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In this chapter the apostle pursues his former subject, the priesthood of Christ. And, I. He sums up what he had already said, Heb 8:1,2. II. He sets before them the necessary parts of the priestly office, Heb 8:3-5. And, III. Largely illustrates the excellency of the priesthood of Christ, by considering the excellency of that new dispensation or covenant for which Christ is the Mediator, Heb 8:6-13.

Analysis Of The Chapter

This chapter Hebrews 8:1-13 is a continuation of the argument which has been prosecuted in the previous chapters respecting the priesthood of Christ. The apostle had demonstrated that he was to be a priest, and that he was to be, not of the Levitical order, but of the order of Melchizedek. As a consequence he had proved that this involved a change of the Law appointing the priesthood, and that in respect to permanency, and happy moral influence, the priesthood of Christ far surpassed the Jewish. This thought he pursues in this chapter, and shows particularly that it involved a change in the nature of the covenant between God and his people. In the prosecution of this, he:

(1) states the sum or principal point of the whole matter under discussion - that the priesthood of Christ was real and permanent, while that of the Hebrew economy was typical, and was destined in its own nature to be temporary; Hebrews 8:1-3.

(2) there was a fitness and propriety in his being removed to heaven to perform the functions of his office there - since if he had remained on earth he could not have officiated as priest, that duty being by the Law of Moses entrusted to others pertaining to another tribe; Hebrews 8:4-5.

(3) Christ had obtained a more exalted ministry than the Jewish priests held, because he was the Mediator in a better covenant - a covenant that related rather to the heart than to external observances; Hebrews 8:6-13. That new covenant excelled the old in the following respects:

(a) It was established on better promises; Hebrews 8:6.

(b) It was not a covenant requiring mainly external observances, but pertained to the soul, and the Law of that covenant was written there; Hebrews 8:7-10.

(c) It was connected with the diffusion of the knowledge of the Lord among all classes from the highest to the lowest; Hebrews 8:11.

(d) The evidence of forgiveness might be made more clear than it was under the old dispensation, and the way in which sins are pardoned be much better understood; Hebrews 8:12. These considerations involved the consequence, also, which is stated in Hebrews 8:13, that the old covenant was of necessity about to vanish away.

The sum, or chief articles, of what the apostle has spoken, concerning the eternal priesthood of Christ, Hebrews 8:1-5 : The excellency of the new covenant beyond that of the old, Hebrews 8:6-9. The nature and perfection of the new covenant stated from the predictions of the prophets, Hebrews 8:10-12. By this new covenant the old is abolished, Hebrews 8:13.

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, Hebrews 8:1 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, Hebrews 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, Hebrews 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, Hebrews 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, Hebrews 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, Hebrews 8:6 and that that was faulty, and succeeded by another, he proves from a passage in Jeremiah 31:31 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, Hebrews 8:8 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, Hebrews 8:13.

VIII.

The mode in which this chapter is introduced shows that, in the writer’s own arrangement, a new division of the argument begins here. On examination we shall find that there is a clear difference between the topics discussed before and after this point; though it was hardly possible, and certainly was not the intention of the writer, strictly to maintain this distinction in every particular. Hitherto the personal characteristics of the High Priest have occupied the chief place: from this point to Hebrews 10:18 it is His ministration that is brought before us. Hebrews 5:1-10 sets forth whatever there is of similarity between Jesus and the high priests of the Law: the principal subject of Hebrews 7 is the contrast between the priest of whom Psalms 150 speaks and all others, in respect of dignity (Hebrews 7:4-7; Hebrews 7:9-10), right of priesthood (Hebrews 7:8; Hebrews 7:16), mode of appointment (Hebrews 7:20-22), duration of office (Hebrews 7:23-25), and freedom from sin (Hebrews 7:26-28). Interwoven with this contrast is another—between the former dispensation, which has failed to attain its purpose, and the new covenant and better hope (Hebrews 7:11; Hebrews 7:18-19; Hebrews 7:22). The same kind of comparison is continued in the rest of the section, and not between the high priests only, but also between the covenants to which their ministry belongs. First the writer dwells on the place in which the high priest ministers (Hebrews 8:1-5; Hebrews 9:1-5), then on his ministration, and especially the sacrifice which he presents (Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:6 to Hebrews 10:18). In Hebrews 8:7-13 (Hebrews 9:15-19), Hebrews 10:15-17, is introduced the thought of the contrasted covenants.

Ch. 8. Having compared the two Priesthoods, and shewn the inferiority of the Aaronic priesthood to that of Christ as “a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek,” the writer now proceeds to contrast the two Covenants. After fixing the attention of his readers on Christ as the High Priest of the True Sanctuary (1–6) he shews that God, displeased with the disobedience of those who were under the Old Covenant, had by the prophet Jeremiah promised a New Covenant (7–9) which should be superior to the Old in three respects, i. Because the Law of it should be written on the heart (10). ii. Because it should be universal (11), and iii. because it should be a covenant of forgiveness (12). The decrepitude of the Old Covenant, indicated by its being called “old” is a sign of its approaching and final evanescence (13).

CHAPTER 8

Hebrews 8:1. ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις] B: ἐν τοῖς λεγομένοις. Explanatory gloss.

Hebrews 8:2. Recepta: καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος. But καί is wanting in B D* E* א, 17, It. Arabb. Euseb. Already rejected by Mill. Rightly deleted by Lachm. Bleek, Tisch. Alford.

Hebrews 8:4. Elz. Matth. Tisch. 2 and 7, Bloomfield, have εἰ μὲν γάρ. Defended also by Delitzsch, Riehm (Lehrbegr. des Hebräerbr. p. 504, Obs.), and Reiche. But γάρ cannot be referred back to Hebrews 8:3, and upon the referring of it back to Hebrews 8:2 the addition, Hebrews 8:3, would become aimless and inexplicable. More in keeping logically, and better attested (by A B D* א, 17, 73, 80, 137, Vulg. It. Copt., al.), is the reading: εἰ μὲν οὖν, already commended to attention by Griesbach, and adopted by Lachm. Scholz, Bleek, Tisch. 1 and 8, Alford, which is accordingly to be preferred.

Instead of the Recepta τῶν ἱερέων τῶν προσφερόντων (approved by Bloomfield, who, however, encloses the first τῶν within brackets, and Reiche), Lachm. Bleek, Tisch. and Alford have rightly adopted merely τῶν προσφερόντων. Preferred also by Delitzsch. τῶν ἱερέων, to the rejection of which already Grotius, Mill, and Griesbach were inclined, is an elucidatory gloss. It is condemned by the decisive authority of A B D* E* א, 17, 67** 73, 137, al., Vulg. It. Copt. Aeth. Arm.

τόν] before νόμον in the Recepta (recently contended for by Bloomfield and Delitzsch) is to be deleted, with Lachm. Tisch. and Alford, after A B א* 17, 57, 80, al., Theodoret. The later addition of the article is more easily to be explained than its omission.

Hebrews 8:5. Elz.: ποιήσῃς. But all the uncial mss., many cursives, Orig. Chrys. Theodoret, Damasc. Oecum. Theophyl. have ποιήσεις, which also is found in LXX. Exodus 25:40. Commended by Griesbach. Rightly adopted already in the edd. Erasm. 1, Ald. Stephan. 1, 2, and recently by Matthaei, Scholz, Bleek, Lachm. Tisch. and Alford. Approved also by Delitzsch and Reiche.

Hebrews 8:6. In place of the Recepta νυνὶ δέ, Lachm. reads, but without sufficient authority (B D* Ath.): νῦν δέ. The more euphonious νυνὶ δέ is protected by A D** D*** E K L א, min., and many Fathers.

Instead of the Recepta τέτευχε (B D*** א*** min. Damasc. [once] Theophyl. [cod.]), there is found in the edd. Complut. Plantin. Genev. the peculiarly Attic form: τετύχηκε. This is supported by 47, 72, 73, 74, al., Athan. (thrice), Bas. Antioch. Chrys. Theodoret, Damasc. Best attested is the form: τέτυχεν (by A D* K L א* 80, 116, 117, al., Athan. Oecum. Theophylact), which is therefore rightly preferred by Lachm. Bleek, Tisch. and Alford.

Hebrews 8:8. αὐτοῖς] So Elz. Griesb. Matthaei, Scholz, Bleek, de Wette, Tisch. 2 and 7, Bloomfield, Delitzsch, Alford, Reiche, after B D*** E L א***, likewise, as it seems, almost all min. Chrys. Damasc. al.

Lachm. and Tisch. 1 and 8 read αὐτούς. But the attestation of the latter (A D* K א* 17, 39, al., Theodoret) is not at all decisive, and the accusative, seeing it requires the conjoining with μεμφόμενος, opposed to the context; see the exposition.

Hebrews 8:10. ἡ διαθήκη] Lachm.: ἡ διαθήκη [μου], after A D E. μου is found, indeed, also with the LXX. in most MSS. (but not in the Cod. Alex.); yet, nevertheless, since it forms a tautological addition, and does not correspond to the Hebrew original (כִּי זֹאת הַבְּרִית), it probably arose only by a mechanical repetition from the preceding διαθήκῃ μου.

Hebrews 8:11. Recepta: τὸν πλησίον. But the weighty authority of all uncial mss. (B: τὸν πολείτην), most cursives, as well as that of Syr. utr. Arabb. Copt. Arm. It. al., Chrys. (codd.) Theodoret, Damasc. Aug. requires the reading: τὸν πολίτην, already presented by the edd. Complut. Stephan. 1, 2, al., and later approved by Bengel and Wetstein, as also adopted by Griesbach, Matthaei, Lachm. Scholz, Bleek, Tisch. Bloomfield, Alford, Reiche, and others.

ἀπὸ μικροῦ] Elz. Matthaei, Scholz, Tisch. 2 and 7, Bloomfield: ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν. But αὐτῶν is wanting in A B D* E* (?) K א, 17, 31, 61, 73, 80, al., Copt. Arm. It. Vulg., with Cyr. Chrys. al. Already suspected by Griesbach. Rightly deleted by Lachm. Bleek, de Wette, Tisch. 1 and 8, and Alford.

Hebrews 8:12. καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν] The concluding words: καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν, have been taken for a gloss by Bleek, Tisch. 1, 2, and 8, and Alford (comp. already Beza and Grotius); and in accordance with B א* 17, 23, Vulg. Copt. Basm. Syr. Arab. Erp. rejected. They are also declared suspected by Delitzsch. But in favour of their retention (Lachm. Bloomfield, Tisch. 7, Reiche) decides partly the preponderating authority of A D E K L א*** al., partly the recurrence of the same words on the repetition of the citation Hebrews 10:17. The addition might easily be overlooked on account of the homoioteleuton.