Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Dear Yohanan,
> There is not forced translation here - the text states that this B'rit
> Hadashah is the writing of His Torah within the hearts of B'nai Yisra'el. I
> read the Christian arguments about ".....this could be the law of......"
> making there to be more than one Torah, but such is not the case. It is
> evident that this speaks of the Torah given us through Mosheh bin-Amram from
> our Creator. The only difference between this, and the original covenant is
> that now it will be inscribed upon our hearts, rather than in a scroll for
> us to read.
>
> As to the etimology of the word Hadashah, is it not linked to the word
> Hodesh, which is the word the Miq'ra uses constantly to refer to the "new
> moon", something which truly is no new, but rather it renews itself every
> month? I think this is where the concept of this being a renewed covenant
> rather than a new covenant derives.
>   

HH: It is true that the related verb can mean "renew" alongside "make 
new," but the adjective "chadash" regularly means "new" in contrast to 
"old." See some samples of the word below:

Lev. 26:10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will 
have to move it out to make room for the NEW.

Ex. 1:8 Then a NEW king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in 
Egypt.

Lev. 23:16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, 
and then present an offering of NEW grain to the LORD.

Deut. 20:5 ¶ The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a NEW 
house and not dedicated it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and 
someone else may dedicate it.

Josh. 9:13 And these wineskins that we filled were NEW, but see how 
cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very 
long journey.”

Judg. 5:8 When they chose NEW gods, war came to the city gates, and not 
a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

Judg. 15:13 ¶ “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand 
you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two NEW 
ropes and led him up from the rock.

1Sam. 6:7 ¶ “Now then, get a NEW cart ready, with two cows that have 
calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take 
their calves away and pen them up.

2Sam. 21:16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose 
bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a 
NEW [sword], said he would kill David.

1Kings 11:29 ¶ About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and 
Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a NEW cloak. 
The two of them were alone out in the country,

2Kings 2:20 ¶ “Bring me a NEW bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So 
they brought it to him.

Is. 41:15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, NEW and sharp, 
with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and 
reduce the hills to chaff.

Is. 42:9 See, the former things have taken place, and NEW things I 
declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

Is. 42:10 Sing to the LORD a NEW song, his praise from the ends of the 
earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, 
and all who live in them.

Is. 65:17 “Behold, I will create NEW heavens and a NEW earth. The former 
things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

HH: And see how Jeremiah himself uses the word elsewhere:

Jer. 31:22 How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter? The LORD 
will create a NEW thing on earth — a woman will surround a man.”

HH: The New Testament cites this very passage of Jeremiah 31 in Greek, 
and it uses the word as "new" in contrast with the "old":

Heb. 8:13 In that he saith, A NEW covenant, he hath made the first OLD. 
Now that which decayeth and waxeth OLD is ready to vanish away.

HH: Even if the word could possible mean "renewed," the context in 
Jeremiah 31 does not really allow that meaning. This is not a renewal of 
the first covenant because Jeremiah contrasts it as different than the 
first covenant, not a renewal but something different and better. It is 
not like the old covenant:

Jer. 31:32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their 
ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of 
Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the 
LORD.

HH: If it is "not like" the covenant that God made with Israel when he 
brought it out of Egypt, then it is not a renewal of that covenant but 
something different. It is something new.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard