11:2 words. The commands of God in the Mosaic covenant (Deut. 1:1). The Mosaic covenant, unlike the covenant of Noah and the new covenant, depended on Israel’s faithfulness rather than the Lord’s (Heb. 8:6; Introduction: Characteristics and Themes).

covenant. A covenant is a solemn agreement between two or more parties. It is the kind of relationship into which God freely entered first with all mankind (Gen. 9:1–17), then with Abraham, as the father of Israel (Gen. 17:1–21), then with Israel at Sinai (Ex. 19–24), then with David (2 Sam. 7:12–16; Ps. 89:3), and finally with the whole people of God in the new covenant (31:31–34 notes).