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Ἢ ἢ KG «i ἡ ἣν Hy iiss | : | 7 . » a > ae ᾿ ᾿ ᾽ν a a ἣ > 4 ͵ | a : | | 4 ᾿ i Rs ei ἮΝ i » Ἢ» τὰς "Ὁ ὡς, i 4 Ks : ἡ δ | | | ᾿ ἮΝ > ἢ δὲ sf € { ἢ δ δ » ᾿ς ς ‘ ᾿ β : | γ ἐς a ΚΑ ς μ ᾽ τ : ᾿ ) : : > μὰ ‘c ς 33 > ) Υ̓ > _ . ae μὰ ᾿ ; ᾿ ἑ i , _ » δὴ ᾿ . ἑ d 4 : as . ᾿ | ; } ᾿ ν δι ᾿ς ἑ | Ἵ i _ ν ἣν oe RS . | | K >», . > < > δὰ A ἘΝ ne Αἰ ἐν 2 : | | ἮΝ | es ἃς ν κὰ > γ > δὲ ᾿» >, ᾿ >, ” Ν ᾿ ὺ | ἢ 4 ¢ « τ 1G Y te > ee ν > > ἐς ᾿ β , & i A ᾿ U > Νὴ» ς δὰ Ἢ : a _ ᾿ i ὡς ᾿ς : | : ᾿ ee of ee Ace Ἦν .. Ἦν Ἢ πὴ | ‘ : ee ὕ a i ai ue a eh “f ν a » ), ie : : i », > ἢ » ᾿ > ιν» » pe ng ἣν A : . > a ἐν . « τῇ εἰς _ an > 9 yy | _ Ἢ ἜΝ aa : ‘ _ » ἐς .. ἐς .) « . ἮΝ Ἦν» μὰς ἐς ἣν ( < a HY : | | ἮΝ »s ἐν Ἢ + a , » Oe ἮΝ ἮΝ ᾿, ἣν : a4 aS > a x : | ᾿ » ἮΝ a4 Νὰ <4 Ἐν hy) | | : ; _ a i 4 (κι κα us κα ᾿, Ὁ Ὁ _ me δ ὌΝ | | eh es _ ἣν Ἂς _ ‘ Aus ; δὰ .. ae _ ‘ ne ᾿ : _ ν ; as ay, ne me _ ἮΝ a y " Ὁ ἧς ᾿ς » > | | | : : ᾿ ἢ μὰ «μὰ Ἦν ἣν . [ | as . a ᾿ ᾿ς ¥ ee Ks ἢ ; a ἮΝ < { ‘ f ἫΝ ) β | : et δ ἢ οι ν ἐς ἣν ἣν ἢ δ yy ee ty i ee : | ’ : At Mf if εἰ : μ᾿ Hy) | ἮΝ Ke : ᾿ ὴ Ἶ « < ἤ it γ ν» τ ἱ : | Ke ¢ >) ἥν ᾿ ν : ἫΝ ἣν ᾿ ἡ i | ᾿ oh ν yy κ᾿ ᾿ ᾿ _ β ον δὰ ἮΝ Ἢ ἮΝ ᾿ ᾿ ᾽ κα Μ ᾿ . | | as δὰ .. ἷ ᾿ ᾿ ᾿ ἣ ᾿ δας .. ἣν if | L _ ἢ ᾿, δὲ Ἢ i i 2 ᾿ | . » | | i . ) | a ) Ἦν ἢ } ὥς ἄς > ἮΝ» ᾿, | ‘ ᾿ a | : ie « A \ a ὩΣ ee i ia \ | ᾿ A is ἐν ᾿ , Ὡς ᾿, 1% 7 ἣν He ny : x © τὰ a Ἐπ «ἢ ᾿ ἢ ᾿ re a | | : καὶ ἢ ἯΙ OK ᾿ ᾿ β τχ τ / ce ( τ | | τὰ : β Ὧν β φ gt the Gheologicys Sin «οὐ ἢ ‘iy 4 PRINCETON, N. J. M, HA, Divi ston ord. ved ὃς Section 4.4... ee: ey ae ne ΩΣ Met} ν᾿ a Ἃ ae pew s AO Νὴ fae: THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS IN GREEK AND ENGLISH WITH ORITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES BY va FREDERIC RENDALL, A.M. FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AND ASSISTANT MASTER OF HARROW SCHOOL, London: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1883 [The Right of Translation is reserved.} Cambridae : PRINTED BY C, J, CLAY, M.A. & SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. PREFACE. THE Epistle to the Hebrews has special claims on the theologian and the historian. For it stands absolutely alone in the New Testament in the thoroughness with which it developes the priestly character of the Messiah, and the typical significance of the Old Testament: its influence has been great in shaping the doctrine of the Atonement ; and the formularies of our faith have borrowed largely from its language. Its historical importance will be differently estimated according to the date assigned to it, and the view taken of the author’s position and circumstances: if it be, as I see strong reason to conclude, the voice of one of the most distinguished living members of the church of the circumcision at the supreme crisis of its history, uttered for the guidance of his Hebrew brethren during the final agony of the Jewish nation, its value becomes very great as a contribution to early church history. It has hitherto however obtained but scanty attention from English critics: and the want of an edition suitable for the student’s use has been my chief motive for under- taking the present work; which has been to me a veritable labour of love. In its execution the authorities, to which I have most often had recourse, have been the LXX. and the New Testament, the works of Philo, Josephus and Clement of Rome: but I have relied still more upon the thoughtful study of the anthor’s own language and argu- ment. My obligations to those who have laboured before R. b vi PREFACE. me in the same field are greater than I can attempt to acknowledge in detail; but, while availing myself of their assistance, I have never been satisfied to accept the judg- ment of others, without an independent and conscientious search after the truth for myself. It is not the province of this edition to record the history of former criticism : and the discussion of interpretations, whose claims have failed to stand the test of thorough investigation, has been purposely curtailed within the narrowest possible limits. The translation aims only at the faithful reproduction of the original: beauty of style has been deliberately sacrificed, wherever the claims of accuracy or distinctness made it ad- visable: but no pains have been spared to achieve the object of correct translation; and I venture to hope, though it differs sometimes materially from our existing English versions, that alterations which have not been adopted lightly or hastily, will meet with candid consideration from my reader in spite of some natural prejudice against novelty in the translation of Scripture. The Greek text is based entirely on that of Westcott and Hort: textual criticism demands so much special study, that it seemed to me wiser to defer to their judgment, than to attempt the construction of an independent text. Where however they have given alternative readings, I have selected freely between them on grounds of intrinsic probability ; there will be found also changes of punctuation in the text; and the notes contain occasional discussion of doubtful read- ings. Where brackets are employed, they indicate some uncertainty whether the enclosed words formed part of the original text. INTRODUCTION. THE first questions which a reader is disposed External ἃ traditions to ask on opening a book are the name of the ee eee author, the time, place, and circumstances of its ship. composition. It is however the singular fortune of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that no distinct record has come down to us of these facts. The book itself was trea- sured: its power of thought and beauty of language were admired in the earliest ages of the Church: but no external tradition was preserved that throws real light on the history of its authorship. For though St Paul was from the fifth to the sixteenth century accepted without question as its author, the awakening of independent thought, and revival of Greek literature and criticism, revealed the fact that no such unanimity had prevailed in the first four centuries: nor can authentic traces of such a tradition be found in the ear- liest period of Christian literature existing anywhere outside the Church of Alexandria. Even the great fathers of that Church, Clement and Origen, though quoting it loosely as St Paul’s, hesitate to assign to him more than a share in its origin. Clement appears indeed in one passage’ to as- sume the authorship of St Paul: for he attempts to explain the absence of his apostolic superscription on the ground that his commission was to the Gentiles, whereas the Lord 1 The passage is quoted b os, ws ὧν εἰς Ta ἔθνη ἀπεσταλ- δ ? f] Eusebius (//. #. vi. 14) from the Ὑποτυπώσεις: Ἤδη δὲ, ὡς ὁ μακάριος ἔλεγε πρεσβύτερος, ἔπει ὁ Κύριος, ἀπόστολος ὧν τοῦ παντοκράτορος, ἀπεστάλη πρὸς ε Ἑβραίους, διὰ μετριότητα ὁ ἸΠαῦ- , > > , ε Nee ᾿ μένος. οὐκ ἐγγράφει ἑαυτὸν EBpat- , ’ ‘\ δὰ ων ἀπόστολον, διά τε τὴν πρὸς κ᾿ ah , , Nau tov Κύριον τιμήν, διά τε TO ἐκ a ε ’ περιουσίας καὶ τοῖς Ἑβραίοις > / > ~ , m4 ἐπιστέλλειν, ἐθνῶν κήρυκα οντα > ,’ καὶ ἀπόστολον. b2 vill INTRODUCTION. himself was apostle to the Hebrews; but perhaps he is not here stating his own opinion, but reproducing that of his master Pantaenus (the blessed elder, as he calls him); for in another passage* of the same work he resorts to a fresh explanation of the omission, as a prudent concession to Jewish prejudice: here also he appends a suggestion that the epistle is a Greek translation by Luke of a Hebrew original written by Paul; and he thus accounts for the resemblance of its language to that of Luke’s other writings, Origen’, though like Clement he quotes it as St Pauls, nevertheless discusses the authorship as an open question ; he contrasts the finished Greek style of this epistle with Paul’s own account of himself as rude in speech; expresses + Eusebius (H. #. vi. 14) quotes again from the Ὕποτυπώ- σεις : Kat τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους δὲ ἐπιστολὴν Παύλου μὲν εἶναι φησί, γεγράφθαι δὲ Ἑβραίοις βραϊκῇ φωνῇ, Λουκᾶν δὲ φιλοτίμως αὐτὴν μεθερμηνεύσαντα ἐκδοῦναι τοῖς [7 «“ ‘ > \ A Ἑλλησιν. ὅθεν tov αὐτὸν χρῶτα ἢ εὐρίσκεσθαι κατὰ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν ταῦ Τῆς τε τῆς ἐπιστολῆς καὶ τῶν πράξεων: μὴ προγεγράφθαι δὲ τὸ TlatAos ἀπόστολος, εἰκότως: “E- βραίοις γὰρ, φησίν, ἐπιστέλλων πρόληψιν εἰληφύσι κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑποπτεύουσιν αὐτόν, συνετῶς πάν υ οὐκ ἐν ἀρχῇ ἀπέστρεψεν αὐτοὺς τὸ ὄνομα θείς. 5. Euseb. H. .,΄. vi. 25: περὶ τῆς πρὸς “ERpatous ἐπιστολῆς ἐν ταῖς εἰς αὐτὴν ὁμιλίαις ταῦτα δια- λαμβάνει" ‘ “ὅτι ὁ χαρακτὴρ τῆς λέξεως τῆς πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἐ ἐπιγε- γραμμένης ἐπιστολῆς οὐκ ἔχει τὸ ἐν λόγῳ ἰδιωτικὸν τοῦ ἀποστόλου, ὁμολογήσαντος ἑαυτὸν ἰδιώτην εἷ- ναι τῷ λόγῳ, τουτέστι τῇ φράσει, ἀλλὰ ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπιστολὴ συνθέσει τῆς λέξεως “Ἑλληνικωτέρα, πᾶς ὁ > , , {2 ἐπιστάμενος κρίνειν Φφράσεων δια- ΄ φορὰς ὁμολογήσαι ἄν. Πάλιν τε αὖ ὅτι τὰ νοήματα τῆς ἐπιστολῆς θαυμάσιά ἐστι, καὶ οὐ δεύτερα τῶν > tal ες ἀποστολικῶν ὁμολογουμένωνγραμ- ΄,ὔ lal ΕΝ μάτων, καὶ τοῦτο ἂν συμφήσαι > ? A ε a εἶναι ἀληθὲς πᾶς ὁ προσέχων τῇ > Lal > lol , ἀναγνώσει TH ἀποστολικῇ." 'Tov- > “ > / / τοῖς μεθ ἕτερα ἐπιφέρει λέγων" “ἐγὼ δὲ “ἀποφαινόμενος εἴποιμ᾽ ἂν ὅτι τὰ μὲν vorpara TOU ἀποστόλου ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ φράσις καὶ ἡ σύνθεσις ἀπομνημονεύσαντός τινὸς τὰ ἀπο- στολικὰ καὶ ὡσπερεὶ σχολιογρα- φήσαντος τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπὸ τοῦ διδασκάλου. 2! γε Ν 5 \ c ἔχει ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ws Ki τις οὖν ἐκκλησία Παύλου, αὕτη εὐδοκιμείτω καὶ ἐπὶ , + ‘ A νι e >? a ” TOUT)" OV a €lKY) OL @ αιοι av- Y (3 af Ῥ US Ν PX 7 dpes ὡς Παύλου αὐτὴν παραδεδώ- ε ‘ A κασι; τίς δὲ ὁ γράψας τὴν ἐπιστο- ΄ \ N \ 35. λήν, τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς θεὸς οἷδεν" τ) Ν ΕῚ ε Qn is ed ε ΄, ε , δὲ εἰς ἡμᾶς φῦάσασα ἱστορία ὑπὸ τινων μὲν λεγόντων ὅτι Κλήμης ὃ γενόμενος ἐπίσκοπος Ρωμαίων ἔγραψε τὴν ἐπιστολήν, ὑπό τινων δὲ ὅτι Λουκᾶς ὁ γράψας τὸ εὐαγ- , ἈΝ Ν ΄ γέλιον καὶ τὰς πράξεις. INTRODUCTION. ix admiration of the thoughts, as with good reason ascribed to Paul by the ancients (that is, by Pantaenus and the early fathers of the Alexandrian school), and such as to justify any church in that belief; but professes his own utter ignorance who the actual writer was: he further quotes two traditions, as existing in his day, one in favour of Clement of Rome, the other of Luke. Passing to other churches, we find Tertullian’ quoting it as an acknowledged work of Barnabas; Irenaeus” distinctly implying by his silence, if he does not directly assert, that it was not St Paul’s; and Caius the presbyter® excluding it from his enumeration of the thirteen epistles of St Paul. Even as late as the fifth century the two great Latin fathers, Jerome and Augustine, express complete uncertainty on the subject. It was not till after their time that the natural tendency to associate a great anonymous work with a great name asserted its sway throughout the Christian world. This uncertainty of tradition forces us to rely on internal evidence as the most important factor in determining the authorship. The claims of Barnabas, St Luke, Clement of Rome, scarcely need serious Internal evidence. * Tertullian (de Pudicitia ο. 20). “Extat et Barnabae titu- lus ad Hebraeos, adeo satis auctoritatis virl, ut quem Paul- us juxta se constituerit in ab- stinentiz tenore (1 Cor. ix, 6)... Et utique receptior apud eccle- sias epistola Barnabae illo apo- crypho pastore moechorum (sc. Pastor of Hermas). Monens itaque discipulos ‘ omissis omni- bus initiis...’” (Heb. vi. 4—8). * Trenaeus, in his work against Heresies, quotes every one of St Paul’s epistles except the short epistle to Philemon, yet refrains from adducing one of the many apposite passages he might have found in this epistle. This can only be explained by his not accounting it as St Paul’s. If Photius be cor- rect (Lidl. 232), Stephen Gobar asserted explicitly: ἹἹππόλυτος \ > “-“ AN Ν ec ’ὔ καὶ Kipnvatos τὴν πρὸς “Ε βραίους 9 ν ΄ > > ΄, ἐπιστολὴν IlavAov οὐκ ἐκείνου - , ΗΕ εἶναί φασιν. Some doubt how- ever has been thrown on the accuracy of this statement in consequence of Eusebius having taken no notice of the fact. Ὁ Eusebius (HZ. Γ΄. vi. 20): ἦλθε δὲ εἰς ἡμᾶς Kat Γαΐου, λο- ΄ 5 Ν ΄’ ΠΥ ΔΑΝ γιωτάτου ἀνδρὸς, διάλογος ἐπὶ “ΡῬώμης....ἐν ᾧ....τῶν τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀπο- στόλου δεκατριῶν μόνον ἐπιστολῶν μνημονεύει, τὴν πρὸς Ἑ βραίους μὴ συναριθμήσας ταῖς λοιπαῖς. X INTRODUCTION. refutation: for that of Barnabas rests on the unsupported assertion of Tertullian, that of St Luke on a certain resem- blance, which was early perceived, between the language of this epistle and that of his Gospel and Acts—a resem- blance sufficiently accounted for by common Hellenistic education ; whereas its essential differences of style and spirit from the writings of both authors preclude identity of author- ship: while many parallel passages’ in Clement's epistle to the Corinthians are manifest quotations. The theory of Apollos’ authorship counts weighty names from Luther downwards amongst its advocates; but 1t was unknown to the early Church, and is entirely unsupported by positive evidence. Beyond the fact that both were eloquent in- terpreters of the Messianic import of the Jewish Scriptures, there is little ground for presuming his identity with the author. Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew, whose sphere of labour is not known to have extended beyond Ephesus and Corinth; he is mentioned by St Paul as his own equal in age and standing, though without the dignity of the apostolic office: whereas internal evidence points (as I hope to shew hereafter) to the conclusion, that the author of the epistle belonged to the same generation as Timothy, and wrote some years after the death of St Paul; while his home and sphere of labour appear to have been in the neighbourhood of Palestine. * The following are the most obvious: τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν 1. μετανοίας τόπον 7. ἐν δέρμασιν > , Ν lal ε > aiyelots καὶ μηλωταῖς 17. οἱ ov- Si / ἣν 3. ρανοὶ σαλευόμενοι 2ο. τὰ εὐά- ΄ > a ρεστα ἐνώπιον αὑτοῦ 21. ἐρευνη- ‘ lol Ἂν; / τὴς ἐννοιῶν Kal ἐνθυμήσεων 21. 30» Ν 3 » Ν “ “ οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀδύνατον παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ εἰ μὴ τὸ ψεύσασθαι 27. Ἰησοῦν ἌΝ, ἢ Χριστὸν τὸν ἀρχιερέα 26. ὃς ὧν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς μεγαλωσύνης au- τοῦ, τοσούτῳ μείζων ἐστιν ἀγγέ- λων, ὅσῳ διαφορώτερον ὄνομα κεκληρονόμηκεν. “γέγραπται γὰρ οὕτως, ὁ ποιῶν τοὺ. ἀγγέλους αὐ- It again Apollos was the τοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς δὲ τῷ γἱῷ αὐτοῦ οἵτως εἶπεν ὁ Δεσπο- τής, Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε-..«καὶ πάλιν λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν, κύβος ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑπο- πύδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου 36. The fol- lowing quotations also are com- mon to both: Μωυσῆς πιστὸς ἐν ὅλῳ TO οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ θεράπων--- ταχὺ ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ---ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος παιδεύεις, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάν- Ta υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται. αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλογα᾽ ἐπὶ INTRODUCTION. x1 author, it is very strange that neither Clement nor Origen found the slightest tradition of the fact lingering in that Alexandrian church of which he was the earliest distin- guished member. The name of St Paul alone remains for consideration. Comparison The anonymous character of this epistle strikes with the every reader of St Paul's epistles, as contrary to pane, oO his practice and to his avowed principles: for a not only did he prefix his name and greeting to every epistle, but put on- record a special warning against the imputation of any anonymous letters to him; the Alexandrian fathers saw this difficulty, and resorted, as we have seen, to various futile explanations of it. But the impersonal character of the whole epistle is in entire ac- cordance with the anonymous opening: drop a few words of personal allusion at the close, and it becomes, in spite of the deep undercurrent of strong feeling, a sermon rather than a letter—a studied composition, finished according to systematic rules of logical arrangement and rhetorical art, alternating elaborate ‘argument with fervid exhortation. Now it is, on “the contrary, the characteristic charm of the letters of St Paul, regarded simply as letters, that they are so intensely personal: they sprang out of the pressing needs of his apostolic work and reveal the very heart of the writer, the personal love of Christ and the brethren that animated him, the personal faith that sustamed him, the personal cares that weighed upon him: they teem with human interest centering in the writer. Above all his affec- tion for his fellow-countrymen, the Jews, breaks down every barrier of self-restraint: can we conceive that the same pen, from which issued that passionate desire that Israel might be saved (Rom. ix. 2), and that triumphant assurance that in the end all Israel would be saved (Rom. xi. 26), wrote also the warnings of judgment and vengeance whose unrelieved gloom saddens some of the pages of this epistle? Nor are these isolated passages: the same sharp contrast of light and shade is observable wherever the two authors disclose to us their respective anticipations of the future. The coming doom of his nation casts its deep shadow over the spirit of the one almost as persistently as the spirit of the other xl INTRODUCTION. is illuminated by the bright visions of the gospel’s final triumph. In their treatment of the Old Testament we discern a similar divergence: the one writes as an apostle, claiming authority in his master’s name; and therefore resorts to the Old Testament mainly for the purpose of argument or illus- tration; the other bases his teaching on the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures; and like Apollos argues from them that Jesus is the promised Messiah, in whom are fulfilled the types of the Law, and the voices of the Prophets. Chris- tianity is to him the final development of Judaism, the con- summation of the Mosaic dispensation ; the Christian church is but the more complete phase of that older household of God, of which patriarchs, kings, and prophets were once members, but in which the Gentiles found no place. For no sudden wrench had in his case snapped the links which bound him to the faith and ritual of his fathers, like that lightning-shock which on the road to Damascus shattered for ever the whole framework of the apostle’s religious thought ; that stupendous revulsion of his moral nature left its lifelong stamp on the mind of St Paul; from the moment that Christ became all in all to him, he became dead to Judaism: faith in Christ was life, the Law death to him: but this view of Faith and the Law as mutually antagonistic principles of life and death, the one working hopeless con- demnation through man’s inherent sinfulness, the other working eternal life through God’s free mercy, finds no echo in the language of this epistle, where the Law is a divine anticipation of atonement, and Faith a heroic prin- ciple of human action. The same essential differences ap- pear in their use of theological terms so fundamental as ‘righteousness’ and ‘sanctify. ‘It is not denied that the author was deeply imbued with the spirit of some of St Paul’s epistles, or that a remarkable coincidence may be traced between the two on points of Christian doctrine; but these admissions fall very far short of acknowledging an identity between the two authors. 1 On the use of δικαιοσύνη on that of ἁγιάζειν see notes on see notes on vy. 13 and xi, 7: ii. ΠῚ and x. 10, 14. INTRODUCTION. xiii γιὰ Moreover the style of the epistle is as cha- eee racteristic as St Paul’s own: its finished Greek attracted the attention of the Greek fathers, and cannot escape the eye of modern critics: rhetorical anti- theses, well-balanced rhythm, elaborate and sometimes highly artificial structure of sentences, nice discrimination of Greek tenses, and idiomatic use of the Greek article, combine with special peculiarities of diction to impress upon its language an unique character, which distinguishes it from every other book of the New Testament. Row not Finally, a single passage appears to me con- himselfa clusive against the author being St Paul; for eee of he includes himself amidst those who received the Gospel at second-hand from the hearers of the Lord (ii. 3): now it is impossible to reconcile this statement with St Paul’s emphatic claim to an immediate revelation from Christ himself. If we accept the natural meaning of these words, he owed his conversion to one of the Twelve, or of the original hearers of the word, but was not himself one of them: probably like Timothy he belonged to a somewhat younger generation; for though an old and leading member of his church (xiii. 18), and in consequence entitled to reprove and commend with some acknowledged authority (v. 12, vi. 9), there is a conspicuous difference between his tone and that of the apostolic epis- tles: their writers claim a hearing as accredited ambassa- dors of Christ, he bases his teaching on the authority of reason and Scripture: and so carefully did he abstain from all semblance of arrogating to himself personal authority, that the omission of his name may fairly be ascribed to his anxiety to cut off all pretext for the charge that he was taking too much upon himself and writing in his own name. nor an apostle. ᾿ He was a thorough Hellenist, accustomed to are ag think, as well as write, in Greek: the LXX version, not the Hebrew original, is his authority where the two differ. Before his conversion his mind must have been largely moulded by the study of the Hebrew Scrip- tures: so thoroughly had he been trained in the knowledge XIV INTRODUCTION. of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, that the spirit of a Hebrew prophet breathes through his writings; the terrors of the Law still live in his pages; and the types of the Law furnish his habitual form for the expression of spiritual truth. wae A comparison of his epistle with the works of Bea Philo is instructive as to the connexion between early Christian, and purely Jewish teaching: for Philo is the surviving exponent of the Alexandrian school of Jewish theologians, the only Jewish contemporary of our Lord, of whom any considerable remains are extant; his latest work, written in his old age, dating probably about A.D. 40. The coincidences of word and thought, between this epistle and his works, are considerable: we find for instance the following expressions in Philo, ἀπαύγασμα θεῖον, ὁ ws ἀληθῶς ἀρχιερεύς as a designation of Moses, τῷ τομεῖ τῶν συμπάντων αὐτοῦ λόγῳ, νηπίοις ἐστι γάλα τροφὴ τε- λείοις δέ: his account of Melchisedek, his argument on the divine oath, his description of the death of the flesh, his reference to Abraham seeking a better country, his attri- butes of the Adyos as image of God, creator of the world, first-born of all creation, priest, mediator, &e., all find their parallels in this epistle. Nor is the coincidence limited to details: his whole system of allegorical interpretation be- longs essentially to the same method of teaching, though pushed in Philo to an extravagance which offends the understanding, and alienates the sympathy, of the modern reader, For the divergence in creed and spirit be- tween the two authors is no less striking than the coincidence of language. Philo m the spirit of the Egyptian Mystics attempted to combine a sys- tem of Platonic philosophy with faith in a personal God: he found a link between God and Man in an impalpable semipersonal idea, which was neither God, nor angel, nor man—a shadow which eludes every attempt to grasp it, yet forms the central figure of his theology. The author of the epistle fixed his faith on the real living person of his Lord, and in his name preached forgiveness of sins and holiness of life, faith and peace, to a reconciled world. The only prac- Divergence from Philo, INTRODUCTION. XV tical fruit that Philo’s mysticism could bear, was that it stirred in men’s hearts a craving for some real living antitype, who should embody in himself the ideal perfections of which they had been taught to dream. The contrast between the two minds appears conspicuously in their mode of dealing with those books of Scripture, whose authority both alike acknowledged. As a Jew, Philo could not refuse to accept in theory the letter of the Law as sacred; yet he assumed in practice a right to annihilate by his own arbitrary inter- pretations all the historical truth of the Pentateuch; his exponents of the Law were not the Hebrew prophets, who preserved with reverence the ancient records of their national history, but the books of Greek philosophers: these were his true teachers; and in reliance on their guidance he felt no scruple at transforming the precepts of Moses, or turning the facts of Scripture into a convenient peg on which to hang a mystic allegory. The epistle.on, the con- trary accepts with utmost reverence the truth of the Old Testament as the word of God, though it employs allegory as a ladder to climb from the old revelation to higher spiritual truths: the Psalmist and the Prophets are regarded as inspired interpreters: while Greek philosophy exercises only an indirect unconscious influence: the Platonic system of ideas, and even the personality of the Λόγος, which St John himself accepted and appropriated to Christian use, are entirely ignored, together with that religious mysticism and philosophic brotherhood, which formed the basis of alliance between the Jewish Essenes and the Platonists, On the other hand the author’s reverence for Relation to : “ps St Paul. the Law, and careful study of its sacrificial system, evince the religious training of the Pharisees ; and furnish good ground for pronouncing him to have belonged originally, like St Paul, to their school. The two must, if so, have inherited from their common training many affinities of thought and kindred forms of expression: and the indirect influence of a common education may account largely for the parallelism which exists between their writings. The re- markable coincidence already noticed between this epistle, and the teaching of a Jew so different in spirit as Philo, δ an Alexandrian of another school, another country, and xvi INTRODUCTION. another generation, proves how widely common elements of thought and language were diffused throughout rival sects of the Jewish world; and prepares us to expect still more striking coincidences between Christian converts from the same Pharisaic school. St Paul’s views must however have exercised a direct influence also upon the mind of the author subsequently to his conversion; for the mind of St Paul is distinctly reflected in his Christian doctrine. One obvious channel of communication between them is suggested by the mention of Timothy, the most like-minded of all St Paul’s children in Christ (xiii, 23), as apparently a well-known fellow-labourer in the same Hebrew church with the author, and an associate in captivity at Rome. Through Timothy the author probably came in contact with a circle of St Paul’s disciples at Rome; at all events his intercourse with Timothy himself must have made him familiar with the teaching and epistles of St Paul. Starting with these ante- cedents of education and association, he must have entered with special interest on the study of those epistles; and we cannot be surprised that their principles laid hold of his mind, and largely influenced his writing. Of personal in- tercourse, however, as distinguished from that knowledge of St Paul’s epistles which might be gained by study, I discover no trace: his thoughts were differently moulded, and bear no impress of the living fire of the apostle to the Gentiles. If his sphere of labour fell outside that of St Paul in the region committed to the apostles of the circumcision, and if again the epistle was not written till some years after the death of St Paul, this conclusion acquires a high degree of probability. I proceed to indications bearing on these points. The most undoubtedly genuine tradition which peioaiie has come down to us from the early Church con- of the cerning the epistle is its name, ‘the epistle to the Churchas Hebrews.’ This title was an enigma to the Church Palestine, Of Alexandria in the second century: Clement and Origen could find no better solution of it than the conjecture that the epistle was a Greek translation from a Hebrew original. A more critical age has no hesitation in pronouncing the work a Greek original; but their conjecture INTRODUCTION. XVil remains nevertheless a valuable testimony to the genuine antiquity of the title itself, as an indisputable fragment of the earliest Christian tradition: it gives us the best possible authority for asserting that the epistle was addressed to some Hebrew church, and was known from the first by its present name. It is at the same time certain that it was written toa Greek-speaking church: but there is no incongruity in these two facts. The name ‘ Hebrews’ represents a locality as well as a language; and its natural interpretation, when employed in the title of an epistle, points to that locality. The Jews of Asia Minor, Greece, or Italy, were not a Hebrew-speaking race, and were not described as Hebrews; the Jews of Palestine were. But this by no means implies the exclusion of the Greek language from that region: it is quite true indeed that the Hebrew language was specially affected in Jerusalem by the national party as a badge of distinction from Gentiles; and when St Paul desired to conciliate the Jewish populace theré, he addressed them in Hebrew: but even in the church of Jerusalem there were Hellenists as well as Hebrews: and throughout the Roman province of Syria Jew and Greek dwelt side by side; and the two languages were inextricably blended, the Greek language doubtless becoming predominant in proportion to the distance from Jerusalem, and outside the limits of Palestine prevailing probably even amidst the Jewish colonies. Nor do I conceive it necessary to limit the name of Hebrew strictly to Palestine; a large section of the Jewish Christian churches of Syria, as well as Palestine, may well have been known as Hebrews; their intercourse with Jerusa- lem was constant and intimate, they were near enough to frequent regularly the Jewish festivals, and take habitual part in the temple sacrifices, and the same sympathies which impelled St Paul to claim emphatically the title of a Hebrew, would lead the Syrian churches also to glory in it. We are accustomed to think of the church of Antioch mainly as the cradle of Gentile Christianity ; but even there St Paul found it hard to struggle against the prevailing current of Judaism, which flowed thither from Jerusalem. And after his depar- ture, when the Syrian churches passed out of his care, and became the province of the Twelve, we may conclude that even Gentile converts became under such strong Jewish influences, Xviii INTRODUCTION. if not Jewish proselytes, at least thoroughly leavened with Judaism. Unlike the Pauline churches of Rome, Greece and Roman Asia,in which the predominance of Gentile Christians is recognised by St Paul, most of the Hebrew churches ignored probably the existence of a Gentile element in their body. In Palestine then or its neighbourhood I would fix the locality of the Hebrew church; because nowhere else do we find Hellenistic communities rightly designated as Hebrew, and yet depending largely on the LXX for their religious life. ΤΠ Hobrew The mother-church of Jerusalem itself however church not is excluded from consideration by its history, Jerusalem independently of any question that might be raised on the ground of language. For the Church of Je- rusalem had received the word from the Lord himself, and not, as this church had, on the authority of others who had heard him (11. 3): and the martyrdom in three successive persecutions of its most distinguished members, Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, and James the just, is altogether at variance with the language of this epistle, which implies that in this Hebrew church no actual martyrdom had taken place (xii. 4), and that, though they had been for a time after their conversion subject to imprisonment, loss of property, personal maltreatment and abuse (x. 32—34), the church had subsequently enjoyed peace. Baron tie But this history does correspond exactly with bordersof the record contained in the Acts of the Apostles Palestine. —_ of the other churches of Palestine and Syria. For they are said (Acts vill. 1x. x1. 9) to have been founded by the members of the Church of Jerusalem (all of them probably hearers of the Lord), who were scattered abroad in consequence of the persecution in which Stephen perished : and this per- secution extended, as we know, to the churches of Syria: for the mission of Saul to Damascus supphes of itself a con- spicuous example of the local persecutions organised at that time by Jewish animosity against the infant Christian churches within its reach. Hebrew zeal We know on the authority of St James (Acts for the Law. xxj, 20—24), how zealous for the law of their fathers were these thousands of Hebrew Christians, and how active was their participation in the temple-worship: and INTRODUCTION. DSI we may reasonably conclude that their connexion with Jerusalem continued equally close and intimate, except at short intervals of persecution, till the outbreak of the Jewish rebellion. = Then however it became impossible any nforced a- : é : pandonment longer to reconcile either brotherhood with ofthe temple- Gentile Christians, or loyalty to the Roman Sala a government, with fidelity to the Mosaic rites. 2 * The Hebrew church, linked as it was’ with Judaism on the one hand, and Gentile Christianity on the other, by common religious ties, was essentially a peace- party ; now the violence of the Jewish zealots rendered the very existence of a peace-party impracticable at that period in Judaea; for neutrality was treated as a crime, and its adherents fell victims to the rival massacres of Jew and Greek alike’. The abandonment of the law of their fathers, so far at least as ritual was concerned, was thus forced by circumstances upon the Hebrew Christians: those of Jeru- salem fled to Pella; the rest throughout Palestine, who escaped massacre, must have found refuge amidst the neighbouring Christian communities; the Hellenists natu- rally for the most part in Syria; for in Antioch’ the firmness of the Roman governors maintained on the whole a pre- carious peace between the Jewish and Gentile factions ; and in some other cities *, particularly Sidon, Apamea and Gerasa, Josephus expressly records the protection afforded to peaceful Jews, in which category the Jewish Christians undoubtedly were classed. Date of the The date of the epistle must be gathered epistle. from various scattered notices of time and cir- cumstance, which it contains. The years that had elapsed since the plantation of this church are said to be enough for its members to have grown into teachers of the word (v. 12). The time of their conversion, though within their own lifetime, is described as ‘the former days’ (x. 32), an event of the past, which needed an effort of memory * Josephus B. J. τι. § 18. 1— * Josephus 2, J. vu. ᾿ 5.5 8 * Josephus B. J. 11. § 18. 5. - Je Ὡς ὉΠ ΠΕ: 52: XX INTRODUCTION. to recall it. Again the epistle distinctly implies an absence of all apostolic authority in the Hebrew church: the past testimony of the apostles is remembered; but there is no recognition of their living guidance, where we might reason- ably expect to find it; no trace ‘of apostolic or episcopal jurisdiction: the rulers of the church are described by the same vague term (οὗ ἡγούμενοι), which Clement of Rome employs ‘in writing to the Church of Corinth: the only safe- guard against dangerous heresies, which occurs to the author, is the respect due to the position, life, and doctrine of these local leaders. Now it was not till after the death of St Peter and St James, and the removal of St John to Asia Minor, that the Hebrew church can have been left so entirely destitute of apostolic guidance. The relation subsisting between the church and Judaism affords a further indication that we have reached the latest period of the apostolic age. We find that the rival claims of the Law and the Gospel in the domain of Christian life have adjusted themselves: circumcision, though still proba- bly practised by all the members of the Hebrew church, is not so much as mentioned: the legal system of sacrifice is contemplated in a purely typical aspect: the observance of days has passed so completely out of the region of contro- versy, that the term σαββατισμός is employed in a purely spiritual sense: the danger apprehended for the church is not the open antagonism of the Law, but the decay of zeal, and failure to grasp spiritual realities. On the other hand the post-apostolic corruptions of Christian truth by Ebionite and Gnostic heresy present themselves only as undeveloped tendencies: while the early admission of the epistle to an equal rank with the apostolic epistles, the frequent citation of it by Clement of Rome as a work of acknowledged au- thority, and the recognition of it by the earliest fathers of the Alexandrian church, compel us to associate it with the apostolic, rather than any subsequent age. Contempo. , We now approach the important question of rary with [105 relation to the Jewish war and the fall of the siege of Jerusalem. It has been argued from the use Jerusalem. of the present tense in speaking of the Mosaic ritual, that the temple-worship was certainly in existence, INTRODUCTION. Xxi when the epistle was written: I cannot assent to this con- clusion; for the present tense is habitually employed in the epistle of that which exists only in the pages of Scrip- ture. For instance the desire of the patriarchs for a heavenly country, God’s acknowledgment of them (xi. 16), and Abel’s appeal to God for retribution (xi. 4), are all described as if they were still living and speaking: in like manner the ceremonial law, whether existing in fact or not, had a living voice to the author, as existing in the Pentateuch. The balance of evidence inclines rather to the opposite side; for the past tense is used in the description of the sanctuary (ix. I), as though it had ceased to exist. But I do not con- clude therefore that the temple was already actually de- stroyed: it is enough that Christian access to it had ceased. From the commencement of the Jewish rebellion it was closed against the Christian; and before its actual fall the Christian church, prepared as it had been by Christ’s own words of prophecy, had already learned to look upon Jeru- salem as a doomed city. Whether the Roman sword was still suspended over it, or the final stroke had already fallen, that end was already a fixed certainty in the author’s mind. Object and This then was the motive which inspired him ; contents of his paramount object in writing was to reconcile the epistle. is readers to the inevitable change through which they were passing. In his opening (i. 1, 2) he fully recognises the divine character of the older revelation, but reminds them that those days are at an end; and proceeds (i. 2—x. 18) to draw a studied contrast between the imperfect and temporary value of the Mosaic dispensation and the eternal grandeur of God’s final revelation. The angelic Mediators of the Law, its lawgiver and promised inheritance, the priesthood, the covenant, the sanctuary, the atonement, the covenant-blood, the many offerings or- dained under the Levitical system, are all systematically disparaged in several chapters of continuous argument, as inferior, inadequate, and transitory. This argument is in- terrupted from time to time by grave warnings, in which its vital importance at the present crisis is pressed home, and the fearful consequences of unbelief at past crises of Israel’s history are set forth. The need of Christian sted- R. Ο ΧΧῚ INTRODUCTION. fastness is next enforced (x. 23-25) by pointing to the visible tokens of the approach of God’s day of wrath: the terrible vengeance of the Lord is painted in the darkest colours (x. 26—31). They are however encouraged (x. 32—xii. 14) by remembrance of the past, and examples of faithful men of old, to endure God’s present chastening. They are warned (xil. 15—17) of the hopeless doom of the apostate. Then follows the peroration (xii. 18—29): the earthquakes and fire before which the terrified congregation shrank at Sinai, are compared with the great convulsion which the prophet Haggai had predicted: that prophecy is interpreted, with obvious reference to our Lord’s great prophecy of the siege and desolation of Jerusalem (Luke xxi. 20—33), as foreshadowing the final removal of all that is material in heaven and earth, that the spiritual and eternal kingdom only may remain. That final shock is spoken of as a cause of present terror, the consuming fire as now burning, in language which sounds a fitting echo of that terrible siege, in which the Hebrew Christians beheld with trembling and amazement the utter ruin by fire and sword of all that they counted most sacred on earth. Here and there the thought of the besieged city takes definite shape in figures of speech. The foundations of the earthly Jerusalem, failing beneath the shocks of the Roman engines of war, suggest the hope of the heavenly city ‘that hath the foundations; the removal of the city of their fathers gives warning that ‘ we have here no abiding city.’ But the same thought underlies also the whole epistle, and furnishes the only satisfactory key to its contents. Before the cessation of the daily sacrifice and extinction of the Levitical priesthood no Hebrew Christian could have ventured to address to his Hebrew brethren this unsparing condemnation of the Mosaic dispensation. If on the other hand the crisis had altogether passed by, and the temple- worship had become a portion of the forgotten past, the earnest appeals, the deep pathos, the pervading gloom, the vivid pictures of judgment and vengeance, which impart to the epistle its living interest, become unreal and exaggerated. Position οὗ The circumstances of the Hebrew Christians Hebrew suffice at the same time to explain the caution Christians. with which the subject is handled: they were INTRODUCTION. XXliL Jews living in the immediate neighbourhood of a great national rebellion; their words and actions were watched with the most suspicious vigilance by jealous enemies; and it was of vital importance to suppress every semblance of sympathy with rebels. Perondistan Finally the circumstances of the time supply ces ee the a probable explanation of the author’s detention author. at Rome’: he writes from Italy; where Timothy had been a prisoner with him for some cause, which is not mentioned, because already well known to the church (xii. 23, 24). ‘They were not, it seems, awaiting trial; and the simplest explanation of their detention is that they were hostages for the fidelity of their church, carried to Rome perhaps by Vespasian or his generals during the suspension of operations in Judaea caused by events in Italy, and re- tained there until the course of the war satisfied the Roman Government that they might safely be set at liberty. apenas From his place of captivity at Rome then of the crisis he wrote this solemn warning to the Hebrew in the Christians, while Jerusalem was perishing by Church. famine, slaughter and fire, to place their trust no more in Moses or earthly priests, in the covenant of Sinai or an earthly sanctuary, but in the Son, the eternal high priest, who has opened a way into the heavenly sanc- tuary for God’s forgiven children, It was a word in season : for the fate of the Hebrew churches was hanging in the balance: the destruction of the temple necessitated a final choice on their part, whether they would enlarge their sympathies with Gentile Christianity, and frankly accept the spiritual nature of Christ’s religion in all its fulness, or crystallise by slow degrees into those narrow heretical * The meaning of the saluta- tion “ Those of Italy ” (xiii. 24) is discussed in the notes on the passage, and reasons are there given for interpreting it as a greeting from the Italianchurch. The mere mention of Italy and the Italian church suggests that the epistle was probably written from Rome ;. but Rome is more conclusively indicated by the allusion to the detention of the author and Timothy; for Rome was the only Italian centre of administration and justice, in which a Hebrew Christian was likely to be detained in custody. XXIV INTRODUCTION. sects, which long survived, especially in the neighbourhood of Palestine, as a relic of Jewish Christianity. The epistle no doubt contributed largely to determine the destiny of the nobler section, and induce the mass of them to throw in their lot with their Gentile brethren. Perhaps its wide circulation and acceptance amongst the Hebrew Christians in general helped to obliterate the name of the particular church to which it was addressed: and the name of the author perished with it: so that it became generally known and valued throughout the Christian church under the title of the Epistle to the Hebrews. ‘ The heretical tendencies indicated in the ee Hebrew church correspond closely in some points ofthe He- With those assailed in the epistles of St Paul, but brewchurch. present also important and instructive variations. 1. Angelo- The Hebrew scriptures agreed with some oriental logy. : ἌΣ: ; : : 5 systems of religion in attaching considerable im- portance to angelic agency: it is difficult to define how far the spread of this belief after the captivity amidst the Hebrew prophets is due to the influence of those systems ; but wherever Judaism was brought in contact with oriental mysticism, we may naturally expect to find a superstitious veneration of angelic mediators manifesting itself. Josephus’ describes this study ‘as a prominent feature in the secret books of the Jewish Essenes, whose original home was on the borders of Palestine. To some such source must be ascribed the prevalence of these opinions in the Hebrew church, of which the first two chapters furnish distinct inti- mation”; they are there combated by the same line of argu- ment that was employed by St Paul in writing to the Colossian church; the same errors called in both churches for the emphatic assertion of the same Christian truths, and the Christology of this epistle follows closely the lines there traced: the Son of God 15 set forth in his twofold nature, at once divine and human, as in his own person the one Mediator between God and man, in marked opposition to theories of angelic mediation. First the eternal inheritance, preincarnate glory, creative and administrative power of the "ΠΕ Bi ds 11. ὃ ὃ: ἢ. * See note on I. 4. INTRODUCTION. XXV Son are contrasted with their subordinate ministrations (1. 2—14); then his perfect humanity with their diverse nature (ii. 5—18). The cosmical speculation on the contrary, asso- ciated with these views in Asia Minor, scarcely makes its appearance: Phrygia and Ionia were a more fertile soil for the development of speculative philosophy than we should expect to find in Palestine and Syria. 2. Depre- The strictest forms of asceticism had gained ciation of little hold as yet in the Hebrew church: we do mamage. not hear of any false teachers amongst them, “forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats,” as in the Pastoral epistles (1 Tim. iv. 3): but just as we hear in Josephus’ of some less rigid Jewish Essenes, who tolerated marriage as a necessity, but disparaged it as a social union, and sought their real society in the brother- hood of a male community, so when we read in this epistle an emphatic assertion of the dignity of marriage (xi. 4), we may with good reason infer that there existed a similar disparagement of it by some section of the Hebrew church. 3. Saerifi- But the particular doctrine of the Essenes, cialmeals. which strikes every reader of Josephus as most repugnant to the Mosaic Law, was the new system of priest- hood and sacrifice, which they introduced into their daily life. Though they still reverenced the temple at Jeru- salem’, and presented there some kind of dedicated offerings, they practically broke away from its sacrificial system alto- gether, and substituted for it new ordinances of their own’, according to which the daily meal became a sacrifice, and the president of the community took the place of the Levitical priest. Every meal was strictly prepared and blessed by him: at a fixed hour all full members of the community, after performing regular ablutions, arrayed themselves in white, and entered the refectory, which they regarded as a sanctuary: they joined in set forms of prayer, and partook together of the prescribed food: even the probationers of their own brotherhood, though they went through the same course of ablutions, were excluded from these common meals, δ ΟΞ Bs JIL 8.81 13. * Jos. Ant, xviii. § 1. 3. " Jos. B. J. 11. § 8. 5—8. XXV1 INTRODUCTION. which were the highest privilege of the initiated; they were bound by the most solemn oaths not to touch any other food of human preparation, and so sacred did they account these oaths, that expelled members of the community preferred death to partaking of unconsecrated food. Such a system amounted to the introduction of a new kind of sacrifice, superseding the Mosaic, and as alien from the Jewish as from the Christian idea of sacrifice. Yet we find in xiii. g—12 unmistakable traces of some such novel doctrines creeping into the Hebrew church. ΤῸ the author of this epistle they must have been peculiarly offensive, for the Pharisee and the Christian alike would condemn them: it is characteristic of the spirit in which he writes, that he bases his condemnation of this innovation partly on its novelty and foreign origin, partly on its opposition to the typical teaching of the cere- monial law, rather than upon its dangerous tendency to turn religion into a course of mere formal worship. But his con- demnation extends also to the sect which had adopted it. No further details of their system are given; possibly the system itself varied greatly in different localities, and may have presented a different aspect in the cities of Syria from that which Josephus saw in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. But there appears to be no question that the sect of the Essenes are here assailed; whose newly invented sacri- ficial system was the more formidable, because it did not depend, like the Mosaic institutions, on the local temple at Jerusalem, nor was likely to suffer by its destruction, but asserted an universal mastery over the members’ daily life. And we may recognise in this unfavourable estimate a correct judgment of the danger then just beginning to beset the Hebrew church from an alliance with the Jewish Essenes, which subsequently developed into strange forms of heresy. SUMMARY. I. r—3. Contrast between God’s former revelations, and his final revelation in an eternal Son. 4—14. Superiority of the Son to angels. 11. 1—4. Warning of the danger of neglecting his word. 5—8. Man the predestined sovereign of the new world, but not yet. 8—18. Jesus had first to taste of death in the flesh, in order to destroy the bondage of the flesh to the devil: he became like unto man in temptation and suffering, that he might be a true priest for man. III. 1—6. Superiority of Christ to Moses, as a son to a servant. 7—19. Warning against unbelief trom the past example of Israel. TV. r—13. God’s promise of rest, offered in vain of old, is still open to us: but disobedience is fatal; for God’s word tries the heart. 14—16. Therefore let us cleave to our high-priest, and come boldly to God through him. V. 1—10. Completeness of Christ’s priesthood in relation both to God and to man. 11— VI. 3. Reproof for slowness of spiritual growth. VI. 4—12. It is as hopeless to go on trying to renew hard hearts, as to keep tilling barren soil: but the Hebrews give better promise by their works of love. 13—20. God’s promise is sure, confirmed even by an oath. VII. 1—3. Greatness of Melchizedek, 4—Io. His superiority to Abraham and the sons of Levi. 11—28. Nature of the Melchizedek-priesthood, as contrasted with the Levitical. VIII. The ideal tabernacle is heavenly, and its covenant effectual in reconciling man to God. XXVlil SUMMARY. IX. 1—10. The very form of the old sanctuary attested its inability to bring the people near to God; its sacrifices were powerless, as regards the conscience. 11—14. But Christ’s atoning blood assures forgiveness of past sin. 15—21. Christ’s covenant blood pledges the life to God’s service. 22-28. Moreover blood is needed to cleanse every step of man’s heavenward way, the blood of Christ’s one great sacrifice. X. 1—4. Multiplication of sacrifices proves their inefficacy, they serve only as an evidence of sin. 5—14. Christ at his own dedication of himself renounced their use: he completed his atonement for sin by one sacrifice for ever. 15—18. The very language of the new covenant attests the abolition of sacrifice. 19—25. Warning to tread boldly the way Christ hath opened: danger of falling away at a crisis like the present. 26—31. Awful nature of God’s judgments. 32—39. Recollection of former zeal: encouragement to per- severe in faith. XI. Record of the past triumphs of faith. XII. 1—17. Exhortation to run with resolution our Chris- tian race: value of fatherly chastening: danger of apostasy. 18—29. God was manifested at Sinai by symbols only; but the realities of the spiritual world are opened to the Christian church. The Israelites vainly shrank from God’s word thrcugh fear of the fire and quivering of the ground: we must not shrink, because of the terror of the final earthquake-shock and con- suming fire now manifested. XIII. 1—6. Exhortation to sundry duties. 7—17. Warning not to forsake tried leaders for novel and foreign doctrines: our citizenship is not of this world: our true sacrifices are the thank-offerings of a willing heart. 18, 19. Personal appeal for their prayers. 20, 21. Prayer for the church. 22, 23. Promise of speedy return, perhaps with Timothy, 24,25. Salutations and final blessing. ARGUMENT. I. 1—3. Elaborate contrast between God’s fragmentary imperfect revelations of old, and his final revelation of him- self in a son and heir, the creative word, the image of the Father, the governor of the universe, now seated since the incarnation at his right hand. 4—14. The power and glory of the Son are set forth in contrast with angels, and illustrated by citation of inspired utterances from Scripture. II. 1—4. This superiority of the Son, the ambassador of the Gospel, to the angelic ministers of the Law, ought to warn us to give more abundant heed to the word now spoken to us, attested as it has been by man and God. 5—8. For man, not angels, is the destined sovereign of the new world. 8—18. We do not yet indeed behold this sovereignty of man: for Jesus, the captain of man’s redemption, was crowned with the glory and honour already described, that he might taste of death for every man. This scheme of redemption was in harmony with the divine nature, (1) in its object: for as the ultimate object of creation is the glory of the eternal Father (δ ὃν τὰ πάντα), 1.6. the perfect manifestation of his almighty wisdom goodness and love; so the object of redemption is the glory of his sons, 1.e. the perfect sonship which makes them one in will and spirit with the Father: these two objects therefore are in reality iden- tical. (2) in its means: for as the creative love of the Father (Sv οὗ τὰ πάντα) shapes the course of the universe, so also the redeeming love of the Son creates by his voluntary sufferings a new life for his brethren by rescuing them from XXX ARGUMENT. that will of the flesh, which is enmity with the Father. In both cases there is the same creative impulse working by love unto the glory of God. Christ then was consecrated priest through sufferings : his priesthood is based on brotherhood with man: he became like his brethren, partaker of flesh and blood, that by death of the flesh he might destroy its bondage to the devil: sub- ject to temptation, a sufferer himself, that he may be a merciful as well as faithful high priest for man. III. τ- 6. Such is God’s ambassador (ἀπόστολος) to us, and our high priest (ἀρχιερεύς) towards God. Moses in like manner combined these two offices, but as a servant, not a son. 7—19. Take warning from the example of the old Israel: they had promise of God's rest, but all perished through unbelief. IV. 1—13. The promise of God’s rest is still open to those that believe: it existed indeed from the first institution of the Sabbath at the creation; but in Moses’ time it was offered still in vain. It was offered again in the Psalms, Joshua having given no true rest: our true rest must be a spiritual rest as complete as God’s rest: but the disobedient cannot enter into it, for God’s word has a living power to search hearts and discern spirits. 14—16. Therefore, that we may enter into this holy rest, let us cleave to so sympathising a high priest, and through him draw near boldly to the throne of grace. V. 1—10. For as the high priesthood demands, Ist fel- lowship with human weakness, 2ndly divine appointment; so Christ was made priest, both by divine adoption (sonship involving priesthood as its birthright), and by direct appoint- ment to a Melchizedek-priesthood: while his tearful prayers, his shrinking from death, his godly obedience, qualified him for the priesthood on the side of humanity. V. 11—VI. 3. This Melchizedek-priesthood may be hard to explain to you; for though you have been so long Christians, you still need to be fed as babes in Christ. But ARGUMENT. χχχὶ men must have solid food: I will deal with you as men in Christ: we cannot be always teaching rudiments, and laying foundations. 4—12. For it is impossible to keep renewing again and again the conversion of hard hearts. They are like barren soil, which, however blessed with fertilizing rain, bears only thorns fit for burning. But your works of love move us to hope that you have made the better choice; and they will surely call down God’s blessing. 13—20. For God’s promises are sure: he pledged to Abraham, not his word only, but his oath; our hope therefore rests securely on him: and now Jesus has gone before to lead us into his presence, our eternal Melchizedek-priest. VII. 1—3. For who was Melchizedek? king of peace, king of righteousness; greater than Abraham (for he blessed Abraham, and took tithes of him), priest of God, not in virtue of his family, or of any official claim; but made like to the son of God, a priest for ever. 4—10. Abraham paid him tithes; the Levitical priest indeed takes tithes of his brethren, children of Abraham though they are, but only certain prescribed legal tithes ; but Melchizedek takes them of Abraham himself without any claim of family or law: he blesses Abraham too as a superior: nor is he a temporary priest, like the Levitical, but a living priest: Levi in fact did himself in a manner pay him tithes in the person of his forefather Abraham. 11—28. Why in fact was the Levitical priesthood set aside,—a change involving a change of law also? one of a different tribe, a different kind of priest, of indestructible life, supplants that priesthood with its law of carnal descent and shortlived generations. Such an everliving priest was fitted to man’s need; holy and pure in life; freed by death from contact with sin, or need of further sacrifice ; lifted into the Father’s presence ; a Son consecrated for ever. VIII. Furthermore, if such be the true heavenly priest, what is the true tabernacle? not an earthly one; for the Mosaic tabernacle has its priests on earth; and it was after all only a copy of the heavenly ideal: its covenant too was 2oO.all ARGUMENT. already in Jeremiah’s time condemned as a failure; and a mightier covenant was promised, a covenant of heartservice and universal knowledge of God on man’s side, of forgiveness and the gifts of the Spirit on God’s side. IX. 1—10. The very form in fact of the Mosaic taber- nacle, constructed as an outer and an inner chamber, attested its impotence for securing access to God: the holy place was closed to all save the priests; the holy of holies to all, save once a year to the high priest alone; shut in behind the holy place from all sight or access of the people; the sacrifices too are but material types without any virtue save for cleansing of the flesh. 11—14. But Christ, presenting himself as true high priest in heaven, by virtue of his own atoning blood cleansed the spirit from pollution of past guilt. 15—20. Christ is also mediator of a new covenant of adoption: as Moses sealed in blood the covenant of the Law, so Christ sealed this in his own blood, thereby pledging life to its fulfilment. 21—28. Moreover as the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry needed to be cleansed with blood; so blood is needed to cleanse the steps of man’s heavenward path to God (i.e. Christian life needs continual forgiveness by means of the same atoning blood of its many infirmities); but the blood of mightier sacrifices; and not of many, but of one: as there has been but one Incarnation of Christ at the end οὔ the times, so there could be but one death, one return in glory. X. 1—18. For the sacrifices of the Law were constantly repeated, because they were ineffectual, save as memorials of a need; therefore Christ, when entering on his public minis- try, deliberately set aside sacrifice, dedicating himself in a holy purpose of doing God’s will—a dedication which em- braces his whole church throughout all time. Again, whereas the earthly priest stands ever offering ineffectual sacrifices ; Christ after consecrating for ever all his future Church by his one death, sat down at God’s right hand. The language of the new covenant itself bears witness to the abolition of ARGUMENT. ΣΧ ΣΙ sacrifice; for it contains God’s promise to write his laws in the heart, and his promise of forgiveness of sins; so that there is no more place left for sacrifice. 19—25. Trusting then to the blood of consecration upon us and to the might of our priest over the house of God, let us tread boldly the road he cleft through the veil of flesh into the presence of our God; cleansed as we are from con- sciousness of past guilt, washed from wilful sin, let us hold fast our hope ; for God’s promise is sure: let us stir up one another to works of love and common prayer; and that the more, the more visibly the day approaches. 26—31. For how shall the wilful sinner face the terrors of the day of wrath! Death was the penalty for contempt of Moses’ law; what shall be his doom, who scorns the Son, the blood of the covenant, the Spirit! How terrible to fall into the hands of the living God! 32—39. But remember the former days after your con- version, your endurance of persecution, your sympathy with the imprisoned, your joyful sacrifice of worldly goods for a better heritage of life. Be bold still: great is your reward: a little more endurance! He will soon be here: but do not draw back: by faith we live. XI. Now faith gives assurance to hope, certainty to the unseen world. By faith Abel, Enoch, Noah, gained God’s approval: by faith Abraham obeyed God’s call to a strange land and received a son in his old age: by faith the patriarchs fixed their eyes on the land of promise, and failed not in the hour of temptation and death: by faith Moses was true to Israel: by faith Israel passed the Red Sea, and took Jericho : by faith judges, kings, prophets vanquished enemies ; martyrs endured to death: though they could not actually obtain the reward till Christ should consecrate them by his death. XII. 1—17. And now we have to run our course in sight of all these heavenly witnesses: let us then strip our- selves of every cumbrance of the flesh and garment of sin, fixing our eyes on the captain of the faith, Jesus, once patient of the cross, now seated at God’s right hand. Faint not, because the training is severe: it is your Father that chastens XXXIV ARGUMENT. you in love,—a heavenly father, not a shortsighted capricious earthly father: painful as it is now, chastening will bear fruit in the peace of mind which belongs to a righteous life. Therefore lift wp weary hand and knee, make straight paths for your own feet, that no lame joint may fail: study peace and holy living: watch that there be no apostasy among you, no bitter growth to taint the body of the church: no sensuality or impiety, too late repented of. 18—29. The Israelites were panic stricken by the mate- rial symbols of God’s holiness at Sinai: ye have entered the courts of the living God, and stand in spiritual presence of the church of God’s elect on earth with myriads of attendant angels, of God the Judge, and the spirits of the consecrated dead, and of Jesus the mediator of the new covenant with the covenant-blood. Shrink not from God’s warning call to holiness: in vain the Israelites shrank from its earthly sym- bols. He hath prophesied this one shock, with which the material frame of heaven and earth should quake; and this shock is final; the spiritual and eternal alone shall survive this consuming fire of God’s wrath: let us then thankfully, but not without godly fear, accept the service of our spiritual king. XIII. 1—6. Persevere in your love of the brethren and love to strangers; in kindness and sympathy; honour your marriage-tie; keep purity: cherish liberality, contentment, trust in God. 7—17. Have respect to the teaching and example of your rulers: it was they, and such as they, who first preached the Gospel to you. Jesus Christ changeth not; beware of foreign superstitious inventions as to sacrificial food; the very law of the sin-offering forbids us, as it did the Jewish priests, to eat the flesh of the sin-offering: it was burnt without the camp: even so Christ our sin-otfermg went out of the city to shed his blood for us. Therefore we too must go out of the world to him to find our true citizenship: we have no portion in this world but the reproach of Christ: we seek one to come: let our sacrifices then be thankofferings of praise to God and loving help to man: with these God 15 well pleased. Obey your rulers, as their loving care deserves. ARGUMENT. ΣΧΧΥ 18, 19. Pray for us (we have lived in good conscience) ; specially for my restoration to you. 20, 21. The God of peace, who raised up the great shepherd, amend every defect in your fulfilment of his will. To him be the glory. 22, 23. Bear with my brief letter. I trust soon to see you: perhaps Timothy will accompany me, 24, 25. Salutations and final blessing. iz we 7 oN a9 ‘a ge i” a a ΠΡῸΣ EBPAIOYS ΠΡῸΣ: “EBPAIOYe fy TIOAYMEPQS KAI ΠΟΛΥΤΡΟΠΩΣ πάλαι ς \ , =~ , > ~ , ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατρασιν ἐν τοῖς προφηταις ’ 4 ΄σ ε ΄σ Ἢ > , ~ 2 ἐπ᾿ ἐσχατου τῶν ἡμερῶν τουτων ἐλαλησεν ἡμῖν 1. 1—3. Elaborate contrast between God's fragmentary wmperfect revelations of old, and his final revelation of him- self in a son and heir, the creative word, the image of the Father, the governor of the universe, now seated since the incarnation at his right hand. No other epistle in the New Testament (except St John’s) is without the author’s name and greeting: the omission was noticed in the earliest times: the futile attempts of Clement of Alexandria and Origen, to reconcile it with the theory of St Paul’s authorship, are stated in the Introduction. Possibly the author was actuated by a desire to avoid any semblance of self-assertion; certainly he did not intend to disguise his personality, for he is writing to a church to which he and his circumstances were well known. 1. πολυμερώῶς κ. πολυτρόπως] These two adverbs are com- bined to express with rhetorical emphasis the imperfect nature of God’s older revelations. The first marks the fragmentary na- ture of these successive utter- ances; e.g. in Moses he made known the holiness of his law, in David’s time the kingdom of his Son, in the Psalms and later chapters of Isaiah the suf- ferings and humiliation of the Messiah, in Daniel the glory of the second coming, ἄς. The second describes the various imperfect methods by which he manifested himself, viz. by dreams and visions, by angels TO THE HEBREWS. Gop, who spake by sundry portions and in divers: 1 manners of old time unto the fathers in the prophets, hath at the end of those days spoken unto us in a Son2 and heavenly voices, by Urim and Thummim, by prophetic utterance, &ec. mada] A long period in- tervened between the close of the line of Jewish prophets in Malachi, and the coming of the Messiah. λαλήσας... ἐλάλησεν] This em- phatic iteration of the verb points an antithesis between the old and the new revelation. λαλεῖν has a disparaging force in classical Greek, as denoting mere idle talk; but in Helle- nistic Greek it expresses conti- nuous speech of the most digni- fied character, such as Christian preaching, as well as ordinary conversation. τοῖς πατράσιν] The author writes as an Israelite to Israel- ites. ἐν τοῖς προφήταις] The ut- terance of the prophets is re- cognised as not their own, but God’s voice speaking in them. Though the term prophets was sometimes applied to all preach- ers of religion (we hear for in- stance of ‘schools of the pro- phets’), it more often denotes, as here, those inspired preachers who were taught of God. 2. ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου] at the end of those days, 1.e. of the Jewish dispensation. These opening words contain an expressive in- timation of the occasion which called forth the Epistle, viz. the end of the Jewish dispensation by the destruction of the city and temple, which was now im- minent (see Introduction). οὗτος ὁ αἰών was the term habitually employed to denote the Jewish dispensation, in contrast with ὁ μέλλων αἰών the Messianic dis- pensation ; the final termination of the old was not the Gospel] revelation, but the destruction of the temple. 1—2 4 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ii ’ en A , , ’ Gx εν ULW, OV ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον TAVTW), δι ου \ 3 και 7ὔ A ΄σ- ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰώνας" « \ » / OS wy ἀπαυγασμα ΄σ y \ \ ΄σ ε / > os Τῆς δόξης και χαρακτηρ THS υποστασέξεως AUTOU, ho A; ’ σ΄ ile ~ / φερων τὸ Τὰ ΠΟ Tw ρημαᾶτι τῆς δυνάμεως ~~ \ ΄σ ε ΄σ / αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος 3 , > ων ΄σ if ε ΄ ἐκαθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, ἐν υἱῷ] not ‘in his Son’ otherwise it must have been ἐν To vid: for the article is str ongly suggested by the antithesis ἐν τοῖς ἘΠ and its omission must be intentional. The ob- ject of the passage is not to present Christ as the only Son of God, but as ‘a son’, one of the many sons of God (see 1]. rto— 17); it is reserved for the suc- ceeding relative clauses to de- scribe the exalted nature by which the firstborn is distin- guished above all created beings. eOnxev...eroincev] The plu- perfect 15 as necessary to express the sense in English, as the aorist in Greek (see Appendix C): for these two relative clauses describe the antecedents, by which before his incarnation the Son had been fitted to be the mouthpiece of God’s final revelation : he had been already installed as heir to the sove- reignty of the universe, and as the creative word. ἐπ. τ. αἰῶνας] Not ‘the worlds’ according to the ordinary Eng- lish meaning of the word ; for the ‘world’ is the material uni- verse, and its creation is gene- rally conceived of as the calling matter into existence out of nothing ; but this was not the scriptural conception of creation: the first chapter of Genesis de- scribes rather the infusion of ac- tion and life by the word of God into matter which existed pre- viously without form or power, the moving of the Spirit on the face of the waters, Again αἰών means primarily a period of time; thence it 15 extended to include all that takes place in time, the motion and action of the living world in time. Nor must we omit to notice the force of the plural αἰῶνας here used. The language of our text im- plies that all the creative ener- gies by which life and action have been produced not only at the beginning, but throughout the successive ages of the world, have acted through the Son. Oster ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ] This clause describes the rela- tion to the Father inherent in the nature of the eternal Son. He is the brilliance (ἀπαύγασμα) streaming from the Father's rf TO THE HEBREWS. 5 whom he had appointed heir of all things, through whom also he had created the times; who being the effulgence 3 of his glory, and the image of his substance, and uphold- ing all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of glory, as rays from the sun: he is the perfect image (xapax- ap) of the Father in the essence of his being. ἀπαύγασμα is used similarly as an attribute of wis- dom in Wisd. vii. 26, ἀπαύγασμα yap ἐστι φωτὸς ἀϊδίου. χαρακτήρ was the impression stamped by a die; and hence the exact image, either of the outward features, or of the inward mind and spirit, of another: the term used by St Paul (Col. 1. 15) to correspond to it is εἰκών. ὑπό- στασις was substance, as opposed to outward form; that which underlies all transitory acci- dents, and constitutes the real permanent essence, by virtue of which a person is himself. The rendering ‘person’ belongs to the fourth century, when it was imposed upon ὑπόστασις in de- fiance of etymology, as a com- promise to settle the contro- versy of the rival theologians of the Latin and Greek churches. φέρων... αὐτοῦ] This clause describes the part borne by the Son in the continuous govern- ment of the world, as the last verse did in its creation. The close sequence of the two clauses Ov...avTod, and dépwv...adrot, demands the reference of αὐτοῦ to the same person, ie. God the Father; so also does the ge- neral meaning of the passage, which is dwelling not on what the Son is in himself, but on his relation to the Father: as the Father created all things through him, so by the Father’s power he upholds the universe. καθαρισμὸν lie a. ποιησάμενος] The aorist participle marks ἃ transition to the historic fact of the incarnation; which is here lightly touched upon, because the immediate object is to ex- hibit the superiority of the Son, his humiliation being reserved for the next chapter. The de- scription therefore passes from the preincarnate to the resur- rection glory with brief mention of the intervening atonement. The nature of the purification is set forth fully in the ninth chapter, where the atoning blood of Christ is said to cleanse the conscience from the pollution of guilt, that the sin- ner may enter with assurance of forgiveness into the service of his heavenly Father. ἐκάθισεν ἐν 6.] This figure is borrowed from the picture of the Son’s complete and final triumph in Ps. ex. (cix, in 1ΧΧ). 6 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. I 7 , , ~ , 4 τοσούτω κρείττων γενόμενος τῶν ἀγγελων , 3 > \ , διαφορώτερον παρ᾽ αὐτοὺς κεκληρονομηκεν ὃ μα. « οσω sf ονο- , \ ΟΣ / ΄σ > / Tim yap εἶπεν ποτε τῶν ἀγγέλων ἊΣ Ψ , ͵ , ͵ Yidc Moy εἴ οὐ, ἐγὼ CHMEPON γεγέννηκᾶ Ce, 4—14. The power and glory of the Son are set forth in contrast with angels, and illustrated by citation of inspired utterances from Scripture. The attitude is contrasted with standing on earth, in x. 11, 12, as one of perfect rest and hea- venly glory. The king’s right hand was the place of power and dignity (see Matt. xx. 21): the minister who was placed there was the channel of the King’s authority, the fountain of his mercy, the mediator be- tween him and his people. ἐν ὑψηλοῖς] must be joined to τῆς μεγαλωσύνης like ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς in vili. 1. Qualifying in Hebrews that he is heir of all things, through whom God created the times, the image (χαρακτήρ) of his sub- stance, upholding all things : words need not be placed be- tween the article and substan- tive in Hellenistic Greek ; but may be placed after the sub- stantive, as in English (see Ap- pendix C). 2, 3. The close parallelism of thought, rather than lan- guage, between this passage and Col. 1. 15—20 can hardly be accidental. The arguments of the two writers for the supe- riority of the Son to all created beings are in Colossians that he is the firstborn of all crea- tion, in him were all things created, the image (εἰκών) of the invisible God, in him all things consist : while both alike pass to the resurrection glory, as the sequel. 4. The part played by angels in the older revelation (ii. 2) furnishes an occasion for this studied antithesis between the Son’s position and theirs; but the fulness with which it is worked out indicates the exist- ence in the Hebrew church of the same heretical tendencies, which called forth the warnings of St Paul in the case of the Colossian church (see Intro- duction): the attempt had al- ready begun within the Chris- tian church to bridge the in- terval between God and man Ι TO THE HEBREWS. 7 the Majesty on high; becoming so much mightier than 4 the angels, as he hath inherited a name preeminent above them. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, 5 Thou art my Son, 1 have this day begotten thee? by a hierarchy of angelic medi- ators, which found its full de- velopment at a later time in Gnosticism. Against this mul- titude of angelic mediators the same doctrine is set up in both Epistles, viz. the union in the Person of the Son of the highest heavenly exaltation, and the most perfect humanity. κρείττων y.| becoming, as the result of this exaltation, as much mightier than the angels, as the inheritance of the son is above the position of the mes senger. κρείττων does not express moral excellence of one person above another; it only means ‘better’ in the sense of more expedient (Lat. utilior). 5. Passages from the Psalms and Prophets, which the tradi- tional teaching of the Jews con- nected with the future Messiah, are in this and other parts of the Epistle freely so applied ; for though they referred also to persons living at the time of their utterance, and to circum- stances then existing, the whole typical interpretation of Scrip- ture assumed that these persons and circumstances had their antitypes in the spiritual king- dom of the Messiah, and that its import was not exhausted by the original reference. Ps. 11. celebrates some great victory of the houseof David over a heathen coalition, and the re- turn of the victorious prince to his stronghold on Mount Zion. There is recorded in 2 Sam. vill. such a victory of David himself over a great confederacy of Ammonites, Syrians, and others under Hadadezer, which may possibly have been its oc- casion ; but the language points more naturally to a similar triumph of a son of David in some later generation, as e.g. Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx.), or Ahaz (Is. vii, viii.). From the time of Nathan’s prophecy (2 Sam. vii. 8—17) the title ‘Son of David’ grew into an ideal designation of the future glorious King of Israel. ἐγώ] Note the emphasis of the expressed pronoun. ‘It is I, not thine earthly father, who have this day claimed thee by adoption, as my son. Thou art this day become no longer son of David, but son of God.’ The Hebrew prophets constantly ap- plied the language descriptive of natural parentage to the God of Israel, as here γεγέννηκα. σήμερον] The day of trium- phal entry into Zion re-estab- 8 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. I \ , Kal παλιν ᾿Εγὼ €comal ayT@ εἰς πὰτέρὰ, Kal ayTOc EcTal μοὶ εἰς Υἱόν, 4 \ , 2 , ‘ , 3 \ 6 ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγαγή τὸν πρωτοτοκον εἰς THY 3 , Uy οἰκουμένην, λέγει Kal TIPOCKYNHCAT@CAN δγτῷ πάντεο ἄγγελοι θεοῦ. = \ \ \ \ 3 / / 7 καὶ πρὸς MEV TOUS ἀγγέλους λέγει Ὃ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλογο ἀὐτοῦ πνεύματα, Kal τοὺς A€lToyproyc ἀὐτοῦ πυρὸς dAdra* ὃ πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱὸν Ὃ θρύνος coy, 6 θεός, εἰς τὸν δἰῶνὰ [TOF aidnoc], \ ΣΡ ΜΝ Καὶ ἢ paBdAoc Τῆς lished the king upon his throne, as heir to the sceptre of David: in lke manner the day of Christ’s triumphant resurrec- tion proclaimed him truly the Son of God (Acts xiii. 33). 6. ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγάγῃ] ὅταν with aorist subjunctive refers constantly in Hellenistic Greek to a future event, the time of which is not yet re- vealed. Here, as in Luke xvii. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 24, the refer- ence is to the second coming of Christ, ‘whenever the time shall come for the glorious re- turn of the firstborn’. πάλιν means ‘back again’, and is joined to the verb, as in iv. 7, Vv. 12, vi. 1, 6: if it had been a connecting particle, the order must have been πάλιν δὲ ὅταν. eYOYTHTOC ῥάβλος τῆς BaciAElac αὐτοῦ. The verb εἰσάγειν is a technical term for the regular induction of an heir into his lawful in- heritance; and is constantly applied by the Lxx to the put- ting Israel in possession of his inheritance, whether in the time of Joshua, or of the resto- ration; it is therefore appro- priately employed here, to de- scribe Christ’s triumphant re- turn in glory hereafter to take possession of his kingdom. οἰκουμένην is the world of man, in which he is then to reappear, after the heavens have long hidden him from human sight. The relative clause ὅταν... must depend on the imperative clause, kat...eov, the λέγει being paren- thetical. That clause is taken from the dying song of Moses I TO THE HEBREWS. 9 and again, I will be to him a Father And he shall be to me a Son? And, when he shall bring back again the firstborn into 6 the world, he saith, Yea, let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire : but of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of his in Deut. xxxil. 43 (where how- ever it exists only in the Lxx); and is the climax of a magnifi- cent description of the Lord’s return in triumph to judge the world, and avenge his people on their enemies. The word καί in Deut. means simply ‘and’; here however it pre- sents the homage of the angels as the climax of the Lord’s glory, just as yea is used in English. Fees. ely, (cli) is ἃ hymn of praise, celebrating God, as the Lord of the natural world. The meaning of the 4th verse, which is here quoted, is in the Psalm determined by the con- text to be, that the winds and fire are instruments of God’s will. But the articles preced- ing ἀγγέλους and λειτουργούς shew that these are the direct object of ποιῶν, and that πνεύ- kingdom. ματα and φλόγα are predicated of them. The Psalmist poeti- cally identified the angels, as being the agents through whom God’s will finds expression in nature, with the winds and fire which they employ as instru- ments. 8, 9. The original occasion of Ps. xlv. (xliv.) was the mar- riage of some heir of the house of David to a foreign princess ; some understand this to have been Solomon’s marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh; but the prominence given to Tyre points to the marriage of Joram with Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel of Tyre, as a more probable occasion. The μέτοχοι were princes who formed the wed- ding guests. The marriage was typical of the marriage of Christ to his church gathered out of the heathen: the tenor of the 10 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. I 9 HTATTHCAC AIKAIOCYNHN Καὶ @MICHCAC ANOMIAN* Διὰ τοῦτο EypICeN ce ὁ θεύο, ὁ BEdc Coy, EAAION APAAMACEWC πὰρὰ τοὺς METOYOYC COY" 10 καί py ’ > ’ , ‘ - 5 ' Y KaT’ ἄρχδο, κύριε, THN TAN ἐθεμελιώοδο, κἀὶ ἐργὰ τῶν χειρῶν COY EICIN οἱ OYPANOI" ΤΙ AYTO! ἀπολοῦντδι, CY δὲ AIAMENEIC’ KAl TIANTEC ὧς IMATION TIAAAIWOHCONTAI, 12 κἀὶ ὡςεὶ TEPIBOAAION EAIZEIC AYTOYC, ε i \ ’ , ὡς LUATLOV KAl Δλλὰγῆοον τΤὰι" \ \ ς > ‘ > \ Yo > > ' cy ΔΕ O AyYTOC El, KAl TA ETH COY ΟΥ̓Κ EKAEIWOYCIN. \ ’ \ - 3 , of / 13 πρὸς τίνα δὲ τών ἀγγέλων εἰρηκεν ποτε Κάθογ ἐκ δεξιῶν MOY ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούής CoY ὑποπόδιον τῶν πολῶν next chapter points, like the parable in Matt. xxii. r—14, to men as the guests ; but the con- text here requires us to include all created beings, angels as well as men, among the guests above whom the king is ex- alted. 8. Though the words ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός cov in the next verse are evidently two nominatives in apposition, the words ὁ θεός in this verse must be a vocative (according to the common Hel- lenistic form of the vocative em- ployed in Col. 111. 18—22); for it is scarcely possible to construe the verse otherwise: but this vocative is not addressed to the same earthly prince, to whom ΓΟΥ; the next verse is addressed, for no Hebrew prophet would so address an earthly prince ; it is an interjectional appeal to God ; and the glory which it attributes to this royal Son of God is not that he is God, but that God. lis Father has made his throne his own, to stand for ever. The change of persons is indicated by the amended reading αὐτοῦ introduced in the text after βασιλείας in place of cov. There is a similar juxtaposition of the voc. ὁ θεός addressed to God, and the nomin. ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν spoken of God, in Ps. Ixvii. (Ixvi.) 6, 7. 10. Ps. cii. -(ci.) seems to have been written by an exile of I TO THE HEBREWS. 11 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; 9 Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And 10 Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of thy hands: They shall perish; but thou continuest : 11 And they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up; 12 As a garment too shall they be changed: But thou art the same, And thy years shall not fail. But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, 13 Sit thou on my right hand Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet ? the Captivity, when hopes of the restoration of Zion had been awakened. The vivid descrip- tion of the present humiliation of God’s servant, and confident assurance of coming deliverance, impart to it a Messianic cha- racter ; but the particular words quoted (vv. 25—27) have no ap- parent reference to the Messiah, but describe the eternal glory of Jehovah. οὐρανοί] the material heavens; whose liability to decay and change is presented under the figure of raiment, which grows old and is folded up or changed. II. διαμένεις] (present) cor- responds better to the clause o αὐτὸς εἶ, than διαμενεῖς (future), and is more appropriate in a passage like this, which contains a description of the Eternal. 12. ὡς ἱμάτιον] is here re- peated by our author (according to the best mss), though not found in the original passage of the Psalm itself. 12. Ps: ex. (cix.) was uni- versally ascribed by the Jews to David himself, as is evident from the argument of our Lord in Mark xii. 36; and comes appropriately from the royal Psalmist; who at one time wielded with merciless severity the sword of the conqueror, at another identified himself zea- lously with the priests (2 Sam. vi. 14). Nathan’s prophecy of the greater son of David, who was to sit on his throne for ever, 12 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOY>. A , > \ A / I4ovye παντες εἰσίν λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα Tat > ELS “ / \ \ ΄ διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας [1.1 κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν; δεῖ περισσοτέρως 2 σθεῖσιν, μή ποτε παραρυῶμεν. προσέχειν A rt Alta τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἀκου- >’ A « > ει yap ὁ δι ᾽ 7 Α 7) , \ ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς λόγος ἐγένετο βεβαιος, Kat πᾶσα παράβασις καὶ παρακοὴ ἔλαβεν ἔνδικον 3 μισθαποδοσίαν, πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐκφευξόμεθα τηλι- ’ ᾽ 7 y of > A KavTns ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας ἥτις ἀρχὴν Aa- Il. 1—4. This superiority of the Son, the ambassador of the Gospel, to the angelic ministers of the Law, ought to warn us to give more abundant heed to the word now spoken to us, attested as it has been by man and God. and to build God’s house, may well have originated the ideal presented by the Psalm, of a priest-king, at once judge and avenger, who should reign for ever. The prophetic reference of this passage to the Messiah is recognised by our Lord him- self (Mark xii. 35—37), by St Peter (Acts ii. 34), and by St Paul (1 Cor. xv. 27). The figure of placing the necks of enemies beneath the feet of the con- queror was suggested by actual warfare (Josh. x. 24). 14. λειτουργικά] The word λειτουργός (λεώς, ἔργον) and its derivatives were applied in clas- sical Greek to the secular ser- vice of the state: but the union of state and church amidst the Jews led naturally to the Hel- lenistic usage of it, as a religious minister employed in the public worship of God. ἀποστελλόμενα] (pres. pass.) sent forth from time to time, as occasion requires, throughout the ages as God’s ministers for His elect’s sake. I. μή ποτε] The indefinite mote ‘ haply’ modifies the warn- ing conveyed by μή, much as που modifies affirmative state- ments. It isa favourite expres- sion of the author, recurring three times in the Epistle (iii. 12; ἵν 1): παραρυῶμεν] (2nd aor. pass., pp in class. Greek) drift from the anchorage of a firm faith, as a boat drifts down the current of a river, if cast loose from its moorings. 2. ὁ Ov ἀγγέλων Aad. λ.] The attention of the reader is here III TO THE HEBREWS. 13 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service 14 for the sake of them that are to inherit salvation ? Therefore we ought to give the more abundant heed to 1 2 the things heard, lest haply we drift away. Tor if the word spoken through angels became valid, and every trans- gression and disobedience received just payment ; how 3 shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? one concentrated on the one great revelation of the older dispensa- tion, the Law, as contrasted with the Gospel. The interposition of angels in the giving of the Law assumed a more conspicu- ous place in later Jewish teach- ing, than in the Pentateuch, and is referred to more than once in the New Testament (Acts vii. 53, Gal. 111. 19). The passages referring to them most markedly in the Old Testament (Deut. Xxxili, 2, and Ps, ]xviii. (Ixvil.) 17) are uncertain in text. ἐγένετο βέβαιος] refers to the solemn ratification of the Law of Moses by the Israelite nation, recorded in Ex. xxiv.; and its actual establishment in practice as the law of the nation, which followed thereupon. παράβασις] outward trans- gression ; παρακοή wrong temper of mind, whether manifested in active disobedience, or stubborn- ness of spirit. μισθαποδοσίαν] As St Paul speaks of the wages of sin, so every penalty for disobedience, whether inflicted in regular course of human law, or by di- vine interposition, might be properly regarded as payment of wages (ψισύός, ἀποδοῦναι, to pay). 3. ἥτις] ‘one which’ does not introduce a mere statement of fact, like the simple relative; but specifies its antecedent as belonging to a class, and possess- ing particular qualities; here the nature of the revelation, as one made by the Lord himself, is adduced as rendering neglect inexcusable. ἀρχὴν ... ἐβεβαιώθη]͵͵ These words admit two alternative renderings. Hither the parti- ciple and verb make two dis- tinct statements, ‘was first spoken through the Lord, and was con- Jjirmed’, or they combine to form a single statement, ‘was con- jirmed to us, as first spoken through the Lord’: the argu- ment requires the second, for it alone presents the proper anti- thesis between the revelation of the Law through angels, and of the Gospel through the Lord ; while it places the attestation of the apostles in its true position as subordinate to the great cen- tral fact of the Lord Jesus’ per- sonal intervention, and not as a collateral independent testimo- 14 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΤΙ ΄ ~ A ΄σ ᾿ ΄σ ’ βοῦσα λαλεῖσθαι διὰ ποῦ κυρίου ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκου- / > « - 9 7ὔ ΄ 4 σαντων εἰς η μας ἐβεβαιῳθῃ, συνεπιμαρτυρουντος a = , \ , 7, του θεοῦ σήημειοις 7ΠῈ Καὶ τερᾶασιν καὶ ποικιλαις / \ , τ ἢ A δυνάμεσιν Kal TVEVUMATOS aytou μερισμοις κατὰ \ ΄σ / την αὐτοῦ θέλησιν; ’ \ ’ ’ ς , A 3 ΄ 5 Οὐ yap ἀγγελοις ὑπεταἕεν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὁ τὴν μέλλουσαν, περὶ ἧς λαλοῦμεν᾽ διεμαρτύρατο ’ , / δέ πού τις λέγων Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὅτι MIMNHCKH δὐτοῦ, H Υἱός ἀνθρώπογ ὅτι ἐπιοκέπτη δὐτόν ; 7 HAATT@CAC AYTON Bpayy TI πὰρ᾽ ArréAoyc, AGZH Kal TIMH ἐοτεφάνωοδο AYTON, 5—8. For man, not angels, is the destined sovereign of the new world. ny. They were but witnesses ; with whom God himself also concurred in attesting the word of Jesus. The preposition with ace, εἰς ἡμᾶς instead of dat. ἡμῖν, marks the transmission of this testimony from the original hearers to the Hebrew church. The bearing of this passage on historical questions connected with the Epistle is considered in the Introduction. 4. σημεῖο. are signs of any kind, τέρατα supernatural por- tents, δυνάμεις miraculous powers vested in men, wv. μερισμοί spiritual gifts apportioned a- mong the various members of the church (see 1 Cor, xii.) τ. οἰκουμένην τ. μέλλου- σαν] Jewish prophecy had al- ready before the Christian era fastened on the term ὁ μέλλων a definite Messianic import. The Messiah was ὁ μέλλων ἔρχεσθαι, he that was to come ; a designation applied also to his forerunner : the blessings he was to impart were τὰ μέλλοντα ἀγαθά : the new city of the re- deemed, the heavenly Jerusalem, was ἡ μέλλουσα πόλις : the time of his coming and kingdom was ὁ μέλλων αἰών. That time was future, when the Hebrew pro- phets spoke of it; but partly present, partly future, when this Epistle was written: for it LE TO THE HEBREWS. 15 which was confirmed to us by them that heard it as first spoken through the Lord; God also bearing witness with 4 them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by endowments of the Holy Spirit according to his will. = For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, 5 whereof we are speaking. saying, But one, we know, protested, 6 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him ? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; 7 Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, began with the beginning of the Christian church: in vi. 2 for instance it is spoken of as already in existence: but it is to continue till the second coming shall have consummated the work of redemption, and all things have been subdued to the Father. The subject of the Epistle (περὶ ἧς λαλοῦμεν) is this world (οἰκουμένη), the abode of man, already in part regenerated by the work of Christ, and form- ing the sphere in which his Spirit and his church are work- ing. 6. Ps. viii. is a thankful acknowledgment of the glori- ous destiny appointed to man in creation. The author of the Psalm (unknown by name, and therefore designated by the in- definite τις) protested against God’s wonderful condescension to man, as infinitely exceeding his desert, διαμαρτύρεσθαι is the technical term for protests on various grounds against the decision of a legal court. που] Not here an indefinite adverb of place ‘somewhere’; for the passage of Ps. vill. was familiar to all, and definite in its protest ; που has the rheto- rical force which often belongs to it in Greek, of lightly claim- ing assent to a statement as one which everybody admits, δήπου Claims assent, in like man- ner, but far more emphatically. που is similarly used in ly. 4 and in Rom. iv. 19. 7. παρ᾽ ἀγγέλους] The quo- tation follows the Lxx reading, which compares man with angels, not with God. The author of the Psalm seems to have intend- ed to describe man as made by God little inferior to himself, inasmuch as he made him in his own image. 16 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. II [Kal KaTécTHCac ἀὐτὸν ὀπὶ TA ἔργὰ TON χειρῶν coy, ] 8 TIANTA YTTETAZAC ὑποκάτω τῶν πολῶν aYTOT* ς a \ ε ᾿ 3 ΄σ \ ’ δὲ ’ ΄σ ἐν τῷ Yap ὑποτάξοι [αὐτῷ] τὰ πᾶντὰ οὐδὲν ἀφῆκεν > ~ ’ / No \ »" αὐτῷ ανυποτακτον. vv δὲ οὔπω ΄ ΄σ \ , / A οὐρῶμεν αὐτῷ τὰ TavTa ὑποτεταγμένα: τον \ , > > ᾿ 2 , , δὲ Bpayy τι Tap’ ἀγγέλογο ἠλάττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἶη- ΄σ \ \ , = he, \ [ον σοῦν διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ Kai τιμῇ 8—18. We do not yet indeed behold this sovereignty of man: for Jesus, the captain of man’s redemption, was crowned with the glory and honour already described, that he might taste of death for every man. This scheme of redemp- tion was in harmony with the divine nature, (1) ὧν ats object: for as the ultimate object of creation ws the glory of the eternal Father (δι᾿ ὃν τὰ πάντα), 1.6. the perfect manifestation of his almighty wisdom goodness and love; so the object of redemption is the glory of his sons, 1.6. the perfect sonship which makes them one in will and spirit with the Father : these two objects therefore are in reality identical. (2) ὧν its means: for as the creative love of the Father (δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα) shapes the course of the universe, so also the redeeming love of the Son creates by his voluntary sufferings a new life for his brethren by rescuing them from that will of the flesh, which is enmity with the Father. In both cases there is the same creative impulse working by love unto the glory of God. Christ then was consecrated priest through sufferings: his priesthood is based on brotherhood with man: he became like his brethren, partaker of flesh and blood, that by death of the flesh he might destroy its bondage to the devil: subject to temptation, a sufferer himself, that he may be a merciful as well as faithful high priest for man. 8. γάρ] The expression ὑπές sovereignty of man in the new ταξας πάντα just quoted from the — world. Psalm establishes, as this clause πάντα] in the Psalm refers points out, the previous asser- originally to the animal crea- tion in v 5 of the universal tion enumerated in the subse- II TO THE HEBREWS. 17 And didst set him over the works of thy hands; Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. 8 For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him: but we behold him who hath been made a little lower 9 than the angels, Jesus, crowned with glory and honour for quent verses; but it is here en- larged, as by St Paul (1 Cor. xv. 27) to embrace the whole spi- ritual world, the one dominion being typical of the other. 9. The glory of the Son, the ambassador of the Gospel, has been set forth in comparison with the angels, through whose agency the Law was revealed. It has been further shewn that the ultimate destiny appointed for man, as sovereign of the new word, corresponds to this glory of divine sonship. But the actual state of man on earth offers a signal contrast to this universal sovereignty : for there must first take place a death of the human will of the flesh; and Jesus himself could not enter on his priesthood for man, without subjecting himself to that suffering of death which is the necessary doom of the flesh: he had been crowned in- deed with glory and honour be- fore he was by his incarnation brought a little lower than the angels, but it was only that he might empty himself of that glory, and become subject to death. Rh. βλέπομεν] is substituted for the preceding ὁρῶμεν, because Jesus is not visible, as man is visible, to the outward eye, but only to the eye of faith: for βλέπειν describes a conscious effort to direct the eye to its object. διὰ τὸ πάθημα] The emphasis on these words is apparent from the whole context: suffering is the keynote of the whole para- graph which extends from here tv the end of the chapter: in the next verse it is argued that those sufferings of Christ were in perfect harmony with the eternal Father’s scheme of re- demption for man: again in v, 17 suffering is emphatically de- clared to be an essential qualifi- cation. for Christ’s priesthood ; in order that he might be a mer- ciful high priest, he must have suffered himself by temptation, for thus he is able to succour the tempted. If then διὰ τὸ πάθημα be emphatic, it is im- possible to connect the prepo- sition with the preceding par- ticiple ἡλαττωμένον, the struc- ture of the Greek sentence im- peratively demands its con- 9 - 18 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. II > , / / ΄σ΄ A \ ECTEPAN@MENON, ὅπως χάριτι θεοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς “4 2 » \ 3 > 53. vey 10 γεύσηται θανάτου. Ἔπρεπεν yup αὐτῷ, ov ὃν nexion with the subsequent par- ticiple ἐστεφανωμένον. But the connexion of διὰ τὸ π., and of ὅπως...θανάτου with the same participle ἐστεφανωμένον forces us to interpret the second clause as an explanatory amplification ef the first; ‘the suffering of death’ consisted in his ‘ tasting of death for every man’: and it becomes clear that δια is here used in the same prospective sense aS 1n 1x. 15, ‘ for the sake of’: this verse is in short stating the object for which the Son was invested with the glory and honour of which the previous chapter has given a description: it was with a view to the incar- nation, in order that he might voluntarily empty himself of that glory, and humble himself unto death, that the Son was invested with that preincarnate glory. The words δόξῃ καὶ τιμγ) ure generally interpreted of the resurrection glory, as the reward given to the Saviour for his suffering of death: but no satis- factory sense can thus be given to the clause ὅπως ... θανάτου: it must not be forgotten also that the glory which has been dwelt upon in the previous con- text is the preincarnate glory ; and that the apparent object of this part of the Epistle is to reconcile that vision of glory (so completely in harmony with man’s ultimate inheritance) with the sufferings of the incarnation. It is the humiliation of the Saviour which needed explana- tion, and which is here explain- ed by the necessity of his suf- fering death to qualify him for his human priesthood. χάριτι θεοῦ] The existing ms authority is decisive in favour of this reading. Origen how- ever states distinctly that the prevalent reading in his day was χωρὶς θεοῦ, and others sup- port his testimony: he under- stood it as qualifying παντός, and interpreted it therefore to mean that Jesus tasted of death ‘for all except God’. Both the order of the words, and the context, preclude this interpre- tation. It is not merely irrele- vant, but alien to the context, when the immediate object is to declare his brotherhood with mar, and not with angels, to say that Jesus tasted of death for all except God. χωρὶς θεοῦ therefore, if genuine, must be connected with the whole clause, and not with the one word zav- vos. Furthermore the words must express some result of his incarnation inseparable from human nature, just as tempta- tion and suffering are insepar- able. But does not the incarna- i Ui TO THE HEBREWS. 