How many times does the Bible mention covenant?

The count

• KJV: “covenant” appears about 286 times — almost all in the Old Testament.
• BSB: similar range.
• Including derived forms (“covenants,” “covenanted”): about 320 occurrences.

Hebrew berit

The Hebrew word berit (בְּרִית) occurs about 286 times in the Hebrew Bible. The basic meaning is “binding agreement, treaty, pact.” In biblical usage:

• Covenants between God and individuals (Noah, Abraham).
• Covenants between God and the people of Israel (Sinai/Mosaic).
• Covenants between humans (Jonathan and David, 1 Samuel 18; Abraham and Abimelech, Genesis 21).
• The “new covenant” prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31-34).

The standard idiom for making a covenant is karat berit (כָּרַת בְּרִית) — literally “to cut a covenant,” reflecting the ancient practice of dividing animals during covenant-ratification ceremonies (cf. Genesis 15).

Greek diathēkē

The Greek word diathēkē (διαθήκη) occurs 33 times in the New Testament. Its semantic range includes:

• “Covenant” (the inherited meaning from the Septuagint, which used diathēkē to translate berit).
• “Will, testament” (the classical Greek meaning — a disposition of property after death).

The NT uses both meanings, sometimes within the same passage. Hebrews 9:15-22 plays on the double sense — the covenant is also a will, ratified by the death of the testator.

The new covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesies a “new covenant” — berit chadashah — that the New Testament writers apply to Jesus’ work. This is the textual source of the phrase “New Testament” (the testaments are covenants, the OT being the covenant at Sinai and the NT being the covenant inaugurated by Christ).

Where covenants cluster

• Genesis 9 (Noahic), Genesis 15 and 17 (Abrahamic), Exodus 19–24 (Mosaic / Sinaitic) — the major OT covenants.
• 2 Samuel 7 (Davidic).
• Jeremiah 31 — the new covenant prophecy.
• Hebrews 7–10 — the densest NT treatment of covenant theology.