ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Hebrews 9.26-27
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Passage

Hebrews 9.26-27

Book: Hebrews · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

24. For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us: 25. nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own;

26. else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

  1. so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:24-28, ASV)
WEB

24. For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25. nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own,

26. or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

  1. so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation. (Hebrews 9:24-28, WEB)
KJV

24. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

26. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

  1. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:24-28, KJV)
YLT

24. for not into holy places made with hands did the Christ enter, figures of the true, but into the heaven itself, now to be manifested in the presence of God for us; 25. nor that he may many times offer himself, even as the chief priest doth enter into the holy places every year with blood of others;

26. since it had behoved him many times to suffer from the foundation of the world, but now once, at the full end of the ages, for putting away of sin through his sacrifice, he hath been manifested; 27. and as it is laid up to men once to die, and after this, judgment,

  1. so also the Christ, once having been offered to bear the sins of many, a second time, apart from a sin-offering, shall appear, to those waiting for him, to salvation! (Hebrews 9:24-28, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the author of Hebrews, who does not give his name. Early tradition linked the letter to Paul, but that was disputed already in antiquity; Origen, as quoted by Eusebius, said that who wrote it, God alone knows
  • Audience: believers, apparently of Jewish background, who had already suffered for their faith (10:32-34) and were being tempted to drift away (2:1)
  • Location: not stated. "They of Italy salute you" (13:24) links the letter to Italy, either as the place of writing or as the readers' home
  • Time period: commonly dated before AD 70. The author argues as though the Levitical sacrifices were still being offered (10:1-2), never mentions the Temple's destruction, and speaks of Timothy as recently released (13:23)

Theological reading

"Else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment." The author has just contrasted Christ with the high priest who "entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own" (9:25).

Once, not often. The key word is "once" (Strong's G530, hapax), used in verse 26, verse 27, and again in verse 28: "Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many." The high priest's sacrifice had to be repeated every year. If Christ's sacrifice worked the same way, "must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world." Instead he appeared once, at "the end (G4930) of the ages (G165)", to "put away" (G115) sin by offering himself. Compare 7:27, "this he did once for all, when he offered up himself."

One death, then judgment. Verse 27 is the ground of the comparison: as human beings die once and then face judgment (G2920), so Christ was offered once and will "appear a second time, apart from sin" for the salvation of those who wait for him (9:28). The verse assumes, as a fact everyone knows, that a human life ends in one death followed by judgment.

Against cycles of rebirth. Hinduism vs the Christian God uses both verses. Against the avatar teaching, in which the Lord appears again whenever righteousness declines (Bhagavad Gita 4.7-8), Hebrews presents the Son's coming as a single event at the end of the ages that finished its work. Against Reincarnation, in which the self passes through many bodies, verse 27 states one death and one judgment, after which Scripture teaches the raising of the same person. The verse is an analogy and not a treatise on the afterlife, but its whole argument depends on "once" meaning once. See Incarnation and Atonement.

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.

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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.