Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 16 Jun 2019
Omitting the greyed-out text should bring verbal presentation time down to less than 45 minutes.
Our first few verses review the fundamental contrast between the Old Testament sacrificial system with its endless offerings and Jesus’ singular sacrifice on the cross. The Greek grammar of the sentence highlights this contrast with what is called a “men...de construction” which can be translated “on the one hand… on the other hand.”
Priests during Bible-times would “stand” in the temple to “officiate/preside over” the tasks of “ministering” and “offering sacrifices.” But they had a problem. Their sacrifices couldn’t take away the practice of sins - or the actual guilt of sins committed - or the desire to sin again - that lay like a cloak of darkness around each person who came to worship God.
In v.1, O.T. animal sacrifices are framed as not being able to positively make people perfect2, here in v.11, they are framed as not being able to negatively divest people of their sins.
The verb here in v.11 is mostly used in the Greek Bible to describe taking clothing off3, which is why I translated it “divest.” Sin is like a straight-jacket that you can never take off – at least not that way.
Verse 11 also shares two verb roots with verse 9, contrasting what the O.T. priests could not do with what Jesus did: “Then He said, ‘Look, I have arrived… to accomplish your desire.’ He is annihilating4 the first in order that He may officiate [stand/establish] the second!”
Hebrews 9:24ff also used some of the same language: “for it was not into handmade antitypes of the true holy places that the Anointed One [Christ] entered, but rather into heaven itself, in order to be brought-to-light now in the presence of God on behalf of us, 25 also, it was not in order that He might offer Himself frequently – just like the high priest enters into the holy places [year] after year with another's blood 26 (in which case it would have been necessary for Him to suffer frequently since the founding of the world), but now at the conclusion of the ages He has been brought-to-light only-once, for the purpose of displacing sin through the sacrifice of Himself…” (NAW)
As we continue in the book of Hebrews, the contrast between the Old Testament priesthood and the priesthood of Christ is relentless and inescapable!
So, which do you want? Priests who, according to verse 1, offer the same sacrifices year after year in perpetuity that can’t do away with sin, or the priest in v.12 who only needed to “offer one sacrifice for sins [and then] sat down [to take office] in perpetuity at God’s right [hand]” while all His enemies are destroyed? The smart choice is obvious!
Jesus is the priest, according to Hebrews 7:3, who is “the son of God and remains a priest in perpetuity.”
Jesus is the priest, according to Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the radiance of [God’s] glory and the stamp of His substance and carrying all things by the word of His power, having made purification from our sins with His own self, He took office at the right hand of the Greatest One in the heights." (NAW)
and Jesus is the Son of God (and David’s Lord) who, in Psalm 110, is seated at God’s right hand “expectantly-waiting from then on until [God the Father] sets all His enemies to be a footstool under His feet.”
Now, every night at home, when it’s bedtime, I give my kids a command like, “Brush your teeth and go to bed.” Then ten minutes later, I discover one of them on the couch doing nothing. The fact that they are not in bed like I told them leads me to suspect they have not brushed their teeth either, but, just to be sure, I ask, “Have you brushed your teeth?” And I get this answer, “Not yet, I was waiting for the bathroom.”
That kind of “waiting” is not the kind of waiting Jesus is doing at God’s right hand. It’s an active waiting, and the Greek word ἐκδεχόμενος, translated “waiting” is actually a derivative of the Greek word for “receive” [δεχομαι] so it implies that the person is standing ready to receive something in particular that He deserves to get.
Jesus is serving now as priest to make His people right with God, but one day He will get to execute justice on all His – and our – enemies, and He will get all of His bride, the church.
When you compare Biblical Christianity with Judaism, there is really no contest.
Christ made one single offering of Himself on the cross, then sat down in God’s heavenly presence to serve as our priest to reconcile us to God, and the result is that those He serves as priest were made perfect in God’s sight forever – even while they are being set apart as holy in a special relationship with God.
The context narrows down what this “perfection” means:
It does not mean that all Christians are perfectly mature personally, because the process of our sanctification is still ongoing in the present tense. We still learn and grow and get wiser and closer to God.
