heavenly things (9:23) and the people (Heb. 13:12); but we do not read that He offered it. The indefinite pronoun, as contrasted with
dw'ra kai; qusiva"
, indicates the mysteriousness of the offering.
o} prosenevgkh/
] For the construction, which is rare in classical prose, see Acts 21:16.
Heb. 8:4.
eij me;n ou\n
...
iJereuv"
...]
Now if He were
still
upon earth, He would not be a priest at all
, and therefore still less High-priest....The argument
is directed to shew that, since Christ as High-priest must do characteristic service, the scene of His service must be heaven and not earth. The wish therefore which many entertained for some priestly work of Christ on earth was really fatal to their noblest faith. It is assumed that there cannot be two divinely appointed orders of earthly priests. The actual existence and service of one order therefore excludes the possibility of the coexistence of another. The apodosis is in Heb. 8:6
nu'n dev
. For
eij h\n
...
oujdj a]n h\n
... see Heb. 4:8 Additional Note.
Theodoret (on 8:5) has an interesting note on the service of Christian priests:
tiv dhvpote th'" kainh'" diaqhvkh" oiJ iJerei'" th;n mustikh;n leitourgivan ejpitelou'sin
;
ajlla; dh'lon toi'" ta; qei'a pepaideumevnoi" wJ" oujk a[llhn tina; qusivan prosfevromen ajlla; th'" mia'" ejkeivnh" kai; swthrivou th;n mnhvmhn ejpitelou'men
.
tou'to ga;r hJmi'n aujto;" oJ despovth" prosevtaxe
tou'to poiei'te eij" th;n ejmh;n ajnavmnhsin
:
i{na th'/ qewriva/ to;n tuvpon tw'n uJpe;r hJmw'n gegenhmevnwn ajnamimnhskwvmeqa paqhmavtwn kai; th;n peri; to;n eujergevthn ajgavphn purseuvwmen kai; tw'n mellovntwn ajgaqw'n prosmevnwmen th;n ajpovlausin
.
o[ntwn t. prosf.
]
seeing there are
... Vulg.
cum essent qui offerrent
, V.
L.
aliis offerentibus.
The tense of the principal verb (
latreuvousi
) fixes the translation of the participle to the present. This offering is made
kata; novmon
, according to law, not according to the Law. The idea is that of the authoritative character of the institution generally, and not of the specific form of the institution. Comp. Heb. 10:8 (
kata; novmon
) note.
ta; dw'ra
] not gifts in the abstract, but the gifts which God requires. The simple term is here used to include offerings of all kinds (Heb. 11:4; Matt. 5:23 f.; 23:18 f.).
Heb. 8:5, 6. The earthly Levitical service points to that which corresponds with a better covenant.
8:5. oi{tine" ...] The qualitative relative (comp. Heb. 2:3 note; v. 6 h{ti" ) emphasises the character of the Levitical priesthood: priests such as serve that which is a copy and shadow ... Latt. qui exemplari et umbrae (serviunt) deserviunt. The Mosaic system was not complete in itself, original and independent: it was a copy of an archetype. It had no spiritual substance: it was only a shadow. Comp. John 1:17.
Like our word copy the word uJpovdeigma expresses not only the image which is made by imitation (as here and Heb. 9:23) but also the model which is offered for imitation. (John 13:15; James 5:10; 2 Pet. 2:6; comp. 2 Macc. 6:28, 31; Ecclus. 44:16. Comp. Heb. 4:11 note.)
For skia'/ compare Heb. 10:1 note; Col. 2:17 (contrasted with sw'ma ). The word latreuvousi is not to be taken absolutely (serve God in, after, a copy...). The priest can rightly be said to serve the system. Comp. Heb. 13:10 oiJ th'/ skhnh'/ latreuvonte" . Ezek. 45:5 ( oi[kw/ ). Clem. R. 1.32. For latreuvein see Additional Note on Heb. 8:2.