Albert Barnes

He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

“For he of whom these things are spoken - The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to whom they had reference. The things here spoken of pertain to his office as priest; his being of the order of Melchizedek.”

And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,

“And it is yet far more evident - Not that our Lord would spring out of Judah, but the point which he was endeavoring to establish that there must be a change of the priesthood, was rendered still more evident from another consideration.”

but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”

“For those priests were made without an oath - The Levitical priests were set apart and consecrated without their office being confirmed to them by an oath on the part of God.”

Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.

“And they truly - Under the Jewish dispensation. The object of this verse and the following is, to state one more reason of the excellence of the priesthood of Christ.”

Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

“Wherefore he is able also - As he ever lives, and ever intercedes, he has power to save. He does not begin the work of salvation, and then relinquish it by reason of death, but he lives on as long as it is necessary that…”

Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin…

“Who needeth not daily, as those high priests - As the Jewish priests. This is an additional circumstance introduced to show the superior excellency of the High Priest of the Christian profession, and to show also how he was suited to our wants.”

The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in…

“Now of the things which we have spoken - Or, “of the things of which we are speaking” (Stuart); or as we should say, “of what is said.””

And since every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer.

“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices - This is a general statement about the functions of the high priest. It was the uniqueness of the office; it constituted its essence, that some gift or sacrifice was to be presented.”

For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second.

“For if that first covenant had been faultless - see the note on Heb 7:11. It is implied here that God had said that that covenant was not perfect or faultless.”

It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they…

“Not according to the covenant ... - An arrangement or dispensation relating mainly to outward observances, and to temporal blessings. The meaning is, that the new dispensation would be different from what was made with them when they came out of Egypt.”

No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.

“And they shall not teach every man his neighbor ... - That is, no one shall be under a necessity of imparting instruction to another, or of exhorting him to become acquainted with the Lord.”

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.

“Then verily - Or, moreover. The object is to describe the tabernacle in which the service of God was celebrated under the former dispensation, and to show that it had a reference to what was future, and was only an imperfect representation of the reality.”

Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,

“And after the second veil - There were two “veils” to the tabernacle. The one which is described in Exo 26:36-37, was called “the hanging for the door of the tent,” and was made of “blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen,” and…”

Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

“And over it - That is, over the ark. The cherubim of glory - A Hebrew mode of expression, meaning “the glorious cherubim.” The word “cherubim” is the Hebrew form of the plural, of which cherub is the singular.”

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and…

“But Christ being come - Now that the Messiah has come, a more perfect system is introduced by which the conscience may be made free from guilt. An high priest of good things to come - see Heb 10:1.”

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,

“For if the blood of bulls and of goats - Referring still to the great day of atonement, when the offering made was the sacrifice of a bullock and a goat.”

Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from…

“And for this cause - With this view; that is, to make an effectual atonement for sin, and to provide a way by which the troubled conscience may have peace. He is the Mediator - see notes on Gal 3:19-20.”

For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and…

“For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people - When he had recited all the Law, and had given all the commandments entrusted him to deliver; Exo 24:3.”

In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship.

“He sprinkled ...both the tabernacle - This circumstance is not stated by Moses. On the probability that this was done, see notes on Heb 9:19. The account of setting up the tabernacle occurs in Exo 11:1-10.”

So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

“The patterns of things in the heavens - The tabernacle and its various utensils; see the notes on Heb 8:5. Be purified with these - With water and blood, and by these ceremonies.”

Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

“Nor yet that he should offer himself often - The Jewish high priest entered the most holy place with blood once every year. In this respect the offering made by Christ, and the work which he performed, differed from that of the Jewish high priest.”

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die - Or, “since it is appointed unto men to die once only.””

For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves.

“For the law having a shadow - That is, the whole of the Mosaic economy was a shadow; for so the word “Law” is often used.”

Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,

“But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year - The reference here is to the sacrifices made on the great day of atonement. This occurred once in a year.”

Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’”

“Then said I - “I the Messiah.” Paul applies this directly to Christ, showing that he regarded the passage in the Psalms as referring to him as the speaker. Lo, I come - Come into the world; Heb 10:5.”