Hebrews

10:11-18

5. Christ's high priestly sacrifice, 8:1-10:18/25

viii] Christ's single offering

The expository sermon in Hebrews 8:1-10:18 winds up with a climactic conclusion in 10:11-18. The sermon makes the point that Christ's once and for all, complete and effective sacrifice as our great high priest, assures our right of approach to God and thus guarantees our perseverance in the faith. The conclusion describes Christ enthroned in power and glory, having guaranteed our sonship through his atoning sacrifice.

Our writer has the levitical priests standing, busying themselves performing sacrifices over and over again, sacrifices that are unable to achieve their intended end. Christ, on the other hand, having completed his sacrifice, now sits reigning at the right hand of God, "having made the sanctified perfect", v11-14.

kaq hJmeran "day after day" - daily. Again, our writer uses the idea of "day by day" with regard to the Aaronic sacrifices. In 10:1 he spoke of them as "year by year", obviously referring to the necessity of repeating the Day of Atonement sacrifice. Here, as in 7:27, he is probably thinking of the necessary daily repetition of sacrifices for the inadvertent sins of the priesthood in general, including the high priest and the people. The point he is making is that repetition implies ineffectiveness.

paV "every" - all, every. It is now "every priest", not just the high priest, thus the writer sets out to underline the ineffectiveness of the Levitical priesthood as a whole. A variant "high priest" does exist. "Every Jewish priest", TEV.

eJsthken (iJsthmi) perf. "stands" - has stood. The perfect is dramatic and so translated as a present tense. The posture of the priest probably serves to further the image of a constant working at their religious duties, as compared to Christ's once only work and his present posture of sitting, having completed his work.

leitourgwn (leitourgew) pres. part. "performs his religious duties" - serving, ministering. Attendant circumstance participle, expressing action accompanying the verb "stands", "stands and performs". The word primarily means "service", and definitely not "worship", although when used of the cult, as here, it would be reasonable to say, "carrying out the ritual of worship", Barclay.

pollakiV adv. "again and again" - often, frequently, time after time. "They keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sin", CEV.

prosferwn (prosferw) pres. part. "he offers" - offering. Attendant circumstance participle, as above. The present tense further underlines ongoing action (durative).

ai{tineV pro. "which" - Here probably taking a concessive sense, "although they can never take sins away."

oudepote "[can] never" - Strong negation, cf. 10:1.

perielein (periairew) aor. inf. "take away" - [are able] to take away. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "are able". The aorist tense indicating a singular action, here the inability of the sacrificial system to utterly remove sin, ie. perfective, "take away altogether."

de "but" - Adversative. "However", TEV.

prosenegkaV (prosferw) aor. part. "when ..... had offered" - having offered. The participle probably forms a temporal clause, as NIV.

ouJtoV "this priest" - this one. "But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice", CEV.

mian "one [sacrifice]" - one. Identifying the one unique sacrifice, namely that of Christ himself. "After offering for sins a single sacrifice of perpetual efficacy", Weymouth.

eiV to dihnekeV "for all time" - to the continuation, forever, in perpetuity. Adverbial phrase, cf. 7:3, 10:1. Either referring back to Christ's offering, and thus the ongoing effects of that offering, or referring forward to the reign of Christ, and thus it's eternal nature, v13ff. Most English translations follow the first option, so NIV, but the second option is possible, "He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his seat for ever, at the right hand of God", NJB.

en dexia/ "at the right hand [of God]" - in/at right. The writer's use of the image of Christ sitting in the sanctuary comes from Psalm 110. In this Psalm we see Melchizedek, the priestly king, being invited to sit at the right hand of God. Christ is of the order of Melchizedek and brings to fulfillment this prophetic invitation. Sitting at the right hand of God, of course, implies more than just completion. It implies the bestowal of great dignity and authority; Christ sits in the highest glory. Therefore, we may be sure of his ability to deal with our needs.

to loipon "since that time" - from this time forward, henceforth. Adverbial phrase, often without the article.

ekdecomenoV (ekdecomai) "he waits" - waiting, waiting for. The participle is probably temporal. The prefix ek "from", gives a perfective sense to the verb, ie. the action of waiting begins at the point of Christ's sacrifice and is completed in the final defeat of his enemies. Christ need only "wait" since the perfect sacrifice, of itself, progresses the defeat of the enemy under God.

teqwsin (tiqhmi) aor. pas. subj. "to be made" - [the enemies of him] are put, placed. The unstated agent of the action is obviously God. The subjunctive possibly forms a purpose clause, "in order to make", although an indefinite temporal clause introduced by hews, "until", is more likely. "Until his enemies are put under his power", CEV.

mia/ prosfora/ "by one sacrifice" - Instrumental dative. Again, the decisive nature of Christ's sacrifice is underlined. "By virtue of that one offering", Phillips.