19 the sake of the suffering of death, that by the grace of God he might taste of death for every man. tion involve the existence of a human will, designated as _self- will or the will of the flesh, se- parate from the will of the spirit which is of God, which must suffer death in us before there can be absolute submission to the will of God? St Paul, in analysing his own nature (Rom. vii.) finds within him a rebellious element of ‘desire’, on which sin is able to fasten, and thereby establish ‘a law of sin in his members’. And it is difficult to understand how our Lord, sinless as he was, could have been fully man, ca- pable of suffering and lable to temptation, unless he also was endued with a human will in- dependent of the divine spirit within him: it was in fact within this region of his hu- manity that he tasted of death. It seems to me then possible to express in this language the mystery of the double nature of the Godman. But even so, the emphatic position of the words remains unaccounted for; and it seems probable that the read- ing χωρίς was a simple error of transcription. For the reading xapite θεοῦ has a distinct and emphatic force in connexion with the context: the clause ὅπως χάριτι 6. is stating the ob- ject, not of the incarnation it- self, but of the glory with which For it be- το the Son was before invested ; and that part of the Father’s wondrous scheme of redemp- tion did exhibit to the utmost his infinite love to man: the Son was crowned with glory and honour only that he might by the free mercy of God to a lost world lay it down and taste of death in the flesh for his bre- thren. ὑπὲρ παντός, SC. ἀνθρώπου] the substantive is readily supplied from the previous context, which has been dwelling en- tirely on man, as such. γεύσηται θανάτου] must not be taken as a mere paraphrase for death; it denotes not the act of death itself, but that sense of pain akin to death which belongs to the living. In the Gospels it is used to denote a sense of spiritual death quite distinct from natural death: for in Matt. xvi. 28, after warning his disciples that the true life belongs to those who take up their cross and follow him, Jesus adds that some of them should in no wise taste of death, 1.6. should not taste the bitter sense of spiritual death, till they should see the Son of Man coming in his king- dom; and again in John viii. 52, ‘If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death’, ie, spiritual death. Here on ὃ. ὦ Ww ja) ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. 1 \ ’ \ > seh \ , \ ΙΝ Ta παντα καὶ δι οὗ τὰ πάντα, πολλοὺς υἱοὺς > 3 A Cc εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα Tov ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας > = A , ΄σ II αὐτῶν δια παθημάτων πτελειωσαι. the other hand it deseribes the tasting of death in the flesh, 1.6. the life of constant suffer- ing sorrow and self-denial, by which our Lord tasted long the bitterness of death—that daily crucifixion, of which the cross of Calvary was the climax. It was not in the final act of lay- ing down his life which followed the words ‘It is finished’, but in the years of living death that preceded, that the Lord Jesus truly tasted of death; for the conscious sense of pain, the pain of dying, ceases at the moment of death. The actual death itself with its final aton- ing sacrifice is reserved as the subject of the ninth chapter ; here the subject is the incarna- tion and the fellowship with human suffering which it en- tailed during the days of his flesh upon the living Lord. 10. πολλούς] is used as anti- thesis to the one ἀρχηγός : the author nowhere expresses hope or expectation of universal re- demption. eis δόξαν ἀγαγόντα] The name Jesus (Joshua) just mentioned suggests the idea of leading the sons of God into their heavenly inheritance, as God led the chil- dren of Israel across the Jordan in the days of Joshua. Leading J \ Ὁ Tie γὰρ to glory implies the development of the highest ideal of excel- lence of which the character is capable: the glory of a son therefore must involve complete spiritual reconciliation with the Father; for there can be no restoration of true sonship, un- til the spirit of adoption has re- moved the sources of estrange- ment and enmity. The aor. part. ἀγαγόντα cannot mean the same as the present part. ‘a leading’: the restoration of son- ship to many, and the consecra- tion of the one firstborn through sufferings, are here coupled to- gether, as two distinct but har- monious parts of the scheme of redemption. ἀρχηγόν) means habitually cap- tain in the Lxx, being used some- times absolutely, sometimes with a gen. of the persons led. ‘The old tribal leaders of Israel, and the captains of the royal army, are both so designated. Here, and in xii, 2, the term is used in close connexion with the name ᾿Ιησοῦς, and with distinct refer- ence to the earlier ᾿Ιησοῦς, the ‘Captain of the redeemed’, or ‘Captain of the faith’, who led his brethren successfully into their promised inheritance. The word occurs twice in the Acts; and there also the name Jesus, II TO THE HEBREWS. as. | came him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, to lead many sons unto glory, and to consecrate through sufferings the captain of their salvation. which had occurred immediately before, seems to have prompted the typical reference to the former ᾿Ιησοῦς, the captain of Israel. Possibly the old Hebrew idea of the firstborn, as head of the family, inheriting the leadership of his brethren, may cling to the word, and justify the rendering ‘prince’ in Acts il, r5 ‘Prince of the lite’, Le. of the new resurrection-life, and in Acts v. 31 fa prince and a saviour’; but the allusion to Joshua’s captaincy seems to me the Jandy idea. Of the mean- ing ‘author’ I find no example in the Lxx, unless it be in Micah 1. 13 ἀρχηγὸς ἁμαρτίας ; but there it means apparently leader in sin, i.e. one who sets the example of sin: αὐτῶν] It is difficult to re- press a suspicion that the true reading was here αὐτόν, ‘the Captain of the redemption him- self’, in contrast to the many sons who follow him. The lan- guage here, apy. τῆς σωτηρίας, would thus become an exact parallel to the expressions apy. τῆς πίστεως and apx. τῆς ζωῆς elsewhere. τελειῶσαι] The connexion of this verse with the preceding and subsequent verses rests on this word, ‘to consecrate as For rr priest’. This is its technical meaning throughout that por- tion of the Ltxx (Exod. Lev. Deut.) which deals ‘vith priest- ly conseeration ; it is in fact their only word for consecrating a priest: its close connexion in this epistle with the priesthood of Christ proves conclusively to my mind that it is used in the same sense (see Appendix B). With- out this reference to the priest- hood the subsequent allusions, in Ὁ. 1 to sanctification, and in v. 17 to the character required by a priest, become abrupt and obscure. The connexion of the term ‘consecrate through suffer- ings’ with the previous verse is also made perfectly clear by a study of Jewish symbolism : for the candidate for priestly consecration had his hands filled, in the regular course of the Mosaic ritual (Lev. vill. 25 —28), with those portions of the slaughtered ram of conse- cration, which were to be con- sumed by fire upon the altar: and so much importance was attached to this solemn part of the ceremonial, that the term used for priestly consecration was τελειῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας (Exod. Xxix. 9, 33). From this bear- ing about of dead flesh, priestly consecration became naturally bo bo ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. 1 « ’ \ e « i? > \ 4 > ayiaCwv Kal οἱ dyiaComevor ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντες" δι τὴ ἽΝ ἢ ᾽ ’ 7, > \ ? \ WV ALTLAY Οὐκ ETTALD KUVETAL dAEAMOYC αὐτοὺυς Ka- ~ ip 12 λεῖν, λέγων ᾿Απαγγελῶ τὸ ONOMA COY τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς MOY, ἐν μέοῳ EKKAHCIAC YMNHCO) Ce" associated by Jewish teaching with the idea of mortification of the flesh (τὸ νεκροφορεῖν) : as we find it in Philo (3 L. All. 23), ‘ When wilt thou, soul, conceive thyself to be most thoroughly mortifying the flesh ? surely at thy consecration (ὅταν τελειωθῇς). The meaning of Philo in speaking of this morti- fication is illustrated by a pre- vious passage (§ 22), where the soul is spoken of as ‘carrying about a corpse, as much some- times as a hundred years, a body which is dead in itself, but is stirred to motion and carried with ease by the soul’. This teaching was in Philo as- sociated, as we see, with the Platonic view of matter as the source of corruption; but the figure was seized upon by St Paul, and transformed to Chris- tian use : his language in 2 Cor. iv. 10, πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες, is an obvious paraphrase of Philo’s expression νεκροφορεῖν, applied to the sufferings en- dured by the apostles for their Master’s sake; and this image of a living death is presented clearly in the context, ‘we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us.’ The rite of priestly consecration then, it appears, symbolised, according to the allegorical in- terpretation of the Law ac- cepted by Jewish teachers, that mortification of the flesh, which is expressed in the preceding verse by ‘the suffering of death’ and ‘tasting of death’: and this symbolism suggested the view here taken of our Lord’s living death of suffering during his incarnation, as a consecration to a spiritual priesthood. He was duly consecrated to his holy otlice by bearing about his own flesh, condemned to death by his own holy will, bruised worn and bleeding with the cross of patient suffering, and at last nailed to the cross of Calvary. Ti. Ὁ ΤῈ ἁγιάζων.. | Both the sanctifying priest just de- signated, ie. Jesus, and the successive generations whom he sanctifies as priest to God. The. books of the Law recognise two kinds of sanctification : 1. General. Land, houses, II TO THE HEBREWS. 23 both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one father: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ) I will declare thy name unto my brethren, In the midst of the congregation will I sing thy praise. cattle, human beings, dedicated to God by vow, became holy to the Lord ; and being made over to him as property, were said to be sanctified: they were however redeemable by certain money payments for secular use (see Lev. xxvii.). 2. Special. The priests, the tabernacle and its vessels, were dedicated in perpetuity to God’s service, and were inalienable. The process by which this was effected under the Law was anointment ; and a prescribed mixture, called the holy anoint- ing oil, was set apart for this sacred use (Exod. xxix. xxx. ἈΠ The Christian use of the term is founded on this second kind. Anointment was already in the times of the Hebrew prophets the recognised means of imparting the Spirit (Isai. Ixi. 1); and so the word ἁγιά- Cew was used of the conveyance of spiritual gifts by laying on of hands (1 Cor. vi. 11), and of the sanctifying work of the Spirit within the heart. In this epistle there is however this important difference, that blood is recognised as the vehicle of sanctification (ix. 13, X. 29, xiii. 12); probably be- cause the rite of consecration in blood was coupled with that of anointment in the sanctification of priests and holy vessels: and the term is therefore limited, as it is in Old Testament usage, to the effect of a single act, i.e. the hallowing to God’s service by application of the blood of Christ ; and it is not extended to that gradual transformation of the heart, which is recognised in modern theology as sanctifi- cation: hence our sanctification is spoken of in xX. Io, 29 as a completed act; which could not possibly be predicated of sancti- tication in its modern theological sense. ἐξ ἑνός] of one father. The addition of the word ‘ father’ is necessary In English to ex- press the force of the Greek preposition ἐξ. 12. Ps. xxii. consists of two parts: in 1—18 the afflicted soul pours forth language of deep despondency ; he is a suf- ferer and an exile, and his people share his woes: the second part, from which these words are cited (v. 22), passes by a rapid transition to assured hope of deliverance, and trium- 24 - ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. A , 13 Kat παλιν Il 3 \ ” ᾽ν ΄“΄ ἐγω Ecomal πεποιθὼς ἐπ᾽ ἀὐτῷ" Α tA και παλιν ᾿ΙλοΥ ἐγὼ KAl TA πδιδιὰ ἃ μοὶ ἔλωκεν ὁ θεύόσ. \ & \ ' , J , 14 ἐπεὶ οὖν TA ποιλίὰ KEKOLVWYNKEV αἵματος καὶ σαρκος; \ \ / / ΄σ > ΄σ καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχεν τῶν αὐτῶν, e/ \ a , , \ ‘ tVva διὰ του θανάτου καταργήσῃη TOV TO κράτος rd ΄σ , πο EY SY \ ᾽ὔ ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι τὸν διάβολον, , , 74 I5 Kal ἀπαλλαάξη τούτους, ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ ~ = οἷ 5 9 ΄ 16 παντὸς τοῦ Cav ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας. οὐ γὰρ δή phant praise of God ; in which he invites his brethren to join. The earlier part is full of such vivid anticipations of the Pas- sion, even to minute details, that the author became a con- spicuous type of the suffering Redeemer, and his utterances are here ascribed to the Messiah, 13. The first passage, which is found (in Lxx only) in Is. vill. 17 immediately before the other, exhibits the entire de- pendence of the faithful on the Lord. ‘Let others’, as Ahaz and his people were doing, ‘trust in an arm of flesh, and rely on the aid of Assyria against the alliance of Syria with Israel; but I will trust in Him’ is the prophet’s argument. The ἐγώ is inserted here to ex- press the emphatic contrast, which is in the original suffi- ciently implied by the context a- lone without the insertion of ἐγώ. The second passage (Is. vill. 18) claims fellowship with the faithful, as brethren of one family, typically children of one flesh and blood, The speaker is contemplated as a type of the Messiah; because he is the perfect ideal of the faithful servant, in whom is found no fault. I 4. κεκοινώνηκεν The perfect 15 “used,” asim (xa ΤΠ, 29, 0Ε persons still living in the pages of Scripture, as is the case of these children of the prophet, though they and their acts belong to past history. διὰ τοῦ θανάτου... ἔχοντα τ. 6. If the meaning had been death in the abstract, this passage must have run διὰ θανάτου, Kpd- tos θανάτου, without the article, just as it does φόβῳ θανάτου. The death to which he subjected himself is the death of the flesh and blood just mentioned : over II TO THE HEBREWS. And again, bo ζι 13 I will put my trust in him, And again, Behold, I and the children which God hath given me. Since then the children shared in flesh and blood, he also 14 himself in like manner partook of the same; that through his death he might bring to nought him that had the power of that death, that is, the devil; and might deliver 13 all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. which the devil, as prince of this world, has power committed to him; whereas the death of the spirit is entirely out of his power. The opening of the Look of Job illustrates his use of this power as a means of temptation. It was by the death of the flesh that our Lord vanquished this power of the devil; for as he declared (Matt. Xvi. 25), these two deaths, the * voluntary death of the cross, i.e. of flesh and self, and the death of the spirit, are mutually antagonistic. This distinction of various kinds of death was familiar to Jewish teachers: Philo says (1 Τ, All. 8 33) ‘There are two kinds of death, one of man, the other belong- ing especially to the soul. The death of man consists in separa- tion of soul from body; the death of the soul in decay of virtue and assimilation of vicious elements’. This death of the soul, ‘entombed in every pas- sion and vice’, he calls ‘the For surely it is not angels, but the 16 everlasting death, the death κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, the penal death’, be- cause in it the soul dies to the life of virtue, and lives the life of vice. Again he says: ‘ when the soul is buried in the body as in a tomb, we may well be said to be dead ; but on the con- trary to live, when the soul lives its own life freed from evil, and the body that is bound up with it is a corpse’. ἔνοχοι δουλείας] under the yoke of slavery. The will of the flesh imposes upon man a bondage to the prince of this world, which must be shaken off by all, who would attain the true liberty of sons of God. ἔνοχοι With dat. means liable to. The gen. expresses a more com- plete resignation of the slave into the hands of a master. 16. The argument requires us to supply here in thought the missing link, which is in the text taken for granted, that the seed of Abraham are in bondage through fear of death, whereas TEL: bo co ΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. TY Tia Uf 3 ’ ᾽ \ , που ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται, ἀλλὰ σπέρματο: 17 Ἀβραὰμ ἐπιλαμβανεται. ὅθεν ὠφειλεν κατὰ / = > -~ € ~ / ’ , παντα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὁμοιωθῆναι, ἵνα ἐλεημων / \ ’ A \ \ \ » γένηται καὶ πιστὸς ἀρχιερεὺς τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, OQ > \ e , \ e if cond ΄σ “ τὸ εἰς τὸ ἱλάσκεσθαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ λαοῦ" ἐν τὸ \ ΄ \ , ’ Ξ ω γαρ πέπονθεν αὐτος πειρασθεῖς, δύναται τοις πειραζομένοις βοηθῆσαι. ΤΠ θεν, ἀδελφοὶ ἅγιοι, κλήσεως ἐπουρανίου , / \ ’ hi \ ᾽ μέτοχοι, Κατανοῆσατε TOV αποστολον και αρχ- III. 1—6. Such is God's ambassador (ἀπόστολος) to τι8, and our high priest (ἀρχιερεύς) towards God. Moses in like manner combined these two offices, but as a servant, not a son. angels are not. 67 ποὺ claims emphatically the admission of an argunent=‘ surely you must admit’, ἐπιλαμβάνεται] means ‘take hold of’ for whatever purpose, whether of arresting, grasping, or helping: here we have the same figure, aS in vill. 9, of taking by the hand to help. 17. ἐλεήμων and πιστός both qualify ἀρχιερεύς, but ἐλεήμων is thrown prominently forward, in order to lay stress on the merciful character assured by fellowship with man. πιστός in this connexion expresses ne- cessarily fidelity towards man in the exercise of his office ; but in i, 2 fidelity towards God. ἱλάσκεσθαι] is generally used Like ἵλαος with a dative of the object of favour: here with an accus. 1t means to win accept- ance for sins, 1. e. the sinner, in God’s sight, by doing away the pollution, which rendered them an object of his wrath. The mercy-seat was called ἱλαστή- ριον, because the transgressor was forgiven and accepted in virtue of the blood applied to it; and the sin-offering ἱλασ- Os. 18, It is questionable whe- ther ἐν @ is ever used simply as a connecting particle ‘in that’ ; it is better therefore to trans- late it ‘wherein’. Again the verb πάσχειν seems to be here used absolutely, as in ix. 26, and xiii. 12: for the whole paragraph has been dwelling on the sufferings of the incarna- tion; and itis more in harmony ΤΙ {ΠῚ TO THE HEBREWS. 27 seed of Abraham, that he taketh by the hand to help. Wherefore it behoved him in all things to be made like 17 unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful high priest and a faithful in things pertaining to God, to make pro- pitiation for the sins of the people. For wherein he hath 18 suffered himself being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly call, with its spirit to speak of suf- ferings absolutely, than to seek an object for the verb in the relative ᾧ, and so translate ‘in that which he has suffered’. The ground put forward for Jesus’ sympathy with the victims of temptation, is that he has himself . suffered in the flesh by temp- tation: therefore he is able to succour the tempted (ἐν 6) in that life of flesh and blood in which he has himself suffered. I. κλήσεως ex. | The heavenly call here referred to is appa- rently that mentioned in vw. 12, by which we are called brethren of Christ; for the title ‘holy brethren’ is conspicuously as- sociated with it, as forming part of one idea; the brotherhood of Christ with us, which has been insisted upon in the last para- graph, results immediately from this heavenly call. κατανοήσατε] This verb is constantly used in reference to objects actually visible to the eye, which excite thoughts in the mind; as for instance ‘the ravens’, or ‘the lilies of the field’ in St Luke’s Gospel ; ‘ the flame of fire in the bush’ which Moses drew near to observe (Acts vil. 31); the vision on which Peter fastened his eyes at Joppa (Acts xi. 6), the bay which the shipwrecked mariners observed at dawn (Acts xxvii. 39). In all these instances it denotes attentive ocular obser- vation, leading to reflection and action. The observation here is not that of the outward, but of the mental eye. ἀπόστολον] is not used else- where in the New Testament as a designation of the Lord; but he often describes himself as ἀπεσταλμένος; and he himself adopted the name ‘apostles’ to designate the ambassadors, whom he commissioned (Luke vi. 13) as his representatives to the world, whose commission he identified with his own (John xvii. 18). καὶ ἀρχιερέα] The combination of the two offices of divine am- bassador and high priest in one person introduces naturally a comparison with Moses; _ for Moses was virtually high priest, as well as representative of God; though by divine permission he 2 Vv 28 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. III ; =~ e ’ ε - 3 ΄σ A 7 2lepea τῆς OMOAOYLas ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦν, πιστον ὄντα =~ , ’ \ ς \ ΄σ ey . ΄ Tw ποιησαντι αὐτὸν ὡς καὶ Μωυσῆς ἐν [ὅλῳ] τω sf a 3 οἰκῳ αὐτοῦ. πλείονος γὰρ οὗτος δόξης παρὰ / ow > , 51. Ἐλ / \ of Mwvony ἠξίωται καθ᾽ ὅσον πλείονα τιμὴν EXEL ~ of ε > , ΄ ἊΣ 4 TOV οἰκου O κατασκεύυασας αὐτον" Tas γὰρ OlLKOS y , e \ , κατασκευάζεται ὑπο τινος, O δὲ TAVTA ΚΟΤΟΩΞ / 5 σκενασας θεός. \ = \ A 3 «.« καὶ Μωυσὴς μεν πιστος ἐν ὅλῳ - »" a ε , ᾽ ΄ - TW OLKW αὐτοῦ WS θεραπ ων εἰς μαρτυριὸν των é é « ε 3 \ > 6 λαληθησομένων, Χριστὸς δὲ ὡς υἱὸς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον ’ ~ ie ae δ Ω ε ΄ς > \ \ , αὐτου" OU GLKOS EO MEV HMELS, εαν τὴν παρρησιᾶν \ \ / ΄σ ᾽ , / Kal TO καύχημα τῆς ἐλπίδος [μέχρι τέλους βε- 7 βαίαν] κατάσχωμεν. \ - ΠΑΡ TO σῖνευμὰ TO AYLOV Διό, καθὼς λέγει 7—19. Take warning from the example of the old Israel: they had promise of God’s rest, but all perished through unbelvef. delegated permanently to Aaron the duties of the office (see Ex. iv. I4—17, and xxix. 1—28), himself investing Aaron with the priestly vestments, and con- secrating him to his office. Hence he is designated by Philo o ws ἀληθῶς ἀρχιερεύς. τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν} whom our Christian confession of faith ac- knowledges in this character. 2. πιστὸν ὄντα τῷ π.] The word πιστόν furnishes a key to the meaning of ποιήσαντι : for fidelity necessarily implies an office in which that fidelity is shewn, and suggests that ποιή- σαντι must mean ‘appointed him to the office of apostle and high priest’. ὁποιήσας is used with similar ellipsis by the LxXx in 1 Kings xii. 6; where Samuel’s office suggests in like manner the appointment of Moses and Aaron. οἴκῳ] may denote either a material house, or the members of a household (2 Tim. iv. 10): κατασκευάζειν again may denote either furnishing and establish- ing a house, or ordering a house- hold: it is clear from τ. 3 that the latter is here meant ; for the argument turns on a comparison between the servants who col- lectively constitute ‘the house- Ill TO THE HEBREWS. 29 behold the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus ; who is faithful to him that appointed him, as also was 2 Moses, in all his house. For he hath been counted worthy 3 of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that ordered the house hath more honour than the household. For 4 every house is ordered by some one; but he that ordered all thingsisGod. And Moses indeed was faithful in all his 5 house as a servant to bear testimony of whatever should be spoken to him, but Christ as a son over his house: whose 6 house are we, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end. Wherefore (even as the Holy Ghost saith, 7 hold’ and the son who orders it. αὐτοῦ] i.e, God’s house, as appears by comparison of Num. xu. 7, where the words ‘my house’ are put into the mouth of God. The Jewish church of old, and the Christian church of this day, are recognised as both belonging to the same house of God. 4. There is a remarkable ellipsis here in the argument : it is assumed from the relations existing between the Father and the Son, that because God ordered all things, the Son as his eternal word ordered the household of God. 5. εἰς papt. τῶν λαληθησο- μένων] This must not be inter- preted as a declaration that Moses bore testimony to the future Gospel revelation ; which would be neither relevant to the argument, nor correct Greek; for the proper mode of express- ing this in Greek would have been τῶν μελλόντων λαλεῖσθαι, The argument is that Moses’ fidelity was that of a servant, not a son; he knew not his Lord’s will, but waited to hear what God would say, that he inight testify of it to Israel, whatever it might be. Such fidelity was characteristic of the mere servant. Compare Ex. xxv. 22, ‘I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee (λαλήσω oor)...of all things which I will give thee in com- mandment’: that passage pro- bably suggested the expression in the text. 6. παρρησίαν] meant prima- rily freedum of speech; thence it came to mean the temper of mind which that freedom indi- cated, 1. 6, boldness. ἡ. διό, ... βλέπετε (v. 12)| These two words are connected 30 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. 11 Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς δύτοῦ AKOYCHTE— 8 Mu cKAHPYNHTE TAC KAPAIAC ὑμῶν ὡς EN τῷ TIAPATTIKPACMA), KATA THN HMEPAN TOY TIEIPACMOY EN TH ἐρήμῳ, 9 OY ἐπείρασαν οἱ TIATEPEC ὑμῶν EN AOKIMACIA Kal εἶδον TA ἔργὰ MOY TECCEPAKONTA ETH" 10 διὸ προοώχθιοὰ TH γενεᾷ ταύτῃ KAl εἶπον ᾿Αεὶ TIAANGNTAL TH κἀρδίδ᾽ αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν TAC OAOYC μου" ΓΗ ὡς ὦμοοὰ ἐν TH OprH MOY Ei eiceAeycoNTal εἰς τὴν KATATTAYCIN MOY, together, the whole intervening citation being ἃ parenthesis. ‘Wherefore’, i.e. because ye have been called to be members of the house of God, as the Israelites were, ‘ take heed’ from their example. Ps. xev. (xciv.) seems design- ed for liturgical use in the Jew- ish church; the first half is an invocation to public thanks- giving; the second a public warning based on the past his- tory of the nation. ἐὰν ἀκούσητε] The force of the passage is destroyed by inter- preting these words as a simple hypothesis ‘if ye shall hear’; for it was the temper of the Israel- ites which excited apprehension; but this rendering implies rather a doubt whether God would still continue to plead with them: whereas the emphatic σήμερον appeals to them on the contrary on the ground that the day of grace is not yet past, but that this day God will speak. The true meaning of ἀκούειν in the Psalm, as imi. 2; as8¢70 hearken’, and is well illustrated by the corresponding passage in Ps, Ixxxi. (Ixxx.), written ap- parently by the same author, and in which the word ἀκούειν recurs several times emphati- cally; ‘O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me (ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς μου), there shall no strange god be in thee’. The resultant clause is here suppressed, being left to the imagination, accord- ing to a common practice of Hebrew poetry. 1 have for distinctness filled it up in trans- lation, ‘it shall be well’. It is virtually the expression of a wish, ‘To-day if ye will but hearken to his voice !’ ὃ, ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ] In the original Psalm this seems to have been the proper name Me- ribah in Kadesh (Num. xx, 2—13): but it is not recognised as such by the Lxx; otherwise they would have translated it III TO THE HEBREWS. 91 To-day, if ye will hearken to his voice, zt shall be well. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, 8 Like as in the day of the temptation in the wilderness, Where your fathers in their time of trial tempted me, 9 And saw my works forty years. Wherefore I had indignation against that generation, 10 And said, ‘They do alway err in their heart’: But they did not know my ways; As I sware in my wrath, IJ They shall not enter into my rest.) ἀντιλογία without the article ; as they do in the other passages of the Pentateuch and Psalms, where the name occurs. Again the article before πειρασμοῦ shews in like manner that they did not intend this as a trans- lation of the proper name Mas- sah, as Πειρασμός is in Ex. xvii. 7, but as a common substantive ‘temptation’. In the original Psalm the subsequent words ‘where your fathers tempted’, —are designed to be an allusion to the name Massah, i.e. Temp- tation; but in the Lxx we must refer ov to the wilderness, as its antecedent. 9. ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ] It is incon- sistent with the ordinary mean- ing of δοκιμασία to interpret this of the Israelites proving God rather than God’s proving them ; for δοκιμασία was the technical term to denote the scrutiny un- dergone by a candidate before admission to office : the rules of Greek construction too require our understanding the proba- tion of the subject of the sen- tence ‘your fathers’: and this is confirmed by the language of Ps. Ixxxi. 8, ‘I proved thee (ἐδοκίμασά oe) by the waters of Meribah’; where the same term is applied to God’s probation of the Israelites at Meribah ; when he found them unworthy to enter into his rest. τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη In the Psalm these words are con- nected with the subsequent words προσώχθισα...., the διό be- ing omitted. 10. προσώχθισα] is a Hel- lenistic form of the Homeric ox Getv, used to express the effect of strong emotion, ‘to swell with grief, rage, indignation’. αὐτοί] they, i.e. your fathers. The insertion of the pronoun marks a certain emphasis on the subject, whether due to the resumption of the narrative after quotation of God’s words, or to the implied contrast be- tween the sin of the past gene- ration, and hope of the present, 32 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. III , ’ af / - 12 βλέπετε, adeAHol, μή ποτε ἔσται ἐν τινι ὑμών > / > ΄“ > ~ , \ καρδία πονηρὰ ἀπιστίας ἐν τῷ ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ ΄σ ΄ 9 \ ~ e \ 13 θεοῦ ζῶντος, ἀλλὰ παρακαλεῖτε ἑαυτοὺς καθ ε , ε , of ec , A ΄ εκαστην ἡμέραν, ἄχρις οὐ τὸ Σήμερον καλεῖται, « \ ΄σ 3 ε = > / ~ e tva μὴ oKAnpuvOy τις ἐξ υμων aTaTH τῆς αμαρ- / Id \ ΄σ ΄σ 7 . " 14 τιας᾽ μέτοχοι Yap τοὺ χριστοῦ γεγοναμεν, ἐαν- \ > \ 3 ε id , / περ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς VTOTTATEWS MEY pL TENOUS ͵ Ε ~~ ’ 15 βεβαίαν κατάσχωμεν, ἐν TH λέγεσθαι Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆο ayTOY ἀκούοητε--- Mi cKAHpYNHTE τὰς κἀρδιὰς ἵμῶν ὡς ἐν Compare the use of αὐτός in XA 5: II. ὦμοσα] see Num. xiv. 2I—23. ei] was an elliptical form of speech used by Hebrews to ex- press emphatic denial: it origi- nated in imprecationus like that of 2 Sam. 111. 35, ‘So do God to me and more also, if...’ κατάπαυσιν] The primary idea of God’s rest to that generation was their settlement in the land of promise; its spiritual significance was gradually de- veloped, as the incompleteness of the earthly rest became mani- fest. 12. μή ποτε] See note on Ve) ie. ἔσται] A. future after verbs of warning implies a fear that the warning will prove too well needed, ‘lest there be, as I fear there will be’. τῷ πὰρὰ- THKPACM(D. ζῶντος] The force of this epi- thet is well illustrated by its use in describing the word of God (iv. 12): God is a spirit who sees the inward thoughts, and judges the intents of the heart. 13. ἄχρις) occurs fifty times in the New Testament, never in the sense of ‘so long as’, but always in the sense of wntil (unless ἄχρι καιροῦ be an excep- tion; but that also apparently means ‘ until the season’); this must govern our interpretation of the difficult expression τὸ σήμερον, Which appears to refer to the day of the Lord, just as ‘the day’ does in x. 25. As the Hebrews are there warned to exhort one another because of the near approach of the day, so they are here urged to do this every day, until the call sounds ‘ 70-day’, 1. e. until ‘the Til TO THE HEBREWS. 33 take heed, brethren, lest haply there be, as 1 fear, in any 12 of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another every day, until there 13 is the call ‘To-day’, that none of you be hardened by deceitfulness of his sin: for we are made partners with 14 Christ (if, that is, we hold fast the beginning of our con- fidence firm unto the end) in its being said, 15 To-day, if ye will hearken to his voice, zt shall be well. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. day’, the day of the Lord’s com- ing 1s announced, τῆς ἁμαρτίας] his sin, i.e. the personal sin of some individual members of the church. The English possessive pronoun = the Greek article. 14. μέτοχοι] takes an objec- tive gen. in 111. 1, like the verb μετέχειν. But it is used also with a possessive pronoun in i. 9g: and here τ. Χριστοῦ is a subjective gen, and the meaning is ‘partners with Christ’: for fel- lowship with Christ is the main subject of this part of the epi- stle, the last chapter dwelling on Christ’s brotherhood in the flesh, this on our participation in his heavenly rest. ἐάνπερ] περ lays special stress upon the condition introduced by ἐάν, the sense being, ‘if, that is, we do as a matter of fact hold fast, but not other- wise’. The same distrust of their stedfastness is implied in the contrast between ἀρχήν und τέλους ; their Christian as- surauce had as yet only begun, R. and was far from consummation, The complaints of lack of Chris- tian progress in the passage v. 12—vi. ὃ imply the same he- sitation in forming judgment of the church: it is clear that the author stands in some doubt of his people. 15. ἐν τῷ λέγεσθαι] The ab- sence of a connecting particle, and the full stop at the end of the verse, appear to me conclu- sive against making these words the commencement of a new sentence, and placing a full stop before them. They are really connected with péroyot...yeyo- vapev, the clause éavrep...being a parenthesis: and the argu- ment is that in addressing such language to the house of God, the Holy Spirit does in effect make us ‘partners with Christ’ (if only we hold fast), partners, that is, of the rest which God promised of old, and into which Christ is entered. For it has been already asserted in v. 6 that we are the house of God, if we hold fast: and it is im- 3 34 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. DG Bs , A ᾽ fs 7 Ὁ > > ’ 10 τίνες Yap ἀκούσαντες παρεπίκραναν; αλλ ov Ψ € > , ᾽ 3 ’ \ ᾿ , 4 πάντες οἱ ἐξελθόντες ἐξ Αἰγύπτου διὰ Μωυσέως ; \ ie ’ ox ΕῚ \ ΤΠ τίσιν δὲ προσώχθισεν τεσσερακοντα ἐτῆ: OUNXE ΄ ε le "e: \ ΄σ »ὕ ΄ τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν, ὧν Ta Kwa ἐπεσεν ἐν τῇ > ΄ , \ oS \ > , > ιϑέρημῳ; τισιν δὲ ὠμοσεν μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθαι εἰς ’ >’ ΄σ- > \ ~ > / τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἀπειθησασιν: , « ᾽ > ἧς ᾽ Ὡς > 19 καὶ βλέπομεν OTL οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν εἰσελθεῖν δι > / ΄σ & / I αἀπιστιαν. φοβηθώμεν οὖν μὴ ποτε καταλει- , > / > ΄ > ‘ , πομένης ἐπαγγελίας εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν καταπαυ- a na > e ΄σ ε / 4 2qWw αὐτοῦ δοκὴ Tis ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑστερηκέναι" καὶ “ , 3 » Us / ’ _ yap ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμενοι καθάπερ KQKELVOL, IV. 1—13. The promise of God's rest is still open to those that believe: it existed indeed from the first institution of the Sabbath at the creation ; but in Moses’ time τέ was offered still in vain. It was offered again in the Psalms, Joshua having given no true rest: our true rest must be a spiritual rest as complete as God’s rest: but the disobedient cannot enter into at, for God's word has a living power to search hearts and discern spirits. plied in». 7 that this warning ing down to die of exhaustion is addressed to us as members along the desert path. of that house. 19, βλέπομεν] applies to ob- 16. The position of tives jects visible only to the under- shews that it is interrogative. standing or to faith; which The two exceptions, Caleb and needa conscious effort to behold Joshua, are passed over, be- them. cause they were but two, and 1. The danger of the church the doom is spoken of as uni- now was the same unbelief versal, which led to the destruction of 17. τὰ κῶλα ἔπεσε] is found- the Israelites in the wilderness. ed on Num. xiv. 29, ta κῶλα Though God’s promise remained ὑμῶν πεσεῖται, and presents a (καταλειπομένης) sure, some picture of weary wanderers sink- were tempted in these evil LLB EY TO THE HEBREWS. 35° For who, after they had heard, did provoke? nay, did not 16 all that came out of Egypt by Moses? and against whom 17 had he indignation forty years? was it not against them that sinned, whose limbs sank in the wilderness? and to 18 whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient ? And we behold that 19 they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. Let us fear therefore, lest haply, though a promise is1 4 left of entering into his rest, any of you should imagine he hath failed of it. For we have had the good tidings 2 preached unto us, even as they had: but the word of the times of their nation to unbe- lieving despondency, and were turning their backs on the pro- mised rest as the Israelites in their hearts turned back to E- gypt from the very borders of Canaan: thus like Israel of old they were in danger of for- feiting their inheritance through disobedience. Φοβοῦμαι μή in- troduces in 2 Cor. xi. 3, xii. 20, Gal. iv. 11 a similar fear that the church were failing to grasp spiritual realities, and so prov- ing false to the spirit of Christ. δοκῇ} The Greek admits of two renderings, (1) seem, (2) umagine. The first, adopted by our English versions, conveys no meaning to me: the second expresses well the gloomy fan- cies which formed the _beset- ting temptation of the Hebrew church at the time, and _har- monises with the context. There is a third rendering, ‘ be found’, 1. 6. hereafter in the day of the Lord, ‘to have failed’ ; but this must have been expressed in Greek by φανῇ ὑστερηκώς, ra- ther than by δοκῇ vor. ὑστερηκέναι] requires an ob- ject to be supplied. This might be ‘ the Israelites’, and in that case ὑστερηκέναι Would mean ‘to have been behind, i.e. less fa- voured of God, than those 75- vaelites of old’—a construction similar to 2 Cor, xi. 5. But it is simpler to understand ἐπαγγελίας from the immediate context, and render as above. The cause for alarm was that some were disposed to under- value their Christian privileges as unreal, in comparison with those of the old Mosaic system, which was perishing. 2. ἐσμεν] The position of the verb at the beginning gives prominence to the fact that the promise does belong to us: καί before ἐκεῖνοι gives a pointed warning that they too had the promise in their day, as we in ours ; but ¢dey entered not in, 3—2 36 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. FY > ᾽ὔ e / ΄σ . ΄- , ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος TIS ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους, A , a ἢ - > , μῆ συνκεκερασμενους TH σιστει τοις ακουσάασιν. > / δ 5 \ / ε 3 Εἰσερχόμεθα γὰρ εἰς [τὴν] κατάπαυσιν οἱ πι- , \ A στεύσαντες, καθως εἰρηκεν ‘Qe ὦμοοδ ἐν TH OprH MOY Εἰ ciceAeyconTal εἰς THN KATATIAYCIN MOY, 7 a ” > \ ΄σ [2 καίτοι τῶν ἔργων ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου γενη- 5) = ς ΄ « 4 θέντων, εἴρηκεν yap που περὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης οὕτως Καὶ κατέπδγοεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν TH ἡμέρὰ TH ἑβδόμη ἀπὸ TIAN- a ” > a \ - / > > 5 TON TON ἔργων ayToy, Kal ἐν TOUTW παλιν Εἰ εἰςε- , > \ ' ͵ \ Ss 3 , 6 A€YCONTAI εἰς THN KATATTIAYCIN MOY. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπολείπεται \ 3 ~ > 7 \ ε / > τινὰς εἰσελθεῖν cic αὐτὴν, καὶ οἱ πρότερον εὐαγ- , 5 = > 7 , 7 γελισθέντες οὐκ εἰσῆλθον dt ἀπείθειαν, πάλιν τῆς ἀκοῆς] This word may denote (1) sense of hearing, as in v. 11, or (2) act of hearing, as in Rom. x. 17, or (3) é- dings, message, as cited from 15. 1111. 1 in John xii. 38, and Rom. x. 16. If we adopt the second of these, ὁ λόγος τῆς axons Will mean the word they heard ; but the third seems the simpler rendering. μὴ συνκεκερασμένου)]) This Hellenistic form is supported by better ms authority than the classical συγκεκραμένος, ke, On the whole clause, and _parti- cularly as to the terminal sylla- ble -ovs (-os), the variations of MSs raise suspicions as to the genuineness of our present read- ing. It must mean, if genuine, that that unbelieving generation had not had faith enough to associate themselves with those who hearkened to the word of God, i.e. the faithful, like Moses, Joshua and Caleb, in their own time. If on the other hand συνκεκερασμένος (nom.) be read, it must mean that the word was ‘not assimilated by faith by those that heard’: which gives perhaps a more natural meaning to συνκ., but makes the article τῇ unmeaning at the best, and seems almost to imply that the hearers had faith, but that the word from some inherent defect of its own would not blend with it: the structure of the second dative too becomes very awk- ward, especially as it must then IV TO THE HEBREWS. 3” tidings did not profit them, because they had not been associated by their faith with them that hearkened to it. For we do enter into that rest, those of us that believe: 3 as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were done at the foundation of the world. Jor he hath spoken, we know, of the seventh day 4 on this wise, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works: and in that place again, 5 They shall not enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter 6 therein, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, he 7 refer to the same persons as the previous accus. ἐκείνους. Instead of ἀκούσασι has been conjec- tured αἀκούσμασι ‘not being brought into harmony through their faith with what they heard’. 3. εἰσερχόμεθα] The sentence opens with the emphatic asser- tion of the reality of the pro- mise, we do enter; then is added the condition, which limits its fulfilment (οἱ πιστ.), ‘those of us who believe’. The difference be- tween the aorist part. of πιστεύ- σαντες, and the present ot πισ- τεύοντες, is that the first) con- templates the single act of em- bracing the faith, the second the belief abiding in the heart: we cannot render οἱ πιστεύσαντες ‘we which have believed’, as if = οἱ πεπιστευκότες. τ. κατάπαυσιν] that rest, i.e. the rest previously promised: some MSS omit τὴν. γενηθέντων] cannot mean fi- nished, as if it were γεγενημέ- νων (perfect). Nor does the idea of God’s work being finished at the creation exist at all in the original ; which simply dates the institution of the sabbath- rest, as existing since the days of creation: ἀπό is used in dating events, to mark how long ago they happened. 4. που] See note on ii. τό. 5. The utterance of these words, with reference to the record in Num. xiv., is brought forward as a proof that in Moses’ time the promise was still un- fulfilled. 6. ot πρότερον ie. the ge- nerations anterior to the Psalmist. ‘38 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. IV NGueeeney? , Ἢ > , τινα ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, Σήμερον, ἐν Δαυεὶδ λέγων \ ΄σ \ META τοσουτον χρόνον, καθὼς προείρηται, Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς AYTOY AKOYCHTE— Mx cKAHPYNHTE TAC KAPAIAC ὑμῶν" > \ \ > - / > Δ \ ὃ εἰ yap αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν, οὐκ ἂν περι 9 ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετὰ ταῦτα ἡμέρας. J > / apa απολει- \ A - “ = « \ Ιόπεται σαββατισμὸς τῷ λαῷ TOU θεοῦ: ὁ γὰρ > \ > \ , ? - \ > \ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν KATATAVOLY αὐὐτοὺυ καὶ AUTOS , \ ~ oS ΄σ « ᾽ \ κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐργων αὐτοῦ ὥσπερ ἀπο 11 τῶν ἰδίων ὁ Geos. Σπουδάσωμεν οὖν εἰσελθεῖν > 3 7ὔ \ , « \ > ΄σ ’ ΄“ εἰς EKELVNY τὴν KATATAUGLY, LYa μῆ ἐν TW aUTW , / “ > , 12 Tis ὑποδείγματι πέση τῆς ἀπειθείας. Ζῶν γὰρ Ul ~ ΄σ \ ’ \ \ y ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Evepyis Kal τομώτερος « \ ~ , te ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον Kal διικνούμενος, 7. ἐν Δαυείδ] i.e. in the Psalms (Ps. xcv,). προείρηται] προλέγειν means to proclaim, foretell, or forewarn, in the New Testament: I can find no authority for trans- lating προείρηται ‘it hath been before said’. ‘There is another reading προείρηκεν. 8. Τῇ the entrance into the promised land under Joshua had given rest, God would not be speaking (οὐκ ἂν ἐλάλει), as he does speak in the Psalms, of another day of rest. 9. σαββατισμές] takes the place of κατάπαυσις, which had been previously used: it sug- gests the promise of a more complete spiritual rest, like that of God. The use of the term in a spiritual sense without com- ment or explanation seems to point to a decay in the obser- vance of the Jewish sabbath amongst the Hebrew Chris- tians, Io. κατέπαυσεν] (gnomic a- orist). General truths may be expressed in Greek by an aorist, and not only as in English by the present tense. The entrance into God’s rest, it is stated, in- volves a rest like his. Some interpret ὁ εἰσελθών as a para- phrase for the Lord Jesus Christ, but the reference to him is not apparent in the words. 11. ἐν τῷ... πέσῃ! Nearly -- ἐμπέσῃ τῷ... : but the separa- EV TO THE HEBREWS. 39 again defineth a certain day, saying, ‘To-day’ in David so long a time after; as it hath been proclaimed, To-day, if ye will hearken to his voice, 7 shall be well. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not be speak- 8 ing afterward of another day. There remaineth therefore 9 a sabbath rest for the people of God. For he that entereth τὸ into his rest, himself also resteth from his works, as God from his own. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into τὰ that rest, that none fall into the same example of dis- obedience. For the word of God is living, and active, and 12 sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing both tion of the preposition from the verb gives it a pregnant force, as implying that they may not only fall into disobedience, but after falling lie prostrate victims of it. 12. ζῶν] This word occurs four times in the epistle as an at- tribute of God, to designate him as a God of judgment and dis- cerner of the heart. Here also it denotes spiritual insight, that life of the spirit which pene- trates the heart. λόγος] is never used in this epistle, as it is by St John, to denote the person of the Saviour: his special designation is the Son; and he is mentioned immediately after this (iv. 14) by that title: while the Word is presented as an inspired ut- terance of God spoken of old through angels (ii. 2), and through the voice of prophets (i. 1): spoken at last through the Son (i. 2, 11. 3); but is not itself personified: so far from it, that the word of the Gos- pel (vi. 5), and the word by which life was breathed into the world (xi. 3), are both de- scribed by the neuter ῥῆμα Θεοῦ. The very attributes, here predi- cated of it, derive their force from its being only a word, and yet instinct with life and energy, sharper than a sword to pierce the heart, and search out thoughts and motives. τομώτερος] This idea is bor- rowed from the language of Jewish theologians: the descrip- tion, ὁ τομεὺς τῶν συμπάντων θεοῦ λόγος, occurs more than once in Philo (qu. div. rer. haer. §§ 26, 27), to express the penetrating power of God’s word. μάχαιραν] is used in the paral- lel simile of St Paul (Eph. vi. 17) to signify the sword of the warrior ; but elsewhere in the New Testament the sword of 40 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. IV »" ΄σ ΄σ e ΄σ aypt μερισμου ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος, αρμὼν TE \ ~ \ A . y A > ΄σ Και μυελων, Kal KPLTLKOS evOupnoewy καὶ EVVOLWY , \ > oo 7 3 \ > 7 13 καρδίας" καὶ OUK εστιν κτισις αφανης EVY@TTLOV ΄- 2 \ \ \ αὐτοῦ, πάντα δὲ γυμνὰ Kal πετραχηλισμένα - ᾽ ΄σ > -~ \ ra eon ε ͵ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ, πρὸς ὃν ἡμῖν ὁ λο- 14 γοςς af ic , us ἔχοντες οὖν ἀρχιερεα peyav , 4 5 , > ΄σ \ Εν ΄σ διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ 15 Ge a Ξ a ¢ ne ΄ x ’ a of 9 OU, KP AT WMEV THS OMO oylas OU yao EX OMEV > / \ “ ~~ σε > ἀρχιερέα μὴ δυνάμενον συνπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθε- 14—16. Therefore, that we may enter into this holy rest, let us cleave to so sympathising a high priest, and through him draw near boldly to the throne of grace. the executioner also; which seems to be its meaning here, rather than the sacrificial knife, the succeeding images being drawn from the execution of men, and judgment of crimi- nals. ἁρμῶν te καὶ p.| These are distinctly parts of the body, and cannot be construed in appo- sition to ψυχῆς κ. πνεύματος without a painful anticlimax. The rhythm of the sentence points to their connexion with duKvovpevos as its object: that participle can scarcely in fact be used absolutely, without an ob- ject. ψυχῆς is the lower animal life, πνεύματος the higher spi- ritual life: it is not meant that these are divided the one from the other by the word, but that each is penetrated: the word is sharper than a sword, because it penetrates joints and marrow to the severance of the spiritual, and not merely the animal life, as is the case with the sword. κριτικός] Clement (Cor. ὃ 21) paraphrases this by ἐρευνητὴς ἐννοιῶν kK. ἐνθυμήσεων. ἐνθύμησις belongs to the sphere of reflec- tion; ἔννοια (defined by Plato as a συντονία διανοίας) to that of the active will, both here and in τ Pet. iv. 1. 13. ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ] sc. τοῦ θεοῦ, not τ. λόγου : for ἐνώπιον implies a person, in whose sight all creatures are distinct; and ‘the word’ is not personified here, as we have seen. τετραχηλισμένα] Some Greek commentators labour to explain this word by reference to victims cut open at the throat, so as to expose the inward parts: they adduce however no example of ΤΥ TO THE HEBREWS. 41 joints and marrow unto the dividing of soul and spirit, and quick to discern thoughts and intents of the heart. And no creature is indistinct in his sight: but all are 13 naked and downcast before the eyes of him, with whom we have to do. Having then a great high priest, who hath passed 14 through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession of him. For we have not a high priest 15 that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; this meaning; and it is incon- sistent with etymology and usage. τράχηλος is used in the New Testament of the back of the neck ; on which a yoke was laid (Acts xv. 10); or round which a millstone was hung (Mark ix. 42); or the arms thrown (Acts xx. 37), or which was offered to the descending blow of the sword (Rom, xvi. 4). τραχηλισμός was a tech- nical term for the wrestler’s grip on the neck of an adver- sary (Plutarch), and hence tpa- χηλίζειν was used metaphori- cally of having another at your mercy (ὅρατε τὸν ἀθλητὴν ὑπὸ παι- δισκαρίου τραχηλιζόμενον, Plut. p. 521, b), especially by Philo ; e.g. de Cher. § 24, of one who cowers at the mercy of every foe to grip him by the neck, without courage so much as to look up. Here it describes by an expressive metaphor the guilty malefactor stripped of all dis- guises, and bowed down with remorse and shame before the eyes of that heart-searching Judge, with whom we have to deal. The subject of the promised rest is here abruptly dropped, to resume that of Christ’s priest- hood, in which it is merged: for the work of our high priest includes bestowal of rest: ‘Come...and I will give you rest’, Matt. xi. 28. 14. διεληλυθότα τ. ovp.| When Jesus departed from earth at his ascension, he passed away from human sight through the clouds of heaven, the material heavens being interposed as a veil between him and his dis- ciples. Ἰησοῦν] The name of Jesus, our great Leader, who has passed before us into the true rest, is here introduced with a significant allusion to the earlier Jesus (Joshua) of v. ὃ, who led Israel across the Jordan into their earthly rest. τῆς ὁμολογίας] the confession of Jesus as our high priest, already mentioned in 11]. 1. 15. συνπαθῆσαι] ‘to feel for’ 42 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. τ ς ΄- , \ \ , ’ νείαις ἡμῶν, πεπειρασμένον δὲ κατὰ πάντα Kal e ΄ ε ’ γὴν τύ ὁμοιότητα χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. προσερχώμεθα οὖν μετὰ παρρησίας Tw θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος, ἵνα ᾽ , « ’ λάβωμεν ἔλεος καὶ χάριν εὕρωμεν εἰς εὔκαιρον βοηθειαν. if > ᾽ ᾽ Nor Πᾶς yap ἀρχιερεὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων Nap Ba- ε ’ , \ νόμενος ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καθίσταται Ta πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ἵνα προσφέρη δώρα [τε] καὶ θυσίας ὑπὲρ to ἁμαρτιῶν, μετριοπαθεῖν δυνάμενος τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι \ / > \ \ > \ , Kat πλανωμένοις, ETEL καὶ AUTOS περίκειται 3 > ᾽ \ 3 - ἀσθένειαν, καὶ Ov αὐτὴν ὀφείλει, καθὼς περὶ TOU oo qa - \ e ~ λαοῦ, οὕτως Kal περι εαὐυτοὺυ προσφέρειν περὲ — ΄“ \ > e - , \ ὡμαρτιῶν, Kal οὐχ ἑαυτῷ τις λαμβάνει τὴν / > \ / e ‘ - =~ , τιμήν, ἀλλὰ καλούμενος ὑπὸ TOU θεοῦ, καθώσπερ Nia / cf Apes \ 3 ε \ 5 καὶ Aapwv. Οὕτως καὶ 0 χριστος οὐχ ἑαντὸν 9 ΄ ΄σ > ΄ 5) e , ἐδόξασεν γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ λαλήσας \ ᾽ μ προς αὐτον Υἱός moy εἴ cy, ἐγὼ CHMEPON γεγέννηκά Ce" \ \ > e 4 ’ 6 καθως καὶ ἐν ἑτέρω λέγει ZY ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν οἰῶνὰ KATA τὴν τἄξιν Λλελχισελέκ. V.1—10. For as the high priesthood demands, st fellow- ship with human weakness, 2ndly divine appointment; so Christ was made priest, both by divine adoption (sonship involving priesthood as tts birthright), and by direct appoint- ment to a Melchizedek-priesthood : while his tearful prayers, his shrinking from death, his godly obedience, qualified hime for the priesthood on the side of humanity. is distinct from St Paul’s συμ- καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα] Sinless as he πάσχειν, to suffer with another. was, his temptations resembled ΤΌΝ TO THE HEBREWS. 43 but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, though without sin. Let us therefore draw near with 16 boldness* unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace for timely help. For every high priest is taken from among men, and: 5 appointed for men, in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can bear 2 with the ignorant and erring; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity: and by reason thereof is bound, 3 as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And 4 no man taketh the honour unto himself, but when he is called of God, as was Aaron. So the Christ also glorified 5 not himself to be made a high priest, but he that spake unto him, Thou art my Son, I have this day begotten thee: as he saith also in another place, 6 Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. ours in all respects, save that ours issue in sin, whereas his will was unstained by sin. 16. προσερχώμεθα] The ap- proach through the earthly high priest to the mercy-seat has sug- gested the constant use of this word in the epistle for our ap- proach through Christ to God’s throne of mercy in heaven, 2. μετριοπαθεῖν] This verb expresses control over the pas- sions ; specially, as here, mas- tery of anger; the description of sinners as ‘the ignorant and erring’ contains motives for forbearance: Compare ‘ Lord they know not what they do’, Luke xxiii. 34. They ‘were as sheep going astray’, 1 Pet. Ἵ 25. 3. ὀφείλει] He is bound by the law of human weakness, liability to temptation, which his flesh imposes upon him, to provide against sin, as other men, 5. οὐχ ἑ. ἐδόξασεν] He did not exalt himself by his own appointment to the honour of the priestly office, but received it from God. ἐγώ] See note on i. 5. 6. On Ps. cx. see note on 14 03. τάξιν] includes the two ideas 41 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. Vv 7 ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις THs σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, δεήσεις TE καὶ ἱκετηρίας πρὸς τὸν δυνάμενον σώζειν αὐτὸν ἐκ θανάτου μετὰ κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς καὶ δακρύων προσενέγκας καὶ εἰσακουσθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλα- 8 βείας, καίπερ ὧν υἱός, ἔμαθεν ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔπαθεν τὴν Q ὑπακοήν, καὶ τελειωθεὶς ἐγένετο πᾶσιν τοῖς ὑπα- 10 κούουσιν αὐτῷ αἴτιος σωτηρίας αἰωνίου, προσα- γορευθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀρχιερεὺς κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. II Περὲ οὐ πολὺς ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος Kal δυσερμή- νευτος λέγειν, ἐπεὶ vwOpol γεγόνατε ταῖς ἀκοαῖς" [2 καὶ γὰρ ὀφείλοντες εἶναι διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν , , Ξ =~ , a χρόνον, πάλιν χρείαν ἔχετε τοῦ διδάσκειν ὑμᾶς V.11—VI.3. This Melchizedek-priesthood may be hard to explain to you; for though you have been so long Christians, you still need to be fed as babes in Christ. But men must have solid food: I will deal with you as men in Christ : we cannot be always teaching rudiments, and laying foundations. of princely rank and _ priestly office which were combined in the person of Melchizedek. 7. Since every priest for man must be compassed with infirmity, and make offerings for sin, Christ in the days of his flesh offered passionate prayer with human shrinking from death, and learned by suffering the obedience that belongs to man. By these sufferings in the flesh he was consecrated to a Melchizedek priesthood, as the Levitical priest was con- secrated by means of the flesh of the victim. δεήσεις] are prayers for some special need, while ἱκετηρίας are supplications in general, origi- nally perhapssuppliant branches, sc. κλάδους. ἐκ θανάτου] The prep. ἐκ shews that the deliverance craved was not from a future death, but out of the depth of deadly suffering in which he was plunged. The expression was ¥ TO THE HEBREWS. 45 Who in the days of his flesh, offering up prayers and 7 supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to deliver him out of death, and being heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned hiss obedience by the things which he suffered; and being 9 consecrated he became author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, being saluted by God as high τὸ priest after the order of Melchizedek. Of whom we have much to say, and that hard of inter- τι pretation, seeing ye are become dull of hearing. For when 12 by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the probably suggested by Jesus’ words, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death’, The idea of suffering as a death pre- pares the way, as in 1]. 10, for that of consecration. The fol- lowing details are borrowed, partly from the record of the Passion, partly from Messianic Psalms, such as Ps. xxii. and ΧΙ, There is a parallel use of σῶσον ἐκ in John xii, 27. εἰσακουσθεὶς ἀπὸ τ. εὐλ.] al- ludes apparently to the visible response from heaven by the appearance of the strengthen- ing angel (Luke xxii. 43). azo often means in St Luke ‘in consequence of’, e.g. Acts xxii. 11. εὐλάβεια, originally denot- ing the careful handling of a fragile article, came to mean ‘caution’ in general; and in religious language reverent sub- nission to the will of God. 8. καίπερ ὧν υἱός] though he was a son, not a mere servant like Moses. τὴν ὑπακοήν] his obedience, i.e. the obedience necessary for man, whether a servant or a son; and which (as we are re- minded in the next verse) is necessary for all who would obtain salvation through him. 9. τελειωθείς)]) See note on 11. ro as to the Old Testament use and typical significance of this word. 10. προσαγορευθείς], Formal salutation by God as_high- priest after the order of Mel- chizedek conveys a divine ap- pointment. 11. δυσερμήνευτος] The sub- ject becomes difficult of inter- pretation, because the hearers have grown so dull of hearing. νωθρός is a later form of νωθής. 12. τὸν χρόνον] the length of time, during which you have been learning Christ. 46 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. VoVa A \ ~ ΄σ , ~ ~ 7 ΄σ τινά τὰ στοιχεῖα τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν λογίων TOV a ΄ af / θεοῦ, καὶ γεγόνατε χρείαν ἔχοντες γάλακτος, > ~ ΄σ ΄σ \ e , / 8 οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς. πᾶς yap ὁ μετέχων γαλακ- sf , hi , , ᾽ 5 TOS aATrELDOS Aoyou δικαιοσύνης, νήπιος yap εστιν , Ls ε \ , ΄σ \ \ 14 τελείων δὲ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροῴφη, των διὰ τὴν ε > / 7 9 / 4 ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα ἐχόντων προς ὙΠ ἢ διάκρισιν καλοῦ πε καὶ κακοῦ. ᾽ \ Avo ἀφέντες τον - > ΄σ ΄σ ΄σ , ’ \ \ “ τῆς apxns Tov χριστοὺ λογον Ene τὴν τελειο- TnTa φερώμεθα, μὴ πάλιν θεμέλιον καταβαλλό- ΄ ’ \ ~ af \ ΄ μένοι μετανοιᾶς απο νεκρῶν εργῶν, Kal πιστεως 5 ἐπὶ θεόν, βαπτισμῶν διδαχὴν ἐπιθέσεως TE χει- - ἢ - \ , > , ρων, αναστασεως νεκρῶν και κριματος ALWYLOU. \ ΄ , >? ᾽ if , 3 Kat ‘ ad ΄ ᾽ 7 \ , μένους TE τῆς δωρεᾶς THS ETTOUPAVLOU και μέτο- , , € / \ \ 5 yous γενηθέντας πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ καλὸν / ~ en / / yevoapevous θεοῦ ῥῆμα δυνάμεις τε μέλλοντος oD fe \ / / 3 / Oalwyos, Kal παραπεσόντας, πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν > , > ΄σ ~ \ e\ εἰς METAVOLAY, ανασταυρουντας ἑαυτοῖς τον ULOV - ἘΝ a \ ἤ 7 τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παραδειγματίζοντας. Ti γὰρ ἡ ΄σ > ΄σ “ / , ε , πιοῦσα TOV ET αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολλάκις VETO, 4---12. For it is impossible to keep renewing again and again the conversion of hard hearts. They are like barren soul, which, however blessed with fertilizing rain, bears only thorns fit for burning. But your works of love move us to hope that you have made the better choice; and they will surely call down God's blessing. will go onward. The tone passes at this point from an admonition into a resolution to advance ; qualified however by a hesitating ἐύνπερ, on which see 111. 14. 4. ἀδύνατον ...7] Accurate translation of the Greek tenses is here vital to the meaning. The language of this Epistle is characterised by special fondness for the use of present forms, the distinction between present und aorist being conspicuous throughout; in this passage present forms abound, ἀνακαινί- few, ἀνασταυροῦντας, παραδειγ- ματίζοντας, τίκτουσα, ἐκφέρουσα, all pointing to a continuous state of hardheartedness and sterility revealing itself in suc- cessive acts, or (in the case of the land) in successive seasons ; ἀνακαινίζειν (pres.) cannot mean simply ‘to renew’, like avaxat- νίσαι (aor.), but denotes con- stant renewal. Neglect of this simple principle of language has rendered the passage an abun- dant field for theological con- troversy : the impossibility here asserted is not that of a single repentance, but of renewing indefinitely in the case of Chris- tians, who persist in crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, that spiritual change, which was wrought once for all at their conversion. τ. ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας] The ad- verb ἅπαξ admonishes the He- brews that the effect produced by their conversion is not one that can be repeated again and VI TO THE HEBREWS. 49 ~ For it is impossible to keep renewing again unto 4 repentance those who have been enlightened once for all, after they have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted how good is 5 the word of God and powers of the time to come, and 6 then transgressed; while they keep crucifying to them- selves the Son of God afresh, and putting him to an open shame. For land which after drinking the rain that 7 cometh oft upon it, bringeth forth fruit meet for them for again, but an abiding change whose result ought to remain for life: the perfect participle is required to express this in English. φωτίζειν means in LXx to enlighten by teaching: in Christian usage it became a current term for conversion to Christianity, and φωτισμός was used for baptismal grace, and became almost synonymous with baptism. Perhaps its use in this epistle helped to associate it closely with conversion. γευσαμένους] with gen. δωρεᾶς expresses their partaking of the gift, but with accus. ῥῆμα their tasting the flavour of the word, —tasting, that is, how good it was. ‘The accus. is similarly used, without a figure, in Job xii, rr and John i. 9, with re- ference to the material taste. 5. δυνάμεις μέλλ. αἰῶνος] The prophet Joel (ii. 28, 29) foretold the outpouring of. the Spirit as a sign of the Messianic time to come hereafter : accord- ingly when this promised out- pouring came to pass, St Peter R applied Joel’s words (Acts ii. 17, 18) to the gifts of tongues, &e., which were bestowed on the early church at Pentecost : here μέλλοντος αἰῶνος designates the Christian era which then commenced (see note on 1]. 5). 6. παραπεσόντας)] This verb is often coupled by Ezekiel with the cognate substantive zapa- πτωμα in the sense of trans- gressing. ἀνασταυροῦντας] Just as ava- βλέπειν may mean, either to look up, or to recover sight, so ἀνασταυροῦν may mean, either to lift up on the cross, or to crucify afresh. The context here points to the second mean- ing. Wilful sin on the part of Christians involves the same contemptuous rejection of Jesus as their king, that the Jews were guilty of, when they de- manded his crucifixion, 7. γῆ] is first placed inde- finitely without an article ; and then follows a classification of the land into two kinds, the good which on drinking the 4 50. . TIPOS EBPAIOYS, VI Υ , , »" eS ’ aA καὶ τίκτουσα βοτᾶνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις Ot’ οὕς \ ΄- , > , ᾽ \ καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ ὃ τοῦ θεοῦ: ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους > , \ , 3 , key \ ΄ > ἀδόκιμος καὶ καταρας eyyus, ns τὸ τελος εἰς Q καῦσιν. Πεπείσμεθα δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν, ᾽ ’ A , \ , 7 αὙΔΑΔΤΉΤΟΙι, Ta κρεισσονα Και ἐχόμενα σωτήριας, , \ e/ ~ ’ 7 ‘ το εἰ καὶ οὕτως λαλοῦμεν" οὐ γὰρ ἄδικος ὁ θεὸς , a 4 € ΄σ \ > , ἐπιλαθέσθαι τοῦ ἔργου ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς ayarns c > , ? A, 9) 3 ca , ns ἐνεδείξασθε εἰς TO ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, διακονήσαντες ΄- e , \ ΄- 11 τοῖς ὡγίοις καὶ διακονοῦντες. ἐπιθυμοῦμεν δὲ « e aad Ἁ 3 \ . , \ ἕκαστον ὑμῶν THY αὐτὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι σπουδὴν πρὸς τὴν πληροφορίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἄχρι τέλους, 12 ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε, μιμηταὶ δὲ τῶν διὰ ’ \ , , \ πιστεως και μακροθυμίας κληρονομουντων Tas rain from heaven repays the care of God and man, and the hopelessly barren, which yields nothing but weeds, δι ovs καὶ...] The καί is in- serted in order to direct atten- tion to the motive with which this culture is bestowed; it is ‘in fact’ for the sake of the fruit, which it bears in return, that the land is cultivated at all. 8. ἐκφέρουσα] The compound verb expresses free growth, whether of rank weeds or of luxuriant crops (Gen. i, 12; Cant. 11, 13). ἀδόκιμος] pronounces condem- nation on spurious metal, &c., which appears sound, but has been found wanting upon appli- cation of a test. St Paul applies it often to persons. κατάρας ἐγγύς) This term seems suggested by the curse of barrenness pronounced in Gen, Lu, στῇ: The end of which, i.e, of the land, leads to burning: thorns are its only produce, and will need to be destroyed by fire (see Matt. xiii. 30). 9. Two alternatives have been mentioned, fertility lead- ing to God’s blessing, barren- ness to his curse. In spite of graye rebukes, the author cher- VI TO THE HEBREWS. 51 whose sake in fact it is tilled, partaketh of blessing from ‘God: but if it beareth freely thorns and thistles, it iss worthless and nigh unto a curse; whose end is unto burning. But we are persuaded of you, beloved, the better choice 9 that lays hold on salvation, though we thus speak: for 10 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister. And wen desire that each one of you may shew the same diligence for the full attainment of your hope unto the end: that ye r be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ishes confident hope that the Hebrews have embraced the better course (τὰ κρείσσονα), i.e. better in its result, as leading to blessing. σωτηρία is spoken of in this epistle as an inherit- ance (i. 14), into which Christ is leading us (11. το), conditional on present obedience (v. 9), but only to be realised completely at his second coming (ix. 28). So St Paul describes it (Rom, xiii. 11, 1 Thess. v. 8) as a hope of the future: ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας then is the course that nearly ap- proaches, but does not quite attain to, the realisation of this future blessing. Their active works of Christian charity (it is declared) give good ground for a hopeful conviction that the Hebrews are on the road to 10, 10. τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦῇ Minis- trations to the household of God, as such, were a manifesta- tion of love to his name. 11. τὴν αὐτὴν...] Manifest the same diligence in realising to the fullest extent the Chris- tian hope which is held out to you, that you have manifested in your ministrations. 12. τῶν κληρονομούντων (pres. ) } The faithful of all times, who become inheritors. Abraham, the father of the faithful, is at once brought forward as the type of these; the thoughts οἵ the author seem already reach- ing forward to the glorious cata- logue of the faithful, whom he afterwards enumerates. μακροθυμία] is used in this epistle and by St James of per- severance under trial, but in other parts of the New Testa- ment of patient forbearance un- der provocation, whether divine or human, 4—2 52 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOY3. 13 ἐπαγγελίας. VI Τῷ yap Ἀβραὰμ éray- / c , Py ? Pa \ ἊΣ u γειλάμενος ὁ θεος, ἐπεὶ κατ᾽ οὐδενὸς εἰχεν μεί- ΄ oo ye ξ > / > \ 14 Covos ὀμόσαι, ὠὦμοσεν καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, Neywv Ei μὴν 15 εὐλογῶν εὐλογήοω ce κἀὶ πληθύνων πληθγνῶ σε" καὶ A , 9 ΄ ΄σ ᾽ , οὕτως μακροθυμησας ἐπέτυχεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. 16 ἄνθρωποι γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσιν, Kat , 3 ΄ 3 , ΄ > 7 πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ᾿ le εἶ ᾽ “OE , , e \ 170 OpKOS* εν Ww περισσοτερον βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς . ΄σ ΄σ / ΄σ ᾽ , \ ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονομοις της ἐπαγγελίας TO ,ὔ ΄σ co ’ ~ Ὁ , / ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, ε \ , ’ > / > ies 18iva διὰ δύο πραγμάτων. ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν ois ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν af ε ΄ ΄σ ΄ ἔχωμεν οἱ καταῴφύυγοντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκει- 13—20. For God's promises are sure: he pledged to Abraham, not his werd only, but his oath, our hope therefore rests securely on him: and now Jesus has gone before to lead us into his presence, our eternal Melchizedek-priest. 13. γάρ] introduces ground for encouragement drawn from the history of Abraham. καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ] In classical Greek κατά is only used of the acts, or objects, by which an oath is attested, while the accus., or gen. after πρός, is employed in invoking persons by way of adjuration; but in Hellenistic Greek κατά is used, as here, in adjuring by a person (see Matt. XXV1. 63). 14. εἰ μήν] is a common form of oath in Hellenistic Greek; it may either be a cor- ruption of the classical 4 μήν, or of the Hebraistic εἰ μή. The occasion of the oath here alluded to was the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen, xxil. 16, 17). In order to bring out more distinctly Abra- ham’s personal share in the blessing, oe is substituted for τὸ σπέρμα σου in the second clause of the quotation. Philo (3 L. All. § 72) adduces the same argument from God’s oath, εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω] This itera- tion is a common Hebraistic form, originally designed to emphasize the statement. VI TO THE HEBREWS. 53 For when God made promise to Abraham, since he 13 could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, 14 Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, by patiently enduring, he obtained 15 the promise. For men swear by a greater, and an oath is 16 in the way of confirmation an end to them of all contra- diction. Wherein God, desiring to shew more abundantly 17 unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath: that by two immutable 18 things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to 15. οὕτως] 1. 6. according to the record just cited, μακροθυμή- σας, by patiently enduring, he obtained the promise. Similarly in Rom. iv. 3—12 it is argued that Abraham obtained God’s testimony in his favour by his faith in uncircumcision. His obtaining of the promise (ἐπιτυ- χεῖν τ. ἐπαγγ.) must be distin- guished from his reaping the fruit of it (κομίσασθαι tas ἐπαγ- γελίας ΧΙ. 13, 39); for the latter did not fall to Abraham’s lot on earth, as he died in faith without seeing the fulfilment of the promises. 16. τοῦ μείζονος --- ὁ ὅρκος] This distributive use of the article finds its proper English equivalent in the indefinite article, a greater—an oath, 1. 6. the oath in each particular case in which an oath is employed. ἀντιλογίας] contradiction or gainsaying, asin Vil. 7, ΧΙ]. 3. The oath shuts the mouth of the opponent, and so terminates all dispute. τῆ. ἐν ᾧ] in which case, 1.6. of a promise needing confirma- tion for the better assurance of those to whom it is made. βουλόμενος) may express ei- ther desire, or preference, but "Οὔ mere passive willingness, which is expressed by θέλειν ; our English versions so render it in Luke xxii. 42 as well as here; but 1 know not on what authority. ἐμεσίτευσεν͵] As a mediator interposes between two parties to guarantee promises on either side, so God interposed by an oath between himself and A- braham, to guarantee execution of his own promise: in this way he supplied a double secu- rity, his promise and his oath. 18. παράκλησιν] encourage- ment, whether by spoken words or, as here, by the written word. κρατῆσαι] must be connected 54 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. VI VII , , “Ὁ 7 a - ~ 19 μένης ἐλπίδος" ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς; 3 ΄- \ , \ 3 , > \ ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν καὶ εἰσερχομένην Ets TO > , ΄σ ec 20ETWTEPOY τοῦ καταπετάσματος, ὅπου πρόδρομος ε \ ε ΄σ > ΄σ 3 ΄σ \ \ , ὑπὲρ ἡμών εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, κατὰ τὴν ταξιν \ 3 , A ΄ Μελχισεδὲκ ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. € \ \ Οὗτος yap ὁ Μελχισεδέκ, βασιλεὺς Σαλήμ, \ ~ ~~ ΄- e ἱερεὺς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου, 6 συναντήσας 9 \ e ’ 3 \ a a ΄ Ἀβραὰμ ὑποστρέφοντι ἀπὸ τῆς κοπῆς τῶν βασι- / \ 5 , ’ / ce \ / 3 δὶ λέων καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτόν, ᾧ καὶ δεκάτην ἀπὸ Via ΄ > , , ~ πάντων ἐμέρισεν ᾿Αβραάμ, πρῶτον μὲν ἑρμηνευό- \ > μενος Βασιλεὺς Δικαιοσύνης ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ βασι- A ᾽ ἐν ID) \ ’ , > , 3 λεὺς Darn, ὃ ἐστιν βασιλεὺς Εἰρηνης, ἀπάτωρ, VII. 1—3. For who was Melchizedek? king of peace, king of righteousness ; greater than Abraham ( for he blessed Abraham, and took tithes of him), priest of God, not in virtue of his family, or of any official claim ; but made like to the son of God, a priest for ever. with καταφυγόντες, and not with παράκλησιν; for the participle is unmeaning, without the expla- natory addition of an object for their flight. τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπ.)] The hope here alluded to, as the ap- pointed prize of our heavenly race, must be the promise of entrance into God’s rest: in ix. 15 it is described afresh as the promise of the eternal inheritance; which is in effect the same promise. 19. As the material chamber within the veil might afford secure hold for an anchor pass- ing into it, so our hope reaches into the presence of God, and finds its stay in him and his promises. 20. The use of ὕπου, instead of ὅποι, with εἰσῆλθεν indicates that Jesus after entering within the veil abides there: therefore we must translate εἰσῆλθεν is entered. πρόδρομος must not be separated from ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, other- wise its position gives it a false emphasis ; our ground for confi- dent hope is not simply that he is a forerunner, but that he is Wiley it TO THE HEBREWS. δῦ lay hold of the hope set before us; which we have as an τὸ anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast and entering into the place within the veil; where Jesus is entered as 20 forerunner for us, being made high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. For that Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God1 7 most high, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham z assigned a tenth of all (being first by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also King of Salem, which is, King of peace, without father, without mother, without 3 gone before to prepare a place for us. 1. The historical account of Melchizedek is a transcript from Gen. xiv. 18—20. The union of king and priest in one person agrees with the character of pa- triarchal times ; his special dig- nity is, however, sacerdotal ; as king he appears subordinate to the king of Sodom in Genesis. According to Jerome the tradi- tional Salem of Melchizedek still existed in his day near Scytho- polis. The name meets us in the history of Jacob (Gen. xxxiii. 18), and of John the Baptist (John iii. 23). Probably there were several towns so named, Jerusalem was not known in early times as Salem, but asJebus. The name Salem, ‘peace’, is prominently men- tioned here on account of its significance. Instead of ὁ be- fore συναντήσας there is a well- attested reading ὅς, but it pro- bably originated from the fol- lowing o in συναντήσας. 2. βασιλεὺς δικ.] Josephus translates Melchizedek as ‘right- eous king’: the title here given ‘king of righteousness’ implies the identification of his rule with the reign of righteousness, as well as his own personal righteousness. 3. ἀπάτωρ, ἀμήτωρ, ay.| This statement is founded only on the silence of Genesis, which has no record of Melchizedek’s father, mother, or descent ; but that silence presents an expres- sive contrast to the case of the Levitical priesthood, whose de- scent was most carefully scruti- nized, and from which all were excluded who could not prove their genealogy (Ezra 11. 62). It gives to Melchizedek the mysterious dignity of the patri- archal priesthood. He was priest of the most high God, not in virtue of birth or family, but by the same natural right, by which the father of a family 56 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. VII ἀμήτωρ, ayeveaNoynTos, μήτε ἀρχὴν ἡμερῶν μήτε ζωῆς τέλος ἔχων, ἀφωμοιωμένος δὲ τῷ υἱῷ Θεω- ρεῖτε δὲ πηλίκος οὗτος ᾧ δεκάτην Ἀβραὰμ 4 τοῦ θεοῦ, μένει ἱερεὺς εἰς TO διηνεκές. ᾿ ἔδωκεν ἐκ τῶν ἀκροθινίων ὁ πατριάρχης. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Aevel τὴν ἱερατίαν λαμβάνοντες ἐντολὴν ἔχουσιν ἀποδεκατοῦν τὸν λαὸν κατὰ τὸν νόμον, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτῶν, καίπερ 6 ἐξεληλυθότας ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος ᾿Αβραάμ' ὁ δὲ μὴ γενεαλογούμενος ἐξ αὐτῶν δεδεκάτωκεν Αβρααμ, καὶ τὸν ἔχοντα Tas ἐπαγγελίας εὐλόγηκεν. 7 χωρὶς δὲ πάσης ἀντιλογίας τὸ ἔλαττον ὑπὸ ὃ τοῦ κρείττονος εὐλογεῖται. καὶ ὧδε μὲν δε- κάτας ἀποθνήσκοντες ἄνθρωποι λαμβανουσιν, Ws ἔπος ᾽ ~ \ ε > Q EKEL δὲ μαρτυρούμενος ὅτι CH. Kal 4—10. Abraham paid him tithes; the Levitical priest indeed takes tithes of his brethren, children of Abraham though they are, but only certain prescribed legal tithes ; but Melchize- dek takes them of Abraham himself without any claim of family or law: he blesses Abraham too as a superior : nor ws he a temporary priest, like the Levitical, but a living priest : Levi in fact did himself in a manner pay him tithes in the person of his forefather Abraham. claimed to be its priest: hence whereas those priests needed the Jews often identified him with their great progenitor Shem. μήτε apxyv...| The silence of Genesis is again the main au- thority for this statement, con- trasted (as before) with the law of the Levitical priesthood : formal investment, and vacated their office by death, no account is given of Melchizedek enter- ing on his office, or laying it down by death. But this silence of Genesis is further interpreted by the Psalmist (Ps. ex.); who likens him to the Son of God, ὙΠ TO THE HEBREWS. 57 genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abideth a priest for evermore. Now behold how great that man was, unto whom 4 Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the chief spoils. And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive 5 the priest’s office have commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins of Abraham: but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath 6 taken tithe of Abraham and blessed him that hath the promises: now without any contradiction the less is blessed 7 of the greater. And here men that die take tithes, but 8 there one of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And, so 9 and selects his priesthood as the type of the Son’s eternal priest- hood. μένει] The Psalmist shews the permanence of his office by speaking of him as a living priest (see note on v. 8) hun- dreds of years after his mortal life was over. 4. θεωρεῖτε] invites men to gaze upon a spectacle, whether presented to the bodily eye, or to the mental vision. ἀκροθινίων] literally ‘top of the heap’, means the best of the spoil: in Genesis no statement is made of special selection; it must be an inference from thie ordinary plan of taking the tithe of spoils. ὁ πατριάρχης] Not a mere de- scription, as the position of the words shews, but an additional evidence of Melchizedek’s dig- nity, that even the patriarch Abraham paid him tithe. 5. κατὰ τὸν νόμον] belongs to ἀποδεκατοῦν : for the law de- fined both the amount and mode of payment for the sup- port of the priesthood. 6. The perfect tenses and present part. are used, because the statement now exists in Scripture. 7. ἔλαττον͵] St Paul applies this comparative to inferiority in age (Rom. ix. 12, quoted from Gen.; 1 Tim. v. 9); St John to inferior quality (ii. 10) ; here it denotes inferiority of position, as κρείττονος does su- periority. 8. μαρτυρ. ὅτι ζῃ] Melchi- zedek is contrasted with Le- vitical priests subject to death (ἀποθνήσκοντες ἀνθρωποι), on the grouud that in Ps, cx. God 58 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. VII 9 σι ww A \ \ a , εἰπεῖν, δ᾽ ᾿Αβραὰμ καὶ Aevets 6 δεκάτας λαμ- ΄ , ᾽ \ 3 ΄σ 4 foe ~ 10 Bavwy δεδεκάτωται, ἔτι yap ἐν TH ὀσφυὶϊ ποῦ é \ Ss .« , πατρὸς ἣν OTE συνήντησεν 11 δέκ. αὐτῷ Μελχισε- δὶ Ss A a Εἰ μὲν οὖν τελείωσις διὰ THs Λευ- ~ , - A A ΄σ΄ ειτικῆς ἱερωσύνης ἢν, 0 λαὸς yap ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς νενο- , , Ve , A A ΄ μοθέτηται, τίς ἔτι χρεία κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελ- \ ef 7 ε , \ χισεδὲκ ἕτερον ἀνίστασθαι ἱερέα καὶ οὐ κατὰ \ , A 4 , A 12 τὴν ταξιν Ἄαρων λέγεσθαι; μετατιθεμένης γαρ ~ Ε ’ὔ / τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ νόμου μετάθεσις “ 9 > av \ , ΄σ ~ ς , 13 γίνεται. ep ov yap λέγεται ταῦτα φυλῆς ἐτε- , - 9 , An pas METETXNKEV, ἀφ᾽ ἧς οὐξεὶς προσέσχηκεν τῷ / ’ \ 9 f/ ’ 140vciactnpiw πρόδηλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀνα- lf € , ε ΄σ ’ A \ Nee , TETANKEV ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, εἰς ἣν φυλὴν περὶ LEpEwY 11—28. Why in fact was the Levitical priesthood set aside,—a change involving a change of law also? one of a different tribe, a different kind of priest, of indestructible life, supplants that priesthood with its law of carnal descent and shortlived generations. Such an everliving priest was fitted to man’s need ; holyand pure in life ; freed by death from sinful contact, or need of further sacrifice ; a Son consecrated for ever. presence ; speaks of him as living in his sight, though so many years after his natural death. The argument is the same as that used by our Lord (Mar. xii. 26, 27) to prove that Abraham Isaac and Jacob are still liv- ing in the sight of God; viz. that God spake unto Moses at the Bush, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’, lifted into the Father's 11. εἰ μὲν οὖν τελ.] εἰ pre- sents here under the hypotheti- cal form an admitted fact, that there was a consecration exist- ing on the Levitical system. μὲν οὖν marks a transition to a fresh argument: why in fact, when there existed a regular consecration through the Levi- tical priesthood, was there a new priesthood instituted, and from a different tribe? See note VII TO THE HEBREWS. 59 to say, through Abraham even Levi, who taketh tithes, hath paid tithe; for he was yet in the loins of his father, 10 when Melchizedek met him. Seeing in fact that there was a consecration through τι the Levitical priesthood (for upon it the people have had the law enacted), what further need was there that a different priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron ? For when 12 the priesthood is changed, there takes place of necessity a change of law also. For he of whom these things are said 13 hath partaken of a different tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the altar. For it is manifest 14 that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which on 11. 10, and appendix, as to the meaning of τελείωσις. ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς) The law was based upon the priesthood; for it rested on religious sanctions, of which the priesthood formed an essential part. ἕτερον] implies difference in kind ; whereas ἄλλος is another of the same kind. The use of ἕτερον here marks how material was the change of office and tribe effected: both implied a change of principles, not of per- sons only. 12. ‘This verse enunciates a general principle; as is shewn by the use of μετατιθεμένης (pres. part.) and the absence of an article before νόμου: a change of law must always follow upon a change of the priesthood at- tached to it. 13. λέγεται ταῦτα] 50. these statements of Ps, cx, μετέσχηκενἢ The sense in which this word is here used to express membership of a tribe is unusual; and the na- tural explanation of its use 15, that it is applied to our Lord, as belonging to the tribe of Judah only through his mother : hence he is described as partak- ing of it, rather than belonging to it. 14. πρόδηλον] an obvious historical fact, which stands plainly before men’s sight. avatéradxev| Is this figure borrowed from the rising of sun or star, or from the springing of a branch? The Greek ad- mits of either ; and both figures were actually employed to pre- figure the Messiah ; the first by Balaam (Num. xxiv. 17), and Malachi (iv. 2); the second by Zechariah (vi. 12), Isaiah (xi. 1), Jeremiah (xxiii. 5): the 60 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS ΔΝ - > / 15 οὐδὲν Μωυσῆς ἐλαλησεν. ὙΠ Kai περισσότερον ἔτι / , 9 > \ A {? κατάδηλον ἐστιν, EL κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα Μελ- \ oe Υ: € \ ef « > \ / 16 χισεδὲκ ανισήίήΤαται {ερεὺυς ETEPOS, OS OU κατα VOMOV ᾽ ΄σ , , > \ \ / ἐντολῆς σαρκίνης γέγονεν ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν ΕΣ - 9 ΄ -~ \ 14 το \ 17 ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου, μαρτυρεῖται yap ὅτι Ly iepeyc 18 εἰς TON AIDNA KATA THN τἄξιν Λλελχιςεδέκ. ἀθέτησις \ \ , / 2D -~ \ ‘ μὲν yap γίνεται προαγούσης ἐντολῆς διὰ TO CS > \ ᾽ , \ \ ? 10 αὐτῆς ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἀνωφελές, οὐδὲν yap ἐτελεί- e / ’ \ \ ’ 5 ὡσεν ὁ νόμος, ἐπεισαγωγη δὲ κρείττονος ἐλπίδος, 950 δ ἧς ἐγγίζομεν τῷ θεῶ. Kai καθ᾽ ὅσον οὐ 51 χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας, (οἱ μὲν γὰρ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας τ ἢ ε a , € e εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες, ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκωμοσίας \ r , \ ’ , 3: , \ διὰ Tov λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτὸν “Quocen Kypioc, καὶ , c > cal \ 22 of MEeTAMEAHOHCETAl, ZY ἱερεὺς εἰς TON ai@na,) κατὰ ΄ \ , , , 7 TODOUTO Kal KPELTTOVOS διαθηκης γέγονεν eyyvos second image however must be here in the author’s mind, as it alone is combined with the descent from the house of David and tribe of Judah. 15. The subject of κατάδηλόν ἐστιν has to be supplied out of the previous argument ; it is the change of law spoken of in νυ. 12, that zs evident. εἰ] with indic., after δῆλον and its compounds, introduces statements of fact, and is pro- perly rendered by a causal par- ticle ‘seeing that’, ‘in that’. 16. νόμον ἐντ. σαρκ.] The rule of the Levitical priesthood might be called carnal in two ways: 1, The sons of Aaron were all of the same family by blood; 2, They were subject to continual removal by death. The first seems here alluded to, as the second is introduced sub- sequently in v. 23. ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου] The pre- vious arguments (v. 3, 8) about Melchizedek justify this ascrip- tion of lite; and the words εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα imply that that life is indestructible. καταλύειν, to de- molish a building, supplied a ready figure (as used by our Lord himself in speaking of his own life, Matt. xxvi. 61) to ex- press destruction of life. VIL TO. .\THE HEBREWS. tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests. And the change is yet more abundantly evident, in that after the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth a different priest, ‘61 5 who hath been made, not after a law of carnal command- 16 ment, but after a power of indestructible life: for it is 17 witnessed, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. For while there is a setting at nought of a foregoing com- 18 mandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness (for the law completed nothing), there is an introduction thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as it is not without the taking of an oath (for they indeed have been made priests with- out an oath; but he with an oath through him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever) ; τὸ γι by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better 22 18. ἀθέτησις μέν... ἐπεισαγωγὴ δέ] The appointment of Ps. cx. practically sets at nought the rule of the Levitical priesthood, and substitutes a more effectual hope of access to God for the ceremonial priesthood, which had proved so weak and value- less for bringing men near to God, ἀθέτησις denotes con- temptuous disregard, rather than formal annulment, of a law. The former is the sense of ἀθετεῖν in x. 28, and often elsewhere, e.g. Mar. vii. 9. Ig. ἐτελείωσεν] used with re- ference to a neuter object οὐδέν, can only mean ‘completed’, as often in the New Testament. The double meaning of the word in Greek, to complete a thing, and to consecrate ὦ priest, al- lows a play of words which can- not be rendered in English: the law completed nothing, but our high priest has been consecrated once for all, i.e. his priesthood has been made complete, for evermore. 20. οὐ χωρὶς opK.| 56. ἱερεὺς γέγονεν, as suggested by v. 16 and Ὁ. 21. 22. κρείττονος διαθ.] a better covenant, i.e. one more effectual 62 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. 23 Ἰησοῦς. ὙΠ \ e A / , > / Καὶ ot μὲν πλείονες εἰσὶν γεγονοτες 24 ἱερεῖς διὰ TO θανάτῳ κωλύεσθαι παραμένειν" ὁ δὲ A \ , e's \ > ᾿ dA , διὰ TO μένειν αὐτὸν εἰς TON οἰῶνα ἀπαράβατον » \ ε / e/ \ / > \ 25 ἔχει τὴν ἱερωσύνην" ὅθεν καὶ TwCEW εἰς TO παν- \ , A / > ’ ΄ a TEES δύναται TOUS προσερχομένους δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τῷ rot , nw ’ \ 3 la \ θεῶ, πάντοτε Cav εἰς TO ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπὲρ 20 αὐτῶν. Τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἡμῖν [καὶ] ἔπρε- ᾽ , e/ »" > ’ σεν αρχίερευς, οσιος, AKAKOS, AMLAVTOS, KEV W- , ’ \ lod € Co) \ e , ρίσμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ἀμαρτωλαν, Kat ὑψηλότερος ΄ 9 - , “A ᾽ ε , 27 τών οὐρανῶν γενόμενος" OS οὐκ ἔχει καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἀνάγκην, ὥσπερ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, πρότερον ὑπὲρ ΄- a7 ε - , > , 7 TWV ἰδίων αμαρτίιων θυσίας ἄναφερειν, ETTELTA - ΄σ “- - \ > , 9 ΄ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ (τοῦτο γαρ ἐποίησεν ἐφάπαξ ς 5) 4 ς Ρ, \ ’ η 28 ἑαυτὸν ἀνενέγκας)" ὁ νόμος yap ἀνθρώπους καθ- 9 Ξ . , ε , ‘ ἰίστησιν αρχίερεις εχοντας ἀσθένειαν, O Aoyos δὲ fr ς , ΄σ \ \ , CL. > A THS ορκωμοσίιας THS μετὰ TOV VOMOV VLOV, εἰς τον ~ , αἰῶνα τετελειωμένον. for its purpose. The superior efficacy of the covenant corre- sponds to the solemnity of the oath of appointment. 23, 24. It appears from the previous context that the con- tinuance described by παρα- μένειν is continuance in the priesthood; again the words μένειν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα Must mean ‘to abide a priest for ever’; for they are a paraphrase of the Psalm ‘Thou art a priest for ever. 24. amapaBarov] has been by some translated as a priesthood ‘that does not pass to another’, by way of developing more per- fectly the contrast to the Levi- tical priesthood ; but usage and etymology combine in favour of the meaning ‘unalterable’, The sun is said by Plutarch (de oracul, defect. p. 410) to have an unalterable course (τάξιν ἀπαράβατον). Galen warns the physician not to follow his rules as an unalterable law (νόμον ἀπαράβατον) without regard to the special symptoms of the VII TO THE HEBREWS. 63 covenant. And they indeed have been made many priests, 23 because they are hindered by death from continuing: but 24 he, because he abideth so for ever, hath a priesthood which is unchangeable, Wherefore also he is able entirely 25 to save them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, un- 26 defiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, like those high priests, 27 to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself. For the law appointeth men high 28 priests, while they have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was after the law, appointeth a Son who hath been consecrated for evermore. ease ; and Lobeck (Phrynichus, p- 313) notices the usage of this word as a later synonym of ἀπαραίτητον, inexorable. Here the force of the clause is that the terms of the appointment in Ps. ex. pronounce that ap- pointment to be irreversible. 25. From this enduring priesthood results an infinite power to save those who avail themselves of his ministry ; see- ing that he is an everliving in- tercessor,. 26. ‘The fitness of such an eternal high priest for men, as spiritual beings, is enforced by « description of his qualifica- tions, drawn from the life of Jesus. (1) His life was ὅσιος, 1.6. marked by the performance of every duty towards God; axa- kos, free from evil thought (1 Pet. ii, 22); ἀμίαντος, un- stained by sin. (2) His death and resurrec- tion separated him from con- tact with sinners, and his as- cension lifted him above the place of their habitation, (3) His one offering of him- self once for all put an end to his need of sacrifice; for his consecration is eternal. 27. avevéykas}| Other mss read προσενέγκας. 28. ἔχοντας ac6.] The con- trast is between men (like the sons of Levi) in their present state of infirmity, still subject to the will of the flesh and the law of sin and death, and the Son after his eternal consecra- tion. The combination of εἰς τὸν 64 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. Viti VIII , \ ‘ -- ; a Κεφαλαῖιον δὲ ἐπὶ Tots λεγομένοις, τοιοῦτον », 9 , ε ᾽ , > ~~ ΄ , ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα, Os ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θρόνου ~ , ΕῚ ~ ~~ ΄σ , 2 τῆς μεγαλωσυνῆς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, τῶν αγίων 3 A \ lo a ΄ 9 r ΒῚ λειτουργὸς καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς, ἣν ᾿», « ’ > Sf - A ? 2 ἔπηξεν Ο Κύριος, οὐκ ἀνθρωπος. πᾶς Yap ἀρχιε- ρεὺς εἰς τὸ προσφέρειν dwpa τε καὶ θυσίας ’ ε > ~ sf \ ~ καθίσταται" ὅθεν αναγκαίιον εχέιν τι καὶ TOUTOV “Ὁ , > \ 3 > ? \ = Qo ON KD 4.0 προσενεγκήη. εἰ μεν OUY HV ἐπὶ YNS, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἣν t ! ΠῚ: Furthermore, if such be the true heavenly priest, what is the true tabernacle? not an earthly one ; for the Mosaic tabernacle has its priests on earth ; and tt was after all only a copy of the heavenly ideal: its covenant too was already in Jeremiah’s time condemned as a failure; and a mightier covenant was promised, a covenant of heartservice and universal knowledge of God on man’s side, of the gifts of the Spirit and JSorgiveness on God's side. αἰῶνα with τετελειωμένον shews that the clause is an adaptation from Exod. xxix. 9; and that the word is used here in the same sense of ‘consecrated’ as it is in that passage. I. κεφάλαιον] κ. ἐπιθεῖναι with dat. means to put the coping- stone on a building, or to crown a column with its capital ; and it was used figuratively (e.g. Dem. 520. 27), like the Lat. ‘fastigium imponere’, as the description of a crowning speech or act. Hence the meaning of κεφάλαιον ἐπί is distinct from κεφάλαιον when coupled with a genitive to denote a summary of contents, or chief point of a treatise. The last three chap- ters having been devoted to Christ’s appointment to the priesthood, it is now proposed to crown the edifice by an ac- count of the new sanctuary in which he is to minister, with its covenant and sacrifice. τοιοῦτον) is retrospective, as elsewhere: the first verse sums up the result already reached by the argument; and the fol- lowing verses open up new matter. ἐκάθισεν, ἔπηξεν͵], These aor- ists are not mere records of past historical facts, but present to us the heavenly ministration which Christ is now carrying on, and should therefore be rendered by perfects in English, VIII Now to crown what we are saying; TO THE HEBREWS. 65 We have such ai 8 high priest, who is seated on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, as minister of the sanctuary, 2 and of the true tabernacle which the Lord hath pitched, not man. For every high priest 15 appointed to offer both 3 gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is necessary that he also have somewhat to offer. is seated, hath pitched. Similarly his entrance into the holy place is described in 1x. 24 as having for its object ‘to appear now before the face of God for us’. The twofold relation of this heavenly ministry to God, and to man, is well expressed by coupling together τῶν ἁγίων and τῆς σκηνῆς τ. ἀληθ. ; for the first is the inner sanctuary in which God dwells, the chamber of his presence, and therefore repre- sents Christ as carrying on his ministry of intercession in the immediate presence of God ; at whose right hand he is seated. The Mosaic tabernacle on the other hand was the visible mani- festation of God’s presence to his people, amongst whom it was pitched; and_ therefore Christ's ministry to the ideal tabernacle declares his spiritual presence in his church on earth. While seated at God’s right hand, he is present also amidst his brethren here below. ἀλη- θινός is not the same as ἀληθής 3 for whereas ἀληθής discrimi- nates the true from the false, ἀληθινός distinguishes the ideal and eternal from the material h. If in fact he were on earth,’ he 4 and transitory (compare its use in Luke xvi. 11, John i. 9, vi. 32, xv. 1). The ideal taber- nacle is pitched, wherever men worship the Father in spirit and in truth throngh the great high priest, whether by deed, word, or thought. ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς] is coupled to τ. μεγαλωσύνης like ἐν ὑψηλοῖς Ta ye 3. What are the gifts and sacrifices Christ is to offer now, since his one great sacrifice is already completed ¢ (1) Though the sacrifice is complete, yet the offering of the blood in heaven for eac! individual member of the church may be spoken of as still con- tinuing. (2) The same offerings also, which he made for himself in the days of his flesh, viz. prayers, supplications, strong crying and tears, godly fear, holy obedience, must now be offered by his brethren through him, (3) Thank-offerings of praise and good works are still offered continually by his brethren through him (xiii. 15, 16). 4. μὲν οὖν] introduces a fresh 5 66 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. Viti ε » - , \ , LEMEUS, OVTWY Τῶν προσφεροντων κατα VOMOV 5 τὰ δῶρα" (οἵτινες ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ λατρεύ- 5 τὰ δῶρ YH ἃ NaTp ΄σ > / \ , ουσιν τῶν επουράᾶάνιων, καθως κεχρηματισται - / ? ΄- \ ΄ a , Μωυσῆς μέλλων ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν σκηνὴν, “Opa yap, , , , , φησίν, ποιήςειο πᾶντὰ KATA τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντὰ CO! 6 ἐν τῷ ὄρει) νυνὶ δὲ διαφορωτέρας τέτυχεν λειτουρ- , J \ , , 3 / 7, γιας, οσω Kal KPELTTOVOS €O0 TLV διαθήκης μεσιτής, «; ’ \ / > ’ » ἥτις ἐπὶ κρείττοσιν ἐπαγγελίαις νενομοθέτηται. > \ e / ᾽ , Μὴν af > ”’ 7 εἰ γὰρ ἡ TPWTN EKELYN ἣν ἄμεμπτος, οὐκ ἂν δευ- / > =~ Λ ΄ \ ’ \ ὃ τέρας ἐζητεῖτο τοπος" μεμῴομενος yap αὐτοὺς / λέγει , argument for the heavenly na- ture of Christ’s ministrations ; viz. that there exists an ample supply of priests already on earth to minister to the material sanc- tuary. οἵτινες defines the class to which the sons of Aaron be- long, viz. earthly priests. 5. ὑποδείγματι] in this epistle is used fora copy (iv. 11, ix. 23), but in James v. Io for a pattern. τῶν ἐπουρανίων | SC. ἁγίων, sanc- tuary ; if it be necessary to sup- ply a substantive at all. κεχρημότισται] This verb ex- pressed in later Greek the utter- ance of an oracle or deity, as xpaew in early Greek. The perfect is used, because the warning still exists in Scerip- ture. ἐπιτελεῖν] to carry a design into execution. πάντα] is not found in Exod. xxv. 40; but is a natural sum- mary of the previous context ; it is Inserted by Philo also in quoting the passage. τύπον] implies a heavenly vision vouchsafed to Moses of the future tabernacle. 6. νυνί] There is an alterna- tive reading νῦν. νυνί is the form usually adopted to contrast the actual state of things with an imaginary hypothesis, like this of Christ being a priest on earth. διαφορωτέρας] 1.6. surpassing earthly priests. κρείττονος] It was argued in the last chapter that the supe- rior efficacy of the new covenant was foreshadowed by the terms of the appointment in Ps. ex. That efficacy is now further argued from its intrinsic nature, as appealing to the heart by the VEE TO THE HEBREWS. 67 would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to law; priests who serve a copy 5 and shadow of the heavenly, even as Moses is warned of God, when he is about to carry out the design of the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shewed thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a ministry the more 6 preeminent, by how much he is mediator of a better cove- nant also; one which hath been enacted upon better promises. ing fault with them, he saith, quickening and_ enlightening power of the Spirit and by God’s assurance of forgiveness, which supplies a motive which was lacking in the old. Upon the same principle St Paul calls the Gospel a power of God unto salvation (Rom, 1. 16), in com- parison with the weakness of the Law, which could not touch the heart. : διαθήκης] The term covenant, which properly describes a mu- tual agreement made between man aud man on a footing of equality, seems scarcely appro- priate to a divine covenant, which proceeds from God’s free bounty. Divine covenants how- ever, though for the most part, with the exception of the Mosaic covenant, more akin to promises than to covenants proper, are not unconditional ; though the conditions were often implied only, and not For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would not be place sought fora second. Yor find- coms directly expressed. In the new covenant for instance the pro- mise of forgiveness and of the entrance of God’s Spirit into the heart implies the response, of a humble spirit and willing heart on man’s side, as essential to its fulfilment. ἥτις] classifies the new cove- nant, as from the nature of its promises more effectual for good than the old. 7. οὐκ ἂν ἐζητεῖτο] there would mot be a demand, as we find from the language of Jeremiah that there was, ὃ. μεμφόμενος γὰρ αὐτούς] The blame is insensibly shifted from the covenant to the people: there is a subtle beauty in this: for the covenant itself could scarcely be called ἄμεμπτος, see- ing that it failed: but the true defect was in the hearts of the people, not in the law, which was ‘holy and righteous and 9. 9 68 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. Vil ᾿ΙΔοΥ ἡμέραι ἔρχοντδι, λέγει Κύριος, \ , ry \ 3 > ‘ ‘ SEAN ‘ KAl CYNTEAECO) ἐπὶ TON OIKON ‘IcpaHA Kal ἐπὶ TON οἶκον ᾿Ιούδὰ διδθήκην KAINHN, 9) OY KATA THN AIAOHKHN HN ETTOIHCA τοῖς TIATPACIN AYT@N EN ἡμέρὰ ἐπιλαβομένου MOY TAC χειρὸς ἀὐτῶν €Zara- rein ayToye ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ὅτι AYTOI οὐκ ENEMEINAN ἐν TH διδθήκῃ MOY, κἀγὼ HMEAHCA AYTOON, λέγει Κγριοο. TO ὅτι AYTH ἡ AIAOHKH HN διαθήοομδι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿ἰορδῆλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρδο ἐκείνδο, λέγει Κύριος, \ , > \ U > a AIAOYC NOMOYC MOY EIC THN AIANOIAN AYTOON, KAl ἐπὶ KAPAIAC AYT@N ἐπιγράψω AaYTOYC, KAl ECOMAI AYTOIC εἰς θεόν KAl AYTO!L ECONTAI MO! εἰς AACN. ἘΤ KAl OY MH δλιλᾶξωοιν EKACTOC τὸν πολίτην AYTOY KAl EKACTOC TON ἀδελφὸν AYTOY, λέγων ὅτι TIANTEC EIAHCOYCIN ME Γνῶθι TON KYPION, ἀπὸ μικροῦ EWC MEPAAODY AYTOIN. 12 ὅτι ἵλεως ECOMAI TAIC AAIKIAIC AYTON, KAl τῶν AMAPTION AYT@N OY MH MNHCOG) ETI. an , , 13ἐν Tw λέγειν Κλινήν good’. ‘There is another read- ing αὐτοῖς, perhaps a correction due to the greater frequency of the dative as the government of μεμφόμενος. It cannot be construed with λέγει, for the Greek expression must have been λέγει πρὸς αὐτούς, or at all events λέγει αὐτοῖς, not αὐτοῖς λέγει. Jeremiah’s great pro- phecy of restoration (xxx., ff \ {7 πεπαλαίωκεν τὴν TOWTHY, xxxi.), though uttered for the consolation of the atHicted Jews after the desolation of Jerusa- lem, points nevertheless to a spiritual renewal rather than any mere national revival. συντελέσω ἐπί] The Lxx have διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ in the origi- nal passage. The expression here used is more forcible, desig- nating the new covenant as a ΠῚ TO THE HEBREWS. 69 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will conclude a new covenant for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah ; Not according to the covenant that I made with 9 their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt ; For they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the 10 house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their hearts also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, rr And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, 12 And their sins will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath pronounced the 13 final settlement for the welfare of God’s people. IO. τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκ.] 1.6. the days of affliction, of which the prophet had just spoken ; during which the Lord regarded them not. διδούς] (pres. part.) describes a continuous work of God’s in- forming Spirit in enlightening the understanding and con- science, and engraving his laws upon the heart, instead of writ- ing them on tables of stone, as was done at Sinai. This work shall issue, so saith the word of promise, in universal knowledge and love of God ; all shall know him as a God of merey and forgiveness. 13. πεπαλαίωκεν]ο The verb maXavovv, like many other verbs in -οὖν, has two distinct senses : (1) To make old, as in i, 11; 70 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. © VIlE TX \ QS \ , \ , > \ > TO 0€ παλαιούμενον καὶ γήρασκον ἔγγυς ἀφα- νισμοῦ. Ι Εἶχε μὲν οὖν [καὶ] ἡ πρώτη δικαιώματα λα- , / 74 / 2 τρείας TO TE AYLOV κοσμικον. oKevac On Xe =10: σκηνὴ γὰρ κατε- ς ’ 3 > ε΄ / \ « ἢ TpwrTn Ἐν ἢ i TE λυχνία καὶ ἡ The very form in fact of the Mosaic tabernacle, constructed as an outer and an inner chamber, attested tts impotence for securing access to God. the holy place was closed to all save the priests; the holy of holies to all, save once a year to the high priest alone; shut in behind the holy place Jrom all sight or access of the people: the sacrifices too are but material types without any virtue save for cleansing of the flesh. where the passive is used of the wearing out of a garment. (2) To pronounce obsolete, as in this passage. By the an- nouncement of the new, Jere- miah pronounced the former covenant to be obsolete. γηράσκον] describes the na- tural decay inherent in institu- tions from lapse of time. ἀφανισμοῦ) destruction. This word describes, not gradual decay, but annihilation; such as actually overtook the city and temple at the hands of the Romans; and which is here declared to have been impend- ing over the Mosaic covenant from the day that the prophets of God pronounced its condem- nation. I. εἶχε μὲν οὖν] The defect of the old covenant was last argued from the language of Jeremiah superseding it: it is now shewn that in fact (μὲν οὖν) the very form of its sanctuary bore witness to its own imper- fection. εἶχε (imp.) demands notice: for though ἔσχε (aor.) might have been employed, as κατεσκευάσθη is in the next verse, to describe historically the original establishment of the covenant, ordinances, and sanc- tuary, the imperfect implies of necessity that one or other of these no longer subsisted at the date of this epistle. Now the epistle nowhere speaks of the old covenant as abrogated, though become virtually obso- lete in presence of the new: its principles are treated through- out as a living reality, and even the ceremonial of the day of atonement is described in the present time. It must therefore be the sanctuary with its ritual which is spoken of in the past WAIOQUL IDC first obsolete. TO THE HEBREWS. τὰ But that which is pronounced obsolete and waxeth old is nigh unto destruction. The first covenant too had in fact ordinances of divine: 9 service, and its sanctuary complete. For the tabernacle 2 had a first part furnished, wherein were the candlestick and time; in other words, the temple-worship was _ already closed to the Hebrew Chris- tians, as we know it to have been during the Jewish war, and regarded by them as already at an end. καὶ 9 πρώτη] sc. διαθήκη. Τῇ καί be genuine, which is not certain, it implies that both the covenants, the first as well as the second, had ordinances, &e. δικαιώματα] denotes here, as in 1x. 10, the requirements essential to the due perform- ance of divine service ; in Rom. il. 26, vill. 4 the requirements of the moral law are called δικαιώματα. κοσμικόν] complete, i.e. in per- fect order. So Josephus (B. J. Iv. § 5. 2) calls the regular cere- monial of the Jewish temple κοσ- μικὴ θρησκεία. The word is used in Tit. 11. 12 of worldly lusts, as opposed to spiritual life, in the same manner as κόσμος is used by St John of the world that is opposed to Christ and his church: but I find no trace of its ever meaning material or belonging to this world, as con- trasted with eternal. Nor is it the purpose of this clause to point a_contrast between the two sanctuaries, but to state a characteristic which belonged to both; viz. a complete organisa- tion (κόσμος) for their respective objects, in one case ceremonial and material, in the other spi- ritual and heavenly. 2. σκηνὴ ἣ πρώτη] the first, Le. outer, part of the tabernacle. σκηνή begins the sentence, as y7 does in vi. 7, because the tabernacle as a whole is the subject of the sentence: and the division into parts is made by the subsequent articles. Only indefinite or plural substantives can be so used in English with- out anarticle. Local adjectives are constantly used attribu- tively, as πρώτη is here, to ex- press the parts of a whole, though not generally with an art. immediately preceding. There seems however no choice of rendering here: for the Mosaic tabernacle is never spoken of but as one; and its unity is an essential point in this passage. λυχνία, τράπεζα] In the later temple there was one candle- stick and one table, as in the tabernacle (Exod. xxv.; 1 Macc. 1. 21, iv. 49): in the temple of Solomon there were ten of each. 1 to ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΙΧ ’ Δ ες ΄ - Sf e/ , τράπεζα Kal 4 πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων, ἥτις λέγεται anv = \ \ \ if ld \ 3 Ayia μετὰ δὲ TO δεύτερον καταπέτασμα σκηνὴ 4 ἢ λεγομένη “Ayia ᾿Αγίων, χρυσοῦν ἔχουσα θὺυ- “ \ \ ‘ ΄σ΄ ΄ μιατήριον καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης περι- Uy , - 2 ἘΞ ἘΞ 2 , 3 ε ὲ κεκαλυμμενην παντοῦεν χρυσίῳ, ἐν ἡ στάμνος πρόθεσις τ. ἄρτ.--ἄρτοι τ. προ- θέσεως (Exod. xl. 21 in Lxx). Twelve loaves were set every sabbath day on the table in the holy place as a memorial before God of the twelve tribes. ayia] neut. plur., as often in this epistle ; so also ἅγια ἁγίων in the next verse; both are without an article, as proper names: there is however another reading which inserts the article in both cases. 3. μετὰ τὸ δεύτερον] The pre- position and numeral adj. are both used in a local sense with reference to a person entering the tabernacle. καταπέτασμα] was the proper name for the inner veil in front of the holy of holies (vi. 19; Exod. xxvi. 31): the outer veil in front of the entrance to the holy place was called κάλυμμα or ἐπίσπαστρον (Exod. xxvi. 36; Num. ili. 25): the two veils are sometimes spoken of together in the plural as καταπετάσματα. 4. θυμιατήριον]Ἕ Does this mean censer, or altar of incense ? Etymology can give us no guid- ance, for either meaning would be equally consistent with the form of tle word ; which simply denotes an article used in the offering of incense. In the Pentateuch it does not occur in either sense; the brasen censers of the priests being designated as πυρεῖα, and the altar of incense as θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος. But in later Greek it is used frequently in both senses: and Josephus employs it in at least one passage (Ant. Iv. § 2. 4) for a censer, while both Philo and Josephus habi- tually employ it as the name for the altar of incense. The mean- ing therefore must be deter- mined here by the context. In favour of the rendering ‘ censer’ it is urged that there was a special golden censer carried in the later Jewish times upon the day of atonement into the holy of holies, whose solidity and brilliance excited great ad- miration. But this censer can- not have been Kept in the holy of holies, though used there annually; nor is it mentioned at all in the Old Testament: moreover the mention of it is quite out of place here, as the present brief sketch designedly passes over all details of vessels, as unimportant in principle, IX 5 TO THE HEBREWS. 73 the table and the shewbread ; one which is called the Holy place. And after the second veil, the part which is called 3 the Holy of holies; having the golden altar of incense, and 4 the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, But no enumeration of the larger furniture of the sanc- tuary could possibly omit the altar of incense ; which was the most conspicuous and import- ant of all. Both Philo and Josephus enumerate three ar- ticles, and three only, besides the ark, in their description of the interior of the temple. These three were the candle- stick, the table, and the altar of incense; which both alike designate as the θυμιατήριον. The only ground for hesitation in rendering it here ‘altar of incense’ is that it is spoken of as connected with the holy of holies. In order to remove this difficulty one Ms has transposed the words χρυσοῦν θυ. to the second verse, so as to transfer the locality of the altar of in- cense to the holy place, as in Exodus. But the difficulty is more apparent than real, There is no doubt that the altar of incense stood outside the veil, within the limits of the holy place, in order that the priests might have daily access to it: but its position and its use con- nected it especially with the mercy-seat, in front of which it was placed, that the cloud of incense might rise up before God; and this connexion is recognised by the Ola Testa- ment Scriptures as well as by this epistle. Exod. xxx. 6 de- scribes its position as ‘ before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy- seat’; and 1 Kings vi. 22 as ‘by the oracle’. Here there- fore it is similarly described as attached to the holy of holies, to which it formed the approach: and the language is varied with this object from ἐν 7, which the former verse employed in de- scribing the contents of the holy place, to the more elastic term ἔχουσα, which may pro- perly embrace the accessories, as well as the actual contents, of the holy of holies, κιβωτὸν τ. διαθήκης} the ark was so called from the tables of the covenant deposited in it (Exod. xxxiv. 27, 28, Deut. x. 5). These were originally called ‘the testimony’, and thence came the earlier name ‘ark of the testimony’ (Exod. xxv. 21, 22); The ark itself disappeared at the destruction of the temple of Solomon: the pot of manna (Exod. xvi. 33, 34), and the rod of Aaron, ordered (Num. Xvlil. 10) to be laid up before the testimony, were not in the ark at the time of its removal to the temple (1 Kings viii. 9). 74 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΙΧ ΄σ »" \ , ε ε \ χρυσὴ εἐχουσὰα TO μαννα καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος ᾿Ααρων ε / \ , ΄σ ΄ 5η βλαστήσασα καὶ αἱ πλάκες τῆς διαθήκης; ὑπερ- ἄνω δὲ αὐτῆς Χερουβεὶν δόξης KaTackiaCovTa \ ε ’ \ ea > sf ~ / TO ἱλαστηριον" περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἐστιν νὺν λέγειν \ i , \ ε f 0 κατὰ μέρος. Τούτων δὲ οὕτως κατεσκευασμένων, 2 \ \ ’ \ \ \ > U ELS μέν τὴν TPWTHV OKHVHV διὰ σαντος εἰιἰσιασιν cane ἘΞ \ , > ΄σ 3 ~A\ \ 7 Ol LEPEIS Tas AATPELAs ἐπιτελουντες, ELS δὲ THY ’ «“ ~~ Ἢ ω , . , δευτέραν ἁπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ μόνος ὁ ἀρχιερεύς, 3 ς « ε ε ΄σ οὐ χωρὶς αἵματος, ὃ προσφέρει ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ Kat ~ onl ~~ , "Ἤ ~ ~~ Ὁ τῶν Tov λαοῦ ayvonuaTwy, τοῦτο δηλοῦντος ων , ΄σ € Ἢ 7 ΄σ- TOU πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, μήπω πεφανερῶσθαι \ “- ε , e \ THY τῶν αγιῶὼν ὁδὸν > , te cf ο EXOUTHS στασίν, ἥτις 5. XepovBelv] (Exod. xxv. 17—21). The Ltxx make this word masculine as well as neuter; perhaps the former denotes them as quasi-living beings, the latter as sculptured forms. δόξης] Between the two pairs of cherubim was the appointed place for the manifestation of God’s presence to his people by a bright cloud of glory, the Sbhechinah. ἱλαστήριον] derived its name from the propitiation made on the day of atonement by the sprinkling of blood: it was the golden cover (ἐπίθεμα) of the ark, In Ps. xcix. 5 it is called the footstool of God, in 1 Chron. ᾽» > , ΄σ ETL τῆς WEWTHS σκήνης \ > \ \ παραβολὴ εἰς τὸν καιρὸν XXviil. 2 the resting-place for his feet. 6. τούτων δ. οὕτως κατ.] The last four verses have contained a description of the furniture of the two chambers, as recorded in the books of the law, begin- ning at σκηνὴ γὰρ κατεσκευάσθη. The epistle now passes on to an account of their use under the Mosaic system. ciciacw...| The present tense is used throughout this passage in accordance with the usual practice of the author, who employs the present tense in reference to things now existing in Scripture (see vil. 3, 5, 8, 1x. OD) OC ae x. ἤν: Tas λατρείας] The priests IX TO THE HEBREWS. τὸ wherein was a golden pot holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above s it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat. which things we cannot now speak severally. Of Now these 6 having been thus furnished, the priests go in continually into the first part of the tabernacle, performing their services; but into the second the high priest alone, once 7 in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for him- self, and for the ignorances of the people: the Holy Ghost s this signifying, that the way through the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while the first part is still holding a position which is a figure for the time being ; entered morning and evening into the holy place in the per- formance of their regular minis- tration, viz. the care of the lamps, and especially the offer- ing of incense (Exod. xxx. 7, 8, Luke i. 9). 7. ἅπαξ] The account given in Leviticus of the yearly atone- ment shews that the high priest entered at least twice, if not more, into the holy of holies on the day of atonement, once to carry the incense within the veil, once to sprinkle the blood on the mercy-seat (Lev. xvi. 12, 14); but both these belonged to a single day and a single occasion. ἀγνοημάτων)] This word seems specially chosen, just as τ. ayvo- ovat in v. 2, to denote the more venial aspect of sin. 8. δηλοῦντος τ. πνεύμ.] Divine revelation prescribing the form of the sanctuary and the ex- g; ng clusion of the people amounted in effect to a declaration of the Spirit, that the way into the holy of holies was not yet thrown open to the people. 9. ἥτις] agrees with στάσιν, not with σκηνῆς, as its antece- dent: for (1) ὅστις is regularly and habitually connected with the noun most immediately pre- ceding; (2) ἔχειν στάσιν could scarcely be used as a periphrasis for ‘to stand’; (3) it was not the chamber itself, which con- stituted the figure, but its posi- tion; that position was such as to intercept all approach to the holy of holies, and jealously shut out the people from even a sight of its interior: it thus plainly indicated the temporary and provisional nature of a ritual, which failed to give ac- cess to God. καιρὸν ἐνεστηκότα] is the anti- thesis of καιρὸς διορθώσεως, the © 76 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. IX \ 5 , > « ΄σ \ i? Tov ἐνεστηκοτα Kal? ἣν δώρα τε Kat θυσίαι , \ , \ 7, προσφέρονται μὴ δυνάμεναι κατὰ συνείδησιν τε- ΄σ \ , U \ / 10 λειῶσαι τὸν λατρεύοντα, μόνον ἐπὶ βρώμασιν \ 4 \ {? ΄ 4 καὶ πομασιν Kal διαφόροις βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώ- ματα σαρκὸς μέχρι καιροῦ διορθώσεως ἐπικεί- ΙΙμενα. Χριστὸς δὲ παραγενόμενος ἀρχ- 11—14. But Christ, presenting himself as true high priest in heaven, by virtue of his own atoning blood cleansed the spirit Srom pollution Gf past guilt. time of the Messiah’s coming ; for the participle has the same force as τὰ ἐνεστῶτα in Rom. vill. 38, 1 Cor. iii, 22, which describes things present in con- trast to ta μέλλοντα, things future. The time of types and ceremonies, with rites imposed for the cleansing of the flesh, was to last till on the coming of Christ the time of reforma- tion began, which should re- place the shadow by the sub- stance. καθ᾽ ἥν] in accordance with which figure. A new idea is now introduced; the same les- son, which was taught by the form of the sanctuary, is now enforced by reference to the carnal and ceremonial nature of the offerings, which cannot pro- cure true spiritual approach to God. δῶρα] In Exod. xxv. 2—8 are recorded the gifts of the Israelites for the work of the tabernacle and the garments of the priests; again in 2 Chron. xxiv. 9, 10 similar freewill offerings for the repair of the temple; and in Neh. vii. 70 for its restoration. It is to gifts of this nature that reference is here made. θυσίαι] The sacrifices required for consecration are recorded in Exod, xxix. tehedoa| to consecrate a priest. See note on 11. τὸ and Appendix B on the meaning of the word. tov Aatpevovta] The preced- ing words of v. 6, τὰς λατρείας ἐπιτελοῦντες, are sufficient of themselves to shew that the min- istering priest is here intended by the term Aatpevovra, and not the worshipping congregation : the term is always in fact ap- plied to the service rendered by priests and Levites, when used of Jewish worship; or to that of heathen priests, when employed in reference to heathen temples, It is only in a spiritual religion, like the Christian, where all are priests, that the term λατρεύειν IX TO THE HEBREWS. 77 accordance with which figure both gifts and sacrifices are offered, that cannot consecrate him that serveth as touch- ing the conscience, but only in regard of meats and drinks τὸ and divers washings; ordinances of the flesh, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ appearing as high priest of the good things τι can be applied to the congrega- tion. το. ἐπὶ βρώμασιν] The rules of Greek construction require our connecting this preposition with the verb τελειῶσαι, as antithesis to κατὰ συνείδησιν, and taking δικαιώματα in apposition to δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίαι. 11. We pass here from the type to the antitype, from the sacrifice of the day of atone- ment to Christ’s own atoning sacrifice: as material access to the mercy-seat was granted in virtue of the former, so the ap- proach of God’s reconciled chil- dren in spirit to their heavenly Father is achieved by the latter : for whenever the conscience is awakened, the sense of guilt rises up as an obstacle against the penitent’s entrance into the service of a holy God: and just as the unclean were shut out under the Law from God’s service, so the consciousness of pollution interposes ἃ barrier against the return of the guilty sinner to his God. The Atone- ment is here viewed in its retrospective aspect as remov- ing this barrier. In order to illustrate its action in effecting a reconciliation between God and man, two separate rituals are combined : (1) That of the great fast day, on which the high priest presented the blood of a single victim before the mercy-seat on behalf of the whole people, signified the universal efficacy of the one Atonement. (2) The water of separation typified at once the nature of the defilement to be removed, viz. defilement by contact with death, and the cleansing efficacy of sacrifice. The argument is ὦ fortiori: If the flesh, polluted by contact with death, is rendered clean in God’s sight by outpouring of blood of animals, much more may the guilty sinner enter with confidence into the service of the living God, when cleansed from consciousness of deadly pollution by the deliberate self- sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God, who poured out his own blood for him, (For the full developement of this argument see Appendix A.) παραγενόμενος), The appear- ance here spoken of is that of the risen Christ before God in -τ oe) ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΙΧ \ r , ’ - \ “- ἱερευς τῶν γειομένων ἀγαθών διὰ τῆς μείζονος \ ΄ ΄σ fe ΓΝ A) Kat TEAELOTEPAS σκηνης ou χειροποιήτου, TOUT 7 > if ΄σ , 29 \ 3 «. 12 εστιν οὐ ΄ταυτῆς τὴς KTLOEWS, οὐδὲ δι αιματος , \ , s A δὲ - ἽΝ “ἤ TPayov Kal μοσχῶωὼν Cla € TOU ιοιοὺν AiMaTOSs, De hes ’ ? Noy tee: » 7, ΄ εἰσῆλθεν ἐφαπαξ (ΚΟ Ta ayla, ALWVLAYV λυτρωσιν 13 εὑράμενος. 3 \ \ “Ὁ A \ , El yep TO AlMa TPayov Kal ταυρὼν \ \ - , e , \ Kal σποδὸς CapaNews ῥαντίζουσα TOUS KEKOLYW- / . \ \ ΄σ \ μένους ἁγιάζει σρος τὴν τὴς σάαρκος καθαρότητα, , -~ \ ios rn ΄- ὃν \ Ι4{ πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ χριστοῦ, ὃς διὰ Ψ 3 , , of πνεύματος αἰωνίου ἑαυτὸν προσήνεγκεν ἄμωμον his character of high priest. His earthly life had been a prolonged period of consecration to the priestly office; consummated by the final outpouring of the blood in the atoning sacrifice: and in his resurrection-life he appeared before God, entering as priest into the holy presence in virtue of his own blood, as the high priest on the day of atonement into the holy of holies. τῶν γενομένων ἀγαθῶν] There is an alternative reading 7. ped- λόντων ἀγαθῶν ; but its recur- rence in x. 1 throws suspicion upon it, as probably originating in a marginal annotation, intro- duced into the text by some one who failed to perceive the con- nexion of γενομένων with the sub- sequent dua; in reality it impairs the flow of the argument and the structure of the sentence, mak- Ing it necessary to give a local meaning te the first διά ‘ through the greater tabernacle’ and an instrumental meaning to the second διά ‘through the blood’, while connecting both with the same verb: a construction so awkward and obscure condemns itself. The true structure of the passage is that διὰ τῆς μεί- ζονος... κτίσεως 15. connected with γενομένων. Such a position of words, commencing with the attributive participle, and end- ing with the qualifying details, e.g. τὸν ῥέοντα ποταμὸν διὰ τῆς πόλεως, the river flowing through the city, is thoroughly Greek. The true spiritual blessings that came to us through the greater and more complete tabernacle, of which Christ is minister, are contrasted with the merely typical, of which Aaron was minister. This greater taber- nacle is the earthly life of hrist : and the figure accords with the allegorical language of IX TO THE HEBREWS. 79 that came through the greater and completer tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of that make, and 12 not through blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats 13 and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctifieth unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who ry through an eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish St John (i. 14), ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν : for as the tabernacle was a typical witness of God’s pre- sence amongst his people (see Rev. xxi. 3); through which lay the appointed way to the throne of God; so the earthly life of Christ was the true wit- ness of the Father to men; and through him alone could men really come to the Father. This tabernacle was not material (χειροποίητος) like that which Moses framed at Sinai, but a new creation (καινὴ κτίσις). οὗτος is used of the old, in con- trast with the new, dispensa- tion of God, as ini. 2. 12. οὐδὲ Ou aiparos...] con- nected with παραγενόμενος, de- velopes a further point of con- trast between the high priest- hood of Christ and that of Aaron; they differed, not only in the blessings imparted, but also in the character of the blood they offered. εὑράμενος] describes the result following immediately on the entrance of our high priest into the heavenly sanctuary. The middle voice points to his own interest in the boon obtained : inasmuch as he obtained it for his brethren, he obtained it for himself. 13. τὸ aipa...] refers to the sacrifices on the day of atone- ment (Lev. xvi.) ; while σποδὸς δαμάλεως refers to the ashes of the red heifer mixed with the water of separation for sprink- ling on those defiled by contact with death (Num. xix.): the reason for the combination has been stated above (see note on ®; 11). 14. διὰ πνεύματος ai.} The self-sacrifice of Christ was not like the sacrifices under the law, where the victims died without any choice or act of their own; he laid down his own life, and that by no transient impulse, but by the deliberate act of his own eternal will, in pursuance of the divine scheme of redemption. ἄμωμον] It was the stand- ing requisite for victims under 80 . ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΙΧ ΄- - Ξν ς ~ . \ ~~ τῷ θεῷ, καθαριεῖ THY συνείδησιν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν of > \ / ΄σ - 15 ἔργων εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι. \,\ Kai διὰ - , ΄σ , ’ , e/ , TOUTO διαθήκης καινῆς μεσιτῆς ἐστιν. OTWS θανάα- / > ᾽ I ΄σ 9 \ _ ΄ TOU γενομενοὺ ELS απολυτρωσιν TWY επί TH TPwTi ‘ I5—-20. Christ 1s also mediator of a new covenant of adoption: as Moses sealed in blood the covenant of the Law, so Uhrist sealed this in his own blood, thereby pledging life to ats fulfilment. the law, and for the red heifer in particular (Num. xix. 2), that they should be without blemish. νεκρῶν ἔργων] Dead works are those sinful works of the flesh on which the Law pro- nounced the doom of death (comp. vi. 1; Rom. viii. 6, fo, Eph. 11. 1). The guilty remem- brance of these produces on the spirit the same consciousness of defilement as contact with a dead body ; this sense of guilt must be removed by application of the blood of Christ, and re- placed by an assurance of clean- ness in the sight of God, before the guilty can stand before him. εἰς τὸ Aarpevew...]| These words form a transition to the hew covenant of adoption for which the Atonement laid the basis: for they define the object of this cleansing to be the ser- vice of a living God. We have already seen (iil, 12) that the attribute ‘living’ implies a God who sees the heart and searches the inward spirit. The object of forgiveness is to pave the way for the spiritual service of true sonship by the restoration of mutual confidence and love. 15. Hitherto the blood of Christ has been viewed in its retrospective aspect, as assuring forgiveness of past sin ; but this forgiveness to be of value must be made the basis of holy living; the sinner is justified by faith, in order that he may render loving service as a true son. In actual experience these two results of the Atonement can- not be separated: trust and love would be impossible with- out an assurance of forgiveness ; forgiveness would be valueless, if it did not call forth devotion of heart and life as its response, To bring cut more distinctly this prospective aspect of the Atonement a new type is intro- duced, viz. the blood which Moses poured out upon the altar and sprinkled upon the people at the publication of the Law (Exod. xxiv.). Christ is presented to us as a mediator like unto Moses; sealing a new Ix TO THE HEBREWS. 81 unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works unto service of the living God ? And for this purpose he is mediator of a new covenant, 15 that after death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions under the first covenant, they that have covenant in his own blood, just as Moses sealed in blood the covenant of the Law, and pledged the life of the Israelites to its fulfilment. The essential difference in the nature of the two covenants 15 passed over in silence. In the covenant of the law the Israel- ites were the prominent party ; it was a covenant undertaken by Israel, in response to God’s previous promises to their fathers, and pledged them to keep all God’s commandments : in the new covenant on the contrary man’s part is altogether subordinate, and the language assumes the character of a promise rather than a covenant (see note however on viii. 6). Hence there attaches to the divine ratification of the new covenant the same supreme im- portance, as belonged to the {sraelite ratification of the Law. It is because Christ in sealing it with his blood did so on behalf of God, that this cove- nant constitutes the charter of our salvation. We know that in this act he spake the mind of the Father, because he came forth from the Father, and was one with the Father; and ac- i. cordingly the Father ratified his pledge both by raising him up from the dead and exalting him to all power, and by the gift of the Spirit in pursuance of it. In this passage however the point insisted on is the solemnity impressed upon both covenants alike by the blood with which they were rati- fied. διὰ τοῦτο] for this purpose, i.e. the purpose already ex- pressed in εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν and inore fully declared by ὅπως... In il. 9 διά has the same force, and is explained, as it is here, by a subsequent ὅπως. θανάτου... παραβάσεων] The first covenant still exists; nay it is in its essence confirmed by the Gospel: the stringency of the Law of holiness is not destroyed by the Gospel, nor are transgressions of that Law to be ignored; for the Gospel sets up a far higher and purer standard of righteousness than was before propounded; but there is at the same time pro- vided for the transgressor an assurance of forgiveness, whose foundation is laid deep and strong in the death once suf- fered for him, 6 ive) bo ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. IX διαθήκη παραβάσεων τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν λάβωσιν ε if ~ > / , τύ οἱ κεκλημένοι THs αἰωνίον κληρονομίας. e O7TOU γὰρ διαθήκη, θάνατον ἀνώγκη φέρεσθαι Tov δια- τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν] This is the same spiritual promise which was described in the fourth chapter as God’s rest, and in the prophecy of Jeremiah in the words ‘I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart will I write them, and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a_people...all shall know me from the least to the greatest’. It is the same promise of the Father of which our Lord spake before his de- parture; the firstfruits of which were witnessed on the day cf Pentecost (Acts 11. 33); the gift of that spirit of adoption where- by we cry Abba Father; the Spirit by which the Father leads on his forgiven children to the fulness of the glory of eternal sonship (1 John iii. 2). Man’s side of the covenant has been already anticipated in the words εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι, his part is to render thankfully and gladiy such loving service as a true son delights to render to his heavenly Father. οἱ κεκλημένοι] in in yx “the Hebrews were addressed as par- takers of a heavenly call; that call was, as we saw there, one to Christian brotherhood: so here it is connected with their eternal inheritance. 16,17. For a covenant re- quires the pledge of life to its fulfilment; therefore it is sealed in blood of victims; the forfeit of the transgressor’s life in de- fault of due observance is es- sential to its solemnity. 16. διαθήκη) The rendering testament has been so generally adopted in this passage, that it becomes necessary to defend that of covenant at some length. Διαθήκη and διατίθεσθαι were undoubtedly used in two dis- tinct senses, (1) a disposition of property by will, Testament ; (2) a compact by mutual a- greement, or conditional appoint- ment for another, Covenant ; and the former is in classical Greek the more ordinary mean- ing. But the Lxx on the con- trary use them persistently in the one sense of covenant. God’s successive covenants with Noah and the patriarchs, with Moses and Joshua, with David and the prophets, are all ex- pressed by this word: the cove- nant of circumcision and of the Law, the ark of the covenant, the tables of the covenant, the book of the covenant, the salt of the covenant, have made the term familiar to every reader of the Old Testament. Nor is its IX TO THE HEBREWS. 83 been called may receive the promise of the eternal inherit- ance. use limited to God’s covenants, which may be said to be of the nature of appointments rather than proper covenants; it is regularly employed in speaking of men’s covenants: eg. the covenants of Abimelech with Isaac, of Laban with Jacob, of Joshua with the Gibeonites, of David with Jonathan, with Abner and the elders of Israel, of Ahab with Benhadad, of Joash and. Josiah with their people, of Edom with Israel, of a hus- band and wife, are all so desig- nated. Nowhere has the mean- ing testament been discovered in the Old Testament, so far as I am aware. In the Greek Testa- ment we meet with διαθήκη re- peatedly in reference to the divine covenant. The render- ing testament has been unfortu- nately attached by the Autho- rised Version and by the Prayer- book to the solemn words of sacramental consecration, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood’; but the occasion on which the words were spoken is conclusive of their proper sense in that passage; they were spoken to Jews, who could attach but one meaning to a’ διαθήκη ἐν αἵματι, viz. that fas- tened on it by Exod. xxiv., a covenant sealed in blood: our Lord speke not of his own testament, but of the Father’s Tor where a covenant is made, death of him that 16 covenant in his blood. Once only in the Greek Testa- ment (Gal. 111. 15) is reference made to a human διαθήκη, and there the sense demands the rendering covenant; the un- alterable nature of God’s cove- nanted promise is there illus- trated by comparison with a man’s διαθήκη ; Which, when once confirmed, is placed beyond the maker’s power to alter: this is as false of a testament, as it is true of a covenant. The verb διατίθεσθαι occurs but once (Luke xxii. 29) apart from δια- θήκη; it there means not a testament, but a divine appoint- ment. In this epistle the word occurs ten times within two chapters of continuous argu- ment, and the chain of argu- ment imperatively demands uniformity of rendering. It has been supposed that the al- lusions to death require the variation here; but it is alto- gether a mistake that the Greek word διαθήκη, as used in the Old or New Testament, con- tained any reference to death, as the word testament does in modern English. This section of the Epistle deals largely with the subject of the two διαθῆκαι ; but to both these the idea of a testament, a testator, still more the death of the testator, is wholly foreign: both were 6--2 84 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΙΧ 17 θεμένου: διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία, ἐπεὶ \ 4 > ΄ « - « 4 18 μὴ τότε ἰσχύει OTE GH ὁ διαθέμενος 5 ἐ ε .« , 10 ἢ πρώτη χωρὶς αἰματος ἐνκεκαίνισπται" “Ὅθεν οὐδὲ λαληθεί- \ μ ° ~ \ \ , \ ons yap πάσης ἐντολῆς κατὰ TOY νόμον ὑπὸ , \ a - \ x - a Mwvoews παντὶ TW Naw, λαβὼν TO αἷμα τῶν covenants, both were sealed in blood, but not the blood of him who made them, for he is the eternal Father, the great ‘I AM’, φέρεσθαι] The force of this word has been strangely over- looked ; it is not identical with γενέσθαι, to be, but retains its ordinary sense to be offered. The death of the party to the covenant must be offered as the forfeit to be paid in case of breach of covenant: that 1s, his life must be pledged to its faithful observance. Is not this in fact the essence of every solemn covenant, whether Jew- ish or heathen, that the party to it pledged his life to its fulfil- ment? Take for instance from Roman law the solemn form of international compact prescribed for the conclusion of a binding treaty ; the words of the fetial, as he struck the victim, were an appeal to heaven, in case of wilful violation of the treaty by the Roman people, to strike them, as he struck the victim (Livy 1. 24). Take from Jewish law the solemn record of Exod. xxiv., where Moses followed up the solemn attestation of the covenant by pouring forth blood at the altar for the twelve tribes. This blood conveyed to Jewish ears indeed a more emphatic pledge still, including self-dedt- cation during life as well as its forfeiture in case of transgres- sion. For after the solemn promise of the people, ‘ All the words which the Lord hath said, we will do’, M:ses not only poured out half the blood of the burnt-offerings upon the altar in token that he should die who violated the covenant, but also sprinkled all the people; and this sprinkling, the typical significance of which 15. pre- sented to us in v. 19, betokened (as did the ore solemn form of touching with the blood the right ear, hand, and foot οἵ the priest in consecration) the dedi- cation of all the living faculties and powers to the service of God. It is however the for- feiture of life, expressed by the solemn outpouring of the blood, with which we are con- cerned in these two verses (16, ΤΠ): ἘΠ: διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία] se. γίγνεται. Compare the expression ἐγένετο βεβαία IX makes it must be the forfeit offered. TO THE HEBREWS. 85 For a covenant is 17 ratified upon dead victims: for is it strong at a time when he that makes it lives after breaking τὲ 1 Wherefore 18 even the first covenant hath not been inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken 19 according to the law by Moses to all the people, he took in 11. 2. From an enunciation of the binding principle of cove- nants this verse turns to the form adopted in their ratifica- tion. A covenant is ratified upon dead victims; as in the instances just cited has been seen to be the practice both of Jews and heathens. The inter- pretation of ἐπὶ νεκροῖς as ex- pressive of the validity given to a testament by the death of a testator is altogether at vari- ance with Greek usage; which must have employed ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι or some equivalent words rather than ἐπὶ νεκροῖς to denote this. ἐπεὶ μὴ τότε ἰσχύει] There is an alternative reading ποτε, which emphasizes the question Can it be strong? The word ἰσχύει describes the binding force of a solemn covenant, and not mere validity. ote ζῇ ὁ dia6.] The expres- sion ζῇ is highly elliptical, but the ellipsis is readily supphed from the preceding context ; ‘when the party to the cove- nant lives in spite of his breach of covenant’. The whole pas- sage has been dwelling on death as the penalty for breach of covenant ; here the counter hy- pothesis, that the lite be re- tained in spite of its breach, is condemned, as vitiating the force of the covenant. The rendering of ὅτε, while, adopted by our Version, does force to the meaning of the word ore. 18. ἐνκεκαίνισται] includes both the original promulgation and the institution of the cove- nant as the established law of Israel. 19. κατὰ τὸν νόμον] In Exod. ΧΧΙΥ. 3 1ὖ is stated that Moses told the people all the words of the Lord, i.e. the command- ments; and all the judgments, Le. the rest of the Law. The various details of the calves and goats, the water and scarlet wool and hyssop, are not men- tioned in Exodus, but were probably traditional. So again the sprinkling of the book the tabernacle and its vessels with blood is not mentioned in Exo- dus, though the anointing of the tabernacle and its vessels is recorded in Exod. xl. Jose- phus (Antiq. 111. 8. 6) gives a more elaborate statement of the blood-sprinkling. ‘The hys- sop and scarlet wool were used 86 IPOS, EBPAIOYS. IX 7 \ ~ , Np ve? \\ , μοσχὼν καὶ τῶν TPAYwWV μετὰ ὕξατος καὶ ἐρίου ΄ \ € ΄ > / \ , κοκκίνου Kal ὑσσώπου αὐτὸ τε TO βιβλίον \ / \ \ ᾽ i? , 20 kal παντὰ Tov λαον ἐραντισεν, λέγων τὸ alma τῆς διδθήκης 21 θεύο. HC ἐνετείλατο TIPOC Τοῦτο ὑμᾶς ὁ ΄ \ . \ \ \ 7 Καὶ την σκηνην δὲ καὶ πάντα , ΄σ » ΄σ .« e , Ta σκεύη τῆς λειτουργίας TW αἵματι ομοίως , 22 Epa ντισεν. \ \ > .«“ , Kal σχεδὸν εν αἰμαᾶατι σαν Τα καθα- / \ ‘ , \ \ ε ρίζεται κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ χωρὶς αἱματεκ- , > / af 23 χυσίας ov yiveTa ἀφεσις. 3 i iY \ \ Avayky οὖν Ta μὲν 21—28. Moreover as the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry needed to be cleansed with blood; so blood is needed to cleanse the steps of man’s heavenward path to God ie. Christian life needs continual forgiveness by means of the same atoning blood of its many infirmities) ; but the blood of mightier sacrifices; and not of many, but of one: as there has been but one Incarnation of Christ at the end of the tunes, so there could be but one death, one return in glory. in conjunction with cedar wood for sprinkling blood, in various purifying rites (Lev. xiv. ; Num. xix. 6): the hyssop being ap- parently wrapped round with scarlet wool to absorb the blood, and attached to the cedar wood : all were subsequently burnt together in forming the ashes for the water of separation. 20. These words are loosely quoted from the Lxx, but ex- press virtually the same mean- ing: the words in Exod. xxiv. 8 are Ἰδοὺ τὸ αἷμα...διέθετο πρὸς v, περὶ ... λόγων, and suggest therefore a covenant simply, and not a command, A cove- nant about the words of the law previously promulgated is how- ever in effect an injunction, such as is here described. 21. The blood of Christ has been viewed from Ὁ. 11 to v. 14 as the basis of reconciliation be- tween God and man byassurance of forgiveness: from v7. 15 to v. 20 as the seal of the new covenant of adoption ; it is now treated of as a continual means of renewed cleansing for the many defilements which the Christian must through the weakness of his nature contract in his sub- sequent life. The life of the Christian has become the miuis- ΙΧ TO THE HEBREWS. 87 the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the cove- 20 nant which God enjoined upon you. Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the 21 ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood: and 22 I may almost say, all things are cleansed in blood accord- ing to the law, and apart from outpouring of blood takes place no remission, tering service of a dedicated priest, but from day to day vecasions arise for fresh cleans- ing of its vessels; and this cleansing must be effected, not by a multitude of material sacrifices, but by renewed spiritual application of the one atoning blood. 22. σχεδόν] modifies the subsequent statement, as a whole, and not any particular word init. There were many exceptions to the general rule of cleansing by use of blood: water was sometimes the pre- scribed vehicle; in the case of the scapegoat no blood was offered on the altar; the con- cession again was made to the poor of offering fine flour as his sin-offering (Lev. v. 11— 13): ε » . αἱματεκχυσίας] outpouring of blood at the foot of the altar, as enjoined in the law of the sin-offering (Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25, 3 The s rerb ἐκ } 34). 1e same verb ἐκχυννό- μένον 1s used in the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Luke It is necessary therefore that the 23 xxl. 20) with reference to the same figure; and the preserva- tion of the same term in the translation of the two passages is important; as the use of different words, ‘outpouring’ in one, and ‘shedding’ in the other, ignores the connexion between the sacrament and the atonement. The distinction of meaning is also more import- ant than might appear at first sight; for the shedding of blood suggests of necessity the physical phenomena of natu- ral death; while the _ out- pouring is a purely sacrificial term which typifies any form of life devotion, however prolonged and sustained, by which the life is surrendered to God, and includes the self-sacrifice of Christ’s life as well as that of his death. 23. ἀνάγκη͵ 86. ἐστι. The cere- monial of the law is spoken of throughout in the present tense, and the ellipsis should therefore | be filled up by the present tense. 88 ΠΡῸΣ EBPAIOYS. IX € , ~ ~ ~ lf ὑποδείγματα τῶν ἐν τοῖς τ τ τούτοις καθα- ΟΝ Ὁ τς αὐτ Τα OE τὰ ἐπουθαν la κρείττοσι θυσίαις \ 24 παρα ταύτας. οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα εἰσῆλθεν .« , > , a > {πὸ εἰ 3 ἅγια Χριστος, ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς > \ \ > 2 r > 5 στὰ αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσ- τ 11} ΄σ σ΄ e \ € > > ολ / 25 ww τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν οὐδ᾽ ἵνα πολλάκις , Ω ,ὔ « ε 5 \ 3 id 71 ροσῴφερὴη E€AUTOV, WOTTED O αρχίερευς εἰσερχέται 3 Δ ΤΕ > ? \ 3 4 » , εἰς τὰ ayia KaT ἐνιαυτὸν ἐν αἵματι αλλοτρίω, > Δ᾽ ἡ ’ \ , ΄ > \ ~ 26 ἐπεὶ ἔδει αὐτὸν πολλάκις παθεῖν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς , 3 NENG τῇ pa , - 35. κοσμον" νυνὶ OE ἁπαἕ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰωνων > / > ε / εἰς ἀθέτησιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας 27 πεφανερωται. και ’ ) / « he 5 - ἀνθρώποις a παξ ἀποθανγεῖν, καθ᾽ τὸ ΝᾺ ΄σ / > => Ola Τῆς θυσίας αὐτοῦ « ’ ΄ A OOOVY ATOKELTAL TOLs \ \ - μετὰ δὲ TOUTO 5 ΄ « Η \ fe , « c ) es : 28 KPLGls, OUTWS Kai O χρίστος, απαᾶς προσενεχθεὶς τὰ ἐπουράνια] It has been questioned how the heavenly things can need cleansing; the explanation of this is that τὰ ἐπουράνια, does not denote hea- ven itself, the abode of God in his holiness, but the heaven- ward path of man, as he ap- proaches in spirit to his Father ; and this is on earth, and needs cleansing from day to day owing to human imperfection. 24. εἰσῆλθεν] is not entered. The subsequent words νῦν ép- φανισθῆναι shew that Christ’s entrance into the holy place is recorded, not merely as a past fact of history, but with refer- ence to its present effect: the Greek aorist must therefore be rendered by the English perfect. αἀὐτίτυπα)] In Ex. xxv. 40, quoted in viil. 5, it is recorded that the tabernacle was a copy of the pattern shewn to Moses on the Mount. ἐμφανισθῆναι] is used in Exod. XXxill. 13, where Moses prays God to manifest himself in visible form; in Matt. xxvii. 53 of the dead appearing visi- bly; in John xiv. 21 of our Lord’s manifestation of himself to his own. 25. ἐν αἵματι] clad in the blood of sprinkling, as in a gar- meut of saving efficacy. The image is suggested, either by EX TO THE HEBREWS. 89 copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with mightier sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered 24 into a holy place made with hands, a mere pattern of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us: nor yet that he may offer himself often; as 25 the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood of others: else must he often have suffered 26 since the foundation of the world: but now once upon completion of the times hath he been manifested to do away sin by his sacrifice. And inasmuch as there is in 27 store for men once to die, and after that judgment; so the 28 the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant upon the people alluded to in ix. 19, or more probably by the application of the blood to the person of the priest at his consecration al- luded to in x. 29 and xiii. 12. 26. ἔδει, sc, ἀν] παθεῖν eX- presses apparently bere, as in ch. 11, Jesus’ life of suffering, and πεφανέρωται his manifesta- tion by the Incarnation to the world. The argument is that, if he had offered himself many times, he must have gone many times through this life of suffer- ing; whereas in fact (νυνί) he has not become incarnate until the completion of the times. συντελείᾳ] Writing at the close of the Mosaic dispensa- tion, and interpreting the events of the Jewish war by the light of our Lord’s prophecy (Luke xxi. 20—28), the author natu- rally regarded them as the pre- Inde to the second coming, signs of the approach of the day of Christ (x. 25). The Gospel dispensation 1s in fact always spoken of in the New Testa- ment as the last time, because, however prolonged may be its actual duration, it is God’s final revelation. ἀθέτησιν] ἀθετεῖν denotes in the New Testament the treat- ing either persons (Mark vi. 26) or laws (x. 28) with con- tempt. So ἀθέτησις in vii. 18 denotes disregard of the law of Moses, and here destruction of the real power of sin over man. διὰ τῆς O. αὐτοῦ] by his sacri- Jice, not by the sacrifice of him- self ; which would have been expressed by the more emphatic reflexive ἑαυτοῦ. 28. ὁ χριστός, Sc. ἄνθρωπος] χριστός is here used not as a proper name, but as an adjec- tive, ‘the anointed man’: for 90 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. UDG OX 3 \ “ > - e , . , εἰς TO TOANWY ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας, ἐκ δευτέρου \ e i . a \ 5) χωρίς ἁμαρτίας οφθήσεται Tots αὐτὸν ἀπεκ- ΤΑ > δεχομένοις εἰς σωτηρίαν. OM \ \ oA ε / ~ , 9. ΓΙ Σκιαν yap ἔχων ὃ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγα- -ν > \ \ > , - ’ Cov, οὐκ αὐτὴν THY εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων, κατ᾽ ’ \ - ’ ΄ , “Δ Ue ἐνιαυτὸν ταῖς αὐταῖς θυσίαις as προσφέρουσιν ᾽ A \ ’ ’ / 4A cis TO διηνεκὲς οὐδέποτε δύνανται τοὺς προσερ- X. 1—18. For the sacrifices of the Law were constantly repeated, because they were ineffectual, save as memorials of ὦ need: therefore Christ, when entering on his public ministry, deliberately set aside sacrifice, dedicating himself in a holy purpose of doing God’s will—a dedication which embraces his whole church throughout all time. Again, whereas the earthly priest stands ever offering ineffectual sacrifices ; Christ after consecrating for ever all his future Church by his one death, sat down at God's right hand. The language of the new covenant itself bears witness to the abolition of sacrifice ; for it contains God’s promise to write his laws in the heart, and his promise of forgiveness of sins ; so that there is no more place left for sacrifice. the point of the argument de- pends on his being a man, sub- ject to the laws of human life, and therefore capable of but one death and one resurrection, πολλῶν is introduced as anti- thesis to ἅπαξ, the many re- deemed to the one death, just aS πολλούς in ii. 10 to the one ἀρχηγύς. χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας] In vii.. 26 the ascended Saviour was de- scribed as separated from sin- ners. Here as there the term is used by way of contrast to his former life in the flesh ; in which he bore the daily burden, and endured the continual con- tact, of sin. 1. εἰκόνα] the facsimile, is regarded as the substance, and therefore naturally opposed to the shadow. Compare the use of εἰκών in Col. 1. 15, to express the relation of the Son to the Father. The first difficulty which meets us in this verse is the anacoluthon of the plural verb δύνανται after the singular νόμος. This may however be readily accounted for by the oratorical IX X TO THE HEBREWS. 91 Christ also, once offered to bear the sins of many, shall be seen a second time, apart from sin, by those that are wait- ing for him unto salvation. For the law having a shadow of the good things to: 10 come, not the very image of the things, they can never with sacrifices which they offer year by year the same, style of the epistle; for the law is put forward with natural emphasis at the beginning, and readily suggests a subject to δύνανται, viz. the priests whose office it was under the law to consecrate. It is exactly the case in which the idiom of the Greek language admits of a pendent nominative singular being followed after an inter- vening relative clause by a plural verb. Far more unac- countable is the strange inver- sion of natural order in the clause, κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ταῖς αὐταῖς θυσίαις ἃς (αἷς) προσφέρουσιν: and the variation of Mss concurs with this peculiarity of struc- ture to excite suspicion of the genuineness of the text. The mere transposition however of three words from the end te the beginning of the clause is all that is required to make the text run correctly. If the ori- ginal ran θυσίαις αἷς προσφέ- ρουσιν KAT ενίαυτον TALS αὕταις, scribes might readily be tempted to transpose the words into the order of our existing text, 80 as to bring θυσίαις after ταῖς αὐταῖς, and to. change ais into ds: as most Mss have done. If the text be genuine, the position of κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ταῖς αὐταῖς at the beginning of the relative clause must be attributed to the de- sire of marking more emphati- cally the antithesis between the constantly repeated yearly atone- ments, and the one eternal atonement (εἰς τὸ διηνεκές). εἰς τὸ διηνεκές ΔΙ να 5 denotes the abiding effect of a single uct; twice more in this very chapter (vv. 12 2; 14) it bears this sense ‘for ever’: and the second time it is again joined with the same verb τελειοῦν. It is always used in reference to Christ’s life and work, his priesthood, his consecration, his one offering, in contrast with the many priests and sacrifices of the law, and is hardly distinguishable in sense trom εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, which is similarly coupled with τελειοῦν. The meaning continually which our versions ascribe to it, is the very reverse ofthis, as it denotes the constant repetition of an act ; and 1 know of no autho- rity for it. TOUS προσερχομένους] the priests who draw near to God in the course of their minis- try. 92 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. xX fp ~ =) \ ’ \ 3 , 2 XOMEvous τελειῶσαι ἐπεὶ οὐκ αν ετπταυσαντο / \ Ν ’ oS af προσφερόμεναι διὰ TO μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ETL συνεί- ε > \ y e/ δησιν ἁμαρτιῶν τοὺς Ἀιτρεύοντας ἁπαξ κεκα- if Ὁ θαρισμένους 3 ’ yD ? = 3 , Gg aX\N εν αὐταῖς ἀνάμνησις auao- ΄σ / / \ ΤΥ / 4 τιών κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτόν, ἀδύνατον yap αἷμα ταύρων πὰ \ / > - ς 5. καὶ τράγων αφαιρεῖν ἁμαρτίας. Διὸ εἰσερχό- 3 \ / if μενος εἰς TOV κόσμον λέγει Qyclan Kal προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, CMA δὲ κδτηρ- Tico Mol’ 6 OAOKAYTHMATA κἀὶ περὶ AMAPT.AC οὐκ EYACKHCAC. τὰ BY 5 ἢ 2. οὐκὰν ἐπαύσαντο] cannot be taken as an interrogative sentence ; for if this had been the case, the Greek form of would have been οὐχὶ ἐπαύσαντ᾽ av; nor does the sense require an interrogation. The argument is, that these legal sacrifices must have gone on for ever, for want of efficacy to impart that peace of con- science which is produced by expression the single effectual cleansing of the Christian Atonement; and this need for constant repetition of itself condemns them as in- effectual: nay, it is added, so far are they from being effectual to cleanse the conscience froin the sense of sin, that on the contrary (ἀλλα) they actually keep alive the remembrance of it. 4. ταύρων καὶ τράγων] Some mss reverse the order of these words. 5. Ps. xl. is an expression, tst (1—5) of thankfulness for God’s great mercy ; 2ndly (6— 1c) of the emphatic purpose which animates God’s servant to make him known to the world ; 3rdly(11—17) of humble trust in God, though sin abound and the ungodly triumph. The verses here quoted are therefore an appropriate ex- pression of the mind of Christ, when going forth into the world at his entrance upon his public ministry (εἰσερχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον). The time described by the part. εἰσερχόμενος is not necessarily limited to the actual moment of that entrance upon the world; during the whole of his previous life on earth the purpose of so going forth to do his Father’s work was gra- dually ripening in the Saviour’s mind, of which he gave evidence in his boyhood at Jerusalem Χ TO THE HEBREWS. 93 consecrate for ever them that draw nigh. For the sacri- 2 fices would never have ceased to be offered through those who serve having no more conscience of sin from having been cleansed once for all: them a remembrance away sins. Wherefore he saith, on the contrary there is in: of sins year by year. impossible that the blood of bulls and when he is entering into the world, ; eS) Ror τὸ ΤΞ goats should take σι Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, But a body didst thou frame for me: In whole hadst no pleasure: (Luke it. 49), but which culmi- nated in his public ministry. The words ‘a body didst thou frame for me’ are decisive how- ever in confining the reference to the time of the Incarnation, and excluding from the passage all allusion to the eternal pur- pose conceived by the preincar- nate Son of God. θυσίαν...] The same lesson of the inadequacy of sacrifice to please God was taught by Samuel (1 Sam. xv. 22), and amplified in Ps. 1. 8—13. σώμα δὲ κατηρτίσω] An in- genious explanation has been offered of the variation in this clause between the Lxx and the Hebrew : it is suggested that the original reading was ὦτια, but that the final Σὲ of the pre- ceding word ἠθέλησας, being by a mistake of the transcriber re- peated and attached to OTIA, produced the corruption SQMA: burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou 6 it is however more probable that the Lxx clause is a para- plrase of the Hebrew original : ‘mine ears didst thow open’ expresses an obedient spirit under the figure of opening a passage for hearing through the ear; for hearing implies obe- dience. The Lxx expressed this same figure by other words ‘a body thou didst frame’. On the word καταρτίζειν see note on ΧΙ se 6. ὁλοκαυτώματα] burnt-offer- ings, which were wholly con- sumed, were from their costli- ness accounted a most excelient form of sacrifice. περὶ ἁμαρτίας] This elliptical expression for sin-offerings be- longs to the Lxx also: see Lev. walls 5.7. (5). εὐδόκησας] The existing text of the original is ἤἥτησας or ἐζήτησας. 94 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. xX 7 τότε εἶπον ᾿ἰδοὺ ἥκω, ἐν κεφδλίδι Βιβλίο γέγραπτδι περὶ ἐμοῦ, La! aA c , ‘ t , TOY ποιῆοσδλι, O θεοῦ, τὸ θελημὰ COY. Oo ’ ΄ ΄ «.« Ὁ ανωτερὸν Aeywy ὅτι Oyciac Kal προσφορὰς Καὶ c , \ \ c ' > > (2 2 A > ’ OAOKAYTOOMATA KAl περὶ AMAPTIAC οὐκ HOEAHCAC οὐδε εὐδο- (74 \ , , 7 QkHcac, αἵτινες κατὰ νόμον προσῴφερονται, τότε εἴρηκεν ‘ ΄ J \ / 2 10 τὸ πρῶτον ἵνα τὸ δεύτερον στηση. ἐ > ΑἸ ¢ an A \ , ͵ ω πὸ lAoy ἥκω TOY ποιῆσδλι τὸ θέλημὰ δου" αναιρει ’ “es / εν ῳ θελη- e , > \ \ ΄σ ΄σ΄ ΄σ ματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν δια τῆς προσφοράς τοῦ 11 σώματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ. Καὶ πᾶς 7. τότε] then, is the temporal particle ‘at that time’, ie. at the time when the worthlessness of mere sacrifice in God’s sight was revealed to the speaker ; the time is further defined in the epistle by the introductory words ‘when he is entering into the world’ (on which see pre- vious note), 1.6. at the opening of his public ministry. κεφαλίδι] This roll of manu- script has been supposed to be the book of the Law discovered in Josiah’s time (2 Chron. xxxiv. 14); and the psalm attributed to a prophet of that time: if 50, γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ will mean ‘the duty is prescribed for me in this book’, i.e. the duty of doing the will of God; as con- tained in the Law. In the epistle τοῦ ποιῆσαι depends on ἥκω as a genitive of purpose ; but in the Lxx it is connected with ἠβουλήθην in the subse- quent context. 8. αἵτινες] classifies sacrifices, as in their nature merely a formal fulfilment of a legal in- stitution ; so again in Ὁ. IT, as not cf a nature to take away sin. 9. τότε] then, 1.6. at the time detined by ἀνώτερον λέγων. The words already quoted contain a supersession of sacrifice, and so a virtual assertion of the principle of holy obedience which is its substitute. τὸ πρῶτον i.e. Sacrifice ; τὸ δεύ- τερον, 1.6. fulfilment of God’s will. το. ἡγιασμένοι] (perf.). Our sanctification is here described as complete. Such complete- ness cannot be predicated of any human sanctification on this side the grave, if sanctification be taken in the sense which the word usually bears in modern theology, as describing the change wrought by the Holy Spirit on the heart. But in this epistle, as has been already nuticed (on 11. 11), the term x TO THE HEBREWS. 95 Then said I, Lo, I am come 7 (In the roll of the book it is written of mc) To do thy will, O God. When saying above, Sacrifices and offermgs and wholes burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein (sacrifices which are offered according to law), then hath he said, Lo, Iam come to do 9 thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second, In which will we have been sanctified through το the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ‘sanctify’ is applied, like its English equivalent ‘hallow’, to the single act of setting apart persons to God’s service; and sanctification expresses no more than a solemn act of holy dedi- cation. Jesus in the absolute dedication of himself hallowed thereby potentially all that future church, which is_ his body, throughout all ages, to do his Father’s will. This de- dication was made before his public ministry (εἰσερχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον) : it could not therefore be made in his blood, which was not yet poured out; but was made by tke offering of his body in the spirit of a holy will, which was one with the Father’s will. This original dedication of himse‘f, made by Christ during his life- time on earth, and comprehend- ing potentially his whole future church, is renewed in the case of all the several members of this church on earth by the personal dedication of every in- And 11 dividual Christian which is ¢o- ing on throughout all time; of which the epistle speaks in iy EE and. xs 1A The body of Christ is ex- hibited as the instrument of the one, the blood of Christ of the other: both these figures are founded on the same ritual of priestly dedication : the blood of consecration was there ap- plied to the body of the future priest, his right ear hand and foot being touched with it, in token that every faculty and organ was to become thence- forth a living offering to the Lord. Both alike therefore represent the dedication of the life to God’s service in Christ ; the body of Christ in this pas- sage represents the church of Christ comprehended potentially in Christ’s original dedication of himself ; the blood of Christ in xiii. 12 represents the per- sonal renewal of that dedica- tion on the part of each indi- vidual Christian, 96 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. xX ε \ e/ > « , an μὲν LEDEUS EO THKEV καθ ἡμερᾶν λειτουργῶν καὶ \ > \ , / i J Tas avTas πολλακις προσῴφερων θυσίας, αἵτινες 9 , , =~ - / ΠΟ οὐδέποτε δύνανται περιελεῖν αμαρτίιαᾶς. οὕὑτος ε \ ¢ = > δὲ μίαν UTED αμαρτιαν προσενέγκας θυσίαν ELS 13.70 διηνεκὲς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ λοι- \ ς » e/ ΄σ Ἑ oy \ 5 ~~ mov ἐκδεχόμενος ἕως τεθῶσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ε ms - ac - - \ a 14 ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, μιᾷ Yap προσφορᾷ ἐ Z ? \ \ \ ς .-΄ Ua TETENELWKEDV εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τους αγιαζομεένους. ins oa δὲ ε ΄- \ \ =~ \ J N 15 Μαρτυρεῖ δε ἡμῖν καὶ TO πνευμὰ τὸ ἀγιον, μετα \ 5 ΄ yap TO ELDHKEVAL 11. Whereas the earthly priest stands, ever busy with merely typical and inetfectual ministration, Christ is seated in heaven; for his work on earth ended with his one all-suflicient sacrifice ; and he awaits its con- summation by his brethren on earth through his Sp.rit. περιελεῖν] Sin is presented, as in xii. 1, under the figure of a garment to be stripped off. The figure is suggested by the ceremonial of the Law, which required the stripping off and washing the garments of the unclean. 12. εἰς τὸ διηνεκές] is con- nected with the preceding words. The abiding efficacy of the one sacrifice is contrasted with the many ineffectual sacri- fices. 14. τετελείωκεν͵]. We have already seen (ii, 10) that the peculiar feature of the priestly τελείωσις consisted in bearing dead flesh in the hands, and that it was adopted in conse- quence as a type of the union between a living spirit and a dead body. Accordingly Christ’s own consecration was effected by condemuing self and the flesh to a living death. In like manner his consecration of his brethren as priests to God con- sisted in making them partakers of the same death. This he did, first of all potentially by his own death. He yielded up his own body to death in the name of sinful humanity, dying to sin once for all on behalf of all who should hereafter claim their part in that death. In that he died unto sin once, they also are united to him in death, are become dead to the guilt and penalty of sin, and are admitted as cleansed and forgiven children into the service of a holy God x TO THE HEBREWS. 97 every priest standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, sacrifices which can never strip men of sins: but he, after offering one sacrifice for 12 sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from 13 henceforth waiting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. ever them that are sanctified. For by one offering he hath consecrated for r4 And the Holy Ghost also beareth witness to us: for rs after he hath said, and Father. The Father’s ac- ceptance of this original conse- cration is a seal of forgiveness of sins to all members of his church. This potential conse- eration becomes an actual con- secration in the case of each individual Christian who is united to Christ by the Spirit, though necessarily incomplete, so long as he remains in the flesh. Like Christ he condemns his body, more or less perfectly, accordingly as his union with Christ is more or less perfect, with all its lusts and appetites to a living death, to become a passive instrument of a living Spirit; it is no more the body that lives, but Christ that lives by his Spirit in the Christian man, τ. ἁγιαζομένους)] those mem- bers of Christ who in successive generations are hallowed to God’s service. The participle may possibly be middle, ‘ those who hallow themselves’; but the word is elsewhere passive, and not middle: it is not material R. to the sense, which we adopt; the act may be represented as their own, or as Christ’s work in them; both must cooperate in the dedication. 15—18. The language of the new covenant is now appealed to, as evidence of the abolition of sacrifice. That covenant is twofold, answering to the two- fold work of Christ: (1) his dedication of himself and his church in the spirit of a holy will, is in pursuance of the pro- mise ‘I will write my laws in their heart’; (2) his consecration of his church by his death fulfils the promise of forgiveness. The first of these superseded the practice of Levitical sacrifice, the second takes away the need of any sacrifice beyond that al- ready made by the death of Christ. 15. τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ay.| The inspired prophet is the mouth- piece of the Holy Spirit. μετὰ yap τὸ eip. 15. connected with λέγει Κύριος. The text of the epistle is often connected in if 98 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. x a , a \ , 10 AYTH ἢ διδθήκη HN AlAOHCOMAL TTPOS αὐτοὺς μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρδςο ἐκείνδο, λέγει Κύριος, MAOYC NOMOYC MOY ἐπὶ KAPAIAC δὐτῶν, KAl ἐπὶ THN AIANOIAN AYT@N ἐπιγράψω AYTOYC,— 17 Καὶ TON AMAPTION ἀὐτῶν \ n > a > A ᾽ \ ’ ” καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν OY MH MNHCOHCOMAL ETI’ ε \ A , cy fe \ \ 18 ὅπον δὲ ἀφεσις τουτων, οὐκετι προσφορὰ περι e 74 ἁμαρτίας. af co of , , ᾽ ι 19 Eyovtes οὖν, adeApot, παρρησίαν εἰς THY »} ΄σ e , > ΄σ .« ΄σ A 20 εἴσοδον τῶν aylwy ἐν τῳ αἱἷἵματι Ἰησοῦ, ἣν > , CN « \ ié \ ΄ \ EVEKALVLT EV ἡμῖν ὁδὸν προσῴατον Kal ζῶσαν διὰ ΄σ , σ »" - \ TOU καταπετάσματος, TOUT ἐστιν τῆς TapKos ΄σ eC: / / oy \ \ > a 51 αὐτοῦ, καὶ lepea μέγαν ἐπὶ TOV οἶκον TOU θεοῦ, 22 προσεργώμεθα μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας ἐν πληρο- προσέρχὼμ μ ρ ρ 19—25. Trusting then to the blood of consecration upon us and to the might of our priest over the house of God, let us tread boldly the road he cleft through the veil of flesh into the presence of our God: cleansed as we are from consciousness of past guilt, washed from wilful sin, let us hold fast our hope ; for God’s promise 18 sure: let us stir up one another to works of lore and common prayer; and that the more, the more visibly the day approaches. this way with words in a cited oe SacOMpare: a, ὦ, 111: 1; 8,9. The insertion of another arb at the end of v. 16 appears therefore as unnecessary, as it is arbitrary. 19. ἔχοντες οὖν] These words are not a part of the exhortation, but sum up the ground on which it is based, as in iv. 14. παρ- ρησίαν therefore denotes here not exactly ‘boldness’ but grownd Sor boldness: the pledge of divine favour which we possess in the blood of Jesus ought, it isargued, to inspire a feeling of confidence. 20. evexaivioev...| This word has been used already in the epistle (ix. 18) to describe Moses’ solemn inauguration of the covenant at Sinai: here it describes Christ’s solemn open- x ‘TO THE HEBREWS. 99 This is the covenant that I will make with them after 16 those days, the Lord saith, I will put my laws on their hearts; And upon their mind also will I write them; And their sins and their iniquities will I remember 17 no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no more 18 offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness for the entrance 19 into the holy place in the blood of Jesus, a fresh and 20 living way which he opened for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over a1 the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in 22 ing of a new road to God, never travelled by man before: it was a way all bleeding with the fresh wounds of his own crucified flesh (for such is the literal meaning of the word πρόσφατον, which originally de- scribed the fresh-slaughtered and bleeding victim), but the way of a living spirit (ζῶσαν) : for the flesh is the veil which hides God from man ; the de- sires of the flesh, the will of the flesh, stand as obstacles between us and the perfect fulfilment of God’s will or per- fect knowledge of God: they must be mortified, before we can become in spirit true chil- dren of God: if we would win our way to God through this veil of flesh, it must be by treading in our Master’s foot- steps, and crucifying the flesh like him. 21. καὶ ἱερέα] adds a fresh ground of confidence, viz. the might of our priest over the house of God. He is mighty as a son, not as a servant (ill. 5), as a spiritual and eternal, not an earthly and transitory, priest over the house of God, i.e. the church of God whereof we are members. 22. προσερχώμεθα.. .καθαρῷ] The symbolism of both these clauses is directly borrowed from the rite of priestly conse- cration ; the washing with pure water formed an essential part of that rite as well as sprink- ling with blood (Lev. viii. 6, 30); and we cannot therefore assume any direct reference to Christian Baptism, though it was probably in the writer's mind. The fact that we have 7—2 100 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. x , ’ 3 ’ ‘ / \ φορίᾳ πίστεως, ῥεραντισμένοι Tas καρδίας ἀπὸ ΄ ΄σ , \ “ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς καὶ λελουσμένοι τὸ σῶμα « ~ , \ ε , ΄σ 25 ὕδατι καθαρῷ; κατέχωμεν τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς ’ [Δ ’ ΄σ \ \ € ? / ἐλπίδος ἀκλινῆ, πιστὸς γὰρ ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος" \ ~ > lA » \ > / 24Kal κατανοῶμεν ἀλλήλους εἰς παροξυσμὸν aya- \ - sf \ > 7 \ 25 πῆς καὶ καλῶν ἔργων, py ἐγκαταλείποντες τὴν > N ς an \ of , > \ ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, καθὼς ἔθος τισίν, ἀλλα ~ \ 7 ΄σ ε / παρακαλοῦντες, καὶ τοσούτω μᾶλλον ὅσῳ βλέ- 5 ’ \ ς 2 20 πετε ἐγγίζουσαν THY ἡμεραν. Ἕκου- , \ e , ε “- \ \ = TlWS Yao ἀμαρτανοντων ἡμῶν μετὰ TO λαβεῖν \ , ΄σ 3 , , \ τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρ- 27 τιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία, φοβερὰ δέ τις ἐκδοχὴ Ψ \ \ ~ ’ / \ κρίσεως καὶ πυρὸς ζῆλος ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τοὺς - lA 28 ὑπεναντίους. ’ / i , ἀθετήσας τις νόμον Μωυσέως χω- pis οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπὶ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶν μαρτυσιν ο ΕῚ θ 4 eB £ ’ A ane / 5] θ if 20 ἀποῦνησκει" TOTW COKELTE χείρονος ἀξιω σεται 26---31. of the day of wrath ! For how shall the wilful sinner face the terrors Death was the penalty for contempt of Moses’ law; what shall be his doom, who scorns the Son, the blood of the covenant, the Spirit! the hands of the living God! been thus duly consecrated, our sins forgiven, and our corrupt wills cleansed, is urged as a ground for assured faith in God through Christ. 23—25. ἀκλινῆ] adds further emphasis, by way of enforcing the necessity for firmness in maintaining the open avowal of their Christian hope. It would seem that some professing Chris- How terrible to full into tians, deterred by the dangers that attended public profession of Christianity at that season, were withdrawing from open a- vowal of Christ and public Chris- tian communion. The Hebrew Christians suffered no doubt from the suspicion and hostility excited against all Jewish com- munities during the rebellion. 25. ὅσῳ β. ἐγγίζουσαν] The x TO THE HEBREWS. 101 full assurance of faith, as having had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water: let us hold fast the confession of our hope without 23 wavering: for he is faithful that promised: and let us take 24 note of one another to provoke unto love and good works ; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the 25 custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, the nearer ye behold the day approaching. For if we go on sinning wilfully after we have received 26 full knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrible expectation of 27 judgement, and fierceness of fire which is to devour the adversaries. A man that setteth at nought Moses’ law 2s dieth without pity on the word of two or three witnesses : of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be 29 comparative answering to μάλ- λον is omitted as being implied in the verb ‘approaching’, i.e. coming nearer. τὴν ἡμέραν] Prophecies, like those of Joel 11. 31 and Malachi iv. 1, had given a definite mean- ing to this term ‘the day’ or ‘the day of the Lord’: and our Lord’s words had emphasized its terrors. St Paul adopts the expression ‘the day’ (1 Cor. 111. 13) and St Peter ‘the day of the Lord’ (2 Pet. iii. 10). The visible tokens of its ap- proach alluded to seem to be the horrors of the Jewish war. 26. ἁμαρτανόντων] (present) implies a persistent course of wilful sin; and ἐπίγνωσιν a more advanced knowledge than the simple γνῶσιν. 27. φοβερά] is always used objectively of that which in- spires fear, never subjectively of the person who feels it. ἐκδοχή] is not found else- where in the New Testament, but the verb ἐκδέχεσθαι, to await, does occur. μέλλοντος] points to a definite prophecy of judgment: the clause is in fact an adaptation from Is. xxvi. 11 ζῆλος λήψεται λαὸν ἀπαίδευτον, καὶ νῦν πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἔδεται. ὑπεναντίους denotes open opponents, who come up face to face against the people of God as avowed foes. 28. ἀθετήσας....... ἀποθνήσκει] (Deut. xvii. 2—7). The present is used, as elsewhere, of a law existing in Scripture ; and does not necessarily imply that the law was still in force. 102 , \ co Si ΄- a , τιμωρίας ὁ τὸν υἱον TOU θεοῦ KaTaTaTHOAS, Ka Ἁ - ΄σ y \ € , > TO αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης κοινὸν γησάμενος ἐν ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. me Th “By ε / \ \ ΄σ ΄σ 9 ἡγιάσθη, καί TO σνευμα ΤΊ) χάριτος ἐνυβρίσας. 10 4 \ > 30 Οἱ αμεν γὰρ TOV εἰποντα ’ \ , TOAWCO* καὶ παλιν ᾽Εμοὶ €KAIKHCIC, ἐγὼ ANTA- Κβρινεῖ Κύριος τὸν AdON δτοῦ. 31 φοβερὸν τὸ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας θεοῦ ζῶν- 32 Tos. 3 , \ \ , Ἀναμιμνήσκεσθε δὲ τας σροτέρον ε , ’ ve 7 \ ᾽ ἡμερας, εν αἷς φωτισθέντες πολλὴν ἀθλησιν ε , , ΄σ \ > ~ 33 UTEMELVATE παθημάτων, TOUTO μεν ὀνειδισμοῖς τε καὶ θλίψεσιν θεατριζόμενοι, τοῦτο δὲ κοι- \ =~ e/ > / / νωνοὶ τῶν οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων γενηθέντες" \ 4 a , / 34kal yap τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε, καὶ τὴν ε \ ΄σ « / ς ~ ΄σ αρπαγην Τῶν UTTAPXOVT WY υμῶν μετὰ Xapas , / yf € \ προσεδέξασθε, γινώσκοντες ἔχειν ἑαυτοὺς κρείσ- 32—39. But remember the former days after your con- version, your endurance of persecution, your sympathy with the imprisoned, your joyful sacrifice of worldly goods for a better heritage of life. a little more endurance ! draw back: by faith we live. 29. κοινόν] seems a rhetori- cal exaggeration of these un- believers’ language, for this word usually attributes positive defile- ment, as does the verb κοινοῦν (ix. 13); not mere defect of holi- ness; the passage is however describing their spirit, rather than their actual words. ἐν ᾧ ἡγιάσθη) See note on x. το as to the relation of the blood to sanctification. Be bold still: great 1s your reward: 116 will soon be here: but do not τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος] the spirit promised by the new covenant (11. 10, 11). 30. ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησι)͵͵ These words, though identical with the citation in Rom. xii. 149, are not found in the text of Deut. xxxii. 35, where we read ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐκδικήσεως ἀνταποδώσω. Perhaps they were a traditional form of words used by Jewish teachers, and may have had a Ἂς TO THE HEBREWS. 103 judged worthy, who treadeth under foot the Son of God, and counteth the blood of the covenant, wherein he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and doeth despite unto the Spirit of grace? To me belongeth vengeance, I will recompense. azain, For we know him that saith, 30 And The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 31 God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, 35 after ye were enlightened, ye endured great conflict of sufferings; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock 33 both by reproaches and afllictions; and partly, by becom- ing partners of them that were so living. Yor ye had 34 compassion on them that were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that ye have in ν place in the service of the Synagogue. κρινεῖ...) See Deut. xxxil. 36. 31. ζῶντος] This attribute reminds us that God is a spirit, and tries the spirits of men (it 12. ἸΣ. ΤῊ): 2. Here follows ἃ vivid picture of the insults, maltreat- ment and imprisonment that had assailed the Hebrews at the time of their conversion (φωτισ- θέντες, see vi. 4). Probably these had been due mainly to the malice of their Jewish fel- low-countrymen, as is abun- dantly illustrated by the record of their conduct in the Acts of the Apostles. 43. θεατριζόμενοι) points to public demonstrations, such as that at Ephesus, related in Acts xix. Possibly the term may have been suggested to some extent by the place; for in Greek cities, Eastern or Western alike, the theatre was the usual scene of tumultuous gatherings of the city populace. ἀναστρεφομένων] is always middle, not passive voice, in New Testament. 34. δεσμίοι))͵ The corrup- tion δεσμοῖς pov, which is found in some Mss, was probably sug- gested by its constant recurrence in the epistles of St Paul. ἑαυτούς} cannot be the sub- ‘ject of ἔχειν ; for ‘knowing that ye yourselves have’ would have been expressed by αὐτοὶ ἔχειν, nor is it very clear what sense 104 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. X XI = .« \ »» A ’ 35 cova ὕπαρξιν καὶ μένουσαν. Μὴ ἀποβάλητε ἘΣ \ , ε ΄“ ef 7 / ουν THY παρρησίαν ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἔχει μεγάλην ΓΕ ΄ ε σ΄ A > ε 36 μισθαποδοσίαν, ὑπομονῆς yap ἔχετε χρείαν ἵνα \ θέ ΄σ ΄σ , 7 A To θελημα τοὺ θεοῦ ποιησαντες κομίσησθε THY ἐπαγγελίαν" ὉΠ ἔτι γὰρ MIKPON OCON OCON, ὁ ἐρχόμενος Hzel καὶ OY χρονίςει" “Ὁ ὁ δὲ δίκδιός [Moy] ἐκ πίοτεως ZHceTAl, \ LOY « U > 2 a ε , ᾿ Καὶ €AN YTIOCTEIAHTAI, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ H YyyH MOY ἐν ἀὐτῷ. «ς ~ \ ’ \ ΄ > ΄ 30 ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑποστολῆς εἰς ἀπώλειαν, AX \ , ? , ~ ἄλλα πίστεως Els περιποίησιν ψυχῆς. ΧΙ ἃ Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, ΧΙ. Now faith gives assurance to hope, certainty to the unseen world. By faith Abel, Enoch, Noah, gained God's approval: by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to a strange land and received a son in his old age: by faith the patriarchs Jived their eyes on the land of promise, and failed not in the hour of temptation and death: by faith Moses was true to Israel: by faith Israel passed the Red Sea, and took Jericho : by faith judges, kings, prophets vanquished enenies ; martyrs endured to death: though they could not actually obtain the reward till Christ should consecrate them by his death. ‘yourselves’ would bear. The passage compares the value of themselves, 1.e. their true living selves, with worldly possessions, just as our Lord says (Luke ix. 25), ‘What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose or forfeit his own self?’ 37. The expression μικρὸν ὅσον ὅσον occurs in Isaiah xxvi. 20, but not in combination with the rest of the citation ; it is a common Greek idiom to express quantities infinitesimally small. The remainder of the passage is freely cited from Hab. li. 3, 4; but in Habakkuk there is no article before ἐρχόμενος : the two last clauses are also there trans- posed, and μου is either omitted SE yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. TO THE HEBREWS. 105 Cast 35 not away therefore your boldness, a boldness which hath great recompense. For ye have need of endurance, that 36 by doing the will of God ye may obtain the promise : For yet a very little while, He that is coming shall come, and shall not tarry. But my righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. But we are not of a temper to shrink back unto perdition ; 39 but of faith unto the obtaining of life. Now faith is an assurance of what is hoped for, a proof: 11 (as it is in St Paul’s citation of the passage in Rom. 1. 17; Gal. ili, 11), or placed after πίστεως, so as to depend upon it in con- struction. 38. ὁ δίκαιός μου] ‘the man who is upright in my sight’ is an expression corresponding to St Paul’s δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ, ac- ceptance in the sight of God who knoweth the heart. The life of such an upright servant of God depends on his continu- ing in faith ; if he shrink back in unbelief, he cannot any longer please God. ὑποστέλλεσθαι is a metaphor, borrowed originally from taking in sail, to express timidity or caution in a man’s course of action. 30. περιποίησιν] acquisition (as in 1 Thess. v. 9; 2 Thess. iL. 14), ψυχῆς; of spiritual /ife (as in Luke ix. 24). Habakkuk’s words ‘shall live by faith’ sug- gested this conception of faith, as leading on unto salvation. I. πίστι) Faith is not re- garded in this epistle from the same aspect as by St Paul. He contemplated it as the spiritual act by which the believer origi- nally finds acceptance before God in Christ; this epistle views it as the spirit which animates the lives of faithful men, the trust in God by which they overcome the world. Its practical efficacy again distin- gushes it from the barren faith which St James condemns. This verse contains not a logical definition of faith, but a de- scription of its practical effect, introductory to the history of its actual triumphs. ὑπόστασις) assurance, as in lil. 14, not swhstance as in i. 3 ; for faith must not be confounded with hope; faith is not the sub- stance or essence of hopes con- ceived in the mind, nor is it correctly called their founda- 106 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI ᾿ ’ / ’ ’ ‘ 2 πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων" ἐν ταυτὴ yap 3 ἐμαρτυρήθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι. Πίστει val 7 \ » σ C77, ΄σ νοουμεν κατηρτίσθαι TOUS AlLWVAS ρήματι θεοῦ, > \ Wg He 3 , / εἰς TO μὴ EK φαινομένων TO βλεπόμενον γεγονεναι. 4 Πίστει πλείονα θυσίαν “Δ βελ παρὰ Καὶν προσ- , ΄σ ΄ Dice ’ / ay ’ ηνεγκεν TW dew, δι γη)ς ἐμαρτυρήθη εἰναι δίκαιος, μαρτυροῦντος ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, ᾽ 9 ΄σ oy \ / ΄σ 5 καὶ ov αὐτῆς ἀποθανων ἔτι λαλεῖ. A Πίστει Ἕνωχ ΄ ΄σ \ IW A id \ > eer μετετέθη TOU PH LOELY θανατον, Kal OVX ηυρι- tion; but it does give them an assurance, Which they could not have without it. πραγμάτων] belongs to ov βλε- πομένων, not to ἐλπιζομένων : the invisible world has objective realities which, unlike our hopes, admit of being tested by faith, as by a sort of higher sense; just as the reality of objects in the visible world is as- certained by the eye or touch. ἔλεγχος] a test which sepa- rates the true from the false, and proves their reality. ov βλεπομένων) things which cannot be looked at with the eye, i.e. invisible. This use of the pres. part. pass. to express the permanent nature and qualities of an object belongs only to later Greek, and corre- sponds to the occasional use of the Latin participial form in -ndus, e.g. videndus, ‘visible’, A similar use occurs in xi, 7, and again in ΧΙ, 18 ψηλαφωμένῳ, and in xii 27 σαλευόμενα. 2. ἐν ταύτῃ... The testimony of God’s approval was gained in the region of faith; some- times their faith was mentioned directly, as e.g. ‘Abraham be- lieved God, &c.’, sometimes it was only implied by the lan- guage of approval used, as in the case of Enoch. Clement of Rome also applies the same term μεμαρτυρημένος to David and others. πρεσβύτεροι] expresses dig- nity of character, as well as antiquity. Philo says: ὁ yap ἀληθείᾳ πρεσβύτερος, οὐκ ἐν μήκει ; Sees celia ae xpovov, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἐπαινετῷ βίῳ θεω- ρεῖται (de Abrahamo § 46). The term seems in this place in- tended to comprehend all the Old Testament saints after- wards enumerated. 3. κατηρτίσθαι)])͵ This verb is variously employed in Serip- ture to denote the framing or correcting a machine, animate or inanimate alike, so as to enable it properly to fulfil its XI of things invisible. TO THE HEBREWS. 107 For in it the elders had witness borne 2 to them. By faith we understand that the times have 3 been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which do appear. By 4 faith Abel offered unto God a moie abundant. sacrifice than Cain; through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness of his gifts: and through it he, when dead, yet speaketh. By faith 5 Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and work. Here it refers to the creative work of God in time, in x. 5 to the structure of the human body, in xii. 21 to the correction of personal defects in the members of the church, in Matt. iv. 21 to the mending of nets. eis 70...] Faith apprehends a divine agency in the course of this world, and recognises as a result of this divine creation that the existing state of things was not produced by the mere course of outward nature alone. 4. Faith induced Abel to offer a more abundant sacrifice (πλεώονα) than Cain, i.e. ‘of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof.’ δι ἧς, through which (faith) he obtained the Scripture testimony that he was righteous, i.e. the testimony recorded in Genesis iv. 4, ‘ The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering’. αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ] The best Mss read αὐτοῦ τῷ θεῷ, which 15 itself an unintelligible reading, but points to αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ as probably the correct form of the original : the present reading is substantially the same in sense, and may easily have arisen out of it in transcription. ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖ Abel’s voice was still heard by God after his death, according to the testimony of Gen. iv. το, ‘ The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground’. Those words are referred to as evidence that he found a place amidst God’s elect, whose death God would not leave unavenged. Compare Luke xviii. 7, and Rev. vi. 9, 10. The present tense is used, because the scripture re- cord is alluded to, 5. τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν] The transla- tion of Enoch was a_ special token of God’s approval of his faith: 1t was ordained in order to exempt him from the common doom of death. ηὐύρίσκετο, was not, 1.6, could not be found. There is a similar record in the case of Elijah’s translation (2 Kings ii. 17). μετέθηκεν] assigns a reason 108 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI , , ᾽ \ ε ’ A A σκετο διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεῦς' πρὸ yap ~ , / ᾽ , ΄- τῆς μεταθέσεως μεμαρτύρηται εὐαρεστήκέναι τῷ 6 θεῶ, χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι, πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχόμενον [Tw] θεῷ of sf \ ~ 5» - > \ OTL ἔστιν Kal τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθαπο- , , 7 δότης γίνεται. Πίστει χρηματισθεὶς Nwe περὲ ~~ , > / τῶν μηδέπω βλεπομένων εὐλαβηθεὶς κατεσκεύ- \ > / ΄σ »᾿᾽ lo) ασεν κιβωτὸν εἰς σωτηρίαν τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ, OL e ΄ \ ΄ \ - \ , nS κατέκρινεν TOV κοσμον, Καὶ Τὴ: KATA πιστιν / > , , ὃ δικαιοσύνης ἔγενετο κληρονόμος. ’ὔ / Πιστει καλου- 3 \ c , " ~ 3 ε μενος Ἀβραὰμ ὑπήκουσεν ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τόπον ὃν ἤμελλεν λαμβανειν εἰς κληρονομίαν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν χ =~ oI Q μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ποῦ ἐρχεται. / ' Πίστει mapakucen > ΄σ ΄σ ’ If c ᾽ / > ΄ εἰς γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὡς αλλοτρίαν, εν σκηναις “ \ 3 \ δ “9 \ ΄' κατοικήσας μετὰ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ τῶν συν- 4 ΄σ " > > ΄σ ᾽ 10 κληρονόμων τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῆς αὐτῆς" ἐξε- γὰρ τὴν why he could not be found ; the pluperfect is therefore the proper English equivalent for the Greek aorist. μεμαρτύρηται(ροτ.}] Thetense is used, because it is so written in scripture. 7. Ov ἧς] 56. πίστεως, not σωτη- ρίας, nor κιβωτοῦ, for the argu- ment turns on the blessing Noah obtained through faith. τ. κι πίστιν δικ. ἐΞ κληρονό- pos| By ‘heir of righteous- ness’ is meant apparently heir of the divine blessing which be- δέχετο \ TOUS θεμελίους ἔχουσαν longs to the righteous. The authority for this assertion is the statement in Gen. vi. 9 (LXx), ‘Noah, a righteous man, per- fect in his generation: Noah was well-pleasing to God’. He was the first man pronounced δίκαιος in scripture, and became a favourite type of righteousness amidst Jewish teachers. Com- pare Ez. xiv. 14, Wisd. x. 4, Sirach xliv. 17, Philo 3 L. All. § 24. This righteousness is de- scribed as κατὰ πίστιν, 1.6. he spent a righteous life in accord- XI TO THE HEBREWS. 109 he was not to be found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he hath had witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing unto God: but without 6 faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing wnto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him out. By faith Noah, 7 being warned of God concerning things not yet visible, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to 8 go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inherit- ance ; and he went out, not knowing whither he was going. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as 9 not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he was looking 10 fur the city which hath the foundations, whose designer ance with the faith by which he was animated. The difference of preposition shews that this κατὰ 7. δικαιοσύνη is not identical with the δικαιοσύνη ἐκ π. or διὰ 7. Of St Paul, which denotes the acceptance which his faith procures for the believer in the sight of God; whereas here it is the effect which faith pro- duces upon the life. 8. καλούμενος ’ABp.| The present participle marks the date of Abraham’s obedience; it was at the time of his call: the record of Abraham’s call might properly be entitled xa- Novpevos ᾿Αβραάμ in Greek, and in like manner that of his temp- tation πειραζόμενος ’ABpady (see 7. 17). 9. παρῴκησεν] is the Hel- lenistic term for sojourning in a strange land. το. THVT. θεμελίους ex: | Theonly reference to the foundations of Jerusalem in the Old Testament is in Ps. ]xxvi. 1 ‘her foundations are upon the holy hills’. It is remarkable therefore that the heavenly Jerusalem should be designated here as ‘the city that hath the foundations’. The use of the definite article is not easily to be explained, unless the vision of St John was before the mind of the writer (Rev. xxi. 19, 20). The failure of the foundations of the earthly Jerusalem before the Roman engines of war seems 110 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI , - ’ \ A ς , , [1 πόλιν, ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὃ Ceos. Πίστει \ > σι AN , ᾽ \ , > ) a- καὶ αὐτῇ appa δύναμιν εἰς καταβολὴν σπερμ »"" \ \ \ ε , ᾽ \ \ Tos ἔλαβεν καὶ Tapa καιρον ἡλικίας, ETEL TLE TOV ε / \ ’ / \ \ > > ei ἃ [2 ἡγήσατο τὸν ἐπαγγειλάμενον" Oto Kat ἀφ᾽ ἑνὸς ’ , \ ΄σ , \ A ἐγεννήθησαν, καὶ TAUTA νενεκρωμενοὺ, καθως Ta “7 - > ΄σ ΄σ / \ ε GQ agTpa TOV OVpavOU τῳ πλήθει καὶ ὡς ἢ αἀμμος ὶ παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ ἀναρίθμη- 13 Tos. \ i} cy , ey Kata πίστιν ἀπέθανον οὗτοι , \ Ψ \ ’ , ’ \ TAVTES, μὴ κομισάμενοι Tas ἐπαγγελίας, αλλα / ᾽ \ 3 ’ \ > / \ πόρρωθεν AUTAS LOOVTES Kal agOTTAOAMEVOL, Και € / .« ’ \ / , 3 ομολογήσαντες OTL ἕενοι και παρεπίδημοί εἰσιν 5 \ i ΄σ g \ ~ , ’ 7 ΤΑ ἐσὺ τῆς γῆς οἱ γὰρ τοιαῦτα λέγοντες ἐμφανι- Ye . , > GY ΄σ 15 ζουσιν τι πατρίδα επιζητουσιν. \ > \ Kal εἰ μὲν > , 5 ΄ > ᾽ - > , Ss N εκεινῆς ἐμνημογενον ap nS ἐξεβησαν, εἰχον ay τό A F \ ᾽ , 2 καιρὸν avakapyce to have suggested the implied contrast between the earthly and the heavenly. There is no need to understand that the full vision of the heavenly Je- rusalem rose up before the patri- archs; it is enough that their faith reached after the heavenly prospect which it symbolised. πόλιν] As the dwelling in tents was a type of an un- settled life, so the city was of permanence. τεχνίτης] differs from δημιουρ- yos as the architect from the builder. It. καὶ αὐτῇ Sappa| The alteration of the nominative, νῦν δὲ > / Ops- which is the mss reading, into the dative is so slight a change in itself, and so manifestly re- quired by the sense, that I have adopted it, though only a con- jecture: for (1) the term κατα- βολὴν σπέρματος can only be used of the father; (2) Sarah is an example in the Old Testament of unbelief, and not of faith ; and the word αὐτῇ refers apparently to that unbelief, intimating that Abraham’s faith obtained even for Sarah also, unbelieving as she was at first, the blessing of becoming a mother; (3) the succeeding verses continue the subject, on which the preceding / KP€LTTOVOS ΧΙ TO THE HEBREWS. tit and maker is God. By faith he obtained power for Sarah 11 herself also, to beget offspring of her even when past age, since he counted him faithful who had promised: where- τῷ fore also there were begotten of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore, innumerable. These 13 all died in faith, not receiving the promises but seeing them and greeting them from afar and confessing that For they + they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. that say such things make manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. And if they had been bear- 15 ing in mind that from which they went out, they would 4 have had opportunity to return. have dwelt, of Abraham’s faith ; (4) the parallel passage of St Paul (Rom. iv. 19) speaks of the faith of Abraham, as unaffected by the deadness of Sarah’s womb, without reference to the faith of Sarah. 12. Thestress laid on the fa- ther’s faith gives a strong proba- bility in favour of ἐγεννήθησαν were begotten, rather than the al- ternative ἐγενήθησαν, were born. νενεκρωμένου] = Tapa καιρὸν ἡλικίας, past age for becoming a father. 13. κατὰ πίστιν] in the spirit of faith: the temper which they manifested at their death was in accordance with the faith that actuated their lives. κομισάμενοι] is used again in v. 39 of reaping the fruit of God’s promises, and actually receiving the blessings they had hoped for. But now they are reach- 16 παρεπίδημοί εἰσιν] This lan- guage is suggested by the words of Abraham when covenanting for a burial-place after the death of Sarah (Gen. xxiii. 4). Jacob likewise spoke of himself and his fathers as sojourners (Gen. xlvii. 9). 14. yap] Their words are adduced as proof of the reality of their faith. πατρίδα ἐπιζητοῦσιν] They are yearning after a fatherland, a country of their own; the com- pound verb denotes the strain- ing after an object not actually within reach. 15. The imperfect tenses denote a continuous _ state ; throughout their sojourn in Palestine the return to their old home continued always open to them. 16. νῦν] now—i.e. as the ac- tual history of their lives proves, 112 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOY3. XI ~ 7 7 A 5 γονται, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἐπουρανίου. διὸ οὐκ ἐπαισ- , > \ ε \ \ > ΄ ΄σ χύνεται αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς θεὸς ἐπικαλεῖσθαι αὐτῶν, ε / \ > =~ 4 / 17 ἡτοίμασεν yap αὐτοῖς πολιν. Πίστει , > \ \ 9 \ , προσενήνοχεν Ἀβραὰμ Tov Ἰσαὰκ πειραζόμενος, \ \ a / ¢ \ > / Kal Tov μονογενῆ προσέφερεν ὁ Tas ἐπαγγελίας ’ , 4 «λ > / « > > ‘ 18 ἀναδεξάμενος, πρὸς ὃν ἐλαλήθη ὃτι Ἔν ᾿Ιελὰκ , ' 1 / ef 9 IQ KAHOHceTal cor οπέρμα, λογισάμενος OTL καὶ ἐκ - “" 7 \ ε ΄ « > \ νεκρῶν ἐγείρειν δυνατὸς ὁ θεὸς" ὅθεν αὐτὸν Kat > ΄σ ’ [ἢ , \ \ 2οέν mapaBoAn ἐκομίσατο. [ΙΪἰστει καὶ περὶ ἐ , ’ , > \ \ \ μελλόντων εὐλόγησεν Ἰσαὰκ Tov ᾿Ἰακωβ καὶ \ ΄σ 7 \ , J οἱτὸν “Hoav. Πίστει Ἰακὼβ ἀποθνήσκων ἕκασ- ΄σ en > \ 3 / \ ’ Tov τών υἱῶν Ἰωσὴφ εὐλόγησεν, καὶ προσεκυ- ᾽ \ \ 7 ΄ ev , ΄ , 22 νησεν ἐπὶ TO ἄκρον τῆς ῥαβδου αὐτοῦ. Πίστει \ a \ a 905 ἢ a en Ἰωσήφ τελευτῶν περὶ τῆς ἐξόδου τών υἱῶν \ ᾽ 4 \ \ = ς ΄ Ἰσραηλ ἐμνημόνευσεν, καὶ περὶ τῶν οστεων 52 αὐτοῦ ἐνετείλατο. ὀρέγονται] denotes eager or ambitious effort (compare 1 Tim. 111. 1, vi. το). The present tense is used because the record exists in Scripture. ἐπικαλεῖσθαι] God described himself (Ex. 11. 6) as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ἡτοίμασεν γάρ] The reason assigned for this divine conde- scension is that he had planned (pluperfect) to make them the people of God. Israel had been already appointed in the divine counsel as the holy nation: and ’ ΄σ- Πίστει Μωυσῆς γεννηθεὶς hence God’s recognition of the patriarchs. 17. προσενήνοχεν] is perfect, because the record exists in Scripture, προσέφερεν imperfect, because the offering was only begun, not actually completed. πειραζόμενος] dates the time of this offering ; 1t was at the time of the temptation (see τ. 8). ἀναδεξάμενος] expresses will- ing acceptance of an offered hoon. 17—19. Isaac was child of promise (Gen, xvil. 19), as well XI TO THE HEBREWS. 113 ing after a better, that is a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God: for he had prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he 17 was tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had welcomed the promises was offering up his only begotten son; he to 18 whom it had been spoken In Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead ; 19 from whence he did in a figure receive him back. By 20 faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed 21 each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was at his 22 end, called to mind the departure of the children of Israel ; and gave commandment concerning his bones. as the only lawful son and heir; his death therefore would have been the extinction of the blessing on Abraham’s seed ; but Abraham trusted that God could even raise the dead; and such resurrection did actually (καί) take place in a figurative way, by the slaughter of the substituted ram, and restoration of the son who had been laid as a victim on the altar. 20, 21. Faith enabled Isaac in his old age (Gen. xxvii, 27— 40), Jacob on his deathbed (Gen. xlviii., xlix.), to foresee the future fortunes of their chil- dren as an occasion for prophetic blessing. 21. τῆς paBdov(Gen. xlvii.31)] The epistle follows the Lxx in interpreting the Hebrew word as a staff, whereas our version R. By faith 23 of Genesis gives it as the bed’s head ; in either case the passage expresses alike the thankful adoration with which the old man bowed himself before God on receiving the oath of his son Joseph to bury him with his fathers. Much misplaced in- genuity has been expended on the conjecture that the staff was Joseph’s, and that the adora- tion was paid to the emblems upon it, 22. ἐμνημόνευσεν) called to mind the departure which his father had predicted. Compare its use inv. 15. The word never means ‘mention’inthe New Tes- tament. Joseph’s faith prompted him in spite of his Egyptian greatness to long for a grave in the land of promise. 114 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI Uf 7 e A Cc Ud . ΄' 7 ἐκρύβη τρίμηνον ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ, διότι > na \ » \ > 5 , εἶδον ἀστεῖον TO παιδίον Kal οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν \ / ΄σ ΄ 2470 διάταγμα τοῦ βασιλέως. Πίστει Μωυσῆς / / > , , ἜΑ μέγας γενόμενος ἠρνήσατο λέγεσθαι υἱὸς θυγα- \ / - ε ld ; ΄ 55 τρὸς Φαραώ, μάλλον ἑλόμενος συνκακουχεῖσθαι a a ΄ ~ oN , sf ς We τῷ Naw τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ προσκαιρον ἔχειν ἁμαρτίας 3 / i? ΄σ ε , ΄ 26 ἀπόλαυσιν, μείζονα πλοῦτον ἡγησάμενος τῶν Αἰγύπτου θησαυρῶν τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τοῦ χριστοῦ, 27 ἀπέβλεπεν γὰρ εἰς τὴν μισθαποδοσίαν. Πίστει κατέλιπεν Αἴγυπτον, μὴ φοβηθεὶς τὸν. θυμὸν τοῦ \ ε « i 3 βασιλέως, τὸν γὰρ ἀόρατον ὡς ὁρῶν ἐκαρτέ- οϑρησεν. Πίστει 7 \ , \ TETTOLHKEVY TO TACK A και \ την { (τὸ .« « ε ’ [2 \ πρόσχυσιν τοῦ αἵματος, iva μὴ ὁ ὀλοθρεύων Ta 23. τρίμηνον] isan adj. (mase. fem. or neut.) used substantively for a three months’ period. τῶν πατέρων his parents. The LXX attribute the concealment to both parents (Ex. ii. 2). ἀστεῖον] 15 used in Exodus by the Lxx to describe the beauty and promise of the child. At the end of this verse there is some textual authority for inserting πίστει μέγας γενόμενος Μωυσῆς, ἀνεῖλεν τὸν Αἰγύπτιον κατανοῶν τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ. It seems how- ever to have been originally a marginal comment on v. 24, suggested by the words of Ste- phen i in Acts vil 28. 24. Moses’ refusal to accept royal adoption, though consis- tent with Exodus, is not di- rectly asserted there; 1t was a matter of Jewish tradition ; Philo represents him as pre- sumptive heir to the throne of Egypt. 25. ἁμαρτίας ἀπόλαυσιν] of sin, Le, of sinful pleasure : ἀπό- λαυσις commonly takes an ob- jective genitive of the thing enjoyed. 26. τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τ. χριστοῦ] This expression seems to have become a household word in the church before the date of the epistle in consequence of the language of the Beatitude (Matt. v. II, 12); which pronounced the blessedness of reproach for Christ’s sake, ‘ Blessed are ye when men reproach you...for my xX TO THE HEBREWS. 115 Moses, after he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw the child was goodly; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith Moses, 24 when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to be evil entreated with the 25 people of God than to have enjoyment of sin for a season: accounting the reproach of the Christ greater riches than 26 the treasures of Egypt: for he was looking unto the pro- mised payment. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing 27 the wrath of the king: for he persevered, as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the passover and the 58 striking of the blood upon the doorposts, that the destroyer sake’; moreover that passage at- tached to the reproach a promise, just as it is attached here, ‘great is your reward (μισθός) in hea- ven’; and identified the perse- cutions of the Israelites of old time with the reproach of the Christ, ‘so persecuted they the prophets which were before you’. This identification ex- plains the designation here ap- plied to Moses’ sufferings with the persecuted people of God, as ‘the reproach of the Christ’. 