8For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that 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 that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord.
10“For 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 mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
8 For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord.
10 “For 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 mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
TYNDALETyndale New Testament (1534)
8 For in rebukynge the he sayth: Beholde the dayes will come (sayth the lorde) and I will fynnyshe apon the housse of Israhel and apon the housse of Iuda a newe testament:
9 not lyke the testament that I made with their fathers at that tyme when I toke them by the hondes to lede them oute of the londe of Egipte for they continued not in my testament and I regarded them not sayth the lorde.
10 For this is the testament that I will make with the housse of Israhell: After those dayes sayth the lorde: I will put my lawes in their myndes and in their hertes I will wryte the and I wilbe their God and they shalbe my people.
Show all 3 translations
GNVGeneva Bible (1599)
8 For in rebuking them he saith, Beholde, the dayes will come, saith the Lord, when I shall make with the house of Israel, and with the house of Iuda a newe Testament:
9 Not like the Testament that I made with their fathers, in the day that I tooke them by the hand, to leade them out of the land of Egypt: for they continued not in my Testament, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the Testament that I will make with the house of Israel, After those dayes, saith the Lord, I will put my Lawes in their minde, and in their heart I will write them, and I wil be their God, and they shalbe my people,
Ezekiel 36:26-28(v10)I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will…
Jeremiah 31:33(v10)“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward…
2 Corinthians 3:3(v10)being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets…
Ezekiel 11:19-20(v10)I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a…
Hebrews 10:16-17(vv8, 10)“This is the covenant that I will make with them: ‘After those days,’ says the Lord, ‘I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write…
Show all 94 cross-references
Deuteronomy 30:6(v10)Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your…
Jeremiah 24:7(v10)I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with…
1 Peter 2:9(v10)But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
Romans 9:25-26(v10)As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.” “It will be…
Romans 11:27(v10)This is my covenant with them, when I will take away their sins.”
James 1:21(v10)Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your…
Titus 2:14(v10)who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
Jeremiah 31:31-34(v8)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according…
2 Corinthians 3:7-8(v10)But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the…
Zechariah 8:8(v10)and I will bring them, and they will dwell within Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in…
1 Peter 1:23(v10)having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.
Ezekiel 37:27(v10)My tent also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
James 1:18(v10)Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Jeremiah 32:40(vv8, 10)I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their…
Zechariah 13:9(v10)I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will…
Jeremiah 32:38(v10)Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.
Matthew 22:32(v10)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Exodus 19:5-6(v10)Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all…
Hebrews 11:16(v10)But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has…
Exodus 34:27(v10)Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
Genesis 17:7-8(v10)I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to…
Exodus 24:4(v10)Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for…
Song of Solomon 2:16(v10)My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
Ezekiel 39:22(v10)So the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward.
Jeremiah 31:1(v10)“At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
Hosea 1:10(v10)Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that,…
Exodus 24:7(v10)He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be…
Hosea 2:23(v10)I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people,…
Exodus 34:1(v10)Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which…
1 Corinthians 6:16(v10)Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
Jeremiah 31:32(v9)not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of…
Hebrews 12:24(v8)to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.
Hebrews 9:15(v8)For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under…
Ezekiel 37:26(v8)Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and…
Galatians 4:24(v9)These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
Isaiah 55:3(v8)Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Jeremiah 31:38(v8)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
Jeremiah 33:24-26(v8)“Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people,…
Ezekiel 16:60-61(v8)Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then you…
Mark 8:23(v9)He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he…
Luke 22:20(v8)Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
1 Corinthians 11:25(v8)In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in…
2 Corinthians 3:6(v8)who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives…
Genesis 19:16(v9)But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took…
Exodus 24:3-11(v9)Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the…
Exodus 34:10(v9)He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any…
Deuteronomy 5:2-3(v9)Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Yahweh didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us…
Deuteronomy 29:1(v9)These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to…
Deuteronomy 29:12(v9)that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today,
Deuteronomy 29:25(v9)Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them…
Deuteronomy 31:16-18(v9)Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods…
2 Kings 17:15-18(v9)They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they…
Job 8:20(v9)“Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.
Psalms 77:20(v9)You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalms 78:10-11(v9)They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law. They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
Psalms 78:57(v9)but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.
Psalms 105:43(v9)He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing.
Song of Solomon 8:5(v9)Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I aroused you. There your mother conceived you.…
Isaiah 24:5-6(v9)The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the…
Isaiah 40:11(v9)He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who…
Isaiah 63:9(v9)In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore…
Jeremiah 11:7-8(v9)For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and…
Jeremiah 22:8-9(v9)“Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’ Then they will…
Jeremiah 23:5(v8)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will…
Jeremiah 23:7(v8)“Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that they will no more say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of…
Jeremiah 30:3(v8)For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause…
Jeremiah 31:27(v8)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of…
Ezekiel 16:8(v9)“ ‘ “Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your…
Ezekiel 16:59(v9)“ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
Ezekiel 20:37-38(v9)“I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge out from among you the rebels and…
Amos 5:22(v9)Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your…
Malachi 2:13(v9)This again you do: you cover Yahweh’s altar with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn’t regard the offering any more,…
Mark 14:24(v8)He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.
Acts 9:8(v9)Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Acts 13:11(v9)Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell…
Galatians 3:15-19(v9)Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it.…
Hebrews 9:18-20(v9)Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the…
Exodus 19:4-5(v9)‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will…
Joshua 23:15-16(v9)It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the…
Judges 10:13-14(v9)Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them…
Isaiah 41:13(v9)For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’
Isaiah 63:11-13(v9)Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his…
Matthew 26:28(v8)for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
Luke 17:22(v8)He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
Exodus 32:8(v9)They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and…
Psalms 78:52-54(v9)But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid,…
Psalms 136:11-14(v9)and brought out Israel from among them; for his loving kindness endures forever; with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; for his…
Isaiah 51:18(v9)There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth; and there is no one who takes her by the hand among all the…
Lamentations 4:16(v9)Yahweh’s anger has scattered them. He will not pay attention to them any more. They didn’t respect the persons of the priests. They didn’t…
94 distinct cross-references across this passage (96 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. Behold, the days come, etc. (Jeremiah 31:31-34.) The…
8. Behold, the days come, etc. (Jeremiah 31:31-34.) The Prophet speaks of future time; he arraigns the people of perfidy, because they continued not faithful after having received the Law. The Law, then, was the covenant which was broken, as God complains, by the people. To remedy this evil, he promised a new and a different covenant, the fulfillment of which prophecy was the abrogation of the old covenant.
But it may be said, the Apostle seems unreasonably to turn this prophecy to suit his own purpose; for here the question is respecting ceremonies, but the Prophet speaks of the whole Law: what has it to do with ceremonies, when God inscribes on the heart the rule of a godly and holy life, delivered by the voice and teaching of men? To this I reply that the argument is applied from the whole to a part. There is no doubt but that the Prophet includes the whole dispensation of Moses when he says, “I have made with you a covenant which you have not kept.” Besides, the Law was in a manner clothed with ceremonies; now when the body is dead, what is the use of garments? It is a common saying that the accessory is of the same character with his principal. No wonder, then, that the ceremonies, which are nothing more than appendages to the old covenant, should come to an end, together with the whole dispensation of Moses. Nor is it unusual with the Apostles, when they speak of ceremonies, to discuss the general question respecting the whole Law. Though, then, the prophet Jeremiah extends wider than to ceremonies, yet as it includes them under the name of the old covenant, it may be fitly applied to the present subject.
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Now, by the days which the prophet mentions, all agree that Christ’s kingdom is signified; it hence follows, that the old covenant was changed by the coming of Christ. And he names the house of Israel and the house of Judah, because the posterity of Abraham had been divided into two kingdoms. So the promise is to gather again all the elect together into one body, however separated they may have been formerly.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v8He calleth it an house, as it were one…
He calleth it an house, as it were one family of the whole kingdom: for whereas the kingdom of David was divided into two factions, the Prophet giveth us to understand that through the new Testament they shall be joined together again in one.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv8–108 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,…
8 For 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:
Ver. 8. For finding fault with them] Or, finding fault with it, that is, with the covenant; he saith to them, "Behold, the days," &c. So Junlus readeth and senseth it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv8–10This is the proof of the faultiness of the…
This is the proof of the faultiness of the Mosaical covenant, from the right cause of it, those who did abuse it.
For finding fault with them: the Lord, by the prophet Jeremiah, being distasted and offended, accuseth, and with complaints and aggravations chargeth the houses of Israel and Judah, both priests and people, for frustrating God’s covenant with them by their unbelief, mistaking God’s mind in it, and using it to justify them, and not bring them unto Christ, who justifieth the ungodly. That the covenant was not faulty in itself, but only accidentally, is evident; for it was given to change hearts, though its spiritual efficacy was not so fully revealed, Deu 10:16; 30:6; for Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, were saved by the right use of it. It did not bind them by works to obtain justification, for it was delivered with blood, which taught them it was to be had only by faith in Christ’s blood. But when they would not be led to Christ by it, they were faulty, and not the covenant, and so they perished in their gainsaying. The administration of this covenant by men being so defective, he finds fault with them, and resolves on the change of the administration.
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Behold, the days come: Behold, imports attention to and observation of the rare, excellent, and important thing proposed in the word to the eye and mind of those for whom it was written, and to whom it is sent: so is this here, in Jer 31:31; the days of the Messiah’s coming in the flesh, when a woman shall compass a man, as Jer 31:22; the known times of grace, Jer 23:5,6. A time to come when the prophet wrote it, past when the apostle quotes it here; so ordered by God to teach those there the imperfection of that covenant administration, so as they might make out to Christ by it, and not rest in it, as he had revealed him to them in the prophecy; and to strengthen believers in their faith in Christ when come, and to convince and leave inexcusable such Jews as would not believe in him, and further to confirm his priesthood.
Saith the Lord: this is not an invention of the prophet, but a revelation of the Supreme Lord to him. It is his certain, true, and infallible speech, illuminating his mind by it, and directing him in his words and writings for to convey it to those to whom he sent him; so that the word is firm, and worthy of all acceptation; and the more of the Hebrews, because sent by Jeremiah, a Levitical priest, to them.
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: I will make perfect and complete. In the prophet it is וכרתי I will strike or cut, because in covenant-making the sacrifices were cut asunder; and thence is it transferred figuratively, to signify covenant-making. A covenant, for form and manner of administration, second, later, better, stronger, and more excellent than the Mosaical; such as should be effectual to God’s saving ends in the ministry of Christ, with the whole seed of Jacob, the visible church of God, when the prophet wrote this, divided into two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and that of Israel removed afar off by the Assyrian, and seemingly lost, but by this covenant to be made one people again, and to be saved by Christ, David their King, Jer 23:5,6; Eze 37:21-28.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt1703 · Public DomainOn v10Observe here, 1. The persons with whom this covenant…
Observe here, 1. The persons with whom this covenant is made, the house of Israel, and the house of Judah; not made with them as a political body, because their policy was to be dissolved, but as a part of the universal church.
Observe, 2. The author of this covenant, and that is God himself, I will make it, saith the Lord.
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Note, That the abolishing of the old covenant, and establishing the new, is an act of sovereign wisdom, grace, and authority in God: I will make a new covenant.
Observe, 3. What is the great and comprehensive promise of the new covenant: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts; that is:
1. I will make a clear and perspicuous revelation of my mind and will unto them, and give them a thorough knowledge and understanding of my laws, so that their own consciences shall condemn them when they do transgress them.
2. By my holy Spirit I will make a deep and efficacious impression of them upon their hearts and spirits.
Where note, That the precepts of the old covenant are all of them turned into promises under the new; ther preceptive and commanding power remaineth; but grace is promised for the performance of them.
Note farther, That the work of grace, in the new covenant, passeth on the whole soul, in all its powers and faculties, to their change and renovation: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts.
And, consequently, to deny the necessity and efficacy of the sanctifying and renewing grace of God in the habits and acts of it, is plainly to overthrow the evangelical covenant.
Observe, 4. What is the relation which is here said to ensue between God and his people; I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Here note, 1. God’s relation to us ; I will be to them a God, I who am all-sufficient in myself, will be your all-sufficient preserver, and your all-sufficient rewarder. As nothing less than God’s becoming our God can relieve and help us; so nothing more can be required thereunto.
Note, 2. Our relation to God, they shall be to me a people; that is, a special and peculiar people, owning dependency upon him, and professing all subjection and obedience to him.
And observe, God undertakes for this, they shall be to me a people.
Learn thence, That God doth as well undertake for our being his people, as he doth for his being our God: He that assumes them into that relation freely will preserve them in it powerfully: I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv8–10For finding fault with them,.... Both with the covenant,…
For finding fault with them,.... Both with the covenant, which had its faults, and with the people who continued not in it, and were therefore disregarded by the Lord, Heb 8:9
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; the words are cited from Jer 31:31 in which God promises a "new covenant"; so called, not because newly made; for with respect to its original constitution, it was made from eternity; Christ the Mediator of it, and with whom it was made, was set up from everlasting; and promises and blessings of grace were put into his hands before the world began: nor is it newly revealed, for it was made known to Adam, and in some measure to all the Old Testament saints, though it is more clearly revealed than it was; but it is so called in distinction from the former administration of it, which is waxen old, and vanished away; and with respect to the order of succession, it taking place upon the former being removed; and on account of the time of its more clear revelation and establishment being in the last days; and because of its mode of administration, which is different from the former, in a new way, and by the use of new ordinances; and because it is always new, its vigour and efficacy are perpetual; it will never be antiquated, or give place to another; and it provides for, and promises new things, a new heart, a new spirit, &c. to which may be added, that it is a famous, excellent covenant, there is none like it; just as an excellent song is called a new song. The persons with whom this covenant is promised to be made, are the houses of Israel and Judah; which being literally taken, had its fulfilment in the first times of the Gospel, through the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, by whom this covenant was made known to God's elect among the twelve tribes; but being mystically understood, includes both Jews and Gentiles, the whole Israel of God; Israel not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; such as were Jews inwardly; God's elect of every nation: the word rendered, "I will make", signifies, I will consummate, or finish, or end, or fulfil it; which shows the perfection of this covenant, and the imperfection of the former; and that what was typified in the first is fulfilled in this; and that it is now established and ratified by Christ; and is so finished, as to the manifestation and administration of it, that there will be no alteration made in it, nor any addition to it: the time of doing all this is called "the days to come"; the last days, the days of the Messiah, which were future in Jeremiah's time: and a "behold" is prefixed to the whole, as a note of attention, this being an affair of great moment and importance; and as a note of demonstration, or as pointing to something that was desired and expected; and as a note of admiration, it containing things wonderful and marvellous.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv8–10But there is; for finding fault with them -…
But there is; for finding fault with them - Who were under the old covenant he saith, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel - With all the Israel of God, in all ages and nations. It is new in many respects, though not as to the substance of it:
1. Being ratified by the death of Christ.
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2. Freed from those burdensome rites and ceremonies.
3. Containing a more full and clear account of spiritual religion.
4. Attended with larger influences of the Spirit
5. Extended to all men. And,
6. Never to be abolished. Jer. xxxi, 31, &c.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Verse 8. For finding fault with them] The meaning…
Verse 8. For finding fault with them] The meaning is evidently this: God, in order to show that the first covenant was inefficient, saith to them, the Israelites, Behold, the days come when I will make a new covenant, c. He found fault with the covenant, and addressed the people concerning his purpose of giving another covenant, that should be such as the necessities of mankind required. As this place refers to Jer 31:31-34, the words finding fault with them may refer to the Jewish people, of whom the Lord complains that they had broken his covenant though he was a husband to them. See below.
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah] That is, with all the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. This is thought to be a promise of the conversion of all the Jews to Christianity both of the lost tribes, and of those who are known to exist in Asiatic and European countries.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Heb 8:8-9. For — In this verse the apostle…
Heb 8:8-9. For — In this verse the apostle enters upon the proof of his argument proposed in that foregoing, namely, that the first covenant was not faultless, or every way sufficient for the end God had in view, because there was cause for the introduction of another. For finding fault with them — Namely, the people; he saith, Behold the days come, &c. — This is translated by Grotius and others, Finding fault, he saith to them, and understood of finding fault with the former covenant. But it seems much more proper to understand it of God’s finding fault with the Jews, (as he evidently does in the words preceding those here quoted, Jer 31:29-30,) for using the proverb, against which he expresses so much displeasure, in Eze 18:2. And in the words themselves he also finds fault with them for breaking this covenant, though he had, with so much tender care, brought them out of Egypt. It is true, the first covenant was not every way perfect with respect to God’s general end toward his church; yet it may not be proper to say that God complained of it; whereas God, in this testimony, actually complains of the people that they brake his covenant, and expresses his indignation thereon, saying, I regarded them not. He saith — By the Prophet Jeremiah, in that celebrated text, which undoubtedly refers to the gospel dispensation; Behold — As if he had said, Because the covenant, which they were under before, was not the means of reforming them, but, notwithstanding it, they were rebellious still; therefore the days come — Namely, of the gospel; when I will make a new covenant — Not new in regard of the substance of it, but the manner of its dispensation; 1st, Being ratified by the death of Christ; 2d, Freed from the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the law; 3d, Containing a more full and clear revelation of the mysteries of religion, and a more perfect description of it as spiritual, and having its seat chiefly in men’s hearts; 4th, Attended with larger influences of the Spirit; 5th, Extended to all men; 6th, Never to be abolished. With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — That is, with the whole Jewish nation, including descendants from both these houses. For although the houses of Israel and Judah had existed separately, the one from the other, from the time of the first Jeroboam, yet after the captivity of the ten tribes, who composed the house of Israel, such of them as joined themselves to the house of Judah, were so mixed with them as not to be distinguished from them. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers — But differing from it in the circumstances above mentioned, and in others declared afterward; when I took them by the hand — With the care and tenderness of a parent; or manifested my infinite condescension and almighty power in their deliverance; because they continued not — Or, in which covenant of mine they did not continue; while their deliverance was fresh in their memory they obeyed, but presently after they shook off the yoke, and did not abide by the terms of the covenant. And I regarded them not — Greek, καγω ημελησα αυτων, I neglected them. So that the covenant was soon entirely broken. The passage here quoted stands thus in Jeremiah, Which my covenant they brake, though I was a husband to them, saith the Lord. The apostle’s translation of it is that of the LXX. And to reconcile it with the Hebrew text, Pocock (in his Miscel., chap. 1) observes, that in the eastern languages, letters of the same organ, as they are called, being often interchanged, the Hebrew word, בעל, bagnal, to be a husband, is the same with the Arabic word, בהל, bahal, which signifies to refuse, despise, nauseate. So that the Hebrew clause will bear to be translated as the apostle and the LXX. have done, I neglected them, I nauseated them. See note on Jer 31:31, &c.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv8–10For finding fault with them - Or rather, “finding…
For finding fault with them - Or rather, “finding fault, he says to them.” The difference is only in the punctuation, and this change is required by the passage itself. This is commonly interpreted as meaning that the fault was not found with “them” - that is, with the Jewish people, for they had had nothing to do in giving the covenant, but “with the covenant itself.” “Stating its defects, he had said to them that he would give them one more perfect, and of which that was only preparatory.” So Grotius, Stuart, Rosenmuller, and Erasmus understand it. Doddridge, Koppe, and many others understand it as it is in our translation, as implying that the fault was found with the people, and they refer to the passage quoted from Jeremiah for proof, where the complaint is of the people. The Greek may bear either construction; but may we not adopt a somewhat different interpretation still?
May not this be the meaning? For using the language of complaint, or language that implied that there was defect or error, he speaks of another covenant. According to this, the idea would be, not that he found fault specifically either with the covenant or the people, but generally that he used language which implied that there was defect somewhere when he promised another and a better covenant. The word rendered “finding fault” properly means to censure, or to blame. It is rendered in Mar 7:2, “they found fault,” to wit, with those who ate with unwashed hands; in Rom 9:19, “why doth he yet find fault?” It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, It is language used where wrong has been done; where there is ground of complaint; where it is desirable that there should be a change. In the passage here quoted from Jeremiah, it is not expressly stated that God found fault either with the covenant or with the people, but that he promised that he would give another covenant, and that it should be “different” from what he gave them when they came out of Egypt - implying that there was defect in that, or that it was not “faultless.” The whole meaning is, that there was a deficiency which the giving of a new covenant would remove.
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He saith - In Jer 31:31-34. The apostle has not quoted the passage literally as it is in the Hebrew, but he has retained the substance, and the sense is not essentially varied. The quotation appears to have been made partly from the Septuagint, and partly from memory. This often occurs in the New Testament.
Behold - This particle is designed to call attention to what was about to be said as important, or as having some special claim to notice. It is of very frequent occurrence in the Scriptures, being much more freely used by the sacred writers than it is in the classic authors.
The days come - The time is coming. This refers doubtless to the times of the Messiah. Phrases such as these, “in the last days,” “in after times,” and “the time is coming,” are often used in the Old Testament to denote the last dispensation of the world - the dispensation when the affairs of the world would be wound up; see the phrase explained in the Heb 1:2 note, and Isa 2:2 note. There can be no doubt that as it is used by Jeremiah it refers to the times of the gospel.
When I will make a new covenant - A covenant that shall contemplate somewhat different ends; that shall have different conditions, and that shall be more effective in restraining from sin. The word “covenant” here refers to the arrangement, plan, or dispensation into which he would enter in his dealings with people. On the meaning of the word, see the Act 7:8 note, and Heb 9:16-17 notes. The word “covenant” with us commonly denotes a compact or agreement between two parties that are equal, and who are free to enter into the agreement or not. In this sense, of course, it cannot be used in relation to the arrangement which God makes with man. There is:
(1)No equality between them, and,
(2)Man is not at liberty to reject any proposal which God shall make.
The word, therefore, is used in a more general sense, and more in accordance with the original meaning of the Greek word. It has been above remarked (see the notes on Heb 8:6), that the “proper” word to denote “covenant,” or “compact” - συνθηκη sunthēkē - “syntheke” - is never used either in the Septuagint or in the New Testament - another word - διαθήκη diathēkē - “diatheke” - being carefully employed. Whether the reason there suggested for the adoption of this word in the Septuagint be the real one or not, the fact is indisputable. I may be allowed to suggest as possible here an additional reason why this so uniformly occurs in the New Testament. It is, that the writers of the New Testament never meant to represent the transactions between God and man as a “compact or covenant” properly so called. They have studiously avoided it, and their uniform practice, in making this nice distinction between the two words, may show the real sense in which the Hebrew word rendered “covenant” - בּרית beriyt - is used in the Old Testament. The word which they employ - διαθήκη diathēkē - never means a compact or agreement as between equals.
It remotely and secondarily means a “will, or testament” - and hence, our phrase “New Testament.” But this is not the sense in which it is used in the Bible - for God has never made a will in the sense of a testamentary disposition of what belongs to him. We are referred; therefore, in order to arrive at the true Scripture view of this whole matter, to the original meaning of the word - διαθήκη diathēkē - as denoting a “disposition, arrangement, plan;” then what is ordered, a law, precept, promise, etc. Unhappily we have no single word which expresses the idea, and hence, a constant error has existed in the church - either keeping up the notion of a “compact” - as if God could make one with people; or the idea of a will - equally repugnant to truth. The word διαθήκη diathēkē is derived from a verb - διατίθημι diatithēmi - meaning to place apart, to set in order; and then to appoint, to make over, to make an arrangement with. Hence, the word διαθήκη diathēkē - means properly the “arrangement or disposition” which God made with people in regard to salvation; the system of statutes, directions, laws, and promises by which people are to become subject to him, and to be saved. The meaning here is, that he would make a “new” arrangement, contemplating as a primary thing that the Law should be written in the “heart;” an arrangement which would be especially spiritual in its character, and which would be attended with the diffusion of just views of the Lord.
With the house of Israel - The family, or race of Israel, for so the word “house” is often used in the Scriptures and elsewhere. The word “Israel” is used in the Scriptures in the following senses:
(1)As a name given to Jacob because he wrestled with the angel of God and prevailed as a prince; Gen 32:28.
(2)As denoting all who were descended from him - called “the children of Israel” - or the Jewish nation.
(3)As denoting the kingdom of the ten tribes - or the kingdom of Samaria, or Ephraim - that kingdom having taken the name Israel in contradistinction from the other kingdom, which was called “Judah.”
(4)As denoting the people of God in general - his true and sincere friends - his church; see the notes on Rom 2:28-29; Rom 9:6.
In this place quoted from Jeremiah, it seems to be used to denote the kingdom of Israel in contradistinction from that of Judah, and “together they denote the whole people of God, or the whole Hebrew nation.” This arrangement was ratified and confirmed by the gift of the Messiah, and by implanting his laws in the heart. It is not necessary to understand this as referring to the whole of the Jews, or to the restoration of the ten tribes; but the words “Israel” and “Judah” are used to denote the people of God in general, and the idea is, that with the true Israel under the Messiah the laws of God would be written in the heart rather than be mere external observances.
And with the house of Judah - The kingdom of Judah. This kingdom consisted of two tribes - Judah and Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin was, however, small, and the name was lost in that of Judah.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10For finding fault with them. It is not said…
For finding fault with them. It is not said here, blaming the law, says St. John Chrysostom, which in itself was good, just, and holy, (see Romans vii. 12.) but blaming the breakers and transgressors of it; not but that men were saved in the time of the law, who by God’s grace believed in their Redeemer that was to come, and lived well. And the mercies of God were so great, even towards sinners, that he made them a solemn promise, clearly expressed in the prophet Jeremias, (Chap. xxxi. 31. &c.) The days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant,...not according to the covenant (or not such a one) as I made to their fathers, at the time when I took them as it were by the hand to lead them out of....Egypt, &c. with signs and prodigies: I then made choice of them to be my people, but they were always transgressing against this testament, this covenant, which I had made with them: and for their transgressions I neglected them, punished them from time to time, and, what was the greatest punishment of all, permitted such ungrateful and obstinate offenders to run on in their own sinful ways to their own ruin. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv8–10finding fault with them--the people of the old covenant,…
finding fault with them--the people of the old covenant, who were not made "faultless" by it (Heb 8:7); and whose disregard of God's covenant made Him to "regard them not" (Heb 8:9). The law is not in itself blamed, but the people who had not observed it.
he saith-- (Jer 31:31-34; compare Eze 11:19; Eze 36:25-27). At Rama, the headquarters of Nebuzar-adan, whither the captives of Jerusalem had been led, Jeremiah uttered this prophecy of Israel's restoration under another David, whereby Rachel, wailing for her lost children, shall be comforted; literally in part fulfilled at the restoration under Zerubbabel, and more fully to be hereafter at Israel's return to their own land; spiritually fulfilled in the Gospel covenant, whereby God forgives absolutely His people's sins, and writes His law by His Spirit on the hearts of believers, the true Israel. "This prophecy forms the third part of the third trilogy of the three great trilogies into which Jeremiah's prophecies may be divided: Jeremiah 21-25, against the shepherds of the people; Jeremiah 26-29, against the false prophets; Jeremiah 30 and 31, the book of restoration" [DELITZSCH in ALFORD].
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Behold, the days come--the frequent formula introducing a Messianic prophecy.
make--Greek, "perfect"; "consummate." A suitable expression as to the new covenant, which perfected what the old could not (compare end of Heb 8:9, with end of Heb 8:10).
Israel . . . Judah--Therefore, the ten tribes, as well as Judah, share in the new covenant. As both shared the exile, so both shall share the literal and spiritual restoration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. For—To quote the proof.
8. For—To quote the proof.
Finding fault with them—Them, like their, in Heb_8:9, refers to the people under the first covenant as morally faulty under it, and needing a new. He (God, whose the words are) saith. In Jer_31:31-34. Delitzsch thus describes the sad crisis in which these predictions were, originally, by the prophet uttered: “After the sack of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, with the other captives, was brought in chains to Rama, where Nebuzaradan had his headquarters. Then took place, at God’s special command, his prophecies of the future entire restoration of Israel, of another David, of Rachel’s wailing over her children at Rama, and their future return; of the new covenant, resting on absolute and veritable forgiveness of sins, which Jehovah would make with his people; these prophecies forming the third part of the three great triologies into which the prophecies of Jeremiah may be divided: chap. 21-25, the book against the shepherds of the people; chap. 26-29, the book of Jeremiah’s conflict against the false prophets; chap. 30, 31, the book of restoration.”
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Behold, the days come—We have here presented, in the words of the prophet, a picture of the glories of the Messianic age. The future lies in mass before the prophet; but he discerns only the radiant points of the Christian ages, the darker back grounds being invisible to his view. This luminous picture is presented before Israel in a dark hour of her history to cheer her hope for a nobler future. Israel and… Judah, the two kingdoms, once one under David and Solomon, now divided. The former was carried into captivity first of the two.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. For finding fault with them] The “for” introduces…
8. For finding fault with them] The “for” introduces his proof that “place for a better covenant was being sought for.” The persons blamed are not expressed, for the word “them” belongs to “He says.” Perhaps the meaning is “blaming the first covenant, He says to them” (who were under it). The “He” is God speaking to the Prophet.
Behold, the days come …] The quotation is from Jer_31:31-34.
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I will make] The Hebrew word means literally “I will cut,” alluding perhaps to the slaying of victims at the inauguration of a covenant. But the LXX. and the writer of the Epistle substitute a less literal word.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–10(8) Finding fault with them.—Not, “with it,” but with…
(8) Finding fault with them.—Not, “with it,” but with those through whom the covenant had failed. The following quotation (Heb_8:8-12) is taken from Jer_31:31-34. It is the crowning point of that collection of prophecies which is brought together in Heb 30-33, descriptive of the hope and salvation of Israel. The characteristics of the prophecy and its significance in this place will be noticed below (Heb_8:12). The quotation agrees in the main with the LXX. (and, except in Heb_8:11. with the text contained in the Alexandrian MS.), and in one clause only fails to represent the meaning of the Hebrew original. The only point requiring notice in this verse is the substitution of “I will accomplish” for “I will make.” The new word closely answers to that which was used in Heb_8:6, “ordained.” (See the Note.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Vers. 8-12. For finding fault with them (i.e. the…
Vers. 8-12. For finding fault with them (i.e. the people), he saith (or, as some take it, finding fault, he saith to them), Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will accomplish upon the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant: not 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. For 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: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. The passage is quoted from the LXX, with a few verbal differences which do not affect the meaning. In ver. 9 our A.V renders the original in Jeremiah although I was a Husband unto them," instead of and I regarded them not (kagw hmelhsa autwn)." The LXX, followed in the text, gives the more probable meaning. On the whole passage be it observed:
1. "Behold, the days come," like "in that day," is a usual prophetic phrase for denoting the age of the Messiah.
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2. The failure of the old covenant is attributed in the first place to the people"s not continuing in it, and then, as a consequence, to the LORD"S withdrawal of his protection. The evidence of such withdrawal immediately before the prophet"s view may be supposed to have been the Babylonian captivity.
3. The distinguishing characteristics of the new covenant are
(1) God"s laws, not imposed as an external code, but put into the mind and written on the heart;
(2) The general knowledge of the Load by small as welt as great, without the former need of continual admonition; and
(3) As the originating and inspiring cause of all, the forgiveness on the Loan"s part of past sins.
It is important to perceive that this last characteristic of the new covenant, though coming last in order, is given as the reason for the other two; for this is a first principle of the gospel. The sense of forgiveness through Christ, of acceptance in the Beloved, is ever set forth as the inspiring principle of the obedience of Christians. "We love him, because he first loved us. " And hence flow the two results denoted in the prophecy.
