The Letter to the HEBREWS

Author Uncertain





Introduction:
Hebrews is one of the most misunderstood books in the Renewed Covenant, and often when taken at face value as usually translated, is used to make it sound like the authors of the Renewed Covenant writings were contradicting what Yahshua the Messiah Himself said. "Church Fathers" Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and Jerome all assert that the Letter to the Hebrews had originally been written in Hebrew. The authorship is not certain, but Clement of Alexandria, around 200 C.E., credited it to Paulus (Sha'ul), and said that Luqa later translated it from Hebrew into Greek. Eusebius noted that others said Clement himself had translated it into Greek. The last time it is known to have been published was by Munster in 1557, and even then it was not widely circulated, and was all but forgotten. However, the Munster Hebrew manuscript of Hebrews has recently been made widely available again for the first time in nearly 500 years, thanks to James S. Trimm. This translation uses that text, and thereby corrects many of the common interpretations of the Greek text that have supported Christian theology but are inconsistent with other parts of Scripture. The earliest Scriptures always set the parameters for how later ones can be interpreted, and having the Hebrew text of this letter now sets additional limits on how the Greek version should be read, as we can compare the words used in regard to the Messiah with the way the same terms had been used in ages past. That he is the culmination (not the negation or alteration) of what was said throughout all the previous ages is a major stated theme of this letter, as is the concept that (rather than altering it, as the common view would have us think) Yahshua puts the covenant on firmer footing than ever.



Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13




CHAPTER 1

 1. In ancient days YHWH spoke to the fathers so many times and [with] so many faces through the prophets.
Fathers: or, patriarchs, ancestors. So many: literally, how many. Faces: Trimm renders it manifestations.
2. It has come about in the end of days over [and above what He did] in those days, [that] He has spoken to us through His Son, whom He has appointed to inherit all things--by which He carved out all the ages [of antiquity].
His Son: "Son of Elohim" is a title for the incumbent ruler of Israel in the royal line of Davidic kings. (Psalm 2:7; 1 Chron. 22:10) All things: literally, all words.
3. According to apportionment, he is one who has shed light on His weightiness, and he through the performance [of a task] is accomplishing all things through the force of His word. Since he had withdrawn and wiped away on his hand the darknesses of our sins, indeed, he has seated himself in the heights to the right hand of the Sh'kinah.
Who has shed light on (zahar) His weightiness: or, a bright spot of His majesty (if read as zohar, being ambiguous since the text is unpointed); Gk., reflected brightness of His splendor. Performance: production, practice, labor--a different form of the word rendered "accomplishing" here; Gk., the instrument used to make an exact image of the underlying reality, who upholds all things... Withdrawn: plucked up, torn away, uprooted, broken like a yoke. Wiped away: imperfect tense in Hebrew, but probably an example of the "waw consecutive" which is read as a series of completed events. Darknesses: or possibly fascinations, charms. Has seated himself: or, has been dwelling or remaining. To the right hand: The Hebrew text has yamim (days), but was taken by Greek and Aramaic translators as yamin (right hand), so there may have been a scribal error here. (Compare the account of Yitzhaq, who had been dwelling in the Negev--the south, or the right hand when properly oriented toward the east, as the term implies--Gen. 24:62.) Sh'kinah: YHWH's "inhabiting" presence.
4. And as he has acquired an honored name, [one] thrust forth beyond the dispatched ones, he is thus through inheritance considered greater and more honored than they.
Acquired: not born with. (Compare Filippians 2:5-11.) Dispatched ones: messengers, angels. Through inheritance: Just as Yitzhaq, though much younger and having accomplished far less, was esteemed much more highly than his father's senior servant, because of his position as son and heir.
5. To which of the angels did He [ever] say, "You are in the My Son; today I have begotten you"? And again [He says] in another place, "I will function as a Father to him, and he will serve as a son for Me".
Angels: or simply, messengers, in which case there is an answer: David and Shlomo, and those in their line who would inherit the throne. (Psalm 2:5ff; 2 Shmu'el 7:12ff; 1 Chron. 17:13; 28:6; Psalm 89:20ff) These quotes are directly from some of these passages, so this is the context in which they must be read.
6. And yet another, thus: (When He brought His firstborn Son into the world,) He said, "Let all the messengers of Elohim bow down to him."
Let: or, All…shall bow…", i.e., in homage to the one who was thus named king. The quote is from a phrase present in a text of Deut. 32:43 found at Qumran, but is missing from the Masoretic text. It is, however, quoted in the LXX. It does appear in the Masoretic text of Psalm 97:7, but says there only "Let all the Elohim bow down to Him", while the LXX version says, "Let all His angels bow down before Him." The quote here combines the two, suggesting an earlier version of Hebrew that included both as well, but from which the two derived texts each carried over only a part.
7. But to the angels, He said, "[He is] making winds His messengers, and his ministering servant[s] a kindled fire."
Winds: or, spirits. Servants: the Munster text either leaves out the "His" or has a copyist's error substituting a yodh for the waw ending found in three Qumran scrolls. (Trimm)
8. However, to the Son, He said, "Look here, O elohim! Your throne is for ever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
Elohim: an honorific title for a judge, in this case, since the king is the judge of all Israel. Contrast Yahshua's being addressed as elohim with his Elohim in the next verse, to maintain the proper context for understanding what is being said. For ever and ever: literally, "to the age and until…" The quote is from Psalm 45:6-7.
9. "You have loved what is right and hated wickedness. Therefore, Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of joy more than your companions."
Companions: or fellows. I.e., Yahshua originally had many peers, but YHWH chose Him from among them for special promotion. Now another quote begins:
10. "And You are my Master." "Of old You founded the earth; the heavens are the workmanship of Your hands.
You are My Master: The phrase is not in the extant Masoretic Hebrew text. The LXX has "In the beginning, You, O Master, laid the foundation…", again possibly reflecting a translation from an earlier version in Hebrew, though according to Trimm none has yet been found. The fact that the Greek version does not follow the LXX word order is evidence that the Greek text of this letter did not come before the Hebrew version.
11. "They will cease to exist, but You will remain when they all wear out like a garment.
Yeshayahu 50:9b also quotes the latter part of this verse from Psalm 102.
12. "Like clothing, You will substitute [something better for] them, and they will change." "Truly You will remain where You have been exalted!"
Substitute: the LXX has "fold them" here in Psalm 102 (101 in the LXX). Change: be renewed, discarded, substituted. The exact quotation from Psalm 102:27 ends after that word. The next part is more like the next phrase of the LXX version than the Masoretic Hebrew text, but not identical to it either. It may reflect an older Hebrew version.
13. Indeed, to which of the angels has He said even once, "Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies [into] your footstool"?
This quote is exactly the same as the Masoretic text of Psalm 110:1.
14. Aren't they all ministering spirits who are sent for service--to wait on the one who inherits deliverance?


