Hebrewschapter 8
13 verses · unknown · AD 60 to 69 · The general letters
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
Introduction
unknown, The general letters, Hebrews Overview.
The writer of this sermon now stops to tell his hearers the main point of all he has said. They were believers of Jewish birth who had grown up with priests, sacrifices and a sanctuary they could see. Some of them felt that faith in an unseen priest left them with less than they once had. He answers from the words of one of their own prophets. Listen for the contrast between what stands on earth and what stands in heaven. Listen also for the word covenant, heard seven times in thirteen verses. The chapter tells every hearer where Jesus serves today and what He has secured for them.
Context
- Who
- People who could walk to Jerusalem and watch the original priesthood at work
- What
- The main point of the letter's teaching on the priesthood, followed by Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant, quoted in full.
- Where
- Written to a community of Jewish believers, most likely in or near Rome, as the greetings from those from Italy at 13:24 suggest.
- When
- Most likely in the 60s AD, while priests still offered gifts according to the law at the temple in Jerusalem.
- Why
- To show believers who missed the visible worship of the temple that Jesus serves in the true sanctuary in heaven and mediates the better covenant God promised.
Historical context
A covenant in the ancient Near East was a formal treaty, and treaties were cut, not signed. Animals were killed, terms were read out, witnesses were named, blessings and curses were attached, and copies were deposited in a sanctuary. Israel's covenant at Sinai followed that shape.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Moses was told to build the tabernacle according to the pattern shown him on the mountain, and the sermon leans on that word. The tent in the wilderness, and the temple that replaced it, was a model made to a design, which means the design existed first.
The chapter quotes Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant, the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament. Jeremiah spoke it as Jerusalem was about to fall to Babylon, when the first covenant arrangement was visibly collapsing.
The tense of the chapter matters for dating the sermon. It speaks of priests who 'offer gifts according to the law' as a going concern. The temple was still standing and its sacrifices still running; within a few years of this letter both would end.
Significance
For hearers homesick for the temple, the sermon does not attack it. It says the temple was a true copy of something real, and that a copy is not where you settle.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The Jeremiah quotation ends with the promise that God will remember their sins no more. That sentence, read aloud to people wondering whether they still had access to atonement, is the whole point of the chapter.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A Priest Seated in the True Tabernacle
Hebrews 8:1-2
point of what we are saying: The chief point, kephalaion, is a high priest seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. Psalm 110 gives that seat, and it marks His work finished. He serves as leitourgos, minister, in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord.
Hebrews 8:1
“Where he now resides: He sits on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, that is, of the glorious God of heaven. There the Mediator is placed, and he is possessed of all authority and power both in heaven and upon earth.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Hebrews 8:1
“Now of the things which we have spoken - Or, “of the things of which we are speaking” (Stuart); or as we should say, “of what is said.” The Greek does not necessarily mean things that “had been” spoken, but may refer to all that he was saying, taking the whole subject into consideration. This is the sum - Or this is the principal thing; referring to what he was about to say, not what he had said.”
Hebrews 8:1
“If he assigns to the Father the upper place by way of precedence, and asserts that the only begotten Son sits below, he will find that to the creature of his imagination attach all the consequent conditions of body. And if these are the imaginations of drunken delusion and phrensied insanity, can it be consistent with true religion for men taught by the Lord himself that "He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father" to refuse to worship and glorify with the Father him who in nature, in glory, and in dignity is conjoined with him?”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · On the Spirit 6.15patristic
Hebrews 8:1
“We have such an high priest - Having finished his description of the type in Melchisedec, the apostle begins to treat directly of the excellency of Christ's priesthood, beyond the Levitical. Who is set down - Having finished his oblation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
true tabernacle: The Greek word for true is alethinos, used of the real thing a type points to, as at John 1:17. The earthly tabernacle was God's own copy of this heavenly one.
Hebrews 8:2
“A minister - Who represents his own sacrifice, as the high priest did the blood of those sacrifices once a year. Of the sanctuary - Heaven, typified by the holy of holies. And of the true tabernacle - Perhaps his human nature, of which the old tabernacle was a type.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 8:2
“To this I answer, that to us mentioned here is not set in opposition to what is false, but only to what is typical; as we find in John 1:17, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Then the old tabernacle was not the empty inventions of man, but the effigy of the heavenly tabernacle.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Hebrews 8:2
“A minister of the sanctuary - Των ἁγιων λειτουργος· A public minister of the holy things or places. The word λειτουργος, from λειτος, public, and εργον, a work or office, means a person who officiated for the public, a public officer; in whom, and his work, all the people had a common right: hence our word liturgy, the public work of prayer and praise, designed for the people at large; all having a right to attend it, and each having an equal interest in it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hebrews 8:2
“Here the heavenly sanctuary is meant. the true--the archetypal and antitypical, as contrasted with the typical and symbolical (Heb 9:24). Greek "alethinos" (used here) is opposed to that which does not fulfil its idea, as for instance, a type; "alethes," to that which is untrue and unreal, as a lie.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 8:2
“The tabernacle which was pitched by man, according to the appointment of God. There was an outer part, in which was the altar where they were to offer their sacrifices, which typified Christ dying; and there was an interior part within the veil, which typified Christ interceding for the people in heaven.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Hebrews 8:3-5
offer both gifts and sacrifices: Every high priest offers gifts and sacrifices, so Christ too must have something to offer, His own blood. On earth He would not be a priest, since the law's priests already served. Their sanctuary is a copy and shadow of heaven, made to the pattern of Exodus 25:40.