(1) "I will put my laws," etc.; i.e. there will ensue, through the inspiring Spirit, from the sense of forgiveness in Christ, a hearty service of love and loyalty; no mere mechanical observance of an external code. Then,
(2) "And they shall not teach," etc.; i.e. those who thus, led by the Spirit, give themselves to such hearty service, will acquire, further, an immediate, and as it were instinctive, "knowledge of the Lord," not confined to "the wise" or the scribe," but the personal privilege of even the "little ones" of Christ. (cf. Mat_11:25, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes;" also Joh_6:45, It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God;" also 1Th_4:9, "But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another;" also 1Jn_2:20, "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things It is not to be inferred (as has been) from this last result that a distinct order of ministry is no essential constituent of the Christian Church for admonition of others. The fact that such a ministry was constituted from the first in all the Churches, and was in active operation when apostles wrote as above, is in itself sufficient disproof of such a view. All that is implied is that all faithful believers, small as well as great (using, of course, the means of grace and edification provided for them in the Church), should themselves have inward illumination and personal communion with God. This is indeed a peculiar glory of the Christian religion. The poorest and the simplest believer may have spiritual perceptions and spiritual experience of his own, surpassing those of his appointed guides, and remaining his own though priests and teachers be unfaithful. "I am small and despised" (may the Christian, still more than the ancient psalmist, say), "yet do not I forget thy precepts." "I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation." Observe, lastly, the ideality of the whole view given of the effects of the new covenant. It presents to us the purpose, the potentiality, of the new dispensation, rather than results to be fully realized in this world; though still actually realized so far as the "glorious light of the gospel" illuminates the Church, and is allowed to "shine into" the human heart. This remark applies to all Messianic prophecy.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Finding fault with them
Heb_8:8
Finding fault with them
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God complaining of the Church
I.
GOD HATH OFTTIMES JUST CAUSE TO COMPLAIN OF HIS PEOPLE WHEN YET HE WILL NOT UTTERLY CAST THEM OFF.
II. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO TAKE DEEP NOTICE OF GODS COMPLAINTS OF THEM. Want hereof is that which hath laid most churches in the world under a fatal security. Hence they carry themselves as though they were rich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing, when indeed they are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. To consider what God blames, and to affect our souls with a sense of guilt, is that trembling at His word which He so approves of. And to guide them herein they ought carefully to consider
1. The times and seasons that are passing over them. For in a due observance of the times and seasons, and an application of ourselves to the duties of them, consists that testimony which we are to give to God and the gospel in our generation. That Church which considers not its especial duty in the days wherein we live is fast asleep, and it may be doubted whether, when it is awaked, it will find oil in its vessel or not.
2. The temptations which are prevalent, and which unavoidably we are exposed unto. Every age and time hath its especial temptations. And it is the will of God that the Church should be exercised with them and by them; and it were easy to manifest that the darkness and ignorance of men, in not discerning the especial temptations of the age wherein they have lived, or neglecting of them, have been always the great causes and means of the apostasy the Church.
III. GOD OFTEN SURPRISETH THE CHURCH WITH PROMISES OF GRACE AND MERCY (Isa_7:13-14; Isa_43:22-25). And this He will do
1. That He may glorify the riches and freedom of His grace.
2. That none who have the least remainder of sincerity, and desire to fear the name of God, may utterly faint and despond at any time, under the greatest confluence of discouragements. (John Owen, D. D.)
I will make a new covenant
I. GODS COVENANT WITH MAN INSTRUCTETH US IN TWO ESPECIAL POINTS.
1. In Gods condescension to man.
2. In the sure prop that man hath to rest on God for happiness.
1. Gods condescension to man is manifested four ways.
(1) In that God being the most high supreme Sovereign over all, vouchsafeth to enter into covenant with His servants.
(2) In that God being a Lord hath power to command what He pleaseth, so as He need not covenant or capitulate with them, saying, Do this and I will do that; yet doth He enter into covenant.
(3) In that being mot free, and wholly depending upon Himself, He need not bind Himself to any (Job_9:12; Job_34:19; Dan_4:35), yet by covenant He binds Himself to man.
(4) In that God being the Lord God of truth (Psa_30:5) He binds Himself to perform His promise, as if there might be some tear of His failing therein (Heb_6:17-18).
2. The sure prop that man hath to rest of God for happiness by reason of His covenant is manifested two ways.
(1) In that God who is good and doeth good (Psa_119:68) doth covenant to make man happy. God is as a deep, full, open, overflowing, everdowing fountain, so as that might seem sufficient to make us go to Him for everything that may tend to blessedness. But the covenant which God maketh to bring us unto happiness doth much more embolden us to go to Him, and make us confident of receiving from Him what He hath covenanted to give.
(2) By covenant God hath caused a special relation to pass betwixt Him and us. He and we are confederates. This is a sure prop. As God is faithful in Himself, so His covenant is most sure. It is a covenant of salt for ever Num_18:19). Gods confederates may thereupon have strong consolation and confidence (Deu_7:9; Heb_6:18).
II. THE COVENANT OF GOD WITH MAN DOTH DIRECT US IN FOUR SPECIAL POINTS.
1. To know what God expects of us; namely, whatsoever is in the covenant to be performed on our part, which we must be careful to observe as we do desire to receive any benefit from the covenant.
2. To understand what we may expect from God; namely, whatsoever on Gods part is covenanted.
3. To acquaint ourselves with the covenant of God, that thereby we may know what privileges and blessings belong unto us. A wise heir will search after such evidences as give him a right to his lands and goods.
4. To be careful in observing our own undertakings, and as conscionable in performing the covenant on our part, as we are desirous to partake of the benefit of the covenant on Gods part. This is laid down as a ground of Levis blessing, theft they kept Gods covenant (Deu_33:9). This God expressly requireth (Exo_19:5). We cannot expect that God should keep covenant with us unless we he careful to keep covenant with Him (Psa_25:10). Great is that loss which followeth upon breach of covenant, yet that is not all, Gods wrath and vengeance will also follow thereupon. Sole vengeance hath been executed on breach of covenant with man (2Ki_17:4, &c.; Eze_17:15). How much sorer vengeance may be feared on breach of covenant with God Jer_22:6; Jer_22:9; Jer_34:18-20; Hos_8:1; 1Ki_11:11). (W. Gouge.)
The blessings of the new covenant
New, as contrasted with old, means in Scripture that which is perfect and abiding. The old vanishes, the new remains. God gives us a new heart that we may love and praise Him for ever. The old covenant was temporary and imperfect. God findeth fault with it; for although the law was holy, just, and good, yet by reason of Israels sin neither righteousness nor life could come through it. And as the purposes of Divine love could not be attained by the old covenant, so the character of God, as the God of grace, could not be fully revealed therein. Hence the promise of a new covenant, which in itself proves the imperfection and insufficiency of the old; and this new covenant is represented as a contrast, unlike the old; it is new, that is, perfect, everlasting. God is pleased with it because it shows forth the glory of Jehovah as the God of salvation. How great is the contrast between the old and the new covenant! In the one God demands of sinful man: Thou shalt. In the other God promises: I will. The one is conditional; the other is the manifestation of Gods free grace, and of Gods unlimited power. In the one the promise is neutralised by the disobedience of man; in the other all the promises of God are yea in Christ, and amen in Christ. In the new covenant Christ is all; He is the Alpha and Omega: all things are of God, and all things are sure and steadfast. The blessings of the new covenant are all based upon the forgiveness of sin. God promises to put His laws into our minds, and write them in our hearts, and to be to us a God, because He is merciful to our unrighteousness, and will remember our sins and iniquities no more. The forgiveness of sin is not merely the beginning, but it is the foundation, the source; it is, so to say, the mother of all Divine blessings. For so long as sin is upon the conscience, arid man is not able to draw near unto God, he is separated from the only source of life and blessedness. In the forgiveness of sin God gives Himself, and all things that pertain to life and godliness. To know God is the sum and substance of all blessings, both in this life and in that which is to come. Now, although the law manifests to a certain extent the holiness and truth, the justice and unchangeableness, the goodness and bounty of God, the law does not reveal God Himself, the depth of His sovereign and eternal love, the purpose which He purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world was laid. When in Christ we receive the forgiveness of sin, we behold God. Here is also the source and the commencement, the root and strength of our love to God. We love Him, because He first loved us. We eve much, because much is forgiven unto us. The new obedience, the spiritual worship, the fight and victory of faith, the knowledge and fear and love of God, have their starting-point in the pardon of sin. And this is the new covenant blessing. True, the servants of God always knew this blessing. Of the Divine righteousness both the law and the prophets testify. David describeth this blessedness. The sacrifices typified, faith looked forward to the great atonement. But now that Christ has come, and that He died once for all, we receive forgiveness in a full and perfect manner: there is no more remembrance of sins; no repetition of sacrifice is needed; no yearly recurrence of the day of atonement; in Christ we have redemption in His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. It is in giving this perfect pardon that God renews the heart, and writes in it His laws. We must needs contrast law and gospel. Yet let us not forget that the law from the very outset showed its temporary and negative character, pointed beyond and away from itself; sighed, as it were, after Him, who by fulfilling would take it away, and by taking it away would fulfil it in us, raise us to the still greater height of the new love! All spiritual life flows from Jesus as our Saviour. When we believe in Jesus we are not in the flesh but in the Sprit. His precious blood is not merely our peace, but our strength; and our strength because it is our peace. Justification and sanctification emanate from this one source. When Israel is brought in repentance and faith to the Lord, then shall be fulfilled the gracious purpose of God, which under the law was frustrated through Israels sin and disobedience. Although God was a husband unto them, they brake His covenant. But now, forgiven and renewed, Israel will be in actual reality, and not merely in position, Gods people, and Jehovah will be their God. And because He is God to them, source of light and life, they are His people. Not merely chosen and appointed; not merely called and treated collectively as Gods people; but in reality, according to truth, according to their individual character and experience, the people in whom Gods name is revealed, who show forth His praise, who walk m His ways and obey His will. For then each one individually shall know the Lord. God is known in Judah, said the Psalmist. In their marvelous history, in the Divine messages sent by Moses and the prophets, in the types and ordinances, in the Judges and Kings, God had revealed unto His people His name. His character and will, and His great desire was that they should know Him. How touching is the complaint of Jehovah, that after all the signs which they had seen, and after all His mighty works of redeeming and guiding love, a d after all the words of light and of grace which He had sent them, His people did not know Him f So long had He been with them, and, erring in their hearts, they did not know His ways! What could be more grievous to the fatherly heart of God, yearning to be known, trusted, and loved? But when the Holy Ghost shall be poured out upon them they shall all know Jehovah, from the least to the greatest; though one shall encourage and exhort the other, yet they shall not need to tea h and to say to their neighbour, Know the Lord. In the Church this promise is already fulfilled. From Jesus, the anointed, all Christians receive the Holy Ghost; they have, according to their name, the unction from above. Hence, they possess the teacher who guides into all truth. Knowledge is within them. There is within them a well of living water. They are not dependent on external instruction. There is given unto them the Paraclete, who always reveals the things that are freely given unto us of God. The spiritual man knows all things--all the things of the Spirit, all that pertains to life and godliness. True, he does not know all things actually, or in any given moment; but he knows them potentially. There is within him the light which can see, the mind which can receive all truth. (A. Saphir.)
The difference betwixt the two covenants of works and grace
The covenants of works and grace do differ in the particulars following.
1. In the different consideration of the Author of the one and the other, which are in the first Gods supreme sovereignty, and in the latter His rich mercy.
2. In the procuring cause of them, which was of the former Gods mere will and pleasure, of the latter pity and compassion.
3. In the manner of making the one and the other. The former was without a mediator; the latter with one
4. In the time: the former was made before man had sinned; the latter after his transgression.
5. In the occasion of making the one and the other. The occasion of the former was to try mans faithfulness in that integrity wherein God made him. The occasion of the latter was to show the necessity of mans continual dependence on God.
6. In the confederates or parties with whom the one and the other was made. The former was made with all mankind; the latter with the elect only.
7. In the particular good that was promised. In the former a reward was promised upon fulfilling the condition by man himself (Rom_10:15). In the latter was afforded
(1) A Surety for man (chap. 7:22).
(2) Ability to do what God would accept (Eze_36:27).
(3) A better reward in mans communion with Christ (Jn
14:3; 17:23, 24).
8. In the duties required by the one and the other. Perfect obedience was required by the former; faith and repentance by the latter.
9. In the order of Gods accepting. In the former God accepted the person for the work; which is thus expressed, If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? (Gen_4:7). In the latter the work is accepted in reference to the person.
10. In the ratification. The former was ratified by word, promise, and seals. The letter was further ratified by oath (Heb_7:20) and blood Heb_9:16-17)
11. In the issue of the one and the other. The former was violable. It might be forfeited, and was forfeited. The latter is inviolable and shall never be broken (Jer_33:20-21).
12. In the matter of the one and the other. These two covenants do so far differ in the very matter and substance of them as they can no more stand together than the ark of God and Dagon (1Sa_5:3-4). The apostle doth so far oppose works and grace in the case of justification and salvation as they cannot stand together (Rom_11:6). This difference betwixt the covenant of works and grace giveth evidence of Gods wisdom in working by contraries and bringing light out of darkness (2Co_4:6) and good out of evil, as He brought meat out of the eater (Jdg_4:14). For mans sin and misery that fell thereupon caused this better covenant. This is an especial instance to prove that all things work together for good (Rom_8:28). (W. Gouge.)
The agreement betwixt the covenant of grace as it is styled old and new
The covenant of grace hath continued from Adams fall, and shallcontinue to the end of the world. In this respect it is styled an everlasting covenant. But it hath been variously dispensed in the several ages of the world. The greatest difference in the dispensation thereof hath been manifested in the times float passed before and since Christ was exhibited. This difference is so great, as the covenant of grace, though always one and the same in substance, hath been distinguished into an old and new covenant (Heb_8:13). The latitude of the covenant of grace wilt more clearly be discerned if we duly consider the agreement and difference, as it is called old and new. The agreement is manifested--1. In their Author, and that considered in the same respect: namely, as He is our Creator and Lord, and as He is our Redeemer and Father, for so was God of old called and acknowledged (Deu_32:6).
2. In the procuring cause, which was the bee grace and rich mercy of God Luk_1:54-55; Luk_1:72; Luk_1:78).
3. In the same ground and meritorious cause of both, which is Jesus Christ Heb_13:8; Rev_13:8).
4. In the same promises, which are remission of sins, reconciliation with God, and everlasting happiness (Exo_34:7; Lev_8:15; Psa_91:16).
5. In the same duties required, which are faith (Gen_15:6) and repentance (Eze_33:11).
6. In the same ground of stability, which is the continual abode and operation of the Spirit in Gods confederates (Psa_51:11-12).
7. In the same general end, which is the praise of the free grace of God Exo_33:18-19; Exo_34:6).
8. In the same persons with whom the covenants are made, which are sinners by nature but elect of God (Psa_33:12; Psa_89:3).
9. In the same word of faith, whereby the one and other covenant is revealed (Gal_3:8; Heb_4:2).
10. In the same substance of sacraments and the same spiritual food (1Co_10:3-4). (W. Gouge.)
The difference between the covenant of grave as it is styled old and new
The difference betwixt the old and new covenant is
1. In the time. The old was before Christ, the new since (Heb_1:1-2).
2. In the manner of delivering. The old was more obscurely delivered under types and prophecies, the new more clearly (2Co_3:13-14).
3. In the extent. The old was restrained to a select people (Psa_147:19-20); the new is extended to all nations (Mat_28:19).
4. In the mediator. Moses, a mere man, was made the mediator of the old Gal_3:19); but Jesus Christ, God-man, the Mediator of the new (verse 6).
5. In the ratification. The old was ratified by the blood of beasts Exo_24:8); the new by the blood of the Son of God (Heb_9:12).
6. In the efficacy. The old comparatively was a ministration of death, thee new a ministration of the Spirit (2Co_3:7-8).
7. In the kind of confederates. Under the old Gods confederates were in their non-age, as children under tutors and governors (Gal_4:5; Gal_4:7).
