Page 498 - Demo

8:8 The author cites a long passage from Jeremiah 31:31-34, in which the prophet speaks of a renewed covenant between God and humanity. This time, the law will be written not on tablets of stone, like the rst covenant, but on human hearts. For Christians, this prophecy is ful lled in Christ.
HEBREWS -
Old and New Covenants.* 7For if that rst covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one. 8But he nds fault with them and says:*
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,g
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant and I ignored them, says the Lord.
10But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.h
11And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kinsman, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
12For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.”
13* i When he speaks of a “new” covenant, he declares the rst one obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.
9The Worship of the First Covenant.*
1Now [even] the rst covenant had regulations for worship and
an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was constructed, the outer one,* in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of o ering; this is called the Holy Place.a 3* Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies,b 4in which were the gold altar of incense* and the ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing the manna, the sta of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant.c 5* Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation. Now is not the time to speak of these in detail.d
2
* [8:8–12] In citing Jeremiah the author follows the Septuagint; some apparent departures from it may be the result of a di erent Septuagintal text rather than changes deliberately introduced.
* [8:13] Close to disappearing: from the prophet’s perspective, not that of the author of Hebrews.
* [9:1–10] The regulations for worship under the old covenant permitted all the priests to enter the Holy Place (Heb 2:6), but only the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies and then only once a year (Heb 9:3–5, 7). The description of the sanctuary and its furnishings is taken essentially from Ex 25–26. This exclusion of the people from the Holy of Holies signi ed that they were not allowed to stand in God’s presence (Heb 9:8) because their o erings and sacri ces, which were merely symbols of their need of spiritual renewal (Heb 9:10), could not obtain forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:9).
* [9:2] The outer one: the author speaks of the outer tabernacle CHAPTER 8
(Heb 9:6) and the inner one (Heb 9:7) rather than of one Mosaic
tabernacle divided into two parts or sections.
* [9:3] The second veil: what is meant is the veil that divided the
Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It is here called the second, because there was another veil at the entrance to the Holy Place, or “outer tabernacle” (Ex 26:36).
* [9:4] The gold altar of incense: Ex 30:6 locates this altar in the Holy Place, i.e., the rst tabernacle, rather than in the Holy of Holies. Neither is there any Old Testament support for the assertion that the jar of manna and the sta of Aaron were in the ark of the covenant. For the tablets of the covenant, see Ex 25:16.
* [9:5] The place of expiation: the gold “mercy seat” (Greek hilastērion, as in Rom 3:25), where the blood of the sacri cial animals was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Lv 16:14–15). This rite achieved “expiation” or atonement for the sins of the preceding year.
CHAPTER 9
a. [9:2] Ex 25:23–30.
b. [9:3] Ex 26:31–34.
c. [9:4] Ex 16:32–34; 25:10, 16, 21;
30:1–10; Lv 16:12–13; Nm 17:2–7, 16–26.
d. [9:5] Ex 25:16–22; 26:34; Lv 16:14–15.
486
g. [8:8] Jer 31:31–34.
h. [8:10] 10:16–17.
i. [8:13] Rom 10:4.