9:15 And so he is the mediator 6 of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, 7 since he died 8 to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.
10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. 12
1 tn Or “they were not united.”
2 tc A few
3 tn Or “the priesthood.”
4 tn Grk “from their brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.
5 tn Grk “have come from the loins of Abraham.”
6 tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.
7 tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
8 tn Grk “a death having occurred.”
9 sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.
10 tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.
11 tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.
12 tn Grk “those who approach.”
13 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
14 sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.
15 tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א D2 1881 Ï), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmoi" mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so Ì46 Ψ 104 pc), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmioi"), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.
16 tn Grk “you yourselves.”
17 tn Grk “by diverse and strange teachings.”
18 tn Grk “foods,” referring to the meals associated with the OT sacrifices (see the contrast with the next verse; also 9:9-10; 10:1, 4, 11).