ἐπιλαβομένου. See note on Hebrews 2:16. The construction is harsh but is taken from the LXX. of Jeremiah 31:32, and represents the infinitive. Winer, p. 714.

οὐκ ἐνέμειναν. The disobedience of the Israelites was a cause of nullifying the covenant which they had transgressed (Judges 2:20-21; 2 Kings 17:15-18). Comp. Hosea 1:9, “Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”

ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν. These words correspond to the “though I was a husband unto them” of the original. The quotation is from the LXX., who perhaps followed a slightly different reading. Rabbi Kimchi holds that the rendering of the LXX. is justifiable even with the present reading.

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Old Testament