Verse by Verse

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

a more excellent sacrifice — by shedding blood, Abel acknowledged that he was a sinner and that the righteous punishment for sin was death

through which — by the sacrifice, it was seen that Abel was righteous

gifts — plural — Abel regularly brought sacrifices

God bore witness to the efficacy of Abel’s sacrifice because he came to God in the appointed way. He had faith in God’s revelation concerning sin and the need for a substitution.

speaks — by example or that salvation is through blood (Hebrews 12:24). Jesus’ blood is better than Abel’s (Romans 5:9)

And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell (Genesis 4:3-5).

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

substance (v.1) = foundation, the ground on which one builds hope, assurance — of future hopes — Faith makes our hope a fact, not just an expectation.

evidence (v.1) = proof which results in conviction — of present realities — Faith proves that unseen things exist.

Faith gives us assurance of things to come and confidence in our present circumstances — because it’s based on the Word of God — whereas our own senses can betray us, God never will.

Verse one isn’t a definition of faith but a statement of its working.

elders (v.2) — those referred to in the rest of the chapter

good testimony (v.2) = “bore witness to” — God bore them witness that their faith gave the victory over obstacles.

understand (v.3) = discern

worlds (v.3) — the physical world in time — time and space

framed (v.3) = made fit, prepared

word (v.3) = utterance (rhema) as opposed to “logos” which is inward will expressed — refers to the utterance of God, not the Son of God

Faith is taking God at His word. Nobody was here to witness creation but we know how it happened (v.3) because God told us.

There is still an unseen force that does not submit itself to experimental science, and this is the object of faith. — Wuest, page 196.

The individuals listed in Hebrews 11 span all the dispensations between Conscience and Law (Human Government and Promise).

A study of the Gospels discloses the fact that the Judaism of the first century was not the supernatural system given by God whereby the sinner was given a salvation in answer to his faith in the Offering for sin which God would some day set forth, the animal sacrifice he offered being an outward testimony of his inward faith in the Sacrifice it symbolized. The Judaism of that day was an ethical cult. It taught salvation by works. The sacrifices were a mere form on the altars of Judaism.

It was therefore necessary for the writer to prove to this Jew that salvation was by faith, not works. He does this in 11:1-12:2, basing his proof on the Old Testament Scriptures this Jew professed to believe. He first defines faith (11:1-3). Then he illustrates the efficacy of faith by using examples of First Testament saints (11:4-40). Finally, he exhorts to the act of faith (12:1-2). — Wuest, page 192.

³² But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

³³ partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;

³⁴ for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

³⁵ Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 

³⁷ “ For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

recall (v.32) — habitually

illuminated (v.32) — enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:13; Hebrews 2:4; 6:4)

The writer appeals to their faith in past afflictions to encourage the Jews to be faithful in their current afflictions.

spectacle (v.33) = lit. “to bring upon the stage” — exposed by shame or by shameful treatment. The Greek is theatrizo from which we get “theater.”

reproaches (v.33) = contemptuous defamation

tribulations (v.33) = pressure — what weighs down the spirit

companions (v.33) — they suffered from seeing others persecuted and from helping them (financially?)

me in my chains (v.34) — probably should be “them that were in bonds”

goods (v.34) = possessions — they lost their possessions

knowing (v.34) — from experience

in heaven (v.34) — not in the best manuscripts (perhaps added by a translator who was trying to make this apply to Christians and not just believing Jews)

confidence (v.35) = freedom in speaking, cheerful courage

patience (v.36) = lit. “to remain under” — so, remain under persecution and don’t seek to escape it by returning to Judaism.

receive (v.36) = receive and carry away for use and enjoyment

Verse 37 is a quote from Habakkuk 2:3 — He refers to Christ

He who is coming (v.37) = lit. “the Coming One” (Revelation 1:8)

a little while (v.37) = lit. “for yet a little — a very little — while”

the just shall live by faith (v.38) — Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11

draws back (v.38) — with the sense of a deliberate action

we (v.39) — emphatic

perdition (v.39) — not “loss of being” but “loss of well-being”

saving (v.39) = obtaining, gaining, possessing

Terrible sufferings are in store for those who find themselves in Daniel’s seventieth week, the time of Jacob’s trouble. Unable to buy or sell (Revelation 13:17), these people endure a great flight of afflictions just as Christ had forewarned in Matthew chapters 24 and 25.

