Texts in Conversation
Hebrews 8 quotes the Greek Septuagint translation of Jeremiah 38 to present the new covenant as part of a recurring pattern, first seen in Exodus, where exile is followed by rescue and covenant. Hebrews presents its community as following this pattern.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Jeremiah 38:32
Septuagint
31 Look, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: 32 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not remain in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 33 For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Hebrews 8:9
New Testament
8 But showing its fault, God says to them, “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. 9 It will not be like the covenant 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. 10 For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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Notes and References
"... Several further echoes of Isaiah 41:10 (LXX) are to be found in Hebrews, too: Israel is urged not to fear (compare Hebrews 2:15), nor to go astray compare Hebrews 3:10) 'because I have helped you' (compare Hebrews 2:18), the help coming a term which might well have a Christological sense for the author of Hebrews (compare 1:3, 13); the passage also contains the divine promise (41:9, compare Hebrews 13:5) and a reference to the earth as the place from which salvation is needed (41:9). This last unites it with Jeremiah 38:32 (LXX = 31:32 MT), quoted in Hebrews 8:9, in which the Exodus is described as the place of bondage out of which God leads his people. A third passage is also worth quoting: Wisdom exalts her sons, and gives help to those who seek her' (Sirach 4:11), a verse which has much in common with the letter's thought about exaltation, sonship and 'drawing near' to God through Christ (4:16, 7:25) ..."
Dunnill, John
Covenant and Sacrifice in the Letter to the Hebrews
(pp. 215-216) Cambridge University Press, 1992
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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