Category:Testament

Tes"ta*ment, n. Etym: [f., fr. L. testamentum, fr. testari to be a Witness, to make one's last will, akin to testis a witness. Cf. Intestate, testify.]

1. (law)

Defn: a solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person Declares his will as to disposal of his estate and effects after his Death.

Note: this is otherwise called a will, and sometimes a last will and Testament. A testament, to be valid, must be made by a person of Sound mind; and it must be executed and published in due form of law. A man, in certain cases, may make a valid will by word of mouth only. See nuncupative will, under nuncupative.

2. One of the two distinct revelations of god's purposes toward man; A covenant; also, one of the two general divisions of the canonical Books of the sacred scriptures, in which the covenants are Respectively revealed; as, the old testament; the new testament; -- Often limited, in colloquial language, to the latter. He is the mediator of the new testament. . . for the redemption of The transgressions that were under the first testament. Heb. ix. 15. Holographic testament, a testament written wholly by the testator Himself. Bouvier.

-

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Testament - Occurs twelve times in the New Testament (Hebrews 9:15, etc.) as the rendering of the Gr. diatheke, which is twenty times rendered "covenant" in the Authorized Category:Version, and always so in the Revised Category:Version. The Vulgate translates incorrectly by testamentum, whence the names "Old" and "New Testament," by which we now designate the two sections into which the Bible is divided. (See BIBLE.)