Bible Strands
Hebrews 8:9
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, declares the Lord.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the author to the readers, contrasting a future promise with the historical Exodus event. The statement occurs mid-discussion where God identifies why the previous arrangement failed.
The words — διαθήκην (diathēkēn) translates literally to covenant, and ἐποίησα (epoiēsa) means I made. Together they anchor the text’s claim that God previously established a binding arrangement with Israel’s ancestors.
The thread — The passage mirrors the structure of Jeremiah 31:32 while echoing Paul’s typological reading of Sinai in Galatians 4:24. These references trace how the Exodus covenant functions as a historical benchmark for covenant failure.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human inability to uphold an external agreement necessitates a structural shift rather than mere repeated warnings. Readers must evaluate their own standing against a covenant that relies on internal transformation rather than external adherence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 31:32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
- Galatians 4:24 These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.
- Mark 8:23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked.
- Genesis 19:16 But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.
- Exodus 24:3 When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”
- Exodus 34:10 And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.
- Deuteronomy 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
- Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.
- Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,
- Deuteronomy 29:25 And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.