31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, 2 “when I will make a new covenant 3 with the people of Israel and Judah. 4 31:32 It will not be like the old 5 covenant that I made with their ancestors 6 when I delivered them 7 from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” 8 says the Lord. 9 31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel 10 after I plant them back in the land,” 11 says the Lord. 12 “I will 13 put my law within them 14 and write it on their hearts and minds. 15 I will be their God and they will be my people. 16
31:2 The Lord says,
“The people of Israel who survived
death at the hands of the enemy 17
will find favor in the wilderness
as they journey to find rest for themselves.
8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 23 8:8 But 24 showing its fault, 25 God 26 says to them, 27
“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.
8:9 “It will not be like the covenant 28 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.
8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put 29 my laws in their minds 30 and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 31
1 tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.”
2 tn Heb “Oracle of the
3 tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).
4 tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
5 tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.
6 tn Heb “fathers.”
7 tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”
8 tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.
11 tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.
12 tn Heb “Oracle of the
13 tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the
14 tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.
15 tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.
16 sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.
17 tn Heb “who survived the sword.”
18 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).
19 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.
20 tn Grk “to the degree that.”
21 tn Grk “which is enacted.”
22 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.
23 tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”
24 tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.
25 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.
26 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 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 [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì46 א2 B D2 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", 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.
28 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.
29 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
30 tn Grk “mind.”
31 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.
32 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
33 sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.