Hebrews 9:21

Heb 9:21-22. Moreover — To prefigure the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ to render our acts of worship acceptable; he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle — The altar, and mercy-seat; and all the vessels of the ministry — All that were used in the tabernacle service. See the margin. And almost all the things — Pertaining to the tabernacle and service of God, (the apostle says almost all things, because some were cleansed with water, and some with fire, Num 31:23, and some with the ashes of the red heifer, Num 19:2-10,) are by the law purged from any ceremonial defilement with blood — Offered or sprinkled; and without shedding of blood — According to the law; is no remission — Of sins, neither typical nor real. Or he means, no remission was granted on the day of atonement without blood. All this pointed to the blood of Christ, effectually cleansing from all sin, and intimated that there can be no purification from it by any other means. Because some fancy that a real pardon of sin was obtained by the atonements of the Mosaic law, and especially by those made on the tenth of the seventh month, concerning which it is said, (Lev 16:30,) on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you that you may be clean from all your sins: it may be proper to observe here, that “this cleansing of the people from all their sins could not possibly have any reference to the punishments of the life to come, because the atonement was made for all the people indiscriminately, whether penitent or not, consequently it could not be a cleansing of their consciences, but of their bodies; redeeming them from those civil penalties which God, in the character of their chief magistrate, would have inflicted on them for breaking the laws of the state, unless these atonements had been made. A remission of that kind all the people of the congregation might receive, and it was the only remission which, in a body, they could receive through the sacrifices mentioned. And from the inefficacy of the annual atonements, made on the day above mentioned, to procure for the people the eternal pardon of their sins, it follows that the daily atonements, made by the ordinary priests, had no greater efficacy in procuring their pardon.” — Macknight. See notes on Heb 9:8-10; chap. Heb 10:4.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:21 he sprinkled blood: See Exod 24:3-8; Lev 16:14-19.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 9:21. Τὰ σκεύη, the vessels) also the garments.—ἐῤῥάντισε) LXX., τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ αἵματος προσέχεε πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_9:21 adds to that mentioned Heb_9:19-20, not a simultaneous fact, but only something occurring later. For when the law was proclaimed by Moses, and the people promised to observe the same, the tabernacle had not yet an existence. Exodus 40, where we have the account of the erection and inauguration of the tabernacle, only an anointing of the tabernacle and its vessels with oil is enjoined, not a sprinkling thereof with blood. Comp. ibid. Exo_9:9. Similarly in Leviticus, a sprinkling indeed with blood (Lev_8:15; Lev_8:19; Lev_8:24) is supposed in regard to the altar; in regard to the tabernacle and its furniture, on the other hand, only an anointing (Lev_8:10 ff.). It is possible, however, that Jewish tradition preserved more precise details. At least mention is made by Josephus also (Antiq. iii. 8. 6) of an aspersion of the tabernacle and its furniture, on the part of Moses, with blood.

Erroneously, for the rest (on account of the aorist), do Owen, Seb. Schmidt, Wittich, Cramer, and others find mentioned, Heb_9:21, in place of the one act of Moses, a sprinkling enjoined by the law of Moses, and occurring at different fixed periods, in connection with which the majority will have the sprinkling which is made on the great Day of Atonement, Lev_16:14 ff., to be meant.

καὶ … δέ] but also. Luk_2:35; Joh_8:16, al.

