Article October 9, 1937 Issue

Bible Notes

"Christ ... entered in once into the holy place" (Hebr. 9:11f.)—The Greek word here rendered "once" is a particularly strong one, clearly implying "once for all," and not merely "once" in the sense of "at one time, or previously." Commentators point out that there appears to be a direct contrast between the work of "Christ"—who is said to have entered the holy place once for all, thereby obtaining "eternal redemption"—and that of the Jewish high priest who entered the Holy of Holies "once every year" on the day of Atonement (cf. Hebr. 9:7). Compare Goodspeed's rendering: "Christ ... went once for all ... into the sanctuary;" and that of Moffatt: "Christ ... entered once for all into the Holy place."

"The blood of Christ" (Hebr. 9:14)—In commenting on this chapter in a footnote to his translation, Weymouth quotes an illuminating statement from the writings of Dr. Westcott, to the effect that "the scriptural idea of blood is essentially an idea of life and not of death."

"He is the mediator of the new testament" (Hebr. 9:15)—From this translation it might naturally be inferred that the writer of Hebrews was referring explicitly to that group of Biblical books which we today know as the New Testament; but it may well be recalled that these books were not all written by the time Hebrews was composed and were not grouped together under the title "New Testament" until very considerably after that date. While the Greek word "diatheke" can undoubtedly mean "testament," it also means "covenant," while the definite article "the" does not precede "new" in the original Greek. Centuries before this epistle was written the prophet Jeremiah had foretold the fact that God would make a "new covenant" with his people (Jer. 31:31), and it can scarcely be accidental that the author of Hebrews, who was clearly a very deep student of the Hebrew scriptures, chooses to insist that the Master was "the mediator of" just such a "new covenant" as Jeremiah had predicted.

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