John 2:6

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ¹  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ² 

Matthew 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ³  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁴ 

Mark 7:2-5

7:2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed. 7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ⁵  holding fast to the tradition of the elders. 7:4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches. ⁶ ) ⁷  7:5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat ⁸  with unwashed hands?”

Mark 7:8

7:8 Having no regard ⁹  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ¹⁰ 

Hebrews 6:2

6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Hebrews 9:10

9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink ¹¹  and various washings; they are external regulations ¹²  imposed until the new order came. ¹³ 

Hebrews 9:13-14

9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, ¹⁴  9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ¹⁵  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Hebrews 9:23

9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches ¹⁶  of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, ¹⁷  but the heavenly things themselves required ¹⁸  better sacrifices than these.

Hebrews 9:1

The Arrangement and Ritual of the Earthly Sanctuary

9:1 Now the first covenant, ¹⁹  in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ²⁰  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ²¹ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ² tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[3:11]  ³ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  ⁴ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “except they wash the hands with a fist,” a ceremonial washing (though the actual method is uncertain).

[7:4]  ⁶ tc Several important witnesses (Ì^45vid א B L Δ 28* pc) lack “and dining couches” (καὶ κλινῶν, kai klinwn), while the majority of mss (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt) have the reading. Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred, especially when it is backed by excellent witnesses as in this case, there are some good reasons to consider καὶ κλινῶν as authentic: (1) Although the addition of κλινῶν could be seen as motivated by a general assimilation to the purity regulations in Lev 15 (as some have argued), there are three problems with such a supposition: (a) the word κλίνη (klinh) does not occur in the LXX of Lev 15; (b) nowhere in Lev 15 is the furniture washed or sprinkled; and (c) the context of Lev 15 is about sexual impurity, while the most recent evidence suggests that κλίνη in Mark 7:4, in keeping with the other terms used here, refers to a dining couch (cf. BDAG 549 s.v. κλίνη 2). Thus, it is difficult to see καὶ κλινῶν as a motivated reading. (2) κλίνη, though a relatively rare term in the NT, is in keeping with Markan usage (cf. Mark 4:21; 7:30). (3) The phrase could have been dropped accidentally, at least in some cases, via homoioteleuton. (4) The phrase may have been deliberately expunged by some scribes who thought the imagery of washing a dining couch quite odd. The longer reading, in this case, can thus be argued as the harder reading. On balance, even though a decision is difficult (especially because of the weighty external evidence for the shorter reading), it is preferable to retain καὶ κλινῶν in the text.

[7:4]  ⁷ sn Verses 3-4 represent parenthetical remarks by the author, giving background information.

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “eat bread.”

[7:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “only for foods and drinks.”

[9:10]  ¹² 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.

[9:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “until the time of setting things right.”

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “for the purifying of the flesh.” The “flesh” here is symbolic of outward or ritual purity in contrast to inner purity, that of the conscience (cf. Heb 9:9).

[9:14]  ¹⁵ tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D² 0278 33 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.

[9:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

[9:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

[9:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.

[3:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “of our confession.”