Tag Archives: Hebrews 8:12

A Covenant of Mercy: Future Tense, Double Negatives, and the Grammar of Divine Forgetfulness

ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι. (Hebrews 8:12) Mercy and Memory in the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:12 delivers the climax of the New Covenant promise — divine mercy and the complete removal of remembered guilt. The Greek is elegant and emphatic, relying on future tense verbs, the strongest negation in Greek, and parallel clauses to highlight both God’s mercy and His deliberate choice to forget.

Let’s walk through the grammar that anchors this promise in certainty.

1. The Conjunction of Reason: ὅτι ὅτι – “because” or “for,” introducing the basis for the covenant blessings previously described

This marks the reason for confidence: God will be merciful, and He will remember sin no more.… Learn Koine Greek

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