Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 8:13
In that he saith, A new [covenant,] he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.
13. he hath made the first old ] The very expression, “a New Covenant,” used in the disparaging connexion in which it stands, superannuates the former covenant, and stamps it as antiquated. The verse is a specimen of the deep sense which it was the constant object of Alexandrian interpreters to deduce from Scripture. The argument is analogous to that of Heb 7:11.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away ] Lit. “Now that which is becoming antiquated and waxing aged, is near obliteration.” The expression “ near evanescence “again shows that the Epistle was written before the Fall of Jerusalem, when the decree of dissolution which had been passed upon the Old Covenant was carried into effect. Even the Rabbis, though they made the Law an object of superstitious and extravagant veneration, yet sometimes admitted that it would ultimately cease to be namely, when “the Evil Impulse” (Deu 31:21) should be overcome.
ready to vanish away ] Comp. the expression “near a curse” (Heb 6:8), and Dr Kay points out the curious fact that “curse” and “obliteration” ( aphanismos here alone in the N. T.) appear in juxtaposition in 2Ki 22:19 (where our version renders it “desolation”).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old – That is, the use of the word new implies that the one which it was to supersede was old. New and old stand in contradistinction from each other. Thus, we speak of a new and old house, a new and old garment, etc. The object of the apostle is to show that by the very fact of the arrangement for a new dispensation differing so much from the old, it was implied of necessity that that was to be superseded, and would vanish away. This was one of the leading points at which he arrived.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away – This is a general truth which would be undisputed, and which Paul applies to the case under consideration. An old house, or garment; an ancient tree; an aged man, all have indications that they are soon to disappear. They cannot be expected to remain long. The very fact of their growing old is an indication that they will soon be gone. So Paul says it was with the dispensation that was represented as old. It had symptoms of decay. It had lost the vigour which it had when it was fresh and new; it had every mark of an antiquated and a declining system; and it had been expressly declared that a new and more perfect dispensation was to be given to the world. Paul concluded, therefore, that the Jewish system must soon disappear.
Remarks
1. The fact that we have a high priest, is suited to impart consolation to the pious mind; Heb 8:1-5. He ever lives, and is ever the same. He is a minister of the true sanctuary, and is ever before the mercy-seat. He enters there not once a year only, but has entered there to abide there for ever. We can never approach the throne of mercy without having a high priest there – for he at all times, day and night, appears before God. The merits of his sacrifice are never exhausted, and God is never wearied with hearing his pleadings in behalf of his people. He is the same that he was when he gave himself on the cross. He has the same love and the same compassion which he had then, and that love which led him to make the atonement, will lead him always to regard with tenderness those for whom he died.
2. It is a privilege to live under the blessings of the Christian system; Heb 8:6. We have a better covenant than the old one was – one less expensive and less burdensome, and one that is established upon better promises. Now the sacrifice is made, and we do not have to renew it every day. It was made once for all, and need never be repeated. Having now a high priest in heaven who has made the sacrifice, we may approach him in any part of the earth, and at all times, and feel that our offering will be acceptable to him. If there is any blessing for which we ought to be thankful, it is for the Christian religion; for we have only to look at any portion of the pagan world, or even to the condition of the people of God under the comparatively dark and obscure Jewish dispensation, to see abundant reasons for thanksgiving for what we enjoy.
3. Let us often contemplate the mercies of the new dispensation with which we are favored – the favors of that religion whose smiles and sunshine we are permitted to enjoy; Heb 8:10-12. It contains all that we want, and is exactly adapted to our condition. It has that for which every man should be thankful; and has not one thing which should lead a man to reject it. It furnishes all the security which we could desire for our salvation; lays upon us no oppressive burdens or charges; and accomplishes all which we ought to desire in our souls. Let us contemplate a moment the arrangements of that covenant, and see how suited it is to make man blessed and happy.
First, It writes the laws of God on the mind and the heart; Heb 8:10. It not only reveals them, but it secures their observance. It has made arrangements for disposing people to keep the laws a thing which has not been introduced into any other system. Legislators may enact good laws, but they cannot induce others to obey them; parents may utter good precepts, but they cannot engrave them on the hearts of their children; and sages may express sound maxims and just precepts in morals, but there is no security that they will be regarded. So in all the pagan world – there is no power to inscribe good maxims and rules of living on the heart. They may be written; recorded on tablets; hung up in temples; but still people will not regard them. They will still give indulgence to evil passions, and lead wicked lives. But it is not so with the arrangement which God has made in the plan of salvation. One of the very first provisions of that plan is, that the laws shall be inscribed on the heart, and that there shall be a disposition to obey. Such a systcm is what man wants, and such a system he can nowhere else find.
Secondly, This new arrangement reveals to us a God such as we need; Heb 8:10. It contains the promise that he will be our God. He will be to his people all that can be desired in God; all that man could wish. He is just such a God as the human mind, when it is pure, most loves; has all the attributes which it could be desired there should be in his character; has done all that we could desire a God to do; and is ready to do all that we could wish a God to perform. Man wants a God; a God in whom he can put confidence, and on whom he can rely. The ancient Greek philosopher wanted a God – and he would then have made a beautiful and efficient system of morals; the pagan want a God – to dwell in their empty temples, and in their corrupt hearts; the Atheist wants a God to make him calm, contented, and happy in this life – for he has no God now, and man everywhere, wretched, sinful, suffering, dying, wants a God. Such a God is revealed in the Bible – one whose character we may contemplate with ever-increasing admiration; one who has all the attributes which we can desire; one who will minister to us all the consolation which we need in this world; and one who will be to us the same God forever and ever.
Thirdly, The new covenant contemplates the diffusion of knowledge; Heb 8:11. This too was what man needed, for everywhere else he has been ignorant of God and of the way of salvation. The whole pagan world is sunk in ignorance, and indeed all people, except as they are enlightened by the gospel, are in profound darkness on the great questions which most nearly pertain to their welfare. But it is not so with the new arrangement which God has made with his people. It is a fact that they know the Lord, and a dispensation which would produce that is just what man needed. There are two things hinted at in Heb 8:11, which are worthy of more than a passing notice, illustrating the excellency of the Christian religion. The first is, that in the new dispensation all would know the Lord. The matter of fact is, that the obscurest and most unlettered Christian often has a knowledge of God which sages never had, and which is never obtained except by the teachings of the Spirit of God. However this may be accounted for, the fact cannot be denied.
There is a clear and elevating view of God; a knowledge of him which exerts a practical influence on the heart, and which transforms the soul; and a correctness of apprehension in regard to what truth is, possessed by the humble Christian, though a peasant, which philosophy never imparted to its votaries. Many a sage would be instructed in the truths of religion if he would sit down and converse with the comparatively unlearned Christian, who has no book but his Bible. The other thing hinted at here is, that all would know the Lord from the least to the greatest. Children and youth, as well as age and experience, would have an acquaintance with God. This promise is remarkably verified under the new dispensation. One of the most striking things of the system is, the attention which it pays to the young; one of its most wonderful effects is the knowledge which it is the means of imparting to those in early life. Many a child in the Sunday School has a knowledge of God which Grecian sages never had; many a youth in the Church has a more consistent acquaintance with Gods real plan of governing and saving people, than all the teachings which philosophy could ever furnish.
