Passage

Hebrews 7.27

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

25. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26. For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27. who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.

For the law appointeth men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was after the law, appointeth a Son, perfected for evermore. (Hebrews 7:25-28, ASV)

WEB

25. Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them. 26. For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27. who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.

For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a Son forever who has been perfected. (Hebrews 7:25-28, WEB)

KJV

25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. ^{to the: or, evermore} 26. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. ^{consecrated: Gr. perfected} (Hebrews 7:25-28, KJV)

YLT

25. whence also he is able to save to the very end, those coming through him unto God, ever living to make intercession for them. 26. For such a chief priest did become us, kind, harmless, undefiled, separate from the sinners, and become higher than the heavens,

27. who hath no necessity daily, as the chief priests, first for his own sins to offer up sacrifice, then for those of the people; for this he did once, having offered up himself;

for the law doth appoint men chief priests, having infirmity, but the word of the oath that [is] after the law [appointeth] the Son, to the age having been perfected. (Hebrews 7:25-28, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the anonymous author of Hebrews. Pauline authorship was doubted in antiquity and Origen concluded that who wrote it, God knows
Audience: Jewish believers under pressure to fall back from Christ into the older covenant observances
Location: unknown; the closing greeting from those of Italy (13:24) points in two directions at once
Time period: most likely before AD 70, since the sacrificial system is discussed as still operating

Theological reading

Who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.

Two contrasts, and the second is the one the letter builds everything on.

He had no sins of his own. The Levitical high priest offered first for himself, as Leviticus 16 requires on the Day of Atonement. The author has already established at 4:15 that this priest was tempted in all points yet without sin, so the first offering is unnecessary, which is a claim about the person before it is a claim about the sacrifice.

Ephapax, once for all. The word is emphatic and it recurs at 9:12 and 10:10. The Levitical system was defined by repetition, and the letter treats the repetition as the diagnosis: a sacrifice that has to be repeated has not finished anything, a point made explicitly at 10:1-4. A single sufficient offering is the structural difference between the covenants.

He offered up himself. Priest and victim are the same person, which no Levitical arrangement could produce and which is the letter's most compressed statement of the atonement.

The passage is load-bearing in Protestant and Catholic disagreement over the Mass, and the argument turns on whether re-presentation of the one offering is repetition. See Atonement and Roman Catholicism.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G0266 - hamartia, hamartia, Strong's G0266

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H3548 - kohen

Passages:

Hebrews 9.12

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.