τὰ σκεύη τῆς λειτουργίας] the vessels designed for sacred use.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 9:21 . καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν δὲ .… “And he also in like manner sprinkled with the blood the tabernacle and all the instruments of the service”. The tabernacle, however, was not yet erected when the covenant was instituted. Delitzsch supposes that a subsequent though kindred transaction is referred to; and colour is given to this supposition by the separation of this verse from Heb 9:19 . But against it is the article in τῷ αἵματι , “the blood,” apparently the blood defined in Heb 9:19-20 ; although it is just possible the writer may have meant “the blood” which formed part of the means of service. Neither was it by Moses but by Aaron the tabernacle and the altar were sprinkled with blood and so cleansed on the day of Atonement. When first erected ἡ σκηνὴ καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῆς were anointed with oil (Exo 40:9 ) but Josephus records a tradition that it was consecrated not only with oil but also with blood ( Ant . iii. 8, 6). It seems that the author adopts this tradition, and ascribes to Moses at the original consecration of the tabernacle the cleansing rites which afterwards were annually performed by Aaron on the day of Atonement.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Greek, "And, moreover, in like manner." The sprinkling of the tabernacle with blood is added by inspiration here to the account in Exo 30:25-30; Exo 40:9-10, which mentions only Moses' anointing the tabernacle and its vessels. In Lev 8:10, Lev 8:15, Lev 8:30, the sprinkling of blood upon Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the altar, is mentioned as well as the anointing, so that we might naturally infer, as JOSEPHUS has distinctly stated, that the tabernacle and its vessels were sprinkled with blood as well as being anointed: Lev 16:16, Lev 16:20, Lev 16:33, virtually sanctions this inference. The tabernacle and its contents needed purification (Ch2 29:21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. He sprinkled - with blood - all the vessels of the ministry.] To intimate that every thing used by sinful man is polluted, and that nothing can be acceptable in the sight of a holy God that has not in effect the sprinkling of the atoning blood.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) He sprinkled with blood.—Rather, he sprinkled in like manner with the blood. It is singular that the word rendered “in like manner” (found in the Bishops’ Bible, “likewise,” and in other versions) should have been overlooked in the Authorised version. The incident here mentioned belongs, of course, to a later date. It is not expressly recorded in Scripture, but is related by Josephus (Ant. iii. 8, § 6); and, apart from internal probability, might almost be concluded from the narrative of the Pentateuch itself. In Exo_40:9-15 we read of the divine injunction that Moses should put the anointing oil not only upon Aaron and his sons, their garments, and the altar, but also upon the Tabernacle and its vessels. In Lev_8:10-12 is recorded the fulfilment of this command; but in the later verses of the same chapter we read that the altar was sprinkled with the blood of the sin-offering (Heb_9:15), and that Moses sprinkled Aaron and his sons and their garments with “the anointing oil and the blood which was upon the altar.” Manifestly we may infer that the Tabernacle and its vessels were included in the latter ceremony. Whatever was connected with the covenant which God made with His people must be sprinkled with the blood, which at once typified purification (Heb_9:14; Heb_9:24), and ratified the covenant (Heb_9:15; Heb_9:17).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. both the tabernacle] This again is not mentioned in the scene to which the writer seems to be referring (Exo_24:6-8), which indeed preceded the building of the Tabernacle. It is nowhere recorded in Scripture that the Tabernacle was sprinkled, although it is perhaps implied that on a later occasion this may have been done (Exo_40:9-10); and Josephus, closely following the same Hagadah as the writer, says that such was the case (Jos. Antt. iii. 8. § 6).

all the vessels] This again is not directly mentioned, though we are told that Aaron and his sons, and the altar, were consecrated by such a sprinkling (Lev_8:30), and that the “propitiatory” was so sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Lev_16:14). By these references to unrecorded traditions the writer shews that he had been trained in Rabbinic Schools.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover, he sprinkled likewise both the tabernacle,.... Not at the same time that he sprinkled the book and the people, for then there was no tabernacle; but afterwards, at the time that it was set up, when it was anointed with oil, Exo 40:9 and though no mention is there made of blood, yet Josephus, in agreement with the apostle, asserts (i), that the tabernacle, and its vessels, were not only anointed with oil, but sprinkled with the blood of bulls and goats, as well as the garments of Aaron, and his sons: the tabernacle was typical of the church, in which God dwells, being purified and cleansed by the blood of Christ; and this shows, that there is no coming into the presence of God, the place where he dwells, without blood.

And all the vessels of the ministry; which were used in the service of the tabernacle these may denote the vessels of grace and mercy, the elect of God, whose hearts are sprinkled by the blood of Christ from an evil conscience, and whose garments are washed in it, and made white by it.

(i) Antiq. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

Ver. 21. He sprinkled with blood] This sprinkling had a foreshadowing of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, 1Pe 1:2; Isa 52:15; by his finger, that is, by his Spirit, Luk 11:20; Mat 12:28.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He sprinkled ...both the tabernacle - This circumstance is not stated by Moses. On the probability that this was done, see notes on Heb 9:19. The account of setting up the tabernacle occurs in Exo 11:1-10. In that account it is said that Moses “anointed” the tabernacle with the holy anointing oil; Heb 9:9-11. Josephus (Ant. book iii, chapter 8, section 6), says that he consecrated it and the vessels thereto belonging with the blood of bulls and of rams. This was undoubtedly the tradition in the time of Paul, and no one can prove that it is not correct.

And all the vessels of the ministry - Employed in the service of God. The altar, the laver, Exo 40:10-11, the censers, dishes, bowls, etc., which were used in the tabernacle.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moses did not only sprinkle the book of the covenant with blood, but the tabernacle itself, yearly, on the atonement day, as is charged, Lev 16:14,16,17. For as the altar and persons were to be atoned for, so was the tabernacle itself, Heb 9:18,20. First they were sprinkled, and then anointed, Lev 8:10,11, as the gospel tabernacle was in the truth of it, 1Co 6:11. All the garments and vessels of that priesthood were thus to be purified, typifying how unclean all the persons ministering with them, and atoned for in and by them, were; and how polluting all things, and polluted by them, till they were purified by the blood of Christ.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Moreover—At a later period. Stuart says: “The setting up and consecration of the tabernacle with its vessels is related in Exodus xl; yet nothing is there related of sprinkling them with blood, but only of anointing them with holy oil. Exo_40:9-11. In the like manner, the anointing only of Aaron and his sons is there spoken of as a rite preparatory to entering upon the duties of their office in the tabernacle, Exo_40:12-15; while nothing is said at all of their being sprinkled with blood. But if we compare Exo_29:20-21, and Lev_8:24; Lev_8:30, we shall see it to be certain that Aaron and his sons were sprinkled with blood, as well as anointed with oil. In like manner it is probable that the tabernacle and its furniture were sprinkled with blood, although Moses has not mentioned it in Exodus 40. Josephus says: ‘Both the tabernacle and the vessels pertaining to it (Moses sprinkled and purified) with oil prepared as I have described, and with the blood of bulls and rams that were slain, one of each alternately, every day.’”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry be sprinkled in like manner with the blood. This refers to a subsequent occasion, the tabernacle not having been constructed at the time of the inauguration of the covenant, probably to the dedication of the tabernacle, enjoined Ex 40, and described Le 8. It is true that no sprinkling of the tabernacle or its furniture with blood is mentioned in the Pentateuch; only the anointing of them with oil. (Lev_8:10) But the garments of Aaron and his sons are said on that occasion to have been sprinkled with the blood as well as with the anointing oil, (Lev_8:30) and Josephus ("Ant.," 3:8. 6) says that this blood-sprinkling was extended also to the tabernacle and its vessels (thn te skhnh ta peri authh). Here, as well as in ver. 19, our writer may be supposed to follow the traditional account, with which there is still nothing in the Pentateuch inconsistent. Be it observed again that the force of the argument does not depend on these added details, but on the general principle, abundantly expressed in the original record, which is assorted in the following verse.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And in like manner he ordered the tabernacle - When it was made, and all its vessels, to be sprinkled with blood once a year.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

21. Moreover he sprinkled with blood. Afterwards, about a year later, when the tabernacle was ready, both it and its furniture were sprinkled (Exod. 40:9–15; Lev. 8:24).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

he sprinkled

"Moses sprinkled"

sprinkled

Sprinkling was a symbolic action done by the priests by which they applied the benefits of the covenant to people and to objects. See how you translated this in Hebrews 9:19. (See: Symbolic Action)

all the containers used in the service

A container is an object that can hold things. Here it may refer to any kind of utensil or tool. AT: "all the utensils used in the service"

used in the service

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the priests used in their work" (See: Active or Passive)

almost everything is cleansed with blood

Making something acceptable to God is spoken of as if it were cleansing that thing. This idea can be stated in active form. AT: "the priests use blood to cleanse almost everything" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)

blood

Here the animal "blood" is talking about the animal's death. (See: Metonymy)

