H1285 — בְּרִית (beriyth)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1285
Original: בְּרִית
Transliteration: bᵉrîyth
Pronunciation: ber-eeth'
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: From H1262 (in the sense of cutting, like H1254); a compact made by passing between pieces of flesh
Occurrences: 284 (BLB) / 317 in KJV translation mappings
First Occurrence: Gen 6:18 — "But with thee will I establish my covenant"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh): covenant, confederacy, league. The root concept connects to the ritual of cutting animals and passing between the halves (cf. Gen 15:10, 17–18; Jer 34:18–19).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
covenant (all forms)	~264	83%
league (all forms)	~17	5%
confederate/confederacy	~3	1%
Other (partial phrases)	~33	10%

Primary English renderings: "my covenant" (45x), "of the covenant" (60x), "a covenant" (40x), "covenant" (40x), "the covenant" (27x), "his covenant" (14x), "a league" (11x).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Genesis	31	2.0
Jeremiah	31	2.3
Deuteronomy	29	3.0
Psalms	23	0.9
Joshua	22	3.3
Ezekiel	20	1.6
2 Chronicles	17	2.1
Isaiah	16	1.2
1 Chronicles	15	1.6
Exodus	14	1.2
1 Kings	14	1.7
2 Kings	14	1.9
Leviticus	11	1.3
Daniel	10	2.8
1 Samuel	8	1.0
2 Samuel	7	1.0
Hosea	6	3.0
Malachi	6	10.9
Numbers	5	0.4
Judges	4	0.6
Nehemiah	4	1.0
Job	3	0.3
Zechariah	2	0.9
Amos	2	1.4
Ezra	1	0.4
Proverbs	1	0.1
Obadiah	1	4.8

Concentrated in the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Historical books. Highest density in Malachi (10.9 per 100v), Obadiah (4.8), Joshua (3.3), Deuteronomy and Hosea (3.0). Absent from Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Joel, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai.

Semantic Categories¶

1. God's Covenant with Patriarchs¶

Gen 6:18 — "But with thee will I establish my covenant" (Noah)
Gen 15:18 — "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram"
Gen 17:2 — "I will make my covenant between me and thee"

2. The Sinai/Mosaic Covenant¶

Exo 24:7 — "he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people"
Exo 24:8 — "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you"
Deut 4:13 — "he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments"

3. New/Everlasting Covenant¶

Jer 31:31 — "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel"
Jer 32:40 — "I will make an everlasting covenant with them"
Eze 37:26 — "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant"
Isa 55:3 — "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David"

4. Covenant as League/Treaty between People¶

Josh 9:6 — "make ye a league with us" (Gibeonites)
Josh 9:15 — "Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them"
1 Sam 11:1 — "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee"
1 Ki 20:34 — "I will send thee away with this covenant"

5. Special Covenant Types (Salt, Peace)¶

Lev 2:13 — "the salt of the covenant of thy God"
Num 18:19 — "a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD"
Num 25:12 — "I give unto him my covenant of peace"
Isa 54:10 — "neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed"
2 Chr 13:5 — "gave the kingdom over Israel to David... by a covenant of salt"

6. Covenant Breaking/Transgression¶

Isa 28:15 — "We have made a covenant with death"
Hos 6:7 — "they like men have transgressed the covenant"
Eze 16:59 — "which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant"

7. Marriage/Personal Covenant¶

Mal 2:14 — "the wife of thy covenant"
Pro 2:17 — "forgetteth the covenant of her God"
Job 31:1 — "I made a covenant with mine eyes"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	121x	"the covenant of the LORD"
כָּרַת (karath)	H3772	80x	"cut a covenant" — standard idiom for making a covenant
אֱלֹהִים (Elohim)	H430	62x	"the covenant of God"
אָרוֹן (aron)	H727	42x	"the ark of the covenant"
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	42x	land promises in covenant contexts
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	44x	Israel as covenant recipient
נָתַן (nathan)	H5414	35x	God "gives" covenant promises
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	33x	"make" a covenant (alternative to karath)
עַם (am)	H5971	32x	covenant community/people
עוֹלָם (olam)	H5769	29x	"everlasting covenant"
שָׁמַר (shamar)	H8104	26x	"keep" the covenant
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	25x	"words of the covenant"
עָבַר (avar)	H5674	23x	"transgress" the covenant

The dominant collocation כָּרַת בְּרִית ("cut a covenant") reflects the ancient ritual of cutting sacrificial animals to solemnize the agreement (Gen 15:10, 17–18).

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1262 בָּרָה (barah) — to eat, to select (root sense: cutting/selecting)
H1254 בָּרָא (bara) — to create (related root: cutting/shaping)

Synonyms¶

H423 אָלָה (ʼalah) — oath / curse formula; closely overlaps covenant ratification because covenants are commonly sealed with sworn obligations and sanctions.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H1285.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
כָּרַת (karath)	H3772	"covenant" (2x in KJV)	karath = the verb "to cut/make"; beriyth = the compact itself
חָבַר (chabar)	H2266	"league" (1x in KJV)	chabar = "to join/bind" physically; beriyth = the formal agreement
G1242 διαθήκη (diatheke)	G1242	"covenant" / "testament"	Greek equivalent can mean both "covenant" and "last will/testament"

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002004001009013	Vow	`search_relationships.py` places beriyth in the oath/vow field because covenant obligations are regularly ratified by sworn words and sanctions.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Frequency	Notes
διαθήκη (diatheke) G1242	246x	Primary — overwhelmingly dominant rendering
διατίθεμαι (diatithemai) G1303	67x	Verbal form: "to arrange/covenant"
κιβωτός (kibotos) G2787	42x	"Ark" — in "ark of the covenant" phrases
παραβαίνω (parabaino) G3845	13x	"Transgress" — in "break the covenant" contexts
αἰώνιος (aionios) G166	20x	"Everlasting" — in "everlasting covenant"

G1242 διαθήκη is the near-exclusive Greek equivalent for בְּרִית, establishing the direct translation chain into the NT.