Hebrews 8:3
“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices - This is a general statement about the functions of the high priest. It was the uniqueness of the office; it constituted its essence, that some gift or sacrifice was to be presented. This was indisputable in regard to the Jewish high priest, and this is involved in the nature of the priestly office everywhere. A “priest” is one who offers sacrifice, mainly in behalf of others.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:3
“But as the high priest did not enter the Holy Place without blood, so Christ has entered the heavenly Holy Place with His own blood. That "blood of sprinkling" is in heaven. And is thence made effectual to sprinkle believers as the end of their election (1Pe 1:2).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
He would not be a priest: Adam Clarke notes that the temple still stood when the letter was written, and a priest from Judah had no place at its altar. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the place of atonement mattered as much as the blood, so Christ serves in the heavenly sanctuary.
Hebrews 8:4
“For if he were on earth - As the Jewish temple was standing when this epistle was written, the whole temple service continued to be performed by the legal priests, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; therefore if Christ had been then on earth, he could not have performed the office of a priest, being of the tribe of Judah, to which tribe the office of the priesthood did not appertain. There are priests that offer gifts - This is an additional proof that this epistle was written before the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:4
“The place (the heavenly Holy of Holies) was as essential to the atonement being made as the oblation (the blood). The body was burnt without the gate; but the sanctification was effected by the presentation of the blood within the sanctuary by the high priest. If on earth, He would not be a priest in the sense of the law of Moses ("according to the law" is emphatic).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
a copy and shadow of what is in heaven: John Wesley pictures the pattern as outlines pencilled on fine linen, leaves and flowers drawn before any colour is laid on. A shadow gives only the dim shape of a body. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the mountain answers to heaven, as at Hebrews 12:22.
Hebrews 8:5
The apostle says with reference to the law that they who have circumcision in the flesh "serve as the copy and shadow of heavenly things." And in another place, "is not our life on earth a shadow?"
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · On First Principles 2.6.7patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:5
“But as in Heb 13:10, "serve the tabernacle," that is, do it service: so "serve (the tabernacle which is but) the outline and shadow." The Greek for "example" is here taken for the sketch, copy, or suggestive representation of the heavenly sanctuary, which is the antitypical reality and primary archetype.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cross references
Hebrews 8:5
- QuotingExodus 25:40“See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
'Make all things according to the pattern shewed thee in the mount' (heavenly sanctuary)
ConnectionsExodus 25:40, Exodus 25:9
a much more excellent ministry: Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, diaphoroteros, as mediator, mesites, of a covenant that is better and is founded on better promises. Moses mediated the old covenant, whose law was written on stone. Jeremiah's promise, quoted next, writes the new one on the heart.
Hebrews 8:6
“Now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry - His office of priesthood is more excellent than the Levitical, because the covenant is better, and established on better promises: the old covenant referred to earthly things; the new covenant, to heavenly. The old covenant had promises of secular good; the new covenant, of spiritual and eternal blessings.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 8:6
"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Both in the verse before us, then, and throughout, does he ascribe the word better to the Lord, who is better and other than originated things. For better is the sacrifice through him, better the hope in him and also the promises through him, not merely as great compared with small, but the one differing from the other in nature, because he who conducts this economy, is better than things originated.
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Discourses Against the Arians 1.13. [59]patristic
Hebrews 8:6
"The messenger (angel) of the covenant." which--Greek, "one which" [ALFORD]: inasmuch as being one which. established--Greek, "enacted as a law." So Ro 3:27, "law of faith"; and Ro 8:2; 9:31, apply "law" to the Gospel covenant.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The New Covenant Makes the First Old
Hebrews 8:7-9
no place would have been sought: God found fault with the people, and His proof is Jeremiah 31:31 to 32. The new covenant is made with the house of Israel, and Jeremiah 31:35 to 36 fixes Israel as a nation like the sun and moon.
