#sinait

[sofiaflorina2021]

Phoenician Alphabet, The First True Alphabet

Phoenician alphabet, the first true alphabet, the ultimate ancestor of most modern scripts like Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic alphabets. It has 22 letters, all consonants (it's actually an abjad) and written from right-to-left horizontally.

The Phoenician alphabet is a direct descendant of the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet. Developed by the Phoenicians and thanks to their trade especially maritime trade, it spread across West Asia and Mediterranean, making it the most widely used alphabet at that time.

Maybe this is subjective but this alphabet has a big influence, especially two of its derivative variants, Greek and Aramaic. Its simplicity makes it easy to learn and widely adapted. It's the most well-known and valuable heritage of the Phoenicians, thanks to them.

The Greeks modified the Phoenician alphabet, especially by adding vowels, thus creating the Greek alphabet. The Etruscans modified the Greek alphabet (specifically the Euboean Greek alphabet) and creating Etruscan alphabet which is the direct ancestor of Latin alphabet.

The earliest inscriptions of this alphabet date from around the 12th or 11th century BCE. Many come from Byblos, Lebanon and Carthage. This was used to write Phoenician, Punic, Old Aramaic, Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Hebrew and Old Arabic.

The use of the Phoenician alphabet proper (the original alphabet, not modified) began to disappear in the 1st century BCE especially after the destruction of Carthage. Derivatives of this alphabet elsewhere at that time were used by many languages.

In the photo I wrote the Phoenician alphabet on paper along with the names of the letters and their transcription. Sorry if the writing seems stiff. Again, thanks to Phoenicians for this.

Taken on Saturday, 24 February, 2024 at 02:37 with Samsung Galaxy A10s.

[orthodoxadventure]

If our human nature is not kept pure or else restored to its original purity by the Holy Spirit, it cannot become one body and one spirit in Christ, either in this life or in the harmonious order of the life to come. For the all-embracing and unifying power of the Spirit does not complete the new garment of grace by sewing on to it a patch taken from the old garment of the passions.

Saint Gregory the Sinaite

[wtfearth123]

The Evolution of the Alphabet: A Story of Human Ingenuity and Innovation 🤯

How the Alphabet Changed the World: A 3,800-Year Journey

The evolution of the alphabet over 3,800 years is a long and complex story. It begins with the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were a complex system of pictograms and ideograms that could be used to represent words, sounds, or concepts. Over time, the hieroglyphs were simplified and adapted to represent only sounds, resulting in the first true alphabets.

The first alphabets were developed in the Middle East, and the Phoenician alphabet is considered to be the direct ancestor of the Latin alphabet. The Phoenician alphabet had 22 letters, each of which represented a single consonant sound. This was a major breakthrough, as it made it much easier to write and read.

The Phoenician alphabet was adopted by the Greeks, who added vowels to the system. The Greek alphabet was then adopted by the Romans, who made some further changes to the letters. The Latin alphabet, as we know it today, is essentially the same as the Roman alphabet, with a few minor modifications.

The English alphabet is derived from the Latin alphabet, but it has undergone some further changes over the centuries. For example, the letters "J" and "U" were added to the English alphabet in the Middle Ages, and the letter "W" was added in the 16th century.

The evolution of the alphabet has had a profound impact on human history. It has made it possible to record and transmit knowledge, ideas, and stories from one generation to the next. It has also helped to facilitate communication and trade between different cultures.

The alphabets are a fascinating invention that have revolutionized the way humans communicate and record information. The history of the alphabets spans over 3,800 years, tracing its origins from the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to the modern English letters.

Here is a brief overview of how the alphabets have evolved over time:

Egyptian hieroglyphs (c. 3200 BC): The earliest form of writing was the pictographic system, which used symbols to represent objects or concepts. The ancient Egyptians developed a complex system of hieroglyphs, which combined pictograms, ideograms, and phonograms to write their language. Hieroglyphs were mainly used for religious and monumental purposes, and were carved on stone, wood, or metal.

