Exodus 31:16

Wherefore The Heb. is simply And.

to observe to hold. See on Exodus 12:47.

a perpetual(or, as the same Heb. is rendered elsewhere, everlasting) covenant An expression frequent in P: Genesis 9:16 (of the rainbow), Genesis 17:7; Genesis 17:13; Genesis 17:19 (of circumcision), Leviticus 24:8, cf. Numbers 18:19; Numbers 25:13; also Ezekiel 16:60; Ezekiel 37:26; Jeremiah 50:5; Isaiah 24:5; Isaiah 55:3; Isaiah 61:8; Psalms 105:10 †. Here, as the context shews (cf. p. 175), the stress lies not on the divine promise, but on Israel's obligation to observe the terms on which the covenant is based.