Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 9:28

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.

28. was once offered ] Christ may also be said as in Heb 9:14 “to offer Himself; ” just as He is said “to be delivered for us” (Rom 4:25) and “to deliver up Himself” (Eph 5:2).

to bear the sins ] The word rendered “to bear” may mean “to carry them with Him on to the Cross,” as in 1Pe 2:24; or as probably in Isa 53:12 “to take them away.”

of many ] “Many” is only used as an antithesis to “few.” Of course the writer does not mean to contradict the lesson which runs throughout the N.T. that Christ died for all. Once for all One died for all who were “many” (see my Life of St Paul, ii. 216).

without sin ] Not merely “without ( )” but “apart from ( ) sin,” i.e. apart from all connexion with it, because He shall have utterly triumphed over, and annulled it (Heb 9:26); Dan 9:24-25; Isa 25:7-8). The words do not go with “the second time” for at Christ’s first coming He appeared without sin indeed, but not “apart from sin,” seeing that “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa 53:12) and was “made sin for us” (2Co 5:21).

unto salvation ] “It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa 25:9). It is remarkable that the Sacred Writers unlike the Medival painters and moralists almost invariably avoid the more terrible aspects of the Second Advent. “How shall He appear?” asks St Chrysostom on this passage, “As a Punisher? He did not say this, but the bright side.” The parallelism of these verses is Man dies once, and is judged; Christ died once and shall return he might have said “to be man’s judge ” (Act 17:31) but he does say “He shall return for salvation.”

We may sum up some of the contrasts of this previous chapter as follows. The descendants of Aaron were but priests; Christ, like Melchisedek, was both Priest and King. They were for a time; He is a Priest for ever. They were but links in a long succession, inheriting from forefathers, transmitting to dependents; He stands alone, without lineage, without successor. They were established by a transitory ordinance, He by an eternal oath. They were sinful, He is sinless. They weak, He all-powerful. Their sacrifices were ineffectual, His was perfect. Their sacrifices were offered daily, His once for all. Theirs did but cleanse from ceremonial defilement, His purged the conscience. Their tabernacle was but a copy, and their service a shadow; His tabernacle was the Archetype, and His service the substance. They died and passed away; He sits to intercede for us for ever at God’s right hand. Their Covenant is doomed to abrogation; His, founded on better promises, is to endure unto the End. Their High Priest could but enter once and that with awful precautions, with the blood of bulls and goats, into a material shrine; He, entering with the blood of His one perfect sacrifice into the Heaven of Heavens, has thrown open to all the right of continual and fearless access to God. What a sin then was it, and what a folly, to look back with apostatising glances at the shadows of a petty Levitism while Christ the Mediator of a New, of a better, of a final Dispensation Christ whose blood had a real and no mere symbolic efficacy had died once for all, and Alone for all, as the sinless Son of God to obtain for us an eternal redemption, and to return for our salvation as the Everlasting Victor over sin and death!

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

So Christ was once offered – Since people are to die but once; and as all beyond the grave is fixed by the judgment, so that his death there would make no change in the destiny, there was a propriety that he should die but once for sin. The argument is, there is one probation only, and therefore there was need of but one sacrifice, or of his dying but once. If death were to occur frequently in the existence of each individual, and if each intermediate period were a state of probation, then there might be a propriety that an atonement should be made with reference to each state. Or if beyond the grave there were a state of probation still, then also there might be propriety that an atoning sacrifice should be offered there. But since neither of these things is true, there was a fitness that the great victim should die but once.

(Rather, perhaps, as in the original sentence, once dying was the penalty denounced on the sinner, so the substitute in enduring it, is in like manner, under necessity of dying but once. By this he fully answers the requirement of the Law. Or there may be in the passage a simple intimation that, in this respect, as in others. Christ is like us, namely, in being but once subject to death. It would be inconsistent with the nature which he sustains, to suppose him a second time subject to death.)

To bear the sins of many – To suffer and die on account of their sins; see Isa 53:6, Isa 53:11 notes; Gal 3:13 note. The phrase does not mean:

(1) That Christ was a sinner – for that was in no sense true. See Heb 7:26. Nor

(2) That he literally bore the penalty due to transgression – for that is equally untrue.

The penalty of the Law for sin is all which the Law when executed inflicts on the offender for his transgression, and includes, in fact, remorse of conscience, overwhelming despair, and eternal punishment. But Christ did not suffer forever, nor did he experience remorse of conscience, nor did he endure utter despair. Nor.

(3) Does it mean that he was literally punished for our sins. Punishment pertains only to the guilty. An innocent being may suffer for what another does, but there is no propriety in saying that he is punished for it. A father suffers much from the misconduct of a son, but we do not say that he is punished for it; a child suffers much from the intemperance of a parent – but no one would say that it was a punishment on the child. Men always connect the idea of criminality with punishment, and when we say that a man is punished, we suppose at once that there is guilt. The phrase here means simply, that Christ endured sufferings in his own person, which, if they had been inflicted on us, would have been the proper punishment of sin. He who was innocent interposed, and received on himself what was descending to meet us, and consented to be treated as he would have deserved if he had been a sinner. Thus, he bore what was due to us; and this, in Scripture phrase, is what is meant by bearing our iniquities; see the notes Isa 53:4.

(It is indeed true, that Christ did not endure the very penalty which we had incurred, and, but for his interference, should have endured. His sufferings must be regarded in the light of an equivalent to the Laws original claim, of a satisfaction to its injured honor, which the Lawgiver has been pleased to accept. It is, however, equally true, that the sufferings of Christ were strictly penal. They were the punishment of sin. The true meaning of the important phrase in this verse, to bear sin, establishes this point. It can have no other meaning than bearing the punishment of sin. See Stuarts xix. Excursus. That punishment supposes guilt is not denied. What then? Not certainly that Christ was personally guilty, but that our guilt has been imputed to him – that he has taken the place of the guilty, and become answerable for their transgressions. See Supp. note, 2Co 5:21.)

And unto them that look for him – To his people. It is one of the characteristics of Christians that they look for the return of their Lord; Tit 2:13; 2Pe 3:12; compare the notes, 1Th 1:10. They fully believe that he will come. They earnestly desire that he will come; 2Ti 4:8; Rev 22:20. They are waiting for his appearing; 1Th 1:10. He left the world and ascended to heaven, but he will again return to earth, and his people are looking for that time as the period when they shall be raised up from their graves; when they shall be publicly acknowledged to be his, and when they shall be admitted to heaven; see the notes on Joh 14:3.

Shall he appear the second time – He first appeared as the man of sorrows to make atonement for sin. His second appearance will be as the Lord of his people, and the Judge of the quick and the dead; Mat 25:31, see the notes, Act 1:11. The apostle does not say when this would be, nor is any intimation given in the Scriptures when it will occur. It is on the contrary everywhere declared that this is concealed from people Act 1:7; Mat 24:36, and all that is known respecting the time is, that it will be suddenly and at an unexpected moment; Mat 24:42, Mat 24:44, Mat 24:50.

Without sin – That is, when be comes again he will not make himself a sin-offering; or will not come in order to make atonement for sin. It is not implied that when he came the first time he was in any sense a sinner, but that he came then with reference to sin. or that the main object of his incarnation was to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. When he comes the second time, it will be with reference to another object.

Unto salvation – That is, to receive his friends and followers to eternal salvation. He will come to save them from all their sins and temptations; to raise them from their graves; to place them at his right hand in glory, and to confirm them in the everlasting inheritance which he has promised to all who truly love him, and who wait for his appearing.

In view of this anticipated return of the Redeemer, we may remark:

(1) There is a propriety that the Lord Jesus should thus return. He came once to be humbled, despised, and put to death; and there is a fitness that he should come to be honored in his own world.

(2) Every person on earth is interested in the fact that he will return, for every eye shall see him; Rev 1:7. All who are now In their graves, and all who now live, and all who will hereafter live, will behold the Redeemer in his glory.

(3) It will not be merely to gaze upon him, and to admire his magnificence that they will see him. It will be for greater and more momentous purposes – with reference to an eternal doom.

(4) The great mass of people are not prepared to meet him. They do not believe that he will return; they do not desire that he should appear; they are not ready for the solemn interview which they will have with him. His appearing now would overwhelm them with surprise and horror. There is nothing in the future which they less expect and desire than the second coming of the Son of God, and in, the present state of the world his appearance would produce almost universal consternation and despair. It would be like the coming of the flood of waters on the old world; like the sheets of flame on the cities of the plain; or as death now comes to the great mass of those who die.

(5) Christians are prepared for his coming. They believe in it; they desire it; they are expecting it. In this they are distinguished from all the world besides, and they would be ready to hail his coming as that of a friend, and to rejoice in his appearance as that of their Saviour.

