Hebrews 9:13

13 If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of cows made spiritually contaminated people holy and clean,

Hebrews 9:13 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 9:13

For if the blood of bulls and of goats
Shed either on the day of atonement, or at any other time: the former of thee, Pausanias ^F25 relates, was drank by certain priestesses among the Grecians, whereby they were tried, whether they spoke truth or no if not, they were immediately punished; and the latter, he says ^F26, will dissolve an adamant stone; but neither of them can purge from sin:

and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean;
the apostle refers to the red heifer, ( Numbers 19:1-22 ) which being burnt, its ashes were gathered up and put into a vessel, and water poured upon them, which was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on unclean persons; the ashes and the water mixed together made the water of separation, or of sprinkling; for so it is called by the Septuagint, (udwr) (rantismou) , "the water of sprinkling", and in the Targum in a following citation: this was the purification for sin, though it only

sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh;
the body, or only in an external and typical way, but did not really sanctify the heart, or purify and cleanse the soul from sin. The Jews say, that the waters of purification for sin were not waters of purification for sin, without the ashes ^F1; and to this the Targumist, on ( Ezekiel 36:25 ) and on ( Zechariah 13:1 ) refers, paraphrasing both texts thus;

``I will forgive their sins as they are cleansed with the water of sprinkling, and with the ashes of the heifer, which is a purification for sin.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Achaica, sive l. 7. p. 450.
F26 Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 485.
F1 Misn. Temura, c. 1. sect. 5. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Hebrews 9:13 In-Context

11 But Christ has appeared as the high priest of the good things that have happened. He passed through the greater and more perfect meeting tent, which isn't made by human hands (that is, it's not a part of this world).

12 He entered the holy of holies once for all by his own blood, not by the blood of goats or calves, securing our deliverance for all time.

13 If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of cows made spiritually contaminated people holy and clean,

14 how much more will the blood of Jesus wash our consciences clean from dead works in order to serve the living God? He offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit as a sacrifice without any flaw.

15 This is why he's the mediator of a new covenant (which is a will): so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance on the basis of his death. His death occurred to set them free from the offenses committed under the first covenant.