         
- CLARKE'S COMMENTARY -
Chapter 9
- Of the first covenant, and its ordinances, 1.
- The
tabernacle, candlestick, table, show-bread, veil, holy of
holies, censer, ark, pot of manna, Aaron's rod, tables of
the covenant, cherubim of glory, and mercy seat,
2-5.
- How the priests served, 6,7.
- What was signified
by the service, 8-10.
- The superior excellency of
Christ's ministry and sacrifice, and the efficacy of
his blood, 11-26.
- As men must once die and be judged,
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,
and shall come without a sin-offering, a second time,
to them that expect him, 27,28.
Verse 1. The first covenant
had also ordinances
Our translators have
introduced the word covenant, as if διαθηκη had been,
if not originally in the text, yet in the apostle's mind.
Several MSS., but not of good note, as well as printed
editions, with the Coptic version, have σκηνη
tabernacle; but this is omitted by ABDE, several
others, both the Syriac, AEthiopic, Armenian,
Vulgate, some copies of the Itala, and several of
the Greek fathers; it is in all probability a spurious
reading, the whole context showing that covenant is
that to which the apostle refers, as that was the subject in
the preceding chapter, and this is a continuation of the same
discourse.
Ordinances
δικαιωματα. Rites and ceremonies.
A worldly
sanctuary.
αγιονκοσμικον. It is supposed
that the term worldly, here, is opposed to the term
heavenly, Hebrews
8:5; and that the whole should be referred to the
carnality or secular nature of the tabernacle service. But I
think there is nothing plainer than that the apostle is
speaking here in praise of this sublimely emblematic
service, and hence he proceeds to enumerate the various things
contained in the first tabernacle, which added vastly to its
splendour and importance; such as the table of the
show-bread, the golden candlestick, the golden censer, the ark
of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was
the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded,
and the two tables which God had written with his own finger:
hence I am led to believe that κοσμικος is here taken in its
proper, natural meaning, and signifies adorned,
embellished, splendid; and hence κοσμος, the world:
Tota hujus universi machina, coelum et terram
complectens et quicquid utroque contineter, κοσμος
dicitur, quod nihil ea est mundius, pulchrius,
et ornatius. "The whole machine of this universe,
comprehending the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is
contained in both, is called κοσμος, because nothing is more
beautiful, more fair, and more elegant."
So Pliny, Hist. Nat., l. ii. c. 5: Nam quem κοσμον
Graeci nomine ornamenti appellaverunt, eum nos a
perfecta absolutaque elegantia, MUNDUM. "That which the Greeks
call κοσμος, ornament, we, (the Latins,) from its
perfect and absolute elegance call mundum, world."
See on "Ge 2:1".
The Jews believe that the tabernacle was an epitome of the
world; and it is remarkable, when speaking of their city, that
they express this sentiment by the same Greek word, in Hebrew
letters, which the apostle uses here: so in Bereshith
Rabba, s. 19, fol. 19: col kozmikon (κοσμικον)
shelo sham hu. "All his world is placed there." Philo
says much to the same purpose.
If my exposition be not admitted, the next most likely is,
that God has a worldly tabernacle as well as a
heavenly one; that he as truly dwelt in the
Jewish tabernacle as he did in the heaven of heavens; the one
being his worldly house, the other his heavenly
house.
TOP Adam Clark
Verse 2. For there was a tabernacle
made; the first, wherein
The sense is here
very obscure, and the construction involved: leaving out all
punctuation, which is the case with all the very ancient MSS.,
the verse stands thus: σκηνηγαρκατεσκευασθηη
πρωτηενηητελυχνιακτλ which I suppose an indifferent person,
who understood the language, would without hesitation render,
For, there was the first tabernacle constructed, in
which were the candlestick, . And this tabernacle
or dwelling may be called the first dwelling place
which God had among men, to distinguish it from the
second dwelling place, the temple built by Solomon; for
tabernacle here is to be considered in its general sense, as
implying a dwelling.
To have a proper understanding of what the apostle relates
here, we should endeavour to take a concise view of the
tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness. This tabernacle
was the epitome of the Jewish temple; or rather, according to
this as a model was the Jewish temple built. It comprised, 1.
The court where the people might enter. 2. In this was
contained the altar of burnt-offerings, on which were offered
the sacrifices in general, besides offerings of bread, wine,
and other things. 3. At the bottom or lower end of this court
was the tent of the covenant; the two principal parts
of the tabernacle were, the holy place and the holy of holies.
In the temple built by Solomon there was a court for the
Levites, different from that of the people; and, at the
entrance of the holy place, a vestibule. But in the tabernacle
built by Moses these parts were not found, nor does the
apostle mention them here.
In the holy place, as the apostle observes, there were,
1. The golden candlestick of seven branches, on the
south.
2. The golden altar, or altar of incense, on the
north.
3. The altar, or table of the show-bread; or where the
twelve loaves, representing the twelve tribes, were laid
before the Lord.
1. In each branch of the golden candlestick was a lamp;
these were lighted every evening, and extinguished every
morning. They were intended to give light by night. 2. The
altar of incense was of gold; and a priest, chosen by lot each
week, offered incense every morning and evening in a golden
censer, which he probably left on the altar after the
completion of the offering. 3. The table of the show-bread was
covered with plates of gold; and on this, every Sabbath, they
placed twelve loaves in two piles, six in each, which
continued there all the week till the next Sabbath, when they
were removed, and fresh loaves put in their place. The whole
of this may be seen in all its details in the book of Exodus,
from chap. 35 to 40. See Calmet also.