(6) Let us then live in habitual preparation for his advent. To each one of us he will come soon; to all he will come suddenly. Whether he come to remove us by death, or whether in the clouds of heaven to judge the world, the period is not far distant when we shall see him. Yes, our eyes shall behold the Son of God in his glory! That which we have long desired – a sight of our Saviour who died for us, shall soon, very soon be granted unto us. No Christian begins a week or a day in which there is not a possibility that, before its close, he may have seen the Son of God in his glory; none lies down upon his bed at night who may not, when the morning dawns upon this world, be gazing with infinite delight on the glories of the Great Redeemer in the heavens.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. So Christ was once offered] He shall die no more; he has borne away the sins of many, and what he has done once shall stand good for ever. Yet he will appear a second time without sin, , without a sin-offering; THAT he has already made.

Unto salvation.] To deliver the bodies of believers from the empire of death, to reunite them to their purified souls, and bring both into his eternal glory. This is salvation, and the very highest of which the human being is capable. Amen! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Hallelujah!

1. IN the preceding notes I have given my reasons for dissenting from our translation of the 15th, 16th, and 17th verses. Many learned men are of the same opinion; but I have not met with one who appears to have treated the whole in a more satisfactory manner than Dr. Macknight, and for the edification of my readers I shall here subjoin the substance of what he has written on this point.

“Heb 9:15. Mediator of the new covenant. See Heb 8:7. The word , here translated covenant, answers to the Hebrew word berith, which all the translators of the Jewish Scriptures have understood to signify a covenant. The same signification our translators have affixed to the word , as often as it occurs in the writings of the evangelists and apostles, except in the history of the institution of the supper, and in 2Cor 3:6: and Heb 7:22, and in the passage under consideration; in which places, copying the Vulgate version, they have rendered by the word testament. Beza, following the Syriac Version, translates everywhere by the words foedas, pactum, except in the 16th, 17th, and 20th verses of this chapter, where likewise following the Syriac version, he has testamentum. Now if , the new testament, in the passages above mentioned, means the Gospel covenant, as all interpreters acknowledge, , the old testament, 2Co 3:14, and , the first testament, Heb 9:15, must certainly be the Sinaitic covenant or law of Moses, as is evident also from Heb 9:20. On this supposition it may be asked,

1. In what sense the Sinaitic covenant or law of Moses, which required perfect obedience to all its precepts under penalty of death, and allowed no mercy to any sinner, however penitent, can be called a testament, which is a deed conferring something valuable on a person who may accept or refuse it, as he thinks fit? Besides, the transaction at Sinai, in which God promised to continue the Israelites in Canaan, on condition they refrained from the wicked practices of the Canaanites, and observed his statutes, Lev. 18, can in no sense be called a testament.

2. If the law of Moses be a testament, and if, to render that testament valid, the death of the testator be necessary, as the English translators have taught us, Heb 9:16, I ask who it was that made the testament of the law? Was it God or Moses? And did either of them die to render it valid?

3. I observe that even the Gospel covenant is improperly called a testament, because, notwithstanding all its blessings were procured by the death of Christ, and are most freely bestowed, it lost any validity which, as a testament, it is thought to have received by the death of Christ, when he revived again on the third day.

4. The things affirmed in the common translation of Heb 9:15, concerning the new testament, namely, that it has a Mediator; that that Mediator is the Testator himself; that there were transgressions of a former testament, for the redemption of which the Mediator of the new testament died; and, Heb 9:19, that the first testament was made by sprinkling the people in whose favour it was made with blood; are all things quite foreign to a testament. For was it ever known in any nation that a testament needed a mediator? Or that the testator was the mediator of his own testament? Or that it was necessary the testator of a new testament should die to redeem the transgressions of a former testament? Or that any testament was ever made by sprinkling the legatees with blood? These things however were usual in covenants. They had mediators who assisted at the making of them, and were sureties for the performance of them. They were commonly ratified by sacrifices, the blood of which was sprinkled on the parties; withal, if any former covenant was infringed by the parties, satisfaction was given at the making of a second covenant.

5. By calling Christ the Mediator of the new testament our thoughts are turned away entirely from the view which the Scriptures give us of his death as a sacrifice for sin; whereas, if he is called the Mediator of the new covenant, which is the true translation of , that appellation directly suggests to us that the new covenant was procured and ratified by his death as a sacrifice for sin. Accordingly Jesus, on account of his being made a priest by the oath of God, is said to be the Priest or Mediator of a better covenant than that of which the Levitical priests were the mediators. I acknowledge that in classical Greek , commonly signifies a testament. Yet, since the Seventy have uniformly translated the Hebrew word berith, which properly signifies a covenant, by the word , in writing Greek the Jews naturally used for as our translators have acknowledged by their version of Heb 10:16. To conclude: Seeing in the verses under consideration may be translated a covenant; and seeing, when so translated, these verses make a better sense, and agree better with the scope of the apostle’s reasoning than if it were translated a testament; we can be at no loss to know which translation of in these verses ought to be preferred. Nevertheless, the absurdity of a phraseology to which readers have been long accustomed, without attending distinctly to its meaning, does not soon appear.

“He is the Mediator. Here it is remarkable that Jesus is not called , the Testator, but , the Mediator, of the new covenant; first, because he procured the new covenant for mankind, in which the pardon of sin is promised; for, as the apostle tells us, his death, as a sacrifice for sin, is the consideration on account of which the pardon of the transgressions of the first covenant is granted. Secondly, because the new covenant having been ratified as well as procured by the death of Christ, he is fitly called the Mediator of that covenant in the same sense that God’s oath is called, Heb 6:17, the mediator, or confirmor, of his promise. Thirdly, Jesus, who died to procure the new covenant, being appointed by God the high priest thereof, to dispense his blessings, he is on that account also called, Heb 8:6, the mediator of that better covenant.

“Verse 16. For where a covenant [is made by sacrifice,] there is a necessity that the death of the appointed sacrifice be produced. This elliptical expression must be completed, if, as is probable, the apostle had now in his eye the covenant which God made with Noah and Abraham. His covenant is recorded, Ge 8:20, where we are told, that on coming out of the ark Noah offered a burnt-offering of every clean beast and fowl. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground, neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done. This promise or declaration God called his covenant with men, and with every living creature. Ge 9:9; Ge 9:10. In like manner God made a covenant with Abraham by sacrifice, Ge 15:9; Ge 15:18, and with the Israelites at Sinai, Ex 24:8. See also Ps 50:5. By making his covenants with men in this manner, God taught them that his intercourses with them were all founded on an expiation afterwards to be made for their sins by the sacrifice of the seed of the woman, the bruising of whose heel, or death, was foretold at the fall. On the authority of these examples, the practice of making covenants by sacrifice prevailed among the Jews; Jer 34:18; Zec 9:11; and even among the heathens; for they had the knowledge of these examples by tradition. Stabant et caesa jungebant foedera porca; Virgil, AEneid, viii. 611. Hence the phrases, foedus ferire and percutere, to strike or kill the covenant.

“There is a necessity that the death , of the appointed. Here we may supply either the word , sacrifice, or , animal, which might be either a calf, a goat, a bull, or any other animal which the parties making the covenant chose. is the participle of the second aorist of the middle voice of the verb , constituo, I appoint. Wherefore its primary and literal signification is, of the appointed. Our translators have given the word this sense, Lu 22:29; , , . And I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed to me a kingdom.

“Be brought in; , Elsner, vol. ii., p. 381, has shown that the word is sometimes used in a forensic sense for what is produced, or proved, or made apparent in a court of judicature. Wherefore the apostle’s meaning is, that it is necessary the death of the appointed sacrifice be brought in, or produced, at the making of the covenant. In the margin of our Bibles this clause is rightly translated, be brought in. See Ac 25:7, where is used in the forensic sense.

“Verse 17. A covenant is firm over dead sacrifices; . being an adjective, it must have a substantive agreeing with it, either expressed or understood. The substantive understood in this place, I think, is , sacrifices; for which reason I have supplied it in the translation. Perhaps the word , animals, may be equally proper; especially as, in the following clause, is in the gender of the animals appointed for the sacrifice. Our translators have supplied the word , men, and have translated , after men are dead, contrary to the propriety of the phrase.

“It never hath force whilst the appointed liveth; . Supply , or , or . whilst the calf, or goat, or bull, appointed for the sacrifice of ratification, liveth. The apostle having, in Heb 9:15, showed that Christ’s death was necessary as , the Mediator, that is, the procurer, and ratifier of the new covenant, he in the 16th and 17th verses observes that, since God’s covenants with men were all ratified by sacrifice to show that his intercourses with men are founded on the sacrifice of his Son, it was necessary that the new covenant itself should be ratified by his Son’s actually dying as a sacrifice.

“The faultiness of the common translation of the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th verses of this chapter having been already shown in the notes, nothing needs be added here, except to call the reader’s attention to the propriety and strength of the apostle’s reasoning, as it appears in the translation of these verses which I have given, compared with his reasoning as represented in the common version.”

