“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.”
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete; and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away — the logic is inexorable: a new covenant necessarily renders the old obsolete (palaioō); what grows old (gerasko, as does a worn garment) moves toward disappearance. The verb 'ready to vanish' suggests imminence: for the author's readers, the passing of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE exemplifies this predicted obsolescence. Yet the focus is theological, not merely historical: the new covenant in Christ's blood has always already superseded the Mosaic order.
Church Fathers on Hebrews 8:13
“In calling it new” (he says), “He has made the first old: but that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.” See what was hidden, how he has laid open the very mind of the prophet! He honored the law, and was not willing to call it “old” in express terms: but nevertheless, this he did call it. For if the former had been new, he would not have called this which came afterwards “new” also. So that by granting something more and different, he declares that “it was…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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