I. Name

The Hebrew word ʿēdût, formally an abstract noun (GK § 86 k) but perhaps originally a plural (cf. ʿēdôt), occurs about fifty times in the Hebrew Bible. It primarily designates a written document containing an agreement between two parties. Because in most Bible passages Yahweh is one of these parties, ʿēdût developped the connotation of ‘covenant’ and ‘covenantal stipulations’ (Simian-Yofre 1986:1125–1128). Its Semitic cognates, ʿdy in Aramaic and adû in Akkadian, refer to a sworn agr…