2. It is supposed that in Heb 9:28, the apostle, in speaking about Christ’s bearing the sins of many, alludes to the ceremony of the scape goat. This mysterious sacrifice was to be presented to God, Le 16:7, and the sins of the people were to be confessed over the head of it, Le 16:21, and after this the goat was dismissed into a land uninhabited, laden, as the institution implied, with the sins of the people; and this the word , to bear or carry away, seems to imply. So truly as the goat did metaphorically bear away the sins of the many, so truly did Christ literally bear the punishment due to our sins; and in reference to every believer, has so borne them away that they shall never more rise in judgment against him.

3. In Christ’s coming, or appearing the second time, it is very probable, as Dr. Doddridge and others have conjectured, that there is an allusion to the return of the high priest from the inner tabernacle; for, after appearing there in the presence of God, and making atonement for the people in the plain dress of an ordinary priest, Le 16:23; Le 16:24, he came out arrayed in his magnificent robes, to bless the people, who waited for him in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. “But there will be this difference,” says Dr. Macknight, “between the return of Christ to bless his people, and the return of the high priest to bless the congregation. The latter, after coming out of the most holy place, made a new atonement in his pontifical robes for himself and for the people, Le 16:24, which showed that the former atonement was not real but typical. Whereas Jesus, after having made atonement, [and presented himself in heaven, before God,] will not return to the earth for the purpose of making himself a sacrifice the second time; but having procured an eternal redemption for us, by the sacrifice of himself once offered, he will return for the purpose of declaring to them who wait for him that they are accepted, and of bestowing on them the great blessing of eternal life. This reward he, being surrounded with the glory of the Father, Mt 16:27, will give them in the presence of an assembled universe, both as their King and their Priest. This is the great salvation which Christ came to preach, and which was confirmed to the world by them who heard him: Heb 2:3.” Reader, lay this sincerely to heart!

4. The form in which the high priest and the ordinary priests were to bless the people, after burning the incense in the tabernacle, is prescribed, Nu 6:23-26. Literally translated from the Hebrew it is as follows, and consists of three parts or benedictions:-

1. May Jehovah bless thee, and preserve thee!

2. May Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!

3. May Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and may he put prosperity unto thee! (See my notes on the place.)

We may therefore say that Christ, our High Priest, came to bless each of us, by turning us away from our iniquity. And let no one ever expect to see him at his second coming with joy, unless he have, in this life, been turned away from his iniquity, and obtained remission of all his sins, and that holiness without which none can see God. Reader, the time of his reappearing is, to thee, at hand! Prepare to meet thy God!

On the word conscience, which occurs so often in this chapter, and in other parts of this epistle, see the observations at the end of “Heb 13:25“.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: is an illative connection between the antecedent Heb 9:27, and this consequent; As it was appointed to men once to die, so it was appointed to Christ once to offer himself. Gods statute determineth both of these; Christ the High Priest, opposed to men, Heb 9:27, having died once as a sacrifice for sins, and offered his blood to God to expiate them, bearing their punishment which God laid on him, Isa 53:6; and so took away sins, guilt, filth, power and condemnation from many, whom the Father gave to him, and he undertook for, in it, Mat 20:28; 26:28; Joh 10:15,16.

And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin; and to his believing, penitent expectants, such as long for his coming, Phi 3:20; Tit 2:13, stretching out their heads, as the mother of Sisera, Jdg 5:28, with a holy impatience of seeing him, such as by faith and prayer are hastening it, Rom 8:23; 2Co 5:1-10; 1Pe 1:3-9, shall he once more visibly appear to them and the world, Act 1:11; Rev 1:7, gloriously, without need to suffer or die again for them, having at his departure after his first coming, carried all their sins into the land of forgetfulness.

Unto salvation; and to their persons will he bring entire and complete salvation, raising and uniting bodies and souls together, Phi 3:21; and then take them as assistants to himself in the judgment-work on men and angels in the air; and having despatched that work, return with them to the holy of holiest in heaven, there to be completely blessed, in praising, serving, glorifying, and enjoying God in Christ, and the blessedness that attends that state, for ever and ever, as 1Co 6:2,3; 1Th 4:17.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

28. ChristGreek, “THEChrist”; the representative MAN;representing all men, as the first Adam did.

once offerednot”often,” Heb 9:25;just as “men,” of whom He is the representative Head, areappointed by God once to die. He did not need to die again andagain for each individual, or each successive generation of men, forHe represents all men of every age, and therefore needed todie but once for all, so as to exhaust the penalty of death incurredby all. He was offered by the Father, His own “eternal Spirit”(Heb 9:14) concurring; asAbraham spared not Isaac, but offered him, the son himselfunresistingly submitting to the father’s will (Ge22:1-24).

to bear the sinsreferringto Isa 53:12, “He barethe sins of many,” namely, on Himself; so “bear”means, Lev 24:15; Num 5:31;Num 14:34. The Greek isliterally “to bear up” (1Pe2:24). “Our sins were laid on Him. When, therefore, He waslifted up on the cross, He bare up our sins along with Him”[BENGEL].

manynot opposed toall, but to few. He, the One, was offered for many;and that once for all (compare Mt20:28).

look for himwithwaiting expectation even unto the end (so the Greek). Itis translated “wait for” in Rom 8:19;Rom 8:23; 1Co 1:7,which see.

appearrather, asGreek, “be seen.” No longer in the alien “formof a servant,” but in His own proper glory.

without sinapart from,separate from, sin. Not bearing the sin of many on Him as atHis first coming (even then there was no sin in Him). That sinhas been at His first coming once for all taken away, so as to needno repetition of His sin offering of Himself (Heb9:26). At His second coming He shall have no more to do with sin.

unto salvationto bringin completed salvation; redeeming then the body which is as yetsubject to the bondage of corruption. Hence, in Php3:20 he says, “we look for THESAVIOUR.” Note,Christ’s prophetical office, as the divine Teacher, wasespecially exercised during His earthly ministry; His priestlyis now from His first to His second coming; His kingly officeshall be fully manifested at, and after, His second coming.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,…. As man dies but once, Christ was offered but once, or he suffered and died but once; and that was not on his own account, or for his own sins, “but to bear the sins of many”: not of angels but of men, and these not a few, but “many”; which is said to magnify the grace of God, to exalt the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, and to encourage souls to hope in him: hence many are brought to believe in him, and many are justified by him, have their sins forgiven them, and are glorified; though Christ bore not the sins of all men; for as all men have not faith, all are not justified, pardoned, and saved: what he bore were “sins”; all kind of sin, every act of sin, and all that belongs to it; its filth, guilt, and punishment, even the iniquity of all his people; which must be a prodigious weight, and than which nothing could be more nauseous: his bearing them supposes they were upon him, though not in him, imputed, though not inherent; that he did not sink under them; that he made an entire satisfaction for them, and bore them wholly away, both from the persons of his people, and from the sight of justice. The way in which he came to bear them was this; he became a surety for all the elect; his Father imputed to him all their sins, and he voluntarily took them upon himself; where justice found them, and demanded satisfaction of him for them, and he gave it; which is an instance both of his great love, and of his great strength:

and unto them that look for him: with affection, faith and patience:

shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation; this is to be understood of Christ’s visible and personal appearance on earth, which will be a glorious one; he will appear in his own glory, and in his Father’s glory, and in the glory of the holy angels, and in the glory of his power, to the joy of saints, and to the terror of the wicked; for every eye shall see him: and this is said to be “the second time”; that is, that he appears on earth, and personally; for though he often appears to his people, it is in a spiritual way; and though he appeared to Stephen and to Paul, yet not on earth, but in heaven; and this is called the second time, with reference to his first appearance in human nature at his incarnation, and after that he ascended to heaven; and as this will be the second, it will be the last: the manner in which he will appear, will be, “without sin”; without sin itself; without any thing like it: without any infirmities, which though not sinful are the effects of sin; without sin imputed to him, with which he appeared before; without being a sacrifice for sin; and without sin upon his people that come with him, or he shall meet whom he shall raise, or change, and take to himself: and the end of his appearance with respect to them, will be “unto salvation”; the end of his first appearance was to obtain salvation for his people, and he has obtained it, and there is a comfortable application of it made unto them by the Spirit of God; but the full possession of it will be hereafter, and into this will Christ put them, when he shall appear: the Alexandrian copy adds, “by faith”, and also some other copies.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Once (). “Once for all” (verse 26) as already stated.

Shall appear a second time ( ). Future passive indicative of . Blessed assurance of the Second Coming of Christ, but this time “apart from sin” ( , no notion of a second chance then).

Unto salvation ( ). Final and complete salvation for “them that wait for him” ( ). Dative plural of the articular participle present middle of , the very verb used by Paul in Php 3:20 of waiting for the coming of Christ as Saviour.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) So Christ was once offered,” (houtos kai ho christos hapaks prosenechtheis) “So also Christ once (for all) is having been offered;” Not again and again as Levitical offerings were made, because he was a sinless, holy, unpolluted offering, Heb 7:26; Heb 9:12; Heb 9:26.

2) “To bear the sins of many,” (eistopallon anenegkein hamartias) “in order to bear the sins of the many,” the whole world; 1Pe 2:24; 1Pe 3:18; of him John cried, “behold the Lamb of God that taketh (beareth continually) away the sins of the world,” Joh 1:29; Lev 16:21; Mat 26:28.

