So shows that verses 22-25 logically depend on the statements in verses 19-21. In summary: “We have a way into God’s presence, and a High Priest; therefore let us come near … hold on … be concerned” (verses 22-24). Throughout this passage the author includes himself and his readers in the words “we” and “us.”

On come near, see 4.16, where Good News Translation has approach. Come near does not imply that the writer is nearer to God, even figuratively, than are his readers. To God is implied. These words did not need to be expressed in the Greek, because come near renders a well-known expression related to worship, but it needs to be made clear in translation.

Since the expression let us come near to God is figurative in meaning, it may be necessary to mark it as such; for example, “let us, as it were, come near to God.” However, a verb meaning “come” may not be appropriate, since the movement is from the place where people are to a different point close to God. Accordingly, it may be necessary to translate “let us go near to God.”

A sincere heart gives the meaning of “a true heart”; Jerusalem Bible translates a similar expression in Isaiah 38.3, “sincerity of heart” (New English Bible “loyal”). It is the opposite of the attitude described in James 1.8 as “unstable” (RSV; compare James 1.6). Heart, as usual, stands for the whole person, especially what is central to the personality; it has no special reference to emotion. See comment on 3.8.

A sure faith is similar in meaning to a sincere heart. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch avoids the word for faith, since it is not often used outside church language, and instead translates “firm trust” (“in God” is understood, as in Good News Translation). Translator’s New Testament uses a verb, “sincerely and fully believing in him,” where “believe in” must mean “trust” rather than “believe that he exists.”

The phrase with a sincere heart and a sure faith expresses what is called “attendant circumstances.” That is, this phrase describes the situation which should exist when people approach God. The meaning of the phrase with a sincere heart and a sure faith may be expressed as “when we approach God, we must be sincere and trust him” or “… our hearts must be pure, and we should have no doubts.”

The rest of the verse recalls Ezekiel 36.25-26, though it is not a direct quotation. This is not a poetic passage, but the writer of Hebrews produces something very similar to a couplet of Hebrew verse, in which the two lines have a similar meaning:
“hearts made clean from a guilty conscience,
and bodies washed with pure water.”

Some commentators link the second line with verse 23, but this suggestion is not followed by translators.

Hearts and bodies are not contrasted any more than are “blood” and body in verses 19-20.

On purified or “sprinkled,” see comments on 9.13. On conscience, see comments on 9.9. It may be difficult to speak of “hearts being purified from a guilty conscience.” Since in this context “hearts” refers to individuals and not to some part of the personality, it may be possible to translate with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience as “being purified from a sense of guilt” or “with our sense of guilt having been taken away.”

Bodies washed with clean water may suggest a comparison of Christian baptism with the washing done by Old Testament priests (see 6.2 and 9.10). Knox‘s “hallowed water” is not a natural meaning of the Greek or even of the Vulgate. The tense of the words for purified and washed emphasizes the permanent effect of these events.

Since bodies also refers to the persons as such, the expression and with bodies washed with clean water may be expressed as “and we, as it were, washed with clean water.” In this way one may avoid the suggestion of merely taking a bath. With the expression “as it were,” the figurative meaning of the final phrase is clearly marked. However, if the reference is to Christian baptism, water will not be figurative, and clean may imply “cleansing.” In this case it may be possible to translate “our whole selves washed and made clean by a special bath.”

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 .