Hebrews 9:5

9:5 And above the ark ¹  were the cherubim ²  of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail.

Hebrews 10:9

10:9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.” ³  He does away with ⁴  the first to establish the second.

¹ tn Grk “above it”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.

² sn The cherubim (pl.) were an order of angels mentioned repeatedly in the OT but only here in the NT. They were associated with God’s presence, glory, and holiness. Their images that sat on top of the ark of the covenant are described in Exod 25:18-20.

³ tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א² 0278^vid 1739 Ï lat), have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so Ì⁴⁶ א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is a palpable corruption, apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.

⁴ tn Or “abolishes.”