Hebrews 8:4-5

8:4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer ¹  the gifts prescribed by the law. 8:5 The place where they serve is ²  a sketch ³  and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design ⁴  shown to you on the mountain.” ⁵ 

[8:4]  ¹ tn Grk “there are those who offer.”

[8:5]  ² tn Grk “who serve in,” referring to the Levitical priests, but focusing on the provisional and typological nature of the tabernacle in which they served.

[8:5]  ³ tn Or “prototype,” “outline.” The Greek word ὑπόδειγμα (Jupodeigma) does not mean “copy,” as it is often translated; it means “something to be copied,” a basis for imitation. BDAG 1037 s.v. 2 lists both Heb 8:5 and 9:23 under the second category of usage, “an indication of someth. that appears at a subsequent time,” emphasizing the temporal progression between the earthly and heavenly sanctuaries.

[8:5]  ⁴ tn The word τύπος (tupos) here has the meaning “an archetype serving as a model, type, pattern, model” (BDAG 1020 s.v. 6.a). This is in keeping with the horizontal imagery accepted for this verse (see sn on “sketch” earlier in the verse). Here Moses was shown the future heavenly sanctuary which, though it did not yet exist, became the outline for the earthly sanctuary.

[8:5]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 25:40.