Word order in Heb. 8:6

Steven R. Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Tue Nov 12 02:40:47 EST 2002


On Monday, November 11, 2002, at 11:53 PM, Jeff Smelser wrote:

> Hebrews 8:6 has KREITTONOS ESTIN DIAQHKHS MESITHS, usually translated 
> with
> the assumption that KREITTONOS modifies DIAQHKHS as if it were an
> attributive, e.g. "he is a mediator of a better covenant."
>
> However, I am puzzled by the placement of the adjective. A few verses
> earlier, in Heb. 7:24, I can find an adjective in an oblique case 
> separated
> by a verb from the noun it appears to modify - APARABATON ECEI THN
> hIERWSUNHN, "he has the priesthood unchangeable."
>
> But Heb. 8:6 is stranger still, at least to my eye. I'm having trouble
> getting comfortable with connecting KREITTONOS and DIAQHKHS
> given the intervening copulative. Maybe once I see nominative MESITHS,
> I'm subconsciously looking for a nominative KREITTWN as a complement.
>
> Anyway, as an alternative to the usual interpretation, I considered 
> taking
> KREITTONOS as a masculine substantive (rather than a feminine in
> agreement with DIAQHKHS) and considered translating, "of a better one
> [namely, God], he is a mediator of a covenant," i.e., on behalf of a
> better one, namely, God, Jesus is a mediator of a covenant  But this
> seems foreign to the context.

Jeff, I think you are right about this translation being foreign to the 
context. There are several compelling reasons why KREITTONOS should be 
considered feminine rather than masculine:

(1) KREITTONOS in 7.22 most certainly qualifies DIAQHKHS. So there is 
already the precedent of speaking in terms of a "better" covenant. And 
Jesus is there identified as EGGUOS ("guarantor") of this better 
covenant. As the argument moves along, Jesus is identified not only as 
the guarantor, but also as the mediator of this better covenant.

(2) There is internal evidence as well:

(a) In the first clause of 8.6 we also find a comparative adjective 
(DIAFORWTERAS) separated from the noun it qualifies (LEITOURGIAS) by 
the controlling verb of the clause (TETUCEN). There seems to be a 
symmetry here between DIAFORWTERAS ... LEITOURGIAS and KREITTONOS ... 
DIAQHKHS, with both split by the verb. The instrumental dative hOSWi 
and adverbial KAI indicate the degree to which Jesus' ministry is 
superior to that of the priests under the Law. The ministry he has 
obtained is superior to theirs to the degree that, or by as much as, 
the covenant he mediates is better than the old one.

(b) It is also important to note the relative clause introduced by 
hHTIS. The antecedent of hHTIS is no doubt DIAQHKHS. The covenant is 
said to have been enacted "on the basis of better promises" (EPI 
KREITTOSIN EPAGGELIAIS). This shows that what is in view is the 
comparative *quality* of this covenant viv-a-vis the Old Covenant. It 
is a better (KREITTONOS) covenant because it was enacted on the basis 
of better (KREITTOSIN) promises, not because it was enacted on behalf 
of a better person. And anyway, to whom would the author be comparing 
God in this context? Even the Old Covenant was enacted on behalf of God.

> Am I missing something obvious? Does the phrase seem awkward to
> anyone else? Is the usual translation warranted, and if so, why? Can
> someone point me to other examples of a noun and its adjective,
> both in an oblique case, but separated by a copulative?
> (If I had BibleWorks, would it find that sort of thing for me?)

I think there are many matters of syntax that, comparatively speaking, 
seem awkward in Hebrews, which is pretty free in word order.
============

Steven R. Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




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