Matthew 26:28

Tischendorf omits καινῆς with אBLZ, but it has the testimony of ACD and other uncials.

28. τοῦτο γάρ κ.τ.λ. The blood of the sacrifice was the seal and assurance of the old covenant, so wine, which is the blood of Christ once shed, is the seal of the new covenant.

The thought of shedding of blood would certainly connect itself with the ratification of a covenant in the minds of the apostles. From a covenant ratified by the victim’s blood (Genesis 15:18) began the divine and glorious history of the Jewish race. By sprinkling of blood the covenant was confirmed in the wilderness: see Exodus 24:8, where the very expression occurs τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης (cp. 1 Peter 1:2, ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), and now a new B’rith or covenant (cp. Jeremiah 31:33) confirmed by the victim’s blood is destined to be the starting point of a still more divine and glorious history. The Mediator of the New Covenant is ratifying it with the Princes of the New Israel.

καινῆς. See critical notes and ch. Matthew 9:17.

διαθήκη means either (1) a ‘covenant,’ ‘contract,’ or (2) ‘a will.’ The first is the preferable sense here, as in most passages where the word occurs in N.T. the new covenant is contrasted with ‘the covenant which God made with our fathers,’ Acts 3:25. For this reason it is to be regretted that the title ‘new testament’ rather than ‘new covenant’ has been adopted. The effect has been partly to obscure the continuity of the earlier and later dispensations.

περὶ πολλῶν, i.e. ‘to save many:’ this force of περὶ comes from the thought of encircling a thing or person, or fighting round him for the sake of protecting him: cp. ἀμύνεσθαι περὶ πάτρης, Il. XII. 243. ἀμυνέμεναι περὶ Πατρόκλοιο θανόντος, Il. XVII. 182.

πολλῶν. See note ch. Matthew 20:23.

ἐκχυννόμενον. Now being shed. The sacrifice has already begun.

εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. St Matthew alone records these words in this connection. Cp. Hebrews 9:22, χωρὶς αἱματεκχυσίας οὐ γίνεται ἄφεσις—a passage which bears closely upon this. For the expression cp. βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, ‘having for its end forgiveness.’ The figure in ἄφεσις is either (1) that of forgiving a debt, the word being frequently used of the year of release: ἔσται ἡ πρᾶσις ἕως τοῦ ἕκτου ἔτους τῆς�, Leviticus 25:28, or (2) from ‘letting go’ the sacrificial dove or scape-goat to symbolise the putting away of sins.