3) “And unto them that look for him,” (tois auton apekdechomenois) “To those who expectantly, continually look for him; Tit 2:13; 2Pe 3:11-12; Not only to be saved but also to be looking for, anticipating by faith the coming of our Lord, seems to be important to assure one’s being raptured alive when Jesus comes, Luk 21:34-36.

4) “Shall he appear the second time without sin,” (ek deuterou choris hamartias ophthesetai) “He will appear of his own will or accord a second time without (apart from) sin,” a sin offering, for which purpose he came the first time, Luk 19:10.

5) “Unto salvation,” (eis solterian) “For (their) salvation or deliverance,” deliverance from the presence of sin and The Tribulation The Great that is to come upon the earth and those who do not look for, anticipate His coming, A believer should get out of any church or religious order that does not look for the personal bodily return of Jesus Christ to the earth, lest he, with them, should not be accounted worthy to escape what is to come on earth, Luk 21:34-36; Mar 13:33-36.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

28. The second time without sin, etc. The Apostle urges this one thing, — that we ought not to be disquieted by vain and impure longings for new kinds of expiations, for the death of Christ is abundantly sufficient for us. Hence he says, that he once appeared and made a sacrifice to abolish sins, and that at his second coming he will make openly manifest the efficacy of his death, so that sin will have no more power to hurt us. (160)

To bear, or, take away sins, is to free from guilt by his satisfaction those who have sinned. He says the sins of many, that is, of all, as in Rom 5:15. It is yet certain that all receive no benefit from the death of Christ; but this happens, because their unbelief prevents them. At the same time this question is not to be discussed here, for the Apostle is not speaking of the few or of the many to whom the death of Christ may be available; but he simply means that he died for others and not for himself; and therefore he opposes many to one. (161)

But what does he mean by saying that Christ will appear without sin? Some say, without a propitiation or an expiatory sacrifice for sin, as the word sin is taken in Rom 8:3; 2Co 5:21; and in many places in the writings of Moses; but in my judgment he intended to express something more suitable to his present purpose, namely, that Christ at his coming will make it known how truly and really he had taken away sins, so that there would be no need of any other sacrifice to pacify God; as though he had said, “When we come to the tribunal of Christ, we shall find that there was nothing wanting in his death.” (162)

And to the same effect is what he immediately adds, unto salvation to them who look, or wait for him. Others render the sentence differently, “To them who look for him unto salvation;” But the other meaning is the most appropriate; for he means that those shall find complete salvation who recumb with quiet minds on the death of Christ; for this looking for or wanting has a reference to the subject discussed. The Scripture indeed does elsewhere ascribe this in common to believers, that they look for the coming of the Lord, in order to distinguish them from the ungodly, by whom his coming is dreaded, (1Th 1:10😉 but as the Apostle now contends that we ought to acquiesce in the one true sacrifice of Christ, he calls it the looking for Christ, when we are satisfied with his redemption alone, and seek no other remedies or helps. (163)

(160) “Was once offered,” προσενεχθεὶς, — Grotius regarded this participle as having a reflective sense, “having once for all offered up himself;” and so does Stuart. The first aorist passive has often this sense. “By whom was he offered?” asks Theophylact; he answers, “by himself, he being a high priest.” This amounts to the same thing. — Ed

(161) “We are told that οἱ πολλοὶ is often equivalent to πάντες. It is not however quite certain that the Apostle here meant to express πάντων; the verse concludes with the mention of those who ‘wait for him’ i.e., who wait for Christ’s second coming in humble hope of receiving their reward; and these manifestly are not the whole human race.” — Bp. Middleton, quoted by Bloomfield. — Ed

(162) Schleusner and Stuart consider “without sin” to mean “without sin-offering” without any sacrifice for sin. Doddridge and Scott take its meaning to be “without being in the likeness of sinful flesh,” or, without that humiliating form in which he atoned for sin. Some have said, “without sin” being imputed to him. The construction which the passage seems to afford is this, “without bearing sin.” The previous clause is that, to bear or to suffer for, he having made the first time a full and complete expiation.

To “bear sins,” is not, as some say, to take them away, in allusion to the scape goat, but to endure the punishment due to them, to make an atonement for them. See 1Pe 2:24; where the same word to “bear,” in connection with “sins,” is used; and where it clearly means to bear the penalty of sin; the end of the verse is, “with whose stripes we are healed.” — Ed.

(163) Most commentators adopt the same view, as conveyed in our version, connecting “salvation” with appearing, such as Beza, Grotius, Doddridge, Scott and Stuart. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(28) So Christ was once offered.The ordinary translation, dividing the verse into two similar portions, fails to show where the emphasis really lies. The two members of the verse correspond to each other, point by point, with remarkable distinctness; but the first is clearly subordinated to the second. So the Christ. also, having been once offered that He might bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time apart from sin to them that wait for Him unto salvation. It is important to notice that, not only is there perfect. parallelism between the two members of this verse, but there is a similar relation between this verse as a whole and Heb. 9:27. In that were presented two cardinal points of the history of sinful man; in this the main outlines of the Redeemers work. Each verse deals first with the present world, and secondly with the last things. The two verses, taken together, are connected with the preceding argument by the word once. Christ will not suffer often. He has been manifested once, to accomplish by one act the annulling of sin (Heb. 9:26). And this is in harmony with the lot of man, who must die once, and but once (Heb. 9:27-28). But what is the exact nature of this correspondence? Do the words simply mean that, as the Christ was man, so it was laid up for Him to die but once? Or may the connection of thought be expressed thus?The work of redemption is so ordered as to correspond to the course of mans history: as man must die once, and what remains is the judgment which he must abide, so the Christ has died once, and what remains is His return for judgmenta judgment which He Himself administers, giving salvation to His people. We will not venture to say that the former thought is absent from the words (which are sufficiently general to include both), but certainly the second is the more important. If now we return to Heb. 9:28, it will be seen that the words having been once offered in the first member are answered by shall appear in the second; to bear sins, by apart from sin . . . unto salvation; and of many, by to them that wait for Him. In Heb. 9:14; Heb. 9:25, the writer spoke of Christ as offering Himself, here as having been offered; so in Eph. 5:2 we read that He delivered Himself up for us, but in Rom. 8:32 that God delivered Him up for us all, and in Rom. 4:25, who was delivered up for our offences. The words which follow are taken (with a slight change) from Isa. 53:12, and He bare the sin of many. These words clearly involve sacrificial imagery. What is signified is not directly the removal of sin (as in the different words of Joh. 1:29); but, as on the animal to be slain the sins of the offerer were in figure laid, and the death which followed signified the death which the offerer had deserved, so, with an infinite extension of meaning, are the words here applied. It is certainly no mere accident that the writer, thus availing himself of the prophets words, speaks of the Christ. In contrast with the one Sufferer are the many whose sins are borne (comp. Heb. 2:10; Mat. 26:28). When the Christ shall appear the second time, it shall be apart from sinno longer bearing sin, but separate from sinners (Heb. 7:26). Of the judgment which He shall pass upon the adversaries (Heb. 10:27) this verse does not speak, but only of His appearing to His own people, who wait for Him. This expressive word, again and again used by St. Paul (see Note on Rom. 8:19) to describe the attitude of Christs people upon earth towards their Lord (Php. 3:20; 1Co. 1:7) and His salvation (Rom. 8:23; Rom. 8:25), is here applied to all who love His appearing. By these He shall be seen as He is (1Jn. 3:2). The last words unto salvation declare the purpose of His appearing, in a form which at once recalls the teaching of earlier verses in the Epistle (Heb. 5:9; Heb. 7:26), and especially Heb. 9:12 of this chapter, and which brings to mind the name of Him for whom we wait, the Saviour (Php. 3:20).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

28. Once The first point of comparison that Christ died once as men die once, his death being sacrificial. Second point between judgment and appear. From different quarters the bodies of men and the person of Christ meet at one terminus. He descends from heaven, they ascend from earth; he to judge, they to be judged. Third point of comparison between bear the sins and without, or irrespective of, sin. Christ died under the weight of human sins; he returns without connexion with sin.

Unto salvation It is judgment for all; it is salvation only to those that look for, or await him, with hopeful expectation. As writing to Christians, our author takes into view only the blessed side of the judgment.

On the last two verses we may note:

1. Of whatever other things men are sceptical, none doubt, however they may try to forget, that they must die. This is appointed by the great Author of nature, who has the right to take the life he gives. And if Edenic man was at first placed above this law, yet by sin he sunk into the level of nature under the appointed penalty of death. See note on Rom 5:12.

2. But as sure as death is appointed unto men, so sure, also, an after judgment. Suffering, discipline, may belong to this life, but the real retributive judgment comes after life has closed. God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Act 17:31.

3. How long the interval after death until the judgment our apostle expresses no opinion. Conceptually it was a momentous event; and, like God himself, however distant it is yet nigh at hand. It should take place when Christ should appear a second time; and that is not to be until the close of this new dispensation or covenant, which is second to the first, as the eighth chapter fully states.