Fourthly, The new dispensation contemplates the pardon of sin, and is, therefore, suited to the condition of man; Heb 8:12. It is what man needs. The knowledge of some way of pardon is what human nature has been sighing for for ages; which has been sought in every system of religion, and by every bloody offering; but which has never been found elsewhere. The philosopher had no assurance that God would pardon, and indeed one of the chief aims of the philosopher has been to convince himself that he had no need of pardon. The pagan have had no assurance that their offerings have availed to put away the divine anger, and to obtain forgiveness. The only assurance anywhere furnished that sin may be forgiven, is in the Bible. This is the great uniqueness of the system recorded there, and this it is which renders it so valuable above all the other systems. It furnishes the assurance that sins may be pardoned, and shows how it may be done. This is what we must have, or perish. And why, since Christianity reveals a way of forgiveness – a way honorable to God and not degrading to man – why should any man reject it? Why should not the guilty embrace a system which proclaims pardon to the guilty, and which assures all that, if they will embrace him who is the Mediator of the new covenant, God will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and will remember their iniquities no more.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. He hath made the first old.] That is: He has considered it as antiquated, and as being no longer of any force.
That which decayeth and waxeth old] Here is an allusion to the ancient laws, which either had perished from the tables on which they were written through old age, or were fallen into disuse, or were abrogated.
Is ready to vanish away.] . Is about to be abolished. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, speaking of the laws of Numa, which had been written on oak boards, says: . “which had perished through old age.” And the word is used to express the abolition of the law. The apostle, therefore, intimates that the old covenant was just about to be abolished; but he expresses himself cautiously and tenderly, that he might not give unnecessary offence.
WHEN the apostle said, All shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, under the new covenant, he had copious authority for saying so from the rabbins themselves. In Sohar Chadash, fol. 42, it is said: “In the days of the Messiah knowledge shall be renewed in the world, and the law shall be made plain among all; as it is written, Jer 31:33, All shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” We find the following legend in Midrash Yalcut Simeoni, part 2, fol. 46: “The holy blessed God shall sit in paradise and explain the law; all the righteous shall sit before him, and the whole heavenly family shall stand on their feet; and the holy blessed God shall sit, and the new law, which be is to give by the Messiah, shall be interpreted.”
In Sohar Genes., fol. 74, col. 291, we find these remarkable words: “When the days of the Messiah shall approach, even the little children in this world shall find out the hidden things of wisdom; and in that time all things shall be revealed to all men.”
And in Sohar Levit., fol. 24, col. 95: “There shall be no time like this till the Messiah comes, and then the knowledge of God shall be found in every part of the world.”
This day are all these sayings fulfilled in our ears: the word of God is multiplied; many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased; all the nations of the earth are receiving the book of God; and men of every clime, and of every degree-Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites; the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judea, in Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, in Libya; strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes; Cretes and Arabians; Americans, Indians, and Chinese-hear, in their own tongues, the wonderful works of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old: the inference from what was before said, Heb 8:8, (in the Lords saying this by the prophet Jeremiah, that he would make a new covenant, for form and manner of administration later and better, even the last and best he will make, and in which he will have penitent, believing sinners to acquiesce), is this: That the Mosaical one, though first in respect of the gospel, hath lost its power, strength, and vigour, its binding force; and so, by Gods instituting another, is abrogated, as useless, needless, and imperfect.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away; this Mosaical one, thus grown old, weak, and decrepit, and by the institution of the new gospel covenant abrogated, may continue for a while, but in no force; and so gradually moulder and decay by little and little, till it at last vanish and totally cease. It was near to it upon finishing of the ministry of the gospel High Priest on earth, when by his death he fulfilled the truth of this typical one, and so virtually nulled it; and, as to its binding force, vanished, when the gospel was published throughout the world, Rom 10:16-18; compare 2Co 5:17; as is owned by the apostolical synod, Act 15:1-41. It was high time for these Hebrews to cease from that vanishing Mosaical one, and effectually to close with the gospel priesthood and covenant, which must remain and continue for ever; see Dan 9:24,26,27; which if they did not, must end in the total destruction of them, their temple and city, which came to pass not many years after the apostle wrote this Epistle.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. heGod.
made . . . old“hath(at the time of speaking the prophecy) antiquated the firstcovenant.” From the time of God’s mention of a NEWcovenant (since God’s words are all realities) the first covenantmight be regarded as ever dwindling away, until its completeabolition on the actual introduction of the Gospel. Both covenantscannot exist side by side. Mark how verbal inspiration is proved inPaul’s argument turning wholly on the one word “NEW”(covenant), occurring but once in the Old Testament.
that which decayethGreek,“that which is being antiquated,” namely, at the time whenJeremiah spake. For in Paul’s time, according to his view, the newhad absolutely set aside the old covenant. The Greek for(Kaine) New (Testament) implies that it is of adifferent kind and supersedes the old: not merely recent(Greek, “nea“). Compare Hos 3:4;Hos 3:5.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In that he saith a new covenant,…. In the above prophecy, Heb 8:8
he hath made the first old; this naturally follows from hence; if the second is new, the first must be old; which is called so, not on account of its date and duration; for the covenant of grace itself is older than this mode of administration of it, and the manifestation of that to the patriarchs was before this covenant, and so was the covenant of works before it; but on the account of its faultiness and deficiency, its weakness, and unprofitableness, and especially its being antiquated, and made to give way to another.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away; the apostle argues from the first covenant, being old, to its being near to dissolution, or a disappearance; and the dissolution or disappearance of this covenant was gradual; it began when the Chaldeans seized the land of Canaan; and the ark, an eminent type of Christ, being wanting in the second temple, gave a hint of its waxing old; and both the civil and ecclesiastical government of the Jews were in great confusion under the second temple, at least towards the close of it; and even before the times of Christ, John the Baptist came, and proclaimed the near approach of the Messiah, and his kingdom: this covenant was of right abolished at the time of Christ’s death; upon his ascension the Spirit was given, and the Gospel published among all nations, by which it more and more disappeared; and in fact it quite vanished away, when the city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed, which was in a little time after the writing of this epistle; so that the apostle, with great propriety, says, it is “ready to vanish away”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In that he saith ( ). Locative case of the articular present active infinitive of , “in the saying as to him.”
He hath made the first old ( ). Perfect active indicative of , old verb from (in contrast with , fresh, new), to treat as old and out of date. The conclusion is to the point.
