Hebrews 8:7-13

A New Covenant

7 For 1if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, He says, "2BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT 3A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;
9 4NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 "5FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM 6ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 7AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR 8ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 "9FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, 10AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO * MORE."
13 When He said, "11A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. 12But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Hebrews 8:7-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 8

The apostle observing that the priesthood of Christ is the sum of what he had treated of in the preceding chapter, proceeds to show the superior excellency of it in other instances, particularly in the place where Christ now officiates, which is in heaven; he being set down at the right hand of God there, and so was a minister of the sanctuary, and true tabernacle pitched by God, and not man; whereas the priests of Aaron's line only ministered on earth, and in the typical sanctuary and tabernacle, Heb 8:1,2 and after he had observed that Christ must have something to offer, meaning his body, to answer to the gifts and sacrifices priests were ordained to offer, Heb 8:3 he proves the necessity of his ministering in heaven, because if he was on earth he would not be a priest, a complete one, and would have been useless and needless, Heb 8:4 and besides, it was proper that he should go up to heaven, and minister there, as the antitype of the priests, who, to the example and shadow of heavenly things, served in the tabernacle which was made by Moses, by the order of God, and according to the pattern showed him in the Mount, Heb 8:5 and that the ministry of Christ in the true sanctuary is much more excellent than the ministry of the priests in the shadowy one, is evident from his being the Mediator of a better covenant, Heb 8:6 and that the covenant he is the Mediator of is the better covenant, appears froth the better promises of which it consists, and from the faultiness of the former covenant, Heb 8:6,7 and that that was faulty, and succeeded by another, he proves from a passage in Jer 31:31-34 in which mention is made of a new covenant, and as distinct from that made with the Jewish fathers, and violated by them; and several of the promises of this new and second covenant are rehearsed, and which manifestly appear to be better than what were in the former, Heb 8:8-12 from all which the apostle concludes, that a new covenant being made, the old one must be antiquated; and that whereas it was decaying and waxing old, it was just ready to vanish away, Heb 8:13.

Cross References 12

  • 1. Hebrews 7:11
  • 2. Jeremiah 31:31
  • 3. Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 7:22; Hebrews 8:6, 13; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24
  • 4. Exodus 19:5; Exodus 24:6-8; Deuteronomy 5:2, 3; Jeremiah 31:32
  • 5. Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 11:27; Hebrews 10:16
  • 6. 2 Corinthians 3:3
  • 7. Jeremiah 31:34
  • 8. Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45; 1 John 2:27
  • 9. Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34; Jeremiah 50:20; Micah 7:18, 19
  • 10. Hebrews 10:17
  • 11. Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 7:22; Hebrews 8:6, 8; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24
  • 12. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 1:11

Footnotes 5

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.