Hebrews 8:7
“For if that first covenant had been faultless - see the note on Heb 7:11. It is implied here that God had said that that covenant was not perfect or faultless. The meaning is not that that first covenant made under Moses had any real faults - or inculcated what was wrong, but that it did not contain the ample provision for the pardon of sin and the salvation of the soul which was desirable. It was merely “preparatory” to the gospel.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:7
“The law in its morality was blameless (Greek, "amomos"); but in saving us it was defective, and so not faultless (Greek, "amemptos"). should no place have been sought--as it has to be now; and as it is sought in the prophecy (Heb 8:8-11). The old covenant would have anticipated all man's wants, so as to give no occasion for seeking something more perfectly adequate.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the days are coming: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that these words often open a prophecy of the Messiah. Jeremiah spoke this at Ramah, among the captives of Jerusalem. Albert Barnes reads the fault as found with the covenant itself, and he punctuates the clause as finding fault, He says to them.
Hebrews 8:8
“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). Judah--Therefore, the ten tribes, as well as Judah, share in the new covenant.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cross references
Hebrews 8:8
- QuotingJeremiah 31:31“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
'Behold, the days come... I will make a new covenant' (the longest OT quotation in the NT)
ConnectionsHebrews 10:16, Jeremiah 31:31
when I took them by the hand: The words when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt tie the old covenant to the exodus. The covenant with Abraham is left standing.
Hebrews 8:9
“Not according to the covenant ... - An arrangement or dispensation relating mainly to outward observances, and to temporal blessings. The meaning is, that the new dispensation would be different from what was made with them when they came out of Egypt. In what respects it would differ is specified in Heb 8:10-12. Because they continued not in my covenant - In Jeremiah, in the Hebrew, this is, “while my covenant they brake.” That is, they failed to comply with the conditions on which I promised to bestow blessings upon them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:9
“Even after the return from Babylon, idolatry was succeeded by what was not much better, formalism and hypocrisy (Mt 12:43). The law was (1) a typical picture, tracing out the features of the glorious Gospel to be revealed; (2) it had a delegated virtue from the Gospel, which ceased, therefore, when the Gospel came.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 8:10-12
put My laws in their minds: God promises laws on the heart, the bond I will be their God, and a people where they will all know Me. It ends in forgiveness: I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more. Every clause is addressed to the house of Israel.
Hebrews 8:10
“I will put--literally, "(I) giving." This is the first of the "better promises" (Heb 8:6). mind--their intelligent faculty. in, &c.--rather, " ON their hearts." Not on tables of stone as the law (2Co 3:3). write--Greek, "inscribe." and I will be to them a God, &c.--fulfilled first in the outward kingdom of God. Next, in the inward Gospel kingdom.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 8:10
“This is the covenant I will make after those days - After the Mosaic dispensation is abolished. I will put my laws in their minds - I will open their eyes, and enlighten their understanding, to see the true, full, spiritual meaning thereof.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Hebrews 8:10
“Having bestowed on us the truly great, divine, and inalienable inheritance of the Father, deifying man by heavenly teaching, putting His laws into our minds, and writing them on our hearts. What laws does He inscribe? "That all shall know God, from small to great;" and, "I will be merciful to them," says God, "and will not remember their sins." Let us receive the laws of life, let us comply with God's expostulations; let us become acquainted with Him, that He may be gracious.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Exhortation to the Heathenpatristic
Hebrews 8:10
“This is the foundation of the covenant; and, when this is laid, duty will be done wisely, sincerely, readily, easily, resolutely, constantly, and comfortably. (2.) He articles with them to take them into a near and very honourable relation to himself. [1.] He will be to them a God; that is, he will be all that to them, and do all that for them, that God can be and do.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
from the least of them to the greatest: The order runs from the least of them to the greatest, as at Zechariah 12:7, where the Lord saves the poorest of Judah first. Under the old covenant the people sought the law from the priest's mouth. Under the new, they will all know Me.
Hebrews 8:11
“And they shall not teach every man his neighbor ... - That is, no one shall be under a necessity of imparting instruction to another, or of exhorting him to become acquainted with the Lord. This is designed to set forth another of the advantages which would attend the new dispensation. In the previous verse it had been said that one advantage of that economy would be, that the Law would be written on the heart, and that they who were thus blessed would be regarded as the people of God.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:11
“Not that the mutual teaching of brethren is excluded while the covenant is being promulgated; but when once the Holy Spirit shall have fully taught all the remission of their sins and inward sanctification, then there shall be no further' need of man teaching his fellow man.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John Wesley calls pardon the root of knowing God. A sinner is first pardoned, then knows God as gracious, and then has God's laws written on his heart. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that salach, the Hebrew word for forgive, is used of God alone.
