For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
Parallel translations
- WEB For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
- KJV For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
- BSB For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,
- NASB For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
- NLT For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool.
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
At Sinai Moses sealed the covenant by sprinkling the book and the people with blood. This dramatic act ratified the agreement between God and Israel.
Overview
Recalling Exodus 24, the author describes Moses sprinkling blood, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, on the law and the people. This solemn ceremony bound the people to the covenant. The detail reinforces that blood was indispensable for covenant ratification, pointing to the greater blood of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Exod 24:5–11He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.
- Ezek 36:25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- Num 19:18A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.
- Heb 9:12nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.
- Num 19:6The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer.
- Heb 10:4For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
- Lev 14:4–7then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
- 1 Pet 1:2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
- Lev 16:14–18He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
- Mark 15:17They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.
- Lev 1:2–3“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock.
- Isa 52:15so he will cleanse many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him: for they will see that which had not been told them; and they will understand that which they had not heard.
- Lev 3:6“‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without defect.
- John 19:2The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.
- Exod 12:22You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
- Lev 14:49–52To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
- Mark 15:20When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him.
- Matt 27:28They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him.
- Lev 1:10“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep, or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect.
- John 19:5Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
- Ps 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Heb 12:24to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.
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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 9:19 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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