Hebrews 10:5-10 is to be understand within the context formed by 10:1-18 in which the author argues for the excellence of Christ's self-immolation on the Cross. We have discussed 10:1-18 in this article. Within this argument, 10:4-14, is the central argument where the author shows that Christ enthroned at the right hand of the Father is the high priest whose sacrifice has ended all other sacrifices. The first part of this argument, 10:4-10 is the immediate context of our reading for the fourth Sunday of Advent C.
An Overview of the Text
Hebrews 10:5-10 is made up of a citation of Psalm 40:6-8 and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews' exegesis of it illustrating how the body of Christ offered up as sacrifice on the cross puts an end to the sacrifices of the old dispensation. Verses 5b-7 makes up the citation while 8-10 is the commentary. The whole is prefaced by 5a: "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said". "Therefore" connects 5b-7 to the preceding statement about the yearly repetition of animal blood sacrifices as event to its motive. The object of "he said" is the citation from Psalm 40, which is presented as the words of the Son presenting himself to the Father. "When he came into the world" is the reference to the Incarnation.
Psalm 40(39): Total Obedience
Psalm 40 (39 in the list of the Septuagint) as found in the Septuagint is the prayer of a teacher of the Law who has experienced persecution and the deliverance of God. It can be divided into three sections: 2-5 is the opening thanksgiving for being delivered; 6-11 the teacher's declaration of his fidelity to the mission given to him, that of proclaiming God's wonders to the assembly; 12-18, the concluding prayer which is also a prayer for vindication against his enemies.
The main difference that the Septuagint version of Psalm 40 has from the Hebrew is in verse 7 where the Massoretic text has "you have pierced my ears"
Sacrifice and offering do not please You;
You have pierced my ears.
Holocaust and sin offering you did not ask for
Behold I said: Here I am
To do your will is my pleasure O God;
your Law is within me.
The piercing of the ears alludes to the practise of piercing the ear of the slave who prefers to stay with his master instead of being separated from him. The action makes one a slave for a lifetime (see Exodus 21:5-6). Within the context of verses 7-8, the dedication of the teacher to God is compared to that of the pierced slave. It is this obedience which the teacher offers to God.
In the text that the author of Hebrews had before him, instead of "ears", the text had "body". This text is reflected in the Vaticanus, Sinaiticus and Alexandrine codices. The "body" then of the teacher of the Law becomes the means by which he carries out the will of God. A similar idea is found in Romans 12:1, a text that perhaps may allude to the Septuagint passage mentioned above:
Therefore, I urge you brothers
in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God --
this is your act of spiritual worship
In Hebrews however, the text of Psalm 40:7-8 becomes a kind of pre-Incarnation story -- a midrash if you will -- that narrates how the Son presents himself to the Father as the sacrifice that pleases Him.
The Author's Exegesis in vv. 8-10
Below is an illustration of how the author proceeds with his exegesis of Psalm 40:5b-7.
The citation from Psalm 40 presented as it is as the words of the Son become statements that signal the passing away of animal blood sacrifices to be replaced by the once-and-for-all sacrifice of His body. With the sacrifice on the cross, the Son accomplishes the will of the Father who in His turn wills that the sacrifice of the Son suffices.
In the Catechism
| 10:5-10 |
606 The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own will, but the will of him who sent [him]" (Jn. 6:13), said on coming into the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."(Heb. 10:5-10) From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work."(John 4:34) The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2) expresses his loving communion with the Father. "The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord, "[for] I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." (Jn. 10:17; 14:31) |
| 10:5-7 | 462 The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." |
| 516 Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (Jn. 14:9; Lk. 9:35; cf. Mt. 17:5; Mk. 9:7) Because our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's love. . . among us" (1 Jn. 4:9). | |
| 2568 In the Old Testament, the revelation of prayer comes between the fall and the restoration of man, that is, between God's sorrowful call to his first children: "Where are you? . . . What is this that you have done?" (Gen. 3:9.13) and the response of God's only Son on coming into the world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." (Heb. 10:5-7) Prayer is bound up with human history, for it is the relationship with God in historical events. | |
| 10:5 | 488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him (Gal. 4:4; Heb. 10:5), he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary" (Lk. 1:26-27):
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life. (LG 56; cf. LG 61) |
| 10:7 | 2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." (Heb. 10:7; Ps. 40:7) Only Jesus can say: "I always do what is pleasing to him." (Jn. 8:29) In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: "not my will, but yours be done." (Lk. 22:42; cf. Jn. 4:34; 5:30; 6:38) For this reason Jesus "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." (Gal. 1:4) "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. 10:10) |
| 10:10 | 614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices (Cf. Heb. 10:10). First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience.(Cf. Jn. 10:17-18; 15:13; Heb. 9:14; 1 Jn. 4:10) 2824 (see above) |
