Hebrews 9:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hebrews 9:19
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
to render besprinkled · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
both
τεte
G5037
both or also (properly · conjunction
book
βιβλίονbiblion
G975
a roll · noun — accusative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
all
πάνταpanta
G3956
all · adjective — accusative singular masculine
people
λαόςlaós
G2992
a people (in general
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 24:5-11 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Numbers 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
Numbers 19:18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons…
Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption fo…
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Leviticus 14:4-7 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Leviticus 16:14-18 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 9:15-22
In these verses the apostle considers the gospel under the notion of a will or testament, the new or last will and testament of Christ, and shows the necessity and efficacy of the blood of Christ to make this testament valid and effectual.
I. The gospel is here considered as a testament, the new and last will and testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is observable that the solemn transactions that pass between God and man are sometimes called a covenant, here a testament. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties about things that are in their own power, or may be so, and this either with or without a mediator; this agreement takes effect at such time and in such ma…
For--confirming the general truth, Heb 9:16.
spoken . . . according to the law--strictly adhering to every direction of "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Eph 2:15). Compare Exo 24:3, "Moses told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice," &c.
the blood of calves--Greek, "the calves," namely, those sacrificed by the "young men" whom he sent to do so (Exo 24:5). The "peace offerings" there mentioned were "of oxen" (Septuagint, "little calves"), and the "burnt offerings" were probably (though this is not specified), as on the day of atonement, goats. The law in Exodus sanctioned formally many sacrificial practice…
When Moses had spoken every precept - The place to which the apostle alludes is Exo 24:4-8, where the reader is requested to consult the notes.
And sprinkled both the book - The sprinkling of the book is not mentioned in the place to which the apostle refers, (see above), nor did it in fact take place. The words αυτο τε το βιβλιον, and the book itself, should be referred to λαβων, having taken, and not to ερῥαντισε, he sprinkled; the verse should therefore be read thus: For after every commandment of the law had been recited by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the calves, and of the goats, with water and scarlet wool, and the book itself, and sprinkled all the people. The rite…
The Church Fathers
One of these goats was bound with scarlet, and driven by the people out of the camp into the wilderness, amid cursing, and spitting, and pulling, and piercing, being thus marked with all the signs of the Lord's own passion; while the other, by being offered up for sins, and given to the priests of the temple for meat, afforded proofs of His second appearance, when (after all sins have been expiated) the priests of the spiritual temple, that is, the church, are to enjoy the flesh, as it were, of the Lord's own grace, whilst the residue go away from salvation without tasting it.
Since the divine nature is immortal, through the blood of the victims he realized the type of death and confirmed the covenant. Since God the Word became man and took a mortal body, there was no longer need of brute beasts as offerings; instead, he confirmed the new covenant with his own blood, the type corresponding to the shadow and the reality to the body. The water was a type of baptism, the blood of brute beasts the saving blood, the heat of the hyssop the grace of the divine Spirit, the scarlet wool the new garment, the piece of cedar (being a wood that does not rot) the impassible divinity, the ashes of a heifer the suffering of humanity.
For why (tell me) is the book of the testament sprinkled? "For" (he says) "when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament, which God hath enjoined unto you." Tell me then why is the book of the testament sprinkled, and also the people, except on account of the precious blood, figured from the first? Why "with hyssop"? It is close and retentive. And why the "water"? It shows forth also the cleansing by water. And why the "wool"? This also [was used], that the blood might be retained. In this place blood and water show forth the same thing, for baptism is His passion.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Altar — (Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places…
Atonement, The Day Of — I. The great day of national humiliation, and the only one commanded in the Mosaic law. [Fasts] The mode of its observance is described in Levi 16, and the conduct of the people is emphatically…
Baptism, Christian — An ordinance immediately instituted by Christ (Matt. 28:19, 20), and designed to be observed in the church, like that of the Supper, “till he come.” The words “baptize” and “baptism” are simply Greek…
Blood — (1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the…
Goat — (1.) Heb. ‘ez, the she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num. 28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may be regarded…
High priest — Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office (Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30). Besides…
Hyssop — (Heb. ‘ezob; LXX. hyssopos), first mentioned in Ex. 12:22 in connection with the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards mentioned in Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; Num. 19:6, 18; Heb. 9:19. It is…
Purification — The process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great…
Tabernacle — (1.) A house or dwelling-place (Job 5:24; 18:6, etc.). (2.) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24) containing the image of Moloch (Amos 5:26; marg. and R.V., “Siccuth”). (3.) The human body (2 Cor.…
For when Moses had spoken every precept,.... Contained in the decalogue, in the book of the covenant, everyone of the precepts in Exodus 22:1 for this is to be understood of the written law, and not of the oral law the Jews talk of, which they say Moses first delivered by word of mouth to Aaron, then to his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, then to the seventy elders of Israel, and then to the whole congregation; so that Aaron heard it four times, his sons thrice, the seventy elders twice, and all Israel once (g): but this is the written law which he spoke audibly, and in a known language,
to all the people according to the law; which God gave him on the Mount: this may instruct persons concer…
Hebrews 9:18-23
18. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
18. Inde neque primum illud sine sanguine dedicatum fuit.
19. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
19. Nam postquam exposuisset Moses secundum legem totum mandatum universo populo, accipiens sanguinem vitulorum et hircorum, cum aqua et lana coccinea et hysopo, librum et totum populum aspersit,
20. Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
20. Dicens, Hic est sanguis testamenti quod Deus mandav…
was put into effect: Exod 24:3-8 records Moses’ inauguration of the old covenant with the blood of the sacrifice. • Hebrews alone among ancient sources states that Moses sprinkled the book of God’s law (cp. Exod 24:6-8). • Hyssop branches have blue flowers and strongly aromatic leaves; they were used with sacrifices for cleansing (Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4; Num 19:6, 18).
Blood · Of legal sacrifices: For purification — Of legal sacrifices: For purification
Calf, The · Offered in sacrifice — Offered in sacrifice
Covenant, The · Ratified by the blood of Christ — Ratified by the blood of Christ
Hyssop · In sprinkling blood in purifi — In sprinkling blood in purifi
Offerings · .A type of Christ — .A type of Christ
Purification · By bloo — By bloo
Purifications · Means used for: Water mixed with blood — Means used for: Water mixed with blood
Sacrifices · The covenants of God confirmed by — The covenants of God confirmed by
Sprinkling · Of blood — Of blood
Symbols And Similitudes · The whole system of Mosaic rites — The whole system of Mosaic rites
Types · OF THE SAVIOUR — OF THE SAVIOUR
Water · Was used by Jews: For legal purification — Was used by Jews: For legal purification
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