Which is called the
sanctuary.
ητιςλεγεταιαγια. This is
called holy. This clause may apply to any of the nouns
in this verse, in the nominative case, which are all of the
feminine gender; and the adjective αγια, holy, may be
considered here as the nominative singular feminine, agreeing
with ητις. Several editions accent the words in
reference to this construction. The word σκηνη,
tabernacle, may be the proper antecedent; and then we
may read αγια, instead of αγια: but these niceties belong
chiefly to grammarians,
Verse 3. And after the second
veil
The first veil, of which the apostle
has not yet spoken, was at the entrance of the holy place, and
separated the temple from the court, and prevented the people,
and even the Levites, from seeing what was in the holy place.
The second veil, of which the apostle speaks here,
separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
The tabernacle, which is called
the Holiest of all
That is, that part of
the tabernacle which is called the holy of holies.
Verse 4. Which had the golden
censer
It is evident that the apostle
speaks here of the tabernacle built by Moses, and of the state
and contents of that tabernacle as they were during the
lifetime of Moses. For, as Calmet remarks, in the temple which
was afterwards built there were many things added which
were not in the tabernacle, and several things left
out. The ark of the covenant and the two tables of the law
were never found after the return from the Babylonish
captivity. We have no proof that, even in the time of Solomon,
the golden pot of manna, or the rod of Aaron, was either in or
near the ark. In Solomon's temple the holy place was separated
from the holy of holies by a solid wall, instead of a
veil, and by strong wooden doors, 1 Kings
6:31-33. In the same temple there was a large vestibule
before the holy place; and round about this and the holy of
holies there were many chambers in three stories, 1 Kings
6:5,6. But there was nothing of all this in the Mosaic
tabernacle; therefore, says Calmet, we need not trouble
ourselves to reconcile the various scriptures which mention
this subject; some of which refer to the tabernacle, others to
Solomon's temple, and others to the temple built by Zorobabel;
which places were very different from each other.
The apostle says that the golden censer was in the
holy of holies; but this is nowhere mentioned by Moses. But he
tells us that the high priest went in, once every year, with
the golden censer to burn incense; and Calmet thinks this
censer was left there all the year, and that its
place was supplied by a new one, brought in by the priest the
year following. Others think it was left just within the veil,
so that the priest, by putting his hand under the curtain,
could take it out, and prepare it for his next entrance into
the holiest.
The ark of the
covenant
This was a sort of chest overlaid
with plates of gold, in which the two tables of the law,
Aaron's rod, the pot of manna, propitiatory or mercy-seat.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 5. And over it the cherubims
of glory
Cherubim is the plural of
cherub, and it is absurd to add our plural termination
(s) to the plural termination of the Hebrew. The glory
here signifies the shechinah or symbol of the Divine
presence.
Shadowing the
mercy-seat
One at each end of the ark, with
their faces turned toward each other, but looking down on the
cover or propitiatory, ιλαστηριον, here called the
mercy-seat.
Of which we cannot now speak
particularly.
The apostle did not judge any
farther account of these to be necessary; and I may be excused
from considering them particularly here, having said so much
on each in the places where they occur in the Pentateuch. What
these point out or signify is thus explained by St. Cyril:
Christus licet unus sit, multifariam tamen a nobis
intelligitur: Ipse est Tabernaculum propter carnis
tegumenturn: Ipse est Mensa, quia noster cibus est et
vita: Ipse est Arca habens legem Dei reconditam, quia
est Verbum Patris: Ipse est Candelabrum, quia est lux
spiritualis: Ipse est Altare incensi, quia est odor
suavitatis in sanctificationem: Ipse est Altare
holocausti, quia est hostia pro totius mundi vita in cruce
oblata. "Although Christ be but one, yet he is understood by
us under a variety of forms. He is the Tabernacle, on
account of the human body in which he dwelt. He is the
Table, because he is our Bread of life. He is the
Ark which has the law of God enclosed within, because
he is the Word of the Father. He is the Candlestick,
because he is our spiritual light. He is the Altar of
incense, because he is the sweet-smelling odour of
sanctification. He is the Altar of
burnt-offering, because he is the victim, by death on
the cross, for the sins of the whole world." This father has
said, in a few words, what others have employed whole volumes
on, by refining, spiritualizing, and allegorizing.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 6. When these thing were thus
ordained
When the tabernacle was made, and
its furniture placed in it, according to the Divine direction.
The priests went always into the
first Tabernacle
That is, into the first
part of the tabernacle, or holy place, into which he went
every day twice, accomplishing the services,
ταςλατρειας επιτελουντες, which included his burning the
incense at the morning and evening sacrifice, dressing the
lamps, removing the old show-bread and laying on the new, and
sprinkling the blood of the sin-offerings before the veil Leviticus
4:6: and for these works he must have constant access
to the place.
Verse 7. But into the
second
That is, the holy of holies, or
second part of the tabernacle, the high priest
alone, once every year, that is, on one day in the year
only, which was the day on which the general atonement was
made. The high priest could enter into this place only on one
day in the year; but on that day he might enter several times.
See Lev. 16.
Not without blood
The day prescribed by the law for this great solemnity was
the tenth of the month Tisri, in which the high priest
brought in the incense or perfumes, which he placed on the
golden censer; he brought also the blood of the bullock; and
sprinkled some portion of it seven times before the ark, and
the veil which separated the holy place from the holy of
holies. See Leviticus
16:14. He then came out, and, taking some of the blood of
the goat which had been sacrificed, he sprinkled it between
the veil and the ark of the covenant, Leviticus
16:15.
Which he offered for himself, and
for the errors of the people
υπερτωντουλαουαγνοηματων. For transgressions of which they
were not conscious: there were so many niceties in the ritual
worship of the Jews, and so many ways in which they might
offend against the law and incur guilt, that it was found
necessary to institute sacrifices to atone for these sins of
ignorance. And as the high priest was also clothed with
infirmity, he required to have an interest in the same
sacrifice, on the same account. This was a national sacrifice;
and by it the people understood that they were absolved from
all the errors of the past year, and that they now had a
renewed right of access to the mercy-seat.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 8. The Holy Ghost this
signifying
These services were divinely
appointed, and by each of them the Holy Spirit of God is
supposed to speak.
The way into the
holiest
That full access to God was not the
common privilege of the people, while the Mosaic
economy subsisted. That the apostle means that it is only by
Christ that any man and every man can approach God, is evident
from Hebrews
10:19-22, and it is about this, and not about the
tabernacle of this world, that he is here discoursing.
I have already observed that the apostle appears to use the
word σκηνη, or tabernacle, in the general sense of a
dwelling place; and therefore applies it to the
temple, which was reputed the house or
dwelling place of God, as well as the ancient
tabernacle. Therefore, what he speaks here concerning
the first tabernacle, may be understood as applying
with propriety to the then Jewish temple, as well as to
the ancient tabernacle, which, even with all their sacrifices
and ceremonies, could not make the way of holiness plain, nor
the way to God's favour possible.
Verse 9. Which
Tabernacle and its services, was a figure,
παραβολη, a dark enigmatical representation, for the time
then present-for that age and dispensation, and for
all those who lived under it.
In which, καθον, during which, time or
dispensation were offered both gifts and
sacrifices-eucharistic offerings and victims for
sin, that could not make him that did the service,
whether the priest who made the offering, or the
person who brought it in the behalf of his soul,
perfect as pertaining to the conscience-could
not take away guilt from the mind, nor purify the conscience
from dead works. The whole was a figure, or dark
representation, of a spiritual and more glorious system: and
although a sinner, who made these offerings and
sacrifices according to the law, might be considered as having
done his duty, and thus he would be exempted from many
ecclesiastical and legal disabilities and punishments; yet his
conscience would ever tell him that the guilt of sin
was still remaining, and that it was impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take it away. Thus even he
that did the service best continued to be imperfect-had
a guilty conscience, and an unholy heart.
The words καθον, in which, referred in the above
paraphrase to τονκαιρον, the time, are read καθην by
ABD, and several others, one copy of the Slavonic, the
Vulgate, and some of the fathers, and thus refer
to τηνσκηνην, the tabernacle; and this is the reading
which our translators appear to have followed. Griesbach
places it in his margin, as a very probable reading;
but I prefer the other.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 10. In meats and drinks, and
divers washings
He had already mentioned
eucharistic and sacrificial offerings, and nothing properly
remained but the different kinds of clean and unclean animals
which were used, or forbidden to be used, as articles of food;
together with the different kinds or drinks, washings,
βαπτισμοις, baptisms, immersions, sprinklings and
washings of the body and the clothes, and carnal
ordinances, or things which had respect merely to the
body, and could have no moral influence upon the soul,
unless considered in reference to that of which they were the
similitudes, or figures.
Carnal ordinances
δικαιωματασαρκος. Rites and ceremonies pertaining merely
to the body. The word carnal is not used here,
nor scarcely in any part of the New Testament, in that
catachrestical or degrading sense in which many
preachers and professors of Christianity take the liberty to
use it.
Imposed on them until the
time of reformation.
These rites and
ceremonies were enacted, by Divine authority, as proper
representations of the Gospel system, which should reform and
rectify all things.
The time of reformation, καιροςδιορθωσεως, the
time of rectifying, signifies the Gospel
dispensation, under which every thing is set straight;
every thing referred to its proper purpose and end; the
ceremonial law fulfilled and abrogated; the moral law
exhibited and more strictly enjoined; (see our Lord's sermon
upon the mount;) and the spiritual nature of God's worship
taught, and grace promised to purify the heart: so that,
through the power of the eternal Spirit, all that was
wrong in the soul is rectified; the affections,
passions, and appetites purified; the understanding
enlightened; the judgment corrected; the will refined; in a
word, all things made new.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 11. But Christ being come a
high priest of good things
I think this and
the succeeding verses not happily translated: indeed, the
division of them has led to a wrong translation;
therefore they must be taken together, thus: But the
Christ, the high priest of those good things (or
services) which were to come, through a
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands, that is, not of the same workmanship, entered
once for all into the sanctuary; having obtained
eternal redemption for us, not by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood, Hebrews
9:13. For if the blood of GOATS, and bulls, and
calves, and a heifer's ashes, sprinkled on the unclean,
sanctifieth to the cleansing of the flesh, 9:14,)
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the
eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God,
cleanse your consciences from dead works, in order to
worship (or that ye may worship) the living
God?
In the above translation I have added, in Hebrews
9:13, τραγων, of goats, on the authority of ABDE,
three others, the Syriac, the Arabic of Erpen,
Coptic, Vulgate, two copies of the Itala, and
Theodoret. And I have rendered ειςτολατρευειν, 9:14,)
IN ORDER to worship, or THAT YE MAY worship; for
this is the meaning of these particles ειςτο in many parts of
the New Testament. I shall now make a few observations on some
of the principal expressions.
