Hebrews 9

The first covenant had its own rules for worship, and a holy place that stood here on earth.

1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

NoteA covenant is a formal, binding agreement, closer to a treaty than to a private promise. "The first covenant" here means the arrangement God made with Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. Where the King James says "a worldly sanctuary," it does not mean a corrupt one: the Greek word means belonging to this world, that is, built on earth out of earthly materials.

2A tent was set up for it. In the first room were the lampstand, the table, and the bread that was set out before God. This room was called the Holy Place.

2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

NoteThe "tabernacle" was a portable tent shrine that Israel carried through the wilderness, described in Exodus 25 to 27. The King James "candlestick" is a branched stand holding lamps that burned olive oil, not wax candles. "Shewbread" is older English for show-bread, and translates a Hebrew phrase meaning bread of the Presence: twelve loaves laid out on a table before God and replaced each week.

3Behind the second curtain was another room, called the Most Holy Place.

3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

NoteThe tent was divided by hanging curtains, a screen at the entrance and a second curtain further in. The King James "the Holiest of all" reproduces a Hebrew way of forming a superlative, holy of holies, meaning the holiest room of all.

4It had the gold incense holder, and the ark of the covenant, covered all over with gold. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had sprouted buds, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

4Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

NoteThe Greek word behind "the golden censer" can mean either a handheld pan for burning incense or the altar of incense itself, and readers have long divided over which is meant, since Exodus places the incense altar in the outer room. Manna was the bread-like food Israel gathered in the wilderness (Exodus 16). Aaron's rod was the staff that sprouted overnight to confirm that his family, and no other, held the priesthood (Numbers 17). The King James "tables of the covenant" means the stone tablets on which the commandments were cut; "table" once meant any flat writing surface.

5Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, winged figures whose shadow fell over the mercy seat, the ark's cover. We cannot go into detail about these things now.

5And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

Note"Cherubims" is a double plural: the -im ending is already the Hebrew plural, so the singular is cherub. They were winged composite figures, guardians of a sacred space, not the plump infants of later art. The "mercyseat" was the solid gold lid of the ark; the Greek word means place of atonement, and it was on this lid that the high priest sprinkled blood once a year.

6Once everything was arranged this way, the priests went regularly into the first room to carry out their duties in worship.

6Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

NoteThe King James "accomplishing the service of God" means carrying out the daily round of ritual duties: tending the lamps, burning incense, and setting out the bread.

7But only the high priest went into the second room, and only once a year, and never without blood. He offered that blood for himself and for the sins the people had committed without knowing.

7But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

NoteThe one day a year was the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, whose ritual is set out in Leviticus 16. The King James "errors" translates a word for offenses committed unknowingly or by mistake; the law drew a sharp line between those and deliberate defiance, and this ritual covered the first kind.

8By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been opened, as long as the first tent was still standing.

8The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

Note"Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" are the same phrase: in 1611 "ghost" simply meant spirit. "Made manifest" means made known or opened up, not made obvious.

9That tent is a picture for the present time. Under it, gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not clear the conscience of the person worshiping.

9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

Note"A figure" here does not mean a number or a person. It translates the Greek word for a parable or comparison: something that stands for something else. "For the time then present" means for the period that was in force at the time.

10They dealt only with food and drink and various ceremonial washings. These were outward rules for the body, put in place until the time when God would set things right.

10Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

NoteSeveral King James words have shifted. "Meats" meant food of any kind, not just flesh. "Divers" is an older form of diverse, meaning various. "Carnal" here means bodily or physical, with no sexual sense; these were rules about the outside of a person. "The time of reformation" means the time of setting things straight or putting them right, and has nothing to do with the sixteenth-century Reformation.

11But Christ came as high priest of the good things that have now come. He went through the greater and more perfect tent, the one not made by human hands, that is, not part of this created world.

11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

NoteThe King James "not of this building" means not belonging to this created order. "Building" here is used for the whole made world, not for a structure.

12He did not enter with the blood of goats and calves. He entered the holy place once and for all with his own blood, and so he won a rescue for us that lasts forever.

12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Note"Once" in the King James often carries the force of once for all: a single act that is never repeated, not simply on one occasion. "Redemption" is commercial language: the price paid to buy back a slave, a prisoner of war, or forfeited property, and so a rescue that costs something.

