< Previous | Contents | Next >
•COURSES When David was not permitted to build the temple, he proceeded, among the last acts of his life, with the assistance of Zadok and Ahimelech, to organize the priestly and musical services to be conducted in the house of God. (1.) He divided the priests into twenty-four courses (1 Chronicles 24:1-19), sixteen being of the house of Eleazar and eight of that of Ithamar. Each course was under a head or chief, and ministered for a week, the order being determined by lot. (2.) The rest of the 38,000 Levites (23:4) were divided also into twenty-four courses, each to render some allotted service in public worship: 4,000 in twenty-four courses were set apart as singers and musicians under separate leaders (25); 4,000 as porters or keepers of the doors and gates of the sanctuary (26:1-19); and 6,000 as officers and judges to see to the administration of the law in all civil and ecclesiastical matters (20-32).
This arrangement was re-established by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:2); and afterwards the four sacerdotal courses which are said to have returned from the Captivity were re-divided into the original number of twenty-four by Ezra (6:18).
•COURT the enclosure of the tabernacle (Exodus 27:9-19; 40:8), of the temple (1 Kings 6:36), of a prison (Nehemiah 3:25), of a private house (2 Samuel 17:18), and of a king’s palace (2 Kings 20:4).
•COVENANT a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a “cutting,” with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Genesis 15; Jeremiah 34:18, 19).
The corresponding word in the New Testament Greek is diatheke, which is, however, rendered “testament” generally in the Authorized Version. It
ought to be rendered, just as the word berith of the Old Testament, “covenant.”
This word is used (1) of a covenant or compact between man and man (Genesis 21:32), or between tribes or nations (1 Samuel 11:1; Joshua 9:6, 15). In entering into a convenant, Jehovah was solemnly called on to witness the transaction (Genesis 31:50), and hence it was called a “covenant of the Lord” (1 Samuel 20:8). The marriage compact is called “the covenant of God” (Proverbs 2:17), because the marriage was made in God’s name. Wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a “covenant with death” not to destroy them, or with hell not to devour them (Isaiah 28:15, 18).
(2.) The word is used with reference to God’s revelation of himself in the way of promise or of favour to men. Thus God’s promise to Noah after the Flood is called a covenant (Genesis 9; Jeremiah 33:20, “my covenant”). We have an account of God’s covernant with Abraham (Genesis 17, comp. Leviticus 26:42), of the covenant of the priesthood (Numbers 25:12, 13; Deuteronomy 33:9; Nehemiah 13:29), and of the covenant of Sinai (Exodus 34:27, 28; Leviticus 26:15), which was afterwards renewed at different times in the history of Israel (Deuteronomy 29; Joshua 1:24; 2 Chronicles 15; 23; 29; 34; Ezra 10; Nehemiah 9). In conformity with human custom, God’s covenant is said to be confirmed with an oath (Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalm 89:3), and to be accompanied by a sign (Genesis 9; 17). Hence the covenant is called God’s “counsel,” “oath,” “promise” (Psalm 89:3, 4; 105:8-11; Hebrews 6:13-20; Luke 1:68-75). God’s covenant consists wholly in the bestowal of blessing (Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah 31:33, 34).
The term covenant is also used to designate the regular succession of day and night (Jeremiah 33:20), the Sabbath (Exodus 31:16), circumcision (Genesis 17:9, 10), and in general any ordinance of God (Jeremiah 34:13, 14).
A “covenant of salt” signifies an everlasting covenant, in the sealing or ratifying of which salt, as an emblem of perpetuity, is used (Numbers 18:19; Leviticus 2:13; 2 Chronicles 13:5).
COVENANT OF WORKS, the constitution under which Adam was placed at his creation. In this covenant, (1.) The contracting parties were
(a) God the moral Governor, and (b) Adam, a free moral agent, and representative of all his natural posterity (Romans 5:12-19). (2.) The
promise was “life” (Matthew 19:16, 17; Galatians 3:12). (3.) The condition was perfect obedience to the law, the test in this case being abstaining from eating the fruit of the “tree of knowledge,” etc. (4.) The penalty was death (Genesis 2:16, 17).