Hebrews 8
The main point laid on top of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the holy things and of the true tent, which the Lord pitched, not man. Since every high priest is set over the offering of gifts and sacrifices, this one too must have something to offer. If he were on earth he would not even be a priest, since there are already those who offer according to law. (They serve a pattern and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was instructed when about to bring the tent to completion: “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”) But now he has obtained a more excellent service, by as much as he is mediator of a better covenant, established on better promises. If that first one had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. Then comes Jer 31:31-34, the longest quotation of the Old Testament in the New: days are coming; I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant made when I led them out of Egypt, because they did not remain in it and I neglected them. I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; I will be their God and they my people. None shall teach his neighbour “Know the Lord,” for all shall know me, from small to great; for I will be gracious toward their unrighteous deeds and remember their sins no more. At the end the writer argues from a single word of the quotation: in saying “new,” he has made the first old; and what is being made old and growing aged is near to vanishing.
Why this rendering
Heb.8.2 Observation
Syntactic observation
Κεφάλαιον δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις, τοιοῦτον ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα … τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργὸς καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς, ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ κύριος, ⸀οὐκ ἄνθρωπος — κεφάλαιον comes from κεφαλή ‘head’, and is both ‘main point’ and ‘sum total’ — at Acts 22:28 it was ‘a large sum’ · ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις ‘on top of what is being said’ names the top of something piled up · the ‘right hand of the Majesty’ of 1:3 grows here into ‘the right hand of the throne of the Majesty’ — a throne is added · τῶν ἁγίων ‘of the holy places’ is neuter plural, not persons but the sanctuary — chapter 9 names its two rooms with the same word · σκηνή ‘tent’ (as fixed at Luke 9:33) appears here first in this book, and chapter 9 is given over to it · πήγνυμι ‘pitch’ is once in the New Testament, the verb of setting up a tent · ⸀οὐκ ἄνθρωπος ‘not man’ is hung at the end and takes it back · ἀληθινός ‘true’ (as fixed at John 1:9) is a different word from ἀληθής, though both renderings share one word.
Rendering options · 3
Basis At Acts 22:28 it was the head of a reckoning, ‘a large sum’ — the sense splits by site, and is recorded as a site-bound rendering · neither place keeps the ‘head’.
Basis 9:2-3 names the two rooms with this word, so here too it is the sanctuary · ‘of the holy ones’ would make them persons and cut this from chapter 9.
Basis The verb for setting up a tent, found only here · ‘set up’ would run together with ἵστημι and καθίστημι.
Lost in translation
κεφάλαιον (v.1) — from ‘head’, both main point and sum. ‘Main point’ carries one side.
τῶν ἁγίων (v.2) — neuter plural. ‘The holy places’ shows they are not persons.
ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θρόνου (v.1) — a throne added to the phrase of 1:3. Set beside it, the growth shows.
ἔπηξεν (v.2) — the verb of pitching a tent. ‘Pitched’ keeps the grain.
οὐκ ἄνθρωπος (v.2) — hung at the end to take it back. Both keep it last.
ἀληθινός (v.2) — a different word from ἀληθής. Both renderings share one word.
Why this rendering
Heb.8.5 Observation
Syntactic observation
πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰς τὸ προσφέρειν δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίας καθίσταται … (οἵτινες ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ λατρεύουσιν τῶν ἐπουρανίων …) — The sentence of 5:1 returns almost whole — gifts and sacrifices, being set over, offering, all come again · the whole of v.5 stands inside the base text’s parenthesis · ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ ‘a pattern and shadow’ — two datives side by side, and λατρεύω takes the dative, so they are what is served · ὑπόδειγμα ‘pattern’ (John 13:15) and τύπος ‘pattern’ (Acts 7:44) fall in one verse — meeting here, they show that one word has to serve for both · χρηματίζω ‘be instructed’ (as fixed at Matt 2:12), perfect passive · ἐπιτελέω ‘bring to completion’ (as fixed at Rom 15:28) — one root with τελειόω, so English shares the root · the subject of φησίν ‘he says’ is not named · δειχθέντα, passive, ‘shown’ — nor is the one who showed · the quotation is Exod 25:40.