The Hebrew Tribulation epistle of James is replete with similar warnings (James 1:11; 2:5-6, 15-17; 5:1-3).

Their afflictions were so severe that one of their leaders was stoned to death (Acts 7:60), the twelve tribes were scattered (Acts 8:1) and there was little doubt but that the the times prophesied by Joel (Acts 2:16-17) were taking place. — McLean, page 149.

²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

²⁸ Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”

³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Commentaries deal with this passage by saying it’s hypothetical or only for Jews (although they apply the rest of the book to us) or that it’s referring to those who profess faith but don’t really believe. I’m not convinced by any of these views. I think it’s written to Jews who were saved in the early Acts period and had the Spirit written on their hearts in the kingdom sense. Israel will again be in this same situation during the Tribulation.

sin (v.26) — present continuous tense — not an act but a condition

willfully (v.26) — seems to indicate deliberate, intentional, habitual sin, not sins of ignorance or weakness

The word “knowledge” is not the simple word gnosis, but the stronger word epignosis. When epignoses is used, there is the assumption of an actual direction of the spirit to a definite object and of a real grasping of the same: so the writer, by the use of this word, gives us to understand that he means by it not only a shallow historical notion about the Truth, but a living believing knowledge of it, which has laid hold of a man who committed this sin, was fully informed by the Holy Spirit of the issues involved between the First Testament and the New Testament, and also of the meaning and the implications of the New Testament (6:4, “who were once enlightened”) and therefore, he sinned with his eyes wide open. — Wuest, pages 183-184. [I think this is more support for my view (see below), although Wuest doesn’t hold it.]

certain (v.27) = a kind of

rejected Moses’ law (v.28) — Deuteronomy 17:2-7 — referring specifically to the sin of apostasy (turning to idols)

The words “of how much” (v.29) do not qualify “sorer,” [worse] but the entire clause. It is “by how much think ye shall he be thought worthy of sorer punishment.” — Wuest, page 185.

trampled underfoot (v.29) — an expression of contempt and scorn

counted (v.29) = conscious judgment resting on a deliberate weighing of the facts

was sanctified (v.29) — more support for my view (see below). The writer can’t be referring to the unsaved or those saved under grace where there is no condemnation.

insulted (v.29) = treated with insulting disdain. Again, I think this makes most sense when seen in the light of the Spirit’s coming in the kingdom sense (Hebrews 8:10). To willfully sin after the Spirit has written the law on the heart is to despise Him. (Zecharaiah 12:10).

To return to Judaism was to count the blood an “unholy” thing (koinos, common, i.e., having no cleansing value, no divine virtue). More too than this, it meant that the apostate thereby necessarily regarded the blood of Christ as that of a criminal, executed for His own crime. Thus it was not a case of disobedience, it was contempt of God’s grace through and in His Son. — Vine, page 306.

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The ministry of the Holy Ghost within believing Israel caused them to walk in God’s statutes (Ezekiel 36:27), to sell all their property (Acts 2:45) and be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). For them, willful sin was equivalent to blasphemy of the Holy Ghost; and there remaineth no more sacrifice for that (Matthew 12:31-32). — McLean, page 146.

The quotes in verse 30 are from Deuteronomy 32:35-36 (Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.’ “For the LORD will judge His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is no one remaining, bond or free.) More proof that this was written to those who are under the kingdom dispensation and not to those under grace. It was originally part of Moses’ final warning to the Israelites before they entered the Promise Land — And how did that work out for them?

The certainty of the punishment is assured by the word of God. The word “vengeance” is an unfortunate translation, since it coveys the idea of vindictiveness which does not reside in the Greek word. It is the full meting out of justice to all parties. The quotation is an adaptation of the LXX of Deuteronomy 32:35. The second citation is literally from LXX of Deuteronomy 32:36. — Wuest, page 186.