teteleiwken (teleiow) perf. "he has made perfect" - he has perfected. The perfect tense expresses a past completed action with ongoing effects. Perfection is that state whereby a person is regarded by God as being without sin and therefore a faithful child and therefore in a relationship with him. Christ's sacrifice achieves this end, an end which the law and its sacrificial system was unable to achieve. The perfection here is obviously one of status rather than state. Christ's cleansing of sin is effective in washing away the stain of sin rather than creating a state of sinless perfection. However, in eternal terms, what God regards so is so. "He has achieved the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified", NJB.

to dihnekeV "forever" - with perpetual effect. "Valid for ever", Barclay.

touV aJgiazomenouV pres. pas. part. "those who are being made holy" - the ones being sanctified. The participle functions as a substantive. The passive implies divine agency. In 10:10 a perfect tense is used, but here a present tense is used. Rather than expressing continuous action, the present tense may be a timeless present, so Bruce. "He made the sanctified perfect", Moffatt. This phrase details one of the practical results of Christ's perfect sacrifice. His sacrifice achieves three immediate results: i] We are freed from guilt. Christ takes our judgement upon himself and thus, we are no longer guilty in the sight of God. ii] We have access into the presence of God. We now stand before him accounted righteous in his sight and therefore in an enduring relationship with him. iii] We are now treated as an obedient son. We experience an outpouring of his Spirit such that we are led toward a righteous life, ie. being sanctified, holy, results in us becoming what we are (although always imperfectly while in our body of sin).

"In a few verses the writer of Hebrews brings the teaching part of his epistle (and this sermon) to a close. He summarizes the scriptural teachings of Jeremiah 31:33-34, quoted in chapter 8, and draws the conclusion that forgiven sin is forgiven", Kistemaker, v15-18.

marturei (marturew) pres. "testifies" - bears witness. Here, the Holy Spirit is identified as the author of scripture speaking through Jeremiah.

meta "first" - after. "For after [saying]", Moffatt.

to eirhkenai (eipon) perf. inf. "he says" - after he has said. The articular infinitive functioning as a citation formula, ie. introducing a dependent statement of saying, "he says that ....", "the Holy Spirit, bearing witness through the prophet Jeremiah, said."

hJ diaqhkh (h) "the covenant" - the agreement. Probably the "first covenant", cf. 10:1ff, but possibly the agreement to write the law upon our hearts for the forgiveness of sins. "When the time comes I will make an agreement with them", CEV.

proV autouV "with them" - Replaces "with the house of Israel" found in the original text. The writer is again editorializing the text to make his point. Here, the new covenant applies not just to Israel.

meta taV hJmeraV ekeinaV "after that time" - after those days. "In the days to come", TEV.

didouV (didwmi) pres. part. "I will put [my laws]" - putting. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "I will write", "I will put .... and I will write. The whole clause is in apposition with "this", "the covenant I will make ... is this, namely that I will put ...." "I will set my laws upon their hearts", Moffatt.

nomouV (oV) "laws" - Although a contentious issue, it is possible that the law written on the heart is most likely the obedience of Christ, which obedience enables "their sins and lawless acts" to be "remembered no more." Along with this, possibly even instead of it, It can be argued that Christ's obedience, the model of love, in the power of the indwelling Spirit, serves to shape obedience in the believer. "Jeremiah's prophecy, not only involved the implanting of God's laws, together with the will and power to carry them out, in the hearts of His people; it also conveyed the assurance that their past sins and iniquities would be eternally blotted out from God's record, never to be brought up in evidence against them", Bruce. Certainly for Hebrews, the blessing of v17 is achieved by means of Christ's fulfilment of the law, which fulfilment Christ writes within our being to cover sin.

"Then he adds" - Added for meaning, although not necessary, cf. NJB. "And then he goes on to say", Barclay.

twn anomiwn (a) "lawless acts" - iniquities. Emphasizing what God will remember no more.

mnhsqhsomai (mimnhskomai) fut. pas. "I will remember" - The LXX uses a subj., but Hebrews opts for the future tense to underline the sense of "will never ever remember."

ou mh "no more' - Double negative emphasizing the "never"; "I will never ever remember."

afesiV toutwn "[and where] these have been forgiven" - forgiveness, remission of these. Explains the extent of "remember no more." The sins are actually forgiven, and this through Christ's perfect sacrifice. "Where sins have been remitted."

ouketi adv. "there is no longer" - no longer. The "there" ekei, which would properly balance o{pou "where", is missing. Emphasizing the point that Christ's sacrifice has displaced the old cultic system. "Where God grants remission of sin there can be no question of making further atonement", Phillips. peri + gen. "for [sin]" - concerning [sin]. "Concerning" in the sense of "with reference to". "There is no longer any room for a sin offering", Cassirer.

Hebrews Introduction

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