High priest of good
things
Or services, to come,
τωνμελλοντων αγαθων. He is the High Priest of Christianity; he
officiates in the behalf of all mankind; for by him are all
the prayers, praises, and services of mankind offered to God;
and he ever appears in the presence of God for us.
A greater and more perfect
tabernacle
This appears to mean our Lord's
human nature. That, in which dwelt all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily, was fitly typified by the tabernacle and
temple, in both of which the majesty of God dwelt.
Not made with hands
Though our Lord's body was a perfect human body, yet it
did not come in the way of natural generation; his
miraculous conception will sufficiently justify the
expressions used here by the apostle.
Verse 12. But by his own
blood
Here the redemption of man is
attributed to the blood of Christ; and this blood is
stated to be shed in a sacrificial way, precisely as
the blood of bulls, goats and calves was shed under the law.
Once
Once
for all, εφαπαξ, in opposition to the annual
entering of the high priest into the holiest, with the blood
of the annual victim.
The holy place
Or sanctuary, τααγια, signifies heaven, into
which Jesus entered with his own blood, as the high priest
entered into the holy of holies with the blood of the
victims which he had sacrificed.
Eternal redemption
αιωνιανλυτρωσιν. A redemption price which should stand
good for ever, when once offered; and an endless
redemption from sin, in reference to the pardon of
which, and reconciliation to God, there needs no other
sacrifice: it is eternal in its merit and
efficacy.
Verse 13. Sanctifieth to the
purifying of the flesh
Answers the end
proposed by the law; namely, to remove legal disabilities and
punishments, having the body and its interests
particularly in view, though adumbrating or typifying the soul
and its concerns.
Verse 14. Who through the eternal
Spirit
This expression is understood two
ways: 1. Of the Holy Ghost himself. As Christ's miraculous
conception was by the Holy Spirit, and he wrought
all his miracles by the Spirit of God, so his
death or final offering was made through or by the
eternal Spirit; and by that Spirit he was
raised from the dead, 1 Peter
3:18. Indeed, through the whole of his life be was
justified by the Spirit; and we find that in this great
work of human redemption, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit were continually employed: therefore the words may be
understood of the Holy Spirit properly. 2. Of the eternal
Logos or Deity which dwelt in the man Christ Jesus,
through the energy of which the offering of his humanity
became an infinitely meritorious victim; therefore the Deity
of Christ is here intended. But we cannot well consider one of
these distinct from the other; and hence probably arose the
various readings in the MSS. and versions on this article.
Instead of διαπνευματος αιωνιου, by the ETERNAL
Spirit, διαπνευματοςαγιου, by the HOLY
Spirit, is the reading of D*, and more than twenty
others of good note, besides the Coptic, Slavonic,
Vulgate, two copies of the Itala, Cyril, Athanasius
sometimes, Damascenus, Chrysostom, and some others. But
the common reading is supported by ABD**, and others, besides
the Syriac, all the Arabic, Armenian,
AEthiopic, Athanasius generally, Theodoret,
Theophylact, and Ambrosius. This, therefore, is the
reading that should he preferred, as it is probable that the
Holy Ghost, not the Logos, is what the apostle
had more immediately in view. But still we must say, that the
Holy Spirit, with the eternal Logos, and the
almighty Father, equally concurred in offering up the
sacrifice of the human nature of Christ, in order to make
atonement for the sin of the world.
Purge your
conscience
καθαριειτηνσυνειδησιν. Purify
your conscience. The term purify should be
everywhere, both in the translation of the Scriptures, and in
preaching the Gospel, preferred to the word purge,
which, at present, is scarcely ever used in the sense in which
our translators have employed it.
Dead works
Sin
in general, or acts to which the penalty of
death is annexed by the law. See the phrase
explained, "Heb 6:1".
Verse 15. And for this
cause
Some translate διατουτο, on
account of this (blood.) Perhaps it means no more than
a mere inference, such as therefore, or
wherefore.
He is the Mediator of the new
testament
There was no proper reason why
our translators should render διαθηκη by testament
here, when in almost every other case they render it
covenant, which is its proper ecclesiastical meaning,
as answering to the Hebrew berith, which see largely
explained, Genesis
15:10, and in other places of the Pentateuch.
Very few persons are satisfied with the translation of the
following verses to the 20th, particularly the
16th and 17th; at all events the word
covenant must be retained. He-Jesus Christ, is
Mediator; the μεσιτης, or mediator, was the
person who witnessed the contract made between the two
contracting parties, slew the victim, and sprinkled each with
its blood.
Of the new
testament
The new contract betwixt
God and the whole human race, by Christ Jesus the
Mediator, distinguished here from the old covenant
between God and the Israelites, in which Moses
was the mediator.
That by means of
death
His own death upon the cross.
For the redemption of the
transgressions
To make atonement for the
transgressions which were committed under the old covenant,
which the blood of bulls and calves could not do; so the death
of Jesus had respect to all the time antecedent to it, as well
as to all the time afterward till the conclusion of the world.
They which are
called
The GENTILES, might receive
the promise-might, by being brought into a covenant
with God, have an equal right with the Jews, not merely
to an inheritance such as the promised land, but to an
eternal inheritance, and consequently infinitely
superior to that of the Jews, inasmuch as the new covenant is
superior in every point of view to the old.
How frequently the Gentiles are termed οικλητοι and
οι κεκλημενοι, the called, all St. Paul's writings
show. And they were thus termed because they were
called and elected in the place of the Jews, the
ancient called and elect, who were now
divorced and reprobated because of their
disobedience.
Verse 16. For where a testament
is
A learned and judicious friend furnishes
me with the following translation of this and the 17th
verse:-
"For where there is a covenant, it is necessary that the
death of the appointed victim should be exhibited,
because a covenant is confirmed over dead victims,
since it is not at all valid while the appointed victim
is alive."
He observes, "There is no word signifying testator,
or men, in the original. διαθεμενος is not a
substantive, but a participle, or a participial adjective,
derived from the same root as διατηκη, and must have a
substantive understood. I therefore render it the
disposed or appointed victim, alluding to the
manner of disposing or setting apart the pieces
of the victim, when they were going to ratify a covenant; and
you know well the old custom of ratifying a covenant, to which
the apostle alludes. I refer to your own notes on Genesis
6:18, and ; 15:10.-J.
C."
Mr. Wakefield has translated the passage nearly in the same
way.
"For where a covenant is, there must be necessarily
introduced the death of that which establisheth the
covenant; because a covenant is confirmed over dead
things, and is of no force at all whilst that which
establisheth the covenant is alive." This is undoubtedly the
meaning of this passage; and we should endeavour to forget
that testament and testator were ever
introduced, as they totally change the apostle's meaning. See
the observations at the end of this chapter.
Verse 18. Whereupon
οθεν. Wherefore, as a victim was required
for the ratification of every covenant, the first covenant
made between God and the Hebrews, by the mediation of Moses,
was not dedicated, εγκεκαινισται, renewed or
solemnized, without blood-without the death of a
victim, and the aspersion of its blood.
Verse 19. When Moses had spoken
every precept
The place to which the
apostle alludes is Exodus
24:4-8, where the reader is requested to consult the
notes.
And sprinkled both the
book
The sprinkling of the book is
not mentioned in the place to which the apostle refers, (see
above,) nor did it in fact take place. The words
αυτοτετοβιβλιον, and the book itself, should be
referred to λαβων, having taken, and not to ερραντισε,
he sprinkled; the verse should therefore be read thus:
For after every commandment of the law had been recited
by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the
calves, and of the goats, with water and scarlet wool,
and the book itself, and sprinkled all the people.
The rite was performed thus: Having received the blood of the
calves and goats into basins, and mingled it with water to
prevent it from coagulating, he then took a bunch of
hyssop, and having bound it together with thread
made of scarlet wool, he dipped this in the basin, and
sprinkled the blood and water upon the people who were nearest
to him, and who might be considered on this occasion the
representatives of all the rest; for it is impossible that he
should have had blood enough to have sprinkled the whole of
the congregation.
Some think that the blood was actually sprinkled upon
the book itself, which contained the written
covenant, to signify that the covenant itself was ratified by
the blood.
Verse 20. This is the blood
of the testament
(covenant.) Our
Lord refers to the conduct of Moses here, and partly quotes
his words in the institution of the eucharist: This is my
blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins, Matthew
26:28. And by thus using the words and applying them, he
shows that his sacrificial blood was intended by the
blood shed and sprinkled on this occasion, and that by it
alone the remission of sins is obtained.
Verse 21. He sprinkled-with
blood-all the vessels of the ministry.
To intimate that every thing used by sinful man is
polluted, and that nothing can be acceptable in the sight of a
holy God that has not in effect the sprinkling of the atoning
blood.
Verse 22. And almost all things
are-purged with blood
The apostle says
almost, because in some cases certain vessels were
purified by water, some by fire, Numbers
31:23, and some with the ashes of the red
heifer, Numbers
19:2-10, but it was always understood that every thing was
at first consecrated by the blood of the victim.
And without shedding of blood is
no remission.
The apostle shows fully here
what is one of his great objects in the whole of this epistle,
viz. that there is no salvation but through the sacrificial
death of Christ, and to prefigure this the law itself would
not grant any remission of sin without the blood of a victim.
This is a maxim even among the Jews themselves, ein
capparah ella bedam, "There is no expiation but by blood."
Yoma, fol. 5,1; Menachoth, fol. 93,2. Every
sinner has forfeited his life by his transgressions,
and the law of God requires his death; the blood of the
victim, which is its life, is shed as a
substitute for the life of the sinner. By these
victims the sacrifice of Christ was typified. He gave his
life for the life of the world; human life for
human life, but a life infinitely dignified by its union with
God.
Verse 23. The patterns of things in
the heavens
That is: The tabernacle and all
its utensils, services, by these, viz.: The blood of
calves and goats, and the sprinkling of the blood and
water with the bunch of hyssop bound about with scarlet
wool. These are called patterns, υποδειγματα,
exemplars, earthly things, which were the
representatives of heavenly things. And there is no doubt that
every thing in the tabernacle, its parts, divisions, utensils,
ministry, appointed by God, were representations of
celestial matters; but how far and in what
way we cannot now see.
Purification implies, not only cleansing from
defilement, but also dedication or consecration.
All the utensils employed in the tabernacle service were thus
purified though incapable of any moral pollution.