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God,

²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

therefore (v.19) — on the basis of Christ’s priesthood

which (v.20) — refers back to “enter” in verse 19

consecrated (v.20) — in the sense of inaugurating or dedicating

veil (v.20) — Christ became incarnate that He might go to the Cross for us. The body prepared for Him was assumed by Him that He might thereby offer His sacrifice for our sins. That is the significance of the rending of the veil, “His flesh.” When that took place the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. The veil is not removed. The wrong idea that it has been removed arises from confusing this veil with that mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:13, the veil on Moses’ face, a veil removed indeed for believers, for there is no veil over the face of Christ. This passage in Hebrews teaches that we go through the veil because it has been rent for us at the Cross. — Vine, page 304.

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When the Messiah died on the Cross, the veil of the temple was rent by the unseen hand of God, showing Israel two things, that the Messiah had now provided the actual entrance for the sinner into the presence of God, and that the symbolic sacrifices were to be discontinued, for the Reality to whom they pointed had come (Hebrews 9:7-10). — Wuest, page 179-180.

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When a Gentile like the Philippian jailer is dealt with about his soul, the approach is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). When a Jew is appealed to, the approach is in terms of the First Testament typology as we have it in these two verses. The exhortation to enter into the Holy of Holies of heaven by the blood of Jesus would bring to the Jewish reader’s mind the picture of the high priest in Israel on the Day of Atonement entering the tabernacle for him. He stood in the Holy of Holies, not actually, but in the person of the high priest. The high priest’s presence in the Holy of Holies meant his presence there too, for the high priest had offered sacrifice first for his own sins and was thus accepted with God, and then for the people’s sins. The individual Israelite who trusted Jehovah for his salvation, that Jehovah who would some day offer a sacrifice which would pay for his sins, thus stood symbolically in his high priest for salvation, but actually in the coming Messiah who would some day be the real High Priest.

The writer makes it plain that he does not have reference to the earthly Holy of Holies. In the first place, it is by means of the blood of Jehoshua, his Jehovah-Savior that he is to enter, not by means of the blood of animals. In the second place, he calls the road into the Holy of Holies, “a new and living way.” — Wuest, page 178.

High Priest (v.21) = Great Priest

true (v.22) = genuine

The figures of sprinkling and washing (v.22) are taken from the circumstances of the consecration of the Levitical priests (Exodus 29:4, 20-21; Leviticus 8:6, 23). The sprinkling speaks of the believer’s appropriation by faith of the blood of Christ (see 9:13 and 12:24). The washing is the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). It is not a constant washing of the natural body (that idea misses the point of Exodus 29:4). The washing took place when we were born again. The difference seems to be that the inward and outward purification are accomplished in both cases once for all and for the whole man. There is no constant sprinkling or washing. — Vine, page 304.

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The better priesthood of Christ, after the order of Melchisedec, provides the ceremonial cleansing which had been prophesied some six hundred years earlier: Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols (Ezekiel 36:25). — McLean, page 143.

washed (v.22) — to emphasize the thoroughness of the cleansing

confession (v.23) = profession, agreement

without wavering (v.23) = not bending, not leaning backwards

consider (v.24) — ongoing action, practice

forsaking (v.25) = leave behind, abandon, desert

assembling (v.25) — from the word for “synagogue”

exhorting (v.25) = urge, pursue a course of conduct

day (v.25) — the Lord’s second coming at the end of the Tribulation

¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”

¹⁷ then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

The quote in verses 16-17 is from Jeremiah 31:33-34 (as in Hebrews 8:8-12).

Jeremiah wrote the words, but the Holy Spirit is the author.

So, to continue to offer sacrifices is, for the Jew, a rejection of their own prophet Jeremiah and of the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament saint has both the advantages of regeneration and the personal indwelling and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, under the First Testament God wrote His laws on stone, whereas under the New Testament He writes them upon the heart.