CHAPTER 2

1. [This is so we will] perk up, very attentive to the words that He will speak to the nation--to those of us who will not turn aside from the way of truth.

2. Because if this word which was announced through the angels was confirmed and established, and all rebellion and crookedness received a just and right recompense,

3. how can we imagine we will escape if we fail to [properly] value the great[er] deliverance? Those truths that come from behind what is in the first of the books and will be foremost from the mouth of Adonai Himself--indeed, afterward, the same [report] from the mouth of those who heard [it] reached us and was confirmed among us--

Fail to properly value: or, neglect. Books: or, numbers.
4. that Elohim had strengthened their hold with His signs and His wonders and by many silent [workings] of the spirit of being set-apart, [according] to the voicing of His desire,
YHWH added even stronger confirmation to the message that should have been clear enough already.
5. because He did not impose the service of the coming age, about which we are speaking, on angels,

6. but one bears witness some place and says, "what is mortal man, that You [even] remember him, or the son of Adam, that You attend to him?

The quote is from Psalm 8:4ff.
7. "Yet You have made him fall short of Elohim [only] slightly, and with dignity and splendor You crown him. You have given him dominion over the workmanship of Your hands;

8. "You have put everything under his feet." And in this tempering all things were covered over [so as to not be seen]; indeed, He did not isolate which thing [there might be] that He did not appoint to be under his governance. We [do] concur [that] we see with our own eyes that indeed not all things are yet [subjected] to him as servants.

Put: legally and officially appointed that this be the order. The quote is from Psalm 8:5-7. Tempering: weakening, making to lag behind (i.e., being subjected to him).
9. But was he not diminished a little less than the angels? We see that he--Yahshua, who turned aside into servitude and died on the wooden [post]--is crowned with praise and honor in that he, by the mercies of Elohim, died on behalf of all the sons of Adam,
Praise: or, appreciation, increased value.
10. because it is appropriate to Him on whose path are all things--every one of them--and through whom all things are confirmed, that the one who brings many sons to honor is himself the one who conducts them to their deliverance, having been made complete by means of sufferings.
On whose path: Trimm renders it "for his sake". Confirmed: validated, satisfied, fulfilled, made to endure, preserved.
11. For this reason both the one who makes holy and those who are made holy [come] from one [source]. Therefore he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

12. saying, "I will declare Your Name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will make my boast in Your Name."

