1_Then verily the first, etc _(138) After having spoken generally of the abrogation of the old covenant, he now refers specially to the ceremonies. His object is to show that there was nothing practiced then to which Christ’s coming has not put an end. He says first, that under the old covenant ther... [ Continue Reading ]
2._For there was a tabernacle, etc. _As the Apostle here touches but lightly on the structure of the tabernacle, that he might not be detained beyond what his subject required; so will I also designedly abstain from any refined explanation of it. It is then sufficient for our present purpose to cons... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Of which we cannot now, etc. _As nothing can satisfy, curious men, the apostle cuts off every occasion for refinements unsuitable to his present purpose, and lest a longer discussion of these things should break off the thread of his argument. If, therefore, any one should disregard the Apostle’s... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Now, when these things were thus ordained, etc. _Omitting other things, he undertakes to handle the chief point in dispute: he says that the priests who performed sacred rites were wont to enter the first tabernacle daily, but that the chief priest entered the holy of holies only yearly with the... [ Continue Reading ]
7._For himself and for the errors of the people, _or for his own and the ignorances of the people. As the verb |shagag|, means in Hebrew to err, to mistake, so |shgagah|, derived from it, properly denotes error, or mistake; but yet it is generally taken for any kind of sin; and doubtless we never si... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Which was a figure, etc. _The word παραθολὴ, used here, signifies, as I think, the same thing with ἀντίτυπος, antitype; for he means that that tabernacle was a second pattern which corresponded with the first. For the portrait of a man ought to be so like the man himself, that when seen, it ought... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Until the time of reformation, etc. _Here he alludes to the prophecy of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31:31.) (145) The new covenant succeeded the old as a reformation. He expressly mentions _meats _and _drinks, _and other things of minor importance, because by these trifling observances a more certain op... [ Continue Reading ]
11._But Christ being come, etc. _He now sets before us the reality of the things under the Law, that it may turn our eyes from them to itself; for he who believes that the things then shadowed forth under the Law have been really found in Christ, will no longer cleave to the shadows, but will embrac... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Neither by the blood of goats, etc. _All these things tend to show that the things of Christ so far excel the shadows of the Law, that they justly reduce them all to nothing. For what is the value of Christ’s blood, if it be deemed no better than the blood of beasts? What sort of expiation was m... [ Continue Reading ]
13._For if the blood of bulls, etc. _This passage has given to many all occasion to go astray, because they did not consider that sacraments are spoken of, which had a spiritual import. The cleansing of the flesh they leave explained of what avails among men, as the heathens had their expiations to... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Who through the eternal Spirit, etc. _He now clearly shows how Christ’s death is to be estimated, not by the external act, but by the power of the Spirit. For Christ suffered as man; but that death becomes saving to us through the efficacious power of the Spirit; for a sacrifice, which was to be... [ Continue Reading ]
15._And for this cause he is Mediator of the New Testament, etc. _He concludes that there is no more need of another priest, for Christ fulfills the office under the New Testament; for he claims not for Christ the honor of a Mediator, so that others may at the same time remain as such with him; but... [ Continue Reading ]
16._For where a testament is, etc. _Even this one passage is a sufficient proof, that this Epistle was not written in Hebrew; for ברית means in Hebrew a covenant, but not a testament; but in Greek , διαθήκη, includes both ideas; and the Apostle, alluding to its secondary meaning, holds that the prom... [ Continue Reading ]
18._Whereupon neither the first, etc. _It hence appears that the fact is what is mainly urged, and that it is not a question about the word, though the Apostle turned to his own purpose a word presented to his attention in that language in which he wrote, as though one, while speaking of God’s coven... [ Continue Reading ]
20._Saying, This is the blood of the testament, _(154) _etc. _If that was the blood of the testament, then neither the testament was without blood ratified, nor the blood without the testament available for expiation. It is hence necessary that both should be united; and we see that before the expla... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And almost all things, etc. _By saying _almost _he seems to imply that some things were otherwise purified. And doubtless they often washed themselves and other unclean things with water. But even water itself derived its power to cleanse from the sacrifices; so that the Apostle at length truly... [ Continue Reading ]
23._The patterns, _or _exemplars, etc. _Lest any one should object and say that the blood by which the old testament was dedicated was different from that of a testator, the Apostle meets this objection, and says that it was no wonder that the tabernacle which was earthly was consecrated by the sacr... [ Continue Reading ]
24._For Christ is not entered, etc. _This is a confirmation of the former verse. He had spoken of the true sanctuary, even the heavenly; he now adds that Christ entered there. It hence follows that a suitable confirmation is required. _The holy places _he takes for the sanctuary; he says that it is... [ Continue Reading ]
25._Nor yet that he should offer himself often, etc. _How, then, is he a priest, one may say, if he offers no sacrifices? To this I reply that it is not requited of a priest that he should be continually sacrificing; for even under the Law there were days appointed for the chief sacrifices every yea... [ Continue Reading ]
26._For then must he often have suffered, etc. _He shows how great an absurdity follows, if we do not count it enough that an expiation has been made by the one sacrifice of Christ. For he hence concludes that he must have died often; for death is connected with sacrifices. How this latter suppositi... [ Continue Reading ]
27._And as it is appointed, etc. _The meaning is this: since we patiently wait after death for the day of judgment, it being the common lot of nature which it is not right to struggle against; why should there be less patience in waiting for the second coming of Christ? For if a long interval of tim... [ Continue Reading ]
28._The second time without sin, etc. _The Apostle urges this one thing, — that we ought not to be disquieted by vain and impure longings for new kinds of expiations, for the death of Christ is abundantly sufficient for us. Hence he says, that he once appeared and made a sacrifice to abolish sins, a... [ Continue Reading ]