Rendering options · 3
Basis λατρεύω takes the dative — ‘serve in a pattern and shadow’ would make it a dative of place and part from the construction.
Basis Both were fixed as ‘pattern’, at John 13:15 and Acts 7:44, and they meet in one verse · changing either would cut it from those places, so the overlap is recorded as loss.
Basis The text names no subject — ‘God says’ would add a name the text lacks.
Lost in translation
ὑπόδειγμα / τύπος (v.5) — two different words in one verse. Both ‘pattern’, so the difference goes.
The sentence of 5:1 returns at 8:3 — gifts and sacrifices, set over, offer. All three stand alike.
The parenthesis of v.5 — the base text brackets a whole sentence. Both keep it.
φησίν (v.5) — no subject. Neither supplies one.
ἐπιτελεῖν (v.5) — one root with τελειόω. English keeps the root in ‘completion’.
δειχθέντα (v.5) — passive, with no one shown as showing. ‘Shown’ keeps it.
Why this rendering
Heb.8.7 Observation
Syntactic observation
⸀νυνὶ δὲ διαφορωτέρας τέτυχεν λειτουργίας, ὅσῳ καὶ κρείττονός ἐστιν διαθήκης μεσίτης … Εἰ γὰρ ἡ πρώτη ἐκείνη ἦν ἄμεμπτος, οὐκ ἂν δευτέρας ἐζητεῖτο τόπος — The comparative of διάφορος, ‘more excellent’, returns from 1:4 — there of a name, here of a service · κρείττων ‘better’ twice in one verse, of the covenant and of the promises · λειτουργία ‘service’ (as fixed at Luke 1:23) is one root with λειτουργός ‘minister’ in v.2 · μεσίτης ‘mediator’ (as fixed at Gal 3:19) appears here first in this book and returns at 9:15 and 12:24 — a different word from ‘guarantor’ at 7:22 · νενομοθέτηται, perfect passive, ‘has been established as law’, is the form of 7:11 returning · ἄμεμπτος ‘faultless’ (as fixed at Luke 1:6) and μέμφομαι ‘find fault’ in v.8 are one root, so vv.7-8 interlock · ‘the first’ and ‘a second’ have no noun — covenant or tent, the text does not say · ἐζητεῖτο, imperfect passive, ‘would have been sought’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The text leaves the adjectives bare — ‘the first covenant’ would close what it leaves open.
Basis The adjective of v.7 and the verb of v.8 share a root, and the verses interlock on it.
Basis The verb of ‘obtaining much peace’ at Acts 24:2 · ‘receive’ would run together with λαμβάνω.
Lost in translation
ἄμεμπτος / μέμφομαι (vv.7-8) — adjective and verb on one root. ‘Faultless / find fault’ keeps the interlock.
ἡ πρώτη … δευτέρας (v.7) — no noun. Neither supplies one.
λειτουργός (v.2) / λειτουργία (v.6) — one root returning inside the chapter. ‘Minister / service’ keeps it.
The comparative of διάφορος (1:4 · 8:6) — the same form returns. ‘More excellent’ joins the two.
κρείττων twice (v.6) — twice in one verse. ‘Better’ twice keeps the repetition.
νενομοθέτηται (v.6) / 7:11 — a word found only twice, both in Hebrews, returning. Both stand alike.
