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, Hebrews 9:1 and he begins with the latter, which he distinguishes int... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN VERILY THE FIRST COVENANT HAD ORDINANCES OF DIVINE SERVICE,.... The design of the apostle in this chapter, as it stands in connection with what goes before, is to show the pre-eminence of Christ, from the tabernacle, and the things in it; as well as from the priesthood and covenant; and as also... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE WAS A TABERNACLE MADE,.... By the direction of Moses, according to the pattern showed him in the Mount: THE FIRST; that is, the first part of the tabernacle, called the holy place, in distinction from the holy of holies, which was the second part of the tabernacle; for otherwise there wer... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THE SECOND VAIL,.... Were there more vails than one? the Scripture speaks but of one, Exodus 26:31 there was indeed an hanging for the door of the tent, but that is not called a vail; nor was there more than one vail in the tabernacle, nor in the temple of Solomon; but in the second temple... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH HAD THE GOLDEN CENSER,.... There were various censers used by the priests in the daily service, but this was a peculiar one, which was used by the high priest on the day of atonement; on other days he used a silver censer, but on that day a golden one, and with it he entered into the holy of h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OVER IT THE CHERUBIM OF GLORY,.... Or "glorious cherubim", where the Shechinah, or divine glory, dwelt, Psalms 80:1. These were over the ark, and were in number two, as were the cherubim which God placed at the garden of Eden, Genesis 3:24 according to the opinion of the ancient Jews u; and very... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WHEN THESE THINGS WERE THUS ORDAINED,.... Or prepared and got ready; that is, when the tabernacle was finished, and set up, and provided with all its vessels and furniture: THE PRIESTS WENT ALWAYS INTO THE FIRST TABERNACLE; the first part of the tabernacle, which was called the holy place, Hebr... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 7 BUT INTO THE SECOND WENT THE HIGH PRIEST ALONE, ONCE EVERY YEAR,.... Though this is not expressed in so many words in Leviticus 16:2 only it is said that "Aaron came not at all times into the holy place within the vail"; yet it is the constant and generally received sense of the Jewish write... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY GHOST THIS SIGNIFYING,.... This shows that the Holy Ghost existed under the Old Testament; that he is a distinct person in the Godhead, a personal act being here ascribed to him; that he is truly and properly God, the God whose service the priests accomplished in the tabernacle; and by whom... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WAS A FIGURE FOR THE TIME THEN PRESENT,.... The tabernacle in general was a figure of Christ's human nature, Hebrews 8:2 and the most holy part of it was a figure of heaven itself, Hebrews 9:24 the whole service of it was typical and shadowy; but it was but a temporary figure; it was for that... [ Continue Reading ]
[WHICH STOOD] ONLY IN MEATS AND DRINKS,.... That is, along with the gifts and sacrifices offered, there only were meat offerings and drink offerings; things which only respect the body, and cannot therefore make perfect, as to the conscience; to which may be added, that while the tabernacle was stan... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT CHRIST BEING COME AN HIGH PRIEST,.... Christ is come, as appears from the cessation of civil government among the Jews, which was not to be till Shiloh came; from the destruction of the second temple, into which the Messiah was to come, and did; from the expiration of Daniel's weeks, at which he... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER BY THE BLOOD OF GOATS AND CALVES,.... With which the high priest entered into the holy place, within the vail, on the day of atonement, Leviticus 16:14 for Christ was not an high priest of the order of Aaron, nor could the blood of these creatures take away sin, nor would God accept of such... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND OF GOATS,.... Shed either on the day of atonement, or at any other time: the former of thee, Pausanias y relates, was drank by certain priestesses among the Grecians, whereby they were tried, whether they spoke truth or no if not, they were immediately punished; and the... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW MUCH MORE SHALL THE BLOOD OF CHRIST,.... Which is not the blood of a mere man, but the blood of the Son of God; and the argument is from the lesser to the greater; that if the ashes of the burnt heifer, which was a type of Christ in his sufferings, mixed with water, typically sanctified to the p... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR THIS CAUSE HE IS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,.... Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 8:8. This may refer both to what goes before, and what follows after; for Christ, that he might offer himself to God, and by his blood purge the consciences of his people from dead works, that so the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHERE A TESTAMENT IS,.... The covenant of grace, as administered under the Gospel dispensation, is a testament or will. The Jews have adopted the Greek word, here used, into their language, and pronounce it דייתיקי, and by it understand a dying man's last will and testament d. Some of them make... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A TESTAMENT IS OF FORCE AFTER MEN ARE DEAD,.... The necessity of Christ's death is here urged, from the nature and force of a testament or will, among men, which does not take place, and cannot be executed, till a man is dead. OTHERWISE IT IS OF NO STRENGTH AT ALL WHILST THE TESTATOR LIVETH; no... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREUPON NEITHER THE FIRST TESTAMENT,.... Or the first administration of the covenant of grace under the law: WAS DEDICATED WITHOUT BLOOD; or "confirmed" without it, that dispensation being a typical one; and that blood was typical of the blood of Christ, by which the new covenant or testament is... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHEN MOSES HAD SPOKEN EVERY PRECEPT,.... Contained in the decalogue, in the book of the covenant, everyone of the precepts in Exodus 22:1 for this is to be understood of the written law, and not of the oral law the Jews talk of, which they say Moses first delivered by word of mouth to Aaron, the... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE TESTAMENT,.... The first testament or covenant; this proves what the apostle had asserted in Hebrews 9:18 that it was dedicated with blood, or confirmed by it; compare with this Matthew 26:28 WHICH GOD HATH ENJOINED UNTO YOU; the people of Israel, to observe, and wh... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER, HE SPRINKLED LIKEWISE BOTH THE TABERNACLE,.... Not at the same time that he sprinkled the book and the people, for then there was no tabernacle; but afterwards, at the time that it was set up, when it was anointed with oil, Exodus 40:9 and though no mention is there made of blood, yet Jose... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALMOST ALL THINGS ARE BY THE LAW PURGED WITH BLOOD,.... All "except a few things", as the Arabic version renders it; for some things were cleansed by water, and others purged by fire, Numbers 31:23. Some join the word almost with the word purged, as if the sense was, that all things were purged... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS THEREFORE NECESSARY,.... On account of the divine appointment, and that types and antitypes might correspond; and especially it was necessary with respect to the Messiah, the substance and body of all types. So Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the text in Exodus 40:9: "and thou shalt take the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR CHRIST IS NOT ENTERED INTO THE HOLY PLACES MADE WITH HANDS,.... The most holy place in the tabernacle of Moses, or in the temple built by Solomon, and rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and repaired by Herod, WHICH ARE THE FIGURES OF THE TRUE; that is, the most holy place in the tabernacle and temple, was... [ Continue Reading ]
NOR YET THAT HE SHOULD OFFER HIMSELF OFTEN,.... Or at all again; which shows the perfection of his sacrifice, for justice was satisfied, the law fulfilled, sin done away, and complete salvation obtained at once; which lies against the errors of the Socinians, who say he offers himself now in heaven;... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEN MUST HE OFTEN HAVE SUFFERED SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD,.... For if it was necessary that he should often offer up himself now, which is the same as to suffer, since the sacrifice of himself, the same was necessary before; seeing sin was in the world from the beginning, and the saints... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE,.... Not a moral, or what is commonly called a spiritual death, nor an eternal one, but a corporeal one; which does not arise from the constitution of nature, but from the sin of man, and God's decree on account of it; by which it is fixed that men shall d... [ Continue Reading ]
SO CHRIST WAS ONCE OFFERED TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY,.... As man dies but once, Christ was offered but once, or he suffered and died but once; and that was not on his own account, or for his own sins, "but to bear the sins of many": not of angels but of men, and these not a few, but "many"; which is... [ Continue Reading ]