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year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

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:

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

11 But Christ being come a high priest of good things to

q Ch.5.3. & 7.27. - Ch.10 19.20 - John 14 6.- Gal 3.21. Ch. 7.18, 19, & 10, 1,11.— Lev 11.2. Col.2.16. - Num. 19.7, &c.-w Eph 2:15. Col. 2.20 Ch. 7. 16.-x Or, Tites or ceremonies-y Ch. 3 1-2 Ch 10.1-a Ch. 9.2-b Ch. 10.4.-e Acts 20.29. Eph. 1.7. Col.1.14. 1 Pet. 1.19. Rev. 1.5.& 5.9.

good things that were to come.

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| come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this building:
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
blood; he entered in once into the holy place,
tained eternal redemption for us.

e

by his own having ob

the ashes of

13 For if f the blood of bulls, and of goats, and an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more h shall the blood of Christ, the eternal Spirit offered himself without purge your conscience " from dead works living God?

m

1

who through spot to God, to serve the

d Zech. 3.9. Verse 25, 28. Chap. 10. 10.-e Dan. 9.24.-f Lev. 16. 14, 16. Numb 19 2, 17, &c. -h 1 Pet.1.19. 1 John 1. 7. Rev. 1.5i Rom.1.4. 1 Pet.3.13.-k Eph. 25. T 2 14. Ch.7 27.-1 Or, fault.-m Ch.1.3. & 10.22-n Ch.6.1.- Luke 1.74. Rom.6.13, 22. 1 Pet.4.2.

Not without blood] The day prescribed by the law for this monies pertaining merely to the body. The word carnal is great solemnity was, the tenth of the month Tisri, in which not used here, nor scarcely in any part of the New Testament, the high-priest brought in the incense or perfumes, which he in that catachrestical or degrading sense in which many placed on the golden censer: he brought also the blood of the preachers and professors of Christianity take the liberty to bullock, and sprinkled some portion of it seven times before use it. the ark and the veil which separated the holy place from the Imposed on them until the time of reformation.] These holy of holies.-See Lev. xvi. 14. He then came out; and ta-rites and ceremonies were enacted by Divine authority, as king some of the blood of the goat which had beer, sacrificed, proper representations of the Gospel system, which should he sprinkled it between the veil and the ark of the covenant, reform and rectify all things.

ver. 15.

The time of reformation, kaipos dropowerws, the time of recWhich he offered for himself, and for the errors of the peo- tifying, signifies the Gospel dispensation, under which every ple] 'Yep Twv Aaov ayvonμarov For transgressions of which thing is set straight: every thing referred to its proper purthey were not conscious: there were so many niceties in the pose and end; the ceremonial law fulfilled and abrogated; ritual worship of the Jews, and so many ways in which they the moral law exhibited, and more strictly enjoined; (See our might offend against the law, and incur guilt, that it was found Lord's serinon upon the mount,) and the spiritual nature of necessary to institute sacrifices to atone for these sins of igno- God's worship taught, and grace promised to purify the heart; rance. And, as the high-priest was also clothed with infirmiso that, through the power of the eternal Spirit, all that was ty, he required to have an interest in the same sacrifice, on wrong in the soul is rectified; the affections, passions, and the same account. This was a national sacrifice; and by itappetites purified; the understanding enlightened; the judg the people understood that they were absolved from all the ment corrected; the will refined: in a word, all things made errors of the past year; and that they now had a renewed right of access to the mercy-seat.

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 chap. x. 19-22. and it is about this, and not about the tabernacle of this world, that he is here discoursing.

new.

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, ver. 13. For, if the blood of GOATS, and bulls, and calves, and an heifer's ashes, sprinkled on the un

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?

I have already observed, that the apostle appears to use the word oxun, or tabernacle, in the general sense of a dwelling-clean, sanctifieth to the cleansing of the flesh, (ver. 14.) how 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 ceremo-goats, on the authority of ABDE. three others, the Syriac, the nies, could not make the way of holiness plain, nor the way to God's favour possible.

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In which, kal' ov, 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.

In the above translation I have added in ver. 13. rpaywv, of Arabic of Erpenius, Coptic, Vulgate, two copies of the Itala, and Theodoret. And I have rendered as ro λarpevely, (ver. 14.) IN ORDER to worship, or, THAT YE MAY worship; for this is the meaning of these particles, Ets ro, in many parts of the some of the principal expressions.

