Deuteronomy 9:9

9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there ¹  forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing.

Numbers 10:33

10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; ²  and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.

Hebrews 8:6-10

8:6 But ³  now Jesus ⁴  has obtained a superior ministry, since ⁵  the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted ⁶  on better promises. ⁷ 

8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. ⁸  8:8 But ⁹  showing its fault, ¹⁰  God ¹¹  says to them, ¹² 

“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 ¹³  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 ¹⁴  my laws in their minds ¹⁵  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹⁶ 

Hebrews 9:4

9:4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark ¹⁷  were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

[9:9]  ¹ tn Heb “in the mountain.” The demonstrative pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:33]  ² tn The phrase “a journey of three days” is made up of the adverbial accusative qualified with the genitives.

[8:6]  ³ 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).

[8:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.

[8:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “to the degree that.”

[8:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “which is enacted.”

[8:6]  ⁷ 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.

[8:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

[8:8]  ¹⁰ 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.

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹² 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.

[8:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ¹⁶ 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.

[9:4]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.