Hebrews 8 · Verse 4

Hebrews 8:4

For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Hebrews 8:4, King James Version

Hebrews 8:4 in other translations

BSBNow if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law.
WEBFor if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law,
ASVNow if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law;
YLTfor if, indeed, he were upon earth, he would not be a priest--(there being the priests who are offering according to the law, the gifts,
DARBYIf then indeed he were upon earth, he would not even be a priest, there being those who offer the gifts according to the law,
BBEIf he had been on earth he would not have been a priest at all, because there are other priests who make the offerings ordered by the law;
WebsterFor if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

What does Hebrews 8:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Implying that Christ's priestly office is exercised in heaven, not in earth; in the power of His resurrection life, not of His earthly life. For--The oldest manuscripts read, "accordingly then." if, &c.--"if He were on earth, He would not even (so the Greek) be a priest" (compare He 7:13, 14); therefore, certainly, He could not exercise the high priestly function in the earthly Holy of Holies. seeing that, &c.--"since there are" already, and exist now (the temple service not yet being set aside, as it was on the destruction of Jerusalem), "those (the oldest manuscripts omit 'priests') who offer the (appointed) gifts according to (the) law." Therefore, His sacerdotal "ministry" must be "in the heavens," not on earth (He 8:1). "If His priesthood terminated on the earth, He would not even be a priest at all" [Bengel]. I conceive that the denial here of Christ's priesthood on earth does not extend to the sacrifice on the cross which He offered as a priest on earth; but applies only to the crowning work of His priesthood, the bringing of the blood into the Holy of Holies, which He could not have done in the earthly Holy of Holies, as not being an Aaronic priest. The place (the heavenly Holy of Holies) was as essential to the atonement being made as the oblation (the blood). The body was burnt without the gate; but the sanctification was effected by the presentation of the blood within the sanctuary by the high priest. If on earth, He would not be a priest in the sense of the law of Moses ("according to the law" is emphatic).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 4. For if he were on earth, he should not be a Priest. He could not perform that office. The design of this is to show a reason why he was removed to heaven. The reason was, that on earth there were those who were set apart to that office, and that he, not being of the same tribe with them, could not officiate as priest, There was an order of men here on earth consecrated already to that office, and hence it was necessary that the Lord Jesus, in performing the functions of the office, should be removed to another sphere.

(1) "that there" "they"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 For if he were on earth - As the Jewish temple was standing when this epistle was written, the whole temple service continued to be performed by the legal priests, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; therefore if Christ had been then on earth, he could not have performed the office of a priest, being of the tribe of Judah, to which tribe the office of the priesthood did not appertain. There are priests that offer gifts - This is an additional proof that this epistle was written before the destruction of Jerusalem. As the word θυσιαι, sacrifices, is not added here as it is in Heb 8:3, is it any evidence that bloody sacrifices had then ceased to be offered? Or, are both kinds included in the word δωρα, gifts? But is δωρον, a gift, ever used to express a bloody sacrifice? I believe the Septuagint never used it for זבח zebach, which signifies an animal offered to God in sacrifice.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hebrews 8:1-6

The substance, or summary, of what had been declared was, that Christians had such a High Priest as they needed. He took upon himself human nature, appeared on earth, and there gave himself as a sacrifice to God for the sins of his people. We must not dare to approach God, or to present any thing to him, but in and through Christ, depending upon his merits and mediation; for we are accepted only in the Beloved. In…

Read the full comment on Hebrews 8:1-6 →

Hebrews 8:4 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΕἰEiIfG1487
μὲνmencertainlyG3303
οὖνounthenG3767
ἦνēnHe wereG1510
ἐπὶepionG1909
γῆς,gēsearth,G1093
οὐδ᾽oud᾽not evenG3761
ἂνanthen wouldG302
ἦνēnHe was beingG1510
ἱερεὺςhi'ereusa priestG2409
ὄντωνontōnwhile are beingG1510
ἱερέωνhi'ereōnpriestsG2409
τῶνtōnthoseG3588
προσφερόντωνprospherontōnofferingG4374
κατὰkataaccording toG2596
νόμονnomonlawG3551
τὰtatheG3588
δῶρα,dōragifts,G1435

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hebrews 8:4

  • Hebrews 7:11-15

    If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. …

  • Hebrews 5:1

    For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:

  • Numbers 18:5

    And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

  • Numbers 17:12-13

    And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

  • 2 Chronicles 26:18-19

    And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.

  • Numbers 16:40

    To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.

  • Hebrews 11:4

    By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
he should.
7:11-15; Nu 16:40; 17:12,13; 18:5; 2Ch 26:18,19
there are priests. or, they are priests. gifts.[Doron ,] gifts, or offerings, comprehended propitiatory sacrifices as well as freewill-offerings.
See.
11:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Hebrews 8:3

    For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

  • Hebrews 8:4

    For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

  • Hebrews 8:5

    Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Read all of Hebrews 8

Hebrews 8:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Así que, si estuviese sobre la tierra, ni aun sería sacerdote, habiendo aún los sacerdotes que ofrecen los presentes según la ley;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si donc il était sur la terre, il ne serait pas sacrificateur, puisqu’il y a ceux qui offrent des dons selon la loi,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn er nun auf Erden wäre, so wäre er nicht einmal Priester, weil solche da sind, die nach dem Gesetz die Gaben darbringen,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si ergo esset super terram, nec esset sacerdos: cum essent qui offerent secundum legem munera,