Hebrews 8:4

For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Christ's priestly office is exercised in heaven, not earth; in the power of His resurrection life, not His earthly life. FOR. 'Aleph (') A B Delta read [ men (G3303) oun (G3767)] 'accordingly then.' IF ... - `if He were on earth He would not even [ oude (G3761)] be a priest' (cf. Hebrews 7:13); therefore, certainly, could not exercise the high priest's function in the earthly Holy of holies. SEEING THAT THERE ARE - now (the temple service not yet...

4._For if he were on earth, etc. _It is now beyond dispute that Christ is a high priest; but as the office of a judge does not exist without laws and statutes, so the office of sacrificing must be connected with Christ as a priest: yet he has no earthly or visible sacrifice; he cannot then be a priest on earth. We must always hold this truth that when the Apostle speaks of the death of Christ, he regards not the external action, but the spiritual benefit. He suffered death as men do, but as a priest he atoned for the sins of the world in a divine manner; there was an external shedding of blood, but there was also an internal and spiritual purgation; in a word, he died on earth, but the virtue and efficacy of his death proceeded from heaven. What immediately follows some render thus, “He could not be a priest of the number of those who offer gifts according to the Law.” But the words of t...

1-6 The substance, or summary, of what had been declared was, that Christians had such a High Priest as they needed. He took upon himself human nature, appeared on earth, and there gave himself as a sacrifice to God for the sins of his people. We must not dare to approach God, or to present any thing to him, but in and through Christ, depending upon his merits and mediation; for we are accepted only in the Beloved. In all obedience and worship, we should keep close to God's word, which is the only and perfect standard. Christ is the substance and end of the law of righteousness. But the covenant here referred to, was that made with Israel as a nation, securing temporal benefits to them. The promises of all spiritual blessings, and of eternal life, revealed in the gospel, and made sure through Christ, are of infinitely greater value. Let us bless God that we have a High Priest that suits...

Verse Hebrews 8:4. _FOR IF HE WERE ON EARTH_] As the Jewish temple was standing when this epistle was written, the whole temple service continued to be performed by the legal priests, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; therefore if Christ had been then on earth, he could not have performed the office of a priest, being of the tribe of Judah, to which tribe the office of the priesthood did not appertain. _THERE ARE PRIESTS THAT OFFER GIFTS_] This is an additional proof that this epistle was written before the destruction of Jerusalem. As the word θυσιαι, _sacrifices_, is not added here as it is in Hebrews 8:3, is it any evidence that bloody sacrifices had then ceased to be offered? Or, are both kinds included in the word δωρα, _gifts_? But is δωρον, a gift

FOR IF HE WERE ON EARTH, HE SHOULD NOT BE A PRIEST - He could not perform that office. The design of this is, to show a reason why he was removed to heaven. The reason was, that on earth there were those who were set apart to that office, and that he, not being of the same tribe with them, could not officiate as priest. There was an order of people here on earth consecrated already to that office, and hence, it was necessary that the Lord Jesus, in performing the functions of the office, should be removed to another sphere....

EXPOSITION THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST FULFILS THE SYMBOLISM OF THE AARONIC, AND IS ALONE AN ETERNAL REALITY. Christ's heavenly priesthood, shown above to be of a higher order than that of Aaron, destined to supersede it, is in this section of the Epistle (as intimated in the concluding verses of Hebrews 7:1) set forth in full as the reality foreshadowed by it. The two priesthoods are compared with respect to (1) their spheres, (2) their functions, (3) their effects; and, in the course of the exposition, the two c

FOR IF HE WERE ON EARTH, HE SHOULD NOT BE A PRIEST,.... The Socinians from hence attempt to prove that Christ was not a priest, and did not offer sacrifice on earth; whereas his coming into the world, and his appearance in human nature, was in the character of a priest, and to qualify himself for one; his death was his sacrifice, which was on earth; and he never offered but one sacrifice; and it was after he had offered himself that he went to heaven; so the sacrifices under the law were first offered, before their blood was carried within: but the meaning is, either if "that" was on earth, namely, what it was necessary he should have to offer; if his human nature had been earthly, had been of men, had come by ordinary generation, he had not been properly, only typically a priest, at most; and had been no better than the typical ones; yea, he would have been needless, nay, might not have...

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. Christ, the High Priest (Hebrews 8:1)_ 2. The old covenant and the new (Hebrews 8:7) Hebrews 7:1 The new priesthood which the better priest exerciseth in heaven furthermore implies also a change in the sacrifices and in the covenant. This is now more fully developed in the last three Chapter s of this section. There is first of all a summary. The priest we have is not ministering on earth but “we have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man.” Every high priest had to offer gifts and sacrifices, so it was of necessity that He also shoul

HEBREWS 8:1 TO HEBREWS 10:18. The greatness of the High Priest has now been sufficiently proved, and the writer proceeds to demonstrate the _greatness of His ministry._ This section constitutes the heart of the epistle, as we are expressly told in the opening verse. The point to which the whole discourse has been leading up (Hebrews 8:1) is this, that Jesus, having taken His place at God's right hand, exercises His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. He acts as High Priest in that eternal tabernacle of which the earthly one was only the shadow and symbol (Hebrews 8:2)....

The pith of what we are saying is this--it is just such a high priest we possess, a priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a high priest who is a minister of the sanctuary and of the real tabernacle, which the Lord, and not man, founded. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. It is therefore necessary that he should have something which he might offer. If then he had been upon earth, lie would not even have been a priest, for there already exist those who offer the gifts the law lays down, men whose service is but a shadowy outline of the heavenly order, just as Moses received instructions when he was about to complete the tabernacle--"See," it says, "that you do everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain." But, as things are, he has obtained a more excellent ministry, in so far as...