two ways (Matt 7:13-14), and later in the same chapter of the two houses built on sand and rock (Matt 7:24-27), this is to be seen as an adoption and adaptation by Matthew of the Deuteronomic theology of covenant. Jesus, harking back to the blood of the covenant ceremony in Exodus chapter 24, speaks of the New Covenant in his blood at the Last Supper (Matt 26:28; Mark 14:23-25; Luke 22:20). The blood of Jesus is now the bond uniting the two parties to the covenant.

Even more than the early Christians, the Essenes, the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls, exploited the idea of a New Covenant fully, and with greater superficial fidelity to the ancient idea of a covenant of obligation. However a great shift in emphasis was involved therein, the Essenes thinking of themselves as initiating a covenant with God, not as accepting one from him; and the covenant blessing are to fall on those inside the sectarian group, with the curses reserved for those outside.

An agreement, contract, or written promise between two individuals that frequently constitutes a pledge to do or refrain from doing something.

The individual making the promise or agreement is known as the covenantor, and the individual to whom such promise is made is called the covenantee.

Covenants are really a type of contractual arrangement that, if validly reached, is enforceable by a court. They can be phrased so as to prohibit certain actions and in such cases are sometimes called negative covenants.

There are two major categories of covenants in the law governing real property transactions: covenants running with the land and covenants for title.

Covenants Running with the Land

A covenant is said to run with the land in the event that the covenant is annexed to the estate and can be neither separated from the land nor can the land be transferred without it. Such a covenant exists if the original owner as well as each successive owner of the property is either subject to its burden or entitled to its benefit. A covenant running with the land is said to touch and concern the property. For example, an individual might own property subject to the restriction that it is only to be used for church purposes. When selling the land, the person can only do so upon an agreement by the buyer that he or she, too, will only use the land for church purposes. The land is thereby burdened or encumbered by a restrictive covenant, since the covenant specifically limits the use to which the land can be put. In addition, the covenant runs with the land because it remains attached to it despite subsequent changes in its ownership. This type of covenant is also called a covenant appurtenant.

Certain easements also run with the land. An easement, for example, that permits one landowner to walk across a particular portion of the property of an adjoining landowner in order to gain access to the street would run with the land. Subsequent owners of both plots would take the land subject to such easement.

A covenant in gross is unlike a covenant running with the land in that it is personal, binding only the particular owner and not the land itself. A subsequent owner is not required to keep the promise as one would with a covenant appurtenant.

Covenants for Title

When an individual obtains title to, or possession and ownership of, real property, six covenants are ordinarily afforded to him or her. They are (1) covenant for seisin; (2) covenant of the right to convey; (3) covenant against encumbrances; (4) covenant for quiet enjoyment; (5) covenant of general warranty; and (6) covenant for further assurances.

A deed to real property that provides for usual covenants generally includes the first five of these covenants. When a deed provides for full covenants, it is regarded as giving such protection as is extended pursuant to all six covenants.

Covenants for seisin and of the right to convey are ordinarily regarded as being the same thing. Essentially, they make a guarantee to the grantee that the grantor is actually the owner of the estate that he or she is transferring.

The covenant against encumbrances promises to the grantee that the property being conveyed is not subject to any outstanding rights or interests by other parties, such as mortgages, liens, easements, profits, or restrictions on its use that would diminish its value. The existence of zoning restrictions do not constitute breach of this covenant; however, the existence of a violation of some type of zoning or building restriction might be regarded as a breach thereof.

The covenants of quiet enjoyment and general warranty both have the legal effect of protecting the grantee against all unlawful claims of others, including the grantor and third parties, who might attempt to effect an actual or constructive eviction of the grantee.

The sixth covenant, which is the covenant for further assurances, is not widely used in the United States. It is an agreement by the grantor to perform any further necessary acts within his or her ability to perfect the grantee's title.

