Throughout these verses, it is important to make clear in translation to whom the verbs of speaking refer. These verbs are:
(a) gives us his witness, literally “witnesses,” verse 15;
(b) he says, literally “to have said,” verse 15;
(c) says the Lord, verse 16.
With these should be considered:
(d) And then he says, verse 17, though there is no verb in the Greek, which is literally “and.”
Verbs (a) and (c) present no problems. (a) The person who “witnesses” is the Holy Spirit. (c) The one who says is the Lord, which here almost certainly means God, not Christ. The tense of verb (b), says, and also the context, suggest that the subject is probably the Holy Spirit, but the translation “it says,” meaning “Scripture says,” is also possible. It is unlikely that the author made a sharp distinction between the two, and it is simpler in translation to keep the Holy Spirit as the subject of (b) as well as (a).
Verb (d) is practically meaningless if translated literally, since the sentence has no main verb to follow verb (b), “after saying” (Revised Standard Version). Even some of the scribes copying manuscripts of Hebrews added in verse 17 expressions such as Revised Standard Version‘s “then he adds.” This is not what the writer of Hebrews wrote, but it is almost certainly the way in which he intended the last line of the quotation to be understood. Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version are therefore right not to include verb (d), “and” or its equivalent, as part of the quotation, even though this word occurs at this point in the Greek translation of Jeremiah. If some such expanded translation as then he says or “then he adds” is chosen, the implied subject of the verb must be the same as the subject of verb (b), says, probably the Holy Spirit. It may be necessary to make this explicit.
On the Holy Spirit, see comments on 2.4; he is mentioned as the author of an Old Testament quotation in 3.7. Hebrews 7.8, 17; 10.15; 11.2, 4 also speak of what God “witnesses” or “testifies” in Scripture. Us includes the writer and his readers. The Holy Spirit also gives us his witness may be rendered as “the Holy Spirit also speaks to us about this.”
This is the covenant: the covenant has been discussed in 9.1-22, and it is grammatically possible for This to refer back to this passage. But it is much more probable that This looks forward to the particular kind of covenant which is mentioned in the second part of verse 16, “a covenant which is put into the hearts and written on the minds of the people.”
In the days to come may be rendered as “in the future” or “later.”
As in 8.8, the repetition he says … says the Lord may be misunderstood, for one might think that there are two persons speaking, one the Holy Spirit and the other the Lord. It may be more satisfactory to introduce the direct quotation in the following way: “first the Holy Spirit says that the following is what the Lord has said, ‘This is the covenant that I will make….’ ”
For a discussion of some of the problems involved in rendering I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds, see the discussion under 8.10.
The quotation is from Jeremiah 31.33-34, which was first quoted in 8.10, 12.
As in 2.13 (Isa 8.17, 18), the writer emphasizes the point by dividing a quotation into two parts. The effect is to underline the second part of the quotation: “Not only does the new covenant involve a law written on people’s hearts; it also brings the forgiveness of sin.” The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah more freely than in 8.10-12: (a) with them in verse 16a summarizes with the people of Israel in 8.10; (b) hearts and minds in verse 16b are mentioned in the opposite order from 8.10; (c) and evil deeds in verse 17 is added to Jeremiah 31.34.
For a discussion of some of the problems involved in rendering I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer, see the suggestions made under 8.12.
As in 8.10-12, there are many differences of detail between the text quoted here and the text of Jeremiah in the Hebrew and even in the Greek Septuagint. The translator’s task is to translate the Greek text of Hebrews. He should not be influenced by the Old Testament wording.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .