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"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things" (10: 1).
The Syriac version interprets this clause, "For the law, a shadow was in it, not the
substance itself". Just as in Col. 2: 17 "the shadow" is in antithesis to the "body of
Christ", so here the "shadow" is in contrast with the "very image", the reality itself. That
which cast its shadow in the law is the real thing. Every sacrifice offered upon Israel's
altar was a foreshadowing of the one and only acceptable Offering of Christ.
"Can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year" (10: 1).
The inability of the sacrifices of the law is associated with their repetition, a feature
which is enlarged upon in the next verse. The feature that is most important in this verse
and which shows up prominently in the structure, viz. A | b, is hidden in the A.V.
word "continually". The English reader sees in it but an extension of the words "year by
year". The Greek reads eis to dienekes, "unto the unbroken continuance". The phrase
does not occur outside the epistle to the Hebrews, and in that epistle it occurs four times:
"Abideth a priest continually" (7: 3).
"They offered year by year continually" (10: 1).
"One sacrifice for sins for ever" (10: 12).
"For by one offering He hath perfected for ever" (10: 14).
It will be seen that the phrase is used in connection with the vital theme of the epistle.
The Melchisedec Priesthood is "for unbroken continuance", unbroken by death, as was in
the case with every other priest. In connection with 10: 1 a complete balance is
discovered in verse 14, "perfected unto unbroken continuance". Verse 1, therefore, reads
thus:
"For the law having a shadow of the good things about to be, not the very image of the
things, can never with those annual sacrifices which they offer, perfect unto unbroken
continuance those who draw near."
The English word "continually" bears two distinct meanings.
(1) Frequently,
repeatedly; (2) permanently. The translation given in the A.V. of 10: 1 uses the word
"continually" in the sense of "repeatedly" year by year. This rendering has only to be
used in the other passages to demonstrate its unsuitability. "Christ abideth a Priest
repeatedly" is opposed to both sense and truth. "One sacrifice for sins repeatedly" has no
meaning.
We have been misled here in 10: 1 by the twofold meaning of an English word, and
this is not by any means an isolated case. Let us translate eis to dienekes, "unto
perpetuity", which phrase is less cumbersome than the more literal rendering given
above.
The next verse exposes the fatal failure of every sacrifice offered under the law. They
never touched the conscience.