Also, it is not a “sinless perfection” in which we no longer experience failures to live according to the truth and purity and love of God. Jesus indicated that repentance and faith are an ongoing discipline, and the Apostle John taught that Christians who claim that they no longer sin are liars; we do have to keep availing ourselves of His righteousness when we sin.5
The “perfection” described here in v.14 is specified as being “by means of a single offering.” That limits the meaning of this perfection to the one-time event of Jesus’ atonement – for all our sins at once – when He died on the cross.
It is a perfection of our status before God, that allows an imperfect Christian to nevertheless come into a relationship of blessing with the perfect God who doesn’t keep relationships with anyone who is imperfect.
This is what other passages in the Bible call “justification” - being “made right” with God so that a relationship can exist, so that sanctification can even be possible: for instance, Romans 5:16-19 “...those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ… resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made right...” (NKJV)
Think about the contrast that is being drawn here:
Hebrews 7:19 “The law made nothing perfect… 9:9 “... sacrifices are being offered that are not able to perfect in conscience the one who ministers… 10:1 “...[at] no time is the law able to perfect those who approach with the same sacrifices which they are offering in perpetuity [year] after year.” (NAW)
And then this “mic-drop” statement: “Christ perfected His saints forever using only one sacrifice”! BOOM!
O my God, that’s what I really want! I don’t really care about anything else! I’m putting my faith in this Jesus and I’m not going to worry about what anybody else says.
But you don’t have to take just His word for it; the next paragraph mentions...
Two chapters ago, we were reminded of Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant. The point in chapter 8 was that if God used the word “new” as an adjective for “covenant,” this was a portent of change to come, so Old Testament believers in God should have known that a change-up of their temple system was in the works by God’s design.
Now, in ch. 10 v.15, our author comes back to Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant to make another point, once again quoting somewhat-loosely from the Hebrew, but this time focusing on the implications of God no longer remembering sins committed against Him.
The mention of the Holy Spirit here is a strategic reminder that He is the one who brings God’s words to our minds and influences our thinking – in the present tense. He continues to “bear witness” to us through the Scriptures which He inspired, and there are never-ending treasure troves of knowledge to be mined with His help from your Bible.
Now, when my son Amos writes a new book, he often gives me and my wife a copy to proof, and, from time to time, I read over a paragraph and it just makes no sense. Then I take it to Amos and say, “OK. What were you thinking here?” and he tells the back story and explains it all so that it makes sense. We have a similar situation with the Bible – but even better! As you read your Bible, you have the author, the Holy Spirit Himself, right there with you, shaping thoughts in your mind so that you can understand and see how to respond to what He has written.
Now, remember back in verse 3, it said, “...by means of [sacrifices], remembrance of sins is what has been happening [year] after year, 4 for it is impossible for blood from bulls and from goats to take away sins.”
The prophet Hosea equated God “remembering sins” with God holding people accountable for their sins and punishing them: Hosea 8:13 “For if they should offer a sacrifice... the Lord will not accept them: now will He remember their iniquities, and will take vengeance on their sins … 9:9 They have corrupted themselves... He will remember their iniquities, He will take vengeance on their sins.” (Brenton) And one of the ways God remembered their sins was through them being conquered by the Chaldean army around 600BC and taken into exile in Babylon.
But during that exile, God gave a prophecy through Jeremiah that after the “days” prophecied6 when Jerusalem (which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar) would be “repopulated,” a time would come when God would make a “New Covenant” in which He “would no longer remember the sins” of His people. That was fulfilled when Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins so that God could justifiably forget our sins.
And two chapters later in Jeremiah, He says much the same thing, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and will not remember their sins...” (Jeremiah 33/40:8, Brenton)
The Holy Spirit brought this prophecy to our attention to tell us something important: In the New Covenant, under the administration of the Messiah, there will be a new development in the relationship between God and His people regarding sin – different from the sacrificial system administrated by Moses and Aaron and their descendants. God’s law will still exist but there will be no punishment for violating it.
And if there is no such “remembrance of sin”...
The word “these” in v.18 is feminine plural in Greek, matching the feminine plural words for “sins” and “lawless deeds/crimes” in v.17. It is “these matters” of “sin and iniquity” for which there IS forgiveness!
