Hebrews 9:11-28

The Heavenly Ministry of the New Covenant

11 But Christ has arrived [as] a high priest of the good [things] to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation,

12 and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the [most] holy place, obtaining eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual purity of the flesh,

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve [the] living God?

15 And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, [because] a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions [committed] during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

16 For where [there is] a will, [it is] a necessity [for] the death of the one who made the will to be established.

17 For a will [is] in force concerning those who are dead, since [it is] never in force when the one who made the will is alive.

18 Therefore not even the first [covenant] was ratified without blood.

19 For [when] every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, [he] took the blood of calves with water and scarlet wool and hyssop [and] sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,

20 saying, "This [is] the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you."

21 And likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the utensils of service with the blood.

22 Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 Therefore [it was] necessary [for] the sketches of the [things] in heaven to be purified with these [sacrifices], but the heavenly [things] themselves [to be purified] with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a [mere] copy of the true [one], but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf,

25 and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary {year by year} with blood not his own,

26 since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27 And {just as} it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment,

28 thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

Hebrews 9:11-28 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

• [a]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("has taken place") which is understood as causal
• [b]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal participle ("had been spoken")
• [c]. Some manuscripts have "calves and goats"
• [d]. Literally "according to year"
• [e]. Literally "in as much as"