For it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away.
αδυνατον γαρ αιμα ταυρων και τραγων αφαιρειν αμαρτιας
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He makes his argument still stronger by pointing to the worthlessness of the sacrifices offered and to the power of the disease. It is as if someone skilled in medicine, seeing that a leper was being given the herb called mercury plant (λινόζωστιν), said: it is impossible to heal leprosy with mercury plant.
“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” For what murderer or parricide has been freed from liability by the blood of irrational animals? For this reason blessed David cried out: “For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would have given it; with whole burnt offerings Thou shalt not be pleased” (Ps 50:18). And the divine Apostle brings forward another testimony.
It is impossible, since it belongs to a figure. The power of cleansing from sin was reserved for the truth, that is, for the Blood of Christ.
“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He enters the world, He says: Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me” (Heb 10:4-5).
Thus, when entering the world, the Messiah speaks to His heavenly Father through the mouth of His earthly forefather David.
Here the difference between the words of the Psalm according to the translation of the Seventy and according to the Hebrew original is worthy of note.
In the Hebrew, instead of “Thou hast prepared a body for Me,” as in the Seventy, it says, “Thou hast opened for Me,” or more precisely, “Thou hast pierced My ears.”
Whatever the cause of this difference in readings, they express one and the same thought concerning the unquestioning obedience and devotion of Christ the Messiah to the heavenly Father.
In ancient times, the ears of those servants were pierced who had received the right to depart freely from their master, but preferred to remain forever in his service.
In this case, the piercing was a symbolic sign of complete devotion, obedience, and perpetual belonging to the master (Ex 21:5-6).
The God-man Jesus Christ was filled with these feelings toward the heavenly Father, “becoming obedient unto death, even death on a Cross” (Phil 2:8).
Indeed, it would be strange to expect such a wondrous effect from the blood of goats and calves. There can be no essential, causal connection between the death of an animal and the cleansing of a man.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 8 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS