The denial of the Levites’ right to
eat of this sacrifice may have its background in the injunction in Lev 6:23 LXX
(et 6:23): “And every sacrifice of a priest shall be wholly burned and shall
not be eaten.” Reading the Old Testament in light of the fulfillment in Christ,
the author of Hebrews applies the commandments in accordance with his fundamental
conviction that the tabernacle ministry did not ultimately provide the gifts of
God (10:1-4).
Scholars have often read the phrase “those
who serve at the tabernacle” as a veiled reference to false teachers, the same
ones that presumably were targeted with the derogatory remarks about food in
the previous . . . The author is probably not engaging with specific opponents,
however, his concern is to emphasize the superiority of the new covenant and
the eternal high priest, Jesus. (Sigurd Grindheim, The Letter to the Hebrews
[The Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023],
681)