27. κατέλιπεν Αἴγ.] cannot refer to the Exodus; for the singular verb κατέλιπεν points to the personal life of Moses ; nor are the dates consistent with the mention of the event before the Passover; the Exodus too took place with the assent of the king, however reluctantly given. Moses abandoned Egypt in effect ‘when he went out unto his brethren’ (Ex. ii. 11) in the land of Goshen. Stephen also represents this visit to his brethren (Acts vii. 23—25) as an invitation to rebellion. The statement of the epistle that he did this fearlessly is quite con- sistent with that of Exodus that he fled in fear, for that flight took place after the failure of his appeal to his brethren. éxap- τέρησεν marks Moses’ persever- ance in his schemes of liberation in spite of the resentment which they had provoked. 28. πεποίηκεν] means appa- rently to celebrate, rather than to institute ; for ποιεῖν is regu- larly used for celebration of the passover (Deut. xvi. 1, Matt. xxvi. 18). The perfect tense is used because the institution still exists in Scripture. Moses’ celebration of the passover evinced his faith that the de- stroyer would visit the land of Egypt, and that he would spare the houses signed with the blood. mpooxvow| striking of the S—2 116 , ΄σ 20 πρωτότοκα θίγη αὐτών. ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI Πίστει διέβησαν τὴν ᾿Ερυθρὰν Θάλασσαν ὡς διὰ ξηρᾶς γῆς, ἧς πεῖραν , ε > y 7 2320 λαβόντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι κατεπόθησαν. Πίστει \ , 3 ΔΊ , > Ne \ Ta TELXN Teperyo ἔπεσαν κυκλωθέντα ἐπὶ ἑπτα ε , 31 ἡμερας. 7 > , Πίστει Ῥαὰβ 1 πόρνη ov συναπω- a ’ , ,ὔ \ NETO τοῖς ἀπειθήσασιν, δεξαμένη TOUS κατα- , > > ’ 32 σκοποὺς MET εἰρηνῆς. \ lA SY , x Kai τί ἔτι AEyo 5 3 ’ Α , ε , \ ἐπιλείψει μὲ yap διηγούμενον ὁ χρόνος περὶ 4 Γεδεών, Βαράκ, Σαμψών, Ἰεφθάε, Δανείδ τε καὶ \ ~ ΄σ δ 33 Lapounr Kal TOV προφητῶν, οἱ διὰ πίστεως κατηγωνίσαντο βασιλείας, ἠργάσαντο δικαιο- ᾽ 4 5) - ᾽ , σύνην, ἐπέτυχον ἐπαγγελιών, ἔφραξαν στόματα ͵ 7 / , af , 34 λεόντων, ἔσβεσαν δύναμιν πυρὸς, ἔφυγον στο- 3 ’ ’ M 3 ματα μαχαίρης, ἐδυναμώθησαν ἀπὸ ἀσθενείας, ἡγενήθ ἰσνυροὶ ἐ λέ εμβολὰ εγέενῆ σαν lov pol €VY 70 EMO, Tap μ ολας blood with a bunch of hyssop against the lintel and side posts. The verb προσχέειν was also used of pouring the blood of the burnt-offering over the altar (uev.11. (5). ὀλοθρεύων] Ex, xii. 23, and again 1 Chron. xxi. 12. oAo- θρευτής is used in 1 Cor. x. Io. 29. διὰ ξηρᾶς) διά with gen. denotes their actually walking on the dry ground, while διέβη- σαν θάλασσαν denotes simply crossing the sea, in whatever way it was effected, by bridge, boat, or ford. 30, 31. The faith of Israel was evinced in their seven cir- cuits round the city; that of Rahab in her reception of the spies, as well as her declaration (Jos. i. 9) ‘I know that the Lord hath given you the land’. 32. The record of personal examples breaks off at the threshold of the holy land, as they then become too numerous to present in detail. διηγούμενον is hypothetical: ‘if I go on recording in detail the several instances of faith, the time will fail me to finish’, Γεδεών... The arrangement of copulatives varies in different Mss: as they stand in the text, the Judges are named one by XI TO THE HEBREWS. 117 of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith they 29 passed over the Red sea as on dry land: which the Egyp- tians assaying to do were swallowed up. By faith the 30 walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot perished 31 not with them that were disobedient, on her receiving the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the 32 time will fail me, if I go on relating of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the pro- phets: who through faith subdued rival kingdoms, wrought 33 righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the 34 sword, after weakness were endued with power, waxed one, beginning with Gideon as the most signal faith ; then David and Samuel, king and prophet, are coupled together as types of two great classes of God’s later servants. 33,34. The order of Old Testa- ment history is now followed: xa- τηγωνίσαντο describes the period ofstruggle with rival powers from Joshua to David and Solomon; ἠργάσαντο δικ. the establishment of righteous government, spe- cially under Samuel; ἐπέτυχον ἐπ. the promises granted to David and others; ἔφραξαν... the deliverance of Daniel ; ἔσβε- oav...of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ; edvyor...the escape of Mordecai and the Jews from massacre ; ἐδυναμώθησαν ... the recovery of strength after the restoration ; ἐγενήθησαν ... the Maccabean victories. 33. κατηγωνίσαντο] describes instance of a struggle issuing in complete prostration of the antagonist. ἐπέτυχον eéray.| God’s pro- mises testified to their faith, e.g. Nathan’s reply to David (2 Sam. vil. 4—17). It cannot mean ‘obtained the fulfilment of promises’ (see note on vi. 1.5): to record the fulfilment of pro- mises is not the object of this chapter; the faith of patriarchs and Jews was proved by sted- fast reliance on unfulfilled pro- mises (see vv. 13, 39). 34. ἐδυναμώθησαν] The chro- nological order points to the res- toration as the period here indi- cated: a reference to Sampson’s regained strength, or to Heze- kiah’s recovery, would be out of place. παρεμβολάς moreoften means camps than armies, e.g. 1ῃ Xiii. 11,13. But in 1 Mace. the armies of Gorgias, Timotheus, Bac- 118 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XI ᾽ Sf ΄ 3 55 ἔκλιναν ἀλλοτρίων: ἔλαβον γυναῖκες EE ἀνα- , \ \ 3 ΄σ af δὲ 3 στάσεως τοὺς νεκροὺς αὐτῶν; ἄλλοι CE ἐτυμ- ’ 5 , \ 3 » πανίσθησαν, οὐ προσδεξάμενοι την ἀπολυτρωσιν, ε > / / cf \ 36 ἵνα κρείττονος αναστασέεως TUXWOLY’ ετέροι δὲ ’ ΄σ , ς af 4 ἐμπαιγμῶν καὶ μαστίγων πεῖραν ἔλαβον, ἔτι 37 δὲ δεσμῶν καὶ φυλακῆς" ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἐπειράσ- θ > , θ > ’ If ’ 6 noav, επρισῦησαν, ev φόνῳ μαχαιρης απεῦανον, ~~ > - ey 3 7 / περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγίοις δέρμασιν, Ὁ ες / , 7 - 90 ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχουμενοι, ὧν ’ “5 oy ε / ’ \ ’ , / οὐκ ἣν ἀξιος O κοσμος, ἐπὶ ερήμίαις πλανώμενοι \ Sf \ lt \ ΄ ΄-: ΄σ καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαιοις καὶ ταῖς ὁπαῖς τῆς 30 γῆς. Καὶ οὗτοι πάντες μαρτυρηθέντες \ - , 3 ᾽ / \ > , διὰ τῆς πίστεως οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, chides, Nicanor, &c., are all so designated. 35. The list of outward tri- umphs is crowned with the resurrection of the dead: the miracles wrought for the relief of the Sareptan and Shunamite are reserved to the end on ac- count of their signal greatness. At ἄλλοι δέ commences a record of spiritual triumphs amid suf- fering and martyrdom. ‘The reading γυναῖκας τητιϑῦ be an error apparently in transcription. The nominative seems obviously cor- rect. ἐτυμπανίσθησαν]ὔ The death of Eleazar by scourging on the τύμ- πανον is related in 2 Mace. vi. 18—30: he was offered release, if he would consent to eat unclean flesh. The τύμπανον seems to have been a sort of drum upon which the victim was stretched. κρείττονος] a better resurrec- tion than that of the Shuna- mite’s son, 1.6. a heavenly. 27. ἐλιθάσθησαν!] Stoning was not only a legal punish- ment sanctioned by the Mo- saic code; but it was also (as we are reminded by Christian re- cords) a common form of vio- lence resorted to by Jewish mobs. Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2 Chron. xxiv. 20—22), fell a vic- tim to it. So also did Jeremiah at Daphne according to Jewish tradition. ἐπειράσθησαν] Some Mss omit this word or place it after ἐπρίσθησαν: if genuine, it cer- XI TO THE HEBREWS. 119 strong in war, turned to flight armies of aliens: women 35 received their dead by resurrection. And others were beaten to death, not accepting the redemption offered them ; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others 36 had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were 37 sawn asunder, [— — —,] they were slain with the sword : they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being desti- tute, afflicted, evil entreated (of whom the world was not 38 worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and even the holes of the earth. And those all, though 39 they had witness borne to them through their faith, re- tainly cannot mean ‘they were tempted’; for temptation cannot be placed in the midst of a cata- logue of bodily tortures; ety- mology suggests that it may perhaps have meant ‘they were empaled’; and this explanation seems to me more likely than to interpret it as a corruption for any well-known term like ἐπηρώ- θησαν (mutilated) or ἐπρήσθησαν (burned). ἐπρίσθησαν] There was a tra- dition that Isaiah was sawn a- sunder. ἐν φόνῳ paxaipys| Execution by the sword was common under Greek and Roman government, and probably these words allude to heathen persecution; but it took place also under Israelite rule: Urijah was slain by the sword (Jer. xxvi. 23); and Eli- jah complains, ‘they have slain thy prophets with the sword’ (1 Kings xix. 10). μηλωταῖ) The mantle of Elijah is so designated by the LXX (3 Kings xix. 19). Cle- ment in citing the clause (Cor, § 17) refers it to Elijah Elisha and Ezekiel. 38. The world proved itself unworthy of these holy men by its persecution of them, and they fled into deserts, and lived in caves amid the wild mountain regions. ‘The physical character of some parts of Palestine gave great opportunity for leading the life of an outlaw; and the history of David, Elijah, Mat- tathiah and his sons, illustrates the meaning of the text. There is an alternative reading ἐν for ἐπί before ἐρημίαις. The words καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς are added as the climax of their outward wretch- edness. 39, 40. The faithful of the patriarchal and Jewish churches, though they gained the testi- mony of Scripture that they had lived and died in faith, did not 120 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOY3. ΧΙ ΧΙ ΄σ ~ ~ ΄ ΄ 40 τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττον τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθώσιν. ΧΟ or Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περι- κείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα καὶ THY εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν, δι’ ὑπο- μονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα, ' ~ \ ~ ᾽ \ 2 ἀφορῶντες εἰς TOY τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν Kal XII. 1—17. And now we have to run our course in sight of all these heavenly witnesses: let ws then strip ourselves of every cumbrance of the flesh and garment of sin, fixing our eyes on the captain of the faith, Jesus, once patient of the cross, now seated at God’s right hand. Faint not, because the training ws severe: τέ is your Father that chastens you in love,—a heavenly father, not a shortsighted capricious earthly father: painful as τέ 1s now, chastening will bear fruit in the peace of mind which belongs to a righteous life. Therefore lift up weary hand and knee, make straight paths for your own feet, that no lame joint may fail: study peace and holy living: watch that there be no apostasy among you, no bitter growth to taint the body of the church: no sensuality or ampiety, too late repented of. actually receive the eternal in- heritance. This was of neces- sity reserved until Christ had come, and consecrated them by his death, together with the Christian church. On τελειω- θῶσιν see X. 14. 40. κρεῖττόν τι] It has been al- ready argued fully in the epistle that thenew covenant was (κρείτ- των) more effectual, and rested on (κρείττοσιν) more effectual promises than those of former time. This merciful purpose be- longed not however in reality to the new covenant only, but formed a part also of God’s original scheme of redemption for his church, though it could not be revealed to the church before Christ’s coming, as he alone could open the new way of salvation. I. περικείμενον eee μαρτύρων] The host of spirits of the faith- ful dead encompass the arena on which the champions of the cross are contending for the faith, like an overhanging cloud in heaven. Hitherto these faithful men of ΧΙ ΧΙ TO THE HEBREWS. 121 ceived not the promise, God looking forward to some 40 better thing for us that they should not be consecrated apart from us. Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about 1 12 with so great a cloud of witnesses, put off every cumbrance and the sin that clings about us, and let us run with reso- lution the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus 2 old have been described as re- ceiving witness from God in Scripture (μαρτυρηθέντες Xi. 39) ; now they are entitled witnesses, having borne witness to the truth by their faithful lives. ὄγκον (originally ‘a swelling’) describes something large and cumbrous: the superfluous flesh which was got rid of in the course of training for the race, was called σαρκὸς ὄγκος : this is doubtless the meaning of ὄγκος here, the figure being borrowed from the racecourse, as St Paul’s kindred figures in 1 Cor. ix. 26, 27 are from the various Greek games, to express the Christian’s battle with the flesh. ἀποθέμενοι ... ἁμαρτίαν] The sin here spoken of cannot be the inward propensity to evil, which has to be combated throughout life; but rather the guilty pol- lution which can be at once re- moved by the blood of Christ; for we are enjoined at once to cast it off, when we start on our Christian race. In x. 11 sin was presented as a garment to be stripped off on application of the blood of Christ; and the etymology of εὐπερίστατον sug- gests the same figure of a close- fitting garmentof which thecom- petitor divests himself before the race. The word is not found elsewhere, and its meaning has to be gathered from the various senses of περιΐστασθαι, to sur- round, beset, entangle, &e. dv ὑπομονῆς] διά with gen. ex- presses the temper of mind in which actions are performed, 6. g. dv ὀργῆς, in anger. The Chris- tian race demands a spirit of resolute endurance. 2. ἀφορῶντες] like ἀποβλέπειν (xi. 26) denotes the definite di- rection of the eye by an effort of faith to some object not im- mediately before it, viz. to the great captain who has gone be- fore us into the presence of God. τῆς πίστεως] the faith, i.e. the Gospel faith: as the last chapter spoke of faith in general, so this dwells on Christian faith in par- ticular; which is distinguished from faith in general by the use of the article, ‘the faith’, as it is habitually in St Paul’s epis- tles. The rendering ‘our faith’ can hardly be correct; the article can only be rendered by a pos- 122 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XII \ - « ΄σ , ΄σ τελειωτὴν Ἰησοῦν, ὃς ἀντὶ τῆς προκειμένης αὐτῷ ΄σ Y? \ / / χαρᾶς ὑπεμεινεν σταυρὸν αἰσχύνης καταφρονη- σας, ἐν δεξιᾷ τε τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ κεκαθικεν. s\ \ , / 3 ἀναλογίσασθε yap τὸν τοιαύτην ὑπομεμενηκότα ε \ - e “ ᾽ ε \ > / .« ὑπο τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς αντιλογίαν, Wa \ , ΄σ ΄- e ~ 3 ’ 4 μὴ καμῆτε ταις ψυχαῖς ὑμων ἐκλνομενοι. Οὔπω « 5) / \ e μέχρις αἵματος ἀντικατέστητε πρὸς THY apap- 5 [, Ny ΚῚ 7 lod 5 τίαν ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι, καὶ ἐκλέλησθε τῆς παρα- ΙΖ « (χα e con 4 κλήσεως, ἥτις υμῖν ὡς νιοῖς διαλέγεται, Υἱέ μου, μὴ ὀλιγώρει Traidelac Kypioy, MHAE EKAYOY ὑπ᾽ AYTOY €AETYOMENOC" sessive pronoun, where such pro- nouncan beimmediately supplied out of the context; τὸν τ. 7. apy- nyov might mean ‘the captain of his faith’, but not ‘the captain of our faith’, On the meaning of ἀρχηγόν see note on ii. Io. There is in this passage, as in that, an obvious reference to the name Jesus (Joshua), which be- longed to the former ‘captain of the faith’ who led Israel into their earthly inheritance: even so our great captain of the faith has led the way into our eternal inheritance; and it is our duty to fix our eyes on him, and follow him as Christian soldiers. τελειωτήν] Jesus is not only the captain, but also the conse- erator of the faith, i.e. of those that believe. By his death he has consecrated for evermore his future church, investing with an eternal priesthood all who will accept their portion in that death (see note on x. 14, and Appendix). avti...ctavpov] The cross was the price he paid for the joy set before him, i.e. the joy of re- deeming mankind: that joy was the prize proposed to him as the reward of his suffering life. 3. γάρ] The previous exhorta- tion to fix the eyes on Jesus is further enforced by the reflection that the example of his endur- ance will fortify the fainting Hebrews. εἰς éavtovs] The article be- fore ἁμαρτωλῶν shews that these words are to be coupled with τ. ἁμαρτωλῶν, not with ἀντιλογίαν, which would require zpos, and even if it could be used, such a construction would scarcely give any intelligible meaning. Con- XII TO THE HEBREWS. 123 the captain and consecrator of the faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For 3 consider him that hath endured such contradiction of men that were sinners against themselves, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls. Ye have not yet resisted 4 unto blood in striving against sin: and ye had quite for- 5 gotten the exhortation (one which reasoneth with you as with sons), My son, regard not lightly the chastenings of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him; strue ‘those that were sinners against themselves’, i.e. against their own souls. Compare apap- raver εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν in Prov. xx. 2: There is an alter- native reading ἑαυτόν, but it is probably a correction due to the difficulty found in understand- ing ἑαυτούς. 4. οὔπω] Though their pre- sent chastening offered a strong contrast to the past easy living, which had made them forget the value and the need of chasten- ing, yet their sufferings had not yet reached the pitch of martyr- dom. μέχρις αἵματος] There is no ground for interpreting these words as a figure from pugilistic training ; figures from the games abound in wv. 1, 2, but are then dropped; even there they are all taken from the racecourse. The general sense is as follows: ‘hitherto your conflict against the sin which persecuted the Lord Jesus unto death. has cost you no blood; and you had in consequence forgotten the value of chastening; now resistance may cost you your lives’. τὴν ἁμαρτίαν] that sin, i.e. the sin which, as they have been reminded, persecuted Jesus, and will also persecute them: hence we see that the struggle referred to is not against inward temp- tation, but against outward per- sccution by a sinful world. 5. ἐκλέλησθε] This cannot be a perfect, coupled as it is with the aorist: if the meaning had been ‘ye have forgotten’, it would have been expressed by a second aorist ἐξελάθεσθε. It is a pluperfect describing the tem- per which their past life had pro- duced before the commencement of the existing troubles; their present position was one of dan- ger and anxiety, which prevent- ed such entire forgetfulness: ἥτις classifies the exhortation of Proy. 111. 11, 12 as parental in its nature. 124 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XII 6 On γὰρ ἀγὰπᾷ Κύριος παιδεύει, ΜδοτιΓΟ δὲ πάντὰ YION ON TrApAdeyeTal ’ , ¢ , ε Qa ~ 7 7 εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε: ὡς υἱοῖς ὑμῖν προσφε- 7 « « ρεται ὁ θεός" τίς γὰρ υἱὸς ὃν οὐ παιδεύει πατήρ: \ / ) i i ’ Bei δὲ χωρίς ἐστε παιδείας ἧς μέτοχοι γεγόνασι oS if \ > cup > Q πάντες, apa νόθοι καὶ οὐχ yioi ἐστε. 5 \ ELTA TOUS V ~ \ - “ of \ μεν τῆς σαρκος ἡμῶν πατέρας ELV OMEV παιδευτὰς \ ’ id > \ ΄σ ς , καὶ ἐνετρεπόμεθα, οὐ πολὺ μᾶλλον ὑποταγησό- = \ ΄σ ’ \ / μεθα τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων Kal ζησομεν:; ε \ \ \ ’ / e , \ \ ΄σ IO οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν ᾽ = > 7 δ \ > \ \ U > \ αὐτοῖς ἐπαίδευνον, ὁ δὲ ἐπὲ TO συμφέρον εἰς TO 11 μεταλαβεῖν τῆς ὡγιότητος αὐτοῦ. ΄σ \ TATA μεν \ \ > ~ ΄σ o> παιδεία 7 pos Mev TO παρὸν ου δοκεῖ Xapas ElVal > \ if, e/ \\ \ > \ ΄ aha λύπης, ὕστερον δὲ καρπον εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς τ “ , ’ ,ὔ , δ αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσιν δικαιοσύ- 6. μαστιγοῖ δέ] Scourging again is an assertion of a father’s authority, and therefore proves that he acknowledges (παραδέ- χεται) the son. 7. εἰς παιδείαν vrop.]| The restoration of the true text εἰς for εἰ reveals the true force of this clause: the endurance is stated as a fact; and its object, chastening, is placed with em- phasis at the beginning. If ὑπομένετε were imperative, it would have been placed first. The English word ‘chastening’ fails to give the same breadth of meaning as the Greek παι- deta, which includes education generally, and not merely chas- tening. 8. πάντες] they all, i.e. all sons: the argument is tracing the connexion of chastening with sonship. ἄρα] then, draws the inference which naturally follows from the preceding hypothesis. 9. εἶτα] introduces an indig- nant expostulation, founded on the difference of their behaviour towards their earthly fathers, and their heavenly: ‘Shall we then, after bearing, as we did, the chastenings of our earthly fathers with respect, not much rather submit to our spiritual Father?’ The omission of δέ in the second clause after an ante- XT TO THE HEBREWS. 125 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 6 And scourgeth every son whom he acknowledgeth. It is for chastening that ye are enduring; God is dealing 7 with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastening, 8 whereof they have all been partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Did we then give reverence, when we had 9 the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of owr spirits, and live 2 For they chastened us with an eye to a few1o days as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, so.that we may be partakers of his holiness. No chastening seem- 11 eth indeed for the present to be joyous, but grievous: yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, fruit of righteousness. cedent μέν, though unknown to classical Greek, is common in the epistles of St Paul. τῶν πνευμάτων] our spirits: it is not necessary to repeat the ἡμῶν, which has been already expressed with τῆς σαρκός. God is the sole father of the spirit of the Christian ; he has quick- ened it into life, and has since fostered and guided it. to. The two chastenings are compared both in their final object, and in the means em- ployed for its attainment. The object of earthly chastening is temporary (πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας), and the means capricious (κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτοῖς) : God’s chasten- ings on the contrary have for their final object our real wel- fare (τὸ συμφέρον), and the means thereto are through our Wherefore 12 becoming partakers of his holi- ness. 11. πᾶσα μὲν παιδεία] any chastening, whether human or divine ; that is, any chastening that deserves the name, πᾶσα followed by ov means not any, no, Compare Eph. v. 5; 1 John 11. 21, 111. 15. The genuineness of the word μέν is doubtful, as the reading varies between μέν and δέ, and μέν scarcely gives a satisfactory sense. Apparently some other connecting particle stood after πᾶσα in the original text: the -ro. of μέντοι may have been dropped from its resemblance to the succeeding syllable παι-. καρπὸν eip. oux.] Painful as is the process of growth, the fruit is upright life attended by sweet peace of mind. 126 12 ys. ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΧΙ A \ , - Ato Tas TAPELMEVAS χείρας καὶ τὰ σπαρα- 4 , 3 ΄ \ \ ’ 13 λελυμένα γόνατα ἀνορθώσατε, καὶ TpoxXLas ὁρ- \ σι - \ con .“ \ A \ Cas TOLELTE τοις πσοσιν UMWV, LYA Ky} TO ywrov 14 xtpamij, ἰαθή δὲ μάλλον, Εἰρήνην διώ- \ ΄ \ / Key \ KETE PETA πάντων, καὶ TOV ἁγιασμον, οὗ χωρίς > \ of \ , Py a 7 15 οὐδεὶς ὀψεται τὸν Κύριον, ἐπισκοποῦντες μὴ τις 4 a 5 Ξ , = = , ε ὑστερών ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ, μή τις ῥίζα / " / > “ \ > 2S πικρίας ἀνω φυουσα ἐνοχλη Kat δι αὐτῆς μιαν- - ε , , y \ / e τό θῶσιν οἱ πολλοί, μή τις πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος ὡς 12. This imagery 5. bor- rowed from desert travel, παρει- μένος and παραλελυμένος being coupled together to express the effect of fatigue, as in the Old Testament (Deut. xxxil. 36; Is. xxxv. 3). St Luke uses παραλελυμένος to express loss of power from disease. 13. τροχιὰς ὀρθας...} In Prov. iv. the effect of a father’s chas- tening is described as setting a son in the straight paths of wisdom (v. 11): he is admo- nished to treasure it in his heart, and to make straight paths for his own feet (ὀρθὰς τροχιὰς ποίει σοῖς ποσί, v. 26), that God may lead him in the ways of peace. The emphatic insertion of ὑμῶν seems to remind the Hebrews, like σοῖς in the original, that their own exertions must re- spond to God’s chastening love, and they must strive themselves to walk in straight paths. ἵνα μὴ τὸ χωλόν] that the lame joint, whatever it be, may not be turned aside by crooked paths, and so made more useless by the strain, but rather be restored by healthy exercise. Every departure from the right path deadens Christian energies. For ποιεῖτε some Mss read ποιῆ- care. 14. eipyvyv...cavtwv| make it your aim to live at peace with all the world, i.e. with the outside world; for the temper enjoined towards the brethren was not peace, but Christian love of a more active kind. St Paul gives the same injunction to the Romans (xii. 18). The mutual suspicions and enmities prevailing between all Jewish communities and their neighbours at this date must have made it specially difficult for the Hebrew Chris- tians to preserve peace with both parties. τὸν aylacpoy...Kupiov] This XIT TO THE HEBREWS. 127 lift up the hands that have been let drop, and the unstrung knees; and make straight paths for your own feet, that 13 the lame joint be not turned aside, but rather be healed. Follow after peace with all men, and that holy living, 14 without which no man shall see the Lord: watching lest 15 there be any man falling away from the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you; and thereby the many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane 16 assertion of the necessity of holy living to see the Lord is apparently founded upon the Beatitude ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’, Κύριον being used for God, as in viii. 2. The article is the de- monstrative antecedent to the relative ov, and ἁγιασμός is the process of holy living, which belonged to those who were sanctified to the Lord. 15. ὑστερῶν ἀπό] is a rare expression, answering to éxxAt νειν ἀπό in the original passage of Deuteronomy. ἐνοχλῇ] I cannot believe this to be the true reading, though I retain it in defer- ence to textual authority; for the proper sense of ἐνοχλεῖν is quite irrelevant to the context, as suggesting the disturbance of peace by interference from with- out (compare Acts xv. 19) rather than by internal bitterness ; and it seems to have crept into the text in consequence of the ab- sence of a verb, and the imme- diate sequence of the subjunc- tive μιανθῶσιν. In the original passage (Deut. xxix. 18), from which this is a free citation, there is also a reading ἐνοχλῇ as well as ἐν χολῇ ; but ἐν χολῇ is without doubt the genuine reading there; as the sense of the original and the construc- tion of the passage imperatively demand it; and [ believe it to be so here. The figure pre- sented is of a root of bitterness growing up within the church and tainting the whole body with its bitter gall; and the warning is against the tolera- tion of a spirit of apostasy within the bosom of the church. dv αὐτῆς] There is an alter- native reading διὰ ταύτης. 16. πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος] Sen- suality and impiety are coupled together here, as in Rom.1., and habitually in the Old Testament. The traditional character of Esau includes both. ἀπέδετο is the Hellenistic form of ἀπέδοτο. The rights of the firstborn in- cluded the priesthood and head- ship of the family, as well as a double portion of the inherit- ance, 128 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΧΙ aE ΄σ ral 9 \ / ΄- 93 , \ Gav, OS αντι βρώσεως μίας ἀπέδετο τα σρω- bas Ui « - , \ e/ \ ΄ 1 ἡ TOTOKLA EAUTOU, ἰστε γαρ OTL καὶ PETETELTA iy. ΄- A ᾽ ie 3 ΄ θέλων κληρονομῆσαι τὴν εὐλογίαν ἀπεδοκιμάσθη, , -“ \ μετανοίας yap τόπον οὐχ εὗρεν, καίπερ μετὰ Οὐ γὰρ / , ’ he 18 δακρύων ἐκζητήσας αὐτην. , , \ ἐὲ \ προσεληλύθατε Ψψηλαφωμένῳ Kal κεκαυμένῳ TrupL \ ΄ \ fa \ 4 \ , 10 καὶ γνόφῳ καὶ ζόφῳ καὶ θυνελλῃ καὶ σαλπιγγος of \ ~ ic , = ε > / ἤχῳ καὶ φωνῇ βημάτων, ijs οἱ ἀκούσαντες Tapy- 4 ΄σ ~ “ ν᾽" 20 τήσαντο προστεθῆναι αὐτοῖς λογον" οὐκ ἐῴφερον yap τὸ διαστελλόμενον K&N θηρίον θίγῃ τοῦ ὄρους, 21 λιθοβοληθήςεται' καί, οὕτω φοβερὸν ἣν TO φαν- 18—29. The Israelites were panicstricken by the mate- rial symbols of God’s holiness at Sinai: ye have entered the courts of the living God, and stand in spiritual presence of the church of God's elect on earth with myriads of attendant angels, of God the Judge, and the spirits of the consecrated dead, and of Jesus the mediator of the new covenant with the covenant-blood. Shrink not from God’s warning call to hole- ness: in vain the Israelites shrank from its earthly symbols. He hath prophesied this one shock, with which the material frame of heaven and earth should quake; and this shock ts final; the spiritual and eternal alone shall survive this con- suming fire of God's wrath: let us then thankfully, but not without godly fear, accept the service of our spiritual king. τῇ. ἀπεδοκιμάσθη]) denotes disqualification for an _ office place for repentance? he did bitterly regret the past; and so through defect of birth or cha- racter. μετανοίας τόπον] The pera- νοια must be Esau’s own, not that of his father, who has not been even mentioned in the passage: but in what sense is it said that Esau found no far he did manifest a change of heart: What he could not obtain, was a reversal of its conse- quences; he could not undo what he had done. There is no question raised of the possibility of repenting and being forgiven, but of undoing the temporal XII TO THE HEBREWS. 129 person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his own birthright. Tor ye know that even afterward when he was minded to 17 inherit the blessing, he was rejected (for he found no place of repentance), though he sought it to the utmost with tears. For ye have not drawn near unto a mount that might 18 be felt, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and trumpet-sound and voice of 19 words, the hearers of which intreated that not a word should be added to them; for they could not endure that 20 which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned: consequences of our own actions. The Latin equivalent ‘locus penitentiz ’ is used in a similar sense. ἐκζητήσας αὐτήν] The passage in Genesis (xxvil. 33—40) sug- gests that by αὐτήν is meant the blessing, which he earnestly sought; and the structure of the Greek sentence here points to the same conclusion; for if μετάνοιαν had been the object of ἐκζητήσας, αὐτήν would scarcely have been needed. 18. προσεληλύθατε] is the technical term used throughout the epistle for drawing near to God, whether in type or reality : it recurs in v. 22. ψηλαφωμένῳ...] This verb denotes feeling about for an object in the dark ; and there- fore it must not be taken as an attribute of πυρί The origi- nal passage also.in Deut. (iv. 11) from which this is borrowed, R. TO ὅρος ἐκαίετο πυρί, indicates that πυρί is the instrumental dative ‘with fire’, The best construction therefore is to sup- ply ὄρει from τ. 22 as the sub- ject of ψηλαφωμένῳ καὶ κεκαυ- μένῳ. The pres. part. pass. ex- presses the nature of the moun- tain: Sinai was not actually handled, for this was forbidden (Exod. xix. 12); but it was of a nature to be felt with the hand, 1.6. material. κεκαυμένῳ] literally ‘that had been kindled’, whereas κατα- κεκαυμένῳ Ineans ‘consumed’, 19. παρῃτήσαντο...] Exod. xx. 19; Deut. v. 25. On παραι- τεῖσθαι see v. 25. According to some Mss a redundant μή follows παρῃτήσαντο. 20. τὸ διαστελλόμενον] (pass.) Exod. xix. 12. The words added sometimes at the end of the quo- tation, ἢ βολίδι κατατοξευθήσεται exist in Exodus only, and are 9 130 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XII / lo [Ων » ’ > Nieuw TaComevov, Μωυσῆς εἶπεν ἜἜκφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἐντρο- 22 μος. ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει ΄ ΄ > \ > / \ / θεοῦ ζώντος, lepoveadnp ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριασιν 23 ἀγγέλων, πανηγύρει καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτό- , a \ lal a κων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, Kat κριτῇ θεῷ " 7 / “i N 24 πάντων, καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων τετελειωμένων, καὶ “ lA , > > N ees: ε a διαθήκης νέας μεσιτη Ιησοῦ, kal αἵματι ραντισμοῦ not found in any good ms of the text here. 22. The mount Sinai of the Law and the camp of Israel with its angel guide have their parallel in the Sion of the Gospel, at once mountain and city of the living God (as Sion is habitually described in the Old Testament): the mount of God is no longer outside the camp; nor are the people of God a camp, but a city within which is the temple of a God who must be worshipped in spirit ; this city is the heavenly Jerusalem, the antitype of the earthly, God’s spiritual build- ing, the church of Christ: though designated as heavenly in nature, it is on earth; just as the heavenward path of man (ra ἐπουράνια), Spoken of in ix. 23, is the Christian life on earth, so this is the church militant on earth; and it has its myriads of ministering angels attendant upon it: it is farther described as combining the cha- racter of a πανήγυρις, a religious gathering, and an ἐκκλησία, a body possessing social organisa- tion and internal government ; just as the congregation of Israel at Sinai combined these various functions. 23. πρωτοτόκων] The members of the church are called firstborn, both as being heirs of the eternal inheritance, ‘heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ’, and as dedicated to God, as the first- born were from their birth by a virtual priesthood (Exod. xiii. 2; Num. iii. 13), and in patri- archal times by an actual priest- hood. Esau’s disregard of his birthright, mentioned in τ. τύ, has already suggested the idea of the birthright as typical of Christian privileges. ἀπογεγραμμένων] Christians, as such, have their names en- rolled in heaven ; as Christ said to his disciples (Luke x. 20), ‘ Rejoice that your names are written in heaven’: though a Judas may eventually forfeit the inheritance. So far the de- scription of the Christian’s sur- roundings has been confined to the church militant on earth ; XII TO THE HEBREWS. 131 and, so terrible was the sight, Moses said, I exceedingly 21 fear and quake. But ye have drawn near unto Zion, 22 mountain and city of the living God, Jerusalem the hea- venly, and to myriads of angels, to a general assembly and 23 congregation of firstborn enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to spirits of just men that have been consecrated, and to Jesus mediator of a new covenant, and 24 blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel. the picture is now extended from earth to heaven. κριτῇ θεῷ πάντων] The con- text requires us to take these words as referring not to the future judgment, but to the pre- rogative of judgment inherent in the present government of the world; in Gen. xvilil. 25 God is designated as ὁ κρίνων πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. τετελειωμένων] The consecra- tion of the Christian is consum- mated at death. So Christ speaks of his own death (Luke xiii. 32), and St Paul of his (Phil. ii. 12) as a consecration ; but the right- eous, who died in faith before Christ’s coming, were repre- sented at the close of the last chapter, as waiting for the coming of the great High Priest to consecrate them in his blood. Now they are presented as the consecrated dead, washed in his blood ; and standing round the throne of God, as members of the church triumphant; whence they behold their brethren’s course on earth. 24. The picture of the giv- ing of the law at Mount Sinai leads on naturally to the solemn ratification of that covenant in blood by Moses as mediator ; which typified Jesus the me- diator of the new covenant sealing 1t in his own blood. αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ] Two dis- tinct applications of the blood of sprinkling have been brought forward in the epistle; (1) to remove uncleanuess, 1X, ΤῸ (2) to seal the covenant of the law at Sinai, ix. 19. The context shews that the latter is here intended, for it is coupled with the new covenant in obvious reference to the rati- fication of the old covenant by the blood of sprinkling at Sinai. It is therefore necessary to dis- miss from the mind that typical meaning of the blood of sprink- ling which belongs to the use of blood in removing uncleanness, i.e. as procuring forgiveness of past sins; and to confine our thoughts to the sprinkling of the covenant-blood recorded in Exod. xxiv. ὃ. Furthermore the voice of the blood of Christ, which has sealed the new cove- 9—2 132 - im \ \ « 55 κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ Tov “Αβελ. ΠΡΟΣ ἙΒΡΑΙΟΥ͂Σ. XII , Βλεσετε A Ἧ \\ ΄- > \ 3 ~ μη παραιτήσησθε Tov λαλοῦντα" εἰ Yap εκεῖνοι / ’ ΄σ , A οὐκ ἐξέφυγον ert γῆς παραιτησάμενοι TOV χρῆ- , \ lo ς ΄ ε \ ματίζοντα, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ᾽ > - 3 , ὃ Ὄς e \ \ ΄σ 20 oupavwy ἀποστρεφομενοι᾿ ov ἡ φωνὴ τὴν γῆν 5 , , = Nees , , ἘΞ ἐσάλευσεν τότε, νῦν δὲ ἐπήγγελται λέγων Ἔτι nant between God and the Church is twofold; it assures on the one hand the promise of God’s Spirit and God’s forgiving love in our future life, it binds us on the other by a most solemn pledge to the service of our Heavenly Father. Now here it is not the graciousness of the promise on God’s part, but the awful solemnity of the obliga- tion on ours, which is in ques- tion, The key-note of the whole passage 15 warning: the terrors of Sinai and the still more awful terrors of present judgment, the fire and earthquakes of Sinai and the more terrible convulsion and fire of the present crisis, formitsleading thought: ‘shrink not’, it is said, ‘from the holy voice that speaks unto you, be- cause of the terrors which ac- company this revelation, as the Israelites shrank of old’. κρεῖττον λαλ. παρὰ τ. ἽΑβελ]) The voice of the blood of Christ is further compared with that of the blood of Abel: now the voice of the blood of Abel (al- ready alluded to in xi. 4) was a cry for retribution from one of God’s elect against the murderer. And this aspect of the death of Christ could not fail to present itself to the Hebrews during the horrors of the Jewish war: for it was not merely the impre- cation of the multitude, ‘his blood be on us and on our chil- dren’, or the accusations of the apostles against the murderers, but the word of Christ himself (Matt. xxiii. 35—38), which connected the desolation of Je- rusalem with the guilt of inno- cent blood from that of right- eous Abel downwards. Here therefore the epistle reminds them that the blood of Christ had also a better voice, telling not of retribution, but of a holy covenant of promise, revealing God’s mercy as well as his judg- ments. It has been asked how Christians can be said to draw near to this blood of sprinkling; but the passage is describing spiritual realities; and none of these can be more intensely real than the blood in which they were consecrated. 25. παραιτήσησθε] The mean- ing of this verb is marked by XIT See that ye shrink not from him that speaketh. TO THE HEBREWS. 133 For if 25 they escaped not on earth by shrinking from him that warned them, much more shall we not escape who are turning away from him that warneth from heaven: whose 26 voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, its use in τ. 19, with reference to the entreaties of the Israelites to be spared hearing any further the terrible voice of the Lord: so again in Luke xiv. 18 it means to excuse oneself from compli- ance with an unwelcome duty: St Paul bids Timothy decline the imprudent offers of young widows to minister to certain offices in the church (1 Tim. v. 11), and deprecate foolish ques- tions (2 Tim. 11: 23); he bids Titus (ili. 10) deprecate pro- longed discussion with the fac- tious. Here the Hebrews are warned not to shrink from God’s call to holiness, as the Israelites shrank at Sinai: for some had already withdrawn from Chris- tian communion (x. 25), and were drawing back to perdition (x. 39) in these times of trial. Cowardly fear could not save the Israelites then from the penalties of a holy law; nor will it save the Christian from God’s vengeance on the apostate now. tov λαλοῦντα] must be refer- red to the same speaker as λα- λοῦντι in the previous verse, 1. 6. to Jesus speaking in his blood of sprinkling ; but tov χρηματίζοντα points to the voice that spake out of the holy mount, and τὸν ἀπ᾽ οὐρανῶν sc. χρηματίζοντα to the voice of God that was even then speaking in the terrible judgments of the ancient people of God. This divine voice seems to be identified with the voice of Jesus previously mentioned as speaking. ἐπὶ γῆς] describes the position of the Israelites as on earth, whereas Christians have been admitted within the courts of the heavenly temple. It must be taken with παραιτησάμενοι, not with χρηματίζοντα, on account of its position in the clause. ot ἀποστρεφόμενοι] who are turning away, 1.6. are inclined to turn away. The word does not necessarily imply actual apostasy, only a tendency to it, 26. ἐσάλευσεν] implies a slighter shock than σείσω. oa- λεύειν was used intransitively in earlier Greek of the tossing surf; the LxXx. use it transitively in Jud. v. 5, as here, of a super- ficial vibration ; whereas σείειν expresses an earthquake-shock affecting the solid frame of earth, τότε] at Sinai, νῦν in Messi- anic prophecy of these times. ἔτι ἅπαξ] Haggai (11. 6) had predicted one great convulsion which should shake the whole material heaven as well as earth, and should result in all the > GUD eae 134 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XII XIII “ ΟΡ τὶ , “ ᾿ n 93 \ \ \ > ἅπαξ ἐγὼ ceicw OU μονον THN γῆν ἀλλα καὶ TON οὐρὰ- 27 νόν. τὸ δέ Ἔτι ἅπαξ δηλοῖ [τὴν] TWY σαλευο- / i) e ΄ .« ,ὔ \ MEVWYV μεταθεσιν ως πεποιήμενων, νὰ Melvyn Ta / σαλευομενα. Διὸ / βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες ἔχωμεν χάριν, δι᾿ ἧς λατρεύω- 3 ᾿ ΄“ θ ~ \ aN β ’ \ δέ μεν εὐαρεστως TW LEW μετα εὐλαβείας καὶ OEOUS, \ ε \ e ΄σ ΄σ 20 καὶ yep O Geos NUWY συρ καταναλίσκον. Ἡ φιλαδελφία μενέτω. τῆς φιλοξενίας μὴ XIII. 1—6. Persevere in your love of the brethren and love to strangers; in kindness and sympathy; honour your marriage-tie; keep purity: cherish liberality, contentment, trust in God. treasures of the heathen being brought to the temple of the Lord. ‘The stress laid on there being but one great convulsion yet to come—implied the final setting aside of all that is in its nature liable to an outward shock (τῶν σαλευομένων), i.e. of the material temple and temple- worship and holy city: leaving only the spiritual and eternal temple of Christ’s church still abiding. This interpretation of Haggai’s prophecy as referring to the desolation of Jerusalem must have become accepted at this time amongst Jewish Chris- tians, in consequence of the reproduction of it (so far at least as the earthquakes and shaking of the powers of heaven are concerned) in our Lord’s great prophecy of the end of the second temple (Luke xxi. 5—36). The language of this paragraph indicates throughout that these days of vengeance were actually going on at this moment; that the Hebrew Christians were witnessing the consuming fire of God’s wrath; and that the hearts of many were fainting for fear and expectation (Luke ΧΧΙ, 26); it might well be so, for these Hebrew Christians like the apostles believed in the Law, and worshipped zealously in the temple; the sight of Jerusalem compassed with armies and trod- den down by the Gentiles was to them a bitter trial; apart from the personal sufferings so many of them endured. They needed the fullest trustin Christ’s spiritual kingdom to reassure them while witnessing thedown- fall of their own holy city and temple. XII XIII TO THE HEBREWS. 135 saying, Yet once more will I make not the earth only to quake, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once 27 more, signifieth the setting aside of those things that may be shaken, as things that have been made, that those things that are not to be shaken may abide. Wherefore 28 let us, accepting a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and therein serve God acceptably with godly fear and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. 29 Let your love of the brethren abide: forget not your 1,213 27. πεποιημένων] is here equivalent to χειροποιήτων, 1.6. belonging to the material crea- tion. μείνῃ] The use of the aorist μείνῃ, rather than the present μένῃ, Shews that the writer is contemplating not so much the permanent effect as the imme- diate design of this convul- sion, viz. that everything earthly should perish, leaving only the spiritual kingdom to abide. μέ- vew in this epistle is always used absolutely in this sense of abid- ing. 28. παραλαμβάνοντες] denotes constant loyal acknowledgment in heart and conscience of our divine king. ἔχωμεν χάριν] is used in the New Testament (Luke xvii. 9, 1 Tim.i. 12, 2 Tim. 1.3), asin class. Greek, for feeling thankful. Here the admonition is to thank- fulness, as requisite to make our service acceptable to God,—the loving service of sons, as distinct from that of mere servants. μετὰ εὐλαβείας] Thankful ser- vice must in this our imperfect state be accompanied with godly fear; for it is only perfect love that casteth out fear. 29. These are the words of Moses, quoted from Deut. iv. 24 ‘The Lord thy God is a con- suming fire and a jealous God’, They were originally suggested to Moses by the manifestation of actual fire on Mt. Sinai, and spoken as a warning against apostasy. ‘They are here adopt- ed apparently in reference to the similar manifestations of the wrath of God against his chosen people now in progress: thesight of Israelite cities perishing by fire gave an awful reality to the warnings of God’s wrath against the apostate. I. ἢ φιλαδελφία] your love of the brethren, i.e. the love which you have shewn hitherto; their conduct in this respect has been already noticed with approval in Vi. 10. 2. τῆς φιλοξενίας] your love to strangers, i.e. the love which you have already exhibited. 136 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XIII ἐπιλανθάνεσθε, διὰ ταύτης yap ἔλαθον τινες & , ᾽ / 3 ξενίσαντες ayyeNous. / ΄σ μιμνήσκεσθε τῶν ὃδεσ- [ἐ » ΄σ ΄ μίων ὡς συνδεδεμένοι, τῶν κακουχουμένων ὡς \ > Nis, > ΄ 4 καὶ αὐτοί OVTES EV σωματι. lA , > Τίμιος ὁ yapos ἐν - \ , > / / \ \ πᾶσιν καὶ 1) κοίτη ἀμίαντος, πόρνους yap Kat \ ~ 5 μοιχοὺς κρινεῖ ὁ θεός. Ἀφιλάργυρος ὁ τρόπος" > / - ΄σ \ \ » ? ἀρκούμενοι τοῖς παροῦσιν" αὐτὸς yap εἰρηκεν OY 6 μή ce ἀνῶ OYS οὐ MH Ce ἐγκάατάλίπω ὥστε θαρροῦν- ς co ’ Tas ἡμᾶς λεγειν Κύριος ἐμοὶ BoHOdc, OY φοβηθήοομδι" τί TIOIHCEl MOL ἀνθρωποο; ΄σ ῇ - e/ 7 Μνημονεύετε τῶν ἡγουμένων ὑμῶν, οἵτινες 7—17. Have respect to the teaching and example of your ἔλαθόν τινε] Men of old, in entertaining guests, found in them angels in disguise (Gen. Xvili. xix.). Even so, it is sug- gested, Christians may now re- ceive heaven-sent blessings. . ὄντες ἐν σώματι] Our own liability to bodily suffering ought to teach us sympathy with those in adversity. 4. τίμιος. ..ἀμίαντος] 856. ἔστω. The last of these two clauses is of necessity imperative; there- fore the first also must be impe- rative. The second admonition against adultery and impurity is too general to need remark: but the special warning to pay due honour to marriage is of itself significant, and receives illustration from the spirit of the Corinthian church revealed to us by 1 Cor. vi, and still more from 1 Tim. iv. 3 where pro- hibition to marry is spoken of as a growing heresy. The evil here apprehended is not prohibition, but disparagement of marriage by married Christians: for ἐν πᾶσιν does not mean ‘amongst all’ (which would be expressed by παρὰ πᾶσιν) but ‘in the case of all men’, and the article be- fore γάμος, ‘their marriage’, points out married men, as the ‘all men’ who are in the mind of the writer. Josephus’ ac- count of Essene doctrine (B. J. 11 ὃ 8. 2, 13) throws some light on the tendency here attacked; he tells us that while some prohibited marriage altogether, XIII TO THE HEBREWS. 137 love to strangers; for thereby some entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound 3 with them; them that are evil entreated, as being your- selves also in the body. Let their marriage be had in 4 honour of all, and the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your temper be void 5 of covetousness: be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will in no wise fail thee: No, I will in no wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, 6 The Lord is my helper; I shall not fear: What shall man do unto me ? Be mindful of them that have the rule over you, men who 7 others tolerated it as a means of perpetuating their family, but disparaged it as a social union, making the family tie in fact entirely subordinate to that of the male brotherhood. The growth of Essene doctrine in and around Palestine, and the absorption of the sect in the Christian church eventually, warns us to expect in the He- brew church corruptions due to Essene sources; and we shall presently meet with another. 5. The exact resemblance of this construction to that of Rom. xii. g is remarkable, and can scarcely be accidental. In both passages a nominative clause, with ellipsis of ἔστω, has in ap- position to it an elliptical nom. pres. pass. participle. It ap- pears an unconscious imita- tion of familiar language; for the two passages have nothing in common, save the form of ex- pression. avros| He, 1.6. God. This emphatic use of αὐτός, as the subject, where the reverence of the writer gives the only key to the person intended, is illus- trated by the Greek expression αὐτὸς ἔφη, the Master said. αὐτοί is used with some emphasis as subject in 111. 10 and ΧΙ. 17. ov py... | This is not an exact quotation. Though Gen, xxviii. 15 and Jos. 1. 5 are very similar, and the same promise is stated by Moses in Deut. xxxi. 6 as given by God to Israel, no such express words of God are re- corded: it is remarkable how- ever that Philo (Conf. Ling. § 32) puts the same words into the mouth of God. They may per- haps have passed into familiar use in the services of the Syna- gogue., 6. Κύριος] means Jehovah, being cited from Ps. exviil. 6. 7. μνημονεύετε] bear in mind impresses the duty of religious 138 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XIII / a. \ , ~ ~ a ἐλάλησαν ὑμῖν Tov λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, ὧν ἀναθεω- ΡΞ ” “ - ᾿Ξ ροῦντες τὴν ἔκβασιν τῆς ἀναστροφῆς μιμεῖσθε A ΄- \ > \ 8 τὴν πίστιν. Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐχθὲς διδα- χαῖς ποικίλαις καὶ ξέναις μὴ παραφέρεσθε" καλὸν \ / \ > \ m:n Q Kal σημερον ὁ αὐτὸς, καὶ εἰς TOUS αἰώνας. rulers: it was they, and such as they, who first preached the Gospel to you. Jesus Christ changeth not; beware of foreign superstitious inventions as to sacrificial food: the very law of the sin-offering forbids us, as it did the Jewish priests, to eat the flesh of the sin-offering: it was burnt without the camp: even so Christ our sin-offering went out of the city to shed his blood for us. Therefore we too must go out of the world to him to find our true citizenship: we have no portion in this world but the reproach of Christ: we seek one to come: let our sacrifices then be thankofferings of praise to God and loving help to man: with these God is well pleased. Obey your rulers, as their loving care deserves. thoughtfulness, as in xi. 15, 22, and not remembrance of the past. τῶν ἡγουμένων] This is the same designation of the rulers of the church, that is employed by Clement of Rome in writing to the church of Corinth. It occurs again In vv. 17, 24; and in all three passages refers ap- parently to present rulers; the Greek in fact hardly admits any other interpretation. οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν] The present leaders of the church are here identified as a body with the ori- ginal founders of the church, the men who had first preached the gospel to them. In i. 2, ii. 3 also λαλεῖν is used of the original revelation of the gospel. ἀναθεωροῦντες] enjoins a con- tinued course of contemplation with their own eyes: the word is similarly used in Acts xvii. 29: ἊΝ ” > τὴν ἔκβασιν τ. avactp.] The issue (sc. of the word which they had preached) presented to the observer by their daily course of life. 8. Greek usage forbids us to separate sofamiliaran expression as ὁ αὐτὸς καί, the same as, and turn xa into the commencement of a new clause ‘yea and for ever’, ‘The order of the words too throws the emphasis on ἐχθές. Moreover the context agrees best with the simple ren- dering of the Greek given above. There was a craving for novelty XIII TO THE HEBREWS. 