8:8
The writer now gives what is the longest Old Testament quote in the New Testament, quoting from the LXX version of Jer 31:31-34. The writer gives very little comment on the passage, allowing it to speak for itself, and this it does with great clarity. The writer is very wise to do this, for then we simply have what God said, so this should be all the more convincing for his hearers.
The quote starts with God declaring that days were coming when He would make a new covenant with Israel and with Judah. So it is God who establishes the new covenant, it is not the invention of men. Also, at the time Jeremiah gave this prophecy, Israel was split in two, and had been for a very long time.”Israel” was the northern kingdom, which had been decimated by Assyria. Judah was the southern kingdom, centred around Jerusalem, and was in the process of being decimated by Babylon. God would make His new covenant with both the north and the south (and the rest of the world for that matter).
8:9
God had made a covenant with their forefathers when He brought them out of Egypt. He took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt. It was God’s idea to rescue them. The covenant of the Law was established with this people, but they did not keep the covenant, breaking it virtually from the word go. So God showed them no concern. This people did not enter the Promised Land, and later generations were evicted from the Promised Land.
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