Hebrews 8:12
“I will be merciful to their unrighteousness - In order to be their God, as mentioned under the preceding verse, it is requisite that their iniquity should be pardoned; this is provided for by the immolation of Jesus Christ as the covenant sacrifice. By his blood, redemption has been purchased, and all who with penitent hearts believe on the Lord Jesus receive remission of sins, and God remembers their iniquities no more against them so as to punish them on that account.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 8:12
“This pardoning mercy is connected with all other spiritual mercies. Unpardoned sin prevents mercy, and pulls down judgments; but the pardon of sin prevents judgment, and opens a wide door to all spiritual blessings; it is the effect of that mercy that is from everlasting, and the earnest of that mercy that shall be to everlasting.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Hebrews 8:12
“Sin being abolished, sinners obtain grace. I will be merciful--Greek, "propitious"; the Hebrew, "salach," is always used of God only in relation to men. and their iniquities--not found in Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and one oldest Greek manuscript; but most oldest manuscripts have the words (compare Heb 10:17). remember no more--Contrast the law, Heb 10:3.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
made the first one obsolete: He has made the first one obsolete, pepalaioken, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. It describes the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices while the temple still stood. The house of Israel of verses 8 and 10 remains its addressee, and Romans 11:29 calls God's calling irrevocable.
Hebrews 8:13
“In saying, A new covenant, he hath antiquated the first - Hath shown that it is disannulled, and out of date. Now that which is antiquated is ready to vanish away - As it did quickly after, when the temple was destroyed.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 8:13
“Both covenants cannot exist side by side. Mark how verbal inspiration is proved in Paul's argument turning wholly on the one word "NEW" (covenant), occurring but once in the Old Testament. that which decayeth--Greek, "that which is being antiquated," namely, at the time when Jeremiah spake.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A summary of what had been said of Christ's priesthood, then the necessary parts of the priestly office, then the excellence of His priesthood shown by the excellence of the new covenant of which He is the Mediator, as Henry classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The prophet quoted and one word drawn out | Verses 8 to 12 quote Jeremiah 31:31 to 34, and verse 13 draws its conclusion from a single word in it, new. To call a covenant new is to make the first one old, and what is old will soon disappear. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name the source. John Chrysostom notes that the writer honours the law and still, through the prophet's word, calls it old.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 8:8. | Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 8:13 |
| The copy and the pattern | Verse 5 quotes God's command to Moses from Exodus 25:40, to make everything according to the pattern shown him on the mountain. The writer uses it to show that the place where the priests serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name the source and read the mountain as answering to heaven.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 8:5. | Hebrews 8:2, Hebrews 8:5 |
| Earth set against heaven | Verses 1 to 6 set two priesthoods side by side. The priests on earth offer gifts according to the law, and Jesus serves in the true tabernacle set up by the Lord. Verse 6 gathers the comparison into one sentence, a more excellent ministry and a better covenant founded on better promises. John Chrysostom reads the difference as that between a type and the truth.John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews 14, on Hebrews 8:6. | Hebrews 8:2, Hebrews 8:4, Hebrews 8:6 |
Where the chapter stands in the letter
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 7 proved Jesus a priest in the order of Melchizedek, and chapter 8 opens by naming the main point of that argument. Verses 1 to 5 place His priesthood in heaven, and verses 6 to 13 turn from the priest to the covenant He mediates. Matthew Henry reads the chapter in three parts, a summary at verses 1 and 2, the parts of the priestly office at verses 3 to 5, and the excellence of the new covenant from verse 6 to the end (Complete Commentary, on Hebrews 8). John Calvin reads the opening as a reminder of the writer's aim, to prove Christ's priesthood heavenly and the earthly priesthood of Moses therefore made void (Commentaries, on Hebrews 8:1).
Who speaks
The writer speaks in verses 1 to 7 and in verse 13. God speaks to Moses in verse 5, and from verse 8 to verse 12 God speaks through Jeremiah, the words declares the Lord marking His voice three times.
The debated reading: the true tabernacle
Verse 2 calls the place where Jesus serves the true tabernacle set up by the Lord. Theodoret of Cyrus reads the tent as heaven, where Christ ministers as man though He is its Creator (Interpretation of Hebrews 8, on verses 1 and 2). John Wesley suggests that it may be His human nature, of which the old tabernacle was a type (Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, on Hebrews 8:2). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as His glorified body, through which He passes into the presence of God (Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 8:2). John Calvin reads true as set against the typical, so that the tabernacle of Moses was the effigy of the heavenly tabernacle and its shadow (Commentaries, on Hebrews 8:2).
What the chapter hands forward
Verse 5 names the earthly tabernacle, and chapter 9 describes its furnishings and its service. The promise that God will remember sins no more returns at 10:17, where the writer quotes Jeremiah a second time to close his teaching on sacrifice.
Keep studying
Studies18
Places1
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
C. F. Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.
The form and classifications
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 8, the chapter heading; Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, on Hebrews 8, the chapter summary and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews, on Hebrews 8:1, section 377.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews.