. . . Hb 8:13’s “vanishing” of the
covenant refers to when Jeremiah was writing this prophecy. That is, in 600 BC
the “old covenant” was already beginning to vanish from the scene, especially
since the next major event in Isarel’s history is the Babylonian captivity. It
would be completely vanished when the New Covenant in Christ replaced it, which
occurred at Christ’s crucifixion.
However, some have argued that while
Hebrews 8:8-13 does indeed speak of a New Covenant, the Greek text of vr.
13 (ἐν τῷ λέγειν καινὴν πεπαλαίωκεν τὴν πρώτην· τὸ δὲ παλαιούμενον καὶ γηράσκον
ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ) says that the old is near vanishing, not that it has vanished.
They then note that Hebrews was written decades after the Crucifixion, drawing
the anti-supersessionist conclusion that the “Old Covenant” did not “vanish
away” at the Crucifixion. This explanation begs the question as to when the
interlocutor thinks the “old” covenant will “vanish away.” Even if it was the
case that the “old” vanishes away a few more decades after Hebrews was written,
the fact is, it will have thus vanished away and thus will be revoked at that
time, in the first century AD. (Robert Sungenis, Supersessionism is
Irrevocable: Facing the Ambiguities, Compromises, and Heresies in Recent
Catholic Documents Regarding the “Old Covenant” [State Lina, Pa.: Catholic
Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2024], 430-31)
