Hebrews 10 is the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament of the ChristianBible. The author is anonymous, although the internal reference to "our brother Timothy" (Hebrews 13:23) causes a traditional attribution to Paul, but this attribution has been disputed since the second century and there is no decisive evidence for the authorship.[1][2] This chapter contains the exposition about Christ's effective sacrifice and the exhortation to continue in faithfulness and expectancy.[3][4]
Attridge sees the final stage of Jeremiah 31 exposition to indicate that "Christ inaugurated the new and interior covenant by an act of conformity to God's will".[9]
Verse 4
For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.[10]
This is one of the four things to be 'impossible' according to this epistle (Hebrews 6:4; 6:18; 10:4; 11:6).[11]
Verse 5
That is why, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said to God,
You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer[12]
Verse 10
By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.[13]
It is the will of God that the believers be sanctified (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:3) and Christ's act of obedience made God's will his own, because Christ's death conformed to God's will (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:5–11; 1 Peter 3:17) and Christ's obedience—attested in the Gethsemane story (Matthew 26:42; Luke 22:42) and the fourth gospel (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38–40; 19:30—is decisive for establishing the new covenant.[14]
It is the first time in the epistle that the composite name 'Jesus Christ' appears (cf. Hebrews 13:8).[14]
Summation (10:11–18)
This section weaves together the themes of the previous few chapters.[14]
Verse 14
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.[15]
"By one offering": By his one sacrifice Jesus Christ did what the law of Moses, and all its sacrifices, could not do (Hebrews 10:1).[16]
"Those who are being sanctified" by God the Father (Jude 1:1) and set apart by him in internal election.[16]
Hold Fast to Faith (10:19–24)
This part contains an exhortation to live as members of the "new covenant" which stresses faith (verse 22), hope (verse 23) and love (verse 24), a traditional triad also seen in 1 Corinthians 13:13.[14]
Warning and Encouragement (10:24–39)
Epistle to the Hebrews 10:28-30 on the verso side of Papyrus 79 (7th century).
Verses 26-31 reference the unforgivable sin according to theologians, such as John Wesley.[17] The encouragement in verse 32-29 balances the threat or warning in verses 24-31.[14]
Verse 37
"For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry."[18]
This verse combines the quote 'a little while' from Isaiah 26:20 with the quote 'will not tarry' from Habakkuk 2:3 in its Greek form, rendering it as a prediction of one 'who is coming' that points to the imminence of Christ's second coming.[14][19]
This verse contrasts the result of two opposite lines of action: εἰς ἀπώλειαν, eis apōleian ("to perdition/destruction") or εἰς περιποίησιν ψυχῆς, eis peripoiēsin psychēs, ("to the gaining of the soul"; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:9: εἰς περιποίησιν σωτηρίας, eis peripoiēsin sōtērias, "to obtain salvation").[26]