Proto-Sinaitic script (c. 1750 BC): Around 2000 BCE, a group of Semitic workers in Egypt adapted some of the hieroglyphs to create a simpler and more flexible writing system that could represent the sounds of their language. This was the first consonantal alphabet, or abjad, which used symbols to write only consonants, leaving the vowels to be inferred by the reader. This alphabet is also known as the Proto-Sinaitic script, because it was discovered in the Sinai Peninsula.

Phoenician alphabet (c. 1000 BC): A consonantal alphabet with 22 letters, each of which represented a single consonant sound. The Proto-Sinaitic script spread to other regions through trade and migration, and gave rise to several variants, such as the Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, and South Arabian alphabets. These alphabets were used by various Semitic peoples to write their languages, and were also adopted and modified by other cultures, such as the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans.

Greek alphabet (c. 750 BC): The Greek alphabet was the first to introduce symbols for vowels, making it a true alphabet that could represent any sound in the language. The Greek alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet around the 8th century BCE, and added new letters for vowel sounds that were not present in Phoenician. The Greek alphabet also introduced different forms of writing, such as uppercase and lowercase letters, and various styles, such as cursive and uncial.

Latin alphabet (c. 500 BC): The Latin alphabet was derived from the Etruscan alphabet, which was itself derived from the Greek alphabet. 

Roman alphabet (c. 1 CE): The Roman alphabet is essentially the same as the Latin alphabet, as we know it today. The Latin alphabet was used by the Romans to write their language, Latin, and became the dominant writing system in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Latin alphabet was also adapted to write many other languages, such as Germanic, Celtic, Slavic, and Romance languages.

English alphabet (c. 500 AD): The English alphabet is derived from the Latin alphabet, but it has undergone some further changes over the centuries. For example, the letters "J" and "U" were added to the English alphabet in the Middle Ages, and the letter "W" was added in the 16th century. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters, but can represent more than 40 sounds with various combinations and diacritics. The English alphabet has also undergone many changes in spelling, pronunciation, and usage throughout its history.

The evolution of the alphabet is a remarkable example of human creativity and innovation that have enabled us to express ourselves in diverse and powerful ways. It is also a testament to our cultural diversity and interconnectedness, as it reflects the influences and interactions of different peoples and languages across time and space.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the post about the evolution of the alphabet. If you did, please share it with your friends and family. 😊🙏

[wordarttmn]

22/08/2023

Finally somebody said it

[blueiscoool]

MFA Boston Returns Stolen Egyptian Child Sarcophagus to Sweden

The coffin was taken from the collection of a museum in Uppsala.

A coffin that was used to bury an Egyptian child named Paneferneb between about 1295 and 1186 B.C.E., which has been in the hands of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston since 1985, has been returned to a museum in Sweden after MFA staff discovered that the piece was stolen from the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum, around 1970.

The British School of Archaeology in Egypt unearthed the coffin in 1920 at Gurob, Egypt. Overseeing the dig was Flinders Petrie, who, with his wife, Hilda Urlin, excavated numerous important archaeological sites. Among his most significant finds was the Merneptah Stele in 1896; he also discovered the Proto-Sinaitic script, the ancestor of almost all alphabetic scripts, in 1905.

At the time, the Egyptian government had put in place a system of “partage,” or a division of finds, whereby it distributed the results of archaeological excavations between Egypt and the foreign parties sponsoring the digs. As part of that system, the coffin went in 1922 to Uppsala University’s Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, as it was then called. But the sarcophagus, made of pottery and measuring about 43 inches in length, went missing by at least 1970.

The coffin resurfaced in 1985, when the MFA bought it from one Olof S. Liden, who claimed to represent the artist Eric Ståhl. He presented a forged letter in which Ståhl supposedly recounted having excavated the coffin at Amada, Egypt, in 1937. Liden also presented falsified documents authenticating the coffin, purportedly from experts in Sweden. Ståhl, noted the museum in its announcement of the return of the coffin, “is not known to have participated in any excavation in Egypt.”

