V. 22.— By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. By so much Jesus was made the surety of a better covenant.— The word rendered “surety” does not occur in any other passage of the New Testament; it is derived from the word near, and is equivalent to mediator— one through whom we draw near. Israel drew near to God through the Levitical priests; but the Apostle had shown that the Mosaic dispensation was temporary, and merely introductory to a better, even an eternal covenant, of which Jesus is the Mediator. It had been previously proved that the continuance of the law depended on the continuance of the Aaronic priesthood, ver. 12. Aaron had four sons, two of whom died immediately after they had entered on their office; so that the continuance of the Jewish dispensation depended on the lives of the survivors, and their leaving male children. The priests might, therefore, with great propriety, he called the sureties of the Sinai covenant; while Jesus, whose priesthood is everlasting, is the Surety of a better covenant. Our translators have rendered the word διαθημκη in this place testament. The LXX. [The Septuagint translation of the Old Testament into Greek was made about three hundred years before Christ.] uniformly translates the Hebrew word Pruth, by covenant, and in the Old Testament they are followed in our version. It occurs thirty-one times in the New Testament, and is translated covenant, excepting in seven places; and it would have been much better if it had been uniformly translated covenant, and there is no good reason for this not having been done.