That which is becoming old and waxeth aged ( ). is old verb from (age) like (old man) and refers to the decay of old age so that both ideas appear here in opposition to () and ().
Is nigh unto vanishing away ( ). Genitive case with and late word for disappearance (from , Mt 6:19), here only in the N.T. The author writes as if the Old Testament legal and ceremonial system were about to vanish before the new covenant of grace. If he wrote after A.D. 70, would he not have written “has vanished away”?
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In that he saith a new covenant [ ] . Lit. “in his saying new.”
He hath made the first old [ ] . Palaioun to make old, only in Hebrews and Luk 12:33. Comp. Heb 1:11.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [ ] . Rend. but that which is becoming old and waxing aged. Ghraskein (only here and Joh 21:18) adds the idea of infirmity to that of age.
Is ready to vanish away [ ] . Lit. is nigh unto vanishing. Afanismov vanishing, N. T. o. Often in LXX Class. rare and late. The whole statement indicates that the writer regarded the Sinaitic covenant, even in Jeremiah’s time, as obsolete, and that Jeremiah himself so regarded it. When God announced a new covenant he proclaimed the insufficiency of the old, and the promise of a new covenant carried with it the promise of the abrogation of the old. The new covenant is so shaped as to avoid the defects of the old one, and some one has remarked that, in one aspect, it is a criticism of the Sinaitic covenant. The following are its provisions :
(1) The law will no more be merely external, but a law written in the heart. Comp. 2Co 3:8.
(2) The people will be on intimate and affectionate terms with God, so that the knowledge of God will be general.
(3) Sin will be dealt with more radically and effectively. ===Heb9
CHAPTER Heb9
The new scene and conditions of Christ ‘s high – priestly work – the higher sanctuary and the better covenant (ch. 8 1 – 6) – are presented with more detail.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “In that he saith,” (en to legein) “When he says,” repeatedly until today. For his word is true, trustworthy, from the beginning, Psa 119:160.
2) “A new covenant, he hath made the first old,” (kainen pepalaioken ten proton) “New” (this indicates) “That he has made the first (to be) old; The new covenant of redemption pledge makes (assures) that the one coming to Christ by repentance and faith shall be born again, or become anew creature in Christ, Joh 6:37; 2Co 5:17.
3) “Now that which decayeth and waxeth old,” (to de palaioumenon kai geraskon) “And the thing growing old and being made old,” existing in an old and growing old state or condition of being – the Mosaic law covenant, the old covenant of Hebrew worship and Divine service was properly decaying and passing in the A.D. 60’s as this book was written, being supplanted by the new covenant fellowship of worship and service, called the church, Mat 16:18; Mat 28:18-20; Joh 20:21; 1Ti 3:15; Eph 3:10; Eph 3:21.
4) “Is ready to vanish away,” (engus aphanismou) “Is near vanishing,” having passed completely away already – When Paul was writing this epistle. It was soon thereafter in A.D. 70 that Titus of Thespasia overran Jerusalem, sacked the city, destroyed all the temple area and drove out the Jews from which they were driven among all nations without a temple, place of sacrifice, homeland, or center of worship, until their rapidly returning, regathering, and reorganizing nation exists again, since 1948; Mat 24:3; Luk 21:20-24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
13. In that he saith, A new, etc. From the fact of one covenant being established, he infers the subversion of the other; and by calling it the old covenant, he assumes that it was to be abrogated; for what is old tends to a decay. (137) Besides, as the new is substituted, it must be that the former has come to an end; for the second, as it has been said, is of another character. But if the whole dispensation of Moses, as far as it was opposed to the dispensation of Christ, has passed away, then the ceremonies also must have ceased.
(137) This verse may be thus rendered, —
“
By saying, ‘a new covenant,’ he has made ancient the first: now what is ancient and becomes old is nigh a dissolution (or disappearing.)”
It is said to be ancient in contrast with the new; and old or aged is afterwards added to be ancient in order to show its weak and feeble character, being like an old man tottering on the brink of the grave, who, when buried, disappears from among the living. It is supposed that there is here an intimation of the dissolution of the whole Jewish polity, which soon afterwards took place. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) In that he saith . . .Rather, In saying new He hath made the first old: now that which groweth old and is failing for age is nigh unto vanishing away. The very language of the prophet contains a declaration of the speedy dissolution of the former covenant. If nigh unto vanishing at the time when Jeremiah wrote, well might it now be believed to have passed away.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. And now comes the clear conclusion for the Hebrew readers of this epistle. The very terms of the prophecy describe the abolition of obsolete Judaism, and assure them that to apostatize from Christ is to relapse into a vanished dispensation. A new covenant pronounces the former to be old and obsolete.
Decayeth As, plainly, Judaism is doing.
Vanish away As Judaism slowly but surely must. The Jews still exist as a separate people, living in the cold moonlight of essential deism. The warm beams of the sun will, in its own day, rise upon them, inspiring them with a new life and flooding them with the latter-day glory.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘In that he says, “A new” he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxes aged is nigh unto vanishing away.’
So, says the writer, God by speaking of a ‘new’ covenant has made the first old. The emphasis here is on the fact that the new having come, what has been before is now old, and indeed is close to vanishing away. Jesus Christ’s coming has changed history. All must now be seen from a new point of view and looked at in a new way, resulting in new lives and a new way of living. There is, as it were, a new creation. And this especially applies in regard to the covenant.
And so he ends this section by stressing that the fact that the covenant is declared to be new and of a different kind demonstrates that the first is old, creaking at the seams, and is on the verge of disappearance. As far as its ritual was concerned it was indeed shortly to vanish away completely with the destruction of the Temple by Rome in 70 AD. But even where it continued it became more and more involved and separatist.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Heb 8:13. He hath made the first old. St. Paul in another place calls the Jewish ceremonial law weak and beggarly elements; and, ch. Heb 7:18 of this epistle, he says, There is a disannulling of that commandment for the weakness and un-profitableness thereof. Agreeably to this, he here speaks of it as waxing old, in which case things become weak and useless, and so are ready to be laid aside, or put out of sight. So it is with an old garment, as he uses that similitude, ch. Heb 1:11 or, with men worn out with old age, who are just dropping into the grave. Whichever allusion the apostle might intend, they seem to be in the right, who think that the apostle here refers to the speedy destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, whereby an end was put to the services prescribed by the law of Moses.
