Hebrews 8:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He says this about the New Covenant, after saying, "not like the covenant which I made." What other difference between them is there, if not this?

If someone says that this phrase does not express the distinction of the New Covenant, but only that it was given into their hearts, and that here the difference is not in the commandments but in the manner of their communication, let him prove it.

The covenant, he says, will no longer be in writing, but on hearts. Let such a person prove that this ever happened among the Jews.

It cannot be proved. Even after their return from Babylon, the covenant was again given to them in writing. But the Apostles, as I can prove, received nothing in writing, but received everything in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore Christ said to them, "When the Comforter comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me" (Jn 15:26).

"This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord" (Jer 31:33). After those days: which days?

Some say these are the days of the Exodus, when the law of Moses was given. But it seems to me that he is speaking of the days mentioned above: "Behold, the days are coming."

Thus, after those days have passed, I will establish such a covenant as you will hear next. "I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts" (Jer 31:33).

Let the Jew show when he received an unwritten law. For even after the return from Babylon, it was given in writing by Ezra.

The covenant which I gave them, says Jeremiah, is not written on tablets of stone as before. Rather, "I will write My law," that is, the new Gospel, "on their hearts, and I will be their God," and they will reject their idols.

Since this was sufficient to strike down those who clung to the way of life under the law, he calls the prophet Jeremiah as witness to what has been said and declares:

"For finding fault with them, He says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

"Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord."

"For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

"For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel." This means the new covenant.

He called the Apostles the house of Israel and the house of Judah, since they were Israelites and Jews. To them especially He legislated the New Covenant.

Zion is also mentioned in the prophets. For it is said, "proclaiming the decree of the Lord upon Zion, His holy mountain" (Is 2:6). Again, "Out of Zion shall go forth the law" (Is 2:3).

By Zion, as a prominent place, he indicates all Palestine in general. "After those days, says the Lord, I will put My laws into their minds" (Jer 31:33).

With the word "put," the verb "I will" is understood. By days he here means those which He earlier indicated by the word "coming," that is, the very days in which He will establish the New Covenant.

What, then, is the Apostle's final word concerning the fate of that covenant, in comparison with which Christ's covenant proved better throughout the preceding arguments? First comes Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer 31:31-34). To soften for the feeling and hearing of the Hebrews the severe judgment concerning the old covenant, the holy Apostle first cites in deliberate detail the words of the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of the desired times of the New Testament. Then he concludes delicately and gently: "By the prophetic words about the new covenant, the Lord showed the oldness of the first. And what is becoming old and aging is near to vanishing away."

That the New Covenant is higher than the old is explained at once by the Apostle. For a time he leaves aside the comparison of Christ and the Levitical priests with respect to ministry.

If the first covenant had attained its purpose, the Apostle says, God would not have taken care to establish a new one.

Yet God was plainly preparing a place for this new covenant, as may be concluded, for example, from Jeremiah's prophecy about the new covenant (31:31-34).

The Prophet had already proclaimed the insufficiency of the covenant made at Sinai. He spoke of a new covenant, which would not be something external for the people of God, like commandments written on tablets of stone.