新約Covenant, the New
譯者：駱鴻銘
耶卅一31： בְּרִ֥ית חֲדָשָֽׁה (berith
chadhashah)
來八8、13：διαθήκην καινήν (he diatheke kaine) 指在性質上是新的（參：來一1～14）
來十二24：διαθήκης νέας (diathekeis nea) 指在時間上是新的，年輕的
1. 新約與舊約的對比：「約」這個詞
既然有「新」約，就暗示有「舊」約。聖經提醒我們，在世界歷史的各個時期中，上帝是透過盟約（covenant）來對待祂的子民的。聖經以最為人熟悉的書名——新「約」與舊「約」——將這個真理擺在我們面前，這裏的「約」是用「testament」這個詞，也可以作「covenant」。
在猶太「教會」中產生的著作是「舊約」（New
Covenant）聖經，而在基督教會裏產生的著作是「新約」聖經。盟約的另一個譯名「testament」是透過拉丁文被英文所採納的，這個詞是希伯來文berith的同義詞，也是希臘文diatheke的同義詞，這兩個詞的涵義都是一種莊嚴的安排、契約或合約——暗示在遺囑中對財產的安排，雖然diatheke這個詞可以有同樣的涵義，但是希伯來文berith卻沒有此涵義，而既然新約聖經中的希臘文用法似乎特別是受舊約聖經的用法所管制，其思想也沿著一個類似的平面進行，最好能繼續用「covenant」這個詞。有一段似乎支持「遺囑」（testament）這個觀念的經文，是希伯來書九16～17（美國標準本的翻譯者將欽定本裏所有的testament都翻譯成covenant，只有在這兩節經文裏仍然保留testament的翻譯），但是即使在這裏，更好的翻譯不是「covenant」仍然是值得懷疑的（見下）。當然在緊鄰的上下文裏，我們承認，「遺囑/遺命」似乎是正確的翻譯，如果我們讓這個翻譯成立的話；但是這只是一種應用，從原來的莊嚴契約的觀念過渡到次要的遺囑安排的觀念。「行為之約」與「恩典之約」這兩個神學名詞並沒有出現在聖經裏，雖然它們所涵蓋的概念，特別是後者，在聖經裏可以清楚地找到。這裏說到的「新約」，實際上是相當於恩典之約，這是上帝與蒙祂救贖的百姓之間所立的約，而這是奠基在父神與聖子在永恆裏所立的「救贖之約」。雖然聖經沒有明確提到「救贖之約」，但是有許多經文都清楚表明這個觀念。（待續）
Covenant,
the New
(berith
chadhashah, Jer 31:31; he diatheke kaine, Heb 8:8,13, etc., or nea, Heb 12:24:
the former Greek adjective has the sense of the "new" primariHeb
1:1-14y in reference to quality, the latter the sense of "young," the
"new," primarily in reference to time):
1.
Contrast of "New" and "Old"--The Term "Covenant"
2.
Christ's Use at the Last Supper
3.
Relation to Ex 24:1-18
4.
Use in Epistle to the Hebrews
5.
The Mediator of the New Covenant
6.
"Inheritance" and "Testament"
7.
Relation to Jer 31:31-34
8. To
Ezekiel
9.
Contrast of Old and New in 2Co 3:1-18
1.
Contrast of "New" and "Old"--the Term "Covenant":
The
term "New" Covenant necessarily implies an "Old" Covenant,
and we are reminded that God's dealings with His people in the various
dispensations of the world's history have been in terms of covenant. The Holy
Scriptures by their most familiar title keep this thought before us, the Old
Testament and the New Testament or Covenant; the writings produced within the
Jewish "church" being the writings or Scriptures of the Old Covenant,
those within the Christian church, the Scriptures of the New Covenant. The
alternative name "Testament"--adopted into our English description
through the Latin, as the equivalent of the Hebrew berith, and the Greek
diatheke, which both mean a solemn disposition, compact or contract--suggests
the disposition of property in a last will or testament, but although the word
diatheke may bear that meaning, the Hebrew berith does not, and as the Greek
usage in the New Testament seems especially governed by the Old Testament usage
and the thought moves in a similar plane, it is better to keep to the term
"covenant." The one passage which seems to favor the
"testament" idea is Heb 9:16-17 (the Revisers who have changed the
King James Version "testament" into "covenant" in every
other place have left it in these two verses), but it is questionable whether
even here the better rendering would not be "covenant" (see below).
Certainly in the immediate context "covenant" is the correct
translation and, confessedly, "testament," if allowed to stand, is an
application by transition from the original thought of a solemn compact to the
secondary one of testamentary disposition. The theological terms "Covenant
of Works" and "Covenant of Grace" do not occur in Scripture,
though the ideas covered by the terms, especially the latter, may easily be
found there. The "New Covenant" here spoken of is practically
equivalent to the Covenant of Grace established between God and His redeemed
people, that again resting upon the eternal Covenant of Redemption made between
the Father and the Son, which, though not so expressly designated, is not
obscurely indicated by many passages of Scripture.
⇒Topical Bible
outline for "Covenant, The."
