Hebrews 8:13

ἐν τῷ λέγειν Καινήν. “In saying ‘New,' He hath antiquated the first; and that which is antiquated and growing old is near extinction [lit. disappearance].” That is to say, by speaking in the passage quoted, Hebrews 8:8, of a new covenant, God brands the former as old. Thus even in Jeremiah's time the Mosaic covenant was disparaged. The fact that a new was required showed that it was insufficient. It was condemned as antiquated. And that which is antiquated and aged has not much longer to live. πεπαλαίωκεν, the active is found in LXX, Job 9:5; Job 32:15, etc.; the mid is common, in Plato and elsewhere in the sense of “growing old”. ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ, cf. ἐγγὺς κατάρας, Hebrews 6:8. ἀφανισμός, is suggestive of utter destruction, abolition; thus in Polyb. Hebrews 8:11; Hebrews 8:5 it is joined with ἀπώλεια. Cf. Diod. Sic. ver. 8:32, ἀποκτείνουσιν, ἢ κατακαίουσιν, ἤ τισιν ἄλλαις τιμωρίαις ἀφανίζουσι.