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We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Hebrews 13:10 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.
  • KJV We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
  • BSB We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
  • NASB We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
  • NLT We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

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

Christians have an altar from which those still serving the old tabernacle have no right to eat. Christ's sacrifice is a privilege belonging to those who trust Him, not to those clinging to the old system.

Overview

The 'altar' refers to the sacrifice of Christ and its benefits, which surpass the old covenant offerings. Those who continue to rely on the tabernacle ritual exclude themselves from this greater provision. The verse underscores the decisive break between the shadow of the old system and the substance found in Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • 1 Cor 5:7–8Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.
  • 1 Cor 10:20But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.
  • 1 Cor 9:13Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?
  • 1 Cor 10:17–18Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.
  • Num 7:5“Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the Tent of Meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”
  • Num 3:7–8They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 13:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 13:10 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.