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness

Here "shedding of blood" refers to something dying as a sacrifice to God. This double negative can mean that all forgiveness comes through the shedding of blood. AT: "Forgiveness only comes when something dies as a sacrifice" or "God only forgives when something dies as a sacrifice" (See: Metonymy and Double Negatives)

forgiveness

You can state explicitly the implied meaning. AT: "forgiveness of the sins of the people" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

blood

tabernacle

law

clean

bloodshed

forgive

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21. καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν δέ. This again is not mentioned in the scene to which the writer seems to be referring (Exo 24:6-8), which indeed preceded the building of the Tabernacle. It is nowhere recorded in Scripture that the Tabernacle was sprinkled, although it is perhaps implied that on a later occasion this may have been done (Exo 40:9-10); and Josephus, closely following the same Haggadah as the writer, says that such was the case (Jos. Antt. III. 8, § 6).

πάντα τὰ σκεύη. This again is not mentioned, though we are told that Aaron and his sons, and the altar, were consecrated by such a sprinkling (Lev 8:30), and that the “propitiatory” was so sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:14). By these references to unrecorded traditions the writer shews that he had been trained in Rabbinic Schools.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21.] And moreover he in like manner sprinkled with the blood the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry (this cannot be spoken of the same occasion as that referred to in the previous verses: for at that time the tabernacle did not exist. Nor again can it be said of any practice of sprinkling with blood which existed throughout the legal ordinances: for the aorist shews the reference to be to some one act, and the subject of the verb is, as before, Moses. This being so, we must look beyond the ordinances of the law itself for the fact here detailed. For all that we have in the law respecting the dedication of the tabernacle and its vessels is in Exo 40:9, Exo 40:10, where Moses is commanded to take the anointing oil, and to anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein, and to hallow it, and all the vessels thereof. So that our Writer is probably referring to some traditional account, which added to this anointing with oil, the sprinkling with blood. And this is not merely a hypothesis. For Josephus, Antt. iii. 8. 6, gives the following remarkable account, agreeing with ours almost verbatim: Μωυσῆς δὲ.… ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν τεθυμένων τήν τε στολὴν τοῦ Ἀαρῶνος καὶ αὐτὸν σὺν τοῖς παισὶν ἔῤῥαινεν, … ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον αὐτούς τε καὶ τὰς στολὰς ἐθεράπευε, τήν τε σκηνὴν καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτὴν σκεύη ἐλαίῳ τε προθυμιωμένῳ καθὼς εἶπον, καὶ τῷ αἵματι τῶν ταύρων καὶ κριῶν σφαγέντων καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἑνὸς κατὰ γένος. In Lev 8:30, from which the account of anointing Aaron and his sons is taken, distinct mention is made of sprinkling on them, and on their garments, the blood which was on the altar. It was a natural addition, to extend that sprinkling to the tabernacle and its vessels: especially as (Levit. ver. 15) the altar was already to be touched with the blood. Philo, Vita Mos. iii. 18, vol. ii. p. 158, cited by Carpzov and others as asserting the same as our text, does not do so, as Bleek has pointed out. He merely exactly reproduces the directions of Lev 8:10, Lev 8:30),

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. καί...δέ...) And the tabernacle also,...Vulg. Etiam (tabernaculum). The combination is found hero only in the Epistle. It occurs in the Epistles of St Paul, Rom. xi. 23 κἀκεῖνοι iii, 12 καὶ πάντες δέ, Oomp. 1 Jobn i. 3 note.

τῷ αἵματι) with the blood. Tho definite form (contrast Ὁ. 22 ἐν αἵματι, xii. 24 αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ) is used to bring out the thought that this was not the ordinary blood of purification, but the blood of the covenant, the blood of inauguration.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.