Hebrews 8:6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

◄ Hebrews 8:6 ►

Parallel Verses

Cross References

Jeremiah 50:5
They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

Luke 22:20
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Galatians 3:20
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

Ephesians 2:12
That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 7:22
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Hebrews 8:8
For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, said the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Hebrews 8:13
In that he said, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.

Hebrews 9:15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 12:24
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things that that of Abel.

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Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

8:1-6 The substance, or summary, of what had been declared was, that Christians had such a High Priest as they needed. He took upon himself human nature, appeared on earth, and there gave himself as a sacrifice to God for the sins of his people. We must not dare to approach God, or to present any thing to him, but in and through Christ, depending upon his merits and mediation; for we are accepted only in the Beloved. In all obedience and worship, we should keep close to God's word, which is the only and perfect standard. Christ is the substance and end of the law of righteousness. But the covenant here referred to, was that made with Israel as a nation, securing temporal benefits to them. The promises of all spiritual blessings, and of eternal life, revealed in the gospel, and made sure through Christ, are of infinitely greater value. Let us bless God that we have a High Priest that suits our helpless condition.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. now—not time; but "as it is."

more excellent ministry—than any earthly ministry.

by how much—in proportion as.

mediator—coming between us and God, to carry into effect God's covenant with us. "The messenger (angel) of the covenant."

which—Greek, "one which" [Alford]: inasmuch as being one which.

established—Greek, "enacted as a law." So Ro 3:27, "law of faith"; and Ro 8:2; 9:31, apply "law" to the Gospel covenant. It is implied hereby, the Gospel is founded on the law, in the spirit and essence of the latter.

upon—resting upon.

better promises—enumerated Heb 8:10, 11. The Old Testament promises were mainly of earthly, the New Testament promises, of heavenly blessings: the exact fulfilment of the earthly promises was a pledge of the fulfilment of the heavenly. "Like a physician who prescribes a certain diet to a patient, and then when the patient is beginning to recover, changes the diet, permitting what he had before forbidden; or as a teacher gives his pupil an elementary lesson at first; preparatory to leading him to a higher stage": so Rabbi Albo in his Ikkarim. Compare Jer 7:21, 22, which shows that God's original design in the old covenant ritual system was, that it should be pedagogical, as a schoolmaster leading and preparing men for Christ.