Hebrews 9
1 In fact, the first one had standards both for performing ritual service and for the sacred ornamentation. 2 You see, the firsta tabernacle was set up with the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves of bread inside; it is called the Sacred Place.b 3 Then, after the second curtain, there is a tent called The Sacred Place of Sacred Placesc 4 which held a golden censer and the Arkd of the Covenant covered entirely with gold. Inside it was the golden jar that contained manna,e Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, 5 and above it, radiant cherubim cast their shadows on the reconciliation coverf; however, now is not the time to speak about these things in detail.
6 With these things having been set up this way, the priests go into the first tent each dayg while completing the ritual representative services, 7 while only the high priest goes into the second tent once a year—and not without blood which he offers for the people’s and his own unrecognized uncleanness.h 8 While the Sacred Life-breath makes it clear that the path of the Sacred Place has not yet been illuminated as long as the first tent still stands, 9 it was a symbol for that time, by which both gifts and sacrificial offerings were presented that were not able to make the one performing ritual representative service complete in their consciousness of just living.i 10 They were only presented on the basis of food and drink and various ritual washings,j regulations for the physical body put in place until the time of restoration.
11 But Messiah—who arrived as high priest of beneficial things that came to be through the greater and more complete tabernacle that is not made by hands, is not of this creation— 12 went into the Sacred Place once and for all, but not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, having recognized the payment for agelong freedom from enslavement.k 13 If the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heiferl being sprinkled on those who had been made unclean designates them for sacred purposes by cleansing the body, 14 how much more will the blood of Messiah, who by the agelong Life-breath presented himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciousness of just living, turning it away from lifeless actions and toward representative service for the God-who-is-Alive.
15 Because of this, he is a mediator of a new covenant since he experienced death to purchase liberation from sidesteps against the first covenant so that those who have been called can experience the promise of the agelong inheritance. 16 You see, where there is a will,m it is a necessity to present the death of the one who made the agreement 17 since a will is enacted for the dead because it has no power as long as the one who made the agreement is alive. 18 That’s why the first one was not initiated without blood. 19 After every direction based in torahn was spoken by Moses to the whole people, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and red wool and hyssop and sprinkled them on both the scroll itself and on the people 20 while he said, “This is the blood of the covenant which God made with you.”o 21 Likewise, he also sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the tools of ritual representative service with blood. 22 In fact, according to Torah, almost everything was cleansed with blood, and without pouring out blood,p letting goq does not happen.
23 Therefore, while it is necessary for these things that are modeled after heavenly things to be cleansed, in contrast, the heavenly things themselves produce more effective sacrificial offerings than these ones. 24 You see, Messiah did not go into the Sacred Place made by hands, the model representing the true one, but instead into the heavens themselves to present himself for us to God’s facer even now. 25 However, he did not go to offer himself repeatedly, like how the high priest goes into the Sacred Place every year with another’s blood, 26 because it would be necessary for him to suffer repeatedly, starting from the founding of the world system. Instead, he has now presented himself once at the completion of the ages to rejects deviation by the sacrificial offering of himself. 27 As much as it awaits people to die once, but afterward to appear for justice,t 28 similarly, after being offered once in order to carry the deviations of many, Messiah will show himself a second time—separate from rejecting deviationu—to those who expectantly await him for liberation.
FOOTNOTES:
a The outer of two tents, one within the other.
b Literally, ‘the sacreds.’ Traditionally, ‘the Holy Place.’
c Literally, ‘the sacreds of the sacreds.’ Traditionally, ‘Holy of Holies’ or ‘Most Holy Place.’
d Or ‘chest’
e Literally from the Hebrew for ‘What is it?’
f Traditionally, ‘mercy seat.’ The Greek is hilasterios, which refers to anything related to making things right, reestablishing harmony, repairing relationship between two parties, especially between one party and an authority figure such as a ruler or deity.
g Or ‘throughout the whole thing’
h The Greek word here only occurs once in the Bible. It is from the root meaning of ‘be unaware, not recognize, not know, not understand.’ It does not actually have the word ‘deviations’ or ‘sins’ in the text, but it needs clarification in English. Perhaps, more literally, it means ‘unrecognized things’ or ‘unknown things,’ but the context involves offerings for deviations.
i Traditionally ‘conscience.’ It is contrasted with ‘unrecognized uncleanness’ in verse 7. Though the sacrifices acknowledged they lived unjustly without even understanding how, the sacrifices themselves did not move them toward growing in being aware of what truly living in a way aligned with Torah and the path of the Lord meant in a complete and mature way.
j Or ‘submersions.’ The Greek word is baptismos.
k Traditionally, ‘eternal redemption.’ The two words here are aionios (eternal/agelong) and lutrosis (redemption/ransom/’payment for freedom from enslavement’). Aionios literally means ‘a really long time without specific duration’ and it is where the English word ‘eon’ comes from. Any reference to that word should be viewed through the lens of Deuteronomy 30. The second word, lutrosis, referred the price set to buy an enslaved worker. The imagery used in the scriptures is essentially that Jesus pays the price set to buy an enslaved worker and immediately sets that person free. His role as the enslaved person’s ‘master’ is brief, only serving as a means to liberation. Matthew 20:24-28 is another instance of this word.
l Red heifer ashes sprinkled on those made unclean
m This word is the same as is translated as ‘covenant.’ It is also used this way in Galatians 3. The Greek word diatheke can mean a variety of contractual or legal agreements or arrangements, and it is dependent on context to determine which English word best translates it.
n According to Wilda C. Gafney in Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne (2017), “The Torah is instruction, revelation, and sometimes law. Torah (with a capital T) is the first five books of the Scriptures and all that is in them: story, song, genealogy, geography, legal material, and lessons from the ancestors. Torah (with a little t) is instruction and jurisprudence. So, while there is torah in Torah, not all Torah is torah, and there is torah outside of the five books of the Torah! Toroth (plural of torah) can be found in any of the many genres of Torah. [. . .] The Torah is a locus of divine revelation (and divine self-revelation). The word torah comes from the verb y-r-h, ‘to throw’ (e.g., ‘to cast lots’) or ‘to shoot’ (arrows). With regard to torah, y-r-h also means ‘to throw’ rain or instruction from the heavens; [. . .] In a mystical sense, Torah can be seen as an embodiment of divine Wisdom and for some as the Word of God (with a capital W)” (p. 17).
o Quotation of Exodus 24:8
p This word, haimatekchusia, is a compound word that only occurs once in the Bible. It is a compound of haima, ‘blood,’ and ekcheo, ‘pour out’ or ‘spill’ or ‘shed.’ These Greek words both appear in Matthew 26:28 (“because this is my covenant blood, which is lavishly poured with many in mind for liberation from deviations.”)
q Traditionally, ‘forgiveness.’ This word essentially means to ‘let go’ or ‘send away.’ It is the same word translated in some places as ‘divorce.’ It can mean to let go of ones claim on a debt or to set free a prisoner or enslaved worker. Letting go of the claim is often used as a metaphor for letting go of the debt due based on being wronged, i.e. forgive. However, it is important to note that it is the debt that is forgiven, not the person who owes it. In this case, the context refers several times to paying a the price for setting someone free from enslavement, which in the first century was typically a circumstance due to debt; therefore, letting go, or setting free both work as a translation of this word here. However, ‘forgiveness’ in the sense of ceasing to be angry at someone does not fit the context.
r Or ‘in God’s presence’ or ‘in front of God.’
s This is the same word that appears in Hebrews 7:18 referring to rejecting or annulling an earlier directive.
t The Greek literally says ‘but after this, krisis.’ The word krisis is traditionally, ‘judgment’ but it can be translated as ‘choice,’ ‘selection,’ ‘decision,’ ‘conclusion,’ ‘outcome,’ ‘judgment,’ ‘verdict,’ ‘judging,’ ‘assessment,’ ‘test,’ ‘trial,’ ‘settlement,’ ‘arbitration,’ and ‘award.’ In the context of verses 27 and 28, it is paired with dying once, then appearing for judging as parallel to Messiah dying as a sacrifice once, then appearing to enact justice. The traditional reading implies that everyone is destined for punishment, but this context makes it clear that the ‘appearing for justice’ is to receive the verdict or outcome that Messiah is enacting: liberation.
u Literally, ‘separate from deviation’ or ‘apart from deviation.’