Limitless Word
Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.”
Hebrews 9:20 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
  • KJV Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
  • BSB saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”
  • NKJV saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
  • NASB saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.”

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

Moses declared the sprinkled blood to be 'the blood of the covenant' God commanded. These words bound the people to God by sacrifice.

Overview

Quoting Exodus 24:8, the verse records Moses' covenant-ratifying declaration. The very phrase 'blood of the covenant' is echoed by Jesus at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:28), drawing a direct line from the old covenant to the new. Christ fulfills and surpasses what Moses inaugurated.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Exod 24:8Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
  • Matt 26:28for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
  • Heb 13:20Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
  • Deut 29:12that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today;
  • Zech 9:11As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
  • Josh 9:6They went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a covenant with us.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

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 9:20YouTube · 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 9:20 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.