Passage

Hebrews 9.15

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

13. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: 14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15. And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. 17. For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth. (Hebrews 9:13-17, ASV)

WEB

13. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh: 14. how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15. For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. 17. For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. (Hebrews 9:13-17, WEB)

KJV

13. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ^{spot: or, fault}

15. And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ^{be: or, be brought in} 17. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews 9:13-17, KJV)

YLT

13. for if the blood of bulls, and goats, and ashes of an heifer, sprinkling those defiled, doth sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, 14. how much more shall the blood of the Christ (who through the age-during Spirit did offer himself unblemished to God) purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15. And because of this, of a new covenant he is mediator, that, death having come, for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those called may receive the promise of the age-during inheritance,

for where a covenant [is], the death of the covenant-victim to come in is necessary, 17. for a covenant over dead victims [is] stedfast, since it is no force at all when the covenant-victim liveth, (Hebrews 9:13-17, 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

And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Two things are packed in, and the second is easy to miss.

The death is retrospective in effect. The redemption is of the transgressions that were under the first covenant. The letter is answering a question its readers would have felt sharply: what became of the sins covered by centuries of Levitical sacrifice, given the argument at 10:4 that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. The answer is that the one sacrifice reaches backward. Paul makes the same move at Romans 3:25 with the passing over of sins done aforetime.

The covenant requires a death. The next verses (16-18) turn on the double sense of diatheke, which in Greek means both covenant and last will. A will takes effect only at the death of the one who made it, and the author uses that to argue that the new covenant likewise required a death, then points out that even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.

Eternal inheritance completes the will imagery. What is received is not wages but a legacy, which fits the letter's insistence that priesthood and promise are received rather than achieved. See Atonement and Justification by Faith.

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.

G0629 - apolytrosis, apolytrosis, Strong's G0629
G1242 - diatheke, diatheke, Strong's G1242
G0166 - aionios, aionios, Strong's G0166
G2288 - thanatos, thanatos, Strong's G2288
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Muhammad Not in Bible Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Lexicon:

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.