New Testament. I shall now make a few observations on

High-priest of good things] Or services, to come; TWV pedλovrov ay abov. 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. mean our Lord's human nature. That in which the fulness of the Godhead bodily, was fitly typified by the tabernacle and temple; in both of which the majesty of God dwelt.

A greater and more perfect tabernacle] This to

all

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 expression used here by the apostle.

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, The words, in which, kal' ov, referred in the above para-goats, and calves, was shed under the law. phrase to rov Karpov, the time, are read ka' nv, by ABD. and several others; one copy of the Slavonic, the Vulgate, and some of the fathers, and thus refer to rŋv oknyŋy, 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.

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 of drinks, washings, Barriguois, baptisms, immersions, sprinkdings and washings of the body and the clothes, and carnal ordinances, or thags 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 similitude, or figures.

Carnal ordinances] Dikaiopara σapкos Rites and cere

Once] Once for all, ɛdaraž, in opposition to the annual en. tering of the high-priest into the holiest, with the blood of the annual victim.

The holy place] Or sanctuary, ra ȧyta, signifies heaven, into which Jesus entered with His own blood, as the highpriest entered into the holy of holies with the blood of the victims which he had sacrificed.

Eternal redemption] Αιωνίαν λυτρωσιν, 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.

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 particu larly in view, though adumbrating or typifying the soul and

its concerns.

14. Who through the eternal Spirit] This expression is un

Christ is the mediator

HEBREWS.

15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testa ment, 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.

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

17 For "a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise
it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was
without blood.

dedicated

P1 Timothy 2.5 Chapter 7. 2. & 8.6. & 12. 24.- Romans 3, 23. & 5. 6. 1 Pet. 3.1 Chapter 3.1.- Or, be brought in.-u Gal.3. 15.-v Exodus 21.6, &c.—w Or, Pirified.

of the new testament. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the peo ple 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,

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

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

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

x Exod. 24.5, 6, 8. Lev. 16.14, 15, 19-y Lev. 14.4, 6, 7, 49, 51, 52-z Or, purple.a Exodus 24.8. Matt 26.25.-b Exodus 29.12, 36. Lev.3.15, 19. & 16.14, 15, 18,15,19. —

© Lev. 17.11.

covenant is confirmed over dead victims; since it is not at all valid while the appointed victim is alive."

derstood 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, He observes, "There is no word signifying testator, or men, or final offering, was made through or by the eternal Spirit; in the original. Atabeμevos is not a substantive, but a parti and by that Spirit He was raised from the dead, 1 Pet, iii. 18. ciple, or participial adjective, derived from the same root as Indeed, through the whole of His life, He was justified by the dianen, and must have a substantive understood. I therefore Spirit; and we find that in this great work of human redemp-render it, the disposed or appointed victim; alluding to the tion, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were continual manner of disposing or setting apart the pieces of the victim ly employed; therefore the words may be understood of the when they were going to ratify a covenant; and you know Holy Spirit properly. 2. Of the eternal Logos, or Deity, which well the old custom of ratifying a covenant to which the apos dwelt in the man Christ Jesus; through the energy of which the alludes. I refer to your own notes on Gen. vi. 18. and‍xv. the offering of His humanity became an infinitely meritorious 10.-J. C." victim: therefore, the Deity of Christ is here intended. But Mr. Wakefield has translated the passage nearly in the same we cannot well consider one of these distinct from the other; way: and hence probably arose the various readings in the MSS. and Versions on this article. Instead of dia 1lvevparos atori ov, by the ETERNAL Spirit, dia Пvevuaros Aytov, 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-See the observations at the end of this chapter. Arabic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Athanasius, generally, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Ambrosius. This, therefore, is the reading that should be preferred; as it is probable that the Holy Ghost, not the Logos, is what the apostle had more im mediately 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] Καθαριεί την συνειδησιν, purify your conscience. The term purify should be every where, 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, chap. vi. 1.

15. And for this cause] Some translate dia rouro, on ac count of this (blood.) Perhaps it means no more than a mere inference, such as therefore or wherefore.

"For, where a covenant is, there must be necessarily intro. duced 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 establishes 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

18. Whereupon] 00cv, 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, ɛyKƐKatvigat, renewed or solemnized, without blood, without the death of a victim, and the aspersion of its blood."

19. When Moses had spoken every precept) The place to which the apostle alludes is Exod. xxiv. 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 aurO TË TO Bißtor, and the book itself, should be referred to laßor, taking; and not to eppavrice, 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 hyssop, and the book itself, and sprinkled all the people. The rite was performed this:-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

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.

