What is the context?
Christ mediates the new covenant so that those who are called can receive the promised eternal inheritance. His death redeems from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Its reach includes the earlier sins that animal sacrifices could not finally remove.
The Greek word translated covenant can also mean a will or testament. The BSB uses will in verses 16–17: an inheritance becomes available through the death of the person who made the will. The language helps explain why Christ’s death matters to the promised inheritance.
The writer then recalls the first covenant’s confirmation with blood. Exodus 24:3–8 records Moses reading the covenant and sprinkling blood on the people. Hebrews also describes the scroll and the later tabernacle service. Its account brings several details of cleansing together; Exodus 24 does not separately record every detail listed here.
The word nearly in verse 22 matters. The law included different forms of cleansing, while blood had a central place in sacrifice and atonement. The passage leads us toward Christ’s death as the decisive answer to sin, rather than a demand for people to repeat Israel’s sacrifices.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Calvin, Wesley and the USCCB notes connect the promised inheritance with Christ’s death and the first covenant’s use of blood. They differ over how verses 16–17 make that connection.
Calvin and the USCCB notes understand the language as moving from covenant to a will that takes effect at death. Wesley resists that change of meaning and reads the passage in terms of a covenant confirmed through death, while acknowledging that the wording is difficult. The BSB’s will translation follows the first reading. A lexical possibility helps explain the difference without settling every part of it.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Romans 3:25–26 explains Christ’s sacrifice in relation to sins God had previously passed over. This helps show how His one work matters for people who lived before His earthly coming.
Galatians 3:13–14, 29 joins redemption through Christ with Abraham’s blessing reaching the nations and believers becoming heirs according to promise. The inheritance in God’s plan reaches beyond one generation through the same saving Christ.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.