8:13

he has made the former one obsolete: In a sense, Jehovah made the old covenant obsolete (the Greek verb literally means “to make old”) in the seventh century B.C.E. That was when God revealed that he would replace the old covenant with a new one. (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 7:12) From then on, the days of the old covenant were numbered. It remained in effect for centuries, but throughout that time, the Law was near to vanishing away. It finally did vanish away, or become invalid, when it was replaced with the new covenant in 33 C.E. (Eph 2:15) Thus, Paul writes in the next verse that “the former covenant used to have legal requirements.” (Heb 9:1) When he wrote this letter, about 61 C.E., the legal requirements of the old covenant had been invalid for some 28 years. (Da 9:27) The Jews of that time still revered the temple in Jerusalem and worshipped there, convinced that the old covenant was still in force. However, when the temple and its genealogical records were destroyed in 70 C.E., the Levitical priesthood could never be reestablished. So all claims that the old covenant was still valid became impossible to support.