More of the excellence of the priesthood of Christ and of the New Testament.

¹ Now the main point in the things that have been stated is this: that we have so great a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens,

² who is the minister of holy things, and of the true tabernacle, which was established by the Lord, not by man.¹

1. 8:2The holies: That is, the sanctuary.(Challoner)

³ For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary for him also to have something to offer.

⁴ And so, if he were upon the earth, he would not be a priest, since there would be others to offer gifts according to the law,¹

1. 8:4If then he were on earth, etc: That is, if he were not of a higher condition than the Levitical order of earthly priests, and had not another kind of sacrifice to offer, he should be excluded by them from the priesthood, and its functions, which by the law were appropriated to their tribe.(Challoner)

⁵ gifts which serve as mere examples and shadows of the heavenly things. And so it was answered to Moses, when he was about to complete the tabernacle: “See to it,” he said, “that you make everything according to the example which was revealed to you on the mountain.”¹

1. 8:5Who serve unto, etc: The priesthood of the law and its functions were a kind of an example and shadow of what is done by Christ in his church militant and triumphant, of which the tabernacle was a pattern.(Challoner)

⁶ But now he has been granted a better ministry, so much so that he is also the Mediator of a better testament, which has been confirmed by better promises.

⁷ For if the former one had been entirely without fault, then a place certainly would not have been sought for a subsequent one.

⁸ For, finding fault with them, he says: “Behold, the days shall arrive, says the Lord, when I will consummate a New Testament over the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

⁹ not according to the testament which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand, so that I might lead them away from the land of Egypt. For they did not remain in my testament, and so I disregarded them, says the Lord.

¹⁰ For this is the testament which I will set before the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord. I will instill my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe my laws on their hearts. And so, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

¹¹ And they will not teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all shall know me, from the least, even to the greatest of them.¹

1. 8:11They shall not teach, etc: So great shall be light and grace of the new testament, that it shall not be necessary to inculcate to the faithful the belief and knowledge of the true God, for they shall all know him.(Challoner)

¹² For I will forgive their iniquities, and I will no longer remember their sins.”

¹³ Now in saying something new, he has made the former old. But that which decays and grows old is close to passing away.¹

1. 8:13A new: Supply ‘covenant’.(Challoner)