Hebrews 8-9
New English Translation
The High Priest of a Better Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this:[a] We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,[b] 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one too had to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer[c] the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is[d] a sketch[e] and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design[f] shown to you on the mountain.”[g] 6 But[h] now Jesus[i] has obtained a superior ministry, since[j] the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted[k] on better promises.[l]
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.[m] 8 But[n] showing its fault,[o] God[p] says to them,[q]
“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 “It will not be like the covenant[r] that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put[s] my laws in their minds[t] and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.[u]
11 “And there will be no need at all[v] for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.[w]
12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”[x]
13 When he speaks of a new covenant,[y] he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.[z]
The Arrangement and Ritual of the Earthly Sanctuary
9 Now the first covenant,[aa] in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one,[ab] which contained[ac] the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this[ad] is called the Holy Place. 3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies. 4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark[ae] were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 And above the ark[af] were the cherubim[ag] of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. 6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent[ah] as they perform their duties. 7 But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent,[ai] and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.[aj] 8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the Holy Place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle[ak] was standing. 9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They served only for matters of food and drink[al] and various ritual washings; they are external regulations[am] imposed until the new order came.[an]
Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary
11 But now Christ has come[ao] as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured[ap] eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity,[aq] 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[ar] consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
15 And so he is the mediator[as] of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised,[at] since he died[au] to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven.[av] 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.[aw] 19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.”[ax] 21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 So it was necessary for the sketches[ay] of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices,[az] but the heavenly things themselves required[ba] better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation[bb] of the true sanctuary[bc]—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 25 And he did not enter to offer[bd] himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 27 And just as people[be] are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,[bf] 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,[bg] to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin[bh] but to bring salvation.[bi]
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:1 tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”
- Hebrews 8:1 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.
- Hebrews 8:4 tn Grk “there are those who offer.”
- Hebrews 8:5 tn Grk “who serve in,” referring to the Levitical priests, but focusing on the provisional and typological nature of the tabernacle in which they served.
- Hebrews 8:5 tn Or “prototype,” “outline.” The Greek word ὑπόδειγμα (hupodeigma) does not mean “copy,” as it is often translated; it means “something to be copied,” a basis for imitation. BDAG 1037 s.v. 2 lists both Heb 8:5 and 9:23 under the second category of usage, “an indication of someth. that appears at a subsequent time,” emphasizing the temporal progression between the earthly and heavenly sanctuaries.sn There are two main options for understanding the conceptual background of the heavenly sanctuary imagery. The first is to understand the imagery to be functioning on a vertical plane. This background is Hellenistic, philosophical, and spatial in orientation and sees the earthly sanctuary as a copy of the heavenly reality. The other option is to see the imagery functioning on a horizontal plane. This background is Jewish, eschatological, and temporal and sees the heavenly sanctuary as the fulfillment and true form of the earthly sanctuary which preceded it. The second option is preferred, both for lexical reasons (see tn above) and because it fits the Jewish context of the book (although many scholars prefer to emphasize the relationship the book has to Hellenistic thought).
- Hebrews 8:5 tn The word τύπος (tupos) here has the meaning “an archetype serving as a model, type, pattern, model” (BDAG 1020 s.v. 6.a). This is in keeping with the horizontal imagery accepted for this verse (see sn on “sketch” earlier in the verse). Here Moses was shown the future heavenly sanctuary which, though it did not yet exist, became the outline for the earthly sanctuary.
- Hebrews 8:5 sn A quotation from Exod 25:40.
- Hebrews 8:6 sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “to the degree that.”
- Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “which is enacted.”
- Hebrews 8:6 sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.
- Hebrews 8:7 tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”
- Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.
- Hebrews 8:8 sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.
- Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Hebrews 8:8 tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memphomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autois), supported by P46 א2 B D2 0278 1739 1881 M, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memphomenos, here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.
- Hebrews 8:9 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “mind.”
- Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.
- Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”
- Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “from the small to the great.”
- Hebrews 8:12 sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.
- Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “when he says, ‘new,’” (referring to the covenant).
- Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “near to disappearing.”
- Hebrews 9:1 tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “the first,” in order of approach in the ritual.
- Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “in which [were].”
- Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “which,” describing the outer tent.
