RSV ~ Hebrews 8 Notes

Heb 8:1-10 | ISB Notes

The climax of Hebrews, where the author demonstrates the superior excellence of the New Covenant over the Old. He shows that the cultic and liturgical traditions of Israel, especially the Tabernacle and the rites of the Day of Atonement, are earthly and historical signs that teach us about heavenly realities and help us to understand the priestly work of Christ (CCC 522).

Heb 8:1 | ISB Notes

the point: The main idea of the book.

the right hand: An allusion to Ps 110:1, also referred to in Heb 1:3 and cited explicitly in 1:13.

• Psalm 110 provides the template for the presentation of Jesus in Hebrews. It is a messianic psalm that describes how the Lord will enthrone the anointed One in heaven and ordain him an eternal priest in the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110:1-4).

Heb 8:2 | ISB Notes

true tent: The sacred dwelling place of God in heaven. The Mosaic Tabernacle was only a model and reflection of this eternal reality (8:5), also called his “holy tent” (Wis 9:8).

Heb 8:3 | ISB Notes

something to offer: Levitical priests offered the blood of bulls and goats in the earthly sanctuary (Lev 16:14-15). In a similar but superior way, Christ offers his own humanity, his body (10:10) and blood (9:12-14), as an atonement sacrifice in the sanctuary of heaven (9:24).

Heb 8:4 | ISB Notes

he would not be a priest: Because Jesus descended, not from the priestly tribe of Levi, but from the royal tribe of Judah (7:14).

Heb 8:5 | ISB Notes

See that you make: A citation from Ex 25:40.

• Moses spent 40 days on Sinai (Ex 24:18) receiving instructions on how to build the Tabernacle and its furnishings (Ex 25:1-27:19). Its blueprint was based on a vision of the heavenly sanctuary that God had shown him (Acts 7:44).

Heb 8:7 | ISB Notes

first covenant: The Mosaic covenant ratified at Sinai (Ex 19-24) and administered by the Levitical priests (Lev 1-16). Because the prophet Jeremiah later spoke of a “new covenant” (Heb 8:8), which the author calls a second covenant, he infers that the first is deficient and destined to pass away. For a similar line of reasoning, see note at Heb 7:11-19.

Heb 8:8-12 | ISB Notes

A citation from Jer 31:31-34.

• Jeremiah gives one of the clearest prophecies of the New Covenant in the OT. He defines it over against the Mosaic covenant established during the Exodus period. The Old Covenant was engraved on stone tablets (Ex 31:18) and transgressed by Israel (Ex 32:1-6); it prescribed sacrifices to remind the people of their sins (Heb 10:3). The New Covenant, by contrast, is inscribed on the heart (8:10), makes a deeper knowledge of God possible (8:11), and wipes away the memory of sin through an efficacious remission of guilt (8:12) (CCC 580, 1965).

Heb 8:13 | ISB Notes

ready to vanish: This is the strongest hint in Hebrews that the sanctuary (Jerusalem Temple) and apparatus (Levitical cult and priesthood) of the Old Covenant were still operating when the letter was written. Other passages, such as 8:4-5 and 10:1-3, give the same impression. The overall perspective of the letter confirms this, as well: it is inconceivable that readers would be tempted to revert to the system of Levitical worship after the Temple and priestly leadership of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

See introduction to Hebrews: Date.