The quote is from Psalm 22:23.
13. And again, "I will put my trust in Him", and furthermore, "Here I am along with the children whom YHWH has given to me."
Though there is great similarity to and possibly an allusion to Gen. 33:5, this quote is from Yeshayahu 8:17b-18. The first phrase says, "I will wait expectantly for him" in the Masoretic text, but Trimm notes that the rendering here agrees with the LXX reading. The full quotation of the second phrase in Hebrew is, "Indeed, I and the children whom YHWH has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from with YHWH [Master] of Armies, who inhabits Mount Tzion", and this is the context the author of Hebrews intends to remind us of by quoting just the first line.
14. So since some of the others who are sons are sold into slavery to flesh and blood, in unity with them he too shared in the same with them, from the face of which by means of death he could encircle him who had the power over death
Sold into slavery: literally, mortgaged.
15. in order to rescue those who on account of the fear of death were subservient all the days of their lives.

16. For He did not select the angels with whom to set [His dwelling] place, but He selected the seed of Avraham for [this purpose].

17. Above any hope at all it is proper to hasten his becoming a compassionate and faithful high priest with his brothers in every matter in those things which are done before [the face of] Elohim as a form [on which to produce a creation],

Hasten: enjoy, feel. As a form: Heb., k-y-tz-r; Trimm sees this as a scribal error for k-y-f-r (atonement), which agrees with the extant Aramaic version.
18. because since he has [experienced] temptation, is he not able to bring deliverance to those who have been tempted?


CHAPTER 3

1. Therefore, you, set-apart brothers who are also those [who are] called by the summons of Heaven, look! [It is binding] on you to attentively contemplate the envoy and the high priest whom we [openly] confess [and celebrate], Yahshua the Messiah,

2. who himself was faithful to the One who appointed him (among His whole household), just as Moshe was as well.

3. For as the builder of a house is worthy to share [in an] honor greater than that [which is given to] the house, so he became worthy that a greater honor than that belonging to Moshe should be apportioned to him,

4. since every house [that] exists had to have been built by some man, but the one who created everything, he is the El of Elohim.

5. But Moshe was faithful in his whole household, that they should see who afterward would say likewise.

Or, for them to see who would later say the same.
6. Indeed, Yahshua the Messiah himself will be over His household, so that we can, like him, have that same anticipation along with his household if we press the hope forward until the end,

7. on account of when the spirit of holiness says, "Today, if you will hear His voice,

8. "do not close your hearts tightly like the conflict in the day of testing in the wilderness,

Close tightly: a scribal error for the Hebrew, which says "harden or make difficult". Conflict: Heb., merivah. Testing: Heb., massah--both names of the same place where the people complained to Moshe about the lack of water. (Ex. 17:7)
9. "where your ancestors tested Me and proved me, and they also saw what I did for forty years.
Proved: through scrutiny.
10. "For this reason I felt a loathing for this generation, so that I came to say, 'Look! They are a people that are wandering away in their heart, and they have not understood My ways',
For this reason: This term does not appear in Psalm 95, which actually has "for forty years" as the beginning of this sentence rather than the end of the previous one. The word order of the verse is also slightly altered in Hebrews.
11. "[to] whom I swore in My anger, 'If they [ever] enter into My resting [place]…'
The quote is from Psalm 95:7-11.
12. For the same [reason], look out, my brothers, so that there will not be an evil heart in which there is no trustfulness--the kind that turns away from the living Elohim.

13. But let [each] man warn his brothers every day and the day of any time that is called "today" so that not one of you might be hooked by an uncircumcised heart over the hand of the sly power of sin,

Hooked: or pierced through, but used of leading an animal by a nose-ring.

14. because we ourselves are sharers of the Messiah in the completing of this--that is, if we endure, staying away from what harms us until the end, 15. in the wisdom of that which we are told: "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts like in the conflict."

Psalm 95:7-8 is quoted again.
16. Because it turned out that a few of them--of those who heard--alas!--immediately rebelled against it (but not all of those who came out of Egypt by the hand of Moshe).

