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Heb_8:5. The author at once attaches to the proof given, Heb_8:4,—that Christ must be High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary,—the testimony of Scripture that the earthly sanctuary, in which the Levitical priests officiate, is a mere copy of the heavenly, thus only an imperfect sanctuary. Schlichting: Vel rationem quandam div. autor his verbis exprimit, cur Christus, si in terris esset, sacerdos esse non posset, nempe quia sacerdotes illi, qui in terris degentes offerunt, umbrae tantum serviunt coelestium; vel tantum a contrario illustrat id, quod de pontifice nostro dixerat, nempe eum esse veri tabernaculi ministrum, legales vero pontifices umbrae tantum et exemplari illius coelestis tabernaculi servire. Not to enclose within a parenthesis (Griesbach, Schulz, Scholz, al.), since the same easily joins on syntactically to Heb_8:4, and διαφορωτέρας , Heb_8:6, points back to its subject-matter.
οἵτινες ] nimirum qui.
ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ ] a copy and shadow. ὑποδείγματι corresponds to the δειχθέντα σοι in the ensuing citation, and denotes here (otherwise Heb_4:11) that which is shown only by way of hints, or only in its general outlines (comp. τὰ ὑποδείγματα , Heb_9:23), has thus the notion of a merely imperfect sketch or copy. Yet more emphatically is the notion of imperfection brought out by means of καὶ σκιᾷ . For σκιά stands not merely opposed to the σῶμα , as the unsubstantial to the substantial (Col_2:17; Josephus, de Bello Jud. ii. 2. 5 : σκιὰν αἰτησόμενος βασιλείας , ἧς ἥρπασεν ἑαυτῷ τὸ σῶμα , Philo, de confus. linguarum, p. 348; with Mangey, I. p. 434), but also to the εἰκών , as the shadowy image melting into obscurity, and only to be recognised in its exterior outlines to the likeness distinctly struck off, containing light and colour, and enabling one to recognise the original. Comp. Heb_10:1 : σκιὰν … οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων ; Achilles Tatius, i. p. 47 (in Wetstein ad Heb_10:1): οὕτω τέθνηκεν καὶ τῆς εἰκόνος ἡ σκιά ; Cicero, de Officiis, iii. 17: Sed nos veri juris germanaeque justitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus; umbra et imaginibus utimur.
λατρεύουσιν ] is taken unnaturally by Calvin, Pareus, Bengel, Peirce, Schulz, and others in the absolute sense: “who serve God in a copy and shadow.” The datives ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ τῶν ἐπουρανίων form the object of the verb (comp. Heb_13:10): “who minister (as priests) to that which is but a copy and shadow of the heavenly.”
λατρεύειν here, by virtue of the connection, entirely equivalent to λειτουργεῖν ; in general, however, of wider signification, and differing from λειτουργεῖν as the Hebrew òÈáÇã from ùÑÅøÅú .
τῶν ἐπουρανίων ] not “of the heavenly things” (Luther), “of the heavenly relations and facts of redemption” (Ebrard), “of the heavenly relations and divine thoughts” (Moll), “of the ideal possessions in general, belonging to the kingdom of God” (Tholuck); but: of the heavenly sanctuary. Comp. the citation immediately following, as also Heb_8:2; Heb_9:23-24.
καθὼς κεχρημάτισται Μωϋσῆς ] according to the response, or divine revelation, which Moses received. The passive χρηματίζεσθαι in this sense only in the N. T. (Heb_11:7; Mat_2:22; Act_10:22, al.) and in Josephus (Antiq. iii. 8. 8, xi. 8. 4).
ἐπιτελεῖν ] denotes here not the completion of that which is already begun. What is meant is the execution of that which had previously only been resolved on.
The citation is from Exo_25:40. The γάρ , even as φησίν , belongs to the author of our epistle, on which account ὅρα γάρ φησιν is to be written without placing a comma after γάρ .
φησίν ] sc. ὁ χρηματισμός , the divine response, or, since in Exodus (Exo_40:1) God is expressly named as the speaker: ὁ θεός (Heinrichs, Bleek, Stengel, Delitzsch, Alford, Maier, Kurtz, al.), not ἡ γραφή (Böhme).
πάντα ] is wanting with the LXX.
κατὰ τὸν τύπον ] in accordance with the pattern ( úÌÇáÀðÄéú ), i.e. corresponding to the archetype presented to the contemplation of Moses in the manner of a revelation, or by means of a vision. Comp. Act_7:44. Over-refined, indeed, although linguistically not less admissible than the other, is the interpretation of Faber Stapulensis, Rivetus, Schlichting, Grotius, Limborch, Storr, Bleek, and Maier, that in connection with τύπος we have to think of a mere copy of the archetype, so that the Levitical priests served in priestly guise the copy of a copy.
τὸν δειχθέντα ] LXX.: τὸν δεδειγμένον .
ἐν τῷ ὄρει ] upon the mount, namely Sinai.