For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
Parallel translations
- WEB Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins?
- KJV For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
- BSB If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins.
- NASB Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
- NLT If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If those sacrifices truly cleansed, they would have stopped, since the worshipers would have no more guilt. Their continuation proved their inadequacy.
Overview
The author reasons that genuinely effective sacrifices would have ended once and for all, leaving a cleansed conscience. The fact that they continued shows they could not finally remove sin. This contrasts sharply with Christ's offering, which truly cleanses and so is never repeated.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 43:25I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
- Mic 7:19He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
- Ps 103:12As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
- Isa 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Heb 10:17“I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more.”
- Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 10:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.