17. I ask you, from where [did] those [come] on which the conception of His anger came up for forty years? Wasn't it on those who sinned there whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

18. But who was it to whom was it sworn that they would not enter into His resting [place]? Wasn't it to them?

19. It turns out that we see that they were not able to enter into their Land on account of not trusting.


CHAPTER 4

1. So now [what] there is for us [is] to fear and keep watch over ourselves, so that His testimony may not keep us from entering into His resting [place] and we will not become lax, so that none of you may fail to become unified with [the members of] His selfsame [body].

2. Truly it qualifies to establish [the] ascension of what will cause agitation for them--more than the ones who heard the word of El concerning a [shared] portion, which did not become any faith in those who heard it,

3. because we who trust are being gathered into His rest, just as He said--"As I swore in My anger, 'If they [ever] enter into My rest…'--even though in truth when these [things] were being done, the deeds had been completed since the creation of the universe.

"If they ever…": This is the Hebraic form used to swear an oath. The understanding is "They will never…"
4. This is what it says in another place about the seventh day: "And Elohim ceased from all His work on the seventh day."
This is a summary of Genesis 2:2, 3.
5. Again He has repeated, "If they [ever] enter into My rest…!"

6. While indeed it follows that there is still hope for that which is prepared at their end that they can enter into--a rest--it was not for those who had it bound onto them at the beginning to enter therein on account of [the fact that] they did not trust Him.

7. Therefore yet again He defines one [particular] day, and this after He will have been put in straits for a long time, saying in the scroll of David, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts!"

After He will have been put in straits for a long time: i.e., after excruciating patience on His part. This reading fits better with the Greek translation. An alternate interpretation, seemingly more literal according to the Hebrew if the extant text has the correct gaps between words, would read: (…day) when He is angry, and lo and behold, He will frame a great determined time.
8. Now if Y'hoshua had brought them to [that] resting-place, He would not have said, "from one [particular] day".

9. Therefore there still [remains] another resting-place for His presence for the people of Elohim,

10. because whoever enters into his resting place will have rest from his service, just as Elohim ceased from His undertakings.

Service: trade, pursuit, calling, but chiefly, labor as a representative for another.
11. On account of the same, it is our responsibility to be busy about entering into the resting-place so that not one of us falls into the resemblance of those who did not trust Him,

12. because the word of Elohim is alive and forceful, sharper than a two-edged sword that presses until the soul and the spirit are drawn out, even breaking off the limbs and cleaning out the bones that are pressed together and expanding out the purposes and understandings of the heart.

Alive: still today, not just when it was spoken to these people who failed the test. Forceful: having a firm grip, overcoming, violent, strengthening, repairing. Sharper: alternate reading, a similarly-spelled word, which more specifically means pointed. Presses: Trimm renders it "penetrates"; Gk., pierces. Soul and spirit: or, life and breath--i.e., it is capable of killing those whose motives are not right. Indeed, the author seems to be using an analogy of a hunter and his prey. The Greek version has "the dividing apart of both soul and spirit", possibly as a parallel way of saying what the last phrase in the verse says. Cleaning out: or, the marrow, which is how the translator into Greek took it.

[Still being translated; check back again soon!]

...

CHAPTER 5

...

6. As He also says in a different [Psalm], "You are a priest into the age according to the order of Melkhitzedeq."

Order: arrangement, categorization, right to a hold the same position. Melkhitzedeq: The name means "king of righteousness". This man met Avram with bread and wine after he returned from rescuing his relative Lot from the foreign kings who had captured him. (Gen. 14:18) Many identify him with Shem, who was Noakh's firstborn son. (See note on 7:3.)


CHAPTER 6

[Still being translated.]

...


CHAPTER 7

 1. Because this Melchitzedeq, "king of Shalem", priest of the highest El, the one who met Avram as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and bestowed blessings on him,

2. to whom Avram also distributed a tenth from everything (indeed, firstly being interpreted, "King of righteousness", then in addition also "King of Shalem", which is "king of peace",

3. without father, without mother, without genealogy, nor beginning of days nor having end of life, but having been made similar to the son of Elohim) remains a priest into perpetuity.

