(avg. read time: 9–18 mins.)
10:1 For the law having/being a shadow of the coming good things, not the true form/image of the things, by the same sacrifices offered continually [only in Hebrews] each year, can never make complete the ones who approach;
10:2 otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers would no longer have any conscience/consciousness of sins, having been cleansed once?
10:3 But in these there is a reminder of sins each year,
10:4 for the blood of bulls and goats was not able to remove sins.
10:5 Therefore, when he entered the world he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you did not desire/want, but a body you have prepared for me;
10:6 in burnt offerings and ones for sins [sin offerings] you did not take pleasure.
10:7 Then I said, ‘Behold I have come—in the volume/scroll [hapax] of the book it is written about me—to do your will, o God.’”
10:8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings you did not desire nor take pleasure,” those offered according to the law,
10:9 then he said, “Behold I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order that he should establish the second.
10:10 It is by this will that we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
10:11 And every priest stood at his service each day with the same sacrifices offered many times, which are never able to remove sins.
10:12 But when this one had offered a single sacrifice for the sake of sins for all time he sat down at the right hand of God,
10:13 since then awaiting/expecting until his enemies are placed under his feet;
10:14 for by a single offering he has completed/perfected for all time those who are sanctified/the saints.
10:15 Now the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for he says afterwards,
10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their mind,
10:17 and their sins and their lawlessness I will certainly remember no more.” [different in several ways from earlier text]
10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offerings for sins.
10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence in the entrance to the holy place/sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
10:20 that he established [only in Hebrews] for us by a new and living way through the veil/curtain, that is his flesh,
10:21 and [since we have] a great high priest in the house of God,
10:22 let us approach with a true heart with the full assurance of faith, our hearts having been sprinkled clean from the consciousness of evil and our bodies washed with pure water,
10:23 let us hold fast/firm the confession of hope without wavering [hapax], for the one who has promised is faithful;
10:24 and let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
10:25 not forsaking our assembly, as is the habit of some, but exhorting one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
10:26 For if we willfully sin after receiving knowledge of the truth, a sacrifice no longer remains for sins,
10:27 but a/some fearful [only in Hebrews] prospect/expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the enemies.
10:28 Anyone who rejected/violated the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses;
10:29 how much worse do you think the punishment [hapax] the one will deserve who trampled underfoot the Son of God, who regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which that one was sanctified, and who insulted the Spirit of grace?
10:30 For we know the one who said,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”
and again,
“The Lord will judge his people.”
10:31 It is fearful [only in Hebrews] to fall into the hands of the living God.
10:32 Remember, then, the earlier days, in which, after you were enlightened by truth, you persevered well with sufferings,
10:33 sometimes being exposed publicly [hapax] to reproach as well as affliction, sometimes being sharers with those who were treated thusly,
10:34 for you also sympathized [only in Hebrews] with those in prison, and the seizing of your possessions you welcomed with joy, knowing that you have for yourselves greater and lasting possessions.
10:35 Therefore, do not cast away your confidence/boldness, which brings great reward [only in Hebrews],
10:36 for you have need of perseverance so that when you have done the will of God you should receive the promise.
10:37 For yet, “In a very little while, the one who is coming will arrive and will not delay,
10:38 but my righteous one will live by faith,” but “if anyone withdraws, my soul takes no pleasure in that one.”
10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back/not of timidity [hapax] to destruction, but among those who have faith/of faith to the preserving of our lives.
The final part of the long argument we have been charting since 6:13 appears in 10:1–18. The important term σκιά reappears in v. 1 as a description of the old covenant institutions. They were foreshadows of the coming good things, that is, the things of the new covenant, which have come already and are yet to come. The old covenant features were the image of these things, not the things themselves. As such, the sacrifices of the old covenant could never fully achieve the ends of the things they signified. The Day of Atonement sacrifices had to be offered each year and as such they could never truly complete those who approach the sanctuary. If they were the things themselves, there would have been no need for a new covenant and there would be no need for the sacrifices to cease in light of the worshipers having been cleansed with finality. Rather, these sacrifices provide a yearly reminder of sins.
Next, the author interprets another text prosopologically, attributing Ps 40:6–8 (LXX: 39:7–9) to Jesus in his Incarnation (“when he entered the world”). While the historical author of this psalm of thanksgiving and petition has been traditionally identified as David, the author sees David here as operating in a prophetic capacity, speaking in the persona of Christ himself concerning his incarnation. In other words, the words here go beyond indicating the importance of something deeper than the mere rituals of the old covenant to foreshadowing the realities of the new covenant in which sacrifices and offerings are no longer necessary. The LXX version also was especially conducive to a prosopological reading because of the second clause in v. 6, which refers to a body prepared for the speaker by God, which obviously resonates with the Son of God taking on a body prepared for him by the Father (the MT version could also work in light of chs. 4 and 5, but not in connection with the incarnation). Furthermore, the last verse—in both the MT and LXX—resonates with Jesus in ways that this author in particular has emphasized. As the speaker, Jesus has come to do the will of God, and this is in accordance with the volume or the scroll of the book of which it is written about him. The first part of the statement fits with the faithfulness of Jesus to do the will of God while the second part of the statement fits with the testimony of Scripture concerning Christ and the notion that he is the climax of the story of Scripture.
