Hebrews 9:1-17

1 The first therefore also indeed had ordinances of service, and the sanctuary, a worldly one.
2 For a tabernacle was set up; the first, in which [were] both the candlestick and the table and the exposition of the loaves, which is called Holy;
3 but after the second veil a tabernacle which is called Holy of holies,
4 having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, covered round in every part with gold, in which [were] the golden pot that had the manna, and the rod of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tables of the covenant;
5 and above over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; concerning which it is not now [the time] to speak in detail.
6 Now these things being thus ordered, into the first tabernacle the priests enter at all times, accomplishing the services;
7 but into the second, the high priest only, once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people:
8 the Holy Spirit shewing this, that the way of the [holy of] holies has not yet been made manifest while as yet the first tabernacle has [its] standing;
9 the which [is] an image for the present time, according to which both gifts and sacrifices, unable to perfect as to conscience him that worshipped, are offered,
10 [consisting] only of meats and drinks and divers washings, ordinances of flesh, imposed until [the] time of setting things right.
11 But Christ being come high priest of the good things to come, by the better and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, (that is, not of this creation,)
12 nor by blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, has entered in once for all into the [holy of] holies, having found an eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
14 how much rather shall the blood of the Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God, purify your conscience from dead works to worship [the] living God?
15 And for this reason he is mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
16 (For where [there is] a testament, the death of the testator must needs come in.
17 For a testament [is] of force when men are dead, since it is in no way of force while the testator is alive.)

Images for Hebrews 9:1-17

Hebrews 9:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 9

The apostle having, in the former chapter, taken notice of the first covenant, in this proceeds to show what belonged to it, that it had service performed under it, and a place in which it was performed, Heb 9:1 and he begins with the latter, which he distinguishes into two parts, and shows what was in each of them; in the first, which was the holy place, were a candlestick, table, and shewbread; in the second, which was the holiest of all, were a golden censer, the ark of the covenant, the golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod, the tables of the covenant, and the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, Heb 9:2-5. And next he speaks of the service performed in these places; in the first, the holy place, the common priests entered every day, doing service, as offering sacrifice Heb 9:6 and in the second, the holy of holies, only the high priest entered into, and that but once a year, with blood of slain beasts, which he offered for his own sins, and the sins of the people, Heb 9:7 and this being shut up, and entered into but once a year, was an indication from the Holy Ghost, that the way into the holiest of all, which this was then a figure of, was not yet made manifest, while the tabernacle or temple was standing, in which sacrifices were offered, which could not perfect the offerer of them, or remove guilt from his conscience, Heb 9:8,9 which shows the imperfection of that priesthood, it consisting of meats, drinks, baptisms, and carnal ordinances imposed on the Jewish nation until the times of the Messiah, Heb 9:10 which are now come, and in which there is an accomplishment of all those types and figures; Christ was typified by the high priest; and he is come as such, and the good things, the law was a shadow of, are come by him; who came into the world by the assumption of human nature, a more perfect tabernacle than the type of it was; and now having obtained eternal redemption for his people, he is gone into heaven, the most holy place, not as the high priest, with the blood of slain beasts, but with his own blood, Heb 9:11,12 the efficacy of which blood is argued from the lesser to the greater, that if the blood of beasts, and water of separation, sanctified and purified externally, then much more must the blood of Christ purge the conscience from sin, that it may serve God, since Christ offered himself to God without spot, through the eternal Spirit, Heb 9:13,14. The necessity of Christ's shedding his blood, or of his death, is proved from his being the Mediator of the new covenant, which required the redemption of transgressions under the first testament, that called ones might have the promise of the eternal inheritance, Heb 9:15. And this is reasoned from the nature of testaments or wills among men, which make the death of the testator necessary, they being of no force while he lives, only after his death, Heb 9:16,17. And this is further illustrated by the first testament being dedicated by blood, and everything belonging to it purged by it, the book, the people, the tabernacle, and all the vessels of it; nor is there any remission of sin, whether typical or real, without shedding of blood, Heb 9:18-22 wherefore, as it was necessary that the patterns and types of heavenly things should be purified in this manner; it must be more so, that the antitypes should be purified with better sacrifices, even with the sacrifice of Christ, Heb 9:23 and accordingly Christ is entered into heaven itself, of which the holy places in the tabernacle were figures, there to present and plead his sacrifice on account of his people, Heb 9:24 not that it was necessary that he should offer up himself again, or often, as the high priest, his type, went every year into the holy place with the blood of others; for then he must have often suffered since the world began, of which there was no need, since his appearing once in the end of the world, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, is sufficient, Heb 9:25,26 for as it is the appointment of God, that men should die but once, and then come to judgment, so it was only necessary that Christ should be offered once to bear the sins of all his people, and then appear a second time without any sin at all upon him, to the salvation of those that look for him, Heb 9:27,28.

Footnotes 14

  • [a]. Latreia, from the same root as latreuo in ver. 6, see Note e.
  • [b]. The form of words here is greatly disputed. The grammatical order would require it to be translated 'the holy universal order;' but the word, it is contended, does not exist with this sense: I have not ventured so to translate it. I doubt it to be the same as kosmion, 'ornament.' Kosmos is 'the world,' from the order which is in it. The tabernacle represented all this order, the pattern of heavenly things. Hence, if kosmikon be used, a neuter adjective for a substantive, or coined in this use, it would mean 'the holy order of the tabernacle, which represented the vast scene in which God's glory is displayed in Christ.' If not, we must say, 'and the sanctuary, a worldly one.' 'A worldly sanctuary' is not the sense. 'A worldly sanctuary' it is not, according to regular grammar and the constant usage of the Greek language.
  • [c]. Latreuo, as vers. 9,14; ch. 8.5; 10.2; 12.28; 13.10: see Note l, Matt. 4.10.
  • [d]. That is, 'sins of ignorance.'
  • [e]. 'which is such as is.'
  • [f]. The present time (ver. 9) is opposed to the time of setting things right (ver. 10). The tabernacle is in view in Hebrews, not the temple; but the fact that offerings were then still made is recognized in what follows. He could not call it 'the present age' (a Jewish term for the age preceding the Messiah), because Messiah was come and he had been crucified; but the carnal ordinances were still offered, so that for the Hebrews it was not 'the age to come.' The 'image' could be only for a present time on earth. The patterns were in the heavens.
  • [g]. Latreuo. 'Worship' is perhaps too strong, but 'service' is equivocal. It is to approach a god with prayers, or in offering up a religious service: see ver. 6.
  • [h]. The 'good things to come' are the promised blessings to come in with Christ. This Epistle, though addressed to Christians on most precious subjects, does not enter into proper assembly standing: it refers to the assembly in chs. 2 and 12.
  • [i]. Dia here gives the character of his coming. He came in the power of and characterized by these things. They are not the place through nor the means by which.
  • [j]. Or 'greater,' as ch. 6.13,16, &c.
  • [k]. See Note l, ver. 11.
  • [l]. See Note i, ver. 9.
  • [m]. The absence of the article makes it characteristic of him: he is 'new (kainos) covenant mediator:' see 2Cor. 3.6.
  • [n]. The word translated 'covenant' and 'testament' is the same; 'a disposition.' 'Covenant,' in connection with God, is a disposition which he has made, on the ground of which man is to be in relationship with him. But vers. 16,17, are a parenthesis, alluding, incidentally, to another kind of covenant.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.