And if there is forgiveness, this means two things at least:
Blood was shed and offered by a priest to obtain that forgiveness, and
Once that forgiveness has been made, there is no need to offer another blood-sacrifice again for it. That sin is gone and nothing else needs to be done about it.
In support of the first logical conclusion that blood was shed, remember
Hebrews 5:1-3 "For every high-priest taken from among men is made to stand in their stead on behalf of men regarding their issues before God in order that he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins... making offering for sins for the people..." and
Hebrews 9:22 “So, practically all things are purified by means of blood according to the law, and without the pouring out of blood, forgiveness doesn't happen!” (NAW)
What blood was shed to forgive the sins of God’s people? V.19 tells us that it was Jesus’.
In support of the second logical conclusion that sin, once forgiven, needs no more atonement,
the Greek phrase translated “offering ‘for sin’” [περὶ ἁμαρτίας] is the same phrase used in the Greek Old Testament as the name of a class of animal sacrifices called the “sin-offering.” For instance, Leviticus 5:6 “And he shall bring for his transgressions against the Lord, for his sin which he has sinned, a ewe lamb of the flock, or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering [περὶ ἁμαρτίας]; and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and his sin shall be forgiven him.”
For folks who are used to making repeated sacrifices to appease the wrath of God, this is another mic-drop statement. BOOM! No more sacrifices needed! No more penance to make up for your sin. No more gifts need be offered. You (whose sin was paid for by Jesus when He died on the cross) have nothing more you need to do than to trust that you don’t need to do anything more than what Jesus has already done for you to make you all-right with God.
This is part of what the apostle was getting at back in chapter 4 when he spoke of “resting” in faith upon God: "...the one who has entered into His rest has also set himself at rest from his works, just as God did from His. Let us therefore hurry to enter into His rest…" (Hebrews 4:10-11, NAW)
So if Jesus is the best priest forever, and if the Holy Spirit witnesses that Jesus provides forgiveness forever, what should we do with that knowledge?
“All right. Yeah. Good to know. Maybe I’ll think about it later...” NO!
When the man found the treasure-chest in the field in Jesus’ parable7 in Matthew 13, he didn’t rest with simply knowing where a treasure was; he sold all he had and bought that field so that the treasure would be on his property and he could use it!
Same with the pearl-merchant in Jesus’ parable. When he found the most valuable pearl in the world, He wasn’t satisfied with going to a jewelry store or a museum for the rest of this life to look at it; No! He didn’t rest until it was in his own possession in his own house to enjoy every day for himself.
So when it comes to these giant philosophical goodnesses of Jesus being the best priest forever, and of a perfection that makes God forget your sin forever, how do you bring them into your house, into your everyday life, to enjoy as your own possession?
Hebrews 3:6 “...Christ [is faithful] as Son over His house, which house we ourselves are, if indeed we hold on to the confirmed open practice and confident expression of THE hope until the end.... 4:15 For we... have a high priest who is... without sin. 16 Let us therefore keep approaching the throne of grace with openness in order that we may receive mercy and find grace for the purpose of a timely rescue." (NAW)
In this case, we can’t contain the treasure in our own houses, so we go into Jesus’ house!
Now, there are two pre-requisites for entering heaven listed in vs. 19-22, both of which are related to the participle translated “having” toward the beginning of v.19, and the apostle affirms that his brothers in Christ have both of these things that it takes to get into heaven:
The first thing is parrasia/confidence/boldness/open-access
This is described two more ways in verses 19-20, as “the entrance [εἴσοδον]... which Jesus made into the holy place” and in v.20 as a “new and living way [ὁδὸν]”
Verses 15-18 also detailed that “confidence/open-access” in terms of God no longer remembering our sin because there is forgiveness.
The second thing which we have and which is needed to get to heaven is “a great priest.”
That was the topic of verses 11-13 – the superiority of Jesus as a priest because He is “in office forever,” because He will never be deposed by an enemy, and because, with one sacrifice of Himself, He made all His followers “perfect” with God “forever!”