Why this rendering
Heb.8.10 Observation
Syntactic observation
μεμφόμενος γὰρ ⸀αὐτοὺς λέγει· Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος … The quotation of Jer 31:31-34 is the longest quotation of the Old Testament in the New (vv.8-12, five verses) · ⸀αὐτούς is accusative, so it is the people who are found fault with — a dative would make it the covenant · λέγει κύριος ‘says the Lord’ breaks in three times (vv.8 · 9 · 10) · συντελέω ‘complete’ is the verb of Luke 4:13 ‘be completed’, here taking a covenant as its object · διαθήκη comes four times in these five verses · ἐμμένω ‘remain’ (as fixed at Acts 14:22) · ἀμελέω ‘neglect’ returns from 2:3 — there men neglected a salvation, here God neglects men · διατίθεμαι ‘appoint’ (as fixed at Luke 22:29) shares a root with διαθήκη, which neither rendering can join · εἰς θεόν … εἰς λαόν ‘I will be to them a God … they will be to me a people’ is the Semitic turn of 1:5 · ἐπιγράφω ‘write up’ (as fixed at Mark 15:26).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The base text prints the accusative — the dative of other manuscripts would make it the covenant, and that reading is not rendered.
Basis At 2:3 it was ‘neglect so great a salvation’ — the same word moves from men to God, and one rendering shows the turn.
Basis The verb of ‘as my Father appointed a kingdom’ at Luke 22:29 · ‘make’ would cut it from there — though the shared root with διαθήκη survives in neither (recorded).
Lost in translation
διατίθεμαι / διαθήκη (v.10) — verb and noun on one root. ‘Appoint / covenant’ does not join them.
ἠμέλησα (v.9) / ἀμελήσαντες (2:3) — the same word moving from men to God. ‘Neglect’ shows the turn.
λέγει κύριος three times (vv.8 · 9 · 10) — breaking into the quotation. Both keep all three.
εἰς θεόν … εἰς λαόν (v.10) — the Semitic turn of 1:5. ‘Will be to them a God’ keeps it.
συντελέσω (v.8) — the verb of Luke 4:13 with a covenant as object. The places take different words.
αὐτούς accusative (v.8) — the people are what is found fault with. Both render it so.
Why this rendering
Heb.8.13 Observation
Syntactic observation
καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ … ἐν τῷ λέγειν Καινὴν πεπαλαίωκεν τὴν πρώτην, τὸ δὲ παλαιούμενον καὶ γηράσκον ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ — πολίτης ‘citizen’ (as fixed at Luke 15:15) stands inside the quotation from Jeremiah, because the base text prints that word · οὐ μή comes twice (vv.11 · 12), the strong negative · ἵλεως ‘gracious’ stands only here and at Matt 16:22, and is kept apart from the word for ‘have mercy’ · μνησθῶ ‘remember’ (as fixed at 1 Cor 11:2) · v.13 takes one word from outside the quotation and argues from it — saying ‘new’ has made the first old · πεπαλαίωκεν, perfect active, ‘has made old’ ↔ παλαιούμενον, present passive, ‘is being made old’ — two voices of one verb in one verse · παλαιόω is the verb by which heaven and earth wear out like a garment at 1:11 · γηράσκω ‘grow aged’ stands with John 21:18 · ἀφανισμός ‘vanishing’ is once in the New Testament and shares a root with ἀφανής ‘not manifest’ at 4:13 · ἐγγύς ‘near’ returns from 6:8.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The text sets a perfect active beside a present passive in one verse — other words would lose the pair · it is also the verb of 1:11.
Basis At Matt 16:22 it was disentangled from the ἐλε- family and fixed as ‘be gracious’ · ‘have mercy’ belongs to that other word.
Basis One root with ‘not manifest’ at 4:13 · ‘disappearance’ would hide the root.
Lost in translation
πεπαλαίωκεν / παλαιούμενον (v.13) — perfect active and present passive of one verb. Both show the pair.
παλαιόω (1:11 · 8:13) — the verb of heaven and earth wearing out, used of a covenant. Both stand alike.
ἀφανισμός (v.13) / ἀφανής (4:13) — one root. ‘Vanishing / not manifest’ does not join them.
οὐ μή twice (vv.11 · 12) — the strong negative. ‘Shall not’ carries half the force.
Καινήν (v.13) — one word lifted out of the quotation. The quotation marks show the lifting.
πολίτης (v.11) — the word the Greek Old Testament chose. ‘Citizen’ keeps it.