This verse, like verses 9b-10, is concentrated and leaves certain details implicit. Forgiven translates the same word used in 9.22. These are clearly their sins and evil deeds just mentioned. When is a logical expression, literally “where”; there is no special reference to the place or time of forgiveness. The meaning is “in a situation in which sins have been forgiven, no sacrifice is needed any longer to take them away.” No longer, however, refers to time; therefore common language translations, Jerusalem Bible (but not Bible de Jérusalem), and Barclay translate when.

The verse contains no verb in Greek, which is literally “but where forgiveness of these, no longer offering for sins.” Different translations supply different verbs in the second phrase: (a) “there is” in Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New American Bible; compare Moffatt, “an offering for sin exists no longer”; (b) “no more offering for sin takes place” in Luther 1984; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; (c) an offering to take away sins is no longer needed in common language translations, Barclay, Translator’s New Testament; (d) “there is no longer any room for a sin-offering” in Knox; similarly Jerusalem Bible “there can be no more sin offerings”; (e) Phillips expands the whole sentence: “Where God grants remission of sin there can be no question of making further atonement.” In choosing between these possibilities, it should be remembered that this statement comes in a very emphatic position, at the end of the longest section of teaching in the whole letter. This is perhaps an argument for preferring a stronger statement of type (d) or (e), rather than the less emphatic translation (c). On offering to take away sins, see comments on Heb. 10.6.

In some languages the conclusion in verse 18 may be effectively rendered as “Therefore, when God has forgiven people’s sins, it is no longer necessary for priests to make offerings which are supposed to take away sins” or “… cause the forgiveness of sins.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .