Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself.
Parallel translations
- KJV And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
- BSB That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
- NKJV Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.
- NASB and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins for himself, as well as for the people.
- NLT That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.
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
Because of his own weakness, the human high priest must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the people's. His sinfulness limits him in a way Christ's does not.
Overview
The ordinary high priest, being sinful himself, had to make atonement for his own sins before he could serve others. This marks a key limitation of the old priesthood. By contrast, the sinless Christ needed no sacrifice for Himself, which the author will later show makes His priesthood far superior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 9:7Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as Yahweh commanded.”
- Lev 16:6“Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.
- Heb 9:7but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people.
- Heb 7:27who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.
- Lev 16:15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.
- Lev 4:3–12if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without defect to Yahweh for a sin offering.
- Lev 8:14–21He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.
- Exod 29:12–19You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 5:3 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
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