Hebrews 9:9-10

9:9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink ¹  and various washings; they are external regulations ²  imposed until the new order came. ³ 

Hebrews 9:24

9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ⁴  of the true sanctuary ⁵  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

Hebrews 8:5

8:5 The place where they serve is ⁶  a sketch ⁷  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 ⁸  shown to you on the mountain.” ⁹ 

Hebrews 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 2:17

2:17 these are only ¹¹  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ¹²  is Christ! ¹³ 

¹ tn Grk “only for foods and drinks.”

² tc Most witnesses (D¹ Ï) have “various washings, and external regulations” (βαπτισμοῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν, baptismoi" kai dikaiwmasin), with both nouns in the dative. The translation “washings; they are… regulations” renders βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα (baptismoi", dikaiwmata; found in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א* A I P 0278 33 1739 1881 al sa) in which case δικαιώματα is taken as the nominative subject of the participle ἐπικείμενα (epikeimena). It seems far more likely that scribes would conform δικαιώματα to the immediately preceding datives and join it to them by καί than they would to the following nominative participle. Both on external and internal evidence the text is thus secure as reading βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα.

³ tn Grk “until the time of setting things right.”

⁴ tn Or “prefiguration.”

⁵ tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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 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.

⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 25:40.

¹⁰ tn Grk “those who approach.”

¹¹ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

¹² tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

¹³ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”