Hebrews 9:3
in Hebrews 9Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of holies;
KJV
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
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This verse in Hebrews 9
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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 was suspended on five pillars of shittim-wood, overlaid with gold. This answered for a door to the whole tabernacle. The second or inner veil, here referred to, divided the holy from the most holy place. This is described in Exo 26:31-
This site's exposition
the Most Holy Place
on Hebrews 9:3-5
Behind the second curtain stood the Most Holy Place with the gold-covered ark of the covenant. The ark held the manna, Aaron's staff of Numbers 17 and the tablets, under the mercy seat where blood was sprinkled. The writer then says we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS · Written before 373.
proposed
Now "even the first covenant had" in it some rules in addition to "regulations" of the ministry of "worship," because sin exacted the punishment of the sword. However, this sanctification—this law that sanctifies us by means of water—does not pass away like those rules; in …
The brothers assembled at evening as was their custom. For in all seasons, when they had finished their modest meal, it was their habit to assemble and for each one to pronounce what he knew of the holy Scriptures.… The brother who had returned from …
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON THE DOCTRINE OF GOD, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2.31 · Written before 390.
proposed
Since the Word knows the tabernacle of Moses to be a figure of the whole creation—I mean the entire system of things visible and invisible—shall we pass the first veil and, stepping beyond the realm of sense, shall we look into the holy place, the intellectual and celestial creation?
He has shown from the Priest, from the Priesthood, from the Covenant, that that [dispensation] was to have an end. From this point he shows it from the fashion of the tabernacle itself. How? This, he says, [was] the "Holy" and the "Holy of Holies." The holy place then is a symbol of the former period (for there all things are done by means of sacrifices); but the Holy of Holies of this that is now present. And by the Holy of Holies he means Heaven; and by the veil, Heaven, and the Flesh "entereth into that within the veil": that is to say, "through the veil of His flesh." (Supra, vi. 19;Heb. x, 20.)
"And after the second veil." Therefore, there was not only one veil. A tabernacle is called everywhere, because there God dwells.
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And after the second veil" (There was then not one veil only, but there was a veil without also) "the tabernacle, which is called holy of holies." Observe how everywhere he calls it a tabernacle in regard of God's encamping there.
This is the term he used of the tabernacle, which represents a type of the whole world: it is divided into two down the middle by a veil, one part of it called Holy, the other Holy of Holies. While the Holy represented the way …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do you see that there was a first veil, which Scripture calls a curtain, since it was rolled up and drawn together — this veil separated the court, into which everyone in general entered and upon which they offered sacrifices on the bronze altar, from …
420. – Then when he says, Behind the veil the second tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, he describes the things that were in the second tabernacle, namely, the ark of the covenant made of incorruptible sethim wood, covered about on every part, i.e., inside …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And after the second vail,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And--Greek, "But." after--behind; within. second veil--There were two veils or curtains, one before the Holy of Holies (catapetasma), here alluded to, the other before the tabernacle door (calumma). called--as opposed to "the true."
And after the second veil - The first veil, of which the apostle has not yet spoken, was at the entrance of the holy place, and separated the temple from the court, and prevented the people, and even the Levites, from seeing what was in the holy place. The second veil, of which the apostle speaks here, separated the holy place from the holy of holies. The tabernacle, which is called the Holiest of all - That is, that part of the tabernacle which is called the holy of holies.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| μετὰ | meta | Behind | G3326 → | 461 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δεύτερον | deuteron | second | G1208 → | 43 times |
| καταπέτασμα | katapetasma | veil | G2665 → | 6 times |
| σκηνὴ | skene | [was] a tabernacle | G4633 → | 20 times |
| ἡ | he | which | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λεγομένη | legomene | is being named | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| ἅγια | hagia | Holies | G39 → | 11 times |
| ἁγίων | hagion | of Holies | G39 → | 11 times |
μετὰBehind
metaG3326 →461 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
δεύτερονsecond
deuteronG1208 →43 times
καταπέτασμαveil
katapetasmaG2665 →6 times
σκηνὴ[was] a tabernacle
skeneG4633 →20 times
ἡwhich
heG3588 →19766 times
λεγομένηis being named
legomeneG3004 →1325 times
ἅγιαHolies
hagiaG39 →11 times
ἁγίωνof Holies
hagionG39 →11 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 27:51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:19–22
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- Revelation 11:19
Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 15:38
And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
- Hebrews 6:19
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
- Luke 23:45
The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.
- Hebrews 10:19–22
Through
Exodus 40:3Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.
it leads to
- Exodus 35:12
the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 4:5
Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.
- Exodus 35:12
Through
Exodus 40:21Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him.
it leads to
- Exodus 26:33
And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- Exodus 26:33
Where this verse is studied
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About Hebrews
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON THE DOCTRINE OF GOD, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2.31; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 15; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Pachomius the Great, LIFE OF PACHOMIUS (BOHAIRIC) 29; Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 9; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.