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Hebrews 9:17

New Testament Epistle (General) ASV (1901)

What does Hebrews 9:17 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.
Hebrews 9:17 — American Standard Version

Context — Hebrews 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
14how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
16For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.
17For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.
18Wherefore even the first [covenant] hath not been dedicated without blood.
19For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to you-ward.
← Hebrews 9:16Hebrews 9:18 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“For a testament is of force after men are dead, etc..] The necessity of Christ's death is here urged, from the nature and force of a testament or will, among men, which does not take place, and cannot be executed, till a man is dead. Otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the testator liveth; no claim can be made by the legatees for the part they have in it, nor can any disposition be made by the executor of it; not that hereby is suggested, that the testament or will of God was uncertain and precarious till the death of Christ, and subject to change and alteration as men's wills are till they die; nor that the inheritance could not be enjoyed by the Old Testament saints; for it is…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“after--literally, "over," as we say "upon the death of the testators"; not as THOLUCK, "on the condition that slain sacrifices be there," which the Greek hardly sanctions. otherwise--"seeing that it is never availing" [ALFORD]. BENGEL and LACHMANN read with an interrogation, "Since, is it ever in force (surely not) while the testator liveth?"”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“For a testament - Such an arrangement as God enters into with man; see the remarks on Hebrews 9:16. Is of force - Is ratified, or confirmed - in the same way as a deed or compact is confirmed by affixing a seal. After men are dead - ἐπὶ νεκροῖς epi nekrois. “Over the dead.” That is, in accordance with the view given above, after the animal is dead; or over the body of the animal slain for sacrifice, and to confirm the covenant. “For a covenant is completed or confirmed over dead sacrifices, seeing it is never of force as long as the victim set apart for its ratification is still living.” ms. notes of Dr. JohnP. Wilson. To this interpretation it is objected, that “νεκροῖς nekrois -…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“After he is dead - Neither this, nor after men are dead is a literal translation of the words. It is a very perplexed passage. Hebrews 9:18”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Gen 48:21; Joh 14:27 \*Gr: Gal 3:15 Hebrews 9:18”
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Sources and verification