Indeed, the author points out the appropriateness of Christ—the mediator of the new covenant—to be the speaker here because the part of his statement that indicates that God does not ultimately desire sacrifices and offerings in connection with the part of the statement that the speaker has come to do God’s will fits with how Christ abolished the first precisely by doing the second, thereby firmly establishing the will of God in history. It is by that will and the execution of it by Jesus in offering his body that believers are sanctified once and for all. While it was necessary for the priest to stand at service each day in the tabernacle and temple in order to offer the same sacrifices again and again because of their inability to remove sins altogether, Jesus was able to sit down at the right hand of God after his single sacrifice for the sake of sins for all time. Since that time, he has been waiting expectantly for the last part of the promise of Ps 110:1 to be fulfilled when God will place all his enemies under his feet. Until then, his reign is expressed by the fact that his single offering brings to completion for all time the ones who are sanctified.
To these teachings he adds the testimony of the Holy Spirit, once again quoting from Jer 31, although the text was earlier attributed to God the Father. The attributing of one text to both of these members of the Trinity while relating it to what was accomplished in and by the Son indicates the unison that the author sees in the work of the Trinity. In any case, this quotation is slightly different from the earlier one that more closely matched the LXX (with some notable differences). The quote is of vv. 33 and 34c. The first verse has the same differences from the LXX as the earlier quote, although this time the author also switches the places of “heart” and “mind” from the earlier quote, which indicates that the author regards these terms as essentially interchangeable in this context. Also, the first line of the verse is generalized from the earlier reference of “with the house of Israel” to “with them.” The part of v. 34 quoted is different for changing “unrighteousness” to “lawlessness”—again seemingly indicating that the author sees these terms as interchangeable—and switching its position in the promise after “sins” instead of before it. The verb tense of “remember” is also different as it is no longer the aorist subjunctive—as would be fitting for a verb following οὐ μή—but is now the future indicative, which makes the force of the οὐ μή statement even more emphatic as a state of affairs that will never, ever happen. Still, for all the small changes, the meaning remains intact and its function for the argument here is to show how Christ fulfills this testimony of the Holy Spirit and God the Father by interiorizing the covenant—thereby sanctifying the people—and providing forgiveness for sins. Since this forgiveness has been achieved, there is no need for further sin offerings.
As a result of all of this—note the “therefore” connective in v. 19—believers can rightly surmise that they have confidence in their right of entry into the heavenly sanctuary by the blood of Jesus (i.e., that the blood of Jesus was efficacious for them). His sacrificial death enabled redemption and purification sufficient to purchase entrance to the presence of God for others. The Levitical high priest could only purchase entrance for himself one day every year, but this high priest purchased everlasting entrance for himself and for those who follow him. He established this entrance by a new and living way opened through the veil (i.e., his flesh). This particular statement seems to be an allusion to the resurrection, as it refers to a “living” way made through Jesus’s flesh. Through his death, resurrection, and subsequent exaltation he has opened up a way for others to follow through into the presence of God and the life thereby entailed. And because resurrection is by the power of God, one can just as well say that God the Father has opened this way through his Son, inaugurating the new creation and new, holy life apposite to it. The God who made Christ complete with the resurrection will make his followers complete by the same living way. Furthermore, because of the resurrection Jesus continues to serve as high priest in the heavenly house of God forever.
Because all of these foundational conditions are true, the author begins his exhortations in v. 22. First, he exhorts his audience to join with him in approaching God with a true heart with the full assurance of faith, if indeed they believe the foregoing declaration that their hearts have already been sprinkled clean from the consciousness of evil and their bodies have been washed with pure water (which seems to be an allusion to baptism, but could be an image referring to the overall reality of sanctification). Second, he exhorts his audience to join with him in holding fast the confession of hope without wavering, because he who has promised the things they hope for is faithful to keep his promises (as the author has established thus far and will continue to show in the remainder of his argument). They know this not only because of salvation history revealed to them in Scripture, but also because some eschatological expectations have already been fulfilled, providing the surety that the other eschatological things they hope for will be fulfilled. Third, he exhorts his audience to join him and continue his work in considering how to provoke one another to love and good works. After all, these are demonstrations of our faithfulness to the covenant, following in the way of Christ’s faithfulness and showing that the covenant has indeed been interiorized by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Remaining committed to this way requires constant communion and community, hence the faithful should not forsake assembling together—which was the habit of some in the author’s day and our own—in order to keep exhorting one another. Indeed, the motivation should be all the more present as the Day is approaching (cf. Matt 7:22; 10:15; 11:22, 24; 12:36; 24:36 // Mark 13:32, 42; 26:29 / /Mark 14:25; Luke 17:30–31; 21:34; John 6:39–40, 44, 54; Acts 17:31; Rom 2:5, 16; 13:12–13; 1 Cor 1:8; 3:13; 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14; Eph 4:30; Phil 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Thess 5:2–5, 8; 2 Thess 1:10; 2:3; 2 Pet 2:9; 3:7, 10, 12; 1 John 4:17; Jude 6). We see here once again the significance of eschatological bases for ethical exhortations as the prior/given eschatological conditions and the eschatological conditions that have yet to take place envelop the exhortation.