But the heavenly things
themselves
Some think this means
heaven itself, which, by receiving the sacrificed body
of Christ, which appears in the presence of God for us, may be
said to be purified, i.e., set apart for the
reception of the souls of those who have found redemption in
his blood. 2. Others think the body of Christ is
intended, which is the tabernacle in which his Divinity
dwelt; and that this might be said to be purified by
its own sacrifice, as he is said, John
17:19, to sanctify himself; that is, to
consecrate himself unto God as a sin-offering for the
redemption of man. 3. Others suppose the Church is intended,
which he is to present to the Father without
spot or wrinkle or any such thing. 4. As
the entrance to the holy of holies must be made by the
sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice, and as that holy of
holies represented heaven, the apostle's meaning seems
to be that there was and could be no entrance to the holiest
but through his blood; and therefore, when by a more perfect
tabernacle, Hebrews
9:11,12, he passed into the heavens, not with the blood of
bulls and goats, but by his own blood, he thus purified or
laid open the entrance to the holiest, by a more valuable
sacrifice than those required to open the entrance of the holy
of holies. It was necessary, therefore, for God had
appointed it so, that the tabernacle and its
parts, which were patterns of things in the
heavens, should be consecrated and entered
with such sacrifices as have already been mentioned; but the
heaven of heavens into which Jesus entered, and whither he
will bring all his faithful followers, must be propitiated,
consecrated, and entered, by the infinitely better
sacrifice of his own body and blood. That this is the
meaning appears from the following verse.
Verse 24. Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands
He
is not gone into the holy of holies of the
tabernacle or temple, as the Jewish high priest
does once in the year with the blood of the victim, to
sprinkle it before the mercy-seat there; but into heaven
itself, which he has thus opened to all believers, having
made the propitiatory offering by which both he and those whom
he represents are entitled to enter and enjoy eternal
blessedness. And hence we may consider that Christ, appearing
in his crucified body before the throne, is a real offering of
himself to the Divine justice in behalf of man; and that there
he continues in the constant act of being offered, so that
every penitent and believer, coming unto God through him, find
him their ever ready and available sacrifice, officiating as
the High Priest of mankind in the presence of God.
Verse 25. Nor yet that he should
offer himself often
The sacrifice of Christ
is not like that of the Jewish high priest; his must be
offered every year, Christ has offered himself once
for all: and this sacrificial act has ever the same
efficacy, his crucified body being still a powerful and
infinitely meritorious sacrifice before the throne.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 26. For then must he often
have suffered
In the counsel of God, Christ
was considered the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, Revelation
13:8, so that all believers before his advent were
equally interested in his sacrificial death with those who
have lived since his coming. Humanly speaking, the
virtue of the annual atonement could not last long, and must
be repeated; Christ's sacrifice is ever the same; his life's
blood is still considered as in the act of being
continually poured out. See Revelation
5:6.
The end of the
world
The conclusion of the Jewish
dispensation, the Christian dispensation being that which
shall continue till the end of time.
To put away sin
ειςαθετησιναμαρτιας. To abolish the
sin-offerings; i.e. to put an end to the Mosaic
economy by his one offering of himself. It is certain
that, after Christ had offered himself, the typical
sin-offerings of the law ceased; and this was expressly
foretold by the Prophet Daniel, Daniel
9:24. Some think that the expression should be applied to
the putting away the guilt, power, and
being of sin from the souls of believers.
Verse 27. As it is
appointed
αποκειται. It is laid
before them by the Divine decree: Dust thou art,
and unto dust thou shalt return. Unto men
generally, during the course of the present world, not all
men as some falsely quote; for Enoch and Elijah have not
died, and those that shall be alive at the day of judgment
shall not die, but be changed.
But after this the
judgment
They shall die but
once, and be judged but once, therefore there is
no metempsychosis, no transmigration from body to
body; judgment succeeds to dying; and as they shall be
judged but once, they can die but
once.
• TOP Adam Clark
Verse 28. So Christ was once
offered
He shall die no more; he has borne
away the sins of many, and what he has done once shall stand
good for ever. Yet he will appear a second time without
sin, χωριςαμαρτιας, without a sin-offering; THAT
he has already made.
Unto salvation.
To deliver the bodies of believers from the
empire of death, to reunite them to their purified
souls, and bring both into his eternal glory. This is
salvation, and the very highest of which the human
being is capable. Amen! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Hallelujah!
1. IN the preceding notes I have given my reasons for
dissenting from our translation of the 15th,
16th, and 17th verses. Many learned men are of
the same opinion; but I have not met with one who appears to
have treated the whole in a more satisfactory manner than Dr.
Macknight, and for the edification of my readers I
shall here subjoin the substance of what he has written on
this point.
"Verse 15.
Mediator of the new covenant. See Hebrews
8:7. The word διαθηκη, here translated covenant,
answers to the Hebrew word berith, which all the
translators of the Jewish Scriptures have understood to
signify a covenant. The same signification our
translators have affixed to the word διαθηκη, as often as it
occurs in the writings of the evangelists and apostles, except
in the history of the institution of the supper, and in 2 Corinthians
3:6: and Hebrews
7:22, and in the passage under consideration; in which
places, copying the Vulgate version, they have rendered
διαθηκη by the word testament. Beza, following the
Syriac Version, translates διαθηκη everywhere by the words
foedas, pactum, except in the 16th, 17th,
and 20th verses of this chapter, where likewise
following the Syriac version, he has testamentum. Now
if καινηδιαθηκη, the new testament, in the passages
above mentioned, means the Gospel covenant, as all
interpreters acknowledge, παλαιαδιαθηκη, the old
testament, 2 Corinthians
3:14, and πρωτηδιαθηκη, the first testament, Hebrews
9:15, must certainly be the Sinaitic covenant or
law of Moses, as is evident also from Hebrews
9:20. On this supposition it may be asked, 1. In what
sense the Sinaitic covenant or law of Moses, which required
perfect obedience to all its precepts under penalty of death,
and allowed no mercy to any sinner, however penitent, can be
called a testament, which is a deed conferring
something valuable on a person who may accept or refuse it, as
he thinks fit? Besides, the transaction at Sinai, in which God
promised to continue the Israelites in Canaan, on condition
they refrained from the wicked practices of the Canaanites,
and observed his statutes, Lev. 18, can in no sense be called
a testament. 2. If the law of Moses be a testament, and if, to
render that testament valid, the death of the testator be
necessary, as the English translators have taught us, Hebrews
9:16, I ask who it was that made the testament of the law?
