### Introduction The Law of Moses/Torah of Moses are a body of commandments and laws which were given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai by God. Observant Jews continue to follow these laws as understood through rabbinic traditions and interpretations, while most major Christian denominations more or less do not. The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible contains many scriptures which seem to indicate that the Mosaic law is eternal and uses the same word used elsewhere that describes God being eternal: **Exodus 31:16–17 (NRSV)** indicates observance of the Sabbath is an eternal activity: > Therefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a **perpetual covenant**. It is a sign **forever** between me and the Israelites that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. **Leviticus 16:29-34** indicates Yom Kippur should be observed forever: > This shall be a statute to you **forever**: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves ... This shall be an **everlasting statute** for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once in the year for all their sins. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. **Deuteronomy 29:29** seems to indicate that all the words of the law should be followed for all time by the children of Israel: > The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children **forever**, to observe all the words of this law. **Jeremiah 31:31** makes a promise that the Jews will have the Mosaic law written on their heart in the future: > The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: **I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts**, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. ### Question Do Christians believe that the Hebrew Bible prophesied that the commandments it called eternal would one day end? Is there an Old Testament basis for believing observance of the Mosaic law would not be forever? Views from all denominations welcome.

## Background: Christian Trinitarians believe "that there is one eternal being of God – indivisible, infinite. This one being of God is shared by three co-equal, co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit". Trinitarians generally believe that this doctrine is taught in the New Testament. They also generally believe the trinity is (minimally) compatible with the Hebrew bible, or (maximally) also taught in the Hebrew bible. This is in contrast with traditional Jewish belief in a unitary deity. The authors of the Hebrew bible make several statements about the oneness of G-d: > **Deuteronomy 6:4** - "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G-d, the Lord is one." > **Isaiah 44:6** - "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.'" > **Deuteronomy 4:35** - "To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is G-d; there is no other besides Him." ## Unfalsifiable belief? Under trinitarian hermeneutical approaches, the above verses are not contrary to the trinity because they could be interpreted to refer to *the single being of G-d*, and not to the trinitarian *multiplicity of persons*. This is a curious interpretation since concepts of distinction between “person” and “being” only appear in literature which post-date the completion of the Hebrew bible. ## Question If seemingly clear verses attesting to ontological oneness can be used in support of trinitarian doctrine, what could a biblical author have written in the Hebrew bible that would falsify the trinity? Is the trinity only falsifiable with a verse such as *"There is only one person of G-d"*, *"G-d is only one being and one person"*, or even *"The trinity as defined by Christian patristic fathers and ecumenical councils in the 4th Century CE is false"*?

Related: Why does the author of Hebrews render their quotation of Jeremiah 31:33 differently in two places? ### Background The book of Hebrews uses the Hebrew Bible as support for its arguments many times. The author cites Jeremiah 31:33 in two different places and chooses to render the verse curiously differently each time. The first citation occurs in Hebrews 8:10: > ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι **τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ** μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος, διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν. (NA27) > > For this is the covenant that I will make with the **house of Israel** after that time, declares the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. The second citation is in Hebrews 10:16: > Αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι **πρὸς αὐτοὺς** μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος· διδοὺς νόμους μου ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς (NA27) > > This is the covenant I will make **with them** after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds For reference, Jeremiah 31:33 reads > כִּי זֹאת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אֶכְרֹת **אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל** אַחֲרֵי > הַיָּמִים הָהֵם נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה נָתַתִּי אֶת־תּוֹרָתִי בְּקִרְבָּם > וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתְּבֶנָּה וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים וְהֵמָּה > יִהְיוּ־לִי לְעָם׃ (MT) > > But such is the covenant I will make with the **House of Israel** after these days—declares Hashem: I will put My Torah into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their G-d, and they shall be My people. ### Definitions The definition of misquoting is to repeat something someone has said in a way that is not accurate . ### Question Which of the two citations is the accurate one? Is this an example of misquoting the Hebrew bible? Why does the author of Hebrews use "**house of Israel**" the first time and "**them**" the second time?