Without genealogy: In one sense it would have seemed to his younger contemporaries that Shem had always been around, having passed over from a previous age through the Deluge that destroyed all others of his own generation except his brothers, wife, and sisters-in-law. But genealogy can also be read as "pedigree", which in the context of the rest of this chapter would suggest the emphasis that he was not of Levitical descent and thus not suitable for the priesthood in an Israelite context. But there was a more ancient, pre-Aharonic priestly order that continued to exist. The call of the Tzadoqite Levites to be priests within Israel did not nullify the earlier order; it simply provided for an alternative within Israel to the firstborn of every family becoming a temple priest. (Num. 3:12) The firstborn was still the priest of the family, for we see some of David's sons serving as priests, not in Yerushalayim, but over some other peoples. (2 Shmu'el 8:18; 1 Chron. 18:17) David was not a Levite, but was from the tribe of Yehudah, but since Re'uven the firstborn disqualified himself by defiling his father's bed, and Shim'on and Levi (the next eldest) fell from their father's graces, Yehudah by default became the firstborn (since he showed himself worthy in the events surrounding the sale and rediscovery of Yoseyf), and as such was given the scepter. Like Melkhitzedeq, this line was both priestly and royal, and Yahshua, being the firstborn in his family, thus inherited the right to both. So when we say the Messiah is a priestly king in Israel, it is simply another way of saying He is from the line of David. Does Mal'akhi's reprimand of the priesthood for not fulfilling its role properly (like Re'uven) grant legitimacy for the other priesthood to again surface in Israel through the Messiah?
...

12. It is saying that according to which there is a repetition of the office of the priesthood, of necessity it is saying there is a repetition of the Torah.

James Trimm writes in regard to the Greek translation, which says "change" instead of repetition, "In the original Hebrew there is no indication that the Torah or any of its commandments are changed, only that they are repeated. This repetition is all part of the renewal of Torah which is a primaryparadigm of the Book of Hebrews in the original Hebrew."
…

18. To me in this there was a carrying away of the first by a weak work and by drunkeness and that which is not worthy for use.

Trimm writes, "The Hebrew word for 'carrying away' is gistal'kah. Jeremiah uses a form of this same word to describe the Babylonian captivity (Jer. 29:1, 4, 16, 20, 31; 46:19; 48:7, 11; 49:3). The 'carrying away' here is that of the Babylonian captivity and the curse which has come upon Israel for having failed collectively to observe Torah as a people (see Deut. 28-29 and Lev. 26). The Torah promises that if after this curse comes upon us, we repent and turn back to Elohim as a people, he will regather us and renew the covenant with us (Deut.30 and Jer. 31:31f). Hebrews is saying that a 'carrying away' resulted from our failure to observe the Torah thus creating the need for a repetition of the Torah through a repetition of the priesthood."

...


CHAPTER 8

 13. And according to that which he said 'renewed covenant' he has antiquated the first to that which has put on antiquity and in coming days, behold, he offers that which is longed for.
Trimm writes, "In the Hebrew text the idea here is that Israel has (by violating Torah) antiquated the Torah but that the days are coming when the renewal of Torah that had been longed for would come. The Hebrew word for 'longed for' here is shey'kamah (Strong's 3642), meaning 'to long for'; 'to become pale' or 'to vanish away'. The Greek translator misunderstood this word as meaning 'to vanish away' but in the Hebrew it clearly means that the renewal of the Torah was 'longed for'."

...


CHAPTER 9

...

15. And because of this he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death had occurred toward a release [effected by the paying of a ransom] of the violations against the first covenant, those who are being called might receive the promise [offered] of [what was given as] an eternal inheritance.

New: can also mean "unused", which is why this covenant, which is really a renewal of the "old", can be called "new"--it was hardly ever "taken out of the box". Notice that Yahshua's death applies in particular to those who had lost a prior inheritance--that is, the "lost sheep of the House of Israel", whose ancestors broke the first covenant. YHWH finally made a way for the Land and all other promises under Torah to be recovered by their descendants.


CHAPTER 10

 1. Now the Torah, which holds a shadow of the coming benefits, [though] not itself [being] the likeness of the things, is never able, by the same slaughters brought continually [year] by year, to accomplish closure for those who are drawing near.
Shadow: or outline, sketch. Continually: literally, toward the carrying-through. The Torah can never perfect the individual. But as we will see, it was never meant to.
2. Otherwise, wouldn't they have stopped being brought, since those who performed the sacred rituals, once [they] had been cleansed, [would] no longer have consciousness of sins?
Rituals: This was addressed to those who had experienced the Temple and seen all of these offerings going on. Consciousness: Before the Torah was given, there was no recognition of sin (Rom. 4:15), as there was with Adam before he partook of the Tree of the Knowledge and realized his guilt. That is what we are trying to get back to, and when there is full obedience in the whole body, we will be. (v. 18)
3. But in them [instead] there is a reminder of sins [year] by year,
We deal with the same sins year by year. We would hope it is on a more mature level each time, but each year the festival cycle spotlights a different aspect of completeness that we have not yet achieved. As we apply what we learned last year, we have a higher perspective from which to view them, but this only makes us realize there are more areas in which we fall short. There are more habits that we did not previously realize were sin. The end of the cycle, Sukkoth, highlights the fact that since the Messiah is not yet reigning and ruling over all nations, we have at least one more cycle to go through. As we will see later in the chapter, the sins that Yahshua's death addressed are the type that relate to inadvertent sin--slips of the mind (Lev. 4:2), so the repetitions are memory aids so that we can learn to hear, learn to repent, etc., a little bit more fully with each go-round.