Was it God or Moses? And did either of them die to render it
valid? 3. I observe that even the Gospel covenant is
improperly called a testament, because, notwithstanding
all its blessings were procured by the death of Christ, and
are most freely bestowed, it lost any validity which, as a
testament, it is thought to have received by the death of
Christ, when he revived again on the third day. 4. The things
affirmed in the common translation of Hebrews
9:15, concerning the new testament, namely, that it
has a Mediator; that that Mediator is the Testator himself;
that there were transgressions of a former testament, for the
redemption of which the Mediator of the new testament died;
and, Hebrews
9:19, that the first testament was made by sprinkling the
people in whose favour it was made with blood; are all things
quite foreign to a testament. For was it ever known in any
nation that a testament needed a mediator? Or that the
testator was the mediator of his own testament? Or that it was
necessary the testator of a new testament should die to redeem
the transgressions of a former testament? Or that any
testament was ever made by sprinkling the legatees with blood?
These things however were usual in covenants. They had
mediators who assisted at the making of them, and were
sureties for the performance of them. They were commonly
ratified by sacrifices, the blood of which was sprinkled on
the parties; withal, if any former covenant was infringed by
the parties, satisfaction was given at the making of a second
covenant. 5. By calling Christ the Mediator of the new
testament our thoughts are turned away entirely from the
view which the Scriptures give us of his death as a sacrifice
for sin; whereas, if he is called the Mediator of the new
covenant, which is the true translation of
διαθηκηςκαινηςμεσιτης, that appellation directly suggests to
us that the new covenant was procured and ratified by his
death as a sacrifice for sin. Accordingly Jesus, on account of
his being made a priest by the oath of God, is said to be
the Priest or Mediator of a better covenant than
that of which the Levitical priests were the mediators. I
acknowledge that in classical Greek διαθηκη, commonly
signifies a testament. Yet, since the Seventy have
uniformly translated the Hebrew word berith, which
properly signifies a covenant, by the word διαθηκη, in
writing Greek the Jews naturally used διαθηκη for σονθηκη as
our translators have acknowledged by their version of Hebrews
10:16. To conclude: Seeing in the verses under
consideration διαθηκη may be translated a covenant; and
seeing, when so translated, these verses make a better sense,
and agree better with the scope of the apostle's reasoning
than if it were translated a testament; we can be at no
loss to know which translation of διαθηκη in these verses
ought to be preferred. Nevertheless, the absurdity of a
phraseology to which readers have been long accustomed,
without attending distinctly to its meaning, does not soon
appear.
"He is the Mediator. Here it is remarkable that
Jesus is not called διαθεμενος, the Testator, but
μεσιτης, the Mediator, of the new covenant; first,
because he procured the new covenant for mankind, in which the
pardon of sin is promised; for, as the apostle tells us, his
death, as a sacrifice for sin, is the consideration on account
of which the pardon of the transgressions of the first
covenant is granted. Secondly, because the new covenant having
been ratified as well as procured by the death of Christ, he
is fitly called the Mediator of that covenant in the
same sense that God's oath is called, Hebrews
6:17, the mediator, or confirmor, of his
promise. Thirdly, Jesus, who died to procure the new
covenant, being appointed by God the high priest thereof, to
dispense his blessings, he is on that account also called, Hebrews
8:6, the mediator of that better covenant.
• TOP Adam Clark
"Verse 16.
For where a covenant {is made by sacrifice,} there is a
necessity that the death of the appointed sacrifice be
produced. This elliptical expression must be completed, if, as
is probable, the apostle had now in his eye the covenant which
God made with Noah and Abraham. His covenant is recorded, Genesis
8:20, where we are told, that on coming out of the ark
Noah offered a burnt-offering of every clean beast
and fowl. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour. And the
Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the
ground, neither will I again smite any more every
living thing as I have done. This promise or declaration
God called his covenant with men, and with every living
creature. Genesis
9:9,10. In like manner God made a covenant with Abraham by
sacrifice, Genesis
15:9,18, and with the Israelites at Sinai, Exodus
24:8. See also ; Psalms
50:5. By making his covenants with men in this manner, God
taught them that his intercourses with them were all founded
on an expiation afterwards to be made for their sins by the
sacrifice of the seed of the woman, the bruising of
whose heel, or death, was foretold at the fall. On the
authority of these examples, the practice of making covenants
by sacrifice prevailed among the Jews; Jeremiah
34:18; ; Zechariah
9:11; and even among the heathens; for they had the
knowledge of these examples by tradition. Stabant et caesa
jungebant foedera porca; Virgil, AEneid, viii. 611. Hence
the phrases, foedus ferire and percutere, to
strike or kill the covenant.
"There is a necessity that the death τουδιαθεμενου,
of the appointed. Here we may supply either the
word θυματος, sacrifice, or ζωου, animal, which
might be either a calf, a goat, a bull, or any other animal
which the parties making the covenant chose. διαθεμενου is the
participle of the second aorist of the middle voice of the
verb διατιθημι, constituo, I appoint. Wherefore
its primary and literal signification is, of the
appointed. Our translators have given the word this sense,
Luke
22:29; καγω
διατιθεμαιυμινκαθωςδιετιθετομοιοπατηρμουβασιλειαν. And
I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed to
me a kingdom.
"Be brought in; θανατοναναγκηφερεσθαιτουδιαθεμενου,
Elsner, vol. ii., p. 381, has shown that the word φερεσθαι is
sometimes used in a forensic sense for what is
produced, or proved, or made apparent in a court
of judicature. Wherefore the apostle's meaning is, that it is
necessary the death of the appointed sacrifice be brought in,
or produced, at the making of the covenant. In the margin of
our Bibles this clause is rightly translated, be brought
in. See Acts
25:7, where φεροντες is used in the forensic sense.
• TOP Adam Clark
"Verse 17.
A covenant is firm over dead sacrifices; επινεκοις.
νεκροις being an adjective, it must have a substantive
agreeing with it, either expressed or understood. The
substantive understood in this place, I think, is θυμασι,
sacrifices; for which reason I have supplied it in the
translation. Perhaps the word ζωοις, animals, may be
equally proper; especially as, in the following clause,
διαθεμενος is in the gender of the animals appointed for the
sacrifice. Our translators have supplied the word ανθρωποις,
men, and have translated επινεκροις, after men
are dead, contrary to the propriety of the phrase.
"It never hath force whilst the appointed liveth;
οτεζηο διαθεμενος. Supply μοσχος, or τραγος, or ταυρος.
whilst the calf, or goat, or bull,
appointed for the sacrifice of ratification,
liveth. The apostle having, in Hebrews
9:15, showed that Christ's death was necessary as
ομεσιτης, the Mediator, that is, the procurer,
and ratifier of the new covenant, he in the 16th
and 17th verses observes that, since God's covenants
with men were all ratified by sacrifice to show that his
intercourses with men are founded on the sacrifice of his Son,
it was necessary that the new covenant itself should be
ratified by his Son's actually dying as a sacrifice.
"The faultiness of the common translation of the
15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and
20th verses of this chapter having been already shown
in the notes, nothing needs be added here, except to call the
reader's attention to the propriety and strength of the
apostle's reasoning, as it appears in the translation of these
verses which I have given, compared with his reasoning as
represented in the common version."
2. It is supposed that in Hebrews
9:28, the apostle, in speaking about Christ's bearing the
sins of many, alludes to the ceremony of the scape
goat. This mysterious sacrifice was to be presented to
God, Leviticus
16:7, and the sins of the people were to be confessed over
the head of it, Leviticus
16:21, and after this the goat was dismissed into a land
uninhabited, laden, as the institution implied, with the sins
of the people; and this the word ανενεγκειν, to bear or
carry away, seems to imply. So truly as the goat did
metaphorically bear away the sins of the many, so truly did
Christ literally bear the punishment due to our sins; and in
reference to every believer, has so borne them away
that they shall never more rise in judgment against him.
3. In Christ's coming, or appearing the second time,
it is very probable, as Dr. Doddridge and others have
conjectured, that there is an allusion to the return of the
high priest from the inner tabernacle; for, after appearing
there in the presence of God, and making atonement for the
people in the plain dress of an ordinary priest, Leviticus
16:23,24, he came out arrayed in his magnificent robes, to
bless the people, who waited for him in the court of the
tabernacle of the congregation. "But there will be this
difference," says Dr. Macknight, "between the return of Christ
to bless his people, and the return of the high priest to
bless the congregation. The latter, after coming out of the
most holy place, made a new atonement in his pontifical robes
for himself and for the people, Leviticus
16:24, which showed that the former atonement was not
real but typical. Whereas Jesus, after having
made atonement, {and presented himself in heaven, before God,}
will not return to the earth for the purpose of making himself
a sacrifice the second time; but having procured an eternal
redemption for us, by the sacrifice of himself once offered,
he will return for the purpose of declaring to them who wait
for him that they are accepted, and of bestowing on them the
great blessing of eternal life. This reward he, being
surrounded with the glory of the Father, Matthew
16:27, will give them in the presence of an assembled
universe, both as their King and their Priest.
This is the great salvation which Christ came to preach, and
which was confirmed to the world by them who heard him: Hebrews
2:3." Reader, lay this sincerely to heart!
4. The form in which the high priest and the
ordinary priests were to bless the people, after burning the
incense in the tabernacle, is prescribed, Numbers
6:23-26. Literally translated from the Hebrew it is as
follows, and consists of three parts or benedictions:-
1. May Jehovah bless thee, and preserve thee!
2. May Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee!
3. May Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and may he put
prosperity unto thee! (See my notes on the place.)
We may therefore say that Christ, our High Priest, came to
bless each of us, by turning us away from our iniquity.
And let no one ever expect to see him at his second coming
with joy, unless he have, in this life, been turned away from
his iniquity, and obtained remission of all his sins,
and that holiness without which none can see God. Reader, the
time of his reappearing is, to thee, at hand! Prepare to meet
thy God!
On the word conscience, which occurs so often in
this chapter, and in other parts of this epistle, see the
observations at the end of "Heb 13:25".
Top of SRB References ^
Top of JFB Comentary ^
Top Of Adam Clarke Commentary ^
Top of Page ^
Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
electronic edition prepared by GodRules.net.
Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Hebrews 9". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=heb&chapter=009>.
1832.
|
