Discovery BoxJeremiah 31:31-34
Context31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, 1 “when I will make a new covenant 2 with the people of Israel and Judah. 3 31:32 It will not be like the old 4 covenant that I made with their ancestors 5 when I delivered them 6 from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” 7 says the Lord. 8 31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel 9 after I plant them back in the land,” 10 says the Lord. 11 “I will 12 put my law within them 13 and write it on their hearts and minds. 14 I will be their God and they will be my people. 15
31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. 16 For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” 17 says the Lord. “For 18 I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”
Hebrews 8:7-12
Context8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 19 8:8 But 20 showing its fault, 21 God 22 says to them, 23
“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 24 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 25 my laws in their minds 26 and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 27
8:11 “And there will be no need at all 28 for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 29
8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.” 30
[31:31] 1 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[31:31] 2 tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).
[31:31] 3 tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
[31:32] 4 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.
[31:32] 6 tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”
[31:32] 7 tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.
[31:32] 8 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[31:33] 9 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.
[31:33] 10 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.
[31:33] 11 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[31:33] 12 tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the
[31:33] 13 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.
[31:33] 14 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.
[31:33] 15 sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.
[31:34] 16 tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the
[31:34] 17 sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).
[31:34] 18 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the
[8:7] 19 tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”
[8:8] 20 tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.
[8:8] 21 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] 22 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 23 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] 24 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.
[8:10] 25 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
[8:10] 27 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.
[8:11] 28 tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”
[8:11] 29 tn Grk “from the small to the great.”
[8:12] 30 sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.
