Hebrews 10:1
Σκιὰν γὰρ ἔχων ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων, κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν ταῖς αὐταῖς θυσίαις ἃς προσφέρουσιν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς οὐδέποτε δύναται τοὺς προσερχομένους τελειῶσαι·
For the law, having a shadow of good things about to be, not the same image of the things accomplished, each year, by these sacrifices which they bring at all times, never is able the bringers to perfect.
Paraphrase: Now all the ceremonies and rituals of the Levitical law, dear friends, are just shadows; they are a kind of outline pointing to some fuller reality. This is very important to understand. The rituals and ceremonies of Levitical worship are not the full reality for which we are looking and expecting. That this is the case can be seen from one very obvious reality. The sacrifices, which God’s people bring to the temple, are never enough. I mean to say that each year, God’s people bring the prescribed sacrifices and offerings to the priests. Then the next year, they are back again doing the same thing. Why? Why can’t one sacrifice resolve our sin problem once and for all? Why do new sacrifices have to be brought each year? Clearly, there is something deficient in these offerings.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:2
ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐπαύσαντο προσφερόμεναι, διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ἔτι συνείδησιν ἁμαρτιῶν τοὺς λατρεύοντας ἅπαξ κεκαθαρισμένους;
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to bring? Because no one would yet have a conscience of sins the worshipers once for all being cleansed.
Paraphrase: If the sacrifices were sufficient to cleanse those who brought them and to reconcile them to God, then they would not have needed to return year after year with new sacrifices. They would have stopped bringing sacrifices to the temple because the first sacrifice would have made a decisive and permanent cleansing of them before God and no other sacrifice would be needed. The guilt which weighed so heavy on them would have been removed (Psalm 103:12), and they would have been set free from the pangs of a guilty conscience.
Comments:
The conjunction ἐπεὶ means otherwise when used in an ellipsis as here. (p165)
Hebrews 10:3
ἀλλ’ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀνάμνησις ἁμαρτιῶν κατ’ ἐνιαυτόν,
But in them, a reminder of sins each year.
Paraphrase: In fact, these oft repeated sacrifices actually worked to sharpen the sense of guilt which God’s people felt. Every year again, they were reminded of their need for forgiveness and cleansing. They were constantly being reminded that their sin had still not been dealt with decisively. God gave them a temporary reprieve; but the next year, they were back again with more sacrifices and more reminders of their sin and guilt.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:4
ἀδύνατον γὰρ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων ἀφαιρεῖν ἁμαρτίας.
For the blood of bulls and goats is not able to take away sins.
Paraphrase: Clearly, the prescribed sacrifices, though commanded by God, were not able to resolve, once for all, our sin problem. Something more was needed.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:5
διὸ εἰσερχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον λέγει· Θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι·
Wherefore coming into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You put in order for Me.
Paraphrase: Now this “something more” leads me to speak again (Hebrews 9:11) of our Lord Jesus. Jesus understands the resolve that David had made in Psalm 40:7-8. The Psalmist had learned that, in themselves, the prescribed sacrifices were not what God was looking for from His people. They did not have the power to deal with sin once for all. Therefore, the Psalmist resolved to do what really did please God. He took hold of the book of the covenant (Psalm 1:2) and began to obey its precepts from an inner conviction that they were true and best. That’s why he said that God’s law was in his heart.” (Psalm 40:8; Jeremiah 31:33) Alas, that this holy resolve, as wonderful as it was, did not bring the Psalmist the peace of conscience he so earnestly desired. Later, he says with sorrow that his sins were piled so high that he could see no way of escape. (Psalm 40:12) Well now, my friends, here is where Jesus enters into our world. He takes over David’s resolve and performs it perfectly and completely. Jesus came to this earth and said exactly what David had said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for Me…
Comments:
For the unusual augment on ἠθέλησας, see MBG §31.2a.
Hebrews 10:6
ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ εὐδόκησας.
Whole burnt offerings and concerning sin, you did not desire.
