2tnGrk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”
3tnGrk “in them”; the referent (those sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4tnGrk “for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
5tnGrk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).
6sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”
7sn Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5-6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.
8tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א2 0278vid 1739 Ï lat), have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so Ì46 א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is a palpable corruption, apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.
9tn Or “abolishes.”
10tnGrk “by which will.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
11tn Or “daily,” “every day.”
12tnGrk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.
13sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
14tnGrk “from then on waiting.”
15sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
16tnGrk “after having said,” emphasizing the present impact of this utterance.
17tnGrk “putting…I will inscribe.”
18sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.
19tnGrk “and.”
20sn A quotation from Jer 31:34.
21tnGrk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
22tnGrk “that he inaugurated for us as a fresh and living way,” referring to the entrance mentioned in v. 19.
23snThrough his flesh. In a bold shift the writer changes from a spatial phrase (Christ opened the way through the curtain into the inner sanctuary) to an instrumental phrase (he did this through [by means of] his flesh in his sacrifice of himself), associating the two in an allusion to the splitting of the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Just as the curtain was split, so Christ’s body was broken for us, to give us access into God’s presence.
24tnGrk “and a great priest,” continuing the construction begun in v. 19.
25tnGrk “in assurance of faith.”
26sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).
27tnGrk “let us consider one another for provoking of love and good deeds.”
28snThe day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.
29tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).
30tnGrk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.
31tnGrk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).
sn An allusion to Zeph 1:18.
32tnGrk “the enemies.”
sn An allusion to Isa 26:11.
33tnGrk “dies.”
34sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
35tnGrk “tramples under foot.”
36tnGrk “regarded as common.”
37tnGrk “by which he was made holy.”
38sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.
39sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.
40tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א D2 1881 Ï), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmoi" mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so Ì46 Ψ 104 pc), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmioi"), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.
41tnGrk “you yourselves.”
42tnGrk “which,” but showing the reason.
43tnGrk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.
44sn A quotation from Isa 26:20.
45sn A quotation from Hab 2:3.
46tnGrk “my soul.”
47sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.
48tnGrk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”