Hebrews

10:1-10

The Arguments, 2:10-12:29

2. Christ's high priestly sacrifice enables us to approach God, 7:1-10:25

xi] The temple sacrificial system is but a shadow

The second point in the sermon, 7:1-10:25, advances with particular reference to the text, namely Jeremiah 31:31-34 - the promise of a better covenant that rests on better promises. This seventh sub point again seeking to expound the substance of the text, arguing that the sacrificial offering of Christ (an offering of obedience even unto death) has replaced the ineffective cult of Israel, and so has effectively and permanently established, for the people of God, a right relationship with God - "we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all."

"The Law", in the sense of the cultic sacrifices of the Temple, was unable to establish either a perfect, or permanent, relationship with God. The only function served by the sacrificial regulations of the law was to remind God's people of their state of loss before God, v1-4.

oJ nomoV "the law" - Here obviously the cultic regulations associated with sacrifice etc. at the tabernacle.

skian (a) "shadow" - Note 8:5 where the tabernacle is a "shadowy copy" of the heavenly temple. The cultic regulations of the law are but a foreshadowing of Christ, cf. Col.2:17, rather than the Platonic idea of a copy of a heavenly ideal.

twn mellontwn agaqwn "the good things that are coming" - the good things to come. The "good things" are "the realities themselves" (the very image of the thing) which the cultic regulations are a foreshadowing of. This reality is Christ's high-priestly duty which is primarily represented by his sacrifice.

thn eikona (wn onoV) "image" - Used in the sense of exact replica, not in the sense of copy. Christ is the image of God, exact replica, not copy, cf. Col.1:15.

eiV to dihnekeV "repeated endlessly" - in perpetuity, continuously.

teleiwsai (teleiow) aor. inf. "make perfect" - to complete, perfect. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "is able". Here in the sense of make spiritually holy rather than ritually clean, 7:19.

touV prosercomenouV (prosercomai) pres. part. "those who draw near" - the ones approaching. The participle functions as a substantive.

epei ouk an "if it could" - since otherwise. Here adversative. Introducing a rhetorical question expecting the answer "yes", which serves to demonstrate the limitations of the Levitical sacrificial system, "yes, the services would have stopped", Ellingworth. The sense may better be carried as a statement, "otherwise, they (the sacrifices) would surely have ceased to be offered", Moffatt. The verse may better be bracketed and treated as a parenthesis, with v3 and 4 taking up the argument of v1. The phrase actually functions as the protasis of a conditional clause, 2nd. class contrary to fact, "if the cultic sacrifices of the law were effective (if they could), then, they would not have stopped being offered."

prosferomenai (prosferw) pres. pas. part. "being offered" - The participle is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "would have ceased", taking on the normal function of an infinitive, "would have ceased to be offered".

touV latrouontaV (latrouw) pres. part. "the worshipers" - the ones worshiping. The participle functions as a substantive.

kekaqarismenouV (kaqarizw) perf. pas. pat. "would have been cleansed" - having been cleansed. The participle is probably best treated as adjectival, limiting the worshipers, "the worshipers who had been cleansed once and for all ..", but also possibly adverbial, causal, "because they had been cleansed".

suneidhsin aJmartiwn "felt guilt for their sins" - conscious of sins. Where inward cleansing has not taken place a person is conscious of their separation from God, aware of the gulf created by their rebellion.

anamnhsiV (iV ewV) "reminder" - remembrance. The only useful function served by the sacrificial system is to remind the worshiper that their sinful state has separated them from God. Their only hope is to rely on God's mercy to provide a sacrifice that will cleanse. As is always the case, the function of the law is to expose sin and so drive the sinner toward a reliance upon God's mercy.

gar "because" - Introducing a causal clause.

afairein (afairw) pres. inf. "to take away [sins]" - The infinitive forms a substantive phrase, serving as the subject of the verb "it is impossible"; "because to take away sins is impossible." "For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins", TEV.

Our author now quotes from Psalm 40:7-9 to drive home his point that Christ is the only adequate sacrifice, v5-10. The words of Psalm are attributed to Christ, who enters the flesh and blood domain to offer the perfect sacrifice. The coming is probably aligned with the incarnation, although the coming itself is what is important. Of course, for such an offering to be acceptable it would have to be an offering of complete obedience. Our writer sees the Psalm as Davidic and referring to Christ - David's greater son. Christ is the incarnate son whose body has been prepared for him. He is the one who has "come to do thy will", and who has done it perfectly. Through his obedience he has made a complete offering for sin which has superseded the cultic offerings for sin. His offering is his life, a life lived in obedience to God, obedience which ended in death. As the writer explains elsewhere, the sacrifice offered by our great high priest (the sacrifice of obedience unto death), is not for his own sins, but for the sins of the people of God. So then, Jesus offered the acceptable sacrifice to God, the one and only acceptable sacrifice, an offering for us. This sacrifice superseded all others.

dio "therefore" - Drawing a conclusion.

eisercomenoV (eisercomai) pres. part. "when [Christ] came [into the world]" - entering, coming. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, as NIV.

swma ... kathrtisw moi "[but] a body you prepared for me" - a body you prepared for me. Interestingly, this statement quoted from the LXX, our writers source text, is actually different to the MT, the original Hebrew, which states "my ears you have opened". The LXX translation is usually regarded as a scribal error, a fact which raises interesting questions as to the authority of scripture, questions which bother us, but would probably not have bothered our author.

Note how the psalmist has recognized that doing God's will is what delights God, not the performance of cultic rituals. This obedience our writer applies to Christ.

en keqalidi bibliou gegraptai "it is written [about me] in the scroll" - in the scroll of the book it is written. The phrase "it was written about me in the scroll" ("your law is within my heart", v8 is a similar idea), presents the notion that God's intentions for us are contained in the book of the Law - the scriptures, the Bible. The scriptures contain God's personal instructions for us. This was so for Jesus, who accepted his calling as messiah and set out on the path of obedience, an obedience which led to great suffering. None-the-less, in the face of this great opposition he continued to trust God, and even when feeling abandoned, Jesus did not curse God. Rather, he continued to put his trust in the living God.

Drawing out the point from the Psalm that obedience sets aside the cult, v8-9.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "[first] he said] - saying. The participle is adverbial, possibly instrumental, "he begins by saying", Moffatt.

oJti "-" - that. Introducing a dependent statement, direct quotation.

ai{tineV ind. pro. "although" - which. This pronoun can take a concessive sense, and so introduce a concessive clause, as NIV. Often this clause is treated as a parenthesis, so NIV, although this is unnecessary. "He said this, even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law", TEV.

eirhken (eipon) perf. "[then] he said" - The perfect tense expressing a past act with continuing results.

iJna + subj. "to [establish]" - that. Forming a purpose clause, "in order that he may establish."

en "by" - in, on, by. Here instrumental, "by", as NIV. "It is by this will", Moffatt.

hJgiasmenoi esmen perf. pas. part. "we have been made holy" - we have been sanctified. Perfect participle with the present verb to-be forms a periphrastic perfect construction, possibly serving to emphasize the durative nature of the sanctification. Note how sanctification is linked to both the will of God and the sacrifice of Christ. Given the context, our writer is speaking of spiritual cleansing which enables the worshiper to come into the presence of God and commune with him, ie. a renewed relationship with God. Notions of full sanctification, perfectionism, are certainly not on his mind.

efapax adv. "once for all" - Emphatic position in the Gk. thus making a punch-home point. Presumably "we are all purified from sin ..... once and for all", but possibly, "Christ offered himself once and for all."

Hebrews Introduction

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