Hebrews 10 5

Hebrews 10:5 kjv

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

Hebrews 10:5 nkjv

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.

Hebrews 10:5 niv

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

Hebrews 10:5 esv

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

Hebrews 10:5 nlt

That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, "You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
But you have given me a body to offer.

Hebrews 10 verses

Hebrews 10 5 Meaning

This verse declares Christ's pre-existent statement to God upon entering the world, signifying His willing embrace of the Father's redemptive plan. It reveals God's ultimate disinterest in animal sacrifices and ritualistic offerings, instead preparing a human body for Christ as the perfect, singular means of atonement for sin. This divinely prepared body served as the vessel through which Christ's obedience and sacrifice fulfilled God's true desire for redemption, thus rendering the Old Covenant's sacrificial system obsolete.

Hebrews 10 5 Context

Hebrews 10:5 is strategically placed within the book's theological argument for the supremacy of Christ over the Old Covenant's priesthood, sacrifices, and rituals. Chapter 9 meticulously establishes the inadequacy of the Mosaic Law's provisions—specifically, the animal sacrifices—to truly remove sin, presenting them as mere "shadows" pointing to a greater reality. Chapter 10 builds upon this, introducing Christ's unique and perfect sacrifice that completely fulfills God's will and eternally atones for sin. Verse 5 acts as a direct scriptural substantiation for this argument, quoting Psalm 40:6 from the Septuagint (LXX) to demonstrate that even in the Old Testament, God's ultimate desire was not repeated animal sacrifice but a prepared body, referring to the Messiah. This sets the stage for the New Covenant, establishing Christ's entry into the world as the fulfillment and end of the need for the Old Testament's ceremonial law.

Hebrews 10 5 Word analysis

• Therefore (διὸ - _dio_): A crucial conjunction indicating a logical conclusion or inference based on the preceding arguments in Hebrews 9, particularly the ineffectiveness of Old Covenant sacrifices. It links the fulfillment in Christ directly to the deficiencies of the previous system.
• when Christ (εἰσερχόμενος - _eiserchomenos_): The Greek is "he" (referring to the Messiah implicitly). The participle "entering" implies Christ's pre-existence before His physical manifestation.
• came into the world (εἰς τὸν κόσμον - _eis ton kosmon_): This phrase profoundly points to the Incarnation—God taking on human flesh. It speaks of a decisive moment when the pre-existent Son of God entered the human sphere.
• he said (φησιν - _phēsin_): The declaration by Christ, quoted from Psalm 40:6 (LXX), revealing His perfect alignment with God's will before His earthly ministry began. It highlights His self-aware mission.
• "Sacrifice (θυσία - _thysia_):" Refers to blood sacrifices, where an animal was offered and its blood shed, aiming for atonement or cleansing under the Old Covenant.
• and offering (καὶ προσφορά - _kai prosphora_):" Refers to other kinds of offerings, such as grain offerings or burnt offerings, encompassing the entire spectrum of prescribed cultic practices and material presentations within the Temple system.
• you did not desire (οὐκ ἠθέλησας - _ouk ēthelēsas_): Implies God's ultimate intention. It doesn't mean God never commanded these things, but that they were never His ultimate, perfect will for complete and final atonement, or what brought Him final satisfaction regarding sin. They were temporary measures and pedagogical.
• but (ἀλλὰ - _alla_): A strong adversative conjunction, presenting a stark contrast to what precedes it. It signals a shift from the ineffective to the divinely desired and effective.
• a body (σῶμα - _sōma_): This is the key element, and the pivotal difference between the LXX (Septuagint) version of Psalm 40:6 quoted here and the Masoretic Text (MT) ("ears you have opened for me"). The author of Hebrews explicitly uses "a body" because it directly relates to Christ's incarnation and His physical suffering and death as the ultimate sacrifice.
• you prepared for me (κατηρτίσω μοι - _katērtisō moi_): This signifies God the Father's active role in divinely ordaining and making ready Christ's physical body for its redemptive purpose. "Prepared" conveys a sense of equipping, making fit, or perfectly forming this body specifically for the mission of atoning sacrifice.

• "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire": This phrase emphasizes that God's heart was never truly satisfied by the animal sacrifices alone. They were imperfect and symbolic, foreshadowing a future reality. This statement underscores the ceremonial system's inability to purge the conscience and provide final reconciliation.
• "but a body you prepared for me": This forms the core of the verse's argument. It highlights God's initiative in providing a perfect, sinless human body for His Son, suitable for the one-time, complete atonement that mere animal blood could never achieve. This divinely prepared body enabled Christ to embody perfect obedience and offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.

Hebrews 10 5 Bonus section

The deliberate choice of the Septuagint (LXX) rendering "a body you prepared for me" instead of the Masoretic Text's "my ears you have opened" (which speaks of obedience in a different way) is not a mistranslation by the author of Hebrews. Rather, it reveals the Holy Spirit's precise inspiration, demonstrating how certain Old Testament texts, through their nuanced Greek renderings, specifically pointed to Christ's Incarnation and the physical reality of His sacrifice. This underscores the theological accuracy and intentionality behind the author's use of Scripture to argue for Christ's superiority. It shows that Christ's coming into the world with a "prepared body" was not an improvisation but part of God's predetermined eternal counsel and will, revealed through prophetic writings.

Hebrews 10 5 Commentary

Hebrews 10:5 is a profound statement articulating the heart of the New Covenant: the substitutionary and sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ. By quoting Psalm 40:6 from the Septuagint, the author illustrates Christ's pre-existent understanding and willingness to fulfill God's redemptive plan. The divine declaration that "sacrifice and offering you did not desire" confirms the temporary and ultimately inadequate nature of the Old Covenant's Levitical system. God's ultimate desire was never the endless shedding of animal blood, which could only ceremonially cleanse, not morally purify. Instead, His desire was for a perfect, obedient "body," divinely prepared for Christ's incarnation. This physical body enabled Christ to experience humanity fully, bear the sin of the world, and offer Himself as the single, decisive, and complete atonement for sin. This makes His sacrifice superior to all former rituals, signifying the obsolescence of the old sacrificial system and the inauguration of a new, better way of approaching God through the perfect sacrifice of His Son. It teaches us to prioritize genuine obedience and faith over mere ritual, echoing God's constant preference for heart devotion above outward conformity.