Hebrews 7:22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
22 (A)to that same degree has Jesus [also] become the guarantee of an [even] better covenant.[a]
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- 7:22 An [even] better covenant: better than the Mosaic covenant because it will be eternal, like the priesthood of Jesus upon which it is based. Hb 7:12 argued that a change of priesthood involves a change of law; since “law” and “covenant” are used correlatively, a new covenant is likewise instituted.
Hebrews 8:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
6 Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.(A)
Old and New Covenants.[a]
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- 8:7–13 Since the first covenant was deficient in accomplishing what it signified, it had to be replaced (Hb 8:7), as Jeremiah (Jer 31:31–34) had prophesied (Hb 8:8–12). Even in the time of Jeremiah, the first covenant was antiquated (Hb 8:13). In Hb 7:22–24, the superiority of the new covenant was seen in the permanence of its priesthood; here the superiority is based on better promises, made explicit in the citation of Jer 31:31–34 (LXX: 38), namely, in the immediacy of the people’s knowledge of God (Hb 8:11) and in the forgiveness of sin (Hb 8:12).
Hebrews 9:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 [a]For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.(A)
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- 9:15–22 Jesus’ role as mediator of the new covenant is based upon his sacrificial death (cf. Hb 8:6). His death has effected deliverance from transgressions, i.e., deliverance from sins committed under the old covenant, which the Mosaic sacrifices were incapable of effacing. Until this happened, the eternal inheritance promised by God could not be obtained (Hb 9:15). This effect of his work follows the human pattern by which a last will and testament becomes effective only with the death of the testator (Hb 9:16–17). The Mosaic covenant was also associated with death, for Moses made use of blood to seal the pact between God and the people (Hb 9:18–21). In Old Testament tradition, guilt could normally not be remitted without the use of blood (Hb 9:22; cf. Lv 17:11).
Hebrews 11:4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 [a]By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks.(A)
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- 11:4 The “Praise of the Ancestors” in Sir 44:1–50:21 gives a similar list of heroes. The Cain and Abel narrative in Gn 4:1–16 does not mention Abel’s faith. It says, however, that God “looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Gn 4:4); in view of Hb 11:6 the author probably understood God’s favor to have been activated by Abel’s faith. Though dead, he still speaks: possibly because his blood “cries out to me from the soil” (Gn 4:10), but more probably a way of saying that the repeated story of Abel provides ongoing witness to faith.
Genesis 4:10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
10 God then said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!
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