What are the covenants in the Bible? (Noahic → Abrahamic → Mosaic → Davidic → New)

Q: What are the covenants in the Bible? (Noahic → Abrahamic → Mosaic → Davidic → New)

A covenant is a solemn, binding relationship — a promise God initiates and seals, often with a sign. The Bible's whole story is carried by a series of them. The major ones: - Noahic (–) — God promises never again to destroy the earth by flood; sign: the rainbow (). - Abrahamic (–; ; ) — land, countless descendants, and blessing to all nations through Abraham; sign: circumcision (; ). - Mosaic / Sinai (–) — the Law given to Israel as a nation; 'if you will indeed obey My voice… you will be My treasured possession' (BSB, ); sealed with blood (; ). - Davidic (–) — God promises David an everlasting throne — a descendant whose kingdom will never end. - New covenant (–) — God promises to forgive sins and write His law on the heart; instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper () and expounded in Hebrews ().

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Short answer

A covenant is a solemn, binding relationship, a promise God initiates and seals, often with a sign. The Bible's whole story is carried by a series of them. The major ones:

Noahic (Genesis 9:8–Genesis 9:17), God promises never again to destroy the earth by flood; sign: the rainbow (Genesis 9:13).
Abrahamic (Genesis 12:1–Genesis 12:3; Genesis 15; Genesis 17), land, countless descendants, and blessing to all nations through Abraham; sign: circumcision (Genesis 17:7; Genesis 17:11).
Mosaic / Sinai (Exodus 19–Exodus 24), the Law given to Israel as a nation; 'if you will indeed obey My voice… you will be My treasured possession' (BSB, Exodus 19:5); sealed with blood (Exodus 24:7; Exodus 24:8).
Davidic (2 Samuel 7:12–2 Samuel 7:16), God promises David an everlasting throne, a descendant whose kingdom will never end.
New covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–Jeremiah 31:34), God promises to forgive sins and write His law on the heart; instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20) and expounded in Hebrews (Hebrews 8).

Question

What are the covenants in the Bible? (the major agreements God makes with His people)

Analysis

A single unfolding story

The covenants build on one another rather than replacing each other at random. The Abrahamic promise (blessing to all nations, Genesis 12:3) sets the trajectory; the Mosaic covenant shapes Israel as a nation to carry it; the Davidic covenant narrows the promise to a coming king from David's line (2 Samuel 7:16); and the new covenant brings the forgiveness and heart-change the earlier ones pointed toward. The New Testament presents Jesus as the one in whom the promises converge, the offspring of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), the son of David (Matthew 1:1), and the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 8:6).

The new covenant and the old

Jeremiah foretold a new covenant, not like the one Israel broke, in which God writes His law on hearts and remembers sin no more (Jeremiah 31:31–Jeremiah 31:34). Jesus took the cup at the Last Supper and called it 'the new covenant in my blood' (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). Hebrews explains that this makes the old, Mosaic arrangement 'obsolete' as a system (Hebrews 8:13) while fulfilling everything it anticipated. How exactly the Mosaic Law now applies to Christians is discussed differently across traditions (covenant theology vs dispensationalism), a seam noted, but all agree the new covenant is established in Christ.

God’s promises, tracedSee each covenant laid out in order, with who it was made to, its condition, and the verses where Scripture records it kept.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

Genesis 9:8bsb
Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,
Genesis 9:17bsb
So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and every creature on the earth.”
Genesis 9:13bsb
I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
Genesis 12:1bsb
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.
Genesis 12:3bsb
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 17:7bsb
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:11bsb
You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Exodus 19:5bsb
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations — for the whole earth is Mine.
Exodus 24:7bsb
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
Exodus 24:8bsb
So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
2 Samuel 7:12bsb
And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:16bsb
Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
Jeremiah 31:31bsb
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Jeremiah 31:34bsb
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
Luke 22:20bsb
In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.
Galatians 3:16bsb
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.

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