Ibrani 8:6-10

8:6 But ¹  now Jesus ²  has obtained a superior ministry, since ³  the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted ⁴  on better promises. ⁵ 

8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. ⁶  8:8 But ⁷  showing its fault, ⁸  God ⁹  says to them, ¹⁰ 

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

8:9 “It will not be like the covenant ¹¹  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ¹²  my laws in their minds ¹³  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹⁴ 

Ibrani 9:15-20

9:15 And so he is the mediator ¹⁵  of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, ¹⁶  since he died ¹⁷  to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 9:16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. ¹⁸  9:17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 9:18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. ¹⁹  9:19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 9:20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.” ²⁰ 

Ibrani 12:24

12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator ²¹  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ²² 

Ibrani 13:20

Benediction and Conclusion

13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,

[8:6]  ¹ sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).

[8:6]  ² tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.

[8:6]  ³ tn Grk “to the degree that.”

[8:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “which is enacted.”

[8:6]  ⁵ sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.

[8:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”

[8:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

[8:8]  ⁸ sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.

[8:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.

[8:10]  ¹² tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.

[9:15]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[9:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

[9:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a death having occurred.”

[9:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “there is a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven.”

[9:18]  ¹⁹ sn The Greek text reinforces this by negating the opposite (“not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood”), but this double negation is not used in contemporary English.

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “which God commanded for you (or in your case).”

[9:20]  sn A quotation from Exod 24:8.

[12:24]  ²¹ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[12:24]  ²² sn Abel’s shed blood cried out to the Lord for justice and judgment, but Jesus’ blood speaks of redemption and forgiveness, something better than Abel’s does (Gen 4:10; Heb 9:11-14; 11:4).