- Hebrews 9:4 tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 9:5 tn Grk “above it”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 9:5 sn The cherubim (pl.) were an order of angels mentioned repeatedly in the OT but only here in the NT. They were associated with God’s presence, glory, and holiness. Their images that sat on top of the ark of the covenant are described in Exod 25:18-20.
- Hebrews 9:6 tn Grk “the first tent.”
- Hebrews 9:7 tn Grk “the second tent.”
- Hebrews 9:7 tn Or perhaps “the unintentional sins of the people”; Grk “the ignorances of the people.” Cf. BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνόημα, “sin committed in ignorance/unintentionally.” This term seems to be simply a synonym for “sins” (cf. Heb 5:2) and does not pick up the distinction made in Num 15:22-31 between unwitting sin and “high-handed” sin. The Day of Atonement ritual in Lev 16 covered all the sins of the people, not just the unwitting ones.
- Hebrews 9:8 tn Grk “the first tent.” The literal phrase “the first tent” refers to either (1) the outer chamber of the tabernacle in the wilderness (as in vv. 2, 6) or (2) the entire tabernacle as a symbol of the OT system of approaching God. The second is more likely given the contrast that follows in vv. 11-12.
- Hebrews 9:10 tn Grk “only for foods and drinks.”
- Hebrews 9:10 tc Most witnesses (D1 M) have “various washings, and external regulations” (βαπτισμοῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν, baptismois kai dikaiōmasin), with both nouns in the dative. The translation “washings; they are…regulations” renders βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα (baptismois, dikaiōmata; found in such significant mss as P46 א* A I P 0278 33 1739 1881 al sa) in which case δικαιώματα is taken as the nominative subject of the participle ἐπικείμενα (epikeimena). It seems far more likely that scribes would conform δικαιώματα to the immediately preceding datives and join it to them by καί than they would to the following nominative participle. Both on external and internal evidence the text is thus secure as reading βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα.
- Hebrews 9:10 tn Grk “until the time of setting things right.”
- Hebrews 9:11 tn Grk “But Christ, when he came,” introducing a sentence that includes all of Heb 9:11-12. The main construction is “Christ, having come…, entered…, having secured…,” and everything else describes his entrance.
- Hebrews 9:12 tn This verb occurs in the Greek middle voice, which here intensifies the role of the subject, Christ, in accomplishing the action: “he alone secured”; “he and no other secured.”
- Hebrews 9:13 tn Grk “for the purifying of the flesh.” The “flesh” here is symbolic of outward or ritual purity in contrast to inner purity, that of the conscience (cf. Heb 9:9).
- Hebrews 9:14 tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D2 0278 33 1739c 1881 M lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.
- Hebrews 9:15 tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesitēs, “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.
- Hebrews 9:15 tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
- Hebrews 9:15 tn Grk “a death having occurred.”
- Hebrews 9:16 tn Grk “there is a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven.”
- Hebrews 9:18 sn The Greek text reinforces this by negating the opposite (“not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood”), but this double negation is not used in contemporary English.
- Hebrews 9:20 tn Grk “which God commanded for you (or in your case).”sn A quotation from Exod 24:8.
- Hebrews 9:23 tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.
- Hebrews 9:23 tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 9:23 tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”
- Hebrews 9:24 tn Or “prefiguration.”
- Hebrews 9:24 tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.
- Hebrews 9:25 tn Grk “and not that he might offer,” continuing the previous construction.
- Hebrews 9:27 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
- Hebrews 9:27 tn Grk “and after this—judgment.”
- Hebrews 9:28 sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.
- Hebrews 9:28 tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.
- Hebrews 9:28 tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.
希伯來書 8-9
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Traditional)
耶穌在真帳幕裡做執事
8 我們所講的事,其中第一要緊的,就是我們有這樣的大祭司,已經坐在天上至大者的寶座右邊, 2 在聖所,就是真帳幕裡做執事。這帳幕是主所支的,不是人所支的。 3 凡大祭司都是為獻禮物和祭物設立的,所以這位大祭司也必須有所獻的。 4 他若在地上,必不得為祭司,因為已經有照律法獻禮物的祭司。 5 他們供奉的事本是天上事的形狀和影像,正如摩西將要造帳幕的時候,蒙神警戒他,說:「你要謹慎,做各樣的物件都要照著在山上指示你的樣式。」
做更美之約的中保
6 如今耶穌所得的職任是更美的,正如他做更美之約的中保。這約原是憑更美之應許立的。 7 那前約若沒有瑕疵,就無處尋求後約了。 8 所以主指責他的百姓說[a]:「日子將到,我要與以色列家和猶大家另立新約, 9 不像我拉著他們祖宗的手,領他們出埃及的時候,與他們所立的約。因為他們不恆心守我的約,我也不理他們。這是主說的。」
神不再記念以色列家的罪愆
10 主又說:「那些日子以後,我與以色列家所立的約乃是這樣:我要將我的律法放在他們裡面,寫在他們心上;我要做他們的神,他們要做我的子民。 11 他們不用各人教導自己的鄉鄰和自己的弟兄說:『你該認識主』,因為他們從最小的到至大的,都必認識我。 12 我要寬恕他們的不義,不再記念他們的罪愆。」 13 既說新約,就以前約為舊了;但那漸舊漸衰的,就必快歸無有了。
論前約的條例
9 原來前約有禮拜的條例和屬世界的聖幕。 2 因為有預備的帳幕,頭一層叫做聖所,裡面有燈臺、桌子和陳設餅。 3 第二幔子後又有一層帳幕,叫做至聖所, 4 有金香爐[b],有包金的約櫃,櫃裡有盛嗎哪的金罐和亞倫發過芽的杖並兩塊約版, 5 櫃上面有榮耀基路伯的影罩著施恩[c]座。這幾件我現在不能一一細說。 6 這些物件既如此預備齊了,眾祭司就常進頭一層帳幕,行拜神的禮。 7 至於第二層帳幕,唯有大祭司一年一次獨自進去,沒有不帶著血為自己和百姓的過錯獻上。 8 聖靈用此指明:頭一層帳幕仍存的時候,進入至聖所的路還未顯明。 9 那頭一層帳幕做現今的一個表樣,所獻的禮物和祭物就著良心說,都不能叫禮拜的人得以完全。 10 這些事,連那飲食和諸般洗濯的規矩,都不過是屬肉體的條例,命定到振興的時候為止。
耶穌一次獻上自己成了永遠贖罪的祭
11 但現在基督已經來到,做了將來美事的大祭司,經過那更大、更全備的帳幕,不是人手所造,也不是屬乎這世界的。 12 並且不用山羊和牛犢的血,乃用自己的血,只一次進入聖所,成了永遠贖罪的事。 13 若山羊和公牛的血並母牛犢的灰灑在不潔的人身上,尚且叫人成聖,身體潔淨, 14 何況基督藉著永遠的靈,將自己無瑕無疵獻給神,他的血豈不更能洗淨你們的心[d],除去你們的死行,使你們侍奉那永生神嗎? 15 為此,他做了新約的中保,既然受死贖了人在前約之時所犯的罪過,便叫蒙召之人得著所應許永遠的產業。 16 凡有遺命,必須等到留遺命[e]的人死了。 17 因為人死了,遺命才有效力,若留遺命的尚在,那遺命還有用處嗎? 18 所以,前約也不是不用血立的。 19 因為摩西當日照著律法將各樣誡命傳給眾百姓,就拿朱紅色絨和牛膝草,把牛犢、山羊的血和水灑在書上,又灑在眾百姓身上,說: 20 「這血就是神與你們立約的憑據。」 21 他又照樣把血灑在帳幕和各樣器皿上。 22 按著律法,凡物差不多都是用血潔淨的,若不流血,罪就不得赦免了。
23 照著天上樣式做的物件必須用這些祭物去潔淨,但那天上的本物自然當用更美的祭物去潔淨。 24 因為基督並不是進了人手所造的聖所——這不過是真聖所的影像——乃是進了天堂,如今為我們顯在神面前。 25 也不是多次將自己獻上,像那大祭司每年帶著牛羊的血[f]進入聖所。 26 如果這樣,他從創世以來,就必多次受苦了。但如今在這末世顯現一次,把自己獻為祭,好除掉罪。 27 按著定命,人人都有一死,死後且有審判; 28 像這樣,基督既然一次被獻,擔當了多人的罪,將來要向那等候他的人第二次顯現,並與罪無關,乃是為拯救他們。
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