Christian Standard Bible
Hebrews 10:4
4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
- New International Version (NIV)It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Context of Hebrews 10:4
2Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said: You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. 6You did not delight in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.
Read all of Hebrews 10Hebrews 10:4 word by word
ἀδύνατον γὰρ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων ἀφαιρεῖν ἁμαρτίας.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hebrews 10:4
- Hebrews 10:8After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law),
- Hebrews 9:9This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.
- Psalms 50:8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are continually before me.
- Psalms 51:16You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering.
- Isaiah 1:11“What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.
- Isaiah 66:3One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person; one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog’s neck; one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig’s blood; one person offers incense, another praises an idol — all these have chosen their ways and delight in their abhorrent practices.
- Jeremiah 6:20What use to me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.
- Jeremiah 7:21This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,
- Hosea 6:6For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Amos 5:21I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Micah 6:6What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
- Mark 12:33And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- Hebrews 10:11Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
- Hosea 14:2Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity and accept what is good, so that we may repay you with praise from our lips.
- John 1:29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- Romans 11:27And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.
Commentaries on Hebrews 10:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4For it is not possible - Common sense must have taught them that shedding the blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy Divine justice, nor take away guilt from the conscience; and God intended that they should understand the matter so: and this the following quotation from the Psalmist sufficiently proves.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins - The reference here is to the sacrifices which were made on the great day of the atonement, for on that day the blood of bulls and of goats alone was offered; see the notes on Hebrews 9:7. Paul here means to say, doubtless, that it was not possible that the blood of these animals should make a complete expiation so as to purify the conscience, and so as to save the sinner…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The sacrifices of bulls and goats in the old covenant provided some cleansing (Hebrews 9:13, 23), but it was limited. They could not remove sins completely. These sacrifices could not permanently cleanse or bring lasting peace with God (see Acts 10:36; Romans 5:1; 11:26–27).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. For, &c.--reason why, necessarily, there is a continually recurring "remembrance of sins" in the legal sacrifices (He 10:3). Typically, "the blood of bulls," &c., sacrificed, had power; but it was only in virtue of the power of the one real antitypical sacrifice of Christ; they had no power in themselves; they were not the instrument of perfect vicarious atonement, but an exhibition of the need of it, suggesting to the faithful Israelite the sure hope…Read the comment
Topics related to Hebrews 10:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hebrews 10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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