EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Hebrews 10:4
4We know that the blood of bulls and of goats cannot remove the punishment for 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
2If the old rules could do that, the priests would have stopped offering sacrifices. The people who came to worship God would have become completely clean once, for all time. They would no longer have trouble in their minds about their sins. 3But as it is, those sacrifices every year cause people to remember their sins. We know that the blood of bulls and of goats cannot remove the punishment for sins. 5So, when Christ came into the world, he said to his Father, ‘You have not wanted people to offer sacrifices and other gifts to you. Instead, you have prepared a body for me to offer to you. 6Sacrifices do not make you happy. If people burn whole animals as a sacrifice, or if they offer a sacrifice to make them clean from their sins, that does not make you happy.
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 10:8So think about what Christ said there. First he said to God, ‘You have not wanted gifts and sacrifices of animals. Any kind of sacrifice like that does not make you happy.’ But we know that Moses' rules taught about those sacrifices. God's law said that they were necessary.
- Hebrews 9:9This is like a picture that means something for us today. It teaches us about the gifts and sacrifices that people offered to God, to worship him. When someone gave those things to God, it could not make him clean again in his mind.
- Psalms 50:8You offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to me all the time but that is not why I speak against you.
- Psalms 51:16I would be happy to offer sacrifices to you, but that is not what you really want. You do not want a burnt offering from me.
- Isaiah 1:11The Lord says, ‘All your sacrifices are not important to me. I have received too many sacrifices that you have burned as gifts to me. I have received too many sheep and fat animals. I do not want any more blood from bulls, goats and lambs that you have offered to me as sacrifices. They do not give me any pleasure.
- Isaiah 66:3You may kill a bull as a sacrifice to me, but you might also kill a man. You may offer a lamb to me as a sacrifice, but you might also break a dog's neck to offer to your idols. You may give me a grain offering, but you also offer pigs' blood. You may burn incense to worship me but you also worship false gods. Yes, these people have chosen how they want to live. They love to do these disgusting things.
- Jeremiah 6:20They may offer to me sweet incense that comes from Sheba. But that does not please me. The spices that they bring from lands far away do not please me either. I will not accept the burnt offerings or other sacrifices that they offer to me.’
- Jeremiah 7:21The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this to Judah's people: ‘You should eat the meat from your burnt offerings, as well as your other sacrifices. You are not offering them to me!
- Hosea 6:6It is faithful love that makes me happy. That would be better than your sacrifices to me. You should know me as your God. That would be better than your burnt offerings.
- Amos 5:21The Lord says, ‘When you have your festivals, I hate them! When you meet to worship me, it does not make me happy!
- Micah 6:6‘I come to meet with the Lord,’ you say. ‘I must know what to bring when I come. I bend down to worship him. I must know what to offer when I bend down. He is God and he is greater than everything. Perhaps he would like it if I burn young cows one year old for him.
- Mark 12:33We must love him completely, with all our mind and with all our strength. We must also love other people as much as we love ourselves. This is more important than all the gifts or animals that we could offer to God.’
- Hebrews 10:11Every day, the priests do their work to serve God. They offer the same sacrifices to God again and again. But those sacrifices can never take away people's sins.
- Hosea 14:2Return to the Lord and pray to him! Say to him, ‘Please forgive all our sins. Be kind to us as we come to you. We will praise you with our mouths, as our sacrifice to you.
- John 1:29The next day, John saw Jesus, who was coming towards him. John said, ‘Look! Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of people in the world.
- Romans 11:27And I will make this agreement with them. I will forgive them for 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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