“In the case of a will”
Hebrews 9:16–17
Legal referenceSettledThe author
In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it, because a will does not take effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive. (Hebrews 9:16–17 BSB)
* Greek: diatheke means both 'covenant' and 'will'; the whole argument turns on that double sense.
What it sounds like today
A sudden swerve from covenants to estate law.
The cultural key
A bilingual pun invisible in English: diatheke means both 'covenant' (the word's biblical sense, God's binding arrangement) and 'will, testament' (its everyday Greek legal sense). The author has been arguing about the new covenant, then flips the same word to its probate meaning: a testament does nothing until the testator dies. Then back again: even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood and death (the Sinai sacrifices).
Recovered meaning
The new covenant is also a testament, and testaments require a death, which the covenant-maker supplied himself. One Greek word carries the whole argument: the inheritance language of 'new covenant' was always going to need a funeral to activate it.
Parallels: Exodus 24:8; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:18–22