Paraphrase: Yes, neither the whole burnt offerings prescribed in Leviticus 1 nor the sin offerings prescribed in Leviticus 4 were what You required as a sufficient expiation of the sins of your people. (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Ephesians 1:6) These were not sufficient to make Your people fit to come into Your presence.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:7
τότε εἶπον· Ἰδοὺ ἥκω, ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ, τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ θεός, τὸ θέλημά σου.
Then I said, “Behold I come, in the scroll of the book it is written about Me, to do Your will, oh God.
Paraphrase: But now I make this resolve in keeping with the eternal plan (Titus 1:2) which you made with Me in eternity past, “Look, I will go to earth and be the sacrifice which ends all sacrifices! I will be that One about whom the Scriptures speaks (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2:7-8; Isaiah 53:5; Micah 2:13); the One who will go and execute God’s plan for His glory and the salvation of His people. I will obey the terms of the covenant perfectly in their place. Where My servant David failed and saw so much sin piled up, I will obey the terms of the covenant perfectly and without the least transgression.”
Comments:
Owen (p468): There is no necessity, as was before observed, that these very words should at any one season have been spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. The meaning is, “This is My resolution, this is the frame of My mind and will.”
Hebrews 10:8
ἀνώτερον λέγων ὅτι Θυσίας καὶ προσφορὰς καὶ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ἠθέλησας οὐδὲ εὐδόκησας, αἵτινες κατὰ νόμον προσφέρονται,
Above saying, “Sacrifice and offerings and whole burnt offerings and concerning sins, You did not desire nor were pleased, which according to the law they brought.
Paraphrase: Now Jesus clearly says in this place that the prescribed sacrifices of the Levitical law are not sufficient to make us fit for God’s presence. They are not able to cleanse us from the sin which separates us from God. Yet, these sacrifices were clearly prescribed by God as the way to remove our guilt and to reconcile us to Himself. You can read this in the first chapters of Leviticus.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:9
τότε εἴρηκεν· Ἰδοὺ ἥκω τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημά σου· ἀναιρεῖ τὸ πρῶτον ἵνα τὸ δεύτερον στήσῃ.
Then He said, “Behold, I come to do Your will; He takes away the first in order that He might establish the second.”
Paraphrase: Well then, on the one hand, Jesus announces that He is coming to earth to execute His Father’s plan of salvation. On the other hand, we have the rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, etc. all laid out for us by God through the words of Moses in the Pentateuch. No one doubts that this was the revealed will of God to His people and that God expected His people to follow these instructions strictly and carefully. Dear friends, do you see it? By this action, God Himself, through His Son, Jesus, is teaching us that all the ritual and ceremony laid out for us in the Pentateuch represents an old dispensation which is now obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13) That old dispensation is obsolete because Jesus was the reality to which all those rituals pointed. The sacrifices weren’t meant to resolve our sin problem; they were meant to point us to the One who would resolve our sin problem once for all. Now Jesus comes and closes the book of the old covenant in order that He might open to us a new and better book, the book of God’s new covenant which is based on the gift of Jesus to His people. It is not based on our resolve to obey God’s precepts. That is why this new covenant is truly a covenant of grace. (John 1:17)
Comments:
Hebrews 10:10
ἐν ᾧ θελήματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ.
In which, by the plan, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Paraphrase: Now in this covenant of grace, dearly beloved, a new and better sacrifice is set before us which is so far superior to the sacrifices of sheep and oxen that it renders them entirely unnecessary. This sacrifice was offered when the blessed body of Jesus Himself was nailed to the cross of Calvary, and it is fully sufficient to cleanse us from every sin and to make us fit to enter the Father’s presence. Yes, this sacrifice does what none of the previous sacrifices could do; it deals with our sin decisively and permanently. No other sacrifice is needed, nor should we look for cleansing in any other person or ritual but in Christ alone. (Acts 4:12)
Comments:
Note the periphrastic.