He is the mediator of the new testament] There was no proper reason why our translators should render dinonen by testament, here: when, in almost every other case, they ren-blood and water upon the people who were nearest to him, and der it covenant, which is its proper ecclesiastical meaning, as answering to the Hebrew na berith, which see largely explained, Gen. xv. 10. and in other places of the Pentateuch. Very few persons are satisfied with the translation of the fol. lowing verses, to the 20th, particularly the 16th and 17th: at all events, the word covenant must be retained. He, Jesus Christ, is Mediator:-the peoirns, 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 inherit ance such as the promised land; but to an eternal inheritance: and, consequently, infinitely superior to that of the Jews; inas much as the new covenant is superior, in every point of view,

to the old.

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"For, where there is a covenant, it is necessary that the death of the appointed victim should be exhibited, because a

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.

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 remis sion of sins, Matt. xxvi. 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.

21. He sprinkled-with blood-all the ressels of the ministry] To intimate that every thing used by sinful man is pollnted; and that nothing can be acceptable in the sight of a holy God, that has not, in effect, the sprinkling of the atoning blood.

22. And almost all things are-purged with blood] The apostle says almost, because in some cases certain vessels were purified by water, certain by fire, Numb. xxxi. 23. and some with the ashes of the red heifer, Numb. xix. 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 apos the 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, NON MODɔ ?8 ein capherah, ala 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.

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23 It was therefore necessary that d the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For 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: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as h the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

4 Ch 8.5-e Ch 620-f Ch.8.2-g Rom. 8.34. Ch. 9.7.23. 1 John 21-h Ver. 7.I Ver. 12. Ch.7.27 & 10.10. 1 Pet.3.18-k 1 Cor. 10. 11. Gal.4.4. Eph. 1.10.

He gave His life for the life of the world; human life for hu man life; but a life infinitely dignified by its union with God. 23. The patterns of things in the heavens] That is, the ta. bernacle, and all its utensils, services, &c. must be purified 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, vročɛtypara, ex. emplars, 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, &c. as 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 xvii. to sanctify Him. self; 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, ver. 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 inore 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, &c. 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. 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 jus tice, 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.

presence of God for us.

26 For then must he often have suffered since the founda. tion of the world: but now i once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of him. self.

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

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

1 Gen.3.19. Eccles. 3 20.-m 2Cor 5.10. Rev. 20.12,13-n Rom.6. 10. 1 Pet.3 18.01 Pet.2.24. 1 John 3.5-p Matt. 26. 28. Rom.5. 15-q Tit. 2.13. 2 Pet. 5.12.

27. As it is appointed] Anokεirai, 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.

28. So Christ was once offered] He shall die no more: He 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, xwpis apaprias, without a sin-offeringTHAT He has already made.

Unto salvation] To deliver the bodies of believers from the empire of death, 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 dis senting from our translation of the 15th, 16th, and 17th verses. Many learned men are of the same opinion; but I have not met with any 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 Heb. viii. 7. The word dianen, 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 diaŷnen, 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 Cor. iii. 6. and Heb. vii. 22. and in the passage under consideration; in which places, copying the Vulgate version, they have rendered diaŋkn by the word testament. Baza, following the Syriac version, translates dianen every where by the words fœdus, pactum, except in the 16th, 17th, and 20th ver ses of this chapter, where likewise, following the Syriac version, he has testamentum. Now, if kan dianen, the New Testament, in the passages above-mentioned, means the Gospel covenant, as all interpreters acknowledge, alaia diadŋen, the Old Testament, 2 Cor. iii. 14. and porn dianen, the first testament, Heb. ix. 15. must certainly be the Sinaitic cove nant, or law of Moses; as is evident also from Heb. ix. 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 allow ed 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 7 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. xviii. 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, ver. 16. I ask, who was it 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 ver. 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 ver. 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 The end of the world) The conclusion of the Jewish dis-ever known, in any nation, that a testament needed a media. pensation--the Christian dispensation being that which shall continue till the end of time."

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.

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, Rev. xiii. 8. so that all believers before His advent, were as equally interested in His sacrificial death as those who have lived since His coming. Humanly speak ing, 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 Rev. v. 6.

