Testament

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TESTAMENT.—The word is not found in the OT. In the text of the RV [Note: Revised Version.] of the NT it occurs only twice (Heb_9:16 f.) and is used to translate the Gr. word diathçkç, elsewhere rendered ‘covenant’ (with ‘testament’ in the margin). In Heb_9:15-20 diathçkç is three times translated ‘covenant,’ and twice ‘testament.’ An indication of the difficulty involved in its interpretation is given in the marginal note: ‘The Greek word here used signifies both covenant and testament.’
In classical Greek diathçkç means ‘a testamentary disposition,’ and synthçkç ‘a covenant.’ The latter word connotes an agreement between two persons regarded as being on an equal footing (syn-); hence it is unsuitable as a designation of God’s gracious covenants with men. The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] therefore use diathçkç as the equivalent of the Heb. word for ‘covenant’ (bĕrîth), its most frequent application being to the Divine covenants, which are not matters of mutual arrangement between God and His people, but are rather ‘analogous to the disposition of property by testament.’ In the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] diathçkç was extended to covenants between man and man, but Westcott says: ‘There is not the least trace of the meaning “testament” in the Greek Old Test. Scriptures, and the idea of a “testament” was indeed foreign to the Jews till the time of the Herods’ (Com. on Hebrews, Additional Note on Heb_9:15).
In the NT ‘covenant’ is unquestionably the correct translation of diathçkç when it occurs ‘in strictly Biblical and Hebraic surroundings’ [see Covenant]. But, as Ramsay has pointed out, there was a development in the meaning of the word after the publication of the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] . This development was ‘partly in the line of natural growth in Greek will-making, … partly in the way of assimilation of Roman ideas on wills’ (Hist. Com. on Galatians, p. 360). Therefore the question which the interpreter must ask is, ‘What ideas did the word convey to the first readers of the NT writings?’
The Revisers’ preference for ‘testament’ in Heb_9:16 f. is strongly confirmed by the fact that ‘the Roman will … appeared in the East as a document which had no standing and no meaning until after the testator’s death, and was revocable by him at pleasure.’ But whilst the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to those who knew only the Roman will, the Epistle to the Galatians was written at a time when in Hellenized Asia Minor ‘irrevocability was a characteristic feature’ of Greek will-making. The Galatian will had to do primarily with the appointment of an heir; no second will could invalidate it or ‘add essentially novel conditions.’ Such a will furnished St. Paul (Gal_3:15) with an analogy; like God’s word, it was ‘irrevocable.’ It might be supplemented in details, but ‘in essence the second will must confirm the original will’ (Ramsay, op. cit. p. 349 ff.).
In the NT, testamentum is the uniform Lat. tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of diathçkç. Frequently, therefore, it means ‘covenant’ (Luk_1:72, Act_7:3, Rom_11:27 etc.). This use of the Latin word is the explanation of the fact that, as early as the second cent of our era, the books of the Old and New Covenants were spoken of as the Old and New Testaments.
J. G. Tasker.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


(See COVENANT; HEIR; WILLS.)
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


The property or estate of the father fell, after his decease, into the possession of his sons, who divided it among themselves equally, with this exception, that the eldest son had two portions. The father expressed his last wishes or will in the presence of witnesses, and probably in the presence of the heirs, 2Ki_20:1. At a more recent period the will was made out in writing. The portion that was given to the sons of concubines depended altogether upon the feelings of the father. Abraham gave presents, to what amount is not known, both to Ishmael and to the sons whom he had by Keturah, and sent them away before his death. It does not appear that they had any other portion in the estate. But Jacob made the sons whom he had by his concubines heirs as well as the others, Gen_21:8-21; Gen_25:1-6; Gen_49:1-27. Moses laid no restrictions upon the choice of fathers in this respect; and we should infer that the sons of concubines, for the most part, received an equal share with the other sons, from the fact, that Jephtha, the son of a concubine, complained that he was excluded without any portion from his father's house, Jdg_11:1-7. The daughters not only had no portion in the estate, but, if they were unmarried, were considered as making a part of it, and were sold by their brothers into matrimony. If they had no brothers, or if they had died, the daughters then took the estate, Num_27:1-8. If any one died intestate, and without offspring, the property was disposed of according to Num_27:8-11. The servants or the slaves in a family could not claim any share in the estate as a right; but the person who made a will, might, if he chose, make them his heirs, Gen_15:3. Indeed, in some instances, those who had heirs, recognized as such by law, did not deem it unbecoming to bestow the whole or a portion of their estates on faithful and deserving servants, Pro_17:2. The widow of the deceased, like his daughters, had no legal right to a share in the estate. The sons, however, or other relations, were bound to afford her an adequate maintenance, unless it had been otherwise arranged in the will. She sometimes returned back again to her father's house, particularly if the support which the heirs gave her was not such as had been promised, or was not sufficient, Gen_38:11. See also the story of Ruth. The prophets very frequently, and undoubtedly not without cause, exclaim against the neglect and injustice shown to widows, Isa_1:17; Isa_10:2; Jer_7:6; Jer_22:3; Eze_22:7; Exo_22:22-24; Deu_10:18; Deu_24:17.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


tes?ta-ment: The word διαθήκη, diathḗkē, almost invariably rendered ?covenant,? was rendered in the King James Version ?testament? in Heb_9:16, Heb_9:17, in the sense of a will to dispose of property after the maker's death. It is not easy to find justification for the retention of this translation in the Revised Version (British and American), ?especially in a book which is so impregnated with the language of the Septuagint as the Epistle to the Hebrews? (Hatch). See COVENANT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


[BIBLE]




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.



is the frequent rendering, in the New Test., of the Greek διαθήκη (literally a disposal), and both are used in two distinct senses (see Cremer, Lex. of N.T. Greek, p. 576 sq.).
1. The natural, and in classical Greek, as in ordinary English, the only, signification is a devisement by will or legacy (Plutarch, De A dulat. 28; Plato, Legg. 922; Demosth. 1136, 12), and in this sense the word occurs in Heb_9:16-17. SEE INHERITANCE.
2. But the more common signification in the New Test. is one that has come over from the Sept., which often uses διαθήκη. as a rendering of the Heb. בַּרַית, or covenant; and in this sense “testament” is the rendering in the A.V. of the Greek word in Heb_7:22; Heb_9:20; Rev_11:19; and especially in the phrase the new testament (Mat_26:28; Mar_14:24; Luk_22:20; 1Co_3:6; Heb_9:15 [i.e. “new covenant,” as ill Heb_8:8; Heb_12:24]), which has gained currency as the title of the Christian Scriptures as a whole. See New- Englander; May, 1857, Lond. (Wesleyan) Quar. Rev. July, 1857. SEE COVENANT.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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