Hebrews 9 · Verse 20

Hebrews 9:20

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

Hebrews 9:20, King James Version

Hebrews 9:20 in other translations

BSB	saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”
WEB	saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
ASV	saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to you-ward.
YLT	saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God enjoined unto you,'
DARBY	saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined to you.
BBE	Saying, This blood is the sign of the agreement which God has made with you.
Webster	Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined to you.

What does Hebrews 9:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

20. Ex 24:8, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words." The change is here made to accord with Christ's inauguration of the new testament, or covenant, as recorded in Lu 22:20, "This cup (is) the new Testament in My blood, which is shed for you": the only Gospel in which the "is" has to be supplied. Luke was Paul's companion, which accounts for the correspondence, as here too "is" has to be supplied. testament--(See on He 9:16, 17). The Greek "diathece" means both "testament" and "covenant": the term "covenant" better suits the old dispensation, though the idea testament is included, for the old was one in its typical relation to the new dispensation, to which the term "testament" is better suited. Christ has sealed the testament with His blood, of which the Lord's Supper is the sacramental sign. The testator was represented by the animals slain in the old dispensation. In both dispensations the inheritance was bequeathed: in the new by One who has come in person and died; in the old by the same one, only typically and ceremonially present. See Alford's excellent Note. enjoined unto you--commissioned me to ratify in relation to you. In the old dispensation the condition to be fulfilled on the people's part is implied in the words, Ex 24:8, "(Lord made with you) concerning all these words." But here Paul omits this clause, as he includes the fulfilment of this condition of obedience to "all these words" in the new covenant, as part of God's promise, in He 8:8, 10, 12, whereby Christ fulfils all for our justification, and will enable us by putting His Spirit in us to fulfil all in our now progressive, and finally complete, sanctification.

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

Barnes' Notes

Verse 20. Saying, This is the blood of the testament. Of the covenant. Heb 9:16,17. That is, this is the blood by which the covenant is ratified. It was the means used to confirm it; the sacred and solemn form by which it was made sure. When this was done, the covenant between God and the people was confirmed --as a covenant between man and man is when it is sealed.

Which God hath enjoined unto you. In Ex 24:8, "which God hath made with you. The language used by Paul, "which God hath enjoined" -- ενετειλατο-- commanded--shows that he did not regard this as strictly of the nature of a covenant, or compact. When a compact is made between parties, one does not enjoin or command the other, but it is a mutual agreement. In the transactions between God and man, though called Berith--or διαθηκη--diatheke--the idea of a covenant or compact is so far excluded that God never loses his right to command or enjoin. It is not a transaction between equals, or an agreement; it is a solemn arrangement on the part of God which he proposes to men, and which he enjoins them to embrace; which they are not indeed at liberty to disregard, but which, when embraced, is appropriately ratified by some solemn act on their part. Compare Heb 8:6.

(a) "blood" Mt 26:28

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20 This is the blood of the testament - (covenant.) Our Lord refers to the conduct of Moses here, and partly quotes his words in the institution of the eucharist: This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, Mat 26:28. And by thus using the words and applying them, he shows that his sacrificial blood was intended by the blood shed and sprinkled on this occasion, and that by it alone the remission of sins is obtained.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hebrews 9:15-22

The solemn transactions between God and man, are sometimes called a covenant, here a testament, which is a willing deed of a person, bestowing legacies on such persons as are described, and it only takes effect upon his death. Thus Christ died, not only to obtain the blessings of salvation for us, but to give power to the disposal of them. All, by sin, were become guilty before God, had forfeited every thing that is…

Read the full comment on Hebrews 9:15-22 →

Hebrews 9:20 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.

λέγων·legōnsaying;G3004

τοῦτοtoutoThis [is]G3778

τὸtotheG3588

αἷμαhaimabloodG129

τῆςtēsof theG3588

διαθήκηςdiathēkēscovenantG1242

ἧςhēswhichG3739

ἐνετείλατοeneteilatocommandedG1781

πρὸςprosuntoG4314

ὑμᾶςhumasyouG4771

ὁho<the>G3588

θεός·theosGod;G2316

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

Cross references for Hebrews 9:20

Exodus 24:8
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.
Matthew 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Deuteronomy 29:12
That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:
Zechariah 9:11
As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Joshua 9:6
And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

This.
13:20; Zec 9:11; Mt 26:28
testament. Rather, covenant.Ver. 16, 17, may be better rendered, "For where a covenant is, there must necessarily be the death of that by which it is confirmed; for a covenant is confirmed over dead victims, and does not avail while that by which it is confirmed liveth."
De 29:12; Jos 9:6

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

Context

Hebrews 9:19
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,
Hebrews 9:20
Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Hebrews 9:21
Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

Read all of Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9:20 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Diciendo: Esta es la sangre del testamento que Dios os ha mandado.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	en disant: « C’est ici le sang de l’alliance que Dieu vous a ordonnée ».
German Elberfelder 1871	und sprach: "Dies ist das Blut des Bundes, den Gott für euch geboten hat".
Latin Clementine Vulgate	dicens: Hic sanguis testamenti, quod mandavit ad vos Deus.