SEV Biblia, Chapter 13:10
Tenemos un altar, del cual no tienen facultad de comer los que sirven al Tabernculo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 13:10
Verse 10. We have an altar] The altar is here put for the sacrifice on the altar; the Christian altar is the Christian sacrifice, which is Christ Jesus, with all the benefits of his passion and death. To these privileges they had no right who continued to offer the Levitical sacrifices, and to trust in them for remission of sins.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. We have an altar , etc..] By which is meant, not the cross of Christ, on which he was crucified; nor the Lord's table, where his flesh and blood are presented to faith, as food, though not offered; but Christ himself, who is altar, sacrifice, and priest; he was typified by the altar of the burnt offering, and the sacrifice that was offered upon it; the altar was made of Shittim wood, and covered with brass, denoting the incorruptibleness, duration, and strength of Christ: the horns of it, at the four corners, were for refuge; whoever fled to it, and laid hold on them, were safe; so Christ is a refuge to his people, that come from the four corners of the earth; and who believe in him, and lay hold on him, are preserved and protected by his power and grace: the use of it was for sacrifice to be offered upon it; which being a male, without blemish, and wholly burnt with fire, was a sweet savour to God; and which was typical of Christ's human nature, offered on the altar of his divine nature; which was pure and holy, suffered the fire of divine wrath, and was for a sweet smelling savour to God: this altar was but one, and most holy, and sanctified what was put upon it; all which is true of Christ: now this altar the saints have, and have a right to eat of it; even all Christ's friends and beloved ones; all that are made priests unto God by him; all that know him, believe in him, have a spiritual discerning of him, and hunger and thirst after him: whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle : there is something of this altar, or that was offered up upon this altar, that is to be eaten, even the flesh and blood of Christ; and to eat of it is to believe that Christ is come in the flesh, and is become an offering for sin, and for us that eat; it is to receive, embrace, and possess the blessings procured by it; which is done by faith, with spiritual joy and gladness, and with sincerity and singleness of heart: now those, who served the tabernacle, or adhered to the service of the ceremonial law, they had no right to eat of this altar: the allusion is to the priests' eating of the sacrifices, and to some sacrifices, of which they might not eat, ( Leviticus 2:10 6:16,18,26,29 7:9 16:27) and this is not to be understood of believers, before the coming of Christ, who did attend tabernacle service; for they ate the same spiritual meat, and drank the same spiritual drink, as believers do now; but of such, who obstinately persisted in the ceremonies of the law, when they were abolished; and so cut off themselves from all right to the substance of these shadows. (see Galatians 5:2-4).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-15 - The instructions and examples of ministers, who honourably an comfortably closed their testimony, should be particularly remembere by survivors. And though their ministers were some dead, others dying yet the great Head and High Priest of the church, the Bishop of their souls, ever lives, and is ever the same. Christ is the same in the Ol Testament day. as in the gospel day, and will be so to his people for ever, equally merciful, powerful, and all-sufficient. Still he fill the hungry, encourages the trembling, and welcomes repenting sinners still he rejects the proud and self-righteous, abhors mere profession and teaches all whom he saves, to love righteousness, and to hat iniquity. Believers should seek to have their hearts established in simple dependence on free grace, by the Holy Spirit, which woul comfort their hearts, and render them proof against delusion. Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice; he sanctifies the gift. The Lord' supper is the feast of the gospel passover. Having showed that keepin to the Levitical law would, according to its own rules, keep men from the Christian altar, the apostle adds, Let us go forth therefore unt him without the camp; go forth from the ceremonial law, from sin, from the world, and from ourselves. Living by faith in Christ, set apart to God through his blood, let us willingly separate from this evil world Sin, sinners, nor death, will not suffer us to continue long here therefore let us go forth now by faith and seek in Christ the rest an peace which this world cannot afford us. Let us bring our sacrifices to this altar, and to this our High Priest, and offer them up by him. The sacrifice of praise to God, we should offer always. In this are worshi and prayer, as well as thanksgiving.
Greek Textus Receptus
εχομεν 2192 5719 θυσιαστηριον 2379 εξ 1537 ου 3739 φαγειν 5315 5629 ουκ 3756 εχουσιν 2192 5719 εξουσιαν 1849 οι 3588 τη 3588 σκηνη 4633 λατρευοντες 3000 5723
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. Those who persist in adhering to the Jewish economy can have no part in the blessing of the new covenant. The two are mutually exclusive. The statement is cast in the mould of the Jewish sacrificial ritual, and in the figure of eating a sacrificial meal.
We have an altar (ecomen qusiasthrion). It is a mistake to try to find in the Christian economy some specific object answering to altar - either the cross, or the eucharistic table, or Christ himself. Rather the ideas of approach to God, - sacrifice, atonement, pardon and acceptance, salvation, - are gathered up and generally represented in the figure of an altar, even as the Jewish altar was the point at which all these ideas converged. The application in this broader and more general sense is illustrated by Ignatius: "If one be not within the altar (ejntov tou qusiasthriou the sacred precinct), he lacketh the bread of God.... Whosoever, therefore, cometh not to the congregation (epi to auto), he doth thereby show his pride, and hath separated himself," Eph. 5. Ignatius here uses the word, not of a literal altar, but of the church. Comp. Trall. 7. Again: "Hasten to come together as to one temple, even God; to one altar, even to one Jesus Christ," Magn. 7.
Of which - to eat (ex ou - fagein). The foundation of the figure is the sacrifice of the peace or thank-offering, in which the worshippers partook of the sacrifice. See Lev. vii. 29-35; Deut. xii. 6; xxvii. 7. The peace-offerings were either public or private. The two lambs offered every year at Pentecost (Lev. xxiii. 19) were a public offering, and their flesh was eaten only by the officiating priests, and within the holy place. The other public peace-offerings, after the priests had received their share, were eaten by the offerers themselves. Jehovah thus condescended to be the guest of his worshippers. The large scale on which such festivals were sometimes celebrated is illustrated in 1 Kings vii. 63. In private peace-offerings, the breast of the victim belonged to the Lord, who gave it to the priests (Lev. vii. 30), and the right shoulder was given directly to the priests by Israel (Lev. vii. 32). After the ritual of waving, the entrails were consumed, and the rest was eaten by the priest or the worshippers and their invited guests, among whom were specially included the poor and the Levites.
Right (exousian). See on John i. 12.
Which serve the tabernacle (oi th skhnh latreuontev). This does not mean the priests only, but the worshippers also. Skhnh tabernacle is used figuratively for the whole ceremonial economy. A reference to the priests alone is entirely foreign to the context, and to the whole drift of the discussion which contrasts the privileges of Christians at large (we) with those of Israel at large. The writer is speaking in the present tense, of institutions in operation in his own time, to which tabernacle, in any other than a figurative sense, would be inappropriate. Moreover, latreuein to serve is used throughout the N.T., with the single exception of Hebrews viii. 5, of the service of the worshipper and not of the priest.
