1-18. A summary restatement of the matters discussed from ch. viii. 1.
1. The arrangement of the verse is much disputed. Rend. “The law, with the same sacrifices which they continually renew year by year, can never make the comers thereunto perfect.” *
A shadow (oxiav). The emphasis is on this thought. The legal system was a shadow. xd is a rude outline, an adumbration, contrasted with eixav, the archetypal or ideal pattern. xia does not accurately exhibit the figure itself. Comp. ch. viii. 5.
Of good things to come (Tay peddACrvTwy ayabav). From the point of view of the law.
The very image of the things (atriy tiv eixcva TOY Tpay- patov). For eixav image, see on Apoc. xiii. 14 ; Philip. ii. 7. Ilpayparwv things expresses a little more distinctly than per- AdvTwv ayabav the idea of facts and realities.
* Others take car’ émavrdy with the whole clause, rats adrats — poo dpép- ovo, and eis Td Sunvexes With redecooar: thus : ‘‘ with the same sacrifices which they offer year by year make perfect forever’? (Westcott and von Soden). Others, car’ émavrdy with all that follows to redeoa. (Alford, Ebrard, Delitzsch). Others, rar’ émavrdy with rats adrais, and els rd dunvexes with mpocpépovow : ‘* with the same sacrifices every year which they offer continu-
ally? (Liinemann).
496 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. X.
Can (Svvavra). Avvarar might be expected with 0 vemos the law as the subject. If dvvavras, the plural, is retained, the clause the law—image of the things must be taken abso- lutely, the construction of the sentence breaking off suddenly, and the subject being changed from the law to the priests: “The priests can never,” etc. It is better to read dvvaras in the singular, with Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and Weiss.
Continually (eis 76 Suenvexés). See on ch. vii. 3,and comp. vv. 12,14. Const. with offer.
2. To be offered (wpoodepsueva). The present partici- ple brings out more forcibly the continuous repetition : “Ceased being offered.”
3. A remembrance of sins (avduvnows duapti@v). Each successive sacrifice was a fresh reminder of sins to be atoned for; so far were the sacrifices from satisfying the conscience of the worshipper. ’Avdprnors, lit. a calling to mind. Comp. ver. 17, and see LXX, Num. v. 15.
5. Confirming the assertion of ver. 4 by a citation, Ps. xl. 7-9, the theme of which is that deliverance from sin is not obtained by animal sacrifices, but by fulfilling God’s will. The quotation does not agree with either the Hebrew or the LXX, and the Hebrew and LXX do not agree. The writer supposes the words to be spoken by Messiah when he enters the world as Saviour. The obedience to the divine will, which the Psalmist contrasts with sacrifices, our writer makes to consist in Christ’s offering once for all. According to him, the course of thought in the Psalm is as follows: “Thou, O God, desirest not the sacrifice of beasts, but thou hast prepared my body as a single sacrifice, and so I come to do thy will, as was predicted of me, by the sacrifice of myself.” Christ did not yield to God’s will as authoritative constraint. The con- straint lay in his own eternal spirit. His sacrifice was no less his own will than God’s will.
Cz. x) THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 497
Sacrifice and offering (@vciav nal mpocdopav). The animal-offering and the meal-offering.
6. Burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (cAocavtopata kal wept duaptias). The burnt-offering and the sin-offering.
7. In the volume of the book (év xeparidi BiBriov). Kegarés, N. T.°, is a diminutive, meaning little head. Lat. capitellum or capitulum. The extremity or end, as the capital of a column. See Ex. xxvi. 32, 37. Sometimes the col- umn itself, as Ex. xl. 18; Num. iii. 86. Said to be used of the tips or knobs of the rollers around which parchments were rolled, but no instances are cited. A roll of parchment, a book-roll, Ezek. ii. 9. Meaning here the Scriptures of the O. T. for Hebrew mbm. Kedarés is found in LXX with ABiBriov book, only Ezek. ii. 9; .Ps. xxxix. 7. For SuBrlov book, see on 2 Tim. iv. 13.