Hebrews 8:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 a minister of the sanctuary[a] and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.(A) 3 Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer.(B) 4 If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are those who offer gifts according to the law.(C)
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- 8:2 The sanctuary: the Greek term could also mean “holy things” but bears the meaning “sanctuary” elsewhere in Hebrews (Hb 9:8, 12, 24, 25; 10:19; 13:11). The true tabernacle: the heavenly tabernacle that the Lord…set up is contrasted with the earthly tabernacle that Moses set up in the desert. True means “real” in contradistinction to a mere “copy and shadow” (Hb 8:5); compare the Johannine usage (e.g., Jn 1:9; 6:32; 15:1). The idea that the earthly sanctuary is a reflection of a heavenly model may be based upon Ex 25:9, but probably also derives from the Platonic concept of a real world of which our observable world is merely a shadow.
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