Hebrews 10:11
Καὶ πᾶς μὲν ἱερεὺς ἕστηκεν καθ’ ἡμέραν λειτουργῶν καὶ τὰς αὐτὰς πολλάκις προσφέρων θυσίας, αἵτινες οὐδέποτε δύνανται περιελεῖν ἁμαρτίας.
Hebrews 10:12
οὗτος δὲ μίαν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν προσενέγκας θυσίαν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ,
Hebrews 10:13
τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκδεχόμενος ἕως τεθῶσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ,
Hebrews 10:14
μιᾷ γὰρ προσφορᾷ τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους.
Hebrews 10:15
μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰρηκέναι·
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,
Hebrews 10:17
καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθήσομαι ἔτι·
Hebrews 10:18
ὅπου δὲ ἄφεσις τούτων, οὐκέτι προσφορὰ περὶ ἁμαρτίας.
Hebrews 10:19
Ἔχοντες οὖν, ἀδελφοί, παρρησίαν εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ αἵματι Ἰησοῦ,
Therefore, brothers, having boldness into the entrance of the holies by the blood of Jesus.
Paraphrase: Now, brothers, our sins have been forgiven. Where does that leave us? How should we respond? Let me put it this way. You all remember the room in the tabernacle and temple called the Holy Place and then behind that room was the Holy of Holies. In this holiest of all places, the ark of God sat, which represented the presence of the Holy God. No one was allowed to enter this room except the high priest and that only once a year. (Hebrews 9:6-7, 25) Well now, because Jesus is our sin offering, we are now able to enter into that most holy place without any fear at all. In fact, we may even enter it with a humble boldness knowing
Comments:
Hebrews 10:20
ἣν ἐνεκαίνισεν ἡμῖν ὁδὸν πρόσφατον καὶ ζῶσαν διὰ τοῦ καταπετάσματος, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ,
which He consecrated for us, a way new and living through the curtain; this is His body.
Paraphrase: that Jesus, the Son of God, has opened this way to His Father by His sacrifice which satisfied the justice of God. By giving His body to be crucified, He, as it were, tore down the curtain that prevented us from entering into the Holy of Holies. Now, we have a clear and unobstructed path leading directly into the presence of the Holy God Himself. You might think that such a path would bring us certain death and judgment because of the pure holiness of our God. That’s no longer the case, however. This is a new way which Jesus has made, and it brings us life, not death, even eternal life.
Comments:
Hebrews 10:21
καὶ ἱερέα μέγαν ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ,
and a great priest on the house of God.
Paraphrase: Furthermore, we need not fear to enter God’s house because we have the best High Priest (Hebrews 7; 9:6-11) who brings us to His
Father. (Hebrews 2:10)
Comments:
Hebrews 10:22
προσερχώμεθα μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως, ῥεραντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς καὶ λελουσμένοι τὸ σῶμα ὕδατι καθαρῷ·
Let us draw near with a true heart in certain faith being sprinkled the hearts from a conscience evil and washing the body with pure water.
Paraphrase: What should we do then? We should get up without delay and set our feet to walking on that path and go directly to God Himself. We should enter into His house with perfect confidence that He will receive us graciously. We should remember that time when we were brought into the water, and we felt the cleansing waters of baptism flowing over our head and down our body. The memory of this event should fill us with confidence that as surely as that flowing water washed our bodies, so certainly does the blood of Jesus, sprinkled on our souls, wash all our guilt away. And if our guilt has been truly removed, then why should we continue to be tortured by the memory of past sins? Dismiss those conscience pangs by a fresh memory of what you have become by being washed in the blood of Jesus. Remember as well that we have been washed, not in the dirty water used for cleansing in the Old Covenant (Numbers 19:11, 14), but with the pure water (Ezekiel 36:25) of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. (1 John 1:7, 9) When we have this baptism, this cleansing, we can be sure that we are qualified to enter into the presence of the Most Holy One. (Colossians 1:12; 2 Timothy 2:21)
Comments:
For καρδίας, see GGBB p197 an accusative of retained object.
