Devine Scripture

Hebrews 10:9

What does Hebrews 10:9 mean?

A plain-English look at Hebrews 10:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Hebrews 10:9 means

The writer concludes that by saying, “Lo, I am come to do thy will,” Christ brings about a covenantal shift: he takes away the first order—the law’s sacrificial system—so that he may establish the second—the fulfillment of God’s will through his obedient life and death. This is not mere reform but replacement of a temporary arrangement with the enduring reality it anticipated. The emphasis is on Christ as the agent of this transition. In him, God’s will is enacted in history, inaugurating a new and effective way to relate to God, free from the endless cycle of offerings.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Then he said, See, I have come to do your pleasure. He took away the old order, so that he might put the new order in its place.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

then he said, `Lo, I come to do, O God, Thy will;' he doth take away the first that the second he may establish;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will. He takes away the first that he may establish the second;

Context

Verse 9 is the interpretive bridge between the quotation (vv. 5–7) and its application (v. 10). Having summarized God’s displeasure with sacrifices (v. 8), the author now states that Christ’s obedient coming removes the old order and installs the new. This statement prepares for verse 10’s decisive claim about believers’ sanctification. Immediately following, verses 11–14 will contrast the standing, repetitive work of priests with Christ’s single, seated, triumphant sacrifice, further reinforcing the finality of the new arrangement.

v.8Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings andsacrificesfor sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the law),

v.9This passage

v.10By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Hebrews 7:18

    For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness

  • Hebrews 9:11

    But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,

  • Hebrews 8:7

    For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.

  • Hebrews 10:7

    Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God.

  • Hebrews 12:27

    And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.

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