8. In the kind of seals or sacraments. Under the old they were more in number, more various in rites, more difficult, more obscure, more earthly. By comparing the sacraments of the one and the other together, this will evidently appear.
9. In the manner of setting forth the promise of God. In the old it was set forth more meanly under temporal blessings (Deu_28:2); under the new, more directly under spiritual and celestial blessings Mat_5:3, &c.).
10. In the yoke that is laid o, the confederates by the one and the other. By the old heavy yoke was laid (Act_15:10); by the new, an easy and light Mat_11:30). So great a difference there is betwixt the new covenant and all other covenants, as it is styled a better covenant. (W. Gouge.)
The two dispensatons are one
The new covenant deals with the same fundamental conceptions which dominated the former one. These are the moral law, knowledge of God, and forgiveness of sin. So far the two dispensations are one. Because these great conceptions lie at the root of all human goodness, religion is essentially the same thing under both covenants. There is a sense in which St. Augustine was right in speaking of the saints under the Old Testament as Christians before Christ. Judaism and Christianity stand shoulder to shoulder over against the religious ideas and practices of all the heathen nations of the world. But in Judaism these sublime conceptions are undeveloped. Nationalism dwarfs their growth. They are like seeds falling on the thorns, and the thorns grow up and choke them. God, therefore, spoke unto the Jews in parables, in types and shadows. Seeing, they saw not; and hearing, they heard not, neither did they understand. Because the former covenant was a national one, the conceptions of the moral law, of God, of sin and its forgiveness, would be narrow and external. The moral law would be embedded in the national code. God would be revealed in the history of the nation. Sin would consist either in faults of ignorance and inadvertence or in national apostasy from the theocratic king. In these three respects the new covenant excels--in respect, that is, of the moral law, knowledge of God, and forgiveness of sin, which y t may be justly regarded as the three sides of the revelation given under the former covenant. (T. C. Edwards, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson1891 · Public DomainOn vv8–108–12. I will make a new covenant. By the…
8–12. I will make a new covenant. By the mouth of Jeremiah (31:31–34) the Lord declared that he would make a new covenant which would take the place of the old covenant. This shows that the old did not meet the full needs of men.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v10
Hebrews
THE ARTICLES OF THE NEW COVENANT: GOD’S WELTING ON THE HEART
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Heb 8:10
WE can scarcely estimate the shock to a primitive Hebrew Christian when he discovered that Judaism was to fade away. Such an earthquake might seem to leave nothing standing. Now, the great object of this Epistle is to insist on that truth, and to calm the early Hebrew Christians under it, by showing them that the disappearance of the older system left them no poorer but infinitely richer, inasmuch as all that was in it was more perfectly in Christ’s gospel. The writer has accordingly been giving his strength to showing that, all along the line, Christianity is the perfecting of Judaism, in its Founder, in its priesthood, in its ceremonies, in its Sabbath. Here he touches the great central thought of the covenant between God and man, and he fall back upon the strange words of one of the old prophets. Jeremiah had declared as emphatically as he, the writer, has been declaring, that the ancient system was to melt away and be absorbed in a new covenant between God and man. Is there any other instance of a religion which, on the one side, proclaims its own eternal duration - ‘the Word of the Lord endureth for ever’ - and on the other side declares that it is to be abrogated, antiquated, and done away? The writer of the Epistle had learned from sacreder lips than Jeremiah’s the same lesson, for the Master said at the most solemn hour of His career, ‘This is the blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’
These articles of the New Covenant go very deep into the essence of Christianity, and may well be thought. fully pondered by us all, if we wish to know what the specific differences between the ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ, and all other systems are. The words I have read for my text are the first of these articles.
I. Let us try to ascertain what exactly is the meaning of this great promise.
Now it seems to me that the two clauses which I have read for my text are not precisely parallel, but parallel with a difference. I take it, that ‘mind’ here means very much what we make it mean in our popular phraseology, a kind of synonym for the understanding, or the intellectual part of a man’s nature; and that ‘heart,’ on the other hand, means something a little wider than it does in our popular phraseology, and indicates not only the affections, but the centre of personality in the human will, as well as the seat of love. So these two clauses will mean, you see, if we carry that distinction with us, two things - the clear perception of the will of God, and the coincidence of that will with our inclinations and desires.’ In men’s natural consciences, there is the law written on their minds, but alas! we all know that there is an awful chasm between perception and inclination, and that it is one thing to know our duty, and quite another to wish to do it. So the heart of this great promise of my text is that these two things shall coincide in a Christian man, shall cover precisely the same ground; as two of Euclid’s triangles having the same angles will, if laid upon each other, coincide line for line and angle for angle. Thus, says this great promise, it is possible - and, if we observe the conditions, it will be actual in us - that knowledge and will shall cover absolutely and exactly the same ground. Inclination will be duty, and duty will be inclination and delight. Nothing short of such a thought lies here.
And how is that wonderful change upon men to be accomplished? ‘I will put, I will write.’ Only He can do it. We all know, by our own experience, the schism that gapes between the two things. Every man in the world knows a vast deal more of duty than any man in the world does. The worst of us has a standard that rebukes his evil, and the best of us has a standard that transcends his goodness, and, alas! often transcends his inclination.
But the gospel of our Lord and Saviour comes armed with sufficient power to make this miracle an actuality for us all.
For it comes, does it not, to substitute for all other motives to obedience, the one motive of love? They but half understand the gospel who dwell upon its sanctions of reward and punishment, and would seek to frighten men into goodness by brandishing the whip of law before them, and uncovering the lid that shuts in the smoke of a hell And they misinterpret it almost as much, if there be any such, who find the chief motive for Christian obedience in the glories of the heavenly state. These are subordinate and legitimate in their secondary place, but the gospel appeals to men, not merely nor chiefly on the ground of self-interest, but it comes to them with the one appeal, ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments.’ That is how the law is written on the heart. Wherever there is love, there is a supreme delight in divining and in satisfying the wish and will of the beloved. His lightest word is law to the loving heart; his looks are spells and commandments. And if it is so in regard of our poor, imperfect, human loves, how infinitely more so is it where the heart is touched by true affection for His own infinite love’s sake, of that ‘Jesus’ who is ‘most desired!’ The secret of Christian morality is that duty is changed into choice, because love is made the motive for obedience.
And, still further, let me remind you how this great promise is fulfilled in the Christian life, because to have Christ shrined in the heart is the heart of Christianity, and Christ Himself is our law. So, in another sense than that which I have been already touching, the law is written on the heart on which, by faith and self-surrender, the name of Christ is written. And when it becomes our whole duty to become like Him, then He being throned in our hearts, our law is within, and Himself to His ‘darlings’ shall be, as the poet has it about another matter, ‘both law and impulse.’ Write His name upon your hearts, and your law of life is thereby written there.
And, still further, let me remind you that this great promise is fulfilled, because the very specific gift of Christianity to men is the gift of a new nature which is ‘created in righteousness and holiness that flows from truth.’ The communication of a divine life kindred with, and percipient of, and submissive to, the divine will is the gift that Christianity - or, rather, let us put away the abstraction and say that Christ - offers . to us all, and gives to every man who will accept it.
And thus, and in other ways on which I cannot dwell now, this great article of the New Covenant lies at the very foundation of the Christian life, and gives its peculiar tinge and cast to all Christian morality, commandment, and obligation.
But let me remind you how this great truth has to be held with caution. The evidence of this letter itself shows that, whilst the writer regarded it as a distinctive characteristic of the gospel, that by it men’s wills were stamped with a delight in the law of God, and a transcript thereof, he still regarded these wills as unstable, as capable of losing the sharp lettering, of having the writing of God obliterated, and still regarded it as possible that there should be apostasy and departure.
So there is nothing in this promise which suspends the need for effort and for conflict. Still ‘the flesh lusteth against the spirit.’ Still there are parts of the nature on which that law is not written. It is the final triumph, that the whole man, body, soul, and spirit is, through and through, penetrated with, and joyfully obedient to, the commandments of the Lord. There is need, too, not only for continuous progress, effort, conflict, in order to keep our hearts open for His handwriting, but also for much caution, lest at any time we should mistake our own self-will for the utterance of the divine voice.
‘Love, and do what thou wilt,’ said a great Christian teacher. It is an unguarded statement, but profoundly true as in some respects it is, it is only absolutely true if we have made sure that the ‘thou’ which ‘wills’ is the heart on which God has written His law.
Only God can do this for us. The Israelites of old were bidden ‘these things which I command thee this day shall be on thy heart,’ and they were to write them on their hand, and on the frontlet between their eyes, and on their doorposts. The latter commands were obeyed, having been hardened into a form; and phylacteries on the arm, and scrolls on the lintel, were the miserable obedience which was given to them. But the complete writing on the heart was beyond the power of unaided man. A psalmist said, ‘I delight to do Thy will, and Thy law is within my heart.’ But a verse or two after, in the same psalm, he wailed, ‘Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore my heart faileth me.’ One Man has transcribed the divine will on His will, without blurring a letter, or omitting a clause. One Man has been able to say, in the presence of the most fearful temptations, ‘Not My will, but Thine, be done.’ One Man has so completely written, perceived, and obeyed the law of His Father, that, looking back on all His life, He was conscious of no defect or divergence, either in motive or in act, and could affirm on the Cross, ‘It is finished.’ He who thus perfectly kept that divine law will give to us, if we ask Him, His spirit, to write it upon our hearts, and ‘the law of the spirit of life which was in Christ Jesus shall make us free from the law of sin and death.’
II. Now, secondly, note the impassable gulf which this fulfilled promise makes between Christianity and all other systems.
It is a new covenant, undoubtedly-an altogether new thing in the world. For whatever other laws have been promulgated among men have had this in common, that they have stood over against the Will with a whip in one hand, and a box of sweets in the other, and have tried to influence desires and inclinations, first by the setting forth of duty, then by threatening, and then by promises to obedience. There is the inherent weakness of all which is merely law. You do not make men good by telling them in what goodness consists, nor yet by setting forth the bitter consequences that may result from wrong-doing. All that is surface work. But there is a power which says that it deals with the will as from within, and moves, and moulds, and revolutionises it. ‘You cannot make men sober by act of parliament,’ people say. Well! I do not believe the conclusion which is generally drawn from that statement, but it is perfectly true in itself. To tell a man what he ought to do is very, very little help towards his doing it. I do not under-estimate the value of a clear perception of duty, but I say that, apart from Christianity, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that clear perception of duty is like a clear opening of a great gulf between a man and safety, which only makes him recoil in despair with the thought, ‘how can I ever leap across that?’ But the peculiarity of the gospel is that it gives both the knowledge of what we ought to be; and with and in the knowledge, the desire, and with and in the knowledge and the desire, the power to be what God would have us to be.
All other systems, whether the laws of a nation, or the principles of a scientific morality, or the solemn voice that speaks in our minds proclaiming some version of God’s law to every man- all these are comparatively impotent. They are like bill-stickers going about a rebellious province posting the king’s proclamation. Unless they have soldiers at their back, the proclamation is not worth the paper it is printed upon. But Christianity comes, and gives us that which it requires from us. So, in his epigrammatic way, St. Augustine penetrated to the very heart of this article when he prayed, ‘Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.’
III. Note the freedom and blessedness of this fulfilled promise.
Not to do wrong may be the mark of a slave’s timid obedience. Not to
wish to do wrong is the charter of a son’s free and blessed service. There is a higher possibility yet, reserved for heaven - not to be able to do wrong. Freedom does not consist in doing what I like - that turns out, in the long run, to be the most abject slavery, under the severest tyrants. But it consists in liking to do what I ought. When my wishes and God’s will are absolutely coincident, then and only then, am I free. That is no prison, out of which we do not wish to go. Not to be confined against our wills, but voluntarily to elect to move only within the sacred, charmed, sweet circle of the discerned will of God, is the service and liberty of the sons of God.
Alas! there are a great many Christians, so-called, who know very little about such blessedness. To many of us religion is a burden. It consists of a number of prohibitions and restrictions and commandments equally unwelcome. ‘Do not do this,’ and all the while I would like to do it. ‘Do that,’ and all the while I do not want to do it. ‘Pray, because it is your duty; go to chapel, because you think it is God’s will; give money that you would much rather keep in your pockets: abstain from certain things that you hunger for; do other things that you do not at all desire to do, nor find any pleasure in doing.’ That is the religion of hosts of people. They have need to ask themselves whether their religion is Christ’s religion. Ah! brethren! - ‘My yoke is easy and My burden light; not because the things that He bids and forbids are less or lighter than those which the world’s morality requires of its followers, but because, so to speak, the yoke is padded with the velvet of love, and inclination coincides, in the measure of our true religion, with the discerned will of God.
IV. Lastly, one word about the condition of the fulfilment of this promise to us.
As I have been saying, it is sadly far ahead of the experience of crowds of so-called Christians. There are still great numbers of professing Christians, and I doubt not that I speak to some such, on whose hearts only a very few of the syllables of God’s will are written, and these very faintly and blotted. But remember that the fundamental idea of this whole context is that of a covenant, and a covenant implies two parties, and duties and obligations on the part of each. If God is in covenant with you, you are in covenant with God. If He makes a promise, there is something for you to do in order that that promise may be fulfilled to you.
What is there to do? First, and last, and midst, keep close to Jesus Christ. In the measure in which we keep ourselves in continual touch with Him, will His law be written upon our hearts. If we are for ever twitching away the paper; if we are for ever flinging blots and mud upon it, how can we expect the transcript to be clear and legible? We must keep still that God may write. We must wait habitually in His presence. When the astronomer wishes to get the image of some far-off star, invisible to the eye of sense, he regulates the motion of his sensitive plate, so that for hours it shall continue right beneath the unseen Beam. So we have to still our hearts, and keep their plates - the fleshy tables of them - exposed to the heavens. Then the likeness of God will be stamped there.
Be faithful to what is written there, which is the Christian shape of the heathen commandment - ‘Do the duty that lies nearest thee; so shall the next become plainer.’ Be faithful to the line that is ‘written,’ and there will be more on the tablet to-morrow.
Now this is a promise for us all However blotted and blurred and defaced by crooked, scrawling letters, like a child’s copy-book, with its first pot- hooks and hangers, our hearts may be, there is no need for any of us to say despairingly, as we look on the smeared page, ‘What I have written I have written.’ He is able to blot it all out, to ‘take away the hand-writing’ - our own - ‘that is against us, nailing it to His Cross,’ and to give us, in our inmost spirits, a better knowledge of, and a glad obedience to, His discerned and holy will. So that each of us, if we choose, and will observe the conditions, may be able to say with all humility, ‘Lo! I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, yea! Thy law is within my heart.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10The New Covenant, Summary:
The New Covenant, Summary:
(1) "Better" than the Mosaic covenant not morally, but efficaciously Heb 7:19; Rom 8:3; Rom 8:4.
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(2) Established on "better" (i.e. unconditional) promises. In the Mosaic Covenant God said, "If ye will" Exo 19:5, in the New Covenant He says, "I will" Heb 8:10; Heb 8:12.
(3) Under the Mosaic Covenant obedience sprang from fear Heb 2:2; Heb 12:25-27 under the New from a willing heart and mind Heb 8:10.
(4) The New Covenant secures the personal revelation of the Lord to every believer Heb 8:11.
(5) the complete oblivion of sins Heb 8:12; Heb 10:17; Heb 10:3.
(6) rests upon an accomplished redemption Mat 26:27; Mat 26:28; 1Co 11:25; Heb 9:11; Heb 9:12; Heb 9:18-23.
(7) and secures the perpetuity, future conversion, and blessing of Israel. Jer 31:31-40. See also "Kingdom (O.T.)," and 2Sa 7:8-17.
The New Covenant is the eighth, thus speaking of resurrection and of eternal completeness.
Covenant
I. The Eight Covenants, Summary:
(1) The Edenic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 1:26") conditioned the life of man in innocency.
(2) The Adamic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 3:14") conditions the life of fallen man and gives promise of a Redeemer.