4. The intermediate disembodied state is one of hopeful expectation of that second coming. Saints, both in the body and out of the body, are agreed in this looking-for of that glorious appearing. Death is not the point on which the Christian heart most deeply rests; paradise is not the goal to which we most earnestly look, but the advent, the glorious resurrection, the judgment, and eternal life.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Heb 9:28. So Christ was once offered The comparison here used is this: “Whereas all men die once, and after this there is to be a judgment for them; so Christ died once, and, having offered himself to bear away sin, he too, as well as all others, shall appear a second time, but without sin, or, bearing away sin, as a Judge and Rewarder of those who have lived in expectation of him.” As to the phraseology, the design of the apostle is, to represent what our Saviour did for us; and this he does under the character or image of the scape-goat. The scapegoat was to be presented before God, Lev 16:7 and then the sins of the people were to be put upon the head of it; Heb 9:21 and the goat was to take and bear upon him all their iniquities into a land uninhabited, Heb 9:22. In like manner our Saviour, once offered to God, shall take upon him the sins of the faithful, (, ) and shall bear, or carry them away. See Mat 26:28. Rom 8:3. Limborch thinks that in the latter part of this verse there is an allusion to the high-priest’s coming out to bless the people who were waiting for him in the temple, when the great day of atonement was over; and as he then appeared in his golden garments, whereas before he had officiated in the plain dress of a common priest; and as the trumpet of the jubilee on that year sounded to proclaim the commencement of that happy period, there is not perhaps an image which can enter into the mind of man, more suitable to convey the grand idea which the apostle intended to convey by it, than this would be to a Jew, who well knew the grand solemnity to which it referred. Dr. Heylin renders the last clause of this verse very well, shall appear the second time without sin, [or without an offering for sin, Blackwall,] for the salvation of those who wait for him.

Inferences.The whole progress of the apostle’s argument will lead us to reflect on the reason that we have for thankfulness, whose eyes are directed, not to an earthly sanctuary and its furniture, splendid indeed, yet comparatively dark, mutable, and perishing; but to the holiest of all, the way to which is now clearly manifested. What matter of solid and everlasting joy! that whereas those gifts and sacrifices were incapable of making those perfect who presented them, or attended upon them, and the ordinances of that sanctuary consisted only in meats and drinks, and corporeal purifications and ceremonies; we by faith behold an High-priest of a better and more perfect tabernacle, an High-priest who hath wrought out eternal redemption for all the faithful, and entered once for all into heaven for them! Eternal redemption! who has duly considered its glorious import? To him, and only to him, who has attentively considered it, is the name at the Redeemer sufficiently dear. But O, what short of the possession of it, can teach us the true value! What, but to view that temple of God above, where through his intercession we hope to be made pillars, and from thence, to look down upon that abyss of misery and destruction from which nothing but his Blood was sufficient to ransom us!

Let that blood which is our redemption, be our confidence. We know there was no real efficacy in that of bulls, or of goats, or in the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean. All that these things could do was to purify the flesh, and to restore men to an external communion with God in the Jewish sanctuary. But the blood of Christ can purify the conscience, and restore its peace when troubled, when tortured with a sense of guilt, contracted by dead works, which render us unfit for, and incapable of divine converse. To that Blood therefore let us look: let the death of Christ be remembered, as the great spotless sacrifice by which we draw nigh unto God: and let those virtues and graces which were displayed in it under the influences of that eternal Spirit, which was given unto him without measure, concur with that infinite benevolence which subjected him to it for our sakes, to recommend him to our humblest veneration, and our warmest affections.

What praise then do we owe to that voluntary victim, who made his blood the seal of that better covenant, of which he is the mediator! O, that as all the vessels of the sanctuary, and all the people, were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices, on that day when Moses entered for them into solemn covenant with God; so our souls and all our services might be under the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus! By the efficacy of that were the heavenly places sanctified and prepared for all the faithful; by that our way into them is opened; let us daily be looking up to the Lord Jesus Christ, as gone to appear in the presence of God before us, and entered into heaven with his own blood. May his death be as efficacious to subdue the power of sin in our hearts, as it is to expiate guilt. Then, and then only, may we look forward with pleasure to the great solemnities of death and judgment, and expect that faithful Redeemer, who though he is to come no more as a sacrifice for sin, will then appear for the complete salvation of all, who have obediently received him under that character, and waited for him according to his word.

REFLECTIONS.1st, The apostle begins with an account of the tabernacle, where the chief part of the service under the Mosaic dispensation, or first covenant, was performed. It consisted of two parts:

1. The outward, where stood the candlestick of beaten gold, and the table, with the shew-bread laid thereon; and this was called the sanctuary, where the daily service of God was performed. The whole building was figurative of Christ’s body; the candlestick pointed him out as the true light who should come into the world, where, without him, spiritual darkness must have been for ever spread abroad; and the table of shew-bread pointed him out as the living Bread that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world, upon whom his believing people, consecrated to be spiritual priests, feed, and maintain the most endeared communion thereby with each other.

2. The inward, which a second veil separated from the outer part of the tabernacle, and was called the holiest of all, the figure of heaven itself, into which none entered but the high-priest alone once a year on the great day of expiation, with the golden censer full of incense, which typified Christ’s intercession in heaven for his faithful people; and there stood the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, which signified him who was to be the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, wherein were the tables of the law written with the finger of God, and, by the side of it, the golden pot that had manna, which was miraculously preserved from putrefaction, signifying the daily living bread with which Christ feeds his Israel in this howling wilderness; giving them meat to eat which the world knoweth not of. There also was Aaron’s rod that budded, from a dry stick producing flowers and fruit, emblematic of him who rose as the rod out of the stem of Jesse, to be by divine appointment our High priest for ever. And over the ark were the cherubims of beaten gold, two winged figures, shadowing the mercy-seat, over which the glorious Shechinah dwelt, and on which the blood was sprinkled on the great day of atonement, intimating to us that Christ, as our propitiatory, interposes between the wrath of a holy God and the transgressors of his law, to save his faithful people from the eternal ruin which must otherwise necessarily ensue. But the consideration of the mystical meaning of these things the apostle waves, of which, says he, we cannot now speak particularly. Let us not therefore too curiously pry into them, nor affect to be wise above that which is written.

2nd, The tabernacle being prepared, we are told what service was performed in it.
1. In the outer part of the tabernacle the ordinary priests every day officiated, burning incense, trimming the lamps, and accomplishing all the service appointed them.
2. Into the second tabernacle, within the veil, went the high priest alone once a year, on one day only, and then not without blood, which he offered as an atonement for himself, and for the errors of the people; intimating hereby that there was no access to God but through the blood of atonement, even the Blood of him whom all the sacrifices represented, and whose intercession alone could be available for salvation.

3rdly, The apostle proceeds to declare the design of the Holy Ghost in these ritual services.
1. He signified hereby, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: under that dark dispensation, the way of access to a throne of grace and of admission into heaven itself through the blood and intercession of the Redeemer, was not so clearly and fully laid open, as should afterwards be under the gospel.

2. The tabernacle was a figure for the time then present, suited to that more obscure dispensation, and the shadow of good things to come, till he who was the substance of them should appear, and then it would become useless.

3. The gifts and sacrifices there offered could not make the worshippers perfect; but though they were available to the purifying of the flesh, and exculpated them from suffering the temporal punishments due to them as offenders against God considered as their political Sovereign, they could not purge the conscience from moral evil, appease the fears of guilt, or secure from eternal punishment, any farther than they led them to Christ, who was in these sacrifices prefigured, that so they might be justified by faith; for these sacrifices could little avail, standing only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, and rites which accompanied them, and may be considered as a burden imposed on them until the time of reformation, when Christ in his gospel should free his spiritual Israel from this heavy yoke.

4. Christ hath appeared and accomplished all that was here prefigured concerning him. But Christ being come an High-priest of good things to come, on purpose to procure all spiritual and eternal blessings for his faithful people, by, or in a greater and more perfect tabernacle above, not made with human hands, that is to say, not of this building, not making any part of this lower creation; neither by the blood of goats and calves, which was all that the Levitical priests could offer, but by a sacrifice infinitely more excellent; he has made the atonement, even by offering his own body on the tree; and with his own blood, of everlasting efficacy, he entered in once into the holy place; even into heaven itself, there for ever to abide and plead the merit of that sacrifice which he had offered, having obtained eternal redemption for all his faithful saints by this one oblation. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, and under the Mosaic economy re-admitted those who were unclean, and excluded from the public worship, to the congregation of Israel; how much more shall the blood of Christ, the efficacy of which is so infinitely greater, who through the eternal Spirit which dwelt in his perfectly pure human nature, offered himself without spot to God, a Lamb meet to bleed on God’s altar, how shall not this, I say, much more purge your conscience from dead works, from all your sins, however great and aggravated, the wages of which must have been eternal death, and restore you to serve the living God, in all holy and willing obedience, regarding him now as your reconciled God and Father, through the Son of his love, Christ Jesus? Note; (1.) The excellence and availableness of Christ’s sacrifice arises from the dignity of his person; he who offered his human nature upon the cross was very God, and that gave infinite value to the blood which he shed. (2.) Sin must eternally have destroyed all the human race but for this one oblation; nothing else could purge the sinner’s conscience; but this is all-sufficient to save to the uttermost, and cleanse us from all sin. (3.) All whose consciences are purged by the Blood of sprinkling, experience also the power of changing grace upon their hearts, and are both inclined and enabled in righteousness and true holiness to serve the living God.