Inferences.How glorious is the Lord Jesus Christ in his present ministration, as our great High-priest! He continues to exercise this office, in the tabernacle of his miraculously formed human body, at the right hand of God the Father in the heavenly sanctuary; and there presents the merit of his atoning sacrifice in his intercession. How necessary for us, as well as honourable to him, was his entering into the holiest of all, to fulfil that important part of his office! This could not have been finished by his continuing on earth; because there were
Aaronical priests, which order he was not of, but infinitely superior to; and none but those of that order could legally officiate in the earthly sanctuary; and heaven itself was the only proper place for him to appear in for this purpose. And how much more excellent is his sacrifice, than all the offerings of former high-priests, as to its dignity, and the sanctuary in which it is presented to God! They were mere shadows of what is done by Christ; but the perfection and glory of all is accomplished in him, as the Mediator of the new covenant.How close should we keep to divine revelation in every thing that pertains to the service of God! As Moses was to make all things, relating to the tabernacle, exactly according to the pattern which God had shewn him in the mount; so all our worship is to be according to institution, without any addition, alteration, or abatement.How much better is the gospel dispensation of the covenant of grace, than that which was made with Israel at mount Sinai! It has a better Mediator, and stands on the foot of better promises. It contains rich and free, clear and express promises of a spiritual relation to God, as the God of his faithful people, to be their portion, and to engage their love and duty to him; and promises of mercy to forgive all their iniquities, and not to remember any of their sins against them; and to lead them into a plain and saving acquaintance with himself in Christ, and to write his law and gospel in their hearts. O the happiness of those who are in covenant with God! O blessed tenor of this pure unmixed dispensation of the new covenant! It shall never wax old or vanish away, like the Sinai covenant; but shall abide in full force, virtue, and vigour, as the last and most perfect administration of grace in this world; and shall remain, till it issue in the everlasting happiness of all the faithful saints of God in the world to come.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have in this chapter a summary of the foregoing observations: Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: we have such an High-priest, so great and glorious, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, invested with all power and authority to secure all blessedness for his faithful saints in time and in eternity; a minister of the sanctuary, officiating as our High-priest in heaven, which the Jewish sanctuary typified, and of the true tabernacle in his human nature, of which the earthly tabernacle was the figure, which the Lord pitched, and not man, having prepared for him a body, wherein the fulness of the Godhead should reside. And with what confidence should this inspire us, when we consider who now ministers for us before the throne of God!
2nd, The apostle proceeds,
1. To set forth the office of the high-priest, and Christ’s conformity thereto. For every high-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, the blood of which he afterwards carried into the holy place: wherefore it is of necessity that this glorious person have somewhat also to offer, a sacrifice suitable to his dignity, with the blood of which he might appear within the veil, before the throne of God in glory. For if he were on earth, and had continued here below, he should not be a priest, nor could have discharged that most peculiar part of his pontifical office, the appearing within the veil with the blood of the sacrifice, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, and none of any other tribe but that of Levi could be admitted there: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, that priesthood and service being entirely typical of Christ, as Moses was admonished of God, when he was about to make the tabernacle. For see (saith he,) that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. Necessary therefore was it that Christ, having offered his own body a sacrifice on the cross, should, with the blood which he hath shed, appear in the presence of God, and discharge that glorious high-priesthood whereunto he had been appointed.
2. He shews the transcendent excellency of the ministry of Christ above that of the sons of Aaron, as being the Mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises, the covenant of grace as revealed in the gospel, far exceeding the Sinai covenant, whether considered as a political covenant of peculiarity, and ensuring to the people temporal blessings, merely on the condition of an external obedience to the letter of the law: or if we consider it in its more extensive sense, as including spiritual and eternal blessings; yet as that dispensation was clothed in darkness and terror, the gospel dispensation far exceeds it, as containing a more clear revelation of God’s grace, extending his gospel promises to Gentiles as well as Jews, being accompanied with a more abundant measure of the Spirit, and more particularly and fully leading the soul to seek and expect, not so much temporal, as spiritual and heavenly blessings. For if that first covenant, entered into with the Jews at Sinai, had been faultless, (for however well suited to answer the purposes of God at that time, yet it was deficient, and wanted much of that light and clearness with which afterwards God intended to reveal his designs of grace,)could that covenant, I say, have been sufficient to accomplish the great ends that God had in view, then should no place have been sought for the second, as we find was the case. For, God finding fault with them, and reproving the Jews by the prophet Jeremiah, he saith, behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant, &c. a covenant reaching to all the spiritual Israel, Gentiles as well as Jews: 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, but unfaithfully departed from it, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord; withdrew my favour from them, and no longer, as a husband, vouchsafed to them my love and protection. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, with the spiritual Israel of all nations, who yield to my grace; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, giving them the clearest views of my designs of grace, and engaging their souls to my love and service by the powerful operations of my Spirit; and I will be to them a God, reconciled to them in the Beloved, and causing them to experience my continual protection and blessing; and they shall be to me a people, engaged to serve me by the most powerful ties of gratitude as well as duty. And they shall not need to teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, as under the former dispensation, where all the typical service required constant explication; but under the clearer dispensation of light and truth in the gospel this would be less necessary; not that the ministry of the word, or private instructions among Christians, should be set aside, but that in those days the knowledge of divine things should be more universally diffused, and all believers be under the more abundant teachings of the Spirit: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest, as their reconciled God and Father in the great Redeemer. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, through the propitiation of their great High-priest, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more, pardoning them freely and fully. Now in that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old, abolishing the Mosaic dispensation, because of its weakness and unprofitableness. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old, as is the case with the Jewish economy at present, like a person dying with age, is ready to vanish away, the time being at hand, when, by the destruction of the temple, the whole service must cease, never to be resumed again. Note; The dispensation of the covenant of grace, under which we live, should be matter of our unspeakable comfort and unceasing thankfulness, wherein all the riches of God’s grace, without a veil, are laid open before his believing people.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Heb 8:13 . The author derives the result from the Scripture testimony, Heb 8:8-12 .
] in that He ( sc . God) saith: a new (covenant). Comp. , Heb 3:15 , and , Heb 2:8 .
] He hath made the first old (contrary to linguistic usage, Ebrard: “relatively older”), i.e. has declared it to be out of date, outworn, and no longer serviceable.
] a word belonging to a later period of the Greek language, elsewhere ordinarily used in the intransitive sense: “to grow old,” and generally in the middle voice (as a little below, and Heb 1:11 ); is found likewise in the transitive sense, “to make old,” in Lam 3:4 ; Job 9:5 . To abolish or render obsolete the word itself does not signify; but rendering obsolete is the natural consequence of pronouncing out of date or outworn. The author accordingly does not directly express notion of abrogation by in this place, a sense, moreover, which, on account of the following , would here be inappropriate, but leaves the reader to divine it.
] but that which is growing ancient and is becoming infirm with years, is near to disappearing or perishing.
] ordinarily said of human beings (to become enfeebled with age, senescere ); then, however, also of things, comp. e.g. Xenoph. Ages . Heb 11:14 : , .
The author says sparingly: near to disappearing (comp. , Heb 6:8 ), in that he takes his standpoint at the time of the divine promises just quoted. But if God in the time of Jeremiah already designated the Old Covenant as that which is nigh unto ruin, it was therein necessarily declared by implication, that now, after so long a time is passed and the New Covenant has already been in reality brought in, the Old Covenant, as to its essence (if not yet as to its external manifestation), must have been already entirely abrogated, must have entirely lost its force and validity.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
REFLECTIONS
READER! is this indeed the sum and substance of what God the Holy Ghost hath been blessing the Church with, in such gracious teachings concerning the Lord Jesus; that He is gone into heaven, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of Majesty: oh! then, for grace to follow him thither by faith! For, as sure as Jesus the Son of God is one there, so sure is He gone as the Head and Husband, the Surety and Representative of his body the Church, the fulness that filleth all in all. Yes! He hath taken possession of heaven itself in their name. And all his redeemed ones may ready, by virtue of their union with Him, behold themselves by faith, as raised up together with Christ, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Oh! glorious Jesus! Minister of the Sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord hath pitched, and not man!
And blessed be God the Holy Ghost for this precious scripture! We now see, through thy divine teaching, how needful it was for our Lord to go away. Had he remained on earth, though he had made his soul an offering for sin, yet could he not have been a priest. Yes! thou dear Lord, it was necessary that thou shouldest priest it also for thy redeemed in heaven. Oh! Lord the Spirit! give us grace to be always following our Jesus by faith, and employing our great High Priest with our daily prayers and praises, until we come to see him, as He is, and dwell with him forever.
Praises to our God and Father for his covenant Christ. Oh! may God the Father be to me a God in Christ, and make me his among his people. Oh! that Jesus, my Husband, may be to me my unceasing High Priest, Advocate, and Intercessor. And God the Holy Ghost, my Teacher, and the Glorifier of Jesus unto the day of his coming!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 In that he saith, A new covenant , he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Ver. 13. He hath made the first old ] He hath antiquated and abolished it. This the apostle often inculcates, because the Jews went about to establish their own righteousness, and it is a piece of Popery natural to us all, to think to go to heaven by our good meanings and good doings.
Is ready to vanish away ] So is the old man in God’s people; that is their comfort.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 .] Transition to the antithetical parallel which he is about to draw between the former, earthly and ceremonial, and the latter, heavenly and actual tabernacle: see summary at ch. Heb 9:1 . In saying (cf. reff. Here, as in each of those, the subject is God, belonging here to the following verb : ‘ when God saith ’), “ a new (covenant),” He hath made old ( , a word peculiar to biblical usage, and in the N. T. to Heb. and St. Luke. The LXX have it a few times, in this same meaning: e. g. Lam 3:4 , : Job 9:5 , . Cf. also Job 32:15 ; Isa 65:22 ; Dan 7:25 Theod. Made old , viz. by speaking of, and where God is the speaker, actually in decree establishing, seeing that all God’s sayings are realities, a new one. Some have taken the word as signifying “ hath set aside, abrogated ,” “ antiquavit ,” as Erasmus. But this, besides being unexampled, and not answering to the technical meaning of ‘antiquare,’ does not tally with the present participle of the same verb below, which cannot be rendered ‘is being abrogated:’ see below. Far better is the rendering, of somewhat questionable Latinity, but very expressive, “veteravit,” of the ital. and vulg.: see again below) the first (covenant). Now (transition, by , from a particular assertion, to an axiomatic general truth: as in Rom 14:23 ) that which is being made old (the saying of God that first covenant: the state of thereby induced, continues, as the perfect (not aor., , because the act was not a passing one, contemporaneous with the saying) shews, and hence the covenant continually. The vulg., which had “veteravit” before, here adopts “ antiquatur ” for the old ital. “veteratur,” which, as above shewn, was far better) and getting into old age (see reff.: and cf. Xen. Vectig. i. 4, of fruits of the earth, : id. Ages. ii. 14, , : Herodian iii. 2. 15, ), is nigh unto (see ref. and note) vanishing away ( or is a common phrase with the LXX. See reff., and 3 Kings 9:7; 4 Kings 22:19 &c., in Trommius. The Writer uses the expression of the whole time subsequent to the utterance of the prophecy. At that time the began, by the mention of a new covenant: and from that time the first covenant might be regarded as ever dwindling away, so to speak, and near its end, which God might bring on at any time. It is far better to regard the thus, than, with some, to place it at the time of the Writer, when in fact it had already taken place).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Heb 8:13 . . “In saying ‘New,’ He hath antiquated the first; and that which is antiquated and growing old is near extinction [lit. disappearance].” That is to say, by speaking in the passage quoted, Heb 8:8 , of a new covenant, God brands the former as old. Thus even in Jeremiah’s time the Mosaic covenant was disparaged. The fact that a new was required showed that it was insufficient. It was condemned as antiquated. And that which is antiquated and aged has not much longer to live. , the active is found in LXX, Job 9:5 ; Job 32:15 , etc.; the mid is common, in Plato and elsewhere in the sense of “growing old”. , cf. , Heb 6:8 . , is suggestive of utter destruction, abolition; thus in Polyb . Heb 8:11 ; Heb 8:5 it is joined with . Cf. Diod. Sic . ver. 8:32, , , .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
made . . . old. Greek. palaioo. See Heb 1:11.
decayeth. Same as “made old”.
waxeth old. Greek. gerasko. Only here and Joh 21:18.
ready = near.
vanish away = vanishing. Greek. aphanismos. Only here. Compare Act 13:41.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] Transition to the antithetical parallel which he is about to draw between the former, earthly and ceremonial, and the latter, heavenly and actual tabernacle: see summary at ch. Heb 9:1. In saying (cf. reff. Here, as in each of those, the subject is God, belonging here to the following verb : when God saith), a new (covenant), He hath made old (, a word peculiar to biblical usage, and in the N. T. to Heb. and St. Luke. The LXX have it a few times, in this same meaning: e. g. Lam 3:4, : Job 9:5, . Cf. also Job 32:15; Isa 65:22; Dan 7:25 Theod. Made old, viz. by speaking of,-and where God is the speaker, actually in decree establishing, seeing that all Gods sayings are realities,-a new one. Some have taken the word as signifying hath set aside, abrogated, antiquavit, as Erasmus. But this, besides being unexampled, and not answering to the technical meaning of antiquare, does not tally with the present participle of the same verb below, which cannot be rendered is being abrogated: see below. Far better is the rendering, of somewhat questionable Latinity, but very expressive, veteravit, of the ital. and vulg.: see again below) the first (covenant). Now (transition, by , from a particular assertion, to an axiomatic general truth: as in Rom 14:23) that which is being made old (the saying of God that first covenant: the state of thereby induced, continues, as the perfect (not aor., , because the act was not a passing one, contemporaneous with the saying) shews,-and hence the covenant continually. The vulg., which had veteravit before, here adopts antiquatur for the old ital. veteratur, which, as above shewn, was far better) and getting into old age (see reff.: and cf. Xen. Vectig. i. 4, of fruits of the earth,- : id. Ages. ii. 14, , : Herodian iii. 2. 15, ), is nigh unto (see ref. and note) vanishing away ( or is a common phrase with the LXX. See reff., and 3 Kings 9:7; 4 Kings 22:19 &c., in Trommius. The Writer uses the expression of the whole time subsequent to the utterance of the prophecy. At that time the began, by the mention of a new covenant: and from that time the first covenant might be regarded as ever dwindling away, so to speak, and near its end, which God might bring on at any time. It is far better to regard the thus, than, with some, to place it at the time of the Writer, when in fact it had already taken place).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Heb 8:13. ) in. The time is hereby denoted, wherein the prophecy was spoken by Jeremiah.-, He hath made old) For place cannot be found at the same time for both. The employment of the preterite of the verb implies that it was become old at the time when He spoke by Jeremiah. The New covenant was only once promised in the Old Testament under this very appellation. And yet the apostle urges this appellation very much: of so great importance are the very words of the prophets.- , that which is made old or antiquated) by the declaration of GOD. So also in 2Co 3:14, Paul calls it the old testament.- , and that which becomes old) by the revolt of the people. and are opposed: so also and ; thence , ch. Heb 12:24 : for there is a new life, ch. Heb 10:20; 2Co 5:17; 2Co 5:15.-, near) Jeremiah uttered these prophecies in the time of the Babylonish captivity, almost in the last age of the prophets, at a long interval [i.e. of 899 years.-V. g.] after the departure from Egypt, not very long [namely, about 627 years] before the coming of the Messiah, whose propinquity (nearness) was being proved by this very circumstance.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
, , .