The other distinctive feature of the New Testament is the fact that God remembers sins and iniquities no more. The constant repetition of the sacrifices demonstrated that the sin question was not settled. The once for all offering of the Messiah shows that sin is paid for and put away. — Wuest, page 177

¹¹ And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹² But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.

¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

stands (v.11) — present tense. When Hebrews was written, the priests were still ministering in the temple (although they shouldn’t have been). This continued until the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

The Levitical priests stood (v.11) — their work was never finished. But the Son’s work is finished, so He sat down.

Quote in verses 12 and 13 is from Psalm 110:1.

man (v.12) — should be “this Priest”

perfected (v.14) = brought to a state of completion

Three factors within this verse make “perfected” absolute, suggesting the eternal security of the believer. The word itself (Gr teleioo) involves completion, the bringing of something to its end. Second, the use of the Greek perfect tense suggests that the perfection has been accomplished and its effects are continuing. Third, the modifier, “for ever,” expresses security for the believer. — KJV Commentary, page 1698.

⁵ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.

⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.

⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come — in the volume of the book it is written of Me — to do Your will, O God.’”

⁸ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them ” (which are offered according to the law),

⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

¹⁰ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The quotation (v.5) is taken from the Septuagint (Psalm 40:6-7) and, at first sight, appears to fail to express the Hebrew. In Hebrew the last clause reads: “mine ears has thou opened.” Though “body” is used here instead of “ears,” neither the Septuagint nor the author of Hebrews should be regarded as corrupting or even weakening the meaning of the Hebrew. Rather, they heighten its meaning. And synecdoche is being used, that is, the substitution of a part for the whole. The use of the ears for the body is fitting here, since the context involves the hearing of and obedience to the will of the Father. Ears require the reality of a body. — KJV Commentary, page 1698.

The writer of Hebrews can’t be thought to be denigrating the Levitical system — he uses a quote from David to support his point.

burnt offerings (v.6) — those that were entirely burnt up on the altar

God ordained the Old Testament sacrifices, and in His forbearance, accepted them, but they could only cover sin, they could not pay for it and so God took no pleasure in them (v.6).

in the volume of the book (v.7) — The Old Testament contains instruction for the Messiah in accomplishing God’s will.

Not only did the Lord declare that He had come to do the Father’s will, He also showed how inseparable were His own person and work from the testimony of Old Testament Scripture. He had come to fulfill both the Law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17). He was the one great subject of their testimony (John 5:39). What He taught His disciples before His death He repeated after His resurrection, “that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). So when He says, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God,” He declares in the same breath, “In the roll of the Book it is written of Me.” — Vine, pages 300-301.

previously saying (v.8) — referring back to verse 5

sacrifice (v.8) — peace offering

offering (v.8 — first usage) — meal offerings — All four offerings of Leviticus 1-7 are mentioned here.

will (v.10) — the will of God which Messiah came to do and which the Old Testament sacrifices could not do

sanctified (v.10) — set apart for God

once for all (v.10) — emphasizing the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice contrasted with the repeated Old Testament sacrifices

It [this passage] argues that the Son’s offering of Himself is the true and final offering for sin, because it is the sacrifice, which according to prophecy, God desired to be made. — Wuest, page 174.

¹ For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

shadow (v.1) — the outline of an object

image (v.1) — the substance of an object

The tabernacle sacrifices were not of the same essence or image of Christ’s sacrifice, but were just a shadow or picture of it (v.1).

perfect (v.1) — complete (salvation)

worshipers (v.2) — servers, those bringing sacrifices

consciousness of sin (v.2) — consciousness of guilt for sin

reminder (v.3) — of sins committed since the previous sacrifice. The sacrifice itself (and the fact that it was needed) brought to mind the consciousness of sin.

The fact that the Old Testament sacrifices had to be repeated over and over showed that sin needed to be continually cleansed (v.3). They brought forgiveness, but not permanent forgiveness.

