Hebrews 9:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But tell me, why was the book of the covenant sprinkled? "For when Moses had spoken every commandment according to the law before all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop. And sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying: This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded for you." Tell me, then, why are the book of the covenant and the people sprinkled? Because that blood and all the rest were a type of the most precious blood, which was prefigured from of old. Why with hyssop? Because, being dense and soft, it held the blood. Why water? It was used as a sign of cleansing by water. And why wool? It too was used to hold the blood. The Apostle shows that blood and water were here together, because baptism is an image of Christ's Passion.

"For when Moses had spoken every commandment according to the law before all the people" (Ex 24:7). "According to the law" means as God legislated, so that His commandments would be proclaimed aloud to all the people. Or "every commandment according to the law" means what was appointed by the law. "He took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people" (Ex 24:8). Why were the books and the people sprinkled? Either because the Precious Blood, with which we and our hearts are sprinkled, was prefigured from of old. For hearts are books, as he said above: "I will put My laws into their minds" (Heb 8:10). Water is a symbol of baptism.

Taking foreign blood, that of calves and goats, he sprinkled the people, the tabernacle, and all its vessels. For according to the law everything was cleansed with blood, and without the sprinkling of this animal blood there was no remission of sin.

The Apostle has unquestionably shown that what belongs to the Old Covenant is an image of what belongs to the New. Therefore, if even in the type the lawgiver took blood, mixed it with water, and sprinkled the covenant itself, the people, and the tabernacle, and if the defiled received purity when sprinkled, what is surprising if we find this fulfilled in the reality prefigured? Of necessity the Apostle presented Moses' testimony, in which this is clearly expressed: "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded for you" (Ex 24:8). Since the divine nature is immortal, He depicted death through the blood of sacrifices and confirmed the covenant. But since God the Word became man and had a mortal body, He no longer needed irrational sacrifices.

"For when every commandment according to the law had been spoken by Moses to the people." That is, after Moses had read to all the people every commandment according to the law, everything contained in the law. "He took the blood of goats and calves, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the books themselves and all the people." Do you see the precious blood of Christ, the rational and true sacrifice, depicted from of old? It is the blood that sprinkles and sanctifies both the book, that is, the teachers of the people, and the people. For a teacher is a living book. "With water," which prefigured cleansing baptism. The wool was used to hold the blood. It was scarlet because of its likeness to bodily blood. The hyssop likewise served to hold the blood.

“Therefore not even the first covenant was renewed,” that is, confirmed, “without blood.” From the necessity of the testator’s death, the Apostle also explains why blood was used when the covenant with the Israelites was concluded. In doing this, the Apostle adds details that Moses does not mention (Ex. 24:5-8). They were probably drawn directly from the practice current in the Apostle’s time, which was based on tradition. Thus, in Moses’ account there is no mention of the blood of goats, of water, or of Moses sprinkling the book of the covenant itself with blood. Yet the admixture of water with the blood was naturally required to prevent the blood from coagulating; compare Lev. 14:49-53.

"Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. And according to the law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb 9:18, 22). The concluding particle "therefore" or "for this reason" shows that the Apostle wants to explain why even the Old Covenant did not exist without blood, though Old Testament blood was only the blood of animals. What is this reason? For what could the blood of animals be needed, and how could it have cleansing power? The Apostle indicates the explanation of this mystery in the New Covenant. He reasons as follows.

It is true that God was properly the testator, but He transferred all His rights over the property, that is, over the kingdom of God, to Jesus Christ. Therefore men's entrance into possession of the eternal inheritance became possible only after Christ's death. And Christ Himself, on the eve of His death, truly said to the disciples: "I appoint to you a kingdom, as My Father appointed to Me" (Lk 22:29). On the other hand, the death of Jesus Christ was necessary for the redemption of men from sins. This had already been indicated at the conclusion of the Old Covenant. Precisely for this reason the latter was inaugurated (έγκεκαίνισται), that is, consecrated for habitation as a kind of building (cf. Deut 20:5), through the shedding of blood. At the same time the Apostle finds it necessary to recall that blood was also used afterward for the cleansing of the tabernacle, and generally in almost all cases of defilement.