Curators at the MFA first smelled a rat upon finding a photograph of the coffin in the process of excavation in the 2008 book Unseen Images: Archive Photographs in the Petrie Museum, which noted that it went to Uppsala. When they noted the discrepancy, they contacted the staff at the Gustavianum, and the process of returning the piece began; the museum’s website stated that it was deaccessioned in October.

“It has been wonderful working with our colleagues in Uppsala on this matter, and it is always gratifying to see a work of art return to its rightful owner,” said Victoria Reed, senior curator of provenance at the MFA. “In this case, we were fortunate to have an excavation photograph showing where and when the coffin was found, so that we could begin to correct the record. Anytime we deaccession and restitute a work of art from the museum, it serves as a good reminder that we need to exercise as much diligence as possible as we build the collection.”

The MFA Boston’s department of the art of ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East includes some 65,000 artifacts, including sculpture, jewelry, coffins, mummies, mosaics, and more, placing it among the world’s largest collections of such items, along with institutions like the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza and London’s British Museum. The Gustavianum houses a collection of about 5,000 examples.

By Brian Boucher.

[conlangcrab]

So I thought of script evolutions.

You know, first there was pictographic - you write pictures and basically charade your way through. Like writing in emojis by reading only the initial letter of what the emoji represents, 🦵🍦🦘👂 👅🔨🍦🎷.

Then the letters evolve and lose their attachment to the pictographic nature (like Proto-Sinaitic -> Phoenician -> Ancient Greek/Latin).

But what if it went elsewhere, like in hieroglyphic scripts?

Say they invented a way of writing, first pictographic, then alphabetic, and with alphabetic, they wrote-out words Hangeul style in one letterspace, STYLING them to look pictographic.

Or worse, a number system appearing earlier than a writing system, and someone using it to write down stuff by counting sounds in words and then specifying further what the thing is.

Banana -> 6 sounds sequence, 3 sounds general, idk, fruit similar to the number 7. 637.

[daenystheedreamer]

making up an alphabet for my slav inspired world.... the language is just the russian language but ill make variant letters for other slavic languages since they also show up. gonna have each letter be represented by a word beginning with it (like proto-sinaitic) so the [x] sound will be represented by a loaf of bread (хлеб). also im basing it a bit on old church slavonic/glagolitic with old letters so for the [ks] sound instead of making it up with two letters (кс) im gonna make it its own letter like how it used to be (Ѯ). and it will be a door because of the greek word xenia being transliterated as ksenia and the whole concept of xenia being about hospitality so. Door. but i might do something resembling bread-and-salt since that's both a) welcoming strangers and b) slavic tradition

[stephenembleton]

In conjunction with isibheqe.org.za this is a visual representation of various African writing systems Pule kaJanolinji and I have been working on for the past few months. A continuous work in progress. Visit their site for more information and links to the respective syllabary projects.

The map depicts the array of ancient and modern writing forms found all over the continent, and some show the branches of origins. 📜 👀 ❤️

It is included in Pule’s August 2023 presentation:

UBUCIKO BOKULOBA: African Writing Systems as Creative Cultural Technologies

In respect to the modern scripts and syllabaries, it is vital the developers of those works get the support and recognition they need to continue and to produce creative language representations.

Included here are:

1. Arabiese-Afrikaans

2. isiBheqe soHlamvu / Ditema tsa Dinoko

3. chiMbire

4. Mwangwego

5. Lusona

6. Mandombe

7. Ńdébé

8. Luo

9. Bamum

10. Adinkra

11. Vai

12. Osmanya

13. Wakandan

14. Nsibidi

15. Old Nubian

16. Ge’ez

17. Zaghawa

18. Adlam

19. N’ko

20. Proto-Sinaitic Script

21. Meroitic (derivative of Mdw Ntr)

22. Wadi el-Hol

23. Coptic*

24. *from Demotic

25. *from Hieratic

26. *from Mdw Ntr (Egyptian name for Hieroglyphs)

27. Tifinagh

[changelingsandothernonsense]

A very special comb.

Considering the very recent announcement coming from Tel Lachish I thought I’d write a little about what this discovery means in terms of the history of writing in the Near East, and Canaan specifically.

In the 2016 June-July archaeological season an ivory comb was discovered and put into storage (standard practice, it takes years to go through finds). It was only re-examined recently, and an inscription was found, the inscription, a spell of protection against lice was possibly written circa 1700 BCE. The inscription reads "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” The teeth of the comb even had the remains of lice nymphs, this comb was used for the purpose given.

But that, whilst cool is not why we are so excited.

What makes this comb particularly special is what language this inscription was written in, and the proposed date.

The comb (if this date is correct) is the oldest example of the Proto-Sinaitic script, it is also the earliest full sentence of this writing system found in Israel. This writing system has so few examples that it is a running joke whenever the “Australians” join a dig that we will write the alphabet on a rock and joke about it being the greatest find ever. It was one of the jokes pulled by a friend of mine at this exact dig.

Now we seemingly not only have proof that this was more than a few letters and names that Canaanites were playing around with at the time, but we now have a solid example of Canaanites using their own alphabet in daily life during the Middle Bronze Age in Canaan proper, a time where the most prevalent script was Akkadian Cuneiform.

The timeline for Proto-Sinaitic script is not well established (very few examples of this script exist, and nothing from the early phases) but the consensus is that this script was invented by Canaanites in Egypt circa 1800 BCE. However, there are some doubts as to whether the script really arose in Egypt, or the Hyksos homeland. What we do know is this alphabet, the first in existence and the basis for our current writing system, was greatly influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphics. We only had a few words, and a few letters dating from this early period, the thought was that, because most of the substantial examples of the Proto-Sinaitic script date from the 13 century BCE onwards, that it was not really used prior to the early Iron Age, after the Akkadian Cuneiform writing system went into disuse due to the Bronze Age collapse. Anything before the 13th century BCE is either poor in quality or removed from its original context (makes dating the text harder). All pre 13th century BCE inscriptions were single letters or words.

Enter Tel Lachish and this ivory louse comb, Lachish was a major city state during the Second Millennium BCE and is where most of these Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions were found, if any writing dating earlier than the Iron Age exists, it’s at this site. The existence of this comb, found at the highest point of the site (where you typically find both public buildings and elite homes) tells us that firstly, Lachish was importing ivory from Egypt and making these combs in the same style as those found during the Second Intermediate Period (the comb is double sided as opposed to the more traditional Canaanite one sided comb), and that our scribe was not great at writing in a confined space. The letters are increasingly smaller and more squished as they go along. It also suggests that the wealthy were learning to write their own language in their own script, alongside Akkadian Cuneiform.

The comb being used for lice removal tells us that Canaanites were using their own language and their own writing system at home at least for ritual purposes, something we also see in Egyptian and Hittite cities, and its use may have been more commonplace than initially though. From what we know about our Iron Age examples, Proto-Sinaitic script was mostly written on perishable materials with ink (Lachish is moist as anything and the soil is incredibly fertile, not a great preserver of papyri or ink).

Why is this important? Akkadian Cuneiform was the major form of international writing during the Middle to Late Bronze Age and was used from Babylonia to Egypt, Canaan to Anatolia, and all the way to Iran. The Amarna Letters, a collection of correspondence between the pharaohs of the late 18th Dynasty and their Canaanite constituents were written in this international script, a script mostly written with a reed stylus on clay or carved into stone stele. The thought that Canaanites may have had two writing systems makes a lot of sense when you take this international correspondence into context, Egypt won’t write to Canaanite kings in hieroglyphs or hieratic script, Hittites won’t communicate using Luwian cuneiform of hieroglyphs, those are specifically liturgical languages.

What this find tells us if the 1700 BCE date is true (the layer it was found in has an Early Iron Age date, which complicates everything), is that Canaanites were using their own alphabet for ritual purposes at least 400 years earlier than what we initially thought.

[tanadrin]

The scripts that replaced cuneiform are also phonetic-logographic, don't you know how Egyptian hieroglyphs work? (Aka., you are displaying your ignorance on cuneiform)

What? Egyptian didn’t replace cuneiform. It was roughly contemporaneous with it, though there’s debate about which came first. Cuneiform was replaced in Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Persia by various abjads, alphabets, syllabaries, and abugidas, none of which were logographic, and all of which descended from the Proto-Sinaitic/Canaanite alphabet. And this was after cuneiform writing had been adapted to syllabic/alphabetic forms in Ugarit and Persia.

I don’t think there are *any* logographic scripts in west Asia or the Mediterranean outside Egypt after the decline of cuneiform. Nevermind in just the regions where cuneiform was used. What scripts are you thinking of?

[orthodoxadventure]

On Sunday, 14th January 2024, Deacon Symeon Menne was ordained to the Holy Priesthood at the Church of St Anthony the Great in Newcastle. His Grace Bishop Raphael of Ilion presided during Matins and celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Amongst those concelebrating were the V. Revd Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Dr Antonios Kakalis, Hieromonk Melchisedec from the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, Revd Oeconomos Andreas Amirhom, Revd Presbyter Anton Caius Curgu and Revd Presbyter Nikitas Banev. Also present were the Revd Dr. Justin Mihoc (Durham) from the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Very Revd Lee Batson, Dean of the Newcastle Cathedral. Prior to the ordination, Andreas Lumsden was elevated to the order of Readers by His Grace Bishop Raphael.

In his ordination speech, Deacon Symeon expressed profound gratitude to His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain for blessing his journey to priesthood. Deacon Symeon recounted his own spiritual journey in Orthodoxy, starting with his Baptism at the Monastery of St Catherine in Sinai in 1991, which has ever since been lovingly supported by the Archbishop of the Monastery and the Sinaite Brotherhood, including his Godparents, Hieromonk Arsenios and Monk Moses, as well as the Abbot and the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex. He acknowledged with utter reverence the unfailing love of his first spiritual father, the late Archimandrite Symeon, of blessed memory, and his current one, His Grace Bishop Raphael. He also extended his deep appreciation to the priests, who guided him during his Holy Diaconate with love and patience, especially Fr Antonios Kakalis, Fr Andreas Amirhom, Fr Andrew Louth, Fr Justin Mihoc, and Archdeacon George Tsourous. He also cordially thanked his family, especially his dearly beloved wife Konstantina, his rock and support, and cherished children Savina and George Lucas.

After recounting all his blessings, he then reflected on a saying by St Sophrony of Essex about the purpose of the Christian Life, which is to ‘ask the Lord Jesus to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts to cleanse us and make us like Christ’. Recollecting his experiences from several of his patients’ last moments on this earth, Deacon Symeon reiterated the need to steadfastly live by the Saint’s advice, whilst continually preparing for the afterlife through humility, discernment, prayer, fasting, faith, hope and love. He acknowledged that there is no better place on earth to get closer to our Saviour than in Church, most importantly through our participation in the Eucharist. Deacon Symeon humbly accepted his sacred duty, seeking forgiveness and vowing to be a diligent shepherd, inspired by the country’s Christian Saints. He urged all to devoutly follow God, referencing St John Climacus’ Spiritual Ladder of Divine Ascent to highlight life’s trials. His moving speech concluded with a call for prayers for himself, for peace in our parishes and in the whole world.

Bishop Raphael warmly welocmed Deacon Symeon’s ordination, marking it as the realisation of Archimandrite Symeon’s (of blessed memory) desire. He lauded Deacon Symeon as a spiritual heir, destined to further the legacy of St Sophrony through genuine love for God and others. Bishop Raphael highlighted the dual nature of priesthood as both a cross to bear and a path to salvation, urging Father Symeon to cherish his blessings, family, and spiritual lineage, along with the growth opportunities presented by life’s challenges. He counselled Father Symeon to maintain humility and attentiveness in his service and encouraged him to stay true to himself, being approachable and humble, and to continuously seek refuge in Christ and the Jesus prayer against trials and temptations. Representing the Archbishop, he expressed joy in welcoming Father Symeon to serve in the altar with unwavering dedication.

Following the ordination, the Parish of St Anthony the Great in Newcastle, under Chairwoman Savina Iliadou’s guidance, organised a grand reception to celebrate Father Symeon’s ordination. The event was a joyful gathering, attended by the church community, family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues, all there to support Father Symeon as he embarks on this new chapter of his spiritual journey.

[Photo and text credit]

[hieromonkcharbel]

The purpose of the Jesus Prayer, then, is to help us to discover directly and vividly how, by virtue of Baptism, we are Christ-bearers, sharing in his death and resurrection, and at the same time Spirit-bearers, aflame with the fire of Pentecost. What Gregory of Sinai said about the Jesus Prayer as a revelation of baptismal grace he applied also to the Eucharist. Through the Jesus Prayer we perform an ‘inner liturgy’, whereby we “offer up the Lamb of God upon the altar of the soul and partake of Him in communion”. The Jesus Prayer ‘internalises’ the Eucharist. But this ‘spiritual communion’ cannot exist unless we are also partaking outwardly in the sacrament.

Another text that sets the Jesus Prayer firmly in a sacramental context is Directions to Hesychasts by St Kallistos and St Ignatios Xanthopoulos (late 14th century). This provides a synoptic view of the Jesus Prayer. It is a concise manual on its practical use that can be warmly recommended to all who seek to follow ‘the way of the Name’. The two Xanthopouloi begin by speaking about Baptism. Following the teaching of Gregory of Sinai, they state that our aim in prayer and ascetic life is to return “to that perfect spiritual re-creation and renewal by grace that was given to us freely from on high at the beginning in the sacred font”. Then, after giving detailed instructions about the practice of the Jesus Prayer, they end by discussing Holy Communion. This, they say, is to be “continual”, and if possible daily. Thus, in the work of the Xanthopouloi, the Jesus Prayer is ‘sandwiched’ between the primary Christian mysteries of Baptism and Eucharist.

From the writings of the Sinaite and the Xanthopouloi, it is evident that the Jesus Prayer enriches the sacramental life but does not replace it. The invocation of the Name exists, not in isolation, but in an ecclesial and mysterial context. It presupposes membership of the Church and participation in the Church’s sacraments.

Met. Kallistos Ware (d. 2022)

[wordarttmn]

20/06/2023

Has knowledge of proto sinaitic gotten better in the last 10 years, or has it gotten worse since it peaked with ada yardeni's AdventureZ? There are times i feel like it's the latter

[thesynaxarium]

Today we also celebrate our Venerable Father Gregory of Sinai. Saint Gregory was born around the year 1268 in the village of Clazomenia near the city of Smyrna. In about the year 1290, he was taken into captivity by the Hagarenes and sent off to Laodicea. After gaining his freedom, the saint arrived on the island of Cyprus, where he was tonsured a monk. He set off afterwards to Mount Sinai and there assumed the great schema. The strictness of his life brought some to astonishment and others to envy. Departing the monastery, the monk visited Jerusalem. For some time he lived on the island of Crete, and afterwards he visited Mt. Athos with its monasteries and ascetics. In this way, he acquired the experience of many centuries of the monastic life from the ancient monasteries. Only after this did Saint Gregory the Sinaite settle himself in a solitary place for “hesychia”, a cell for silence and the unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard work. He is renowned also as a remarkable hymnographer (“It is Truly Meet” is ascribed to him), and a canon to the Most Holy Trinity read at Sunday Vigil, and a canon to the Holy Cross. In a book of canons (from the year 1407) of Saint Cyril of White Lake (June 9) is found the “Canon of Supplication to the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of Gregory the Sinaite.” Because of his concern for the spreading of monasticism, the saint founded several cells on Athos, and also four monasteries in Thrace. Saint Gregory the Sinaite died in the year 1310 (some historians suggest the year 1346) at his so-called “Concealed” (“Parariseia”) monastery, founded on Mt. Paroria on the west coast of the Black Sea for the strict followers of his life. May he intercede for us always + Source: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2000/08/08/102237-venerable-gregory-of-sinai (at Sinai, Egypt) https://www.instagram.com/p/Clb5DY3Lfxy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dowot]

Cabangtalan Beach Resort, Sinait, Ilocos Sur 🌴🏖️🌊

04-07-2023

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Jesus' Covenant Abrogates The Whole Of The Sinai Covenant

#DailyDevotion Jesus' Covenant Abrogates The Whole Of The Sinai Covenant Heb. 8 5Now, the priestly work that Jesus was given to do is more excellent, just as the covenant of which He is also the Mediator is a better one because God has based it on better promises. 7If that first covenant had been without a fault, no one would have wanted a second one. 8But God is finding fault with them when He says: See! The time is coming, says the Lord, when I will set up a new testament (covenant) with the people of Israel and the people of Judah, 9not like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they have not been loyal to My covenant. And so I turned away from them, says the Lord. 10The testament (covenant] I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord, is this: I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 11No more will anyone teach his fellow citizen or his brother and say, “Know the Lord!” They will all know Me from the least to the greatest of them, 12because I will forgive their wrongs and not remember their sins anymore. 13By saying “a new testament” (covenant), He made the first one old. When He treats it as old and it is getting old, it is ready to vanish. Jesus has a more excellent priestly work than the Levitical priestly work. They offered up to the Father the blood of bulls and goats. Jesus offered up His own life. Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant than the one made of Mount Sinai. The New Covenant is based on better promises. The Father found fault with the covenant He made with the Israelites. He then quotes Jer. 31:31ff. The problem with the first covenant is that it was based on the people of Israel doing their part. They continually broke the covenant and were not loyal to it. The New Covenant God promised to make in Jeremiah is better than the first covenant. It is not based on what His people do. Just read it for yourselves. He puts His instruction into our minds and writes them on our hearts. He declares Himself to be our God and we His people. We will know Him because He forgives our sins and remembers them no more. It is a covenant based solely on what God has done; what He has done in Christ Jesus. These are much better promises than those of the old Sinaitic covenant. Its promises are based only on what Jesus has done. He mediated by His innocence, suffering, death, burial, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of power. Jesus instituted in at the Last Supper when He says in Luke 22:20, “This cup is the new testament in My blood, poured out for you.” Paul also witnesses this in 1 Cor. 11:25 “This cup is the new testament in My blood. Every time you drink it, do it to remember Me.” We really need to get this into our thick heads. The Mosaic covenant, the covenant God made with the Israelites has been abrogated, ἀφανισμός, in the Greek text here. Paul in 2 Cor. 3:6 insists we are the ministers of a new covenant according to the Spirit, i.e. the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Law, the covenant God made with the Israelites on Mt. Sinai has been abrogated, destroyed, made of non-effect by the Gospel. The whole of that Law has been set aside, the moral, the ritual and the political commandments, i.e. the whole thing has been set aside, abrogated by the New. Does that mean there are no moral laws in the New Covenant? Of course not. You cannot read Paul without seeing the commandment to love your neighbor everywhere. These however are from the LORD writing them on our hearts and minds as promised. Our breaking them does not annul the covenant God has made with us. Jesus' blood overcomes them all. Heavenly Father, You have made a better covenant with us through the blood of Jesus. Give us faith to believe it and to do Your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article