8:13 When he speaks of a new covenant, 6 he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear. 7
8:9 “It will not be like the covenant 10 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.
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).
2 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.
3 tn Grk “to the degree that.”
4 tn Grk “which is enacted.”
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.
6 tn Grk “when he says, ‘new,’” (referring to the covenant).
7 tn Grk “near to disappearing.”
8 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 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).
10 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.