The figure of a promissory note might help here. Let us suppose one is in debt for a certain sum of money. He gives a note to run for a year. At the end of the year he finds himself unable to pay. He renews the note. The note has no real value in itself. Nor did the sacrifices have any moral or spiritual value in the sight of God. But in that note there is an acknowledgment of the debt from year to year. Now let us suppose some one who is well able to pay, endorses the note, what then? When it becomes due, it is referred to him for settlement and he discharges the obligation.

The application is simple and clear. It was not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins; but every time a believing Israelite brought his sacrifice to the altar, he was, so to speak, giving his note to God. He acknowledged his indebtedness, his sin, and accepted responsibility for the same. This was all he could do, but the preincarnate Christ endorsed every one of the notes and in the fullness of time came prepared to settle in full for all. — Ironside, page 116.

23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another —

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

copies (v.23) — the earthly tabernacle. The tabernacle itself didn’t need purifying except that it was in the presence of sinful people. So the heavenly tabernacle needs purifying because it is fallen man’s meeting place with God.

As to the question why the heavenly things should require to be cleansed, the subject before us is not only the remission of our sins, but our access into the presence of God as His worshipers, through the eternal redemption obtained for us. The sanctuary of the presence of God required the savor of redemptive sacrifice. Just as the high priests of old entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of sacrifice, on behalf of the people as worshipers of God, so only by the cleansing blood of Christ on the cross could the very presence of God become the meeting place between Him and the believer. — Vine, page 297.

sacrifices (v.23) — not that Christ offered multiple sacrifices, but that His one sacrifice was the fulfillment of several Old Testament sacrifices

The Old Testament tabernacle was a pattern, or type, of heaven itself (v.24)

That the Old Testament sacrifices weren’t perfect is shown by the fact that they had to be repeated.

The high priest entered the Holy of Holies with blood not his own (v.25) but Christ offered His own blood.

To offer Himself in the heavenly Holy of Holies multiple times would require that Christ suffer multiple times (v.25)

foundation of the world (v.26) — Revelation 13:8. If Christ’s death had to be repeated, it would have to have begun at the beginning of the world.

end of the ages (v.26) — the ages when Christ’s sacrifice was typified by tabernacle sacrifices

Christ came to earth for the purpose of sacrificing Himself to put away sin (v.26)

the idea that Christ has to die repeatedly is shown to be false because men die once (v.27).

without sin (v.28) — without a sin offering — nothing further is needed

those who eagerly wait for Him (v.28) — Israel

The words “unto them that look for Him,” refer to Israel. The disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and said, “Art thou He that should come, or look we for another?” (Matthew 11:3). The Rapture is not in view here, neither the Church. This is Jewish. The expression refers to the second advent of Messiah to Israel for the Millennium. The first appearance of the high priest on the Day of Atonement was at the Brazen Altar where the sacrifice was slain. This corresponds to Messiah’s first appearance on earth to die on the Cross. The second appearance of the high priest was in the Holy of Holies. This corresponds to Messiah’s present appearance before God in heaven now. The third appearance of the high priest was out the gate of the court surrounding the tabernacle, to Israel, having in a symbolic way accomplished salvation. This corresponds to Messiah’s appearance upon the earth in the second advent to Israel, having actually accomplished salvation. His return will be apart from sin in that He settled the sin question the first time He came. Now He comes with salvation for the one who puts his faith in Him. — Wuest, page 171.

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This closing portion of the chapter contains what are sometimes known as Christ’s three appearings. There are, however, three different words used in the original. In verse 24 the word is emphanizo, and there the idea is that of the presentation of Christ before the face of God in all the virtue and acceptance of His person and finished work. The second, in verse 26, is phaneroo, which is to bring into view that which before was hidden. Christ, who had been eternally sharing the glory of the Father, was now, by His incarnation brought into view in the world, in order that He might put away sin by His sacrifice at the height of the ages. The third, in verse 28, is a form of the verb horao, which here suggests that when He comes He will be actually seen, as He was before at His first advent, when He came to deal with the question of sin. — Vine, page 298.