For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Ver. 7. Had been faultless] Such as had not been weak and unprofitable, Hebrews 7:18; see the note there. If the people could have performed it, and have been perfected by it. If it could have conveyed grace, as Hebrews 8:10. The law may chain up the wolf, the gospel only changeth him; the one stops the stream, the other heals the fountain; the one restrains the practice, the other renews the principles. God therefore gave the law after the promise, Galatians 3:19, to advance the promise.