4thly, The gospel dispensation is considered under the nature of a covenant of grace, we receiving all spiritual blessings through this great Mediator between God and man.

And for this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament, securing for his faithful people every blessing, that by means of death, whereby the covenant was ratified, and the full atonement made, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, the efficacy of his sacrifice reaching back to the beginning, as well as to the end of time, they which are called to faith in him, in whatever age they may have lived, might receive the promise of eternal inheritance, which promise will be infallibly fulfilled to all of them who are faithful unto death. For as among men where a testament is made, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, before the legacies bequeathed can be claimed, or paid; so was it necessary that Christ should die; for a testament is of force only after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Where-upon, neither the first testament was dedicated without blood of slain beasts, which typified the death and blood-shedding of the great Redeemer. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, which had been sacrificed, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, in token of the ratification of all that was contained in the sacred volume, and of the application of the blessings and benefits contained in the testament to the souls of the faithful; and this was figurative of that blood and water which flowed from the wounded side of the Redeemer, which in its virtue effectually cleanses the consciences of those who believe, from all guilt and defilement. And this Moses bade them particularly to observe, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you, whereby it is ratified, and his faithfulness engaged to all his saints, for the fulfilment of all the promises therein contained. Moreover he sprinkled likewise with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry, when they were made. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, wherein the sacrifice and death of Christ were constantly held forth to them as the alone meritorious cause of the sinner’s acceptance; and that without the shedding of his blood there is no remission of sins.

[ I have here, as I generally do in my Reflections, followed the common translation, but am still of opinion with Mr. Peirce, Dr. Doddridge, and other eminent commentators, that the word should be rendered covenant, and not testament; as it is, and must be, in every other part of the New Testament where it is used: and the mediator of a testament, as Dr. Doddridge observes, is a very improper expression. This does not at all affect the necessity and infinite merit of Christ’s sacrifice; for the covenant was ratified solely by the shedding of the blood of the God-man and could not otherwise have been available in the least degree.]

5thly, From what he had advanced, the apostle argues,
That it was therefore necessary, by divine appointment, that the patterns of things in the heavens, the tabernacle and all the vessels, should be purified with these typical sacrifices and sprinklings of blood; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these, even the offering of Jesus himself, who by his own blood ratified the covenant of grace; and, being through his sacrifice consecrated to his office as the great High-priest, entered into heaven, there to present his blood before the throne, and prepare mansions for the reception of his faithful people. For Christ is not, like the Jewish high-priests, 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, and effectually to ensure to his faithful saints all the blessings which, by his blood-shedding, he hath purchased: nor was his sacrifice incomplete, as yet again to require that he should offer himself often, as the high-priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others, of the animals which were sacrificed: (for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, and the fall of man;) but now once in the end of the world, at the close of the Jewish economy, and at the beginning of the last and most excellent dispensation, under the gospel, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, suffering in the human nature, and, by the divine glory of his person, offering such a complete and all-availing sacrifice, as never needed a repetition, the efficacy thereof extending to every persevering believer to the latest ages of time. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, returning is the dust from whence they came, and but once, for after this bodily death is the final judgment, when all must appear at God’s bar, and stand or fall to eternity: so Christ was once offered upon the cross to bear the sins of many, and made there a full atonement by his one oblation; and unto them that look for him, in faith and love, expecting his return, shall he appear, not as a suffering but a glorified Saviour, without sin, having taken it all away, and being now manifested to bring his faithful people unto that complete and perfect salvation in glory, which he hath obtained for them. Note; (1.) Die we must, such is the divine decree; highly therefore doth it import us to prepare for this awful change. (2.) Judgment follows close at the heels of death; and as the tree falleth, it must lie for ever. (3.) He that suffered upon a cross, shall shortly appear upon the throne, and a terrible Judge will he be found to those who have not embraced him as a Saviour. (4.) It is the character of his believing people, that they look for the day of his appearing, earnestly expecting his arrival, that they may obtain their perfect consummation both in body and soul in his kingdom of everlasting glory.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Heb 9:28 . ] once offered (by the suffering of death). Chrysostom: ; . Wrongly (comp. , Heb 9:25 ; Heb 9:14 ) Delitzsch: in connection with the passive we have “to think of the violence proceeding from the human and demoniac power, which Christ endured, in order to become the for the propitiation of mankind;” Kurtz and Hofmann: is to be supplemented, which, accordingly, is interpreted by Kurtz into the signification of the “sending of the Son into the world, in behoof of the vicarious atoning for sin by means of His sacrificial death;” by Hofmann: into a “being brought to that place where He was to be at the disposal of Him who had ordained Him to be an expiatory sacrifice for sins.” The words correspond to the , Heb 9:27 , and forms a paronomasia with the following : borne as a sacrifice, that He might bear away, dargebracht, um fortzubringen [ ob latus ut au ferret]. For denotes not the bearing up (and fastening) to the cross (Jac. Cappellus, Calov, Wolf, Bengel, and others, after 1Pe 2:24 , where, however, is employed with it), or the substitutionary bearing (Augustine, de pecc. mer. i. 28; Estius, Seb. Schmidt, Bhme, de Wette, Bloomfield, Bisping, Delitzsch, Riehm, Lehrbegr. des Hebrerbr . p. 544 f.; Alford, Maier, Conybeare, Moll, Kurtz, Ewald, M‘Caul, Hofmann, and others, in accordance with the signification of the verb, Isa 53:12 , LXX.: , an utterance which certainly may have been before the mind of the author at the time of his writing this passage), or the offering up of the sins, as it were, as a sacrifice (Peshito, Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Michaelis); but the expiation of sins, conceived under the form of the result immediately of necessity attaching itself thereto, i.e. the putting away of sins , in such wise that it takes up again the idea expressed by , Heb 9:26 , and becomes identical with , Heb 10:4 . From a linguistic point of view this interpretation encounters no difficulty (against Delitzsch and others), since the in was employed not otherwise than, e.g. , very frequently the in . How easily the notion of bearing in could pass over into that of bearing away or doing away with , is shown in the kindred verb , which is unquestionably used, Mat 8:17 , Joh 20:15 , in the sense of auferre . Comp. also Galen, de compos. medicam . 2 : .

] here too, as Heb 2:10 and often (see p. 122), lays stress only on the notion of multitude or plurality , without regard to the question whether this plurality constitutes the totality of mankind or not.

] shall appear the second time before the eyes of men, namely, at His Parousia. According to Bleek, there arises a difficulty from the words, if we explain of the death suffered upon earth, and not, with him, of an action accomplished in heaven, only after the resurrection, inasmuch as in the former case Christ already appeared in a visible form the second time after His resurrection. But such difficulty does not at all present itself in connection with that application of either. For can only be understood of a second appearing in a visible form upon earth; when, however, Christ after His resurrection appeared again to His disciples, He had not yet left the earth; those manifestations of the risen Christ before His ascension belonged consequently to His first visible coming forth upon earth.

] forms the opposition to , is therefore to be interpreted after the analogy of these words. (Erroneously Bleek, according to whom forms the opposition to , Heb 9:26 .) Christ has once offered Himself up for the expiation of the sins of men; when He returns to earth the second time, He will not once more have to do with the expiation of human sin, but He will, apart from sin, or free from all relation to sin, appear to bring the to the believers . Free from the guilt and punishment of sin, Christ has already rendered His believers by means of His sacrificial death at His first appearing upon earth. Positively , He will bless them with salvation at His return. To combine with by means of an hyperbaton (so Faber Stapulensis and Grotius) is grammatically impossible. The sense, however, cannot be either, as the Irvingites will, that Christ Himself will be free from sin at His second appearing, in opposition to the lust which they suppose to have attached to Him during His first appearing; for that Christ during this period too, notwithstanding all the temptation to which He was subject, was free from sin, the author certainly distinctly asserts at Heb 4:15 . Incorrectly also does Bleek after the example of Theodore of Mopsuestia ( , ) and of Theodoret ( , ) take as equivalent in signification to , so that the sense would be: “at the return of Christ sin will no longer be present, at least in the domain to which the operation of the Redeemer will relate.” Even in a grammatical respect this application of the words is inadmissible, since must stand in relation to the subject in , thus cannot be torn away from this reference by being made equivalent to an independent participial clause. But also the thought thence arising would be encumbered with difficulty, as Bleek himself admits, by the addition of “at least,” etc., although Bleek has sought to justify it. Additional misinterpretations of are met with in other writers. Thus it is supposed to mean: without, again vicariously laden with the sins of men, being made sin (2Co 5:21 ) for them (Oecumenius, Theophylact, Clarius, Akersloot, Wolf, Carpzov, Chr. Fr. Schmid, Heinrichs, de Wette, Bloomfield, Bisping, Delitzsch, Riehm, Lehrbegr. des Hebrerbr . p. 545, Obs. ; Alford, Maier, Moll, and others), which is already refuted by the erroneousness of explaining the foregoing of the vicarious bearing of sins; without the punishment of sin (Klee, al .); without the sufferings undertaken for sin (Tholuck); sine corporis, peccato obnoxii, mortalitate (Zeger); sine sacrificio pro peccato (Jac. Cappellus, Stuart, M‘Caul, and many); not as a sufferer for the guilt of others, but as the holy judge of the guilt of others (Ebrard, Delitzsch; similarly Stein and others), and so forth, all of which have the plain expression of the language against them.

] belongs to , not, as it is true, upon the retention of the spurious addition (see the critical remark) , it must be conjoined, to (so Primasius, Faber Stapulensis, Camerarius, Wolf, Klee, Paulus, Stein). For contains a non-essential element of the statement, Heb 9:28 ; , on the other hand, an essential element of the same. , namely, is the positive nearer defining of the negative , and forms consequently, like the latter, an antithesis to . The whole clause, however, , corresponds to the second member of the clause, Heb 9:27 : .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

REFLECTIONS

Oh! the distinguishing mercy, to which, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church is brought, in exchanging a worldly sanctuary, and carnal ordinances; for the open displays of grace, in the Person, work, blood-shedding, and righteousness of our adorable High Priest, who is the whole sum and substance of everything blessed; and having, by his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for us, is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. Precious Lord Jesus! thou art indeed the Testator of the New Testament in thy blood. Thou hast ensured all the blessings of the New Covenant to thy people. And blessed be the Holy Ghost, in his Person, Godhead, and Ministry, for all his divine teaching, both of the old Church, in type, and figure; and the new dispensation, in sum and substance; and all of Christ Jesus.

Lord Jesus! let thy sweet supper forever refresh the souls of thy redeemed, in the celebration of the New Testament in thy blood. Let it be a continual feast upon that one all-sufficient sacrifice, whereby thou hast perfected forever them that are sanctified. Oh! let the consciousness of thy continually appearing for us, in the presence of God, keep our souls alive, in the expectation of thy coming, that we may look for thee the second time, without sin unto salvation.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

28 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.

Ver. 28. The second time without sin ] Imputed to him, as Isa 53:6 ; 2Co 5:21 . See Trapp on “ Isa 53:6 “ See Trapp on “ 2Co 5:21 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

28 .] so also the Christ (not , anarthrous, which would seem to point to some one contrasted with, or at all events merely compared with, : but , that man who was God’s Christ the Christ , it being plain and palpable to all that belongs to the category . Cf. the anarthrous in Heb 9:24 , where the case is different) once (for all) having been offered (not = ‘having offered himself:’ for it might well have been . The form and the meaning are both passive; and the reason of this is I believe to be found in the fact that it is in this verse not so much the agency, as the destiny of Christ, that is spoken of; that which, though the expression itself is avoided with regard to Him, for Him as for us. And this consideration removes from us all necessity of supplying an agent for this , as (Chrys.) or (al.), which as Delitzsch remarks would not be correct; Christ might be or , but not . Nor would express the right agency; for it was no conscious act of mankind, willing its sin to be atoned for, that offered up Christ: but if an agent must be supplied, it would be = as in Heb 9:14 , the divine submission of our Lord subjecting Himself to the external force which was exerted against Him, that force being in some sort the agent, but not without His own will co-operating. It is hardly necessary to mention, that the very terms of the context here necessitate the understanding this of the death of Christ, not as in Heb 9:25 , where the context, as there insisted, confines it to His offering of Himself to God in the heavenly sanctuary) to bear the sins of many (a plain allusion to ref. Isa., : and here, as there, importing the “ bearing ,” “ carrying on Himself ,” Heb. , cf. also in Lev 24:15 , “Whosoever curseth his God shall bear ( LXX) his sin:” Num 5:31 , “the woman shall bear ( ) her iniquity:” Num 14:34 , “each day for a year shall ye bear ( ) your iniquities, even forty years.” And so in Num 14:33 , “shall bear your whoredoms,” where the LXX have . The Heb. word may also have the sense of auferre , which many (e. g. Luth., Schlicht., Grot., Limb., Bl., Lnem., Hofm.) have wished to give it here: but not so . The sense given by Syr., “sacrificed” (“immolavit”) the sins of many,” and defended also by Chrys., c., Thl., would introduce a new and irrelevant idea, and cannot be maintained; so Michaelis also, taking however for a sin-offering, which it never means. Besides which, it is here , which would at all events preclude that meaning. On , and its supposed contrast to (Chrys., , ; : so c., Thl., and Thdrt., drawing from it the inference that Christ only the sin of believers), see above, ch. Heb 2:10 , and Schlichting’s true distinction, “Multi non opponuntur h. l. omnibus, sed tantum paucis.” is, as Del. says, the qualitative designation of : all men are many in number. There is reference in it to : He was offered, One, for all (“Multos uni opponit,” Calv.): and once for all), shall appear ( , the usual verb of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection) a second time (reff.) without (separate from) sin (in order to understand this, we must remember what it is that the Writer is proving: viz. that Christ’s death, the repetition of which would be the condition of a repeated offering of Himself in heaven to God, admits of no such repetition. It was a death in which He bore the sins of many but He shall appear the second time , with no sin upon Him, and consequently the whole work of atonement done and accomplished by that first offering. So that there is no need of any far-fetched explanation, either of , or of . We need not say with Storr, that it is without an offering for sin: nor with Klee, that it is without punishment of sin: nor with Bleek, without meeting with sin (so Thdrt., , : and an explanation mentioned by c., ): nor with Ebr., that He will have no more concern with sin: nor, with De Wette, without contact with sin: nor, with Lnem., free from all reference to sin. As distinguished from all these, we take, with Delitzsch and Hofmann, the simple sense of the words, and apply it to the argument in hand. At His first appearance in the world He came with sin , not in him, but on him: He was made to be : but this sin has been once for all taken away by his bearing it as our Sacrifice: and at his second appearance He shall appear without . having done with, separate from, sin . Theodore of Mopsuestia, though he has not exactly and clearly struck the right note, is yet very near it, when he says, , , , , , , , ) to them that wait for Him (see reff.) unto (to bring in: for the purpose of) salvation (these last words belong to , not, as Primas., Faber Stap., Camer., Wolf, al., to . This latter notion has led to the curious insertion of the words in A al. The object of Christ’s second appearance shall be, to bring in salvation: this is the bright and Christian side of His appearing, the side which we, who ought to be , should ever look upon. As Chrys. beautifully says, ; , , , ).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Heb 9:28 . . The comparison extends to both terms, the once dying and the judgment. [ Cf. Kbel, “die Korrespondenz ist nicht bloss die der gleichen Menschennatur, sondern das, dass mit dem Tod das, was das Leben bedeutet, abgeschlossen, fertigist”]. The results of the life are settled. And in Christ’s case the result is that He appears the second time without sin unto salvation, the sin having been destroyed by His death, corresponds to of Heb 9:27 . The passive is used to be more in keeping with the universal law expressed in of Heb 9:27 . Though the “offering” as we have seen includes both the death and the entrance into the Holiest with the blood, it is the death which is here prominent. , “to bear the sins of many”. Westcott says, “the burden which Christ took upon Him and bore to the cross was ‘the sins of many’ not, primarily, or separately from the sins, the punishment of sins.” But in what intelligible sense can sins be borne but by bearing their punishment? In Num 14:33 , e.g. , it is said “your sins shall be fed in the wilderness forty years , where the same verb is used as here to express the idea of suffering punishment for the sins of others, , although it was the death of but one, cf. Rom 5:12-21 , but probably only a reminiscence of Isa 58:12 . . a second time He shall appear, , visible to the eye. The word is probably used because appropriate to the appearances after the resurrection, cf. Luk 24:34 , Act 9:17 ; Act 13:31 , 1Co 5:6 , 1Co 5:7 , 1Co 5:8 where is regularly used. But on this “second” appearance His object is different. He will come not . . , but . irrespective of sin, not to be a sin offering but to make those who wait for Him partakers of the great salvation, Heb 2:3 , cf. Heb 10:37-39 ; and Heb 9:12 . “There may be an illusion to the reappearance of the High Priest after the solemn ceremonial in the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement to the anxiously waiting people” (Vaughan). Cf. Luk 1:21 . The word is used in 1Co 1:7 and Phi 3:20 of the expectation of the second advent, and in 2Ti 4:8 is varied by the beautiful expression “they that have loved His appearing”.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

bear. Greek. anaphero. See Heb 7:27.

look. Greek. apekdechomai. See Rom 8:19.

