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flesh. But according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed that You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Not Melchizedek, but Christ, who lives by His own power. That is, not temporary, nor having an end. For there is a setting aside of a preceding commandment, because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God, and inasmuch as it was not without an oath; for they indeed have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath, through the one who said to Him: The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The preceding, he says, commandment, that is, the commandment previously given of the Old Testament; he means the law; it is set aside, he says, and cast out, because it could not make man perfect. But there is brought in, he says, the better hope, which also makes us draw near to God. He means the New, for through it we were joined to God the Father; and further magnifying this, he says it did not come to be without an oath. But that old one was without an oath. But see how he magnifies both, that it has no end like the legal one. This he signifies for it from Christ. For according to the power, he says, of an indestructible life, and of the oath. By so much also Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant, and they indeed have become many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing; but He, because He remains forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives. That He swore to Him that He would always be, He would not have done this, unless He were living. But whenever you hear priest or minister, consider the mystery itself of the emptying. 95.965 to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s. Again, He made this also significant of that which is according to the flesh. He who raises the dead, and gives life to whom He wills, just as the Father does, how does He intercede? It is clear, therefore, that these utterances belong to the economy, without dividing the Godhead; for He is the same and God, even if because of the economy, other things are said about Him. For this He did once for all, when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

CHAPTER VIII. Now the main point of what we are saying. to be offered for the people, he says.

We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. Since above and below he called Him a minister, showing the things of His humanity, see how he raises the mind of the hearers, proclaiming His divinity, by saying, He is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. A Minister of the sanctuary. That is, for those who have been sanctified through His name. And of the true tabernacle. The true tabernacle, he says, is the Church. which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law. For He purchased it through His own blood. who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. The old, he says, liturgy was a copy of this spiritual one, which he also calls heavenly. For even if it is performed on earth, yet it is entirely of the heavens; and they served a copy, as offering the sheep for

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σάρκα. Ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου. Μαρτυρεῖ γὰρ ὅτι σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. Οὐχ ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ, ἀλλ' ὁ Χριστὸς, ὃς τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει ζῇ. Τουτέστιν, οὐ προσκαίρου, οὐδὲ πέρας ἔχοντος. Ἀθέτησις μὲν γὰρ γίνεται προαγούσης ἐντολῆς, διὰ τὸ αὐτῆς ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἀνωφελές. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐτελείωσεν ὁ νόμος· ἐπεισαγωγὴ δὲ κρείττονος ἐλπίδος, δι' ἧς ἐγγίζομεν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ καθ' ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας· οἱ μὲν γὰρ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες, ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκωμοσίας, διὰ τοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν· Ὤμοσε Κύριος, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται. Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. Ἡ προάγουσα, φησὶν, ἐντολὴ, τουτέστιν ἡ προδεδομένη ἐντολὴ τῆς Παλαιᾶς ∆ιαθήκης· λέγει δὲ τὸν νόμον· ἀθετεῖται, φησὶν, καὶ ἐκβάλλεται, ἐπειδὴ τελειῶσαι οὐκ ἠδύνατο τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἐπεισάγεται δὲ, φησὶν, ἡ κρείσσων ἐλπὶς, ἡ καὶ ἐγγίσαι ἡμᾶς ποιοῦσα τῷ Θεῷ. Λέγει δὲ τὴν Νέαν, δι' αὐτῆς γὰρ συνήφθημεν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί· καὶ ταύτην ἔτι αὔξων, οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας λέγει γεγενῆσθαι. Ἐκείνη δὲ ἡ παλαιὰ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας ἦν. Ὅρα δὲ πῶς καὶ τὰ δύο αὔξει, ὅτι οὐκ ἔχει τέλος ὥσπερ ἡ νομική. Τοῦτο δὲ αὐτῇ σημαίνει ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Κατὰ δύναμιν γὰρ, φησὶ, ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου, καὶ τοῦ ὅρκου. Κατὰ τοσοῦτον καὶ κρείττονος διαθήκης γέγονε ἔγγυος Ἰησοῦς, καὶ οἱ μὲν πλείονές εἰσι γεγονότες ἱερεῖς, διὰ τὸ θανάτῳ κωλύεσθαι παραμένειν· ὁ δὲ διὰ τὸ μένειν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἀπαράβατον ἔχει τὴν ἱερωσύνην. Ὅθεν καὶ σώζειν εἰς τὸ παντελὲς δύναται τοὺς προσερχομένους δι' αὐτοῦ τῷ Θεῷ, πάντοτε ζῶν. Ὅτι ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ ἀεὶ αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ἐποίει, εἰ μὴ ζῶν ἦν. Ὁσάκις δὲ ἱερέα ἢ λειτουργὸν ἀκούεις, αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς κενώσεως ἐννόει τὸ μυστήριον. 95.965 Εἰς τὸ ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν. Τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἔπρεπεν Ἀρχιερεὺς, ὅσιος, ἄκακος, ἀμίαντος, κεχωρισμένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῶν οὐρανῶν γενόμενος· ὃς οὐκ ἔχει καθ' ἡμέραν ἀνάγκην, ὥσπερ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, πρότερον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτιῶν θυσίας ἀναφέρειν, ἔπειτα τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ. Πάλιν καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα σημαντικὸν ἐποίει. Ὁ ἐγείρων τοὺς νεκροὺς, καὶ ζωοποιῶν οὓς θέλει, οὕτως ὡς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, πῶς ἐντυγχάνει; ∆ῆλον οὖν ὅτι τῆς οἰκονομίας εἰσὶν αὐταὶ αἱ φωναὶ, οὐ διαιρουμένης τῆς θεότητος· ὁ αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ Θεὸς, κἂν διὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, ἄλλα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγεται. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐποίησεν ἐφάπαξ, ἑαυτὸν ἀνενέγκας. Ὁ νόμος γὰρ ἀνθρώπους καθίστησιν ἀρχιερεῖς, ἔχοντας ἀσθένειαν, ὁ λόγος δὲ τῆς ὁρκωμοσίας τῆς μετὰ τὸν νόμον, Υἱὸν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τετελειωμένον.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ηʹ. Κεφάλαιον δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις. Τὸ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ προσενεχθῆναι, φησί.

Τοιοῦτον ἔχομεν Ἀρχιερέα, ὃς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ἐπειδὴ ἄνω καὶ κάτω λειτουργὸν αὐτὸν εἶπε, τὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ δηλῶν, ὅρα πῶς ἀνάγει τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν ἀκροατῶν, τὴν θεότητα κηρύττων αὐτοῦ, διὰ τοῦ λέγειν, Ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργός. Τουτέστιν, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡγιασμένων διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς. Σκηνὴν ἀληθινὴν, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν φησίν. Ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος. Πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰς τὸ προσφέρειν δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίας καθίσταται, ὅθεν ἀναγκαῖον ἔχειν τι καὶ τοῦτον, ὃ προσενέγκῃ. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἐπὶ γῆς, οὐδ' ἂν ἦν ἱερεὺς, ὄντων ἱερέων τῶν προσφερόντων κατὰ τὸν νόμον τὰ δῶρα. Περιεποιήσατο γὰρ αὐτὴν διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος. Οἵτινες ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ λατρεύουσι τῶν ἐπουρανίων, καθὼς κεχρημάτισται Μωϋσῆς, μέλλων ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν σκηνήν. Ἡ παλαιὰ, φησὶ, λειτουργία ὑπόδειγμα ἦν ταύτης πνευματικῆς, ἥντινα καὶ ἐπουράνιον καλεῖ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς τελεῖται, ἀλλὰ ὅλη τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐστιν· ἐλάτρευον δὲ ὑποδείγματι, ὡς τὸ πρόβατον προσφέροντες εἰς