(3) The Noahic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 9:1"). establishes the principle of human government.
(4) The Abrahamic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 15:18") founds the nation of Israel, and confirms, with specific additions, the Adamic promise of redemption.
(5) The Mosaic Covenant (See Scofield "Exo 19:25"). condemns all men, "for that all have sinned."
(6) The Palestinian Covenant (See Scofield "Deu 30:3") secures the final restoration and conversion of Israel.
(7) The Davidic Covenant (See Scofield "2Sa 7:16") establishes the perpetuity of the Davidic family (fulfilled in Christ), Mat 1:1; Luk 1:31-33,; Rom 1:3 and of the Davidic kingdom, over Israel, and over the whole earth; to be fulfilled in and by Christ; 2Sa 7:8-17; Zec 12:8; Luk 1:31-33; Act 15:14-17; 1Co 15:24.
(8) The New covenant rests upon the sacrifice of Christ, and secures the eternal blessedness, under the Abrahamic Covenant Gal 3:13-29 of all who believe. It is absolutely unconditional, and, since no responsibility is by it committed to man, it is final and irreversible.
II. The relation of Christ to the eight covenants is as follows:
(1) To the Edenic Covenant, Christ, as the "second Man," the "last Adam" 1Co 15:45-47 takes the place over all things which the first Adam lost; Col 2:10; Heb 2:7-8.
(2) He is the "Seed of the woman" of the Adamic Covenant Gen 3:15; Joh 12:31; 1Jn 3:8; Gal 4:4; Rev 20:10 and fulfilled its conditions of toil Mar 6:3 and obedience.
(3) As the greatest son of Shem, in Him was fulfilled supremely the promise to Shem in the Noahic Covenant. (See Scofield "Gen 9:1") Col 2:9.
(4) He is the "Seed to whom the promises were made" in the Abrahamic Covenant; the son of Abraham obedient unto death Gen 22:18; Gal 3:16; Php 2:8.
(5) He lived sinlessly under the Mosaic covenant and bore for us its curse. Gal 3:10-13.
(6) He lived obediently as a Jew in the land under the Palestinian Covenant, and will yet perform it gracious promises Deu 28:1 to Deu 30:9.
(7) He is the "Seed," "Heir," and "King" under the Davidic Covenant Mat 1:1; Luk 1:31-33.
(8) His sacrifice is the foundation of the New Covenant Mat 26:28; 1Co 11:25.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv8, 10General Information:
General Information:
In this quotation the prophet Jeremiah foretold of a new covenant that God would make.
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with the people
"with the people of Israel"
See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
the days are coming
The future is spoken of as if it were moving toward the speaker. AT: "there will be a time" (See: Metaphor)
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
The people of Israel and Judah are spoken of as if they were houses. AT: "the people of Israel and with the people of Judah" (See: Metaphor)
I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt
This metaphor represents God's great love and concern. AT: "I led them out of Egypt like a father leads his young child" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv8–108:8 found fault with the people: Because the people…
8:8 found fault with the people: Because the people were unable to keep the terms of the old covenant (see study note on 8:7), God made a new covenant.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. Behold, the days come, etc. (Jeremiah 31:31-34.) The…
8. Behold, the days come, etc. (Jeremiah 31:31-34.) The Prophet speaks of future time; he arraigns the people of perfidy, because they continued not faithful after having received the Law. The Law, then, was the covenant which was broken, as God complains, by the people. To remedy this evil, he promised a new and a different covenant, the fulfillment of which prophecy was the abrogation of the old covenant.
But it may be said, the Apostle seems unreasonably to turn this prophecy to suit his own purpose; for here the question is respecting ceremonies, but the Prophet speaks of the whole Law: what has it to do with ceremonies, when God inscribes on the heart the rule of a godly and holy life, delivered by the voice and teaching of men? To this I reply that the argument is applied from the whole to a part. There is no doubt but that the Prophet includes the whole dispensation of Moses when he says, “I have made with you a covenant which you have not kept.” Besides, the Law was in a manner clothed with ceremonies; now when the body is dead, what is the use of garments? It is a common saying that the accessory is of the same character with his principal. No wonder, then, that the ceremonies, which are nothing more than appendages to the old covenant, should come to an end, together with the whole dispensation of Moses. Nor is it unusual with the Apostles, when they speak of ceremonies, to discuss the general question respecting the whole Law. Though, then, the prophet Jeremiah extends wider than to ceremonies, yet as it includes them under the name of the old covenant, it may be fitly applied to the present subject.
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Now, by the days which the prophet mentions, all agree that Christ’s kingdom is signified; it hence follows, that the old covenant was changed by the coming of Christ. And he names the house of Israel and the house of Judah, because the posterity of Abraham had been divided into two kingdoms. So the promise is to gather again all the elect together into one body, however separated they may have been formerly.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v8 He calleth it an house, as it were one…
He calleth it an house, as it were one family of the whole kingdom: for whereas the kingdom of David was divided into two factions, the Prophet giveth us to understand that through the new Testament they shall be joined together again in one.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,…
8 For 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:
Ver. 8. For finding fault with them] Or, finding fault with it, that is, with the covenant; he saith to them, "Behold, the days," &c. So Junlus readeth and senseth it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–10 This is the proof of the faultiness of the…
This is the proof of the faultiness of the Mosaical covenant, from the right cause of it, those who did abuse it.
For finding fault with them: the Lord, by the prophet Jeremiah, being distasted and offended, accuseth, and with complaints and aggravations chargeth the houses of Israel and Judah, both priests and people, for frustrating God’s covenant with them by their unbelief, mistaking God’s mind in it, and using it to justify them, and not bring them unto Christ, who justifieth the ungodly. That the covenant was not faulty in itself, but only accidentally, is evident; for it was given to change hearts, though its spiritual efficacy was not so fully revealed, Deu 10:16; 30:6; for Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, were saved by the right use of it. It did not bind them by works to obtain justification, for it was delivered with blood, which taught them it was to be had only by faith in Christ’s blood. But when they would not be led to Christ by it, they were faulty, and not the covenant, and so they perished in their gainsaying. The administration of this covenant by men being so defective, he finds fault with them, and resolves on the change of the administration.
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Behold, the days come: Behold, imports attention to and observation of the rare, excellent, and important thing proposed in the word to the eye and mind of those for whom it was written, and to whom it is sent: so is this here, in Jer 31:31; the days of the Messiah’s coming in the flesh, when a woman shall compass a man, as Jer 31:22; the known times of grace, Jer 23:5,6. A time to come when the prophet wrote it, past when the apostle quotes it here; so ordered by God to teach those there the imperfection of that covenant administration, so as they might make out to Christ by it, and not rest in it, as he had revealed him to them in the prophecy; and to strengthen believers in their faith in Christ when come, and to convince and leave inexcusable such Jews as would not believe in him, and further to confirm his priesthood.
Saith the Lord: this is not an invention of the prophet, but a revelation of the Supreme Lord to him. It is his certain, true, and infallible speech, illuminating his mind by it, and directing him in his words and writings for to convey it to those to whom he sent him; so that the word is firm, and worthy of all acceptation; and the more of the Hebrews, because sent by Jeremiah, a Levitical priest, to them.
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: I will make perfect and complete. In the prophet it is וכרתי I will strike or cut, because in covenant-making the sacrifices were cut asunder; and thence is it transferred figuratively, to signify covenant-making. A covenant, for form and manner of administration, second, later, better, stronger, and more excellent than the Mosaical; such as should be effectual to God’s saving ends in the ministry of Christ, with the whole seed of Jacob, the visible church of God, when the prophet wrote this, divided into two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and that of Israel removed afar off by the Assyrian, and seemingly lost, but by this covenant to be made one people again, and to be saved by Christ, David their King, Jer 23:5,6; Eze 37:21-28.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v10 Observe here, 1. The persons with whom this covenant…
Observe here, 1. The persons with whom this covenant is made, the house of Israel, and the house of Judah; not made with them as a political body, because their policy was to be dissolved, but as a part of the universal church.
Observe, 2. The author of this covenant, and that is God himself, I will make it, saith the Lord.
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Note, That the abolishing of the old covenant, and establishing the new, is an act of sovereign wisdom, grace, and authority in God: I will make a new covenant.
Observe, 3. What is the great and comprehensive promise of the new covenant: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts; that is:
1. I will make a clear and perspicuous revelation of my mind and will unto them, and give them a thorough knowledge and understanding of my laws, so that their own consciences shall condemn them when they do transgress them.
2. By my holy Spirit I will make a deep and efficacious impression of them upon their hearts and spirits.
Where note, That the precepts of the old covenant are all of them turned into promises under the new; ther preceptive and commanding power remaineth; but grace is promised for the performance of them.
Note farther, That the work of grace, in the new covenant, passeth on the whole soul, in all its powers and faculties, to their change and renovation: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts.
And, consequently, to deny the necessity and efficacy of the sanctifying and renewing grace of God in the habits and acts of it, is plainly to overthrow the evangelical covenant.
Observe, 4. What is the relation which is here said to ensue between God and his people; I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Here note, 1. God’s relation to us ; I will be to them a God, I who am all-sufficient in myself, will be your all-sufficient preserver, and your all-sufficient rewarder. As nothing less than God’s becoming our God can relieve and help us; so nothing more can be required thereunto.
Note, 2. Our relation to God, they shall be to me a people; that is, a special and peculiar people, owning dependency upon him, and professing all subjection and obedience to him.
And observe, God undertakes for this, they shall be to me a people.
Learn thence, That God doth as well undertake for our being his people, as he doth for his being our God: He that assumes them into that relation freely will preserve them in it powerfully: I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 For finding fault with them,.... Both with the covenant,…
For finding fault with them,.... Both with the covenant, which had its faults, and with the people who continued not in it, and were therefore disregarded by the Lord, Heb 8:9
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; the words are cited from Jer 31:31 in which God promises a "new covenant"; so called, not because newly made; for with respect to its original constitution, it was made from eternity; Christ the Mediator of it, and with whom it was made, was set up from everlasting; and promises and blessings of grace were put into his hands before the world began: nor is it newly revealed, for it was made known to Adam, and in some measure to all the Old Testament saints, though it is more clearly revealed than it was; but it is so called in distinction from the former administration of it, which is waxen old, and vanished away; and with respect to the order of succession, it taking place upon the former being removed; and on account of the time of its more clear revelation and establishment being in the last days; and because of its mode of administration, which is different from the former, in a new way, and by the use of new ordinances; and because it is always new, its vigour and efficacy are perpetual; it will never be antiquated, or give place to another; and it provides for, and promises new things, a new heart, a new spirit, &c. to which may be added, that it is a famous, excellent covenant, there is none like it; just as an excellent song is called a new song. The persons with whom this covenant is promised to be made, are the houses of Israel and Judah; which being literally taken, had its fulfilment in the first times of the Gospel, through the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, by whom this covenant was made known to God's elect among the twelve tribes; but being mystically understood, includes both Jews and Gentiles, the whole Israel of God; Israel not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; such as were Jews inwardly; God's elect of every nation: the word rendered, "I will make", signifies, I will consummate, or finish, or end, or fulfil it; which shows the perfection of this covenant, and the imperfection of the former; and that what was typified in the first is fulfilled in this; and that it is now established and ratified by Christ; and is so finished, as to the manifestation and administration of it, that there will be no alteration made in it, nor any addition to it: the time of doing all this is called "the days to come"; the last days, the days of the Messiah, which were future in Jeremiah's time: and a "behold" is prefixed to the whole, as a note of attention, this being an affair of great moment and importance; and as a note of demonstration, or as pointing to something that was desired and expected; and as a note of admiration, it containing things wonderful and marvellous.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8–10 But there is; for finding fault with them -…
But there is; for finding fault with them - Who were under the old covenant he saith, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel - With all the Israel of God, in all ages and nations. It is new in many respects, though not as to the substance of it:
1. Being ratified by the death of Christ.
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2. Freed from those burdensome rites and ceremonies.
3. Containing a more full and clear account of spiritual religion.
4. Attended with larger influences of the Spirit
5. Extended to all men. And,
6. Never to be abolished. Jer. xxxi, 31, &c.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Verse 8. For finding fault with them] The meaning…
Verse 8. For finding fault with them] The meaning is evidently this: God, in order to show that the first covenant was inefficient, saith to them, the Israelites, Behold, the days come when I will make a new covenant, c. He found fault with the covenant, and addressed the people concerning his purpose of giving another covenant, that should be such as the necessities of mankind required. As this place refers to Jer 31:31-34, the words finding fault with them may refer to the Jewish people, of whom the Lord complains that they had broken his covenant though he was a husband to them. See below.
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah] That is, with all the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. This is thought to be a promise of the conversion of all the Jews to Christianity both of the lost tribes, and of those who are known to exist in Asiatic and European countries.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Heb 8:8-9. For — In this verse the apostle…
Heb 8:8-9. For — In this verse the apostle enters upon the proof of his argument proposed in that foregoing, namely, that the first covenant was not faultless, or every way sufficient for the end God had in view, because there was cause for the introduction of another. For finding fault with them — Namely, the people; he saith, Behold the days come, &c. — This is translated by Grotius and others, Finding fault, he saith to them, and understood of finding fault with the former covenant. But it seems much more proper to understand it of God’s finding fault with the Jews, (as he evidently does in the words preceding those here quoted, Jer 31:29-30,) for using the proverb, against which he expresses so much displeasure, in Eze 18:2. And in the words themselves he also finds fault with them for breaking this covenant, though he had, with so much tender care, brought them out of Egypt. It is true, the first covenant was not every way perfect with respect to God’s general end toward his church; yet it may not be proper to say that God complained of it; whereas God, in this testimony, actually complains of the people that they brake his covenant, and expresses his indignation thereon, saying, I regarded them not. He saith — By the Prophet Jeremiah, in that celebrated text, which undoubtedly refers to the gospel dispensation; Behold — As if he had said, Because the covenant, which they were under before, was not the means of reforming them, but, notwithstanding it, they were rebellious still; therefore the days come — Namely, of the gospel; when I will make a new covenant — Not new in regard of the substance of it, but the manner of its dispensation; 1st, Being ratified by the death of Christ; 2d, Freed from the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the law; 3d, Containing a more full and clear revelation of the mysteries of religion, and a more perfect description of it as spiritual, and having its seat chiefly in men’s hearts; 4th, Attended with larger influences of the Spirit; 5th, Extended to all men; 6th, Never to be abolished. With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — That is, with the whole Jewish nation, including descendants from both these houses. For although the houses of Israel and Judah had existed separately, the one from the other, from the time of the first Jeroboam, yet after the captivity of the ten tribes, who composed the house of Israel, such of them as joined themselves to the house of Judah, were so mixed with them as not to be distinguished from them. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers — But differing from it in the circumstances above mentioned, and in others declared afterward; when I took them by the hand — With the care and tenderness of a parent; or manifested my infinite condescension and almighty power in their deliverance; because they continued not — Or, in which covenant of mine they did not continue; while their deliverance was fresh in their memory they obeyed, but presently after they shook off the yoke, and did not abide by the terms of the covenant. And I regarded them not — Greek, καγω ημελησα αυτων, I neglected them. So that the covenant was soon entirely broken. The passage here quoted stands thus in Jeremiah, Which my covenant they brake, though I was a husband to them, saith the Lord. The apostle’s translation of it is that of the LXX. And to reconcile it with the Hebrew text, Pocock (in his Miscel., chap. 1) observes, that in the eastern languages, letters of the same organ, as they are called, being often interchanged, the Hebrew word, בעל, bagnal, to be a husband, is the same with the Arabic word, בהל, bahal, which signifies to refuse, despise, nauseate. So that the Hebrew clause will bear to be translated as the apostle and the LXX. have done, I neglected them, I nauseated them. See note on Jer 31:31, &c.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–10 For finding fault with them - Or rather, “finding…
For finding fault with them - Or rather, “finding fault, he says to them.” The difference is only in the punctuation, and this change is required by the passage itself. This is commonly interpreted as meaning that the fault was not found with “them” - that is, with the Jewish people, for they had had nothing to do in giving the covenant, but “with the covenant itself.” “Stating its defects, he had said to them that he would give them one more perfect, and of which that was only preparatory.” So Grotius, Stuart, Rosenmuller, and Erasmus understand it. Doddridge, Koppe, and many others understand it as it is in our translation, as implying that the fault was found with the people, and they refer to the passage quoted from Jeremiah for proof, where the complaint is of the people. The Greek may bear either construction; but may we not adopt a somewhat different interpretation still?
May not this be the meaning? For using the language of complaint, or language that implied that there was defect or error, he speaks of another covenant. According to this, the idea would be, not that he found fault specifically either with the covenant or the people, but generally that he used language which implied that there was defect somewhere when he promised another and a better covenant. The word rendered “finding fault” properly means to censure, or to blame. It is rendered in Mar 7:2, “they found fault,” to wit, with those who ate with unwashed hands; in Rom 9:19, “why doth he yet find fault?” It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, It is language used where wrong has been done; where there is ground of complaint; where it is desirable that there should be a change. In the passage here quoted from Jeremiah, it is not expressly stated that God found fault either with the covenant or with the people, but that he promised that he would give another covenant, and that it should be “different” from what he gave them when they came out of Egypt - implying that there was defect in that, or that it was not “faultless.” The whole meaning is, that there was a deficiency which the giving of a new covenant would remove.
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He saith - In Jer 31:31-34. The apostle has not quoted the passage literally as it is in the Hebrew, but he has retained the substance, and the sense is not essentially varied. The quotation appears to have been made partly from the Septuagint, and partly from memory. This often occurs in the New Testament.
Behold - This particle is designed to call attention to what was about to be said as important, or as having some special claim to notice. It is of very frequent occurrence in the Scriptures, being much more freely used by the sacred writers than it is in the classic authors.
The days come - The time is coming. This refers doubtless to the times of the Messiah. Phrases such as these, “in the last days,” “in after times,” and “the time is coming,” are often used in the Old Testament to denote the last dispensation of the world - the dispensation when the affairs of the world would be wound up; see the phrase explained in the Heb 1:2 note, and Isa 2:2 note. There can be no doubt that as it is used by Jeremiah it refers to the times of the gospel.
When I will make a new covenant - A covenant that shall contemplate somewhat different ends; that shall have different conditions, and that shall be more effective in restraining from sin. The word “covenant” here refers to the arrangement, plan, or dispensation into which he would enter in his dealings with people. On the meaning of the word, see the Act 7:8 note, and Heb 9:16-17 notes. The word “covenant” with us commonly denotes a compact or agreement between two parties that are equal, and who are free to enter into the agreement or not. In this sense, of course, it cannot be used in relation to the arrangement which God makes with man. There is:
(1)No equality between them, and,
(2)Man is not at liberty to reject any proposal which God shall make.
The word, therefore, is used in a more general sense, and more in accordance with the original meaning of the Greek word. It has been above remarked (see the notes on Heb 8:6), that the “proper” word to denote “covenant,” or “compact” - συνθηκη sunthēkē - “syntheke” - is never used either in the Septuagint or in the New Testament - another word - διαθήκη diathēkē - “diatheke” - being carefully employed. Whether the reason there suggested for the adoption of this word in the Septuagint be the real one or not, the fact is indisputable. I may be allowed to suggest as possible here an additional reason why this so uniformly occurs in the New Testament. It is, that the writers of the New Testament never meant to represent the transactions between God and man as a “compact or covenant” properly so called. They have studiously avoided it, and their uniform practice, in making this nice distinction between the two words, may show the real sense in which the Hebrew word rendered “covenant” - בּרית beriyt - is used in the Old Testament. The word which they employ - διαθήκη diathēkē - never means a compact or agreement as between equals.
It remotely and secondarily means a “will, or testament” - and hence, our phrase “New Testament.” But this is not the sense in which it is used in the Bible - for God has never made a will in the sense of a testamentary disposition of what belongs to him. We are referred; therefore, in order to arrive at the true Scripture view of this whole matter, to the original meaning of the word - διαθήκη diathēkē - as denoting a “disposition, arrangement, plan;” then what is ordered, a law, precept, promise, etc. Unhappily we have no single word which expresses the idea, and hence, a constant error has existed in the church - either keeping up the notion of a “compact” - as if God could make one with people; or the idea of a will - equally repugnant to truth. The word διαθήκη diathēkē is derived from a verb - διατίθημι diatithēmi - meaning to place apart, to set in order; and then to appoint, to make over, to make an arrangement with. Hence, the word διαθήκη diathēkē - means properly the “arrangement or disposition” which God made with people in regard to salvation; the system of statutes, directions, laws, and promises by which people are to become subject to him, and to be saved. The meaning here is, that he would make a “new” arrangement, contemplating as a primary thing that the Law should be written in the “heart;” an arrangement which would be especially spiritual in its character, and which would be attended with the diffusion of just views of the Lord.
With the house of Israel - The family, or race of Israel, for so the word “house” is often used in the Scriptures and elsewhere. The word “Israel” is used in the Scriptures in the following senses:
(1)As a name given to Jacob because he wrestled with the angel of God and prevailed as a prince; Gen 32:28.
(2)As denoting all who were descended from him - called “the children of Israel” - or the Jewish nation.
(3)As denoting the kingdom of the ten tribes - or the kingdom of Samaria, or Ephraim - that kingdom having taken the name Israel in contradistinction from the other kingdom, which was called “Judah.”
(4)As denoting the people of God in general - his true and sincere friends - his church; see the notes on Rom 2:28-29; Rom 9:6.
In this place quoted from Jeremiah, it seems to be used to denote the kingdom of Israel in contradistinction from that of Judah, and “together they denote the whole people of God, or the whole Hebrew nation.” This arrangement was ratified and confirmed by the gift of the Messiah, and by implanting his laws in the heart. It is not necessary to understand this as referring to the whole of the Jews, or to the restoration of the ten tribes; but the words “Israel” and “Judah” are used to denote the people of God in general, and the idea is, that with the true Israel under the Messiah the laws of God would be written in the heart rather than be mere external observances.
And with the house of Judah - The kingdom of Judah. This kingdom consisted of two tribes - Judah and Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin was, however, small, and the name was lost in that of Judah.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 For finding fault with them. It is not said…
For finding fault with them. It is not said here, blaming the law, says St. John Chrysostom, which in itself was good, just, and holy, (see Romans vii. 12.) but blaming the breakers and transgressors of it; not but that men were saved in the time of the law, who by God’s grace believed in their Redeemer that was to come, and lived well. And the mercies of God were so great, even towards sinners, that he made them a solemn promise, clearly expressed in the prophet Jeremias, (Chap. xxxi. 31. &c.) The days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant,...not according to the covenant (or not such a one) as I made to their fathers, at the time when I took them as it were by the hand to lead them out of....Egypt, &c. with signs and prodigies: I then made choice of them to be my people, but they were always transgressing against this testament, this covenant, which I had made with them: and for their transgressions I neglected them, punished them from time to time, and, what was the greatest punishment of all, permitted such ungrateful and obstinate offenders to run on in their own sinful ways to their own ruin. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–10 finding fault with them--the people of the old covenant,…
finding fault with them--the people of the old covenant, who were not made "faultless" by it (Heb 8:7); and whose disregard of God's covenant made Him to "regard them not" (Heb 8:9). The law is not in itself blamed, but the people who had not observed it.
he saith-- (Jer 31:31-34; compare Eze 11:19; Eze 36:25-27). At Rama, the headquarters of Nebuzar-adan, whither the captives of Jerusalem had been led, Jeremiah uttered this prophecy of Israel's restoration under another David, whereby Rachel, wailing for her lost children, shall be comforted; literally in part fulfilled at the restoration under Zerubbabel, and more fully to be hereafter at Israel's return to their own land; spiritually fulfilled in the Gospel covenant, whereby God forgives absolutely His people's sins, and writes His law by His Spirit on the hearts of believers, the true Israel. "This prophecy forms the third part of the third trilogy of the three great trilogies into which Jeremiah's prophecies may be divided: Jeremiah 21-25, against the shepherds of the people; Jeremiah 26-29, against the false prophets; Jeremiah 30 and 31, the book of restoration" [DELITZSCH in ALFORD].
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Behold, the days come--the frequent formula introducing a Messianic prophecy.
make--Greek, "perfect"; "consummate." A suitable expression as to the new covenant, which perfected what the old could not (compare end of Heb 8:9, with end of Heb 8:10).
Israel . . . Judah--Therefore, the ten tribes, as well as Judah, share in the new covenant. As both shared the exile, so both shall share the literal and spiritual restoration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. For—To quote the proof.
8. For—To quote the proof.
Finding fault with them—Them, like their, in Heb_8:9, refers to the people under the first covenant as morally faulty under it, and needing a new. He (God, whose the words are) saith. In Jer_31:31-34. Delitzsch thus describes the sad crisis in which these predictions were, originally, by the prophet uttered: “After the sack of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, with the other captives, was brought in chains to Rama, where Nebuzaradan had his headquarters. Then took place, at God’s special command, his prophecies of the future entire restoration of Israel, of another David, of Rachel’s wailing over her children at Rama, and their future return; of the new covenant, resting on absolute and veritable forgiveness of sins, which Jehovah would make with his people; these prophecies forming the third part of the three great triologies into which the prophecies of Jeremiah may be divided: chap. 21-25, the book against the shepherds of the people; chap. 26-29, the book of Jeremiah’s conflict against the false prophets; chap. 30, 31, the book of restoration.”
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Behold, the days come—We have here presented, in the words of the prophet, a picture of the glories of the Messianic age. The future lies in mass before the prophet; but he discerns only the radiant points of the Christian ages, the darker back grounds being invisible to his view. This luminous picture is presented before Israel in a dark hour of her history to cheer her hope for a nobler future. Israel and… Judah, the two kingdoms, once one under David and Solomon, now divided. The former was carried into captivity first of the two.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. For finding fault with them] The “for” introduces…
8. For finding fault with them] The “for” introduces his proof that “place for a better covenant was being sought for.” The persons blamed are not expressed, for the word “them” belongs to “He says.” Perhaps the meaning is “blaming the first covenant, He says to them” (who were under it). The “He” is God speaking to the Prophet.
Behold, the days come …] The quotation is from Jer_31:31-34.
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I will make] The Hebrew word means literally “I will cut,” alluding perhaps to the slaying of victims at the inauguration of a covenant. But the LXX. and the writer of the Epistle substitute a less literal word.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 (8) Finding fault with them.—Not, “with it,” but with…
(8) Finding fault with them.—Not, “with it,” but with those through whom the covenant had failed. The following quotation (Heb_8:8-12) is taken from Jer_31:31-34. It is the crowning point of that collection of prophecies which is brought together in Heb 30-33, descriptive of the hope and salvation of Israel. The characteristics of the prophecy and its significance in this place will be noticed below (Heb_8:12). The quotation agrees in the main with the LXX. (and, except in Heb_8:11. with the text contained in the Alexandrian MS.), and in one clause only fails to represent the meaning of the Hebrew original. The only point requiring notice in this verse is the substitution of “I will accomplish” for “I will make.” The new word closely answers to that which was used in Heb_8:6, “ordained.” (See the Note.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Vers. 8-12. For finding fault with them (i.e. the…
Vers. 8-12. For finding fault with them (i.e. the people), he saith (or, as some take it, finding fault, he saith to them), Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will accomplish upon the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant: not 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. For 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: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. The passage is quoted from the LXX, with a few verbal differences which do not affect the meaning. In ver. 9 our A.V renders the original in Jeremiah although I was a Husband unto them," instead of and I regarded them not (kagw hmelhsa autwn)." The LXX, followed in the text, gives the more probable meaning. On the whole passage be it observed:
1. "Behold, the days come," like "in that day," is a usual prophetic phrase for denoting the age of the Messiah.
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2. The failure of the old covenant is attributed in the first place to the people"s not continuing in it, and then, as a consequence, to the LORD"S withdrawal of his protection. The evidence of such withdrawal immediately before the prophet"s view may be supposed to have been the Babylonian captivity.
3. The distinguishing characteristics of the new covenant are
(1) God"s laws, not imposed as an external code, but put into the mind and written on the heart;
(2) The general knowledge of the Load by small as welt as great, without the former need of continual admonition; and
(3) As the originating and inspiring cause of all, the forgiveness on the Loan"s part of past sins.
It is important to perceive that this last characteristic of the new covenant, though coming last in order, is given as the reason for the other two; for this is a first principle of the gospel. The sense of forgiveness through Christ, of acceptance in the Beloved, is ever set forth as the inspiring principle of the obedience of Christians. "We love him, because he first loved us. " And hence flow the two results denoted in the prophecy.
(1) "I will put my laws," etc.; i.e. there will ensue, through the inspiring Spirit, from the sense of forgiveness in Christ, a hearty service of love and loyalty; no mere mechanical observance of an external code. Then,
(2) "And they shall not teach," etc.; i.e. those who thus, led by the Spirit, give themselves to such hearty service, will acquire, further, an immediate, and as it were instinctive, "knowledge of the Lord," not confined to "the wise" or the scribe," but the personal privilege of even the "little ones" of Christ. (cf. Mat_11:25, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes;" also Joh_6:45, It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God;" also 1Th_4:9, "But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another;" also 1Jn_2:20, "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things It is not to be inferred (as has been) from this last result that a distinct order of ministry is no essential constituent of the Christian Church for admonition of others. The fact that such a ministry was constituted from the first in all the Churches, and was in active operation when apostles wrote as above, is in itself sufficient disproof of such a view. All that is implied is that all faithful believers, small as well as great (using, of course, the means of grace and edification provided for them in the Church), should themselves have inward illumination and personal communion with God. This is indeed a peculiar glory of the Christian religion. The poorest and the simplest believer may have spiritual perceptions and spiritual experience of his own, surpassing those of his appointed guides, and remaining his own though priests and teachers be unfaithful. "I am small and despised" (may the Christian, still more than the ancient psalmist, say), "yet do not I forget thy precepts." "I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation." Observe, lastly, the ideality of the whole view given of the effects of the new covenant. It presents to us the purpose, the potentiality, of the new dispensation, rather than results to be fully realized in this world; though still actually realized so far as the "glorious light of the gospel" illuminates the Church, and is allowed to "shine into" the human heart. This remark applies to all Messianic prophecy.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Finding fault with them
Heb_8:8
Finding fault with them
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God complaining of the Church
I.
GOD HATH OFTTIMES JUST CAUSE TO COMPLAIN OF HIS PEOPLE WHEN YET HE WILL NOT UTTERLY CAST THEM OFF.
II. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO TAKE DEEP NOTICE OF GODS COMPLAINTS OF THEM. Want hereof is that which hath laid most churches in the world under a fatal security. Hence they carry themselves as though they were rich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing, when indeed they are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. To consider what God blames, and to affect our souls with a sense of guilt, is that trembling at His word which He so approves of. And to guide them herein they ought carefully to consider
1. The times and seasons that are passing over them. For in a due observance of the times and seasons, and an application of ourselves to the duties of them, consists that testimony which we are to give to God and the gospel in our generation. That Church which considers not its especial duty in the days wherein we live is fast asleep, and it may be doubted whether, when it is awaked, it will find oil in its vessel or not.
2. The temptations which are prevalent, and which unavoidably we are exposed unto. Every age and time hath its especial temptations. And it is the will of God that the Church should be exercised with them and by them; and it were easy to manifest that the darkness and ignorance of men, in not discerning the especial temptations of the age wherein they have lived, or neglecting of them, have been always the great causes and means of the apostasy the Church.
III. GOD OFTEN SURPRISETH THE CHURCH WITH PROMISES OF GRACE AND MERCY (Isa_7:13-14; Isa_43:22-25). And this He will do
1. That He may glorify the riches and freedom of His grace.
2. That none who have the least remainder of sincerity, and desire to fear the name of God, may utterly faint and despond at any time, under the greatest confluence of discouragements. (John Owen, D. D.)
I will make a new covenant
I. GODS COVENANT WITH MAN INSTRUCTETH US IN TWO ESPECIAL POINTS.
1. In Gods condescension to man.
2. In the sure prop that man hath to rest on God for happiness.
1. Gods condescension to man is manifested four ways.
(1) In that God being the most high supreme Sovereign over all, vouchsafeth to enter into covenant with His servants.
(2) In that God being a Lord hath power to command what He pleaseth, so as He need not covenant or capitulate with them, saying, Do this and I will do that; yet doth He enter into covenant.
(3) In that being mot free, and wholly depending upon Himself, He need not bind Himself to any (Job_9:12; Job_34:19; Dan_4:35), yet by covenant He binds Himself to man.
(4) In that God being the Lord God of truth (Psa_30:5) He binds Himself to perform His promise, as if there might be some tear of His failing therein (Heb_6:17-18).
2. The sure prop that man hath to rest of God for happiness by reason of His covenant is manifested two ways.
(1) In that God who is good and doeth good (Psa_119:68) doth covenant to make man happy. God is as a deep, full, open, overflowing, everdowing fountain, so as that might seem sufficient to make us go to Him for everything that may tend to blessedness. But the covenant which God maketh to bring us unto happiness doth much more embolden us to go to Him, and make us confident of receiving from Him what He hath covenanted to give.
(2) By covenant God hath caused a special relation to pass betwixt Him and us. He and we are confederates. This is a sure prop. As God is faithful in Himself, so His covenant is most sure. It is a covenant of salt for ever Num_18:19). Gods confederates may thereupon have strong consolation and confidence (Deu_7:9; Heb_6:18).
II. THE COVENANT OF GOD WITH MAN DOTH DIRECT US IN FOUR SPECIAL POINTS.
1. To know what God expects of us; namely, whatsoever is in the covenant to be performed on our part, which we must be careful to observe as we do desire to receive any benefit from the covenant.
2. To understand what we may expect from God; namely, whatsoever on Gods part is covenanted.
3. To acquaint ourselves with the covenant of God, that thereby we may know what privileges and blessings belong unto us. A wise heir will search after such evidences as give him a right to his lands and goods.
4. To be careful in observing our own undertakings, and as conscionable in performing the covenant on our part, as we are desirous to partake of the benefit of the covenant on Gods part. This is laid down as a ground of Levis blessing, theft they kept Gods covenant (Deu_33:9). This God expressly requireth (Exo_19:5). We cannot expect that God should keep covenant with us unless we he careful to keep covenant with Him (Psa_25:10). Great is that loss which followeth upon breach of covenant, yet that is not all, Gods wrath and vengeance will also follow thereupon. Sole vengeance hath been executed on breach of covenant with man (2Ki_17:4, &c.; Eze_17:15). How much sorer vengeance may be feared on breach of covenant with God Jer_22:6; Jer_22:9; Jer_34:18-20; Hos_8:1; 1Ki_11:11). (W. Gouge.)
The blessings of the new covenant
New, as contrasted with old, means in Scripture that which is perfect and abiding. The old vanishes, the new remains. God gives us a new heart that we may love and praise Him for ever. The old covenant was temporary and imperfect. God findeth fault with it; for although the law was holy, just, and good, yet by reason of Israels sin neither righteousness nor life could come through it. And as the purposes of Divine love could not be attained by the old covenant, so the character of God, as the God of grace, could not be fully revealed therein. Hence the promise of a new covenant, which in itself proves the imperfection and insufficiency of the old; and this new covenant is represented as a contrast, unlike the old; it is new, that is, perfect, everlasting. God is pleased with it because it shows forth the glory of Jehovah as the God of salvation. How great is the contrast between the old and the new covenant! In the one God demands of sinful man: Thou shalt. In the other God promises: I will. The one is conditional; the other is the manifestation of Gods free grace, and of Gods unlimited power. In the one the promise is neutralised by the disobedience of man; in the other all the promises of God are yea in Christ, and amen in Christ. In the new covenant Christ is all; He is the Alpha and Omega: all things are of God, and all things are sure and steadfast. The blessings of the new covenant are all based upon the forgiveness of sin. God promises to put His laws into our minds, and write them in our hearts, and to be to us a God, because He is merciful to our unrighteousness, and will remember our sins and iniquities no more. The forgiveness of sin is not merely the beginning, but it is the foundation, the source; it is, so to say, the mother of all Divine blessings. For so long as sin is upon the conscience, arid man is not able to draw near unto God, he is separated from the only source of life and blessedness. In the forgiveness of sin God gives Himself, and all things that pertain to life and godliness. To know God is the sum and substance of all blessings, both in this life and in that which is to come. Now, although the law manifests to a certain extent the holiness and truth, the justice and unchangeableness, the goodness and bounty of God, the law does not reveal God Himself, the depth of His sovereign and eternal love, the purpose which He purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world was laid. When in Christ we receive the forgiveness of sin, we behold God. Here is also the source and the commencement, the root and strength of our love to God. We love Him, because He first loved us. We eve much, because much is forgiven unto us. The new obedience, the spiritual worship, the fight and victory of faith, the knowledge and fear and love of God, have their starting-point in the pardon of sin. And this is the new covenant blessing. True, the servants of God always knew this blessing. Of the Divine righteousness both the law and the prophets testify. David describeth this blessedness. The sacrifices typified, faith looked forward to the great atonement. But now that Christ has come, and that He died once for all, we receive forgiveness in a full and perfect manner: there is no more remembrance of sins; no repetition of sacrifice is needed; no yearly recurrence of the day of atonement; in Christ we have redemption in His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. It is in giving this perfect pardon that God renews the heart, and writes in it His laws. We must needs contrast law and gospel. Yet let us not forget that the law from the very outset showed its temporary and negative character, pointed beyond and away from itself; sighed, as it were, after Him, who by fulfilling would take it away, and by taking it away would fulfil it in us, raise us to the still greater height of the new love! All spiritual life flows from Jesus as our Saviour. When we believe in Jesus we are not in the flesh but in the Sprit. His precious blood is not merely our peace, but our strength; and our strength because it is our peace. Justification and sanctification emanate from this one source. When Israel is brought in repentance and faith to the Lord, then shall be fulfilled the gracious purpose of God, which under the law was frustrated through Israels sin and disobedience. Although God was a husband unto them, they brake His covenant. But now, forgiven and renewed, Israel will be in actual reality, and not merely in position, Gods people, and Jehovah will be their God. And because He is God to them, source of light and life, they are His people. Not merely chosen and appointed; not merely called and treated collectively as Gods people; but in reality, according to truth, according to their individual character and experience, the people in whom Gods name is revealed, who show forth His praise, who walk m His ways and obey His will. For then each one individually shall know the Lord. God is known in Judah, said the Psalmist. In their marvelous history, in the Divine messages sent by Moses and the prophets, in the types and ordinances, in the Judges and Kings, God had revealed unto His people His name. His character and will, and His great desire was that they should know Him. How touching is the complaint of Jehovah, that after all the signs which they had seen, and after all His mighty works of redeeming and guiding love, a d after all the words of light and of grace which He had sent them, His people did not know Him f So long had He been with them, and, erring in their hearts, they did not know His ways! What could be more grievous to the fatherly heart of God, yearning to be known, trusted, and loved? But when the Holy Ghost shall be poured out upon them they shall all know Jehovah, from the least to the greatest; though one shall encourage and exhort the other, yet they shall not need to tea h and to say to their neighbour, Know the Lord. In the Church this promise is already fulfilled. From Jesus, the anointed, all Christians receive the Holy Ghost; they have, according to their name, the unction from above. Hence, they possess the teacher who guides into all truth. Knowledge is within them. There is within them a well of living water. They are not dependent on external instruction. There is given unto them the Paraclete, who always reveals the things that are freely given unto us of God. The spiritual man knows all things--all the things of the Spirit, all that pertains to life and godliness. True, he does not know all things actually, or in any given moment; but he knows them potentially. There is within him the light which can see, the mind which can receive all truth. (A. Saphir.)
The difference betwixt the two covenants of works and grace
The covenants of works and grace do differ in the particulars following.
1. In the different consideration of the Author of the one and the other, which are in the first Gods supreme sovereignty, and in the latter His rich mercy.
2. In the procuring cause of them, which was of the former Gods mere will and pleasure, of the latter pity and compassion.
3. In the manner of making the one and the other. The former was without a mediator; the latter with one
4. In the time: the former was made before man had sinned; the latter after his transgression.
5. In the occasion of making the one and the other. The occasion of the former was to try mans faithfulness in that integrity wherein God made him. The occasion of the latter was to show the necessity of mans continual dependence on God.
6. In the confederates or parties with whom the one and the other was made. The former was made with all mankind; the latter with the elect only.
7. In the particular good that was promised. In the former a reward was promised upon fulfilling the condition by man himself (Rom_10:15). In the latter was afforded
(1) A Surety for man (chap. 7:22).
(2) Ability to do what God would accept (Eze_36:27).
(3) A better reward in mans communion with Christ (Jn
14:3; 17:23, 24).
8. In the duties required by the one and the other. Perfect obedience was required by the former; faith and repentance by the latter.
9. In the order of Gods accepting. In the former God accepted the person for the work; which is thus expressed, If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? (Gen_4:7). In the latter the work is accepted in reference to the person.
10. In the ratification. The former was ratified by word, promise, and seals. The letter was further ratified by oath (Heb_7:20) and blood Heb_9:16-17)
11. In the issue of the one and the other. The former was violable. It might be forfeited, and was forfeited. The latter is inviolable and shall never be broken (Jer_33:20-21).
12. In the matter of the one and the other. These two covenants do so far differ in the very matter and substance of them as they can no more stand together than the ark of God and Dagon (1Sa_5:3-4). The apostle doth so far oppose works and grace in the case of justification and salvation as they cannot stand together (Rom_11:6). This difference betwixt the covenant of works and grace giveth evidence of Gods wisdom in working by contraries and bringing light out of darkness (2Co_4:6) and good out of evil, as He brought meat out of the eater (Jdg_4:14). For mans sin and misery that fell thereupon caused this better covenant. This is an especial instance to prove that all things work together for good (Rom_8:28). (W. Gouge.)
The agreement betwixt the covenant of grace as it is styled old and new
The covenant of grace hath continued from Adams fall, and shallcontinue to the end of the world. In this respect it is styled an everlasting covenant. But it hath been variously dispensed in the several ages of the world. The greatest difference in the dispensation thereof hath been manifested in the times float passed before and since Christ was exhibited. This difference is so great, as the covenant of grace, though always one and the same in substance, hath been distinguished into an old and new covenant (Heb_8:13). The latitude of the covenant of grace wilt more clearly be discerned if we duly consider the agreement and difference, as it is called old and new. The agreement is manifested--1. In their Author, and that considered in the same respect: namely, as He is our Creator and Lord, and as He is our Redeemer and Father, for so was God of old called and acknowledged (Deu_32:6).
2. In the procuring cause, which was the bee grace and rich mercy of God Luk_1:54-55; Luk_1:72; Luk_1:78).
3. In the same ground and meritorious cause of both, which is Jesus Christ Heb_13:8; Rev_13:8).
4. In the same promises, which are remission of sins, reconciliation with God, and everlasting happiness (Exo_34:7; Lev_8:15; Psa_91:16).
5. In the same duties required, which are faith (Gen_15:6) and repentance (Eze_33:11).
6. In the same ground of stability, which is the continual abode and operation of the Spirit in Gods confederates (Psa_51:11-12).
7. In the same general end, which is the praise of the free grace of God Exo_33:18-19; Exo_34:6).
8. In the same persons with whom the covenants are made, which are sinners by nature but elect of God (Psa_33:12; Psa_89:3).
9. In the same word of faith, whereby the one and other covenant is revealed (Gal_3:8; Heb_4:2).
10. In the same substance of sacraments and the same spiritual food (1Co_10:3-4). (W. Gouge.)
The difference between the covenant of grave as it is styled old and new
The difference betwixt the old and new covenant is
1. In the time. The old was before Christ, the new since (Heb_1:1-2).
2. In the manner of delivering. The old was more obscurely delivered under types and prophecies, the new more clearly (2Co_3:13-14).
3. In the extent. The old was restrained to a select people (Psa_147:19-20); the new is extended to all nations (Mat_28:19).
4. In the mediator. Moses, a mere man, was made the mediator of the old Gal_3:19); but Jesus Christ, God-man, the Mediator of the new (verse 6).
5. In the ratification. The old was ratified by the blood of beasts Exo_24:8); the new by the blood of the Son of God (Heb_9:12).
6. In the efficacy. The old comparatively was a ministration of death, thee new a ministration of the Spirit (2Co_3:7-8).
7. In the kind of confederates. Under the old Gods confederates were in their non-age, as children under tutors and governors (Gal_4:5; Gal_4:7).
8. In the kind of seals or sacraments. Under the old they were more in number, more various in rites, more difficult, more obscure, more earthly. By comparing the sacraments of the one and the other together, this will evidently appear.
9. In the manner of setting forth the promise of God. In the old it was set forth more meanly under temporal blessings (Deu_28:2); under the new, more directly under spiritual and celestial blessings Mat_5:3, &c.).
10. In the yoke that is laid o, the confederates by the one and the other. By the old heavy yoke was laid (Act_15:10); by the new, an easy and light Mat_11:30). So great a difference there is betwixt the new covenant and all other covenants, as it is styled a better covenant. (W. Gouge.)
The two dispensatons are one
The new covenant deals with the same fundamental conceptions which dominated the former one. These are the moral law, knowledge of God, and forgiveness of sin. So far the two dispensations are one. Because these great conceptions lie at the root of all human goodness, religion is essentially the same thing under both covenants. There is a sense in which St. Augustine was right in speaking of the saints under the Old Testament as Christians before Christ. Judaism and Christianity stand shoulder to shoulder over against the religious ideas and practices of all the heathen nations of the world. But in Judaism these sublime conceptions are undeveloped. Nationalism dwarfs their growth. They are like seeds falling on the thorns, and the thorns grow up and choke them. God, therefore, spoke unto the Jews in parables, in types and shadows. Seeing, they saw not; and hearing, they heard not, neither did they understand. Because the former covenant was a national one, the conceptions of the moral law, of God, of sin and its forgiveness, would be narrow and external. The moral law would be embedded in the national code. God would be revealed in the history of the nation. Sin would consist either in faults of ignorance and inadvertence or in national apostasy from the theocratic king. In these three respects the new covenant excels--in respect, that is, of the moral law, knowledge of God, and forgiveness of sin, which y t may be justly regarded as the three sides of the revelation given under the former covenant. (T. C. Edwards, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8–12. I will make a new covenant. By the…
8–12. I will make a new covenant. By the mouth of Jeremiah (31:31–34) the Lord declared that he would make a new covenant which would take the place of the old covenant. This shows that the old did not meet the full needs of men.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v10
Hebrews
THE ARTICLES OF THE NEW COVENANT: GOD’S WELTING ON THE HEART
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Heb 8:10
WE can scarcely estimate the shock to a primitive Hebrew Christian when he discovered that Judaism was to fade away. Such an earthquake might seem to leave nothing standing. Now, the great object of this Epistle is to insist on that truth, and to calm the early Hebrew Christians under it, by showing them that the disappearance of the older system left them no poorer but infinitely richer, inasmuch as all that was in it was more perfectly in Christ’s gospel. The writer has accordingly been giving his strength to showing that, all along the line, Christianity is the perfecting of Judaism, in its Founder, in its priesthood, in its ceremonies, in its Sabbath. Here he touches the great central thought of the covenant between God and man, and he fall back upon the strange words of one of the old prophets. Jeremiah had declared as emphatically as he, the writer, has been declaring, that the ancient system was to melt away and be absorbed in a new covenant between God and man. Is there any other instance of a religion which, on the one side, proclaims its own eternal duration - ‘the Word of the Lord endureth for ever’ - and on the other side declares that it is to be abrogated, antiquated, and done away? The writer of the Epistle had learned from sacreder lips than Jeremiah’s the same lesson, for the Master said at the most solemn hour of His career, ‘This is the blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’
These articles of the New Covenant go very deep into the essence of Christianity, and may well be thought. fully pondered by us all, if we wish to know what the specific differences between the ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ, and all other systems are. The words I have read for my text are the first of these articles.
