Page 15 - Advanced OT Survey Revised

Validating a Covenant in the Bible

Today when two people want to make an agreement, there are various ways to ensure that both parties
will perform in their agreement. Years ago, they used to shake hands on the terms. But since today
many people are not totally honest, other means have developed to verify integrity. For example, if you
purchase some land or a home, normally both parties will sign a document that transfers ownership
from one to another. The document is notarized by witnesses and normally signed by both parties in an
attorney’s office. Then a deed of trust is recorded in a county courthouse and place as a public record of
the transaction. But in the Bible days, they did not have courthouses or law offices where legal
transactions were conducted. Rather, they came up with some other ways to validate a vow or
covenant between individuals. They basically came up with five ways to validate their contracts. Let’s
preview each type of validation based on the strength of the agreement.

Salt/Friendship Validation

The Salt Covenant and the name came from an Ancient practice.
Each person, seeing that they lived in an arid land, carried a small
pouch of salt. They would put a pinch of salt in their mouths to
keep from sweating internal moisture rapidly. When two or more
men would enter into an agreement with one another, the parties
of the covenant would take pinch of salt from their bag and place
it in the other person’s bag. Sometimes they would mix the salt in a common bowl, break bread, and
dip it in the salt, and eat it. The only way to break the covenant would be to separate each grain of salt
from the other’s bag, and return it, which was quite impossible.

This covenant is also called the Covenant of Hospitality or Covenant of Friendship because they would
break salt bread together. When Abraham welcomed the Lord and broke bread with Him (Genesis 18:1-
15, he was modeling the salt covenant. Abraham was a “friend of God,” but he never stopped being
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God’s servant. Abraham remained faithful to his covenant and his faith was counted to him for
righteousness (Romans 4:3, 4:9, 4:22, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23).

Sandal Covenant
The Sandal Covenant is also called the Covenant of Inheritance. The
ancient Hebrews used worn-out sandals to mark the boundaries of their
property. Sometimes they would cover the sandals with rocks to keep
them from blowing away. God told Israel that wherever their feet would
tread, that land would be theirs forever. So, when they were walking in
their land, they would carve footprints in the rocks to claim God’s promises.

When two parties want to establish a contractual agreement, quite often
the parties exchanged sandals. An example of this is found in the book of
Ruth 4:1-13. Ruth’s closest relative chose not to purchase her family’s field, nor take her as his wife.
Instead, he allowed Boaz to acquire both the land and Ruth and yielded up his right to possession by
exchanging his sandal with Boaz, a validation of their agreement. Normally, it was done publicly so
witnesses could also validate the transaction. Boaz waited to make his vow in the center (gathering
area) of town, so all could witness his promise.

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