All of these exhortations are either forms of or otherwise related to perseverance in faithfulness, but the next section of vv. 26–31 provides a warning for the opposite situation: if someone sins in defiance and rejection of the gospel proclaimed to them. After all, the approaching Day is a dual reality in that it will mean vindication and fruition for the faithful and condemnation and destruction for the faithless. The former’s experience of justice will be of that which sustains the community, restores the world to rights, and delivers from evil into the new creation as people who are judged to be in the right as followers of Jesus. The latter’s experience of justice will be of that which sustains the community, restores the world to rights, and delivers form evil into the new creation as people who will be shut out from the age to come by being condemned for their sins, having accepted no atonement for them, and as people allied/in allegiance to the evil that must be destroyed instead of in allegiance to God. Particularly damnable will be those who “sin with the high hand,” meaning that they sin despite the knowledge of the truth that they have received. After all, there is no more sacrifice left that will save them. For those who so brazenly reject the gospel, there remains only a fearful prospect of judgment and a furious fire to consume the enemies of God (for all who sin in defiance that God is God make themselves enemies of God and will remain so to their destruction unless they are reconciled or, even worse, if they reject reconciliation). Those people who sinned in defiant rejection of the old covenant were subject to judgment at the testimony of two or three witnesses. By extension (using Jewish qal wahomer logic similar to the form of a fortiori that also appeared in 9:14), how much more severely should a rejecter of the new covenant, the superiority of which the author has gone to lengths to demonstrate, be punished? Such a person has rejected even greater provision for his or her sins than the old covenant could make. This rejection involves trampling the Son of God underfoot (which is not only thoroughly disrespectful to the one who deserves the highest honor, but also thoroughly hateful in view of the divine love that motivated the Son’s incarnate life), treating as unholy the purifying blood of the new covenant (clearly a reference to Jesus’s sacrificial death for others), and insulting the Spirit of grace (i.e., the very presence of God by which salvific grace is offered to those who would otherwise be God’s enemies). There is no recourse for one who treats what is most holy as profane. One who does not participate in the identity of Jesus by participating in the story of Jesus does not participate in the hope of salvation he has brought, brings, and will bring to consummation. There is no resurrection unto everlasting life for the condemned, but only a return for judgment and destruction.
To punctuate the point, the author cites portions of Deut 32:35 and 36 (the latter of which is paralleled in Ps 135:14). The first text does not match the LXX version as the author’s version refers to vengeance as something that belongs to the Lord while the LXX version refers to a day of vengeance on which the Lord will carry it out. While the latter would fit the eschatological themes of Hebrews, the former also serves as a subtle reminder that not only will the Lord repay what has been done, but that it is up to him to do so, not the persecuted. The second text reinforces these points and matches the LXX. At the same time, the note that God will judge “his” people further punctuates the warning to people who are presently believers but may by their conduct reject what they have been given and reject the responsibility of being the people of God. Finally, the author finishes his point with saying that it is fearful to fall into the hands of the living God. For God is a loving Father, but a terrifying enemy.
To encourage the audience to be people who will greet the coming Day with joy rather than trembling, the author encourages them to persevere in faithfulness, as they have already done to this point. They should draw strength from the remembrance of their past and of the sufferings they have already overcome. Sometimes they were exposed publicly to reproach and affliction and sometimes they were sharers with those who were treated in this fashion. Just as Jesus sympathizes with the weaknesses of humans (4:15), they have sympathized with their brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned. When others seized their possessions, they welcomed it with joy, since they knew that they have greater and lasting possessions as part of their inheritance. Again, these are cases in which their knowledge of the truth served them well to persevere in the midst of suffering. Likewise, they should not cast away their confidence that enables them to persevere in doing the will of God and to inherit what they have been promised by that same God.
The author then quotes a small part of Isa 26:20 as an introduction to Hab 2:3–4. The short phrase from Isa 26:20 is translated “in a very little while,” presumably to achieve the same effect as the original prophet in emphasizing the imminence of eschatological hope. The eschatological context of this phrase from Isa 26 is also unmistakable as reference is made to God’s final judgment and his resurrection of the dead, which are also part of the author’s eschatological expectations. The author thus reads Hab 2:3–4 in this context, whereas it was originally directed more toward issues of judgment of Israel and of its enemies (specifically, Babylon) with any sense of eschatology being implicit at best. The quotation itself is a rearrangement of the LXX version that better fits the author’s overarching argument here in its structure. Other differences, such as the presence/absence of pronouns as well as verb tense, do not require much attention here. In any case, the point of the citation remains the same as it points to the imminent arrival of the one who is coming. Until that time and that person arrives, there are two ways to go about living. The righteous one will live by faithfulness while the one who is despised withdraws from the responsibility to persevere in faithfulness. The author insists that he and his audience are not among those who shrink back to their inevitable destruction, but are among those who have faith and as a result will have their lives preserved (and that everlastingly).