Having in the foregoing verses proved in general the insufficiency of the old covenant, the necessity of the. new, the difference between the one and the other, with the preference of the latter above the former, in all confirming the excellency of the priesthood of Christ above that of Aaron, in this last verse of the chapter he maketh an especial inference from one word in the prophetical testimony, wherein the main truth which he endeavored to confirm with respect unto the Hebrews was asserted. It was their persuasion, that of what sort soever this promised covenant should be, yet the former was still to continue in force, obliging the church unto all the institutions of worship thereunto appertaining. Hereon depended the main controversy that the apostle had with them; for he knew that this persuasion was destructive to the faith of the gospel, and would, if pertinaciously adhered unto, prove ruinous to their own souls Wherefore the contrary hereunto, or the total cessation of the first covenant, he presseth on them with all sorts of arguments; as from the nature, use, and end of it; from its insufficiency to consecrate or make perfect the state of the church; from the various prefigurations and certain predictions of the introduction of another covenant, priesthood, and ordinances of worship, which were better than those that belonged unto it, and inconsistent with them; with many other cogent evidences to the same purpose. Here he fixeth on a new argument in particular, to prove the necessity and certainty of its abolition; and hereby, according unto his wonted manner, he makes a transition unto his following discourse, wherein he proves the same truth from the distinct consideration of the use and end of the institutions, ordinances, and sacrifices belonging unto that covenant. This he pursues unto the 19th verse of the 10th chapter; and so returns unto the parenetical part of the epistle, making due applications of what he had now fully evinced.
Heb 8:13. In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
A double argument the apostle here maketh use of:
1. From a special word or testimony.
2. From a general maxim of truth in all kinds:
1. In the former we may consider,
(1.) The testimony he makes use of;
(2.) The inference unto his own purpose which he makes from it:
(1.) The first consisteth in the adjunct of this other promised covenant. It is called by God himself new: , , In that, or Whereas it is said, A new; or, In that he calleth it, nameth it, A new.So it is expressly in the prophet, Behold, I will make a new covenant. Thus every word of the Holy Ghost, though but occasional unto the principal subject spoken of, is sufficient evidence of what may be deduced from it. And by this kind of arguing we are taught, that the word of God is full of holy mysteries, if with humility, and under the conduct of his Holy Spirit, we do, as we ought, diligently inquire into them. This, therefore, he layeth down as the foundation of his present argument, That God himself doth not call this promised covenant another covenant, or a second, nor only declare the excellency of it; but signally calls it a new covenant.
(2.) That which he infers from hence is, that , he hath made the first old. The force of the argument doth not lie in this, that he calleth the second new; but that he would not have done so had not he made the first old. For is of an active signification, and denotes an authoritative act of God upon the old covenant, whereof the calling the other new was a sign and evidence. He would not have done so, but that he made the other old; for with respect thereunto this is called new. But yet it was the designation of the new covenant that was the foundation of making the other old.
The word respecting the time past, we must inquire what time it doth refer unto. And this must be either the time of the prediction and promise of the new covenant, or the time of its introduction and establishment. And it is the first season that is intended. For the introduction of the new covenant did actually take away and abolish the old, making it to disappear; but the act of God here intended, is only his making it old in order thereunto. And he did this upon and by the giving of this promise, and afterwards by various acts, and in various degrees.
[1.] He did it by calling the faith of the church from resting in it, through the expectation of the bringing in of a better in the room of it. This brought it under a decay in their minds, and gave it an undervaluation unto what it had before. They were now assured that something much better would in due time be introduced. Hence, although they abode in the observation of the duties and worship it required, it being the will of God that so they should do, yet this expectation of and longing after the better covenant now promised, made it decay in their minds and affections. So did God make it old.
[2.] He did it by a plain declaration of its infirmity, weakness, and insufficiency for the great ends of a perfect covenant between God and the church. Many things unto this purpose might have been collected out of the nature of its institutions and promises, from the first giving of it, as is done by our apostle in his present discourses. But these things were not clearly understood by any in those days; and as to the most, the veil was on them, so that they could not see at all unto the end of the things that were to be done away. But now, when God himself comes positively to declare by that prophet that it was weak and insufficient, and therefore he would make another, a better, with them; this made it old, or declared it to be in a tendency unto a dissolution.
[3.] From the giving of this promise, God did variously by his providence break in upon and weaken its administration; which by its decaying age was more and more manifested. For,
1st. Immediately after the giving of this promise, the Babylonian captivity gave a total intercision and interruption unto the whole administration of it for seventy years. This, having never before fallen out from the making of it on mount Sinai, was an evident token of its approaching period, and that God would have the church to live without it.
2dly. Upon the return of the people from their captivity, neither the temple, nor the worship of it, nor any of the administrations of the covenant, nor the priesthood, were ever restored unto their pristine beauty and glory. And whereas the people in general were much distressed at the apprehension of its decay, God comforts them, not with any intimation that things under that covenant should ever be brought into a better condition, but only with an expectation of His coming amongst them who would put an utter end unto all the administrations of it, Hag 2:6-9. And from that time forward it were easy to trace the whole process of it, and to manifest how it continually declined towards its end.
Thus did God make it old, by variously disposing of it unto its end; and to give an evidence thereof, called the other covenant which he would make, a new one. And it did not decay of itself. For no institution of God will ever wax old of itself; will ever decay, grow infirm, or perish, unless it be disannulled by God himself. Length of time will not consume divine institutions; nor can the sins of men abate their force. He only that sets them up can take them down.
And this is the first argument of the apostle, taken from this testimony, to prove that the first covenant was to be abolished.
2. But whereas it may be questioned whether it directly follows or no, that it must be taken away because it is made old, he confirms the truth of his inference from a general maxim, which hath the nature of a new argument also. Now, saith he, that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away.
Old is significative of that which is to have an end, and which draws towards its end. Every thing that can wax old hath an end; and that which doth so, draws towards that end. So the psalmist affirming that the heavens themselves shall perish, adds, as a proof thereof, They shall wax old as a garment; and then none can doubt but they must have an end, as unto their substance or their use. There are in the words,
(1.) The notation of the subject, , but that, or that, whatever it be.The general rule gives evidence unto the former inference, Whatever it be that waxeth old.
(2.) The description of it in a double expression, and . The words are generally supposed to be synonymous, and to be used for emphasis only. We express the first by decay, that which decayeth, to avoid the repetition of the same word, we having no other to express waxing old, or made old, by. But is not properly that which decayeth; it is that which hath the effect passively of , that which is made old; and it properly respecteth things. Things are so said to be made old, not persons. But the other word, , respects persons, not things. Men, and not inanimate things, are said . Wherefore although the apostle might have used a pleonasm to give emphasis unto his assertion, and to aver the certainty of the end of the old covenant, yet nothing hinders but that we may think that he had respect unto the things and persons that belonged unto its administration.
That which is affirmed of this subject of the proposition, is, that it is , near unto a disappearance; that is, an abolition and taking out of the way. The proposition is universal, and holds absolutely in all things, as is evident in the light of nature. Whatever brings things unto a decay and age will bring them unto an end; for decay and age are the expressions of a tendency unto an end. Let an angel live never so long, he waxeth not old, because he cannot die. Waxing old is absolutely opposed unto an eternal duration, Psa 102:26-27.
It being the removal of the old covenant and all its administrations that is respected, it may be inquired why the apostle expresseth it by , a disappearance, or vanishing out of sight. And respect may be had herein,
(1.) To the glorious outward appearance of the administrations of it. This was that which greatly captivated the minds and affections of those Hebrews unto it. They were carnal themselves, and these things, the fabric of the temple, the ornaments of the priests, the order of their worship, had a glory in them which they could behold with their carnal eyes, and cleave unto with their carnal affections. The ministration of the letter was glorious. All this glory,saith the apostle, shall shortly disappear, shall vanish out of your sight,according to the prediction of our Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 24.
(2.) To the gradual removal of it. It departed as a thing will by its removal out of our sight. We by little and little lose the prospect of it, until it utterly disappears. How it was made so to disappear, at what time, in what degrees, by what acts of divine authority, must be spoken unto distinctly elsewhere. All the glorious institutions of the law were at best but as stars in the firmament of the church, and therefore were all to disappear at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness.
.
Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews
He Hath Made The First Old.
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Heb 8:13
It was never Gods intention for sinners to be saved by the observance of the laws and ceremonies given in the Old Testament. Those laws and ceremonies were intended only to serve as types and pictures of Christ to turn us to him. Now that Christ has come, any observance of those laws and ceremonies he fulfilled as our Substitute is worse than ingratitude. It is idolatry!
A New Covenant
The opening words of Heb 8:13 (In that he saith a new covenant) refer us back to Heb 8:7-8 and to Jer 31:31, the Old Testament passage being expounded in this chapter. If the first covenant (the law) had been faultless, if sin could have been put away by the observance of the legal statutes given at Sinai, there would have been no need for another. As Paul puts it in Gal 2:21, If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain!
He hath made the first old. — If the second is new, the first must be old. This is very much the same thing we read in Heb 10:9. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second Heb 10:9). Finding fault with the first covenant, it had to be set aside to make room for the new covenant, the covenant of grace to which it pointed.
The Old Covenant
Once Christ came, the old covenant was antiquated, out of date, and made old, made old by Gods design and purpose. Therefore, it vanished away. Why it is so difficult for people to see this I cannot imagine. Why religious people insist upon trying to mix law and grace is, to me, unfathomable. Why multitudes try to mix the old covenant ceremonies with new covenant ordinances, or old legal precepts with spiritual worship, is baffling.
Perhaps you are thinking, How do people try to mix the old and the new? Those who imagine that by sprinkling a little water on a babys head (in a perversion of Christs ordinance of baptism), they bring their child into a covenant relationship with God, are not only guilty of perverting Gods ordinance but also of trying to maintain the Jewish law of circumcision. Those who try to enforce sabbatical laws and mix them with the worship of God try to mix law and grace. Those who would make believers live by the rule of the Mosaic law try to mix law and grace.
The Scriptures are crystal clear in declaring that the old Mosaic covenant is totally fulfilled and brought to its conclusive end by the gospel. In this gospel age, it is emphatically, the old covenant. We are not children of the bondwoman (the law), but of the free (the gospel). Standfast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hat made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Gal 4:31 to Gal 5:1).
Gradual, but Sure Dissolution
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. This sentence is translated in Youngs Literal Translation: He hath made the first old, and what doth become old is obsolete and is nigh disappearing.
The Amplified Bible gives us the exact meaning of this 13th verse. When God speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete out of use. And what is obsolete out of use and annulled because of age is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether.
The dissolution or disappearance of this covenant was both gradual and climactic. It began when the Chaldeans took possession of the land of Canaan and the ark of the covenant, which was a type of Christ. When the Chaldeans stole the ark, the temple was empty, void, and meaningless. The old covenant was waxing old. Both the civil government and the worship of the Jews was, during that time, cast into terrible confusion, exactly as it had been prophesied in Gen 49:10.
When John the Baptist came, proclaiming Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, asserting that the Messiah had come, the Messenger of the covenant promised by Malachi, that his kingdom was being established in the earth, he was declaring to all Israel that the old covenant, the old, legal, ceremonial Mosaic covenant, was vanishing away.
Then, once the Lord Jesus had finished his work, made an end of sin and brought in everlasting righteousness by his obedience and death as our covenant Surety, — Once he was risen from the dead, and was exalted to the throne of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, the old covenant was completely, climactically abolished. When, on the Day of Pentecost, he poured out his Spirit upon all flesh, fulfilling Joels prophecy, God gave testimony that another order was established (Joh 4:21-26).
