The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb

[GettingTetchy]

Am I being unreasonable to say that ‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb’ is a recent invention that fits in with modern ideas.

YABU = this is the origin of ‘blood is thicker than water’

YANBU = ‘blood is thicker than water’ always meant family is more important than everyone else.

Could you rewrite that using ‘the heart’ to mean love. I think it could catch on.

It does make sense that religion would use it that way.
I’ve never heard it used that way before. Always in a way that family will stick together, usually when someone is going through a divorce to mean no matter how close you are to your in laws, they will favour their blood relative.

I suppose people who have to write a sermon every week don’t always worry very much about facts and accuracy.
Yes, explaining loyalty to family is how I’ve always understood it.

The people have spoken - the fools!

It's actually in a Garth Brooks song - I've just googled it @GettingTetchy

the usual version I believe is always understood to mean you should prioritise family (=blood) ties, or more often used to explain why people prioritise their family- eg
'my friend let me down again, she said she had to go and see her mum instead of meeting me'
'ah, well, blood is thicker than water I suppose'
'yeah I suppose so'

the version with the covenant I had never come across and immediately sounds religious- at least within the Jewish/christian tradition. If you read that RC link it demonstrates how truly bonkers they are. No offence.

in the original meaning how does water = friends?

I thought it meant family is more important than friends but now thinking about it: I don’t know why friends = water. The water of the womb makes some sense

As PP suggested it’s just a contrast. It means blood binds (like nothing else). There are lots of expressions where blood means family or genetic heritage such as ‘blood will out’ ‘my own flesh and blood’ ‘in the blood’. Using ‘water’ to represent a genetic bond is very unusual.

Yes I understand that part. Just musing on the other side of it. Blood is thicker than beer would make more sense 😁

or if the phrase came in from Scotland Whisky, but the contrast wouldn’t be as good and it just wouldn’t sound convincing. It doesn’t necessarily mean friends just all other obligations, I suppose.

The hipocrisy of family being supported at the cost of your sacrifice and the ones that chose to be at your side made the phrase blood thicker than water.
So with all truth the blood of the convenant is thicker than the water of the womb, because the ones who chose you will bleed for you

Interesting discussion about this on here
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/147902/is-the-alleged-original-meaning-of-the-phrase-blood-is-thicker-than-water-real