4. since it is not possible [for the] blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

They can only remove the legal guilt for having done the sin on one particular occasion, but not the possibility of doing it again; only as we serve one another in unity can the actual practice of the sin be removed from Israel:
5. That is why when He comes into the world, He says, "You did not intend slaughter and offerings, but You fitted me with a properly-equipped body.
Body: Not just Yahshua's physical body (though this is included), but a unified people with Him as their Head. Bulls and goats represent us, but what He really wants is us. Laying down our lives for one another keeps us from committing all (kinds of) sins. (Prov. 10:12) It is the job of His Body to remove the sins of Israel, as the priests did in times past. (Lev. 5 et al) This final phrase is from the LXX; the Masoretic text says, "You have dug My ears open." The passage quoted throughout this section is Psalm 40:6-8.
6. "You did not prefer whole burnt offerings or [those brought] in regard to sin.
He would rather that we did not miss the mark, but carried out the positive commands--the "thou shalts": love YHWH and love our neighbors as our selves. Then we would not need to bring offerings for our sins very often. The original altar was designed to be very small. It should have only had to be used for festival offerings; instead, by Yahshua's time, it was big enough to drive an 18-wheel truck onto and turn around!

7. "At that time, I said, 'Look! I am here (in the scroll of the book it was written about Me) to do Your will, O Elohim.'

8. Above, when He said, "You did not intend slaughter or offerings, whole burnt offerings or [those] brought in regard to sin," according to the Torah,

Slaughter and offerings are just the means to teach us; in themselves they accomplish nothing, serving as a picture of what is meant to be in our hearts. They can become an excuse to avoid the deeper issues, like merely saying, "I'm sorry" without making reparations for what we broke. That we have done so for so long is one reason we are still in exile. He left us here so we could learn to truly care for one another, then bring into His Kingdom an already-intact unity, as His pure Land deserves. As the stones for the Temple were cut off-site, so it will be for the Temple built of living stones--the best we can find; don't let them remain defective just because He has paid the price! When that is established, we will receive the Temple back as well.
9. "at that time," He said, "Look! I am here to accomplish Your purpose, O Elohim." He is taking up the first in order that He might firmly establish the second,
Taking up: often mistranslated "taken away", but the word-picture in Greek depicts standing between two things and lifting them both up, like two buckets balanced on a pole. First: or, principal one. Second: the other of the two things that have just been discussed, that is, "a properly-equipped body". He took the physical Temple up, storing it in the Kingdom until we are ready to use it properly, placing our focus instead more directly on the things it was meant to teach--how to function as a unified body and uphold one another so that we each hit the target instead of missing it. This had already taken place once before the time this was written. They had no time for bickering and infighting when they had a common enemy. In the first exile the Jewish community had been strengthened and YHWH deemed it fit for the Temple to be rebuilt, because they had again learned to care for one another. It was still standing when this was written, though a very short time later it was about to be taken away again, because, the Mishnah tells us, most of the Jews hated their brothers and were more interested in their own ideas about halakhah receiving attention than in meeting their brothers' needs. It may be because this was imminent that YHWH allowed this account to be written which reminded us that we can still accomplish the things the Temple was meant to teach us without it being physically present; the picture was removed because we were forgetting what it was really about. But we know the Temple will one day be restored (Yehezq'El 40-47; Mat. 24:15), so we should never think of the present parenthetical age as superseding the earlier ages, since the Kingdom which is yet to come is described as "the time of restoration of all things." Yahshua the King himself is also in safe keeping there until that time. (Acts 3:21) When we care for each part of the body and learn to see each one's best characteristics as our own, we will be ready for him to return.
10. in which "purpose" we are rendered set-apart, through the one-time act of bringing near the body of Yahshua the Messiah.
One-time: the Greek term covers both the ideas of all at once and once for all. Bringing near: or simply, offering, as Yahshua did, but His Body will one day be brought near all at once.
11. And indeed, every priest stands by daily, performing the sacred rituals and often presenting the same sacrifices, which can never entirely remove sin.
They were not designed to take away sin, but to remove the guilt so we could move on to better things, and to teach us how to offer up different parts of ourselves. They are not to let us think we "got away with" the sin they were meant to cover, but to kill off those parts of us that are still immature. When we actually slaughter an animal, it is much harder to forget this lesson.
12. This [man], on the other hand, having presented [only] one sacrifice on account of sins [which continues] toward perpetuity, sat down by the right hand of YHWH,
On account of: has the connotation of "over and above". It is not as if our sin no longer existed or that we could not partake of the same sins again, but they have been superseded by the power he provided each of us to overcome them--if we choose to utilize it.
13. from then on, receiving out until his enemies be set down as a footstool for his feet.
Receiving out: i.e., collecting unto Himself those who are called out; alt., waiting expectantly. He sat down, but cannot fully relax until he has an "ottoman" or "hassock" formed as we bring everything, including our own thoughts, into submission to Him (2 Cor. 10:5)--i.e., until we lay down our lives for him as he did for us. We are the Body he left behind to defeat the rest of the enemies. They are not fully overcome until we walk in the way He has provided and pioneered. Our missings-of-the-mark are his enemies. Doing away with them is our job. He cannot enjoy his position until we, too, overcome sin, and he has been waiting a very long time.
14. Thus, by one act of offering, he has accomplished perpetual completion for those [who are] being rendered set-apart.
This sacrifice benefited not only Yehudah, who by and large were the only ones profiting from the physical Temple in the day this was written, but brought all of scattered Israel under the same umbrella. But it was only the beginning of bringing to completion what he set in motion. He provided us with all that we need to finish the job. But we need to go get what he made available to us! If he had done everything there is to do, as many teach, what motivation would there be for us to become mature and live righteous, set-apart lives?
15. The Spirit of Holiness also bears witness for us, for after having said beforehand,

