Hebrews 8
New Catholic Bible
A New Kind of Priesthood[a]
Chapter 8
Another Sanctuary.[b] 1 The main point of what we have been saying is this: we have such a high priest. He has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and he is a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle established by the Lord and not by human beings.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so it is necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 Actually, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already others who offer gifts according to the Law,[c] 5 although the sanctuary in which they offer worship is only a shadow and a reflection of the heavenly one. This is the reason why, when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Another Covenant.[d] 6 But Jesus has now received a ministry that is far superior, for he is the mediator of a far better covenant that has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no necessity to establish a second one to replace it. 8 [e]However, God finds fault with his people, and he says,
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and therefore I abandoned them, says the Lord.
10 This is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord.
I will plant my laws in their minds
and inscribe them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they shall not teach one another,
each saying to his neighbor and his brother,
‘Know the Lord.’
For they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 I shall forgive them for their wicked deeds,
and I shall remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete. And anything that is obsolete and aging will shortly disappear.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:1 Speaking about a high priest means speaking about worship, the Covenant, the sanctuary, and sacrifices. Point by point, the author describes the practices of Jewish worship; in doing so his aim is to draw a radical contrast between them and the immense newness of Christ. Jesus not only excelled the Levitical priests in dignity; he also accomplished the true worship that surpasses all prestige from the ceremonial codified in the Law of Moses.
- Hebrews 8:1 The author recalls some passages of the Bible (Ps 110:1-4; Num 24:6; Ex 25:40) to show that both the sanctuary in the wilderness and the sanctuary in Jerusalem were signs pointing to true worship, which consists in having access to God. As priest, Jesus acts at that level of reality and not at the level of signs.
- Hebrews 8:4 By his human birth Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah (see Heb 7:12-14), whereas priests were taken from the tribe of Levi (see Deut 18:1). Some scholars take the present tense of the verb “offer” as an indication that the temple was still standing in Jerusalem and so the Letter must have been written before A.D. 70 when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.
- Hebrews 8:6 Israel was known as the people of the Covenant, the Covenant that was expressed in the Law and in worship. A text had been in circulation since the time of Jeremiah that was critical of the past and full of hope for a new future: it was the prophecy of the New Covenant, with which everyone was familiar (see Jer 31:31-34). The author cites it in its entirety (vv. 8-12). In this New Covenant the relationship between God and human beings will no longer be based on laws and institutions, but will have as its basis the person of Jesus Christ, mediator of a life-giving relationship with God (see 1 Tim 2:5).
The priesthood of Christ has given rise to the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood and the common priesthood of the faithful, which differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, and each of which is a participation in the royal priesthood of Christ: “The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the Sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and in self-denial and active charity” (Vatican II: The Church, no. 10). - Hebrews 8:8 The New Covenant is superior to the old because of the following: (1) God’s laws are inner principles (v. 10a) enabling his people to carry out his will (see Ezek 36:26f; Rom 8:2-4). (2) God and his people enjoy an intimate fellowship (v. 10b). (3) There will nevermore be sinful ignorance of God (v. 11). (4) Forgiveness of sins will last forever (v. 12).
Hebrews 8
New English Translation
The High Priest of a Better Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this:[a] We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,[b] 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one too had to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer[c] the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is[d] a sketch[e] and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design[f] shown to you on the mountain.”[g] 6 But[h] now Jesus[i] has obtained a superior ministry, since[j] the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted[k] on better promises.[l]
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.[m] 8 But[n] showing its fault,[o] God[p] says to them,[q]
“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 “It will not be like the covenant[r] that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put[s] my laws in their minds[t] and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.[u]
11 “And there will be no need at all[v] for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.[w]
12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”[x]
13 When he speaks of a new covenant,[y] he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.[z]
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:1 tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”
- Hebrews 8:1 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.
- Hebrews 8:4 tn Grk “there are those who offer.”
- Hebrews 8:5 tn Grk “who serve in,” referring to the Levitical priests, but focusing on the provisional and typological nature of the tabernacle in which they served.
- Hebrews 8:5 tn Or “prototype,” “outline.” The Greek word ὑπόδειγμα (hupodeigma) does not mean “copy,” as it is often translated; it means “something to be copied,” a basis for imitation. BDAG 1037 s.v. 2 lists both Heb 8:5 and 9:23 under the second category of usage, “an indication of someth. that appears at a subsequent time,” emphasizing the temporal progression between the earthly and heavenly sanctuaries.sn There are two main options for understanding the conceptual background of the heavenly sanctuary imagery. The first is to understand the imagery to be functioning on a vertical plane. This background is Hellenistic, philosophical, and spatial in orientation and sees the earthly sanctuary as a copy of the heavenly reality. The other option is to see the imagery functioning on a horizontal plane. This background is Jewish, eschatological, and temporal and sees the heavenly sanctuary as the fulfillment and true form of the earthly sanctuary which preceded it. The second option is preferred, both for lexical reasons (see tn above) and because it fits the Jewish context of the book (although many scholars prefer to emphasize the relationship the book has to Hellenistic thought).
- Hebrews 8:5 tn The word τύπος (tupos) here has the meaning “an archetype serving as a model, type, pattern, model” (BDAG 1020 s.v. 6.a). This is in keeping with the horizontal imagery accepted for this verse (see sn on “sketch” earlier in the verse). Here Moses was shown the future heavenly sanctuary which, though it did not yet exist, became the outline for the earthly sanctuary.
- Hebrews 8:5 sn A quotation from Exod 25:40.
- Hebrews 8:6 sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “to the degree that.”
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “which is enacted.”
- Hebrews 8:6 sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.
- Hebrews 8:7 tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”
- Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.
- Hebrews 8:8 sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.
- Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Hebrews 8:8 tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memphomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autois), supported by P46 א2 B D2 0278 1739 1881 M, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memphomenos, here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.
- Hebrews 8:9 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “mind.”
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.
- Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”
- Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “from the small to the great.”
- Hebrews 8:12 sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.
- Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “when he says, ‘new,’” (referring to the covenant).
- Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “near to disappearing.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.