9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day of My taking `them' by their hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt -- because they did not remain in My covenant, and I did not regard them, saith the Lord, --
Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb; not with our fathers hath Jehovah made this covenant, but with us; we -- these -- here to-day -- all of us alive.
which things are allegorized, for these are the two covenants: one, indeed, from mount Sinai, to servitude bringing forth, which is Hagar;
As a shepherd His flock He feedeth, With His arm He gathereth lambs, And in His bosom He carrieth `them': Suckling ones He leadeth.
And the land hath been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a covenant age-during. Therefore a curse hath consumed the land, And the inhabitants in it are become desolate, Therefore consumed have been inhabitants of the land, And few men have been left.
There is not a leader to her Out of all the sons she hath borne, And there is none laying hold on her hand Out of all the sons she hath nourished.
In all their distress `He is' no adversary, And the messenger of His presence saved them, In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, And He doth lift them up, And beareth them all the days of old.
And He remembereth the days of old, Moses -- his people. Where `is' He who is bringing them up from the sea, The shepherd of his flock? Where `is' He who is putting in its midst His Holy Spirit? Leading by the right hand of Moses, the arm of His glory, Cleaving waters from before them, To make to Himself a name age-during. Leading them through the depths, As a horse in a plain they stumble not.
For I certainly testified against your fathers, In the day of My bringing them up out of the land of Egypt -- till this day, Rising early and testifying, saying, Hearken to My voice, And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they walk each in the stubbornness of their evil heart, And I bring on them all the words of this covenant, That I commanded to do, and they did not.'
And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city? And they have said, `Because that they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.'
And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time `is' a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have dealt with thee as thou hast done, In that thou hast despised an oath -- to break covenant.
And I have caused you to pass under the rod, And brought you into the bond of the covenant, And cleared out from you the rebels, And them transgressing against Me, From the land of their sojournings I bring them out, And unto the land of Israel they come not, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah.
For though ye cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And the peace-offering of your fatlings I behold not.
And this a second time ye do, Covering with tears the altar of Jehovah, With weeping and groaning, Because there is no more turning unto the present, Or receiving of a pleasing thing from your hand.
and Saul arose from the earth, and his eyes having been opened, he beheld no one, and leading him by the hand they brought him to Damascus,
and now, lo, a hand of the Lord `is' upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season;' and presently there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he, going about, was seeking some to lead `him' by the hand;
Brethren, as a man I say `it', even of man a confirmed covenant no one doth make void or doth add to, and to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed; He doth not say, `And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, `And to thy seed,' which is Christ; and this I say, A covenant confirmed before by God to Christ, the law, that came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not set aside, to make void the promise, for if by law `be' the inheritance, `it is' no more by promise, but to Abraham through promise did God grant `it'. Why, then, the law? on account of the transgressions it was added, till the seed might come to which the promise hath been made, having been set in order through messengers in the hand of a mediator --
whence not even the first apart from blood hath been initiated, for every command having been spoken, according to law, by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of the calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, he both the book itself and all the people did sprinkle, saying, `This `is' the blood of the covenant that God enjoined unto you,'
and ye -- ye have forsaken Me, and serve other gods, therefore I add not to save you. Go and cry unto the gods on which ye have fixed; they -- they save you in the time of your adversity.'
Ye -- ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself. `And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth `is' Mine;
And Moses cometh in, and recounteth to the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the judgments, and all the people answer -- one voice, and say, `All the words which Jehovah hath spoken we do.' And Moses writeth all the words of Jehovah, and riseth early in the morning, and buildeth an altar under the hill, and twelve standing pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel; and he sendeth the youths of the sons of Israel, and they cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah -- calves. And Moses taketh half of the blood, and putteth in basins, and half of the blood hath he sprinkled on the altar; and he taketh the Book of the Covenant, and proclaimeth in the ears of the people, and they say, `All that which Jehovah hath spoken we do, and obey.' And Moses taketh the blood, and sprinkleth on the people, and saith, `Lo, the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you, concerning all these things.' And Moses goeth up, Aaron also, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they see the God of Israel, and under His feet `is' as the white work of the sapphire, and as the substance of the heavens for purity; and unto those of the sons of Israel who are near He hath not put forth His hand, and they see God, and eat and drink.
they have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
And He saith, `Lo, I am making a covenant: before all thy people I do wonders, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation, and all the people in whose midst thou `art' have seen the work of Jehovah, for it `is' fearful that which I am doing with thee.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Write for thyself these words, for, according to the tenor of these words I have made with thee a covenant, and with Israel.' And he is there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk; and he writeth on the tables the matters of the covenant -- the ten matters.
These `are' the words of the covenant which Jehovah hath commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, apart from the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.
`And they have said, Because that they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah, God of their fathers, which He made with them in His bringing them out of the land of Egypt,
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it; and Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them, and it hath been for consumption, and many evils and distresses have found it, and it hath said in that day, Is it not because that my God is not in my midst -- these evils have found me? and I certainly hide My face in that day for all the evil which it hath done, for it hath turned unto other gods.
`And it hath been, as there hath come upon you all the good thing which Jehovah your God hath spoken unto you, so doth Jehovah bring upon you the whole of the evil thing, till His destroying you from off this good ground which Jehovah your God hath given to you; in your transgressing the covenant of Jehovah your God which He commanded you, and ye have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, then hath the anger of Jehovah burned against you, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which He hath given to you.'
And he lingereth, and the men lay hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, through the mercy of Jehovah unto him, and they bring him out, and cause him to rest without the city.
and reject His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and go after the vain thing, and become vain, and after the nations that are round about them, of whom Jehovah commanded them not to do like them; And they forsake all the commands of Jehovah their God, and make to them a molten image -- two calves, and make a shrine, and bow themselves to all the host of the heavens, and serve Baal, and cause their sons and their daughters to pass over through fire, and divine divinations, and use enchantments, and sell themselves to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him; That Jehovah sheweth himself very angry against Israel, and turneth them aside from His presence; none hath been left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.
Thou hast led as a flock Thy people, By the hand of Moses and Aaron!
They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk, And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.
And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness, And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered. And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got,
And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,
And He bringeth forth His people with joy, With singing His chosen ones.
And bringing forth Israel from their midst, For to the age `is' His kindness. By a strong hand, and a stretched-out-arm, For to the age `is' His kindness. To Him cutting the sea of Suph into parts, For to the age `is' His kindness, And caused Israel to pass through its midst, For to the age `is' His kindness,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 8
Commentary on Hebrews 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
In this chapter the apostle pursues his former subject, the priesthood of Christ. And,
Hbr 8:1-5
Here is,
Hbr 8:6-13
In this part of the chapter, the apostle illustrates and confirms the superior excellency of the priesthood of Christ above that of Aaron, from the excellency of that covenant, or that dispensation of the covenant of grace, of which Christ was the Mediator (v. 6): his ministry is more excellent, by how much he is the Mediator of a better covenant. The body and soul too of all divinity (as some observe) consist very much in rightly distinguishing between the two covenants-the covenant of works and the covenant of grace; and between the two dispensations of the covenant of grace-that under the Old Testament and that under the New. Now observe,