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Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so it is necessary for this one also to have something to offer. Actually, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already others who offer gifts according to the Law,[a] although the sanctuary in which they offer worship is only a shadow and a reflection of the heavenly one. This is the reason why, when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:4 By his human birth Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah (see Heb 7:12-14), whereas priests were taken from the tribe of Levi (see Deut 18:1). Some scholars take the present tense of the verb “offer” as an indication that the temple was still standing in Jerusalem and so the Letter must have been written before A.D. 70 when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.

Every high priest(A) is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices,(B) and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.(C) If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.(D) They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy(E) and shadow(F) of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned(G) when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a](H)

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:5 Exodus 25:40