Chapter Ten
Heb. 10:1. The Law, having a shadow of the good things to come,
That is, being an image of the future blessings of the New Testament, which Christ bestows upon those who have accepted this Testament.
Heb. 10:1. and not the very image of the things,
That is, not the very truth. Of what things? Of our sacrifice, of the remission of sins. For the things of the Old Testament, being unclear, resembled a shadowy outline; but those of the New Testament are like an image, that is, the truth, since they appear in brilliance and perfection. So explains St. John Chrysostom. But it is not useless to take into account also what Gregory the Theologian gives us to understand in this passage. In other discourses as well, but especially clearly in his oration on Pascha, he says: the Paschal lamb of the law—I state decisively—was an image darker than an image. Thus he gives us to understand that by "shadow" the apostle means the law; and by image, what is now performed in the Church, as a reflection of other more perfect blessings which the worthy will receive as their portion in the age to come; and these are what the apostle now calls "things." Therefore, just as an image differs in some way from the archetypal thing, so too the present mysteries differ from the more perfect things of the age to come; and to the degree that an outline falls short of an image, to that same degree the law falls short of the New Testament.
Heb. 10:1. by the same sacrifices, offered continually year after year, can (δύναται) never make perfect those who draw near with them.
The meaning of this passage is as follows: if the sacrifices of the Law had power, they would not have been offered continually; once offered and having proved beneficial, they would have ceased. But since they were offered every year, constantly, it is clear that they had no power to perfect. And therefore after the first sacrifice they offered a second, and then yet a third. Just as among medicines, those are effective which, having been applied once, bring healing; whereas those that are frequently applied thereby demonstrate their own inefficacy. But the question arises: what then? Do we not also unceasingly offer bloodless sacrifices? Of course, always; but we perform a remembrance of the death of Christ. And this sacrifice is one, not many, since it was offered once. We constantly offer one and the same Lamb, or rather: we perform a remembrance of that offering, as though it were being performed now. Consequently, the sacrifice is one. As for the fact that the sacrifice is offered in many places—are there then many Christs? No, one—everywhere, and complete there, and complete here, one Body of His. And just as, being offered in many places, He is one Body and not many bodies, so also the sacrifice is one. For we offer that sacrifice which was offered then. But there, the lamb offered yesterday was different from today's. And today's lamb was offered not as a remembrance of yesterday's, but as itself constituting a sacrifice in its own right. So in what sense does the Apostle say "the same sacrifices"? The sacrifices were the same inasmuch as the same kinds of sacrifices were offered—for example, today a lamb and tomorrow a lamb—but they were different in number. Some, however, have said that the sacrifices were the same in the manner of offering—that is, they were performed through slaughter or burnt offering—but different in kind, such as sheep, oxen, turtledoves, pigeons. The expression δύναται—"can"—although it is found in manuscripts with the letter ν, I have nevertheless found a note requiring it without the letter ν. "The Law," he says, "having a shadow of the good things to come... can never make (δύναται) perfect those who draw near." And indeed, in accordance with grammatical precision, one must preserve Scripture so that no error arises in it. But since in Scripture there is not a single word about rules of speech, we shall understand this passage as the manuscripts contain it, namely: they can (δύναται) never—evidently, those who offer—make perfect those who draw near.
Heb. 10:2. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been cleansed once, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins?
Read in the interrogative form. If they had ceased from sins, he says, would not the offerings themselves have ceased as well, since those in need of their help would have received it sufficiently and would have had "no more consciousness of sins"? That is, nothing further among what they had recognized would require healing, by virtue of the fact that what was once cleansed is cured.
Heb. 10:3. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance of sins every year,
Sacrifices, he says, produce nothing else except a remembrance of sins, that is, an exposure. They do not provide forgiveness of sins, but by the fact that they are always offered, they show that the sins of the people remain unforgiven. For if sins had been forgiven, what need would there be for sacrifices? By saying "there is a reminder," he gave you to understand that sacrifices were performed not only for subsequent sins, but also for preceding ones, as evidently unforgiven. For annually, as it is said, the blood of bulls was offered for the people. Therefore, since the sins were the same, the same sacrifice was also offered. Yet nowhere were subsequent sins the same as preceding ones. Is it not clear that the former sins remained unresolved, and therefore the same sacrifice was always offered, just as the same medicine, being always applied, shows that the same disease always torments the sick person.
Heb. 10:4. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
He makes his speech even stronger by pointing out the insignificance of the sacrifices offered and the severity of the disease, just as if someone skilled in the medical art, seeing that a leper is being offered the herb called mercurialis (λινόζωστιν), were to say: it is impossible to cure leprosy with mercurialis (mercury herb).
Heb. 10:5. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He says:
Christ, entering the world in the flesh, speaks through the mouth of David. The apostle's purpose here is as follows: since he has shown that sacrifices are powerless and useless, lest someone say to him: why then do the Jews still offer them? For at that time their temple was still standing and everything prescribed by the law was being carried out — why then had they not ceased? — he now, explaining this, says that although the sacrifices had ceased by the will of God, the Jews, being inclined to vainglory and always resisting the Holy Spirit, still clung to them. He also shows that they were rejected by God before the incarnation of the Lord. And notice, the apostle draws attention to this here. For he did not say: "having entered," but "entering the world," in order to show that even before He entered, He hated their sacrifices.
Heb. 10:5. Sacrifices and offerings You did not desire, (Ps. 39:7)
Obviously, those established by the law. "Offering" here denotes something distinct from "sacrifice," and I think that this specifically refers to the bloodless sacrifices.
Heb. 10:5. But a body You have prepared for Me. (Ps. 39:7)
That is, You ordained that My Body should become the most perfect sacrifice.
Heb. 10:6. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure.
Neither burnt offerings, nor offerings for sins "You desired," nor deemed worthy of acceptance. The names of the sacrifices were various, evidently due to various reasons: some were for sins (Lev. 4:3), others for trespasses (Lev. 6:5), others for salvation (Num. 6:14), others for mercy (Num. 6:5), others of vows (Lev. 27:2–7), and still others for purification (Lev. 14:32). Thus, all sacrifices were abolished, since You desired neither sacrifice nor offering.
Heb. 10:7. Then I said: behold, I come, as it is written of Me in the beginning of the book, to do Thy will, O God. (Ps. 39:8–9)
Do you see that the sacrifices were rejected even before the incarnation? For after You rejected the sacrifices, then I — Christ — said: "Behold, I come... to do Your will." And the will of God the Father is that the Son be slain for the world, so that people might be justified, not through sacrifices, but through the death of His Son. For, He says, "I proclaimed Your righteousness in the great assembly" (Ps. 39:10). Then, among other things, He says: "In the beginning of the book it is written of Me." This is how these words must be connected. By "the beginning of the book" He means the scroll of the law or the book of the Old Testament. So then, in this book it is written of My coming and that I must be slain for the world. Or by "the beginning of the book" He means the beginning of the books of the Old Testament. For in the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis, when it says, "Let Us make man in Our image" (Gen. 1:26), it gives us to understand the divinity of Christ.
Heb. 10:8. Having said before, "You neither desired nor took pleasure in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin" — which are offered according to the law —
Heb. 10:9. then He added: "Behold, I come to do Your will, O God."