I. Let us try to ascertain what exactly is the meaning of this great promise.
Now it seems to me that the two clauses which I have read for my text are not precisely parallel, but parallel with a difference. I take it, that ‘mind’ here means very much what we make it mean in our popular phraseology, a kind of synonym for the understanding, or the intellectual part of a man’s nature; and that ‘heart,’ on the other hand, means something a little wider than it does in our popular phraseology, and indicates not only the affections, but the centre of personality in the human will, as well as the seat of love. So these two clauses will mean, you see, if we carry that distinction with us, two things - the clear perception of the will of God, and the coincidence of that will with our inclinations and desires.’ In men’s natural consciences, there is the law written on their minds, but alas! we all know that there is an awful chasm between perception and inclination, and that it is one thing to know our duty, and quite another to wish to do it. So the heart of this great promise of my text is that these two things shall coincide in a Christian man, shall cover precisely the same ground; as two of Euclid’s triangles having the same angles will, if laid upon each other, coincide line for line and angle for angle. Thus, says this great promise, it is possible - and, if we observe the conditions, it will be actual in us - that knowledge and will shall cover absolutely and exactly the same ground. Inclination will be duty, and duty will be inclination and delight. Nothing short of such a thought lies here.
And how is that wonderful change upon men to be accomplished? ‘I will put, I will write.’ Only He can do it. We all know, by our own experience, the schism that gapes between the two things. Every man in the world knows a vast deal more of duty than any man in the world does. The worst of us has a standard that rebukes his evil, and the best of us has a standard that transcends his goodness, and, alas! often transcends his inclination.
But the gospel of our Lord and Saviour comes armed with sufficient power to make this miracle an actuality for us all.
For it comes, does it not, to substitute for all other motives to obedience, the one motive of love? They but half understand the gospel who dwell upon its sanctions of reward and punishment, and would seek to frighten men into goodness by brandishing the whip of law before them, and uncovering the lid that shuts in the smoke of a hell And they misinterpret it almost as much, if there be any such, who find the chief motive for Christian obedience in the glories of the heavenly state. These are subordinate and legitimate in their secondary place, but the gospel appeals to men, not merely nor chiefly on the ground of self-interest, but it comes to them with the one appeal, ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments.’ That is how the law is written on the heart. Wherever there is love, there is a supreme delight in divining and in satisfying the wish and will of the beloved. His lightest word is law to the loving heart; his looks are spells and commandments. And if it is so in regard of our poor, imperfect, human loves, how infinitely more so is it where the heart is touched by true affection for His own infinite love’s sake, of that ‘Jesus’ who is ‘most desired!’ The secret of Christian morality is that duty is changed into choice, because love is made the motive for obedience.
And, still further, let me remind you how this great promise is fulfilled in the Christian life, because to have Christ shrined in the heart is the heart of Christianity, and Christ Himself is our law. So, in another sense than that which I have been already touching, the law is written on the heart on which, by faith and self-surrender, the name of Christ is written. And when it becomes our whole duty to become like Him, then He being throned in our hearts, our law is within, and Himself to His ‘darlings’ shall be, as the poet has it about another matter, ‘both law and impulse.’ Write His name upon your hearts, and your law of life is thereby written there.
And, still further, let me remind you that this great promise is fulfilled, because the very specific gift of Christianity to men is the gift of a new nature which is ‘created in righteousness and holiness that flows from truth.’ The communication of a divine life kindred with, and percipient of, and submissive to, the divine will is the gift that Christianity - or, rather, let us put away the abstraction and say that Christ - offers . to us all, and gives to every man who will accept it.
And thus, and in other ways on which I cannot dwell now, this great article of the New Covenant lies at the very foundation of the Christian life, and gives its peculiar tinge and cast to all Christian morality, commandment, and obligation.
But let me remind you how this great truth has to be held with caution. The evidence of this letter itself shows that, whilst the writer regarded it as a distinctive characteristic of the gospel, that by it men’s wills were stamped with a delight in the law of God, and a transcript thereof, he still regarded these wills as unstable, as capable of losing the sharp lettering, of having the writing of God obliterated, and still regarded it as possible that there should be apostasy and departure.
So there is nothing in this promise which suspends the need for effort and for conflict. Still ‘the flesh lusteth against the spirit.’ Still there are parts of the nature on which that law is not written. It is the final triumph, that the whole man, body, soul, and spirit is, through and through, penetrated with, and joyfully obedient to, the commandments of the Lord. There is need, too, not only for continuous progress, effort, conflict, in order to keep our hearts open for His handwriting, but also for much caution, lest at any time we should mistake our own self-will for the utterance of the divine voice.
‘Love, and do what thou wilt,’ said a great Christian teacher. It is an unguarded statement, but profoundly true as in some respects it is, it is only absolutely true if we have made sure that the ‘thou’ which ‘wills’ is the heart on which God has written His law.
Only God can do this for us. The Israelites of old were bidden ‘these things which I command thee this day shall be on thy heart,’ and they were to write them on their hand, and on the frontlet between their eyes, and on their doorposts. The latter commands were obeyed, having been hardened into a form; and phylacteries on the arm, and scrolls on the lintel, were the miserable obedience which was given to them. But the complete writing on the heart was beyond the power of unaided man. A psalmist said, ‘I delight to do Thy will, and Thy law is within my heart.’ But a verse or two after, in the same psalm, he wailed, ‘Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore my heart faileth me.’ One Man has transcribed the divine will on His will, without blurring a letter, or omitting a clause. One Man has been able to say, in the presence of the most fearful temptations, ‘Not My will, but Thine, be done.’ One Man has so completely written, perceived, and obeyed the law of His Father, that, looking back on all His life, He was conscious of no defect or divergence, either in motive or in act, and could affirm on the Cross, ‘It is finished.’ He who thus perfectly kept that divine law will give to us, if we ask Him, His spirit, to write it upon our hearts, and ‘the law of the spirit of life which was in Christ Jesus shall make us free from the law of sin and death.’
II. Now, secondly, note the impassable gulf which this fulfilled promise makes between Christianity and all other systems.
It is a new covenant, undoubtedly-an altogether new thing in the world. For whatever other laws have been promulgated among men have had this in common, that they have stood over against the Will with a whip in one hand, and a box of sweets in the other, and have tried to influence desires and inclinations, first by the setting forth of duty, then by threatening, and then by promises to obedience. There is the inherent weakness of all which is merely law. You do not make men good by telling them in what goodness consists, nor yet by setting forth the bitter consequences that may result from wrong-doing. All that is surface work. But there is a power which says that it deals with the will as from within, and moves, and moulds, and revolutionises it. ‘You cannot make men sober by act of parliament,’ people say. Well! I do not believe the conclusion which is generally drawn from that statement, but it is perfectly true in itself. To tell a man what he ought to do is very, very little help towards his doing it. I do not under-estimate the value of a clear perception of duty, but I say that, apart from Christianity, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that clear perception of duty is like a clear opening of a great gulf between a man and safety, which only makes him recoil in despair with the thought, ‘how can I ever leap across that?’ But the peculiarity of the gospel is that it gives both the knowledge of what we ought to be; and with and in the knowledge, the desire, and with and in the knowledge and the desire, the power to be what God would have us to be.
All other systems, whether the laws of a nation, or the principles of a scientific morality, or the solemn voice that speaks in our minds proclaiming some version of God’s law to every man- all these are comparatively impotent. They are like bill-stickers going about a rebellious province posting the king’s proclamation. Unless they have soldiers at their back, the proclamation is not worth the paper it is printed upon. But Christianity comes, and gives us that which it requires from us. So, in his epigrammatic way, St. Augustine penetrated to the very heart of this article when he prayed, ‘Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.’
III. Note the freedom and blessedness of this fulfilled promise.
Not to do wrong may be the mark of a slave’s timid obedience. Not to
wish to do wrong is the charter of a son’s free and blessed service. There is a higher possibility yet, reserved for heaven - not to be able to do wrong. Freedom does not consist in doing what I like - that turns out, in the long run, to be the most abject slavery, under the severest tyrants. But it consists in liking to do what I ought. When my wishes and God’s will are absolutely coincident, then and only then, am I free. That is no prison, out of which we do not wish to go. Not to be confined against our wills, but voluntarily to elect to move only within the sacred, charmed, sweet circle of the discerned will of God, is the service and liberty of the sons of God.
Alas! there are a great many Christians, so-called, who know very little about such blessedness. To many of us religion is a burden. It consists of a number of prohibitions and restrictions and commandments equally unwelcome. ‘Do not do this,’ and all the while I would like to do it. ‘Do that,’ and all the while I do not want to do it. ‘Pray, because it is your duty; go to chapel, because you think it is God’s will; give money that you would much rather keep in your pockets: abstain from certain things that you hunger for; do other things that you do not at all desire to do, nor find any pleasure in doing.’ That is the religion of hosts of people. They have need to ask themselves whether their religion is Christ’s religion. Ah! brethren! - ‘My yoke is easy and My burden light; not because the things that He bids and forbids are less or lighter than those which the world’s morality requires of its followers, but because, so to speak, the yoke is padded with the velvet of love, and inclination coincides, in the measure of our true religion, with the discerned will of God.
IV. Lastly, one word about the condition of the fulfilment of this promise to us.
As I have been saying, it is sadly far ahead of the experience of crowds of so-called Christians. There are still great numbers of professing Christians, and I doubt not that I speak to some such, on whose hearts only a very few of the syllables of God’s will are written, and these very faintly and blotted. But remember that the fundamental idea of this whole context is that of a covenant, and a covenant implies two parties, and duties and obligations on the part of each. If God is in covenant with you, you are in covenant with God. If He makes a promise, there is something for you to do in order that that promise may be fulfilled to you.
What is there to do? First, and last, and midst, keep close to Jesus Christ. In the measure in which we keep ourselves in continual touch with Him, will His law be written upon our hearts. If we are for ever twitching away the paper; if we are for ever flinging blots and mud upon it, how can we expect the transcript to be clear and legible? We must keep still that God may write. We must wait habitually in His presence. When the astronomer wishes to get the image of some far-off star, invisible to the eye of sense, he regulates the motion of his sensitive plate, so that for hours it shall continue right beneath the unseen Beam. So we have to still our hearts, and keep their plates - the fleshy tables of them - exposed to the heavens. Then the likeness of God will be stamped there.
Be faithful to what is written there, which is the Christian shape of the heathen commandment - ‘Do the duty that lies nearest thee; so shall the next become plainer.’ Be faithful to the line that is ‘written,’ and there will be more on the tablet to-morrow.
Now this is a promise for us all However blotted and blurred and defaced by crooked, scrawling letters, like a child’s copy-book, with its first pot- hooks and hangers, our hearts may be, there is no need for any of us to say despairingly, as we look on the smeared page, ‘What I have written I have written.’ He is able to blot it all out, to ‘take away the hand-writing’ - our own - ‘that is against us, nailing it to His Cross,’ and to give us, in our inmost spirits, a better knowledge of, and a glad obedience to, His discerned and holy will. So that each of us, if we choose, and will observe the conditions, may be able to say with all humility, ‘Lo! I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, yea! Thy law is within my heart.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 The New Covenant, Summary:
The New Covenant, Summary:
(1) "Better" than the Mosaic covenant not morally, but efficaciously Heb 7:19; Rom 8:3; Rom 8:4.
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(2) Established on "better" (i.e. unconditional) promises. In the Mosaic Covenant God said, "If ye will" Exo 19:5, in the New Covenant He says, "I will" Heb 8:10; Heb 8:12.
(3) Under the Mosaic Covenant obedience sprang from fear Heb 2:2; Heb 12:25-27 under the New from a willing heart and mind Heb 8:10.
(4) The New Covenant secures the personal revelation of the Lord to every believer Heb 8:11.
(5) the complete oblivion of sins Heb 8:12; Heb 10:17; Heb 10:3.
(6) rests upon an accomplished redemption Mat 26:27; Mat 26:28; 1Co 11:25; Heb 9:11; Heb 9:12; Heb 9:18-23.
(7) and secures the perpetuity, future conversion, and blessing of Israel. Jer 31:31-40. See also "Kingdom (O.T.)," and 2Sa 7:8-17.
The New Covenant is the eighth, thus speaking of resurrection and of eternal completeness.
Covenant
I. The Eight Covenants, Summary:
(1) The Edenic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 1:26") conditioned the life of man in innocency.
(2) The Adamic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 3:14") conditions the life of fallen man and gives promise of a Redeemer.
(3) The Noahic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 9:1"). establishes the principle of human government.
(4) The Abrahamic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 15:18") founds the nation of Israel, and confirms, with specific additions, the Adamic promise of redemption.
(5) The Mosaic Covenant (See Scofield "Exo 19:25"). condemns all men, "for that all have sinned."
(6) The Palestinian Covenant (See Scofield "Deu 30:3") secures the final restoration and conversion of Israel.
(7) The Davidic Covenant (See Scofield "2Sa 7:16") establishes the perpetuity of the Davidic family (fulfilled in Christ), Mat 1:1; Luk 1:31-33,; Rom 1:3 and of the Davidic kingdom, over Israel, and over the whole earth; to be fulfilled in and by Christ; 2Sa 7:8-17; Zec 12:8; Luk 1:31-33; Act 15:14-17; 1Co 15:24.
(8) The New covenant rests upon the sacrifice of Christ, and secures the eternal blessedness, under the Abrahamic Covenant Gal 3:13-29 of all who believe. It is absolutely unconditional, and, since no responsibility is by it committed to man, it is final and irreversible.
II. The relation of Christ to the eight covenants is as follows:
(1) To the Edenic Covenant, Christ, as the "second Man," the "last Adam" 1Co 15:45-47 takes the place over all things which the first Adam lost; Col 2:10; Heb 2:7-8.
(2) He is the "Seed of the woman" of the Adamic Covenant Gen 3:15; Joh 12:31; 1Jn 3:8; Gal 4:4; Rev 20:10 and fulfilled its conditions of toil Mar 6:3 and obedience.
(3) As the greatest son of Shem, in Him was fulfilled supremely the promise to Shem in the Noahic Covenant. (See Scofield "Gen 9:1") Col 2:9.
(4) He is the "Seed to whom the promises were made" in the Abrahamic Covenant; the son of Abraham obedient unto death Gen 22:18; Gal 3:16; Php 2:8.
(5) He lived sinlessly under the Mosaic covenant and bore for us its curse. Gal 3:10-13.
(6) He lived obediently as a Jew in the land under the Palestinian Covenant, and will yet perform it gracious promises Deu 28:1 to Deu 30:9.
(7) He is the "Seed," "Heir," and "King" under the Davidic Covenant Mat 1:1; Luk 1:31-33.
(8) His sacrifice is the foundation of the New Covenant Mat 26:28; 1Co 11:25.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 10 General Information:
General Information:
In this quotation the prophet Jeremiah foretold of a new covenant that God would make.
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with the people
"with the people of Israel"
See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
the days are coming
The future is spoken of as if it were moving toward the speaker. AT: "there will be a time" (See: Metaphor)
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
The people of Israel and Judah are spoken of as if they were houses. AT: "the people of Israel and with the people of Judah" (See: Metaphor)
I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt
This metaphor represents God's great love and concern. AT: "I led them out of Egypt like a father leads his young child" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
God
day
covenant
house
Israel
Judah
ancestor
Egypt
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8–10 8:8 found fault with the people: Because the people…
8:8 found fault with the people: Because the people were unable to keep the terms of the old covenant (see study note on 8:7), God made a new covenant.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.