The first three covenants of title ordinarily do not run with the land, since they become personal choses in action — rights to initiate a lawsuit — if breached upon delivery of the deed. The others are covenants appurtenant or run with the land and are enforceable by all grantees of the land.

In order to recover on the basis of a breach of a covenant of title, financial loss must actually be sustained by the covenantee, since such covenants are contracts of indemnity. In most jurisdictions, the maximum amount of damages recoverable for such a breach is the purchase price of the land plus interest.

Purposes

Land use planning is often effected through the use of convenants.

Covenants facilitate the creation of particular types of neighborhoods as part of a neighborhood plan. A housing developer might, for example, buy up vacant land to divide into building lots. A low price is paid for the undeveloped land, which the developer subsequently sells burdened with a number of restrictive covenants. The developer might stipulate in the contract of sale that the owner must retain the original size of a lot. Developers can also make owners agree that houses to be constructed upon the lots must be larger than a certain size and include other specifications to ensure that such property will more than likely sell for premium prices because of the desirability of the neighborhood. Courts enforce such covenants provided they benefit and burden all the property owners in a neighborhood equally.

Covenants will not, however, be enforced if they are intended to accomplish an illegal purpose. The Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1, 68 S. Ct. 836, 92 L. Ed. 1161 (1948), that no court or state officials have the power under law to take any action toward the enforcement of a racial covenant. In this case, a group of neighbors were bringing suit to prohibit a property owner from selling his home to blacks, based on the argument that the owner had purchased the home subject to the restrictive covenant not to sell to blacks. The covenant was found to be unenforceable based on equal housing laws. To enforce it would constitute a civil rights violation.

Literally, a contract. In the Bible, an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people and, usually, requires certain conduct from them. In the Old Testament, God made agreements with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. To Noah, he promised that he would never again destroy the Earth with a flood. He promised Abraham that he would become the ancestor of a great nation, provided Abraham went to the place God showed him and sealed the covenant by circumcision of all the males of the nation. To Moses, God said that the Israelites would reach the Promised Land but must obey the Mosaic law. In the New Testament, God promised salvation to those who believe in Jesus.

A constraint placed by local government authority upon the use of land or buildings. Applies to such matters as size of lots, use to which land can be put, amount of land that can be covered by a building.

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Common misspelling(s) of covenant

• convenant

Dansk (Danish)
n. - kontrakt, velgørenhedskontrakt, velgørenhedsklausul, pagt
v. tr. - betinge sig, slutte pagt om, indgå kontraktlig aftale om
v. intr. - kontrahere

Nederlands (Dutch)
overeenkomst, convenant

Français (French)
n. - convention, (Jur) engagement, alliance (Bible)
v. tr. - convenir de faire qch, (Jur) s'engager à verser (à)
v. intr. - convenir (de qch avec qn)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bund, Vertrag
v. - vereinbaren, vertraglich festlegen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σύμφωνο, συμφωνητικό, συνθήκη, (θρησκ.) διαθήκη

Italiano (Italian)
convenzione, patto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pacto (m), concílio (m) (Rel.)

Русский (Russian)
соглашение, завет

Español (Spanish)
n. - pacto, alianza, convenio
v. tr. - pactar, convenir
v. intr. - pactarse, convenirse, hacer alianza

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - avtal, fördrag, klausul (jur.), förbund (bibl.), utfästelse om regelbundna bidrag t välgörenhet, covenant (hist.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
契约, 盟约, 立约承诺, 订立盟约

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 契約, 盟約
v. tr. - 立約承諾
v. intr. - 訂立盟約

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 계약, 계약서
v. tr. - 계약에 의해 ~을 동의하다
v. intr. - 계약하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 契約, 誓約, 聖約
v. - 契約する, …すると誓約する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عهد, ميثاق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חוזה, אמנה, ברית, התחייבות, סעיף בחוזה‬
v. tr. - ‮הסכים בייחוד באמצעות חוזה חוקי‬
v. intr. - ‮התחייב בכתב‬

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