Hebrews 8:5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 8:1-5

Here is, I. A summary recital of what had been said before concerning the excellency of Christ's priesthood, showing what we have in Christ, where he now resides, and what sanctuary he is the minister of, Heb. 8:1, 2. Observe, 1. What we have in Christ; we have a high priest, and such a high priest as no other people ever had, no age of the world, or of the church, ever produced; all others were but types and shadows of this high priest. He is adequately fitted and absolutely sufficient to all... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 8:1-6

8:1-6 The pith of what we are saying is this--it is just such a high priest we possess, a priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a high priest who is a minister of the sanctuary and of the real tabernacle, which the Lord, and not man, founded. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. It is therefore necessary that he should have something which he might offer. If then he had been upon earth, lie would not even have... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 8:5

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things ,.... Things respecting the person, office, and grace of Christ; the priests themselves were types of him; the places they ministered in were an exemplar of the heavenly places, as the word may be rendered, where Christ is; and the things they ministered were shadows of the good things which are by Christ; and the shadows were mere representations; dark, obscure, glimmering ones, and were fleeting and transitory: as Moses was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 8:5

Who serve - Οἱτινες λατρευουσι· Who perform Divine worship. Unto the example and shadow - Υποδειγματι και σκιᾳ , With the representation and shadow; this is Dr. Macknight's translation, and probably the true one. The whole Levitical service was a representation and shadow of heavenly things; it appears, therefore, absurd to say that the priests served Unto an example or representation of heavenly things; they served rather unto the substance of those things, With appropriate... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 8:5

Verse 5 5.Who serve unto the example, etc. The verb λατρεύειν to serve, I take here to mean the performing of sacred rites; and so ἐν or ἐπὶ is to be understood. This is certainly more appropriate than the rendering given by some, “Who serve the shadow and example of heavenly things; and the construction in Greek will admit naturally of the meaning I have proposed. In short, he teaches us that the true worship of God consists not in the ceremonies of the Law, and that hence the Levitical... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 8:1-5

Heaven the place where this great High Priest ministers. Does the writer mean, "This is the summing up," or "This is the chief point"? We accept the latter, and that we have here no recapitulation, but an advance, the point to which he has been coming from the first. Christ, High Priest; Christ, High Priest greater than Aaron. So far we have come. Subject—Heaven the place where this great High Priest ministers. From this comes the truth to which he has been looking from the beginning,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 8:1-5

Here we have The substance of the argument, and illustrations hitherto adduced. It was the aim of the writer to show from prophecy, and the nature of the priesthood, and sacrifices of the Mosaic Law, the unrivalled and peculiar glory of Jesus Christ, and in these few verses the truths of the preceding arguments are recapitulated. It hints at the desirableness of reviewing the course of exposition, and the advantage, well known to all teachers, of the value and necessity of repeating... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 8:1-6

The chief point. This passage does not present a recapitulation of the topics already considered; it emphasizes, as the crowning topic in connection with our Lord's priesthood, the fact that he has been "made higher than the heavens." I. THE HEAVENLY MAJESTY OF OUR HIGH PRIEST . ( Hebrews 8:1 ) He dwells now in heaven, his native home. He occupies there the loftiest place; for he shares the sore-reign authority and the universal dominion of the absolute God. Aaron... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 8:5

Who ( i.e. being such as do so; οἵτινες ) serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things ( ὑπόδειγμα here, as in Hebrews 9:23 , means" representation," in the way of copy, not of pattern. "Shadow" ( σκιὰ ) is opposed in Hebrews 10:1-39 . I to εἰκὼν , which denotes the reality, and in Colossians 2:17 to σῶμα ), even as Moses is admonished of God when about to make the tabernacle (literally, to complete ; but net in the sense of finishing a thing begun,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Hebrews 8:5

Who serve unto the example - Who perform their service by the mere example and shadow of the heavenly things; or in a tabernacle, and in a mode, that is the mere emblem of the reality which exists in heaven. The reference is to the tabernacle, which was a mere “example” or “copy” of heaven. The word rendered here “example” - ὑποδείγμα hupodeigma - means a “copy, likeness, or imitation.” The tabernacle was made after a pattern which was shown to Moses; it was made so as to have some faint... read more

Group of Brands