Hebrews 9:2

Tabernacle. Greek skene, “tent,” “lodging,” “booth,” “dwelling.”

The first. That is, “the first tent,” or “the first tabernacle.” The first apartment is here designated a tent as is the second apartment (v. 3). Throughout the year the first apartment was the only part of the sanctuary proper that was entered. The second apartment, the holiest of all, was entered only on the Day of Atonement.

The candlestick. The furnishings are described as they existed in the ancient tabernacle, not in the Temple then standing (cf. on v. 3). For a description of the candlestick see Exodus 25:31-40.

The table. See Exodus 25:23-30.

The shewbread. See Leviticus 24:5-9.

The sanctuary. Greek hagia. Textual evidence may be cited (cf. p. 10) for the reading ta hagia (see on Hebrews 8:2), also for the reading hagia hagion (see on Hebrews 9:3). But scholars generally agree that the reading hagia is to be preferred. There is a grammatical problem to be settled with respect to hagia. Taken by itself its unaccented form may be: (1) A feminine singular form that would make it an adjective modifying skene, “tabernacle.” The clause would then read, “which is called holy [tent].” (2) A neuter plural form that would be rendered “holies,” or “holy [places].” The spelling of the two forms is the same; however, when the word is accented, the feminine singular form has the accent on the second syllable, whereas the neuter plural form has the accent on the first syllable. Since the earliest manuscripts were unaccented, it is impossible, on the basis of them, to determine which form may here have been intended. The later manuscripts, which have the accents, overwhelmingly favor the neuter plural form. The Textus Receptus, the Greek text of the KJV, accents the first syllable, hence regards hagia a neuter plural. The same is true of Nestle’s Greek Text. In fact there is little textual support for the singular reading. The Vulgate and some of the late Greek manuscripts are about the only unequivocal witnesses.

True, all this is not conclusive evidence against a singular reading, for the manuscript copiers, who supplied the accents, were uninspired men. They placed the accent where they felt the context required it. In this case the neuter plural form seemed the more natural. However, even though the possibility of a singular form cannot be denied, such a form seems quite unlikely. Hagia as a plural thus seems to designate the first apartment (cf. v. 3, where the second apartment seems likewise to be thus designated). See on Hebrews 8:2.