Hebrews 9:7-25

7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning.

9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.

10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,^[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.

12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption.

13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,^[c] so that we may serve the living God!

15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

16 In the case of a will,^[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,

17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.

18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.

20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^[e]

21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.

22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.

25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

Hebrews 9:7-25 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.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 16:11-19
• 2. ver 2,3
• 3. Leviticus 16:34
• 4. Leviticus 16:11,14
• 5. Leviticus 16:11; Hebrews 5:2,3
• 6. Hebrews 5:2,3
• 7. S Hebrews 3:7
• 8. John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19,20
• 9. Hebrews 10:1
• 10. Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 8:3
• 11. S Hebrews 7:19
• 12. Leviticus 11:2-23
• 13. Numbers 6:3; Colossians 2:16
• 14. Lev 11:25,28,40
• 15. Hebrews 7:16
• 16. S Hebrews 2:17
• 17. Hebrews 10:1
• 18. ver 24; Hebrews 8:2
• 19. S John 2:19
• 20. ver 19; Leviticus 16:6,15; Hebrews 10:4
• 21. ver 24
• 22. ver 26,28; S Hebrews 7:27
• 23. ver 14; S Romans 3:25
• 24. Hebrews 10:4
• 25. Nu 19:9,17,18
• 26. 1 Peter 3:18
• 27. S Ephesians 5:2
• 28. Psalms 51:2; Psalms 65:3; Jeremiah 33:8; Zechariah 13:1; S Titus 2:14; Hebrews 10:2,22
• 29. Hebrews 6:1
• 30. S Matthew 16:16
• 31. S Galatians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:5
• 32. S Luke 22:20
• 33. S Romans 8:28; S Romans 11:29
• 34. Hebrews 6:15; Hebrews 10:36
• 35. S Acts 20:32
• 36. Hebrews 7:22
• 37. Exodus 24:6-8
• 38. Hebrews 1:1
• 39. ver 12
• 40. Exodus 24:6-8
• 41. Exodus 24:8; S Matthew 26:28
• 42. Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:15
• 43. Leviticus 17:11
• 44. Hebrews 8:5
• 45. Hebrews 8:2
• 46. ver 12; S Hebrews 4:14
• 47. S Romans 8:34
• 48. Hebrews 10:19
• 49. ver 7,8

Footnotes

• [a]. Some early manuscripts "are to come"
• [b]. Or "blood, having obtained"
• [c]. Or "from useless rituals"
• [d]. Same Greek word as "covenant" ; also in verse 17
• [e]. Exodus 24:8