The Letters · New Testament

Hebrews 8

Hebrews 8: the sum of the argument and a quoted new covenant

General context

The writer says this is the sum of what has been spoken. The hearers have a high priest set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Since every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, this one must have something to offer. If he were on earth he would not be a priest at all, because there are already priests offering according to the law, and they serve the example and shadow of heavenly things. Moses is cited as proof: when about to make the tabernacle he was warned to make everything according to the pattern shown him in the mount. The ministry now obtained is called more excellent in the same proportion as the covenant is better, and that covenant is established on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. Most of the rest of the chapter is quotation. God is said to find fault with them and to announce days coming when he will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant made with their fathers when he took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, a covenant they did not continue in. In the new one he puts his laws into their mind and writes them in their hearts, becomes their God, and is known by all from the least to the greatest without being taught, and remembers their sins no more. The writer draws one conclusion: by saying a new covenant, he has made the first old, and what grows old is ready to vanish away.

Cited passages: Hebrews 8:1, Hebrews 8:2, Hebrews 8:3, Hebrews 8:4, Hebrews 8:5, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 8:7, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:9, Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 8:11, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 8:13

Hebrews 8 (KJV)

¹Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

²A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

³For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

⁴For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

⁵Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

⁶But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

⁸For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

⁹Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

¹⁰For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

¹¹And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

¹³In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

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Historical context

Two quotations are used and neither is given a book. The instruction to Moses is introduced by "as Moses was admonished of God" and reads "See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount", where Exodus 25:40 reads "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount". The long covenant passage is introduced only by "he saith", and its wording differs from Jeremiah 31 at several points. Hebrews 8:9 gives the reason for the fault as "because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not", where Jeremiah 31:32 reads "which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them". Hebrews 8:10 reads "I will put my laws into their mind", where Jeremiah 31:33 reads "I will put my law in their inward parts". Hebrews 8:12 reads "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more", where Jeremiah 31:34 reads "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more". The letter states that priests are still offering gifts according to the law, which is the nearest thing in the chapter to a statement about its own time, and it names no reader and no place.

Cited passages: Hebrews 8:5, Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:9, Jeremiah 31:32, Hebrews 8:10, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:12, Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:4

Literary context

This stretch is the most openly organised in the letter. It announces itself as a summary, "this is the sum", and then lets a quotation carry the weight. The first half works by pairs: true tabernacle against one pitched by man, earth against heavens, and the earthly service as "the example and shadow of heavenly things", a word borrowed from the instruction given to Moses about a pattern. The second half is almost entirely someone else's words, running to five verses, with "saith the Lord" repeated three times inside it. The writer then comments on a single word rather than on the whole passage: because the text said a new covenant, the other is old, and "that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away". The chapter ends on that verb, leaving the first covenant not yet gone, and the next chapter goes back inside its tabernacle to describe it.

Cited passages: Hebrews 8:1, Hebrews 8:2, Hebrews 8:5, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 8:13

Key moments

This is the sum (Hebrews 8:1). The writer pauses to state the point of everything argued so far.
A tabernacle not pitched by man (Hebrews 8:2). The high priest is said to minister in a true tabernacle.
Made after the pattern (Hebrews 8:5). Moses is cited as having been shown a pattern in the mount.
Mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6). The ministry is measured by the covenant it mediates.
The days come (Hebrews 8:8). A long quotation announces a new covenant with Israel and Judah.
Laws written in hearts (Hebrews 8:10). The quoted covenant places the law in mind and heart.
The first made old (Hebrews 8:13). The writer draws his conclusion from the single word new.

For reflection

The chapter rests its case on a promise that laws will be written in the heart and that no one will need to be taught. What does it mean that the letter still spends itself teaching?