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| Open Theism Discussion Board > Public Forums > Theological Q&A > Hebrews 10.14--"Those made holy" | Forum Quick Jump
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Tom
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 5/8/2002 9:41 AM (GMT -6) |   | Hi all-
We’ve finished the entire text of the Old and New Testaments in Arabic. I’ve come into this project quite late in the game and am doing more editing and corrections now than actual translation.
We’ve had a couple interesting conversations about Heb. 10.14 and have not found a good way to translate it into Arabic. I won’t bother you with the Arabic, but I would appreciate any comments on the meaning of the English. Let me lay it out and then ask a question or two.
Heb. 10.14: "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (RSV).
So:
Main verb: "has perfected" (perfect tense)
Temporal qualifier: "for all time"
Means/Agency: "by a single offering"
Direct object: "those who are (being) made holy" (present passive participle)
Basically, through the sacrifice of himself Christ has forever perfected a certain class of people, i.e. “those who are being made/becoming holy” or “those who are holy/sanctified.”
The question has to do with the precise meaning of the present participle, “those who are being made holy.” It’s possible to understand the present here in the progressive sense as “those who are becoming/being made holy.” Or it’s quite possible (most commentators seem to think probable) that the present is iterative, i.e. it includes all the class of “those becoming holy” over time, i.e. all believers everywhere who upon becoming believers enter this class of persons one after the other. In the former the present describes a progress within the life of believers with respect to holiness. In the latter the present describes a progress that encompasses all believers who become holy/sanctified upon belief (and that’s all that envisioned here).
Given the context of the book and the occasion of the letter, I’m inclined to lean toward the former, in which case what the author is saying to these believers who are contemplating a return to Judaism is that they cannot then expect the sacrifice of Christ to continue to mediate God’s blessings to them. That’s not what the “once-for-all-ness” or the “perfected for all time-ness” of Christ’s sacrifice means. On the contrary, he has perfected for all time only “those who are becoming holy,” i.e. those who walk the walk; those who remain on the journey. This would make perfect sense of the letter’s occasion, while the latter meaning would seem to work against all the author is striving to impress upon the readers by assuring them that because they once believed they entered a class of persons who have irrevocably been perfected for all time.
I’m open to any suggestions. Fire away.
Blessings,
Tom 
"It will change, but not soon." Greg Boyd
Edited by - TGB on 05/08/2002 2:43:15 PM
Edited by - TGB on 05/08/2002 2:46:38 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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