What Does Hebrews 9:22 Mean?
And nearly all things are cleansed in blood according to the instruction, and without the pouring out of blood, no release comes.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.THE KEY
What English calls “remission” is release, and the verse binds that release to blood poured out.
THE MEANING
The verse joins cleansing and release to blood being poured out. “Remission” carries the sense of release, of letting go. Its opening qualification matters: it says “almost all things,” not all things.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that release is simply a verbal cancellation with no life given.
THE ROOT
ἄφεσις
aphesis
GROWS FROM
ἀφίημι (aphiēmi), from ἀπό (apo) + ἵημι (hiēmi)
Send away; release; let go.
The Greek noun ἄφεσις names release, while its verb ἀφίημι can appear in English as either “leave” or “forgive.” The same word family holds together letting go of what you carry and releasing a debt or offense.
ALSO GROWS
aphentes: Having left; having let go.
ἀφέντες
Matthew 4:20 uses this form when the disciples leave their nets, showing the same word family behind “remission” also means letting go.
aphes: Release; forgive.
ἄφες
Matthew 6:12 uses this form for forgiving debts, making the link between remission and release concrete.
καθαρίζεται
katharizetai
GROWS FROM
καθαρίζω (katharizō), from καθαρός (katharos)
Make clean; cleanse.
“cleansed” in this verse is katharizetai. “Purged” is cleansing language: the verse places becoming clean beside being released. The two ideas remain distinct in Greek, yet the sentence joins them in one movement.
ALSO GROWS
katharos: Clean; pure.
καθαρός
This related word names the clean state that cleansing brings about.
katharismos: Cleansing; purification.
καθαρισμός
Hebrews 1:3 uses this family for what the KJV calls “purged our sins,” keeping the language of removal and cleansing together.
αἱματεκχυσίας
haimatekchysias
GROWS FROM
αἷμα (haima) + ἐκχέω (ekcheō)
Blood poured out.
“pouring out of blood” in this verse is haimatekchysias. The Greek word translated “shedding” combines blood with pouring out, keeping the action visible. Leviticus 17:11 connects life with blood, so the image carries blood and life given together.
ALSO GROWS
haima: Blood.
αἷμα
The first part names blood directly, grounding the phrase in something concrete.
ekcheō: Pour out; shed.
ἐκχέω
This verb makes clear that the verse describes blood poured out, not merely blood present.
THE PATTERN
Scripture joins sacrificial cleansing and release to blood as life poured out.
For the living soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make a covering for your living souls, for it is the blood that covers the living soul.For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many, for the release of shortcomings.In him we have our ransom through his blood, the release of our stumbles, according to the riches of his favor.THE THREAD
In him we have our ransom through his blood, the release of our stumbles, according to the riches of his favor.Ephesians uses the same Greek noun ἄφεσις (aphesis, release) that Hebrews renders “remission,” here translated “forgiveness.” The shared root reveals release beneath both English words, while both verses place that release beside blood.
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