Of which —to eat (e& 0b — dayeiv). The foundation of the figure is the sacrifice of the peace- or thank-offering, in which the worshippers partook of the sacrifice. See Lev. vii. 29-85 ; Deut. xii. 6; xxvii. 7. The peace-offerings were either public or private. The two lambs offered every year at Pentecost (Lev. xxiii. 19) were a public offering, and their flesh was eaten only by the officiating priests, and within the
568 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Ca. XIII.
holy place. The other public peace-offerings, after the priests had received their share, were eaten by the offerers them- selves. Jehovah thus condescended to be the guest of his worshippers. The large scale on which such festivals were sometimes celebrated is illustrated in 1 K. viii. 63. In pri- vate peace-offerings, the breast of the victim belonged to the Lord, who gave it to the priests (Lev. vii. 80), and the right shoulder was given directly to the priests by Israel (Lev. vii. 82). After the ritual of waving, the entrails were con- sumed, and the rest was eaten by the priest or the worship- pers and their invited guests, among whom were specially included the poor and the Levites.
Right (é£ovcdav). See on J. i. 12.
Which serve the tabernacle (ot ty oxnvy NaTpevorTes). This does not mean the priests only, but the worshippers also. Xxnvn tabernacle is used figuratively for the whole cere- monial economy. A reference to the priests alone is entirely foreign to the context, and to the whole drift of the discus- sion which contrasts the privileges of Christians at large (we) with those of Israel at large. The writer is speaking in the present tense, of institutions in operation in his own time, to which tabernacle, in any other than a figurative sense, would be inappropriate. Moreover, Aatpevey to serve is used throughout the N. T., with the single exception of Heb. vili. 5, of the service of the worshipper and not of the priest.
11. The statement that the adherents of the old economy are excluded from the privileges of the new is justified by an illustrative argument drawn from the ceremonies of the Great Day of Atonement. See Lev. xvi, and comp. Heb. ix. 7. Of the victims offered on that occasion neither people nor priest were allowed to eat. The blood of the bullock and of one of the goats was carried into the sanctuary and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and afterward on the horns of the great altar outside ; and the bodies of the slain animals were burned in a clean place outside of the camp or city.
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Beasts (fwwv). Lit. living creatures. The victims for the Day of Atonement were a bullock and two young goats for sin-offerings, and two rams for burnt-offerings. Only one goat, chosen by lot, was slain; the other served as the scape-goat. Za@ov animal is not used elsewhere of a sacri- ficial victim, either in N. T. or LXX. The word in N. T. mostly in Apocalypse. See on Apoe. i. 16; iv. 6.
Without the camp (é£@ tijs mapeuBorjs). Burning with- out the camp was also required in the case of victims offered at the consecration of the priests, Ex. xxix. 14; at the sin- offering for the priest, Lev. iv. 11,12; and at the sin-offering for the congregation, Lev. iv. 21. For wapeu8orn camp, see on Acts xxi. 34.
12. That he might sanctify the people (iva ayacn tov radv). ‘Aryidfew to sanctify had a peculiar significance to Jews. It meant to set them apart as holy. Hence, the Isra- elites were called Gyos, as separated from other nations and consecrated to God. Our writer extends the application of the word to Christians. For Christ’s work he claims the same efficacy which the Jew claimed for the special call of God to Israel, and for the operation of the Jewish sacrificial system. The office of his atoning work is to sanctify; to make for himself a holy nation (&vos dytov), a people “ pre- pared for the Lord” (L. i. 17) ; a true Israel of God. ‘O Aads the people, or Xads wou my people, occurs constantly in O. T. as a designation of Israel, and also in N. T. See, in this -epistle, ch. v.3; vii. 5,11, 27; ix.7,19. The N. T. extends the title to all who, under the new dispensation, occupy the position of Israel. See 1 Pet. ii. 10; Matt. i. 21; L.ii. 10; Heb. iv. 9; viii. 10; x. 30; xi. 25.