16. "'This is the covenant that I will enter into with regard to them after those days,' says YHWH: 'Supplying My instructions against their hearts, I will also inscribe them on their minds,

After those days: i.e., at the time the unification of His Body has become complete. Against their hearts: or, upon their hearts.
17. "'and I will no longer remember their errors or violations of Torah at all.'"
Violations of Torah: or, lawless actions. When we are no longer "without Torah", we will be mature enough to teach it to the other nations that have been brought into subjection to the king in David's line. (Yeshayahu 2:3; Mikha 4:2)
18. Now wherever there is forgiveness of these things, there [will be] no further bringing [offerings] dealing with sin.
Forgiveness: release or remission of a penalty. So why will animals still be offered during the Messianic Kingdom, the time of the restoration of all things? After a very long process, we will no longer need this type of sacrifice that is a picture of our immaturity (the young bull as in Lev. 4), but the many other types of offerings will remain in practice, since they have to do with the desire to draw near to YHWH; that will only increase in the coming Age. And why did we ever bring offerings? Not to get rid of sin (v. 4), but to learn. They do not just allow us to come closer to Him, but help us learn how to stay close to Him. (It is about us, not the animals.) And the nations will be coming up to the feasts, and someone will need to teach them how to draw near so that they can know YHWH as well. Each offering teaches us how top offer up a different part of ourselves. Each teaches a different lesson, and there will also be children being born then who will need to be taught how to rightly divide YHWH’s word of truth, and how to become part of the community.
19. Therefore, brothers, having unreserved confidence for the entering of the Holy [Place] in the blood of Yahshua,
The Holy Place: the first room one enters in the Tabernacle or Temple, not the second, which is called the Holy of Holies; that can only be entered by YHWH's bride once she is completely unified. The Holy Place is dedicated to the service of YHWH and of the whole community of Israel, and that is what he again gave us access to.
20. which He initiated for us by a recently-slaughtered yet living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.
Initiated: or, consecrated, dedicated. Recently-slaughtered yet living: His death and resurrection, His death for the sake of our revival to life, and our dying to self so that Israel might live after having slaughtered our own immature ways as well.
21. Indeed, having a High Priest over the Dwelling Place of Elohim,
He is here figuratively a high priest, though not from the tribe of Levi, because in Leviticus 4, the one officiating over this particular offering is called the "anointed priest" , or cohen mashiakh--"Messiah priest". The kings in David's line do officiate over certain offerings, but not to the detriment of the Levitical priests in any way.