appear. Greek. horao. App-133.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

28.] so also the Christ (not , anarthrous, which would seem to point to some one contrasted with, or at all events merely compared with, : but , that man who was Gods Christ-the Christ, it being plain and palpable to all that belongs to the category . Cf. the anarthrous in Heb 9:24, where the case is different) once (for all) having been offered (not = having offered himself: for it might well have been . The form and the meaning are both passive; and the reason of this is I believe to be found in the fact that it is in this verse not so much the agency, as the destiny of Christ, that is spoken of; that which, though the expression itself is avoided with regard to Him, for Him as for us. And this consideration removes from us all necessity of supplying an agent for this , as (Chrys.) or (al.), which as Delitzsch remarks would not be correct; Christ might be or , but not . Nor would express the right agency; for it was no conscious act of mankind, willing its sin to be atoned for, that offered up Christ: but if an agent must be supplied, it would be = as in Heb 9:14,-the divine submission of our Lord subjecting Himself to the external force which was exerted against Him,-that force being in some sort the agent, but not without His own will co-operating. It is hardly necessary to mention, that the very terms of the context here necessitate the understanding this of the death of Christ,-not as in Heb 9:25, where the context, as there insisted, confines it to His offering of Himself to God in the heavenly sanctuary) to bear the sins of many (a plain allusion to ref. Isa., : and here, as there, importing the bearing, carrying on Himself, Heb. , cf. also in Lev 24:15, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear ( LXX) his sin: Num 5:31, the woman shall bear () her iniquity: Num 14:34, each day for a year shall ye bear () your iniquities, even forty years. And so in Num 14:33, shall bear your whoredoms, where the LXX have . The Heb. word may also have the sense of auferre, which many (e. g. Luth., Schlicht., Grot., Limb., Bl., Lnem., Hofm.) have wished to give it here: but not so . The sense given by Syr., sacrificed (immolavit) the sins of many, and defended also by Chrys., c., Thl., would introduce a new and irrelevant idea, and cannot be maintained; so Michaelis also, taking however for a sin-offering, which it never means. Besides which, it is here , which would at all events preclude that meaning. On , and its supposed contrast to (Chrys., , ; : so c., Thl., and Thdrt., drawing from it the inference that Christ only the sin of believers), see above, ch. Heb 2:10, and Schlichtings true distinction, Multi non opponuntur h. l. omnibus, sed tantum paucis. is, as Del. says, the qualitative designation of : all men are many in number. There is reference in it to : He was offered, One, for all (Multos uni opponit, Calv.): and once for all), shall appear (, the usual verb of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection) a second time (reff.) without (separate from) sin (in order to understand this, we must remember what it is that the Writer is proving: viz. that Christs death, the repetition of which would be the condition of a repeated offering of Himself in heaven to God, admits of no such repetition. It was a death in which He bore the sins of many-but He shall appear the second time , with no sin upon Him, and consequently the whole work of atonement done and accomplished by that first offering. So that there is no need of any far-fetched explanation, either of , or of . We need not say with Storr, that it is without an offering for sin: nor with Klee, that it is without punishment of sin: nor with Bleek, without meeting with sin (so Thdrt., , : and an explanation mentioned by c., ): nor with Ebr., that He will have no more concern with sin: nor, with De Wette, without contact with sin: nor, with Lnem., free from all reference to sin. As distinguished from all these, we take, with Delitzsch and Hofmann, the simple sense of the words, and apply it to the argument in hand. At His first appearance in the world He came with sin, not in him, but on him: He was made to be : but this sin has been once for all taken away by his bearing it as our Sacrifice: and at his second appearance He shall appear without. having done with, separate from, sin. Theodore of Mopsuestia, though he has not exactly and clearly struck the right note, is yet very near it, when he says, , , , , , , , ) to them that wait for Him (see reff.)-unto (to bring in: for the purpose of) salvation (these last words belong to , not, as Primas., Faber Stap., Camer., Wolf, al., to . This latter notion has led to the curious insertion of the words in A al. The object of Christs second appearance shall be, to bring in salvation: this is the bright and Christian side of His appearing, the side which we, who ought to be , should ever look upon. As Chrys. beautifully says, ; , , , ).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Heb 9:28. , so) i.e. Christ hath delivered us from death and judgment, notwithstanding that, as death, so also judgment remains, as far as the name is concerned.- , having been offered to bear) There is a difference between the words; comp. 1Pe 2:24, , He bore our sins: Our sins were laid on Him by the Father: while therefore He was lifted np on the cross, He bore (took) up our sins along with Him. The LXX. use the same expression, Num 14:33, , they shall bear your whoredoms. In other places they are put indiscriminately: ch. Heb 7:27.-, of many) A pleasant antithesis: once; of many, who lived during so many ages. Isa 53:12, in the LXX. version, , and He bore the sins (sin, Heb.) of many. Thus the absolute power of the one sacrifice of Christ is very clearly evinced. The word again, Joh 14:3, accords with a second time, here. Both places treat of His coming, regarded as to itself (secundum se). But His coming, for the first time in the flesh, was in the strange form of a servant: His second coming is in His own glory. In the eyes of all, who had not formerly seen, [not only so] but had not either acknowledged Him, He is at that time Coming ( , The Comer). Let us suppose the arrival of a guest, the intimate friend of the father of the family, but unknown to the family. The father of the family will think, A brother RETURNS; whereas in the family it will be said, A guest IS COMING.-, He will be seen) in His glory.-, to them that look for Him) The dative of advantage. The unrighteous also will see Him, but not for salvation. To them that look for Him, He will be the Saviour, Php 3:20.- , unto salvation) and therefore to set us free from condemnation.

—–

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

sins Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).

salvation (See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

was: Heb 9:25, Rom 6:10, 1Pe 3:18, 1Jo 3:5

to bear: Lev 10:17, Num 18:1, Num 18:23, Isa 53:4-6, Isa 53:11, Isa 53:12, Mat 26:28, Rom 5:15, 1Pe 2:24

them: Phi 3:20, 1Th 1:10, 2Ti 4:8, Tit 2:13, 2Pe 3:12

he appear: Zec 14:5, Joh 14:3, Act 1:11, 1Th 4:14-16, 2Th 1:5-9, 2Th 2:1, 1Jo 3:2, Rev 1:7

without: Rom 6:10, Rom 8:3

unto: Isa 25:9, Rom 8:23, 1Co 15:54, Phi 3:21, 1Th 4:17, 2Th 1:10

Reciprocal: Gen 22:9 – bound Exo 28:38 – bear the iniquity Lev 7:18 – bear Lev 16:22 – bear upon Lev 16:23 – General Lev 17:16 – General Num 9:13 – bear his sin Isa 8:17 – I will look Isa 35:4 – behold Isa 66:5 – but Eze 4:4 – thou shalt bear Eze 18:20 – bear Dan 9:27 – confirm Mat 20:8 – when Mat 20:28 – and to Luk 19:12 – and Joh 1:29 – which Joh 12:48 – judge Act 3:20 – General Rom 4:25 – Who was 1Co 1:7 – waiting 1Co 11:26 – till Gal 3:13 – redeemed Col 3:4 – appear 2Th 1:7 – when 2Th 3:5 – and into 1Ti 6:14 – until 2Ti 4:1 – at Heb 7:27 – this Heb 9:12 – once Heb 9:15 – means Heb 10:10 – the offering Heb 12:2 – Looking 1Pe 1:5 – unto 1Pe 1:13 – the grace 1Pe 2:22 – did 2Pe 3:14 – seeing 1Jo 2:28 – when Rev 22:20 – Amen

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Heb 9:28. Having but one sacrifice offer, Christ waited until the typical dispensation was at its end before He did it. Bear the sins of many. The sacrifice of Christ was for the sins of the whole world (Joh 1:29). That means that by His one great sacrifice Christ made provision for the remission of sins for all men who will avail themselves of it under whatever dispensation they live. The rest of the verse is a beautiful likeness drawn from the procedure of the high priest of the Mosaic system. While he was in the tabernacle (or temple) performing the services for the people, they were on the outside waiting for him. After the services were completed he would come out and bless the waiting throng. (See Lev 9:15-24; Num 16:15-17; Luk 1:9-10.) Likewise faithful servants of God who are looking (with pleasure 2Ti 4:8) for Christ, will see Him come to earth the second time. Without sin means He will not come to make another sacrifice for sin. (One offering was all that was necessary.) When He comes it will be unto salvation; that is to complete the salvation of those who will be faithfully looking for Him.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Verse 28

Without sin; without any further offering for sin.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of {s} many; {16} and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

(s) Thus the general promise is restrained to the elect only: and we have to seek the testimony of our election, not in the secret counsel of God, but in the effects that our faith works, and so we must climb up from the lowest step to the highest, there to find such comfort as is most certain, and shall never be moved.

(16) Shortly by the way he sets Christ as Judge, partly to terrify those who are not trusting in the only sacrifice of Christ once made, and partly to keep the faithful in their duty, so that they will not go back.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes