The Jewish Annotated New Testament (291 page)

7
:
Once a year
, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

8
:
Holy Spirit
, Hebrews sometimes speaks of the
Holy Spirit
as the speaker of scripture; see 3.7.
Has not yet been disclosed
, although the high priest has access to the inner sanctuary, the focus here is not on access, but on the exclusion of others from that space.

9
:
Conscience of the worshiper
, relief from the burden of guilt; cf. Wis 17.10.

10
: At best the sacrifices deal with minor matters of purification. See 10.1–3n. In Jewish tradition, sacrifice has many functions, including worship, commemoration, inauguration, purification, as well as expiation.

9.11
–28:
Christ’s better covenant.

11
:
Good things that have come
may refer to the new covenant; the phrase could be translated “good things to come” and so refer to the promise of salvation Jesus’ followers inherit; see ch 4; 5.9; 6.5.
Not made with hands
, see Acts 7.48; 17.24.

12
:
Holy Place
, likely the Holy of Holies (see 9.2).
Eternal redemption
, permanent atonement (see 7.27–28).

13
:
Ashes of a heifer
, an allusion to the burning of the red heifer in Num 19, a ritual distinct from Yom Kippur.

14
:
How much more
introduces what rabbinic texts call a “qal vahomer” argument, an argument (similar to the argument “a fortiori,” “how much more so”) from the minor to the major.
Blood of Christ
, see 9.25–28.
Eternal spirit
, emphasizing the immaterial nature of Christ’s sacrifice.
Without blemish
, sacrificial animals were required to be without blemish. Here it means that Christ was without sin.
Dead works
, see 6.1.
Living God
, see 3.12n.

15
–22
: The author’s logic rests on the word “diathēkē,” meaning either “covenant” or “will” in the sense of one’s last will and testament. Both a “will” and a “covenant” require a death to take effect. Blood was necessary for inauguration of the Mosaic covenant; Christ’s blood is similarly necessary to inaugurate the
new covenant
. Paul makes a similar wordplay with “diathēkē” in Gal 3.15–18.

15
:
New covenant
, see 8.6–7; 10.9–10.
Eternal inheritance
, salvation; see 1.14; 6.12,17; also Rom 8.15–17; Gal 3.29; 4.6–7.
Transgressions under the first covenant
, sins.

16
–17
:
Will
(“diathēkē”), the same term as for “covenant.”

18
:
Blood
, see Ex 24.4–8.

19
–21
: Hebrews conflates different rituals and the objects they require. See Lev 14.2–6; Num 19.9,18,20.

20
: See Ex 24.8.

21
:
Sprinkled with the blood
, in Ex 24.8 Moses sprinkles the people, not the tent, though in Lev 8.15,19 Moses sprinkles blood on the altar when ordaining Aaron.

22
:
Purified with blood
, the efficacy of sacrifice.

23
:
Sketches of the heavenly things
, the early sanctuary and its rituals.
Heavenly things
, perhaps meaning that the world is cleansed from the cosmic force of sin, or that the consciences of worshipers have been purified (see 9.14).

24
:
Human hands
, see 9.11.
On our behalf
, see 7.25.

25
–26
: See 10.1–18n.
End of the age
, the events surrounding Christ signal the end of time.

27
:
Judgment
, views of a collective judgment at the end of time were common among Jews of antiquity; see
Jub
. 5.10; 23.11;
1 En
. 10.4–16; 45.2;
T. Abr
. chs. 11–14;
Mekhilta Beshallah
4,
Mekhilta Shirah
6; Rev 20.12. In the Mishnah judgment is annual (
m. Rosh Ha-Shanah
1.2).

28
:
Bear the sins of many
is from Isa 53.12, concerning the suffering servant; it is alluded to in Mk 10.45, and a different portion of the passage is quoted in Acts 8.32–35.
Second time
, see Mk 13.24–27; 1 Thess 3.13; 4.13–17. Jewish tradition combines the coming of the messiah with the messianic age; it requires no “second coming.”

10.1
–18: Christ, a single sacrifice for sin.
Jesus’ sacrifice is seen as curing people of sin. See 9.25–26; 10.11–14.

1
:
Shadow
, cf. 8.5.
Continually offered
, see 9.25. On why the law cannot achieve perfection, see 7.18–19,28; 9.9–10.

3
–4
: Hebrews claims ritual sacrifice is only a
reminder of sin
, not the cure for it. Sin here means willful defiance of God, not simply errant behavior.

5
–9
: Ps 40.6–8 (Heb 7–9), in its context a general statement, here applied to the arrival of Christ; Hebrews explains what is meant by “then”; for the idea that sacrifices do not substitute for repentance, see Isa 1.10–17; Jer 7.21–26; Hos 6.6; Ps 50.8–15.

5
:
Came into the world
, Jewish expression for birth; see
m. Rosh Ha-Shanah
1.2;
Sifre Deut
. 312.
Body you have prepared for me
is only in the Septuagint. Heb reads “ears you have dug for me” (Ps 40.7). Hebrews understands Jesus to be speaking (see 2.13n.).

9
:
First … second
, in reference to covenants established, respectively, by Moses and Jesus.

10
:
Sanctified
, cleansed of sin.

12
–13
: Ps 110.1 (see 1.13; 8.1); in both the Hebrew Bible and its reuse here, making
enemies
into a
footstool
refers to vanquishing them.

14
:
Single offering
, see 9.25–26.
Perfected
, see 2.10; 5.8; 7.28; 12.2.

15
:
Holy Spirit
, see 3.7; 9.8.

16
–17
: A paraphrase of Jer 31.33; see also 8.10.
With them
replaces “the house of Israel,” and
their lawless deeds
is added.

10.19
–25:
Exhortation to faithful endurance.

19
:
Friends
(“adelphoi”), lit., “brothers.”
Sanctuary
, see 9.24.

20
: Cf. 9.8.
Curtain
, see 6.19; 9.3.
His flesh
refers to Jesus’ sacrificial death.

21
:
Great priest
, see 4.14.
House of God
, see 3.5.

22
:
Washed with pure water
, perhaps a baptismal allusion. Cleansing with water is a common practice for achieving purity in order to receive the divine presence.

23
:
Confession of our hope
, faith, not confession of sin; see 3.1; 4.14.
He who has promised
, referring to God.

25
:
Meet together
, perhaps gathering for worship; the Greek is “episynagōgē,” same root as “synagogue,” though it refers to the congregation, not a building.
Day
, Jesus’ return, related to traditions of the Day of the Lord; see Isa 2.12; Joel 1.15; 3.14; Zech 14.1; 1 Thess 5.4; 2 Pet 3.12; Rev 16.14.

10.26
–39: Warning about the day of judgment. 26–27
: See 6.4–6n.

26
:
Willfully persist
, there is a long tradition of distinguishing between willful and unwitting sinning; see Lev 4.1–5.13; Num 15.22–31; 2 Macc 14.3; Philo,
Cher
. 75;
m. Shabb
. 7.1; 11.6;
m. Ker
. 1.2.

27
:
Fury of fire
, such language is often associated with God’s condemnation of the wicked; see 12.29; also Deut 4.24; Isa 26.11; 66.15–16; Zeph 1.18; Rev 20.9.

28
–29
:
Witnesses
, Deut 17.6; 19.15.

29
:
How much worse
refers not to Jews who have rejected Jesus, but to Christians who commit apostasy; the form of this argument is “qal vahomer”; see 9.14n.
Profaned the blood of the covenant
, not referring to profaning the Eucharist but metaphorically to spurning Jesus.

30
: Deut 32.35–36.

31
:
Living God
, see 3.12.

33
:
Persecution
, no empirewide persecution of Christians occured until 250–51.

34
:
Prison
, some early Christians were imprisoned; see Acts 12; 16; Phil 2.25; 4.14–18. Prisoners relied on friends and family to bring them provisions.