Latreuvein
is used absolutely for divine worship Heb. 9:9; Lk. 2:37; Acts 26:7; Phil. 3:3 (
oiJ pn. qeou' latr.
).
a{pax kekaqari" mevnou"
]
when they had once for all been cleansed.
The effect of the cleansing is regarded in its continuance, and not in its actual accomplishment (Eph. 5:26
kaqarivsa"
). Compare Heb. 5:10
hJgiasmevnoi
. Such permanent cleansing would have involved
teleivwsi"
(v. 1). The application of the virtue of the one effectual sacrifice would have met the wants of every true worshipper. The case of a single body of worshippers is taken, but the principle holds true of all.
For kaqarivzein see Heb. 9:14, 23; Tit. 2:14; and for a{pax Heb. 6:4 note, ejfavpax 7:27.
10:3, 4. The Levitical sacrifices had however an important function to fulfil in the discipline of men. The repetition, which shewed their inefficacy, kept alive the sense of sin. They were, in the words of Primasius: Accusatio infirmitatis, non virtutis ostensio. In eo enim quod offerebatur, redargutio peccatorum; in eo quod semper offerebatur, redargutio infirmitatis ejusdem sacrificii.
Comp. Euth. Zig. to; me;n quvein e[legco" aJmarthmavtwn, to; de; ajei; ajpovdeixi" ajsqeneiva" .
10:3.
ajllj ejn aujt.
]
But in them sins are called to remembrance
... That is: so far from the sacrifices being discontinued because they have fulfilled their work, they serve in fact to keep alive the recollection of sin as a present burden. This seems to be on the whole the simplest and most natural explanation of
ajllav
. It is however possible to take
ejpeiv
...
kekaqarismevnou"
as parenthetical, and to take
ajllav
as introducing a direct continuation of 10:1,
oujdevpote duvnatai
...
ajllav
...
ajnavmnhsi" aJm.
] not simply a remembrance or a record made of sins (Vulg.
commemoratio peccatorum
), but
a calling to mind of sins
, whereby men are put in remembrance of them by a divine institution. This is more than a public acknowledgment and confession of sins, such as at present (and by immemorial usage) forms an important part of the synagogue service for the Day of Atonement.
So Philo speaks of sacrifices as a uJpovmnhsi" of sins ( De plant. Noe , § 25; De vit. Mos. iii. § 10), but when they are rightly offered he assigns to them real efficacy ( de vict. § 7). Compare Num. 5:15 (LXX.) qusiva mnhmosuvnou ajnamimnhvskousa aJmartivan , of which the opposite is expressed in Heb. 10:17 ( tw'n aJmartiw'n ... ouj mh; mnhsqhvsomai e[ti ). Under the new Covenant God Himself does not remember the sins of His people, still less does He bring them solemnly to their remembrance.
The use of the word ajnavmnhsi" suggests a contrast between the Jewish sacrifices and the Christian Eucharist. In them there was ajnavmnhsi" aJmartiw'n . They were instituted to keep fresh the thought of responsibility: that was instituted, in Christ's words, eij" th;n ejmh;n ajnavmnhsin (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24 f.), to bring to men's minds the recollection of the redemption which He has accomplished. The word is not found elsewhere in the N. T. jAnamimnhvskein (act.) occurs 1 Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 1:6.
In the LXX.
ajnavmnhsi"
is found Lev. 24:7 (comp. 2:2); Num. 10:10; Wisd. 16:6. Comp. [Sym.] Ps. 6:6; 134:13.
katj ejniautovn
] The words are repeated from Heb. 10:1. The thought of