I think that’s why He is called “great” in verse 21, although it is unclear whether the Greek word “mega-” was intended to mean “chief” as in “high priest” (as the KJV put it), or whether “mega-” was intended to mean “great” as in “outstanding.” Both are true of Jesus – He was uniquely qualified for that office, and He is also the preeminent priest of all time.
Remember that the “Holiest of places” into which Jesus entered was heaven, not the building in Jerusalem. The “open access” which Jesus opened up for us into heaven was symbolized by the rending of the curtain which had blocked the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the temple (Mark 15:38), but that holy place was just a symbol of the place we really want to get to, and that is the blessed presence of God in heaven.
The rending of Jesus’ body in death and the rending of the curtain blocking the Holy of holies happened both at once, opening both a physical path into the earthly holy of holies and spiritually opening the way for humans to get into heaven. The “open access” which Jesus created by sacrificing Himself as a sin-offering on the cross gives us boldness and confidence to actually step into the entryway He made.
The picture that comes to my mind is of my little daughter after we left church one Sunday realizing that she had left something in the church building. I drive up next to the church building and let her out of the car so she can go back in and get what she left, but she can’t open the door all by her little self. So I get out of the car and open the big door for her. The way is now open for her to go into the building, but as she peers into that big, dark, scary room from the doorway, suddenly she is hesitant to go in. She says, “Maybe I can get it next Sunday.” Sensing her fear of going in alone, I offer to go in with her and help her find her things. Well, now, not only does she have free access, but she also has a person (dare I say a “priest”?) who will go in with her and make sure her mission is successful, so she suddenly brightens up and has the courage to go in to the building and get her stuff with me.
Hebrews 9:8 “The Holy Spirit is showing this: the way of the holy places has not yet been brought-to-light while the front tabernacle still has standing... 11 But Christ, the high priest of the good things which are about to happen... 12 entered once-for-all into the holy places... by means of His own blood, after having obtained eternal redemption.” (NAW)
Jesus is the “new” covenant “way” through His death, and, through His resurrection, He is “alive” forevermore. He Himself is “the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him” (John 14:6).
Heb. 6:18-20 “...we who have escaped to grab the hope which is being set forth, might have strong comfort, which we have like an anchor of the soul, both unfailing and confirmed, even entering into the inner-place that was curtained-off, where Jesus the forerunner, entered on our behalf, having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek." (NAW)
“Let us approach/draw near” is the main thing we are being exhorted to do.
Six conditions cluster around this main verb:
Two of which are things from verses 18-21 that we must remember in order to spur us on to closeness to God and perseverence in Christian faith, namely:
the knowledge that we have open-access through the blood of Christ into the holy place,
and the knowledge that we have Jesus as a “great priest” capable of making us right with God.
The next two things are things we bring into the presence of God – v.22 “a true/sincere heart and full assurance of faith.”
These probably overlap with the “confidence” mentioned in verses 18-20, but perhaps they take it a step beyond simply knowing that access to heaven is possible and that forgiveness of sin is possible, and sincerely wanting to be right with God when you draw near to Him in worship. In other words, you’re not just showing up at church services because you want other people to think you are a good person, you are doing it because you genuinely want to enjoy fellowship with God.
And it goes beyond merely believing that forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God is possible to actually believing that God has forgiven your sin and has given you fellowship with His Son.
The Greek word for “fullness of assurance” (πληροφορίᾳ) pictures piling one thing after another onto a vessel until it can carry no more. In this case, the vessel is our mind. The book of Hebrews has piled proof after proof of the value of trusting in Jesus, and at some point we say, “Enough! I’m convinced!” and we “display,” as Heb. 6:11-12 put it, ongoing “diligence toward the full assurance of the hope until the end… imitating those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.” (NAW)
Finally, the last two of the six conditions that cluster around the main verb in v.22 of “approaching/drawing near” to Christ are the participles “having been sprinkled” and “having been washed.”
“Sprinkled” and “washed” are both passive voice in Greek, so they are not things you do to yourself, they are done to you,
and both are in the perfect tense, so they were done in the past, before you began to associate with Christianity or draw near to God.
And both are bridges between Old Testament worship ceremonies and New Testament spiritual realities of relationship with God:
The sprinkling of the blood of sacrificial animals upon the Israelites in the Old Testament was referenced back in Hebrews 9. It was an Old Testament way of making people “holy/special” to God8.
There was also the “water of purification” in the O.T., which was made by filtering water through the ashes of a heifer, and which was sprinkled on people who had become ceremonially unclean from touching a dead body or something9.
And there were water-washing ceremonies in the Old Testament too, such as Leviticus 22:6 “whatsoever soul shall touch [unclean things] shall be unclean until evening; he shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe[wash/λούσηται] his body in water” (Brenton)
Once the O.T. believer was ceremonially cleansed in these ways, he or she could go to the temple to “draw near” to God and worship, but in the N.T., we don’t have to do those ceremonial rites any more. Jesus has fulfilled them spiritually, giving us “open access” to “draw near” to God at any time:
Hebrews 9:13-14 "For, if the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes sanctifies those who had been rendered unclean to the purification of their flesh, how much more will the blood of the Anointed One (who, through the eternal Spirit offered His faultless self to God) purify y'all's conscience from dead works for devotion to the Living God?" (NAW) Our conscience needs to be perfected (9:9), from “sins” (10:2) and “dead works” and made into a “good conscience”(Heb. 13:18, Acts 23:1; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 1 Pet. 3:16, 21). Jesus’ atoning death on the cross did that.
The only other time in the NT that this verb “wash” occurs in talking about spiritual things is: Revelation 1:5 “...Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth... who loved us and washed [λούσαντι] us from our sins in His own blood." (NKJV)
The “clean/pure water” that “we have been washed in” seems to be an allusion to the prophecy of the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36:25, since it’s the only other place in the Bible that this phrase occurs: “...I will sprinkle clean water [ὕδωρ καθαρόν/מַ֥יִם טְהוֹרִ֖ים10] upon you, and ye shall be purged from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and will put a new spirit in you: and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in mine ordinances, and to keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God.” (Brenton)
I believe this “sprinkling” and “washing” in Hebrews 10:22 are describing God sending His Holy Spirit to us to give us spiritual life, to apply the forgiveness of God to us, and to give us faith – the same Holy Spirit who in v.15 “bears witness” to us through the Scriptures and convinces us of God’s forgiveness through the priestly work of Jesus. These are the things God does to us which enable us to “draw near with a sincere heart... of faith” in Him.
As it says in Titus 3:5-6 "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior..." (NKJV)
If the Holy Spirit has washed you given you a heart to trust Jesus and draw near to God, if you sincerely want to be right with God and you believe that Jesus died on the cross to make you right with God, and if you believe that Jesus is the way to God and is your great priest, then what are you waiting for? Approach and draw near!
Louw & Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains offers the following definition for this verb προσέρχομαι: “to take the initiative in association with someone - 'to undertake to join with, to seek association with.” (34.23)
How do you “take initiative in association” with God?
Read or listen to the Bible
Talk to God in prayer
Sing songs to Him
Spend time with His people in church services
I would also note that this exhortation to approach/draw near is in the Greek present tense, which indicates a continuing action of coming close to God and His people as a follower of Jesus, so keep up the good work!
LXX of Jer. 31 |
Greek NT |
NAW |
KJV |
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11 Καὶ πᾶς μὲν ἱερεὺς ἕστηκε καθ᾿ ἡμέραν λειτουργῶν καὶ τὰς αὐτὰς πολλάκις προσφέρων θυσίας, αἵτινες οὐδέποτε δύνανται περιελεῖν ἁμαρτίας· |
11 Furthermore, every priest (on the one hand) has officiated [day] after day, ministering & frequently offering the same sacrifices, yet [at] no time are such things able to divest sins, |
11 And every priest standeth X daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: |
Psa 109:1 Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, |
12 οὐτὸςB δὲ μίαν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν προσενέγκας θυσίαν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, |
12 but (on the other hand) this Man, after offering one sacrifice for sins took office in perpetuity at God’s right hand, |
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; |
ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. |
13 τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκδεχόμενος ἕως τεθῶσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶC αὐτοῦ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ. |
13 expectantly-waiting from then on until His enemies shall be set to be a footstool under His feet. |
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool X X. |
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14 μιᾷ γὰρ προσφορᾷ τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους. |
14 As a result, by means of one offering, He has perfected in perpetuity those who are being sanctified. |
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. |
Jer. 38:33 |
15 Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ῞Αγιον· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ Dειρηκέναι, |
15 Now, the Holy Spirit is also bearing witness to us, for, after He had made the statement, |
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, |
ὅτι
αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη
ἣν διαθήσομαι
τῷ
οἴκῳ Ισραηλ
μετὰ
τὰς ἡμέρας
ἐκείνας φησὶν
[נְאֻם]
κύριος
διδοὺς
δώσω [נָתַ֤תִּי]
νόμους
μου εἰς
[בּקִרְבָּ֔ם]
τὴν
διάνοιαν αὐτῶν
καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας
αὐτῶν γράψω
|
16 αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος· διδοὺς νόμους μου ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶE τὴν διάνοιανF αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούςG, |
16 “‘This is the covenant which I will contract [regarding them] after those days,’ says the Lord, ‘I will give out my laws upon their heart, even inscribing them upon their understanding...’” |
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; |
34...ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις [עָוֹן] αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι |
Heb. 10:17 καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶνH αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶI ἔτι. |
17 There is [this:] “...and their sins [and their crimes] I shall never remember again.” |
17 And their sins and X iniquities will I remember no more. |
Heb. 10:16-17 does not appear to be a quote from the Septuagint, but rather a loose translation from the Hebrew. |
18 ὅπου δὲ ἄφεσις τούτων, οὐκέτι προσφορὰ περὶ ἁμαρτίας. |
18 Now, where there is forgiveness of these matters, an offering for sin is no longer [needed]. |
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. |
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19 ῎Εχοντες οὖν, ἀδελφοί, παρρησίαν εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ αἵματι ᾿Ιησοῦ, |
19 Therefore, brothers, having, by means of the blood of Jesus, open-access into the entrance of the holy places, |
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to X enterXJ into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, |
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20 ἣνK ἐνεκαίνισεν ἡμῖν ὁδὸν πρόσφατονL καὶ ζῶσαν διὰM τοῦ καταπετάσματος, τοῦτ᾿ ἔστι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, |
20 which He has put to new use with us – a freshly-made and living [entry-] way through the curtain (that is [to say] His flesh), |
20 [By] a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; |
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21 καὶ ἱερέα μέγανN ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ, |
21 and [having] a great priest over the house of God, |
21 And having an high priest over the house of God; |
22 |
22 προσερχώμεθα μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίαςO ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως, ἐρραντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς καὶ λελουμένοιP τὸ σῶμα ὕδατι καθαρῷ· |
22 let’s keep approaching with sincerity of heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts having been sprinkled-clean from a guilty conscience and our bodies having been washed with pure water. |
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. |
1The Greek subjunctive mood of this verb translated “made/set to be a footstool” connotes an unknown time, just as Jesus said, “...concerning that day and hour, no one except My Father alone [can] perceive – not even the angels of the heavens [not even the Son].” (Matthew 24:36, NAW)
210:1 For it is a shadow of the good things that are going to happen which the law has, not the shape itself of the matters, and [at] no time is it able to perfect those who approach with the same sacrifices which they are offering in perpetuity [year] after year. (NAW)
3It also shows up in the book of Acts when people would “cast off” from a port or “remove” the ship’s anchors.
4The Greek verb here is a compound of ana (“up”) and airew (“lift/carry”), whereas the verb at the end of v. 11 is a compound of peri (“around”) and airew, so there is a relationship between these words in Greek, even if English translations do not choose the same English root for both of these words.
5Mark
1:14-15 “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the good
news about the kingdom of God and saying that the time has been
fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near, ‘Y’all
keep on repenting [μετανοεῖτε]
and believing in [πιστεύετε]
the good news.’” (NAW)
1
John 1:8-2:1 “If
we say that we have no sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth
is not in us. If we are confessing our sins, He is faithful and
righteous in order to send away from us the sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we are
making Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My children, I am
writing these things to you so that you might not sin, yet if
someone sins, we have an advocate before the Father: righteous Jesus
Christ." (NAW)
6Jeremiah 38 [Eng. 31] :27 “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.” (Brenton)
7Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure-chest which had been hidden in the field which a man found, then hid, and then, out of his joy, he goes on and sells all of however much he possesses and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant man seeking fine pearls, 46 who, after finding one highly-valued pearl, went off selling all of however much he had possessed, and he bought it. (NAW)
8Leviticus 6:25-27 “...This is the instruction concerning the sin-offering: In the place where the whole-burnt-offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the face of Yahweh. It is a holy thing among holy things… Everyone who comes into contact with its flesh will be holy, including that which it sprinkles from its blood. Even the garment that it sprinkles upon must be washed in a holy place.” (NAW)
9Numbers 19:17-18 “And they shall take for the unclean of the burnt ashes of purification [ἁγνισμοῦ], and they shall pour upon them running water [ ὕδωρ ζῶν] into a vessel. And a clean [καθαρὸς] man shall take hyssop, and dip it into the water, and sprinkle it upon the house, and the furniture, and all the souls that are therein, and upon him that touched the human bone, or the slain man, or the corpse, or the tomb.” (Brenton)
10ὕδωρ καθαρόν does occur in two other places in the LXX, but as somewhat less-than-accurate translations of different Hebrew words: Numbers 5:15 מַ֥יִם קְדֹשִׁ֖ים (“holy water”) and Job 11:15 מִמּ֑וּם (“without defect”).
AThe
Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority
of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript
evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes
notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but
since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online
document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a
standalone difference from all other English translations of a
certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the
English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of
meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a
Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word
translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added
in English not in the Greek. Key words are colored consistently
across the chart to show correlations.
BAll seven pre-8th century manuscripts and practically all ancient versions read “this” but most manuscripts afterward read “he,” thus the Textus Receptus and the Greek Orthodox editions read autos. Curiously, the KJV translated according to the reading of the modern critical text and the modern versions translated according to the traditional Byzantine text! Clearly, however, they are all talking about the same person, so it makes no difference in meaning.
CThe LXX rendering of Psalm 109/110 is not followed exactly as it was in Heb. 1:13. Here the persons are changed from the original first-person speech “I set your enemies” to a third-person narrative, “He sets His enemies,” and the verb “set/made/put” is passivized and “enemies” is spelled nominatively (instead of accusatively) to stand as the subject of the verb (“His enemies shall be put” instead of the original “I shall put Your enemies”). Perhaps this is to avoid the trinitarian controversy from entering the minds of Jewish readers and distracting from the author’s main point of the powerful position of the Son of God at this point in the argument.
DAfter the 9th century, the majority of Greek manuscripts started adding the preposition “pro-” before this verb to clarify that it was stated “beforehand.” This made it into the traditional Greek Orthodox editions and the Textus Receptus, but it is not in a single one of the 6 manuscripts from the first eight centuries, and it does not seem to be a part of the earliest versions either. The fact that this communication was in the past, however, is already obvious from the context, so it makes no difference in meaning.
EThe previous time that the author of Hebrews quoted this same passage in Jeremiah, he used the same preposition in the LXX (eis = “into”), but it doesn’t create an essentially different meaning.
FThis is the reading of both the Greek and the Hebrew of the original quote in Jeremiah, and it is the reading of all six pre-9th century Greek manuscripts of Hebrews 10 and of the 1904 Patriarchal edition and the contemporary critical editions of the Greek NT. It appears that in the 9th Century, scribes pluralized the noun to match the plural possessive pronoun “their minds” instead of “their mind,” and the majority of scribes followed that, so that’s the reading of the Textus Receptus and the contemporary Greek Orthodox edition, but attributing a singular heart or mind to a plurality of persons is consistent with Biblical expression and means the same thing.
GAn ellipsis occurs here which passes over the following text in the LXX: “καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων γνῶθι τὸν κύριον ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσίν με ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν καὶ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν”
HThis phrase “and of their lawlessness” is practically undisputed in the manuscripts here, whereas it is greatly disputed as to whether it was included in the same quote in Heb. 8:12. It does not, however, appear to be in the original Hebrew quote or the Septuagint translation of the quote in Jeremiah 31. Either way, it doesn’t change the meaning (“sin is lawlessness” – 1 Jn. 3:4).
IThis subjunctive aorist is the same as the undisputed reading of the same quote in Heb. 8:12 and is the reading of the Septuagint of the quote from Jeremiah (Qal Imperfect in the Hebrew) and is the reading of the Majority of Greek manuscripts of Hebrews 10 (including P46, the oldest-known one), all the Greek Orthodox editions and the Textus Receptus. However, half the Papyri and almost all the Uncial manuscripts read μνησθήσομαι – Future Indicative, so the modern critical editions prefer it. Both can be translated into English as “will,” so it makes no difference, but I prefer the traditional reading because I think the subjunctive implies volition on the part of God to forget, not merely predicting a future state of things.
JThe change of this Greek prepositional phrase containing a definite noun into an English infinitive verb is, strangely-enough, a well-established tradition among all English translations, dating back at least to the Geneva Bible, and it has come into other language versions such as the Spanish LBLA (“entrar”). The Latin Vulgate, on the other hand, apparently kept the Greek grammar, because “in the entering/in to the entring” is the reading of the Douay-Reims and Wycliffe; this was also preserved in the French Louis Segond version “une libre entrée.”
KThis Accusative Feminine Singular relative pronoun matches parrasian/boldness/confidence/open-access (or perhaps eisodon/entry from the previous verse).
LThayer and Strong explain the component roots of this compound word as “before” + “slaughtered. It only occurs 6 other places in the Greek Bible, four in the OT, and 2 in the Apocrypha, twice regarding “freshly-pressed” wine (Num. 6:3, Sir. 9:10), thrice regarding false “johnny-come-lately” gods (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 80:10; Odes 2:1), and once regarding “novel” events (Eccl. 1:9).
MThe word “through/dia” has the breadth of meaning to support both literally “a way to penetrate through the curtain into the holy of holies” and figuratively “a way to God’s holiness through the instrumentality (or means) of Christ’s human body sacrificed” - both of which this word is used for in this verse 20.
NThis is the only time that this phrase “great priest” occurs in the NT. The literal phrase “great priest” (cohen gadol) is the usual way of designating the High Priest in the Old Testament (20 out of 21 times), the one exception being 2 Chron. 24:11, where it is cohen harosh “chief priest,” but the Septuagint still translated that one as ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου “great priest,” so it is clearly interchangeable.). Curiously, in the NT, usage is flip-flopped, with archierius (“chief priest”) being the most common (over 120 times – translated into English about half the time as “high priest” and a little more than half the time as “chief priest” in the KJV), the one exception being this passage in Heb. 10:20 which reads hierius megas (literally “great priest”). Interpreters have to decide whether this is mere interchangeable use of synonymous terms (especially considering how a Hebrew audience could see them as synonymous), or whether a special meaning is intended here. The singularity of this use in the New Testament (once out of over 120 times) and the uniqueness of Jesus’ priesthood emphasized in Hebrews leads me towards the latter.
OThe only other place this phrase occurs in the Greek Bible is Isaiah 38:3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, with a true heart [καρδίᾳ ἀληθινῇ], and have done that which was pleasing in thy sight. And [H]Ezekias wept bitterly.” (Brenton) Could it be an allusion?
PThe two perfect passive participles in this verse “sprinkled” and “washed” have been spelled with some variations over the millennia. I kept the spellings of the traditional text of the majority of Greek manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, and the Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT. The oldest-known Greek manuscripts together with the contemporary Critical editions read ῥεραντισμένοι… λελουσμένοι (and several other old manuscripts and editions mix it up: for instance, A & C read ῥεραντισμένοι… λελουμένοι, and the 1904 Patriarchal edition reads ἐρραντισμένοι… λελουσμένοι), but they mean the same thing.