To put away sin] Eis abernoi auaprias, to abolish 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 of fered Himself, the typical sin-offerings of the law ceased: and this was expressly foretold by the prophet Daniel, ch. ix. 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.

tor Or, that the festator was the mediator of his own testa. ment? Or, that it was necessary the testator of a new testa. ment should die to redeem the transgressions of a former tes. tament? Or, that any testament was ever made by sprinkling the legatees with blood 7 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 ma

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on the preceding chapter.

pecially as, in the following clause, diadepεvos is in the gen-
der of the animals appointed for the sacrifice. Our translators
have supplied the word av porots, men, and have translated
Et vexpois, after men are dead, contrary to the propriety of
the
Phrase.
I never hath force whilst the appointed liveth. 'Ore (n å
διαθεμενος : supply μοσχος, or τράγος, or ταύρος, whilst the
calf, or goat, or bull, appointed for the sacrifice of ratification
liveth. The apostle having, in ver 15. showed that Christ's
death was necessary, as 6 Mearns, 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 ne
cessary that the New Covenant itself should be ratified by
His Son's actually dying as a sacrifice."

king of a second covenant. 5. By calling Christ the Media- | agreeing with it, either expressed or understood. The substan tor of the New Testament our thoughts are turned away tive understood in this place, I think, is Ivpari, sacrifices, entirely from the view which the Scriptures give us of His for which reason I have supplied it in the translation. Per death as a sacrifice for sin: whereas, if He is called the Medi-haps the word, 2oots, animals, may be equally proper; es ator of the New Covenant, which is the true translation of dianens Kains porns, 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 dianкn commonly signifies a testament. Yet, since the Seventy have uniformly translated the Hebrew word berith, which properly signifies a covenant, by the word dianen, in writing Greek the Jews naturally used dianen for avvenn, as our translators have acknowledged, by their version of Heb. x. 16. To conclude, seeing, in the verses under consideration, diadŋŋ 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 dianen 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 diaduevos, the Testator, but peoirns, 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 Media tor of that covenant in the same sense that God's oath is called, Heb. vi. 17. the mediator, or confirmer 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, Heb. viii. 6. the mediator of that better covenant.

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 suppesed that in verse 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, Lev. xvi. 7. and the sins of the people were to be confessed over the head of it, ver. 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 avevɛyke, 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.

"Verse 16. For where 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 record-sence of God, and making atonement for the people in the ed Gen. viii. 20. where we are told, that on coining out of the ark, Noah offered a burnt offering of every clean beast and fowl. And the Lord smelled a street savour. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground, neither will Iagain 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. Gen. ix. 9, 10. In like manner God made a covenant with Abraham by sacrifice, Gen. xv. 9, 18. and with the Israelites at Sinai, Exod. xxiv. 8. See also Psalm 1. 5. By making His covenants with men in this manner, God taught them that His intercourses with them were all founded on an expiation after ward 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: Jer. xxxiv. 18. Zech. ix. 11. and even among the heathens; for they had the knowledge of these examples by tradition. Sta. bant et cæsa jungebant fædera porca: Virgil, Æneid, viii. Hence the phrases, fœdus ferire and percutere, to strike, or kill the covenant.

611.

"There is a necessity that the death, s diadepeve, of the appointed. Here we may supply either the word Sugaros, sacrifice, or (ws, animal, which might be either a calf, a goat, a bull, or any other animal, which the parties making the cove nant chose. Atadepers is the participle of the second aorist of the middle voice of the verb diarini, constituo, I ap point. Wherefore its primary and literal signification is, of the appointed. Our translators have given the word this sense, Luke xxii. 29. Κάγω διατιθεμαι ύμιν, καθώς διατίθετα poi o Пarnp μs, Bagideiav. And I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed to me a kingdom.

"Be brought in-бavarov avayên çeperdai Ty diadepevs. Elsner, Vol. II. p. 381, has showed that the word depecat 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 xxv. 7. where φέροντες is used in a forensic sense.

"Verse 17. A covenant is firm over dead sacrifices; En vexροις. Nekpots being an adjective, it must have a substantive 384

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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 preplain dress of an ordinary priest, Lev. xvi. 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 congrega. tion. "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 atone. ment in his pontifical robes, for himself and for the people, Lev. xvi. 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 redemp tion for us, by the sacrifice of flimself 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, Mark xvi. 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, Heb. ii. 3." Reader, lay this sincerely

to heart!

4. The form in which the high-priests and the ordinary priests were to bless the people, after burning the incense in the tabernacle, is prescribed Num. vi. 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 chap. xiii.

The law was only the shadow

HEBREWS.

CHAPTER X.

of future good things.

Com

The insufficiency of the legal sacrifices to take away sin, 1-4. The purpose and will of God as declared by the Psalmist, relative to the salvation of the world by the incarnation of Christ; und our sanctification through that will, 5-10. parison between the Priesthood of Christ and that of the Jews, 11-14. The New Covenant which God promised to make, and the blessings of it, 15-17. The access which genuine believers have to the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, 18-20. Having a High-priest over the church of God, we should have faith, walk uprightly, hold fast our profession, exhort and help each other, and maintain Christian communion, 21-25. The danger and awful consequences of final apostacy, 26-31. In order to our perseverance, we should often reflect on past mercies, and the support afforded us in temptations and afflictions, and not cast away our confidence, for we shall receive the promise if we patiently fulfil the will of God, 32-37. The just by faith shall live; but the soul that draws back shall die, 38. The apostle's confidence in the believing Hebrews, 39. [A. M. cir. 4067. A. D. cir. 63. An. Olymp. cir. CCX. 3. A. U. C. cir. 816.]

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Fand not the very image of the things,
OR the law having a shadow bof good things to come,
can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto d perfect.

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? be
cause that the worshippers once purged should have had no
more conscience of sins.

3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

Col.2.17. Ch. 8.5, & 9.23.-b Ch.9.11.- Ch.9.9.-d Ver. 14.- Or, they would have ceased to be offered, because, &c.-f Lev. 16.21. Ch.9.7.

NOTES-Verse 1. The law having a shadow of good things to come! A shadow, okta, signifies-L. Literally, the shade cast from a body of any kind, interposed between the place on which the shadow is projected, and the sun or light; the rays of the light not shining on that place, because intercepted by the opacity of the body, through which they cannot pass. 2. It signifies, technically, a sketch, rude plan, or imperfect draught, of a building, landscape, man, beast, &c. 3. It signifies, metaphorically, any faint adumbration, symbolical expression, imperfect or obscure image of a thing: and is opposed to ropa, body, or the thing intended to be thereby defined. 4. It is used catachrestically among the Greek writers, as umbra is among the Latins, to signify any thing rain, empty, light, not solid: thus Philostratus, Vit. Soph. lib. i. cap. 20. Ori oxia kat ovet para ai ndoval masai, all pleasures are but SHADOWs and dreams. And Cicero, in Pison, cap. 24. Omnes, umbras false gloria consectari. "All pursue the SHADOWS of FALSE GLORY." And again, De ofic. lib. iii. cap. 17. Nos veri juris germanæque justitiæ solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus: um. bra et imaginibus utimur. "We have no solid and express effigy of true law, and genuine justice; but we employ shadows and images to represent them."

And not the very image] Exov, image, signifies-1. A simple representation; from Ekw, I am like. 2. The form, or particular fashion, of a thing. 3. The model, according to which any thing is formed. 4. The perfect image of a thing, as opposed to a faint representation. 5. Metaphorically, a similitude, agreement, or conformity.

The law, with all its ceremonies and sacrifices, was only a shadow of spiritual and eternal good. The Gospel is the image or thing itself, as including every spiritual and eternal good. We may note three things here-1. The shadow, or general outline, limiting the size and proportions of the thing to be represented. 2. The image or likeness completed from this shadow, or general outline: whether represented on paper, canvass, or in statuary. 3. The person or thing thus represented in its actual natural state of existence; or what is called here the very image of the things, avrny ny ELKOVA TOV payparov. Such is the Gospel, when compared with the Lu; such is Christ, when compared with Aaron: such is His sacrifice, when compared with the Levitical offerings: such is the Gospel remission of sins and purification, when compared with those afforded by the law; such is the Holy Ghost ministered by the Gospel, when compared with its types and shadows in the Levitical service; such the heavenly rest, when compared with the earthly Canaan. Well, therefore, might the apostle say, the law was only the shadow of good things to come.

4 For, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.

5 Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sa-
crifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body i hast thou
prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no
pleasure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is
written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

g Mic.6.6, 7. Ch.9.13. Ver.11-h Psa. 40. 6, &c. & 50.8, &c. Isa.1.11. Jer. 6.20. Amos 5.21, 22.- Or, thou hast fitted me.

making atonement for sin; they were only designed to point
out My incarnation and consequent sacrificial death;" and
therefore a body hast thou prepared me, by a miraculous con-
ception in the womb of a virgin; according to Thy word, the
seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent.
A body hast thou prepared me] The quotation in this and
the two following verses is taken from Psalm xl. 6th, 7th, and
8th verses, as they stand now in the Septuagint, with scarcely
any variety of reading: but, although the general meaning is
the same, they are widely different in verbal expression in the
Hebrew. David's words are, aznayim carita li,
which we translate, my ears hast thou opened; but they might
be more properly rendered, my ears hast thou bored; that is,
thou hast inade me thy servant for ever, to dwell in Thine
own house for the allusion is evidently to the custom men-
tioned Exod. xxi. 2, &c. "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six
years shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free:
but if the servant shall positively say, I love my master, &c. I
will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to the
door-post, and shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he
shall serve him for ever."

But how is it possible that the Septuagint and the apostle should take a meaning so totally different from the sense of the Hebrew ? Dr. Kennicott has a very ingenious conjecture here: he supposes that the Septuagint and apostle express the meaning of the words as they stood in the copy from which the Greek translation was made; and that the present He brew text is corrupted in the word DN aznayim, ears, which has been written through carelessness for 1 N as gevah, THEN, a BODY. The first syllable N az, THEN, is the same in both; and the latter him, which, joined to IN az, makes □ aznayim, might have been easily mistaken for

gevah, BODY; nun, being very like gimel; yod, like cau; and he, like final mem; especially if the line on which the letters were written in the MS. happened to be blacker than ordinary, which has often been a cause of mistake, it might have been easily taken for the under stroke of the mem, and thus give rise to a corrupt reading: add to this, the root carah, signifies as well to prepare as to open, bore, &c. On this supposition the ancient copy translated by the Septuagint, and followed by the apostle, must have read the text thus, 5 nno mi is az gerah carita li; awμa de karno. Tow pot, then a body thou hast prepared me; thus the Hebrew text, the Version of the Septuagint, and the apostle, will agree in what is known to be an indisputable fact in Christianity; namely, that Christ was incarnated for the sin of the world."

The Ethiopic has nearly the same reading: the Arabic has Can nerer-make the comers thereunto perfect] Cannot both, A body thou hast prepared me, and mine ears thou hast remove guilt from the conscience, or impurity from the heart.opened. But the Syriac, the Chaldee, and the Vulgate, agree I leave preachers to improve these points. with the present Hebrew text; and none of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi have any various reading on the disputed words.

2. Would they not have ceased to be offered] Had they made an effectual reconciliation for the sins of the world, and contained in their once offering, a plenitude of permanent merit, they would have ceased to be offered, at least in reference to any individual who had once offered them; because, in such a case, bis conscience would be satisfied that his guilt had been taken away. But no Jew pretended to believe that even the annual atonement cancelled his sin before God; yet he continued to make his offerings, the law of God having so enjoined, because these sacrifices pointed out that which was to come. They were offered, therefore, not in consideration of their own efficacy, but as referring to Christ: see on chap. ix. 9. 4. For it is not possible] Cominon sense must have taught them that shedding the blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy Divine Justice, nor take away guilt from the conscience; and God intended that they should understand the matter so and this the following quotation from the Psalmist sufficiently proves.

5. When he (the Messiah) cometh into the world] Was about to be incarnated, He saith to God the Father, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; it was never Thy will and design that the sacrifices under Thy own law should be considered as

It is remarkable, that all the offerings and sacrifices which were considered to be of an atoning or cleansing nature, offered under the law, are here enumerated by the Psalmist and the apostle, to show that none of them, nor all of them, could take away sin; and that the grand sacrifice of Christ was that alone which could do it.

Four kinds are here specified, both by the Psalmist and the apostle-viz. SACRIFICE, zebach, Ovoid; OFFERING, D minchah, poopopa; BURNT OFFERING, y olah, olokavτwpa; SIN-OFFERING, Non chataah, nεрi apaрrias. Of all these we may say, with the apostle, it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats, &c. should take away sin.

6. Thou hast had no pleasure] Thou couldest never be pleased with the victims under the law; Thou couldest never consider them as atonements for sin; as they could never sa tisfy Thy justice, nor make Thy law honourable.

7. In the volume of the book] Doha bemigellath sepher, "in the roll of the book." Anciently books were written on skins, and rolled up. Among the Romans, these were called volumina, from volvo, I roll; and the Pentateuch, in the

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