Hebrews 7:22

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Or "covenant", for the word signifies both; and what is intended may be called both a testament and a covenant; a testament, because it is

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Surety , [ enguos (G1450)] - ensuring in His own person the certainty of the covenant to us, by becoming responsible for our guilt, by

This brings in the consequent on . As much excellency as was in God’ s oath constituting, so much there must be in the office constituted. The Aaronical priesthood, by God’ s constitution, was excellent; but Christ’ s is much more so, being by God’ s oath made personal and everlasting, relating to the best covenant; so as the Hebrews had the greatest reason to renounce Aaron’ s, and to cleave to Christ’ s for salvation. He being God-man, is a Surety, one that bindeth himself for another, to see something paid or performed, to give security for another; and is proper to him as a Priest, . In the Mossical economy the priests were typical sureties, or undertakers for the people; so Aaron, as a surety, was sent by Moses to stand between the living and the dead, when God was cutting off those sinners, ,48. The Spirit interprets this Surety to be a Mediator, , which is the general comprehensive name of all his offices: as he gives all from God to us in and by his promises, he is the Testator fulfilling them, ,16; as he gives satisfaction to God for us, and returns our duty performed with the incense of his merits, he is our Surety; which merit of his resulted from his perfect obedience to the whole law and will of God, and from the full satisfaction he made to God by his death for our sins, . A better testament; the gospel covenant, described , and referreth to what the Lord foretold of it, ,34, which is better than the Mosaical for perspicuity, freeness, fulness, spirituality, and the Spirit promised in it for its ratification by the death of Christ, and its perpetuity: see ,9,11.

22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Ver. 22. Jesus was made a surety] As he was our surety to God for the discharge of our debt (the surety and debtor in law are reputed as one person), so he is God’ s surety to us, for the performance of his promises. Christ was the surety of the first covenant (saith one), to pay the debt; of the second covenant, to perform the duty.

(22) By so much was Jesus made.—Better, by so much also hath Jesus become surety of a better covenant. The form of the sentence recalls Hebrews 1:4. As the priest whose appointment is confirmed by the oath of God is raised above all former priests, in the same proportion is the covenant of which Jesus is surety higher, better, than the former covenant. For the “better hope” of Hebrews 7:19 we now read “better covenant”; the new idea is not different in substance, but is more definite and clear. The very promise of the “other priest” brought with it a “better hope”; the recollection of the divine oath is fitly succeeded by the mention of a “covenant.” This is the first occurrence in this Epistle of a very interesting word (diathçkç) which hereafter will occupy an important place in the argument. Throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament it is used to represent a Hebrew word which is (more than 200 times) rightly rendered covenant in our version; and, like the Hebrew word, it is applied both to mutual agreements between man and man, and to “covenants” or engagements into which God enters in regard to man. In classical writers diathçkç commonly denotes a testament; and hence in the old Latin translation of the Scriptures testamentum became the common rendering of the word. As, however, this rendering is very often found where it is impossible to think of such a meaning as will (for example, in Psalms 83:5, where no one will suppose the Psalmist to say that the enemies of God “have arranged a testament against Him”), it is plain that the Latin testamentum was used with an extended meaning, answering to the wide application of the Greek word. St. Paul’s designation of the Jewish Scriptures as “the Old Covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:14) thus became familiarly known as The Old Testament. In the New Testament the Authorised version more commonly presents the better rendering; but, through the influence of the Latin, testament is retained in several places—viz., in the various accounts of the institution of the Lord’s Supper; in 2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 3:14; in Revelation 11:19 (“the ark of His testament,” a very strange translation); in the present verse; and especially in the very important passage, Hebrews 9:15-20. There is a very general agreement of opinion that “covenant” must be the true meaning in all passages of the New Testament except the one last mentioned; and even in that place there are strong reasons for retaining the same rendering. (See the Note on Hebrews 9:15.) In this verse, at all events, we cannot doubt that the writer is thinking of a covenant. (See Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 8:8.) Here only is Jesus spoken of as Surety, elsewhere as Mediator (Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24). As through the Son of Man the covenant becomes established, so in Him it remains secure; the words addressed by God to Him as Priest and King contain the pledge of its validity and permanence.

Verse 22. By so much] This solemn, unchangeable oath of God, was Jesus made a surety, εγγυος, a mediator, one who brings the two parties together, witnesses the contract, and offers the covenant sacrifice on the occasion. See at the end of the chapter. A better testament.] κρειττονοςδιατηκης. A better covenant; called, in the title to the sacred books which contain the whole Christian code, ηκαινηδιαθηκη, THE NEW COVENANT, thus contradistinguished from the Mosaic, which was the old covenant; and this is called the new and better covenant, because God has in it promised other blessings, to other people, on other conditions, than the old covenant did. The new covenant is better than the old in the following particulars: 1. God promised to the Jewish nation certain secular blessings, peculiar to that nation, on condition of their keeping the law of Moses; but under the new covenant he promises pardon of sin, and final salvation to all mankind, on condition of believing on Jesus Christ, and walking in his testimonies. 2. The Jewish priests, fallible, dying men, were mediators of the old covenant, by means of their sacrifices, which could not take away sin, nor render the comers thereunto perfect. But Jesus Christ, who liveth for ever, who is infinite in wisdom and power, by the sacrifice of himself has established this new covenant, and by the shedding of his blood has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

22. of a better testament] A clearer rendering would be “By so much better was the covenant of which Jesus has been made surety.” The words—which might be taken as the keynote of the whole Epistle—should undoubtedly be rendered “of a better covenant” The Greek word diathηkη is the rendering of the Hebrew Berξth, which means a covenant. Of “testaments” the Hebrews knew nothing until they learnt the custom of “making a will” from the Romans. So completely was this the case that there is no word in Hebrew which means “a will,” and when a writer in the Talmud wants to speak of a “will,” he has to put the Greek word diathηkη in Hebrew letters. The Hebrew berξth is rendered diathηkη in the LXX., and “covenant” by our translators at least 200 times. When we speak of the “Old” or the “New Testament” we have borrowed the word from the Vulgate or Latin translation of St Jerome in 2 Corinthians 3:6. The only exception to this meaning of diathηkη is in Hebrews 9:15-17. Of the way in which Jesus is “a pledge of this “better covenant,” see Hebrews 7:25 and Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:24. The word for “pledge” (ἔγγυος) occurs here alone in the N.T., but is found in Sir 29:15.

By so much - Inasmuch as an oath is more solemn than a mere appointment. The meaning is, that there is all the additional security in the suretyship of Jesus which arises from the solemnity of an oath.

22. By so much—By the measure of the unmeasurable veracity of God.Better testament—Covenant or dispensation.