13The blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who were unclean, set such people apart and made their bodies clean.

13For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

NoteThe ritual of the heifer is in Numbers 19: a red heifer was burned outside the camp and its ashes were mixed with water, then sprinkled on anyone who had been in contact with a corpse. "Unclean" does not mean dirty or immoral. It means ritually disqualified from approaching the sanctuary, a state one could enter by ordinary events such as touching a dead body or giving birth. "Sanctifieth" means sets apart as fit for worship again.

14If that is so, how much more will the blood of Christ clean your conscience from dead works, so that you can serve the living God? Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God without any flaw.

14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Note"Without spot" is sacrificial language: an animal offered had to be unblemished, with no defect. "Purge" means cleanse, not purge in the sense of removing people. "Dead works" is genuinely ambiguous in the Greek and has been read both as deeds that lead to death and as deeds that are lifeless and get nowhere.

15This is why he is the go-between of a new covenant. His death has paid for the wrongs committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised inheritance that lasts forever.

15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

NoteThe King James uses "testament" here and "covenant" elsewhere, but the underlying Greek word is one and the same, diatheke, which covers both a binding agreement between parties and a person's last will. The writer is about to play on that double sense in the next two verses, which is why the English word changes. A "mediator" is the person who stands between two parties and puts an agreement into effect.

16Where there is a will, the death of the person who made it must be established.

16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

Note"Testator" is the legal term for the person who made the will. The argument only works in Greek, where one word means both covenant and will.

17A will only takes effect after the person has died. It has no force at all while the one who made it is still alive.

17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

18That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

18Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

Note"Dedicated" here has its old legal force: inaugurated, formally brought into effect.

19When Moses had told all the people every command of the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and a hyssop branch. He sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people.

19For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

NoteThe scene is Exodus 24, where Moses reads the covenant terms aloud and sprinkles blood. "Precept" means a command or regulation. Hyssop is a small bushy plant whose stalks were bound together and used as a sprinkler; scarlet wool and hyssop appear together in the purification rites of Numbers 19. "The book" was a scroll, not a bound volume.

20He said, "This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep."

20Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

NoteMoses is quoted from Exodus 24:8. "Enjoined unto you" means laid upon you as a binding obligation.

21In the same way, he sprinkled blood on the tent and on all the containers and tools used in worship.

21Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

Note"The vessels of the ministry" means the bowls, pans, snuffers and other implements used in the service of the sanctuary. "Ministry" here means the work of worship, not a person's office.

22In fact, under the law almost everything is made clean with blood, and without blood being poured out there is no forgiveness.

22And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Note"Purged" means cleansed. "Remission" is the old legal word for release or letting go, as of a debt or a prisoner, and so comes to mean forgiveness. The King James "almost all things" reflects the fact that the law allowed a few exceptions, such as flour offered by the very poor.

23So the copies of the things in the heavens had to be made clean by these sacrifices. But the heavenly things themselves needed better sacrifices than these.

23It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Note"The patterns of things in the heavens" does not mean designs to be copied from. It means the copies themselves, the earthly replicas modeled on a heavenly original.

24Christ did not enter a holy place made by human hands, which is only a copy of the real one. He entered heaven itself, and he is now there in God's presence for us.

24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Note"The figures of the true" means the copies or representations of the real thing. "To appear in the presence of God" uses courtroom and court language: to present oneself before the ruler on someone's behalf.

25He did not go there to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the holy place every year with blood that is not his own.

25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

Note"Blood of others" means blood that was not his own, that is, the blood of animals.

26If he had, he would have had to suffer over and over since the world was made. But as it is, he has appeared once, at the end of the ages, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself.

26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Note"Since the foundation of the world" means since the world was founded, at creation. "In the end of the world" translates a phrase meaning at the completion of the ages: a decisive turning point in history, not the destruction of the planet.

27People are appointed to die once, and after that comes judgment.

27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

28In the same way, Christ was offered once to carry the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

NoteThe King James "without sin" here does not describe Christ's character. It means apart from sin, that is, his second appearance will not be concerned with dealing with sin as the first was.