Theophylact of Ohrid, on Heb 8:13

“Now in saying a new, he hath made the former old. And that which decayeth and groweth old, is near its end.”

“He explains the prophetic expression and says that the very fact that he called this covenant entirely new serves as an indication that the first one ultimately turns out to be old. Having received confidence from the prophet, he finally touches upon the law, showing that our covenant now flourishes. Thus, from the prophetic expression he took the name "old," added on his own the name of obsolescence, and further necessarily drew the conclusion that "destruction" is inevitable for the law, as if saying: it is not by chance that the New Testament abolished the Old, but because of its oldness, its antiquity, that is, by virtue of the fact that it is Old, that is, "weak and unprofitable," as he also says in another place: "the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless" (Rom. 8:3).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.