Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 8:1

"Now in the things which we are saying the chief point [is this]: We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens," — Hebrews 8:1 (ASV)

CHAPTER VIII.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

This chapter is a continuation of the argument that has been pursued in the previous chapters concerning the priesthood of Christ. The apostle had demonstrated that He was to be a priest, and that He was to be not of the Levitical order, but of the order of Melchizedek. As a consequence, He had proved that this involved a change of the law appointing a priesthood, and that, regarding permanency and beneficial moral influence, the priesthood of Christ far surpassed the Jewish one. He pursues this thought in this chapter and shows particularly that it involved a change in the nature of the covenant between God and His people. In pursuing this, He:

1. States the sum or principal point of the whole matter under discussion—that the priesthood of Christ was real and permanent, while that of the Hebrew economy was typical and destined in its own nature to be temporary (Hebrews 8:1–3).
2. Shows there was a fitness and propriety in His being removed to heaven to perform the functions of His office there—since if He had remained on earth, He could not have officiated as priest, that duty being by the law of Moses entrusted to others pertaining to another tribe (Hebrews 8:4–5).
3. Explains that Christ had obtained a more exalted ministry than the Jewish priests held because He was the Mediator in a better covenant—a covenant that related more to the heart than to external observances (Hebrews 8:6–13). This new covenant excelled the old in the following respects:
   1. It was established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6).
   2. It was not a covenant requiring mainly external observances, but pertained to the soul, and the law of that covenant was written there (Hebrews 8:7–10).
   3. It was connected with the diffusion of the knowledge of the Lord among all classes, from the highest to the lowest (Hebrews 8:11).
   4. The evidence of forgiveness could be made clearer than it was under the old dispensation, and the way in which sins are pardoned could be much better understood (Hebrews 8:12). These considerations also involved the consequence stated in Hebrews 8:13: that the old covenant was, of necessity, about to vanish away.

Now of the things which we have spoken. Or, “of the things of which we are speaking” (Stuart); or, as we would say, of what is said. The Greek does not necessarily mean things that had been spoken, but may refer to all that He (the apostle) was saying, taking the whole subject into consideration.

This is the sum. Or, this is the principal thing; referring to what He was about to say, not what He had said. Our translators seem to have understood this as referring to a summing up, or recapitulation of what He had said—and there can be no doubt that the Greek would bear this interpretation.

But another exposition has been proposed, adopted by Bloomfield, Stuart, Michaelis, and Storr, among modern commentators, and found also in Suidas, Theodoret, Theophylact, and others, among ancient commentators. It is that which regards the word rendered sum—kefalaion—as meaning the principal thing; the chief matter; the most important point.

The reason for this interpretation is that the apostle, in fact, goes into no recapitulation of what He had said, but enters on a new topic relating to the priesthood of Christ. Instead of going over what He had demonstrated, He enters on a more important point: that the priesthood of Christ is performed in heaven, and that He has entered into the true tabernacle there.

All that preceded was type and shadow; this was what the former economy had foreshadowed. In the previous chapters, the apostle had shown that He who sustained this office was superior in rank to the Jewish priests. He demonstrated that they were frail and dying, and that the office in their hands was changing from one to another, but that Christ’s office was permanent and abiding.

He now comes to consider the real nature of the office itself: the sacrifice that was offered, the substance of which all in the former dispensation was the type. This was the principal thing—kefalaion, the head—the most important matter; and the consideration of this is pursued through chapters 8–10.

We have such an High Priest. That is settled, proved, indisputable. The Christian system is not destitute of that which was regarded as so essential to the old dispensation—the office of a high priest.

Who is set on the right hand of a throne, etc. He is exalted to honor and glory before God. The right hand was regarded as the place of principal honor; and when it is said that Christ is at the right hand of God, the meaning is that He is exalted to the highest honor in the universe (Philippians 2:9).

Of course, the language is figurative—as God has no hands literally—but the language conveys an important meaning: that He is near to God, is high in His affection and love, and is raised to the most elevated situation in heaven.