Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 8:11

"And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them." — Hebrews 8:11 (ASV)

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, etc. This means that no one will need to teach another, or urge him to become acquainted with the Lord. This is intended to show another of the advantages that would accompany the new covenant.

In the previous verse, it had been said that one advantage of that dispensation would be that the law would be written on the heart, and that those who were blessed in this way would be regarded as the people of God. Another advantage over the old arrangement or covenant is stated here.

It is that the knowledge of the Lord and of the true religion would be deeply engraved on everyone's minds, and that there would be no need for mutual encouragement and advice. "They shall have a much more certain and effective teaching than they can receive from another." Doddridge.

This passage does not refer to the fact that the true religion will be spread everywhere, but that among those who share in the blessings of the new covenant, there would be an accurate and true knowledge of the Lord. In some way, they would be so taught about His character that they would not need help from others. All under that dispensation, or who are His "a people," would, in fact, have a correct knowledge of the Lord. This could not be said of the old dispensation, for several reasons:

1. Their religion consisted largely of outward observances.
2. It was not a dispensation of the Holy Spirit to the same extent as the new system.
3. There were not as many ways as there are now to learn the true character of God.
4. The fullest revelations of God's character had not been made to them. That was reserved for the coming of the Savior, and under Him, the full knowledge of God's character was intended to be communicated.

Many manuscripts, and those among the best, here have polithn citizen—fellow-citizen, instead of plhsion, neighbour. This reading is adopted by Griesbach, Tittman, Rosenmuller, Knapp, Stuart, and by many of the Church Fathers. It is also in the Septuagint version of the passage quoted from Jeremiah. It is not easy to determine the true reading, but the word neighbour better agrees with the meaning of the Hebrew, and there is strong authority from the manuscripts and the versions for this reading.

And every man his brother. This is another way of saying that it would not be necessary for one person to teach another.

Saying, Know the Lord. This means to become acquainted with God, to learn His character and His will. The idea is that the true knowledge of Jehovah would be a defining feature of those times.

For all shall know me. This refers to all those mentioned: all who share in the new covenant and its blessings.

It does not mean that all persons, in all lands, would then know the Lord—though the time will come when that will be true. Instead, the expression is to be limited by the specific topic being discussed.

The point is not that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the whole world. Rather, it is that all who share in the new dispensation will have a much fuller and clearer knowledge of God than was available under the old one.

No one can doubt the truth of this. Christians have a much more complete knowledge of God and His government than could have been learned merely from the Old Testament revelations.