Yet, the temple was still standing in Jerusalem. The Jewish order of worship, in so far as the outward symbols of it were concerned, were not yet physically destroyed, as our Lord had prophesied (Mat 24:1-2). However, at the time the Book of Hebrews was written, the time was rapidly approaching when God would destroy even the visible symbols of the old covenant. That is what is described in Heb 8:13. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
A new: Heb 8:8
he hath: Heb 7:11, Heb 7:12, Heb 7:18, Heb 7:19, Heb 9:9, Heb 9:10
ready: Isa 51:6, Mat 24:35, 1Co 13:8, 2Co 5:17
Reciprocal: Num 29:17 – General Eze 16:61 – but not Mar 14:62 – the Son Act 13:38 – that 2Co 3:11 – if Eph 2:15 – the law Col 2:14 – the handwriting Heb 9:15 – the first
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Heb 8:13. The main point in this verse is a conclusion based on the term new covenant: it proves that the other one was considered old. Since old things are expected to disappear. the conclusion is that the old covenant was to be replaced by the New Testament.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The apostle having, in the foregoing verses, proved the insufficiency of the old covenant, and the necessity of the new, and given the preference to the latter above the former; in this last verse he acquaints us with the abrogation of the old covenant, it is made old; and with the abolition of it, it is ready to vanish away:
As the old things lose their power, strength and vigor; so the old covenant lost it binding power and obliging force. And as that which waxeth old moulders away by little and little, till at last it does totally vanish, and utterly perish; thus the legal dispensation by little and little decayed, until it wholly ceased at last: yea it is observable, that the whole policy and Jewish government did vanish away, and totally expire in a few years after the writing of this epistle.
Learn hence, 1. That the outward appearance of the legal administration was glorious, and very taking to the Jews: The fabric of the temple, the ornaments of the priests, the order of their worship, had a glory in them which dazzled the eyes, and captivated the minds and affections of the people.
Learn 2. That all this glory did gradually vanish, and at last totally disappear: all the glorious institutions of the law were at best but as stars in the firmament of the church, and consequently were all to disappear at the rising of the Sun of righteousness: In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old; now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is readly to vanish away.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Heb 8:13. In that he saith, A new covenant In that he expresses himself in this manner; he hath made the first old He hath manifested it to be old, or he hath shown that it is disannulled and out of date. Now that which decayeth, &c. That which is antiquated, and of no further use; is ready to vanish away As the Mosaic dispensation did soon after, when the temple was destroyed. The Sinai covenant, before it was abrogated by Christ, was become old, or useless, in three respects; 1st, By its curse condemning every transgressor to death without mercy, it was designed to show the necessity of seeking justification from the mercy of God. But that necessity being more directly declared in the gospel, there was no reason for continuing the former covenant, after the second covenant was fully and universally published. 2d, The covenant of the law was introduced to prefigure the good things to come under the covenant of the gospel. But when these good things were actually bestowed, there was no longer any use for the typical services of the law. 3d, The Jewish doctors, by teaching that pardon was to be obtained only by the Levitical sacrifices, and the Judaizing Christians, by affirming that under the gospel itself men are pardoned only through the efficacy of these sacrifices, both the one and the other had corrupted the law; on which account, it was fit to lay it aside as a thing whose tendency now was to nourish superstition. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 13
He hath made the first old; that is, his language implies that it is old.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
8:13 {8} In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.
(8) The conclusion: Therefore by the later and the new, the first and old is taken away, for it could not be called new, if it did not differ from the old. Again, that same is at length taken away, which is subject to corruption, and therefore imperfect.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The writer contrasted the New Covenant with the Old Covenant, namely, the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is now "obsolete" and even as the writer wrote the Book of Hebrews it was also "growing old." It virtually disappeared in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple, terminated its ritual and officiants, and scattered the Jews throughout the world (cf. Mat 24:1-2).
The New Covenant is a branch of the Abrahamic Covenant. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised Abraham a piece of real estate for his descendants, an incalculable number of descendants, and blessing for his descendants and for all people through his descendants (Gen 12:1-7; et al.). Deuteronomy 29-30, sometimes called the Palestinian Covenant, gave more information about the land God had promised to Abraham. The Davidic Covenant gave more information about God’s promises regarding descendants (2 Samuel 7). The New Covenant revealed the particulars of the promised blessing (Jeremiah 31). Each of these later covenants relates to the Abrahamic Covenant organically; they were outgrowths of it. In contrast, the Mosaic (Old) Covenant does not relate organically but "was added" (Gal 3:19), as an appendage. It explained how the Israelites could maximize the benefits God had promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. Consequently when God terminated the Old Covenant it did not eliminate anything He had promised Abraham. Another difference is that the Mosaic Covenant was bilateral and conditional ("If you will do this, then I will do this."). The other biblical covenants are unilateral and unconditional ("I will do this."), though they sometimes contain conditional elements subsumed under the divine promises.
Dispensational commentators have taken various positions on the relationship of the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 to the New Testament references to the New Covenant. Was it the same covenant, or is a second New Covenant in view? Some believe there are two new covenants, one with Israel and one with the church. [Note: E.g., L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 4:325; J. F. Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom, pp. 208-20; C. C. Ryrie, The Basis of the Premillennial Faith, pp. 105-25; and John R. Master, "The New Covenant," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 93-110.] This position rests on the fact that the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 was specifically with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jer 31:31). Those who hold this view take the New Covenant under which Christians live as a different New Covenant (2Co 3:6; Heb 8:8; Heb 9:15). They regard Jesus’ references to the New Covenant as to a New Covenant with the church (Luk 22:20; cf. 1Co 11:25).
Most dispensationalists believe there is only one New Covenant. [Note: E.g., J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, 5:286; C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible, new ed., p. 1297; J. D. Pentecost, Things to Come, pp. 116-28; and Hodges, "Hebrews," p. 800. Walvoord and Ryrie also adopted this view after publishing their books cited in the previous footnote.] Most of those who hold this view believe that the church enters into the blessings of this covenant. Even though the New Covenant was "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jer 31:31), many of the benefits promised extended to all believers after Jesus Christ died (cf. Isa 19:24-25; Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6; Rom 15:9-12). Christians experience the blessings referred to in a measure now, but God will fulfill the covenant completely in the Millennium when the Jews will experience all the blessings promised fully (Rom 11:25-32). [Note: Thomas, p. 107.] According to this view, when Jesus said the cup at the Lord’s Supper represented His blood that is the New Covenant, He meant the following. His death was the basis for the fulfillment of the promises that the New Covenant contained. I prefer this view mainly because I do not believe there is adequate basis in the text for applying the term "New Covenant" to two different covenants. There are few writers who hold the two New Covenants view today.
Covenant theologians explain how the church benefits from the New Covenant promises by saying that the church is spiritual Israel. These promises, they claim, belong to Abraham’s spiritual seed, not his physical seed. It is clear from Gal 3:13-29 that Christians are the spiritual seed of Abraham, but that is not the same as saying the church is spiritual Israel.
"Once we are permitted to make such plain words as ’Israel’ and ’Judah’ mean something else, there is no end to how we might interpret the Bible!" [Note: Wiersbe, 2:306.]