[B-Greek] PROSFERH in Hebrews 9:25

Tom Moore tom at katabiblon.com
Sun Nov 15 13:19:36 EST 2009


I would translate OUD' hINA POLLAKIS PROSFERHi EAUTON in 9:25 as "nor (did he enter) in order that he should present himself over and over...."

Perhaps better would be to translate hINA + subjective in this verse ("in order that he should") as "only to have to":

"Christ did not enter a false Holies [the tabernacle's Holy of Holies], but into the true Holies [heaven]. Neither did he enter them only to have to enter them and present himself again and again." The idea being that the false Holies required multiple re-entries, but the true Holies required only one. Whereas he did not enter a false Holies, neither did he enter a Holies that requires multiple entries.

Regards,
Tom

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: David Stuart <m7feettall at yahoo.com>
>  Subject: [B-Greek] PROSFERH in Hebrews 9:25
>  Sent: Nov 15 '09 17:17
>  
>  Thanks for the feedback!
>  
>  Quote=Tom Moore---------
>  
>  Not sure how PROSFEREI is in unusual in 9:7. PROSFERW is used for bringing forward (presenting) people for healing, and for bringing forward (presenting/offering) gifts to people, and for bringing forward (presenting/offering) sacrifices and offerings to priests and to God. So the high priest's special annual PROSFERWing (bringing forward/presenting/offering) of blood from a sacrifice in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement is a normal usage.
>  ----------------
>  
>  I agree the term means present, offer etc. When I said unusual I had in mind the notion that the sprinkling on the Day of Atonement would be described as "presentation" of blood rather than "sprinkling" of blood. The blood was "presented" but the means of offering was sprinkling. Sorry, I am new to this B-Greek discussion, and was describing what I thought was an unusual word choice to describe the actions of the priest, rather than an unusual usage from a textual standpoint. I have to remember that the focus here is on textual aspects, and so if I say unusual usage folks will think textually!
>  
>  The priest did present blood. But there were more precise terms that could have been used. It does appear that the author is setting up for the fulfillment later in the chapter. But the question in my mind is whether that fulfillment is seen as the cross or at the entry. In the type it happened in the entry.
>  
>  Quote=Tom Moore---------
>  
>  "Present" is a good translation of PROSFERW in all cases. So is "offer" in most cases. In 9:25 "offer" works just a well as "present" because Christ's presenting of himself is the same as the offering of his blood. Hebrews 9 analogizes Christ's crucifixion with the high priest's blood offering on the Day of Atonement. So when Jesus PROSFERWs (presents/offers) himself to God in both 9:14 and 9:25, it is his blood that he is presenting/offering, in the same way the high priest PROSFERWs the blood of animals to God, so the presentation of himself is a reference to his death, which is why (per 9:26) if he had to PROSFERW himself over and over, year after year, in the same way as the high priest, that would mean he he would have had to "suffer many times."
>  
>  Regards,
>  Tom Moore
>  -------------------------------
>  
>  I agree that verse 26 is important to the arguement. But it can be applies to the other understanding of offering as presentation in God's presence as well.
>  
>  If He were to enter to present Himself over and over in God's presence as the completed sacrifice He would also have to die over and over as each entry is preceded by the death.
>  
>  This is why I am trying to figure out the role of OUD hINA. What is "Nor in order that" referring to in your opinion? Does it not seem to refer back to Jesus entry?
>  
>  It seems to me that Jesus' entry is being compared directly to the entry of the earthly high priest with blood in verse 25. This corresponds more closely to the type.
>  
>  And if OUD hINA is referring back to the entry then it would make no sense to say "Nor yet did He enter in order to offer Himself (in death) many times." The death did not happen at the entry but on earth.
>  
>  So part of why I am submitting this here is to get a feel from those who know Greek better than I how they take OUD hINA in this verse, because its interpretation seems to have some bearing on the interpretation of Jesus' fulfillment of the type.
>  
>  
>  David Stuart
>  Gardner, KS
>  
>  
>        
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