RSV ~ Hebrews 9 Notes

Heb 9:1-14 | ISB Notes

The layout of the Mosaic Tabernacle. The sanctuary proper was composed of two chambers: the outer tent or Holy Place, where the priests of Israel performed regular duties, and the inner tent or Holy of Holies, where the high priest alone could enter once a year. For the author, the first and second chambers of the Tabernacle symbolize the first (Mosaic) and second (New) covenants (8:7), as well as earth and heaven. Thus, the Aaronic high priest, who passed from the first tent to the second once a year, is a type of Christ, who passed from the Old Covenant into the New once for all time when he ascended into the presence of God in heaven (4:14; 9:24).

• The distinction between the first and second tents can be explained in two ways. In one sense, the first tent represents the Old Covenant, and the second tent the New. In another, the first signifies the Church, and the second the glory of heaven (St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews 9, 1).

Heb 9:2 | ISB Notes

Holy Place: The outer tent where priests performed daily and weekly rituals (9:6). It was furnished with a lampstand (Ex 25:31-37), a table overlaid with gold (Ex 25:23-29), and 12 loaves of the bread of Presence (Ex 25:30; Lev 24:5-8).

Heb 9:3 | ISB Notes

second curtain: The embroidered veil that hung as a partition between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Ex 26:31-33). A similar veil separated the Holy Place from the outer courtyard.

Holy of Holies: The most sacred chamber of the Tabernacle, inaccessible to all but the high priest once a year (9:7). It housed the Ark of the Covenant, the golden chest that served as the earthly throne of Yahweh (Ex 25:10-15). The Ark was topped with the mercy seat and its two cherubim (Ex 25:17-22), and inside it were the tablets of the covenant (Ex 25:16), a jar of manna (Ex 16:33), and the rod of Aaron (Num 17:8-10).

Heb 9:4 | ISB Notes

altar of incense: Scripture normally puts the incense altar in the Holy Place, not the Holy of Holies (Ex 30:1-10; 40:26). Perhaps the author is alluding to the Day of Atonement liturgy, when incense was taken from the altar into the presence of the Ark (Lev 16:12-13).

Heb 9:5 | ISB Notes

mercy seat: The slab of pure gold that formed the lid of the Ark (Ex 25:17-22).

Heb 9:7 | ISB Notes

once a year: On the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:2934).

• On this day, the high priest offered sacrifices for himself (bull calf) and the people (goat) and took the blood of the victims into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle it on the mercy seat of the Ark (Lev 16:14-15). The event was an annual renewal of the Mosaic covenant ratified at Sinai, which Aaron promptly broke when he fashioned the golden calf (Ex 32:4) and which the people continued to break by worshiping goat idols in the Sinai wilderness (satyrs, Lev 17:7). See note on Lev 9:1-24.

Heb 9:8 | ISB Notes

not yet opened: The definitive passage from the old order to the new, and thus from earth to heaven, was pioneered by Christ, who leads the way for his people to follow (2:10; 4:14-16).

Heb 9:9 | ISB Notes

present age: The age of the Old Covenant, which at the time of the author was nearing its end (8:13; 9:26).

Heb 9:11 | ISB Notes

greater … tent: The heavenly sanctuary that Christ entered when he ascended to the right hand of the Father (4:14; 8:1; 9:24) (CCC 662).

not made with hands: i.e., not earthly.

See essay: Not Made with Hands at 2 Cor 5.

Heb 9:12 | ISB Notes

once for all: In marked contrast to the “once a year” (9:7) entrance of the high priests of Israel (9:25).

Holy Place: The Greek is better rendered “sanctuary”, as in 8:2 and 9:24.

blood of goats and calves: The author appears to telescope two different liturgical events: the ratification of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai, where the Greek OT specifies that young calves were sacrificed (Ex 24:5), and the renewal of the Mosaic covenant on the Day of Atonement, when a goat was sacrificed for the transgressions of the people (Lev 16:15). The effect is to show that the sacrificial blood of Christ both ratifies a New Covenant and truly atones for the sins committed under the Old (Heb 9:15) (CCC 592). For a similar use of this technique, See note on Heb 7:27.

Heb 9:13 | ISB Notes

ashes of a heifer: The ashes of a red heifer, burned with its blood, were mixed with water in order to purify persons defiled by contact with the dead (Num 19:1-13). In a more powerful way, the blood of Christ cleanses us from the guilt of “dead works” (Heb 9:14).

Heb 9:14 | ISB Notes

the eternal Spirit: The Spirit carried the risen humanity of Jesus beyond the veil of creation into the heavenly sanctuary (Acts 1:9-11).

offered himself: Jesus is both priest and sacrificial victim.

without blemish: Animals offered in sacrifice had to be free of physical defects (Lev 1:3, 10; 3:1, 6; etc.). Christ is free of every moral and spiritual defect (Heb 7:26; 1 Pet 1:19).

to serve: Redemption from sin brings a new freedom for worship (12:28; 13:15-16).

Heb 9:15 | ISB Notes

mediator: One who brings God and his people together.

See word study: Mediator at 12:24. promised …

inheritance: The heavenly blessings pledged to the world through Abraham (6:17; Gen 22:16-18).

Heb 9:17 | ISB Notes

takes effect: Or, “is confirmed”.

Heb 9:18 | ISB Notes

Refers to the ratification of the Sinai covenant described in Ex 24:3-8.

Heb 9:20 | ISB Notes

This is the blood: A citation from Ex 24:8.

• Since the Hebrew and Greek versions of this passage begin with the word “Behold” instead of “This”, it is likely that the author of Hebrews has deliberately adjusted the words of Moses to evoke the eucharistic words of Jesus: “[T]his is my blood of the covenant” (Mt 26:28). If so, then he is drawing a parallel between the founding of the Old Covenant at Sinai and the founding of the New Covenant at the Last Supper (Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). .

Heb 9:22 | ISB Notes

the shedding of blood: Blood was a key element in the atonement and purification rites of Israelite religion. This was especially so on the Day of Atonement, when blood was used to purify the priests and people as well as the Tabernacle and its furnishings (Lev 16:11-19).

Heb 9:24 | ISB Notes

made with hands: The Mosaic Tabernacle was an earthly tent, i.e., part of this creation (9:11).

Heb 9:25 | ISB Notes

repeatedly: The continuous cycle of high priests offering sacrifices and going in and out of the Holy of Holies year after year stands in contrast to Christ, who appeared once for all (9:26), died once for all (7:27; 9:28), and entered the heavenly sanctuary once

for all (9:12).

Heb 9:26 | ISB Notes

end of the age: The final stretch of the Old Covenant era, which the author perceives is “ready to vanish away” (8:13). See intr

oduction: Date.

Heb 9:27 | ISB Notes

to die once: No man dies twice, and so neither does Christ, who shared fully in our humanity (2:14; Rom 6:9) (CCC 1013). judgment: Everyone will experience a personal judgment by God immediately after death (CCC 1021-22).

Heb 9:28 | ISB Notes

bear the sins of many: An allusion to Is 53:12.

• Isaiah describes the rejection and death of the Messiah, who ma

kes himself a sin offering for the transgressions of his people (Is 53:10). The oracle resonates with several of the same themes that echo throughout Hebrews. a second time: Christ will come again from heaven to retrieve the saints destined for glory (1 Thess 4:16-17).