22. let us approach with a genuine heart, in full assurance of [His] trustworthy character, with hearts sprinkled clean from a consciousness of evil and body washed with pure water.

Approach: or, draw near. (Compare Esther 5:22.) Genuine: connotes not only resembling but being exactly what it claims to be in every respect; sincere and not having any form of pretense. This consciousness of evil came about when Adam and Chawwah, having been genuinely deceived, disobeyed the only negative command YHWH had given. (Compare Lev. 4:2) Before that, they did not know evil intimately. But they did not “bring the bull”; they made excuses and “ppassed the buck”, so the problem has remained with us ever since, since we have not adequately matured. Like Adam, we are still thinking about the other delights in the Garden rather than about His commands, which would enable us to live life in the freest manner. The antidote is to pay closer attention to becoming a mature, united people--the "ancient Adam" again, as pictured in Yahshua (who was even "mistaken" for "the gardener" after he conquered this enemy). That is all YHWH ever wanted to begin with. So we need to give it higher priority and more commitment.
23. Let us take firm possession of the expectation that we profess to be ours, without wavering, because the One who promised [to furnish it] is reliable. 24. That is, let us pay close attention to spurring one another on toward commitment and commendable actions,

25. not abandoning the gathering of ourselves together, as certain ones are accustomed to [doing], but [rather] coming alongside to strengthen [one another], and so much the more insofar as you discern the Day approaching.

Here the intended application is spelled out clearly so that no one can miss it.

26. Because if we err willfully after having received the [precise, correct] knowledge of what is true, there is no further sacrifice left in regard to sins,

27. but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery punitive zeal which is about to consume those who oppose.

The sins that can be covered are the unintentional ones (Lev. 4); if we are conscious of what we are doing and still do it anyway, we can only expect to have much trouble in our lives, because YHWH has not provided for the consequences of this sin to be removed by any means. (Compare Ex. 21:14; 23:21). We will pay a price for it; it is an insult to Him even to ask forgiveness.
28. Anyone who disregarded Moshe's law died with no pity upon [the word of] two or three witnesses;

29. how much worse a penalty do you suppose will he be deemed deserving of who has spurningly trampled the Son of Elohim and considered the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart [to be] a profane things, and has insulted the Spirit of Empowering Favor?

30. For we have experienced the One who said, "'Revenge belongs to Me; I will pay back,' says YHWH", and furthermore, "'YHWH will judge His people.'"

31. [It is a] formidable thing to fall into the hands of the Elohim of [the] living!

32. But bring back to remembrance the earlier days in which, having been enlightened, you endured the great struggle of [the] sufferings you underwent,

33. this indeed while you were being made a spectacle both [through] scorn and pressure, [or] becoming comrades of those treated like that,

34. because you indeed had empathy with me in my chains, and accepted the plundering of your possessions with joy, understanding that you had within yourselves a more excellent property in heaven--and one that lasts.

Compare Gen. 45:20. In heaven: where it is held for us until the Messianic Kingdom, the Sabbath Millennium, when earth and heaven will again converge. (Compare Mat. 6:20, which alludes to Ex. 16:23.) What we store in that "bank" will outlast the vicissitudes of the spiritual attacks of this age.
35. This being so, do not throw away your [conspicuous, bold] confidence, which holds repayment on a grand scale,
Repayment: of what is due one because of the suffering he has been asked to endure.
36. because you have need of perseverance, so that, once you have done what YHWH wants, you might carry away the promised blessing.

37. For "a very, very little [while] longer [and] the One who is coming will arrive, and [He] will not delay."

The One who is coming: a quote from Havaquq 2:3 in the LXX; Heb., "coming it will come".
38. But "the righteous will live through faithfulness", though "if he shrinks back, My soul will not be pleased with him".
The order of Havaquq 2:4 in the LXX is reversed here for emphasis. The Hebrew of the second part (here) reads, "His soul is puffed up and is not upright."
39. But we are not among those who steal back timidly into destruction; rather, [we] belong to [the] faithfulness that leads to the obtaining [and preserving] of a [living] soul.
A living soul: This is what Adam was called in Gen. 2:7. By enduring the firings of YHWH's forge, we will be able to restore what Adam lost.

CHAPTER 11

 [Still being translated.]



View Another Scripture Passage Return to Table of Contents