“The reference of Hebrews 10:22b to baptism hardly needs demonstration. … The idea of sprinkling with the blood of Christ belongs, then, to baptismal theology. It is an interpretation of the event of baptism. In baptism the candidate receives a share in the atoning, purifying and covenant-making power of the blood of Christ.” Hunzinger on Ῥαντίζω, Ῥαντισμός in TDNT.
Hebrews 10:23
κατέχωμεν τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀκλινῆ, πιστὸς γὰρ ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος·
and let us hold tight to the confession of hope without wavering, for faithful is the Promiser.
Paraphrase: So don’t give up on the One you have confessed as your Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9) Don’t return to your old religion. You’ve pinned all your hopes on Christ, and you should know with certainty that He is faithful. He will not disappoint. (Romans 5:5) Cling to Him knowing that the same One who made these promises is faithful and never fails to make good on His word. (Hebrews 6:13)
Comments:
Hebrews 10:24
καὶ κατανοῶμεν ἀλλήλους εἰς παροξυσμὸν ἀγάπης καὶ καλῶν ἔργων,
and let us focus on one another, for inciting to love and good works.
Paraphrase: Then while we are rejoicing in this salvation, let us stir each other up to do as much good as we can in this world. (Matthew 5:16) Let’s all roll up our sleeves and set about loving (1 Corinthians 13:1-7), not just each other, but all those with whom we have contact. (Romans 2:10)
Comments:
Hebrews 10:25
μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, καθὼς ἔθος τισίν, ἀλλὰ παρακαλοῦντες, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὅσῳ βλέπετε ἐγγίζουσαν τὴν ἡμέραν.
Hebrews 10:26
Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία,
Hebrews 10:27
φοβερὰ δέ τις ἐκδοχὴ κρίσεως καὶ πυρὸς ζῆλος ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τοὺς ὑπεναντίους.
Hebrews 10:28
ἀθετήσας τις νόμον Μωϋσέως χωρὶς οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπὶ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶν μάρτυσιν ἀποθνῄσκει·
Hebrews 10:29
πόσῳ δοκεῖτε χείρονος ἀξιωθήσεται τιμωρίας ὁ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καταπατήσας, καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης κοινὸν ἡγησάμενος ἐν ᾧ ἡγιάσθη, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος ἐνυβρίσας.
Hebrews 10:30
οἴδαμεν γὰρ τὸν εἰπόντα· Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω· καὶ πάλιν· Κρινεῖ κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ.
Hebrews 10:31
φοβερὸν τὸ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας θεοῦ ζῶντος.
Hebrews 10:32
Ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθε δὲ τὰς πρότερον ἡμέρας, ἐν αἷς φωτισθέντες πολλὴν ἄθλησιν ὑπεμείνατε παθημάτων,
Hebrews 10:33
τοῦτο μὲν ὀνειδισμοῖς τε καὶ θλίψεσιν θεατριζόμενοι, τοῦτο δὲ κοινωνοὶ τῶν οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων γενηθέντες·
Hebrews 10:34
καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε, καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε, γινώσκοντες ἔχειν ἑαυτοὺς κρείττονα ὕπαρξιν καὶ μένουσαν.
Hebrews 10:35
μὴ ἀποβάλητε οὖν τὴν παρρησίαν ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἔχει μεγάλην μισθαποδοσίαν,
Hebrews 10:36
ὑπομονῆς γὰρ ἔχετε χρείαν ἵνα τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ ποιήσαντες κομίσησθε τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν·
Hebrews 10:37
ἔτι γὰρ μικρὸν ὅσον ὅσον, ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονίσει·
Hebrews 10:38
ὁ δὲ δίκαιός μου ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται, καὶ ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ.
Hebrews 10:39
ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑποστολῆς εἰς ἀπώλειαν, ἀλλὰ πίστεως εἰς περιποίησιν ψυχῆς.