139 spake unto you the word of God; and observing its issue in their life, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yes- 8 terday and to-day as for the times past. Be not carried aside 9 by curious and foreign doctrines: for it is good that the abroad which tempted the He- brews to turn from their old teachers; and they are reminded that this modern teaching of yesterday and to-day cannot rightly supplant that of pro- phets and apostles, who have preached Christ throughout the ages, The previous use of τοὺς αἰῶνας in the epistle suggests that it means here, as in 1. 2 and ix. 26, the times past. The future of Christianity 1s spoken of in the singular as ὁ αἰών. g. What were these danger- ous doctrines ? (1) They were modern and curious inventions (ποικίλαι), and the mention of them is ac- cordingly prefaced by a declara- tion of the unchangeable cha- racter of the truth, as a warn- ing against this craving for novelty. (2) They were of foreign ori- gin (ξέναι), yet had been em- braced by some Jewish sect outside the Christian church, whom the author unhesitating- ly condemns, as deriving little profit from them in practice. (3) They attached some super- stitious value to certain meals (βρώματα), as beneficial to those who partook of them. (4) They looked upon this food as possessing a sacredness similar to that of the sin-offer- ing ; for the argument adduced by the author against these doc- trines is the enunciation of the true principle of the Mosaic sin- offering, which he finds repro- duced in the Christian Atone- ment: and yet these βρώματα cannot have been really the flesh of the legal sacrifices; for no sacrifice could be offered out of Jerusalem under the Mosaic law. These doctrines correspond exactly with the principles of the Jewish Essenes as repre- sented by Josephus (see Intro- duction); who abandoned in practice the Mosaic system of sacrifices, and turned their daily meals into a sacrifice. These innovations were probably of Oriental origin ; they were alien to the spirit of the Mosaic law, as well as the Christian atone- ment ; yet the annihilation of the Mosaic system of sacrifice by the destruction of the temple caused them to possess a dan- gerous fascination in the eyes of Jewish Christians ; many of whom gradually allied them- selves in the subsequent period with the Essenes, and adopted some of their distinctive doc- trines. μὴ παραφέρεσθε] be not car- 140 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XIII yap χάριτι βεβαιοῦσθαι τὴν καρδίαν, οὐ βρω- ᾽ - ’ > / ε ΄σ μασιν, εν OLS οὐκ ὠφελήθησαν οἱ περιπατουντες. 10 ἔχομεν θυσιαστήριον ἐξ οὗ φαγεῖν οὐκ ἔχουσιν > , ε a a , 11 [ἐξουσίαν] οἱ τῇ σκηνὴ λατρεύοντες. © \ wy yap > , aU \ - quate , > ‘ εἰσῴφέρεται ζῴων TO αἷμα περὶ ἁμαρτίας εἰς Ta wv \ - ᾽ , ΄ \ , ayla διὰ του αρχίερεῶως, τουτὼν τὰ σωματα ᾽ a - \ 12 κατακαίεται ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς" διὸ καὶ Ἰη- ~ / e 4 \ gous, ἵνα ὡγιάση διὰ ἐ , yf ΄ / 13 λαὸν, ἔξω τῆς πύλης ried aside from the right course of Christian truth into bypaths of error. χάριτι, οὐ βρώμασιν | In Chris- tian meals it is not the food, but the thanksgiving which ac- companies them, which confirms spiritual life. The natural con- nexion between foodand thanks- giving (see 1 Tim. iv. 3, Rom. xiv. 6) ought to prevent our rendering χάριτι ‘grace’; which would moreover be more pro- perly said to quicken Christian life, than to confirm it. οἱ περιπατοῦντες] There is an alternative reading περιπατή- σαντες. Both alike point to some definite sect either then, or previously, existing among the Jews which adopted these doctrines and whose lives proved their worthlessness in the au- thor’s judgment. to—15. As ministers of an ideal tabernacle, we have, it is true, an altar service like the Israelites: but our Christian al- TOU ἰδίου αἵματος τὸν ᾽ν » ᾽ / ἔπαθεν. τοίνυν ἐξερχω- tar supplies no flesh for carnal food; did not the law of the sin-offering expressly forbid eat- ing the flesh of any victim, whose blood was brought into the holy place to reconcile withal, and command its flesh to be burnt outside the camp? In accordance with this law Jesus went outside the city gate to die as our sin-offering. By that figure he shewed that the service, to which he hallows us, belongs not to this world. We must therefore go out of the world in spirit to him, and bear his reproach now, that we may have our true portion in the world of promise. And our acceptable sacrifices are thank- offerings through him of praise to God and loving help to man. 10, θυσιαστήριον] Many in- terpret this altar as the cross, and the interpretation certainly accords with the allegorical sys- tem of the epistle. For Jesus was made an offering for sin, ou SOE TO THE HEBREWS. 141 heart be stablished by thankfulness, not by meats, wherein they that walk have not been profited. We have an altar τὸ whereof they have no right to eat which serve the taber- nacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood 15 τι brought into the holy place through the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore 12 Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. the cross of suffering during his life, and on the cross of Calvary at his death: again we figura- tively offer our own lives upon his cross as justly forfeit, when we claim forgiveness through his death; we dedicate our lives upon it as burnt-offerings, and offer our thank-offerings there- on. But in this passage the altar, being within the temple of God, cannot be identified with the cross of Calvary on which he suffered without the gate, though it may with the cross of suffer- ing. There is in truth no stress at all laid upon the altar in this place, as the order of the words ἔχομεν θυσιαστ. shews; it is mentioned only as an objective symbol of our Christian minis- try, to affirm the reality of our priesthood. φαγεῖν οὐκ ἔχ. e€.] There is no real inconsistency between these words, and the saying of Christ that we must eat his flesh. That passage bids us feed in spirit on the life of Christ ; this is directed against the superstitious views which in- Let us therefore go 13 sisted on the virtue of eating material food as a sacrifice, and therefore revives the ceremonial prohibition against feeding on the flesh of any atoning sacri- fice, in order to combat them: the words might perhaps be fairly used to condemn a pure- ly carnal conception of the Christian sacrament, but only incidentally, not from any in- tention on the part of the writer. II. ὧν yap...| (Lev. vi. 30). The offerings embraced by this prohibition included those made for the people (Lev. iv. 18), or for a priest (Lev. iv. 7), but’ not the ordinary sin-offerings of individuals, The addition ‘by the high priest’ is not found in Lev. vi. 30 ; perhaps it is due to the writer’s mind being fixed on the day of atonement. 12. ἁγιάσῃ] On the force of this word see x. 14. ἔξω τῆς πύλη] The very place of his crucifixion ‘ outside the gate’ was an emphatic sym- bol of the world’s rejection of the Saviour, 142 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XIII \ ᾽ \ » ΄σ ΄ \ > μεθα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς, TOV ὀνει- \ 3 ~ / > \ of re 14 δισμὸν αὐτοῦ φέροντες, οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν ὧδε \ \ , > μένουσαν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπιζῃ- ἴτω > 5) oD / , ae, \ 15 τοῦμεν" OL αὐτοῦ ἀναφέρωμεν θυσίαν αἰνέσεως διὰ \ ΄σ ΄σ Ay ob \ , ς σαντος TW θεώ, TOUT ἐστιν καρπον χειλεων ομο- , > > / > = 10 λογούντων τῷ CVOMATL αὐτοῦ. - \ 9. ᾽ὔ τῆς δὲ εὐποιίας \ If \ > / , \ καὶ κοινωνίας μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε, τοιαύταις yap , > ΄ e , 17 θυσίαις εὐαρεστεῖται ὁ θεὸς. Πείθεσθε ~ « ff ε ~ \ , \ \ τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ UTTELKETE, AUTOL Yap ᾽ > \ 5 > € =~ e / ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ὑπερ τών ψυχὼν ὑμῶν ws λογον > .« \ ΄σ na ~ ἀποδώσοντες, va META Xapas TOUTO TOLWOLY \ \ ἢ > 4 \ Ces ΄σ και μὴ στενάζοντες, αλυσιτελες γαρ ὑμῖν τοῦτο. 18 Προσεύχεσθε περὲ ἡμῶν, πειθόμεθα γὰρ ὅτι \ / of ’ ΄σ a , καλὴν συνείδησιν ἔχομεν, ἐν πᾶσιν καλως θε- 18,19. Pray for us (we have lived in good conscience) ; specially for my restoration to you. 14. The connexion of the ‘reproach of Christ’ with a re- ward in heaven, established by the words of the Beatitude (Matt. v. 11, 12), has been already noticed in xi, 26: natu- rally here also from the same connexion of ideas the desire of ‘the city to come’ is put for- ward as a ground for bearing gladly the reproach of Christ. οὐ μένουσαν] There is an ob- vious reference to the fall of the earthly Jerusalem in _ these words. τὴν μέλλουσαν] the city of promise, spoken of by the pro- phets (Ezek. xlviii. 15—35) as ‘to come’. That promise is already so far beginning to be fulfilled, as the church realises on earth the true communion of saints. The thought repro- duces that of Phil. iii. 20 ‘our citizenship is in heaven’. 15, 16. ‘The sin-offering of the Christian is completed by the death of Christ, his burnt- offering by the dedication of his whole lfe to God; but there still remain thank-offerings (θυ- σία αἰνέσεως) to be offered through Christ: let these be continual (διὰ παντός), and con- ΧΙ ΤῸ THE HEBREWS. 143 forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have not here an abiding city, but are seeking 14 after that to come. Through him let us offer up a sacrifice r5 of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips making confession to his name. But your welldoing and 16 almsgiving forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and 17 yield to them: for they watch for your souls, as having to give account ; that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning: for this were unprofitable for you. Pray for us; for we persuade ourselves that we have 18 a good conscience, minded to live honestly amid all men. sist of praise with the lips to God, and loving service and help to men. There is a particle οὖν in- serted in some texts before ἀναφέρωμεν. 16. εὐποιίας] denotes any kind of benevolent service to others (comp. Mar. xiv. 7), while κοινωνίας 15 specially used of con- tribution in money (2 Cor. ΙΧ. 13). 17. ἵνα ποιῶσιν] is connected with ὑπείκετε, ‘submit in order that they may do this’, i.e. watch, ‘with joy’. 18. ἡμών] The use of the singular in the next verse with reference to the author's own restoration makes this plural more marked, He seems there- by to associate himself with the leaders of the church just men- tioned; furthermore his appeal to the testimony his life had borne in his favour, as giving him a claim on their prayers, suggests, what is more directly asserted in the next verse, that he had made his home among them in past years. ἐν πᾶσιν] There is no reason for departing from the ordinary grammatical law, according to which πᾶσιν should be mase. and not neuter. ἀναστρέφεσθαι ev may be used with a dative descriptive either of the per- sons, or of the circumstances surrounding (compare Eph, ii. 3, where both constructions are united); but it is more often used to express the society in which a man moves and lives: and so here the author vindi- cates his conscientious desire to live honestly in all societies ; whether the Hebrew church in which his life had been mainly spent, or the Roman society in which he had spent the time of his confinement. 144 19 λοντες ἀναστρέφεσθαι. ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. ΧΙΠ περισσοτέρως δὲ παρα- = ~ rn / iP > ἔπ: καλω TOUTO ποιῆσαι Va ταχέειίιον ἀποκατασπαθώ 90 ὑμῖν. ‘O δὲ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης, ὁ ava- \ 3 ΄σ \ , ΄ , yaywv EK νεκρῶν τον ποιμέεγνγὰ τῶν προβάτων \ / > J Κ > , \ , TOV μέγαν EV ALMAaATL διαθήκης ALWVLOU, TOV κυρίιον € - ΄“ “ € ΄σ ’ A ΄σ οἱ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, καταρτίσαι ὑμᾶς ἐν παντι ayabw 3 \ ΄σ \ / > - r . ~ εἰς TO ποιῆσαι TO θέλημα αὐτοῦ, ποιών ἐν ἡμῖν \ ΠΣ > , ᾽ ΄σ \ 3 ΄ TO εὐάρεστον ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χρισ- ΄σ ry ε , ᾽ \ 5 σ ΄σ ΕἾ, TOV, W ἢ δόξα εἰς TOUS αιἰώνας τῶν αἰωνων" " , 22 ἀμην. ZO, 21. Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, The God of peace, who raised up the great Shep- herd, amend every defect in your fulfilment of his will. To him be the glory. 22,023. Bear with my brief letter. I trust soon to see you: perhaps Timothy will accompany me. 19. He desires their prayers for his speedy restoration to his home ; either the course of circumstances, or the release of Timothy, had inspired the hope of an early release, which is more decidedly expressed in ». 23. No mention is made of any trial, and the language suggests detention as a hostage on be- half of the church: the same word (ἀποκαθιστάναι) is applied by Polybius (11. 98. 7) to the restoration of the Spanish hos- tages to their homes. But if so, the history of the time sug- gests a natural occasion for his and Timothy’s detention; as hostages were not improbably exacted from all communities of Jewish Christians in the neigh- bourhood of Palestine during the rebellion, and carried by Vespasian or his generals to Rome. περισσοτέρως] seems to belong to τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, though for em- phasis’ sake placed at the begin- ning of the sentence. ‘to do this’ i.e. pray ‘the more abuin- dantly’. 20. The troubles of the church from without and from within turn the thoughts natu- rally to the God of peace; the mention of earthly shepherds suggests the heavenly. ὁ ἀναγαγὼν éx...| This pas- sage is suggested by Is. ]xiii. 11,0 ἀναβιβάσας ἐκ τῆς θαλάσ- XIII TO THE HEBREWS. 145 And I exhort you to do this the more abundantly, that I το may be restored to you the more speedily. Now the God of 20 peace, who brought up from the dead the shepherd of the sheep, who is mighty in the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, amend you in every good thing to do his er will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ : To whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. But I exhort you, brethren, bear with my word of 22 ons τὸν ποιμένα τῶν προβάτων. The picture there of Moses, the shepherd of Israel, brought up out of the depths of the Red Sea, suggests that of our shep- herd brought up out of the abyss of death, and become the firsttruits of the resurrection. τὸν péyav...aiwviov] These words form a single idea, sug- gested by a second scene in the life of Israel’s shepherd of old, viz. that sealing of the covenant of the Law at Sinai in blood, which has been already adopted as a type of the Christian Atone- ment in ix, 15—20. From Moses at the Red Sea to Moses at Sinai the transition is easy and natural. The three articles TOV ποιμένα..., TOV μέγαν,... TOV Κύριον..., form an emphatic triplet. Those who couple év αἵματι 6. αἰωνίου with ἀναγαγὼν miss all the force of the passage: I question indeed whether a Greek could have written τὸν ποιμένα τὸν μέγαν, instead of τὸν μέγαν ποιμένα, for ‘the great shepherd’, R. 21. καταρτίσαι)]ζ͵[Ὕ Constant correction is needful to keep the sons of God walking in the straight path of perfect obe- dience. On καταρτίζειν see note On Xi. 3. ποιῶν] There is strong textual authority for the insertion of αὐτῷ before ποιῶν, but it is for- bidden by the sense: perhaps autos may have been the origi- nal text ; and God’s own work in us may thus have been con- trasted with our work in doing his will. διὰ Ἰησοῦ X.] is best con- nected with εὐάρεστον: it is through our High priest that our service becomes acceptable. ᾧ ἡ δόξα] The antecedent of ᾧ is not Jesus Christ, but God ; who is throughout the sen- tence the prominent subject of thought. We have already noticed at 11. ro how the com- plete fulfilment of the Father’s will makes the glory of the sons of God. So here the ascription of glory to God follows natu- rally on a prayer for the fulfil- 10 146 ΠΡΟΣ EBPAIOYS. XIII ἰνέχεσθ U λό ἢ An ὶ va ἀνέχεσθε Tov λόγου τῆς παρακλήσεως, καὶ γὰρ \ 5 , ἘΞ 23 διὰ βραχέων ἐπέστειλα ὑμῖν. Γινώ- \ 2 \ e - , σκετε τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν Τιμόθεον ἀπολελυ- , > ec aN of of μένον, μεθ᾿ ov ἐὰν τάχειον ἔρχηται ὄψομαι ὑμάς. ’, ’ \ e , Lond 24 ᾿Ασπασασθε παντας τοὺς ἡγουμένους ὑμῶν \ , \ , Kal TWavTaS τοὺς ἁγίους. > \ ΄σ 3 / amo τῆς ᾿Ἰἰταλίιας. Ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ ε Δ \ i? ΄σ 25 Η χαρις μετὰ παντων ὑμῶν. Ὁ 2. ment of that will: the glory of the son and the glory of the Father both consist in the per- fect carrying out of his will on earth as in heaven. 22. ἀνέχεσθε] There is an alternative reading ἀνεχέσθαι. ἐπέστειλα]! This is the epi- stolary aorist, often used by St Paul in his epistles, and cor- responding to the English ex- pression ‘ I am writing’. 23. γινώσκετε] is the indi- cative reminding the Hebrews of a fact already known to them, not the imperative announcing the fact; such an announce- ment must have been conveyed by the aorist imperative γνῶτε. Compare γνῶτε in Luke xxi. 20 with γινώσκετε in ΧΧΙ. 30. ἀπολελυμένον] released from custody. Here again, as in ». 19, there is no allusion to any trial or acquittal, only to the release of a prisoner: Timothy, Salutations and final blessing. like the author, may well have been detained as a hostage dur- ing the Jewish war. The cir- cumstances of his detention were evidently well known to the church. ἐὰν τ. ἔρχηται] Sc. πρὸς ὑμᾶς. If these words had referred to an expected arrival of Timothy, the expression must have been ἐὰν ἔλθῃ, as it is in 1 Cor. xvi. 10; an arrival being a momen- tary event. ἔρχηται on the con- trary suggests the possibility of protracted lingering either be- fore starting or on the journey to the East. There was a question, it seems, how long Timothy might be disposed to linger at Rome, or on his way through Greece, after his release; which is natural enough from his long previous intercourse with the churches of Rome and Greece. 24. οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Ιταλίας] These words contain the only definite XIII TO THE HEBREWS. 147 exhortation: for I am writing unto you in few words. Ye know that our brother Timothy hath been set at 23 liberty ; with whom, if he be going speedily, I shall see you: Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all 24 the saints. you all. intimation of the place from which the epistle was written. They admit indeed two possible interpretations: some explain them as a greeting sent to Italy from Italians sojourning abroad, and identify the Hebrew with the Roman church. I conclude on the contrary that the He- brew church was in the neigh- bourhood of Palestine (see In- troduction); and that the author, being at the time a prisoner at Rome, sends this greeting from the church of Italy. Independently of the arguments already adduced, we must not omit to notice here, how much better it harmonises with apostolic usage and Chris- tian sympathy, that the writer should send a greeting from the whole church around him, than to understand it as a greeting from a small section of Italian sojourners only: had he been writing to Italy, we can hardly They of Italy salute you. Grace be with 2; conceive that he would have limited the greeting to the Italian residents alone, to the exclusion of the rest of the Christian church about him. The preposition ἀπὸ expresses, according to the common form of Greek attraction, the sending this greeting from those in Italy to the Hebrew church. 25. ἢ χάρις] i.e. the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The full form is used by St Paul in all his earlier epistles: but in the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, and in the Pas- toral epistles, he employs this abbreviated form of benedic- tion; it had probably become habitual before this time in Christian epistles, There is some textual autho- rity for inserting ἀμήν at the close of the epistle; but the balance of evidence is against it, 10—2 a “ "ὡς APPENDIX. A. ON THE NATURE OF THE SIN-OFFERING, ITS TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE, AND RELATION TO THE CHRISTIAN ATONEMENT. In Hebr. ix. 13, 14 the spiritual efficacy of Christ's Atonement to cleanse a guilty conscience is argued from the ceremonial efficacy of the sin-offering combined with that of the water of separation to cleanse the flesh de- filed by contact with death, The teaching of the Law is here naturally assumed without question or explana- tion; for the Hebrews accepted without reserve the righteousness of the Law, and had been long familiar with interpretations of it embodying spiritual truths under sacri- ficial forms; a series of prophets and teachers had in fact idealised the whole system of their temple-worship. But it is impossible to comprehend the train of thought by which the epistle passes from the sin-offering to the atonement without careful attention to the leading features of the ritual. Two rites are in fact combined together in this passage, one of which had special reference to sin, the other to uncleanness: but this distinction is immaterial for our present purpose: for ceremonial cleansing had the same typical significance as the sin-offering; ceremonial unclean- ness being treated as if it were of the same essential nature as a breach of the moral law. Uncleanness was in short a recognised type of sin, and the two were dealt with alike as breaches of law: now as the law embodied the Israelite ideal of our whole duty to God and man, every breach of law, whether ceremonial or moral, represented some real violation of the divine law of justice and holiness. In case then of any breach of law by an Israelite priest or congre- gation, ruler or individual, it was ordained that he (or in 152 NATURE OF THE SIN-OFFERING. the case of the congregation their representatives) must bring a victim for his sin which he had sinned: he laid his hands upon the head of this victim: he presented it that its blood, 1. 6. its life, might be sprinkled by the priest before God and put upon the horns of the altar’ of mcense or burnt-offermg, and then poured out for him at the foot of the altar, while the flesh was wholly or in part consumed by fire: he was after this received back into the number of - God’s people, as clean in the sight of God. The rite was not, we observe, a part of the regular course of legal service incumbent on every Israelite, but an ex- ceptional provision for restoring those who had incurred * Some writers have seen in this sprinkling of blood upon the altar a fresh dedication of the life to God after its sur- render to death as the penalty of sin. But the record of Le- viticus and the significance at- tached by the New Testament to the pouring out of the blood forbid our interpreting in this manner the ritual of the sin- offermg: for in Leviticus the sprinkling of blood and appli- cation of it to the horns of the altar is introduced as prelimi- nary to the outpouring; to which it is made distinctly subordi- nate: while theoutpouring forms the culmination of the sacrifice. In the epistle to the Hebrews again (ix. 21, 22) the sprinkling of blood, as a means of cleansing, in like manner leads up imme- diately to the outpouring of blood (not ‘shedding’ as in our version) for the remission of past sin, as its climax. And when the author passes from the retrospective aspect of the Christian Atonement asa pledge of forgiveness for past sin, and proceeds to deal with it in its prospective aspect as the pledge of anew covenant unto life based upon that forgiveness, he aban- dons the type of the sin-offering ; and adopts in its stead that of the covenant sealed in blood at Sinai (see notes on ix. 15—20); where half the blood was sprin- kled upon the people, as a dis- tinct and solemn ceremonial, after the sprinkling of the other half upon the altar ; it was this sprinkling of blood upon the people which solemnly pledged them to a lifelong obedience, just as the application of the blood to the right ear, hand, and foot of the priest at his consecration denoted the dedi- cation of his future life. Hence it appears that the two rites of blood-sprinkling upon the altar and upon the people were alto- gether distinct, and are so re- garded in the epistle. FATAL RESULT OF A HOLY LAW. 5s defilement to the position in God’s favour which they had forfeited by their sins. It provided in fact a remedy for the fatal working of a righteous law, when imposed upon a people incapable of perfect holiness. For the Law took its stand on the footing of abstract justice, and adopted as its basis the stern principle of morality, ‘the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die’. It is a principle which takes no account of human weakness, and pays no regard to subsequent re- pentance; yet it is written abundantly in its sternest characters on the page of nature; for the vicious debauchee cannot by genuine repentance avert the fatal disease he has engendered, nor can a late remorse check the bitter growth of misery and guilt which an evil life has sown along its track ; nay, every single sin, once wrought, is a seed which cannot be unsown, but bears its bitter fruit to eternity: and the Jew found ample warrant in the history of a world lying in sin for pronouncing the sinner to be subject to the wrath of God. Yet a law, which is in itself holy and just and good, may still work death to a people of carnal and corrupt nature, all the more surely because its perfect justice deprives the penitent of all hope; for the awakened con- science recognises its righteousness, but finds at the same time within its own nature a law of sin, which forbids sted- fast obedience to the commands of a holy law; and therefore can only utter in despair the bitter cry, ‘O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ Such a deliverance the Law could not provide in itself, for the essence of law is not redemption, but justice: the sin-offermgs of the Law did however foreshadow a re- demption from this hopeless cycle of sin and death. For they revealed a method by which the sinner might obtain forgiveness: and what was that method? To a certain extent it corresponded closely with the Christian ideal, for its essence consisted in confession of sin and submission to its penalty. In certain cases Leviticus (v. 5, xvi. 21) prescribes expressly a formal confession in words as a portion of the law of the sin-offermg: but the most emphatic avowal was made by the acts of the offender: he brought an offering for his sin; and by presenting it at the altar and laying his hands on its head identified himself with that victim. By 154 SCHEME OF REDEMPTION PROVIDED. this act he acknowledged the justice of the law, proffered his own life as justly forfeit, and submitted to a formal death in the person of his representative. Not that the animal was substituted for the man; no Israelite could imagine the life of the animal to be a reasonable compensation for the forfeited life of a man, or that its slaughter met the demands of God’s justice, or satisfied the offended majesty of the Law; but the living animal was taken as the most appropriate ‘representative of the living man, that he might by this expressive act signify his surrender of his own for- feited life. And it was believed that God mercifully ac- cepted this solemn humiliation as a sufficient satisfaction to his outraged holiness, and received back the repentant sinner into his favour. This ritual in short, while ratifying the justice of God’s sentence of death upon the sinner, prac- tically reverses it in the case of every repentant sinner by the promise of forgiveness: there is however attached to this promise of forgiveness one important condition; the transgressor must lay his hand on the head of the victim, whether literally as the Israelite did of old, or fizuratively as the Christian does by faith, confessing his sins over him, and acknowledging that he has himself deserved to suffer the death which that victim has suffered for him. Mean- while the sentence of death stands unreversed against obstinate and impenitent sin, unconfessed and therefore unforgiven; nor does our sense of justice revolt against this exclusion. Whether the severity of holiness limit the mercy of God to a narrow circle of elect, or a more com- prehensive charity clings to the hope that somehow in the unknown future the infinite love of God will triumph in the universal redemption of a whole world, it is on repentance, whether in this life or a future, that all hope for the sinner is based: and the universal conscience of mankind responds to the righteousness of a law which denies to the impenitent sinner a “place i in God’s promise of forgiveness. So far then as the sin-offermg expressed the holiness of God’s law, the need of confession, the assurance of mercy, it needs no vindi- cation; for it is in entire harmony with the moral sense of every right- thinking man. It is when we fix our eyes on the victim that a moral difficulty gathers round the process. NECESSITY FOR A VICTIM. 155 of redemption: what means this intervention of a sacrifice, and outpouring of innocent blood as a necessary means of procuring forgiveness of sins? In the case of the legal sacrifices it might be argued with reason that the sacrifice was rather an accident than an essential of the rite; an expressive form devised or interpreted to signify the com- plete confession and humiliation of the offender; that the whole institution of sacrifice expressed in rude times the desire of the transgressor to offer to God of that which cost him somewhat; and that its efficacy as a means for pro- curing God’s favour was openly disparaged by the later psalmists and prophets. But it is altogether otherwise when we turn to the Christian Atonement: the sacrifice of an innocent victim, which in the Jewish ritual we had almost learned to regard as a survival of barbarism, a repulsive form in itself, only tolerated because slaughter in the temple courts was as merciful as slaughter at the shambles, becomes at once as essential a part of the reconciliation between man and God as the faith by means of which it is appropriated : for the Lamb of God is himself the most perfect ideal of humanity ever known or conceived by man; and the sacri- fice of his life is put forward as the indispensable condition of man’s forgiveness. It is impossible to explain away the stress laid by the epistle upon outpouring of blood; ‘with- out outpouring of blood there is no remission of sins’. Nor is this an isolated passage: the Lord himself refers distinctly to the same principle in the words of the sacramental insti- tution: and the language of all the apostles is equally ex- plicit in asserting that blood cleanseth from sin*. It is quite true that these all spoke in the language of types, that the blood which cleanses is not the material blood, but the life which was represented by the outpoured blood; but these * St John for instance writes (τ John i. 7), ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth usfromallsin’. St Peter writes (x Pet. i. 18, 19), ‘ye were not redeemed with corruptible things ,..but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’. St Paul writes (Eph. i. 7), ‘in whom ye have redemption through his blood, the forgive- ness of sins’, 156 BLOOD ESSENTIAL TO ATONEMENT. remarkable words do nevertheless contain an eternal truth, the truth which les at the basis of all redemption, that without some pouring out of life there can be no redemp- tion. The true nature of this redemption was indeed of necessity most imperfectly revealed in the type; for the sacrifices of the Law, though imnocent and unblemished, were also helpless victims, slaughtered without any will or choice of their own. But in the life and death of Jesus Christ was revealed at last the whole mystery of redemp- tion: it was seen that the true nature of God’s appointed remedy for a fallen world lay in the voluntary offering of the innocent to bear the burden of the guilty, the Lamb of God offering himself freely to bear the consequences of the sins of his brethren. Tull then reparation and restoration had seemed hopeless, because sin left to itself must work death, and yet the Law had no power either to undo the evil wrought by sin or to quicken a new life of righteousness. It mattered not whether death was regarded as the expression of a holy indignation and righteous vengeance against sin, or as the merciful extinction of a fatal poison whose moral evil must have become the more triumphant without its fatal physical result: in either case death of the sinner appeared the necessary law of God’s kingdom unless a new redemption should be revealed from heaven. A fallen world could not restore itself; restoration must come from without: the sin- less must pour out his life for the sinner. This then was God’s scheme of redemption: divine love, clothing itself in human flesh, interposed between the transgressor and _ his doom, and undertook for him at the cost of prolonged suf- fering and cruel death, what none but the sinless could achieve. Seeing, as God alone can see, all the selfishness, corruption, and cruelty hidden within the heart of sinful man, hating sin, as God alone can, and condemning it as justly worthy of death, Christ nevertheless by the perfect sympathy of a holy love made himself one with the sinner, took upon himself all the load of suffering sorrow and death which guilt entails, and submitted himself to all the conse- quences of sin, as if the guilt had been his own and not that of the brethren whom he loved. The spirit of self-devotion which he exhibited in his own person was the same in kind -THE CHRISTIAN ATONEMENT. 157 (though infinitely greater in degree) as that which he has quickened by his grace in so many that are his, who have followed his divine example in laying down their lives gladly for the redemption of a guilty world. But what imparted to this sacrifice its special virtue for the cleansing of a guilty conscience was the perfect manifestation which it made of the mind of the Father towards man: the penitent learned from it that even that intense hatred of sin which a holy God must feel, if it be not itself a phase of divine love for the sinner, is at all events swallowed up in divine love for him. And the Father set his seal on this revelation of himself by exalting its author to be judge of all and lord of all. Thus the death of the innocent for the guilty, which in the sin-offering appeared but as a formal type, has be- come the foundation of Christian assurance, and the new spring of Christian life: and nothing so confidently assures the penitent of the love of a reconciled Father, or so effec- tually restores him to the thankful and willing service of a forgiven child, as to lay his hand by faith on the head of the Lamb of God, who offered himself freely to suffer and to die for him. B. ON THE WorD TEAEIOS, AND ITS DERIVATIVES. The word ‘perfect’ has by long prescription taken such complete possession of the mind of the English reader in many familiar passages of the Bible, that there may be good reason for not displacing it: but if it be an inaccurate ren- dering of the Greek word τέλειος, no prejudice in favour of established authority ought to stand in the way of a critical enquiry at all events into the true meaning of that word. 1. Now it is important to notice that even in our En- clish Bible the word has in the translation of two passages a very different meaning. These are 1 Cor. xiv. 20, in understanding be men (τέλειοι γίνεσθε). Hebr. v. 14, them that are of full age (τελείων). In both these passages the idea of the Greek word is completeness of growth, physical growth suggesting the idea of intellectual and spiritual. But the examination of other passages in the original forces us to extend the same meaning to them also. Take Heb. vi. 1, ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα. ‘The con- nexion with the τέλειοι mentioned immediately before is obvious; and is further emphasized by the article, pointing to the manhood already urged upon the Hebrews as their natural duty; this verse in fact continues the previous argu- ment that we ought to leave the rudiments fit only for Christian babes, and press on to some higher teaching, such as may satisfy Christian men. In Eph. iv. 13, εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, there can be no hesita- tion as to the meaning, for our attainment to the fullgrown man is illustrated by the succeeding words ‘that we may be no longer children’. Τέλειος, Τελειοῦν. 159 In 1 Cor. ii. 6, σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις, the meaning is complicated by an allusion founded on the tech- nical use of the word in the Greek mysteries: those admitted to the full privileges of initiation were called τέλειοι, and it is probable that the use of the term was in this case also based upon the idea of maturity of growth. But Platonic philoso- phers specially affected the term, as expressing their own intellectual superiority; and it is in pointed rivalry to their claims that St Paul applied the word to advanced Christians. The conception of manhood is however still prominent in the mind of St Paul; for he goes on to contrast these spiritual men in Christ, amidst whom he could preach Christian phi- losophy, with ‘babes in Christ’, whom he had hitherto of necessity fed with milk and not with meat. Again in Phil. iii. 15, ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι is said with studied irony. The philosophers, when they called themselves τέλειου, prided themselves on their attainment of a higher level of knowledge; but the apostle on the contrary regards his own and his converts’ growth in Christ as an additional responsi- bility: because they are men in Christ, they are bound to cherish the spirit of Christ. The idea of human perfectibility in short did not belong to St Paul’s own use of the word, but to Platonic philosophy, whence it was adopted by Gnostic teachers. And the word ‘perfection’ embodies an essentially different conception from the maturity of Christian progress. Perfection belongs to a manufactured article, completeness to Christian growth, cha- racter, and life. When in Matt. v. 48 our Lord said, ‘Ye shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’, he was not holdimg up before us an unattainable ideal: a glance at the previous con- text shews that his immediate meaning was to present to us for imitation one definite side of the Father’s character which we may all study in daily practice, viz. the comprehensiveness of his love, which embraces the evil as well as the good, the unjust as well as the just: our love, like his, must be com- plete enough to embrace enemies as well as friends. 2. Again the Greek terms τέλειος, τελειότης Express also a kindred idea, viz. the completeness of the whole as con- trasted with the part. 160 Τελειοῦν. In Col. iii. 14 love is declared to be the bond of the church’s completeness (τελειότητος) 1.6. the means of binding all its members together in one body. Com- pare John xvii. 23. In 1 Cor. xiii. 10 complete knowledge is contrasted with that which is in part. St James is specially fond of dwelling on this idea of completeness; and it forms the key to all the passages in his epistle where the word occurs. In 1. 4 he writes, ‘let patience have her work complete, that ye may be complete and entire, lacking in nothing’, with reference to the effect of trial in com- pleting the discipline of the Christian character. In i. 25, the law of liberty is designated as a complete law, because it comprehends the obedience of the will, as well as the acceptance of the understanding. In iu. 2 he who has mastered one member of the body, the tongue, is declared a complete man, able to bridle . ‘the whole body also’. 3. 10 complete is also the simplest meaning of the verb τελειοῦν, when it refers to time, action, character, &c., as its object; itis used most often by St John, but also by St Luke, St Paul, and St James in this sense. This I take to be its meaning in John xvii. 23, τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν, where the completed unity of his church is the object which our Lord proposes to himself. In the epistle to the Hebrews this meaning occurs but once, vil. 19, οὐδὲν ἐτελείωσεν ὁ νόμος, ‘the law completed nothing’. 4. But the verb τελειοῦν has also other meanings, where a person is its object; and these belong also to its deriva- tives τελειωτής, τελείωσις : a. to establish a priest in his office, 1.6. to consecrate. b. to establish a king on his throne (Herod. m1. 86). c. to consummate a marriage (τελείωσις, Jer. 11, 2). Of these (a) only is found in the New Testament: through- out the portion of the LXxx which deals with the Levitical priesthood τελειοῦν and τελείωσις are the technical terms, used exclusively to express priestly consecration (Ex. xxix, Τελειοῦν. 101 Lev. vii. vill. xvi. 32, xxi. 10, Num. 111. 3): the ram of conse- cration, the unleavened bread of consecration, and other adjuncts of the ritual, all received their designation from it. Between this Levitical priesthood and that of Christ the epistle to the Hebrews institutes an elaborate comparison, the subject embracing the whole section, 11. 1o—x. 18, with some digressions. At the opening of this portion of the epistle it is set forth as an essential part of God’s scheme of redemp- tion to consecrate (τελειῶσαι) Jesus by sufferings; this con- secration is there connected with the death of the flesh in exactly the same figurative way as it is by Philo, the great Jewish exponent of the legal types; and the Levitical rite itself supplies the key to this symbolism. In the course of this section of the epistle the word recurs no less than seven times, always in reference either to the Levitical, or to the Christian priesthood, or to the two combined: one of these passages (vil. 28) εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τετελειωμένον is an adaptation from Ex. xxix. 9 ἔσται αὐτοῖς ἱερατεία μοι εἰς TOV αἰῶνα" καὶ τελειώσεις ᾿Ααρὼν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ. The close connexion of subject between these parts of Scripture leaves no room for reasonable doubt that the author applied it in the same sense of priestly consecration in which he found it in the Lxx. In the last of these passages (x. 14) the epistle passes on from the consecration of Christ himself to the further thought of our consecration. As Christ’s death involves our union with him in death, so it is argued that Christ’s consecration involves also our present potential and future actual con- secration after death. By his death we have potentially been made partakers of death, and this death is a consecration. The three remaining passages of the epistle in which the word occurs, refer to this Christian consecration. In xi. 40 it is stated that the faithful men of old, though they died in faith, could not be consecrated until they were consecrated with the Christian church, i.e. until after the death of Christ. In xii. 2 Christ having now entered on his heavenly priest- hood, is designated as the consecrator of the faithful (τῆς πίστεως τελειωτής), aS well as captain of the host of the redeemed. And accordingly the righteous servants of God who have died in faith, are now presented to us in xii. 23, as R. 11 162 Τελειοῦν. consecrated sons and priests around the throne of God in heaven. We are now ina position better to understand the kindred use of the word by St Paul in Phil. 111. 12 οὐχ ὅτι...ἤδη τετε- λείωμαι. The same ironical force belongs to it, as we have already perceived in the subsequent τέλειοι (111. 15): philo- sophers like Philo prided themselves on being hierophants of the divine mysteries (τὸν dpvov ὃν ἐτύμως τελειώσεως ἐκά- λεσεν, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἁρμοττούσας θεραπευταῖς καὶ λειτουργοῖς θεοῦ τελετὰς ἔμελλον ἱεροφαντεῖσθαι, Philo 3 Vit. Mos. § 17): they had already attained this consecration to a mystic priesthood; and that consecration involved a triumph of the spirit over the dead body, and was a time when prizes and crowns were adjudged to the victorious soul (ὅταν τελειωθῆς καὶ βραβείων καὶ στεφάνων ἀξιωθῆς 3 L. All. § 23). St Paul on the contrary counted not himself to have attained his spiritual consecration on this side the grave. Life was to him a continual consecration; but the death of the flesh cannot be consummated on this side the grave. Even our Lord’s conse- cration through sufferings was not complete until he uttered the words ‘It is finished’: and so in Luke xiii. 32 he himself speaks of his death as a consecration (τῇ τρίτη τελειοῦμαι), the moment when the power of the flesh over him was finally vanquished, and he entered at once upon his heavenly priest- hood. AORIST INDICATIVE, 163 C. ON THE CorRECT TRANSLATION OF GREEK TENSES, PARTICIPLES, AND ARTICLE. Every translator of the Greek Testament must recognise the care and judgment required for the correct rendering of Greek tenses and participles and the Greek article. Numerous instances occur in which the force of the Greek word is not correctly expressed by its ordinary English equi- valent; here the translator must exercise his discretion, and considerable variety of opinion is unavoidable; I regret to find my judgment for instance often at variance with the authors of the Revised Version. But there are certain broad principles which help to limit individual caprice and deter- mine the range of exceptional variation ; and I proceed to state for my own vindication my application of these prin- ciples, Aorist Indicative. 1. The Greek aorist, though ordinarily a narrative tense recording past events like the English preterite, corresponds sometimes to the English perfect, as its nearest equivalent. For it happens not uncommonly that a writer desires to pre- sent a fact in a double aspect, both as an event of past history, and as the foundation of present actual opinion or action. The doctrinal language of a historical religion is naturally fruitful in statements of this nature; for the record of historical events is also the basis of existing faith. In all these cases the objective spirit of the Greek language de- manded the use of the aorist, while the more subjective genius of modern thought suggests the use of the perfect. This principle has been recognised by our versions in the translation of ἐλάλησεν, 1. 2; of ἠγάπησας and ἐμίσησας, 1.9; of ἐθεμελίωσας, i. το; of ἀντικατέστητε, ΧΙ]. 4: it has been set aside by the Revised Version in the case of εἰσῆλθεν, vi. 20 and ix. 24; and of ἐκάθισεν, vill. 1: it has been ignored by both versions in the case of ἔπηξεν, vill. 2. Yet in vi, 20 the object of recording Jesus’ entrance into the 11—2 164 AORIST INDICATIVE. holy presence is toremind us that he who once entered is now present there as our intercessor ; and this object is distinctly intimated in the Greek clause by the adoption of the adverb ὅπου Where, in preference to ὅποι whither. Again in ix. 24 the present intercession of Christ is still more distinctly designated by the context as the ground for recording his entrance into the holy place ; for the words are added ‘now to appear...’ In like manner in viii. I, 2 it is the present position of the high priest in heaven, the present reality of the ideal tabernacle, which the epistle is enforcing. In all these cases therefore I have adopted the English perfect. 2. Again the Greek aorist requires in certain passages an English pluperfect as its equivalent. When an English author desires to call attention to the priority of one event of past history, which he is recording, to another, he naturally employs the pluperfect : the Greek language on the contrary only admits the aorist. In 1. 2 the context shews that the verbs ἔθηκεν, ἐποίησεν in the relative clause are intended to describe the antecedents by which the Son had been pre- pared before his incarnation for his office as ambassador of the Gospel ; in x1. 5 μετέθηκεν states the fact that God had translated Enoch as the reason why he was sought in vain; In Xi. 16, ἡτοίμασεν γὰρ αὐτοῖς πόλιν, the fact that God had designed to make them the chosen nation is assigned as an explanation of his condescending to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; in xi. 18, πρὸς ὃν ἐλαλήθη, Abra- ham’s surrender of the promise, that had been previously made to him, is adduced as evidence of his faith at the time of the temptation; and I have therefore in all these cases adopted the pluperfect as the proper rendering in English: yet the pluperfect could not in any of these cases properly take the place of the aorist in Greek. 3. In some places the aorist must be translated by a present; for the aorist was used in Greek, as well as the present, to express proverbial truths, and principles of uni- versal application (qnomic aorist): whereas only the present isso used in English. iv. 10 is a statement of this kind, if I tightly understand it; and therefore I have rendered κατέ- mavoev resteth. PRESENT AND PERFECT INDICATIVE. AORIST PARTICIPLE. 165 There is another use of the aorist (epistolary aorist) in letter-writing, to record actions belonging to the time of writing. It is founded apparently on the same principle as the epistolary imperfect in Latin letter-writing, viz. that the point of view taken is that of the receiver of the letter, and not that of the writer. The most obvious instances of it in St Paul’s epistles are Gal. vi. 11, Eph. vi. 22, Phil. 11. 28, Philem. 12, 19. In this epistle it occurs once, viz. ἐπέστειλα, xii. 22; which I have therefore rendered, “1 am writing’, Present and Perfect Indicative. In reproducing records of the past from an existing document the present tense is frequently used in English where there is a virtual quotation; in this epistle there is an extension of this principle, for the present tense is used for Scripture records, even without the semblance of quotation, e.g. in xl. 4 ἔτι λαλεῖ, and xi. 16 ὀρέγονται and ἐπαισχύνεται. But the habitual employment of the perfect tense in reference to persons and institutions, of which a living record subsists in the pages of Scripture, is a special peculiarity of this epistle, occurring as many as nine’ times. In two of these cases I have employed the English preterite, viz. κεκοινώνηκε 11. 14 shared, and πεποίηκεν ΧΙ. 28 kept; but the full force of the Greek perfect requires the addition of a periphrasis ‘as it is written’, to express it completely. Aorist Participle. The simplest meaning of the aorist participle is that of pure narration; it is the Greek equivalent of the English participle in -ing ; and states facts, whether of past, present or future time indifferently, as determined by the context: and other modifications of its meaning are based upon this: ἐλθών means coming, as ἐληλυθώς means having come: and the literal rendering is in most cases also the best. Elementary as is this distinction between the aorist and perfect participle, it is often ignored in English translation, PiU 14, Vile ΤΥ, ΤῊ, Τὴ. Vill. 6.13, 1χ Τὸ ΣΙ Ὁ: 20: 166 AORIST PARTICIPLE. perhaps because the connexion of the aorist indicative with past time leads us to associate all the other aorist forms with past time: and even in the Revised Version it is not consis- tently observed. No doubt it is true that, where an aorist participle and a verb are coupled together to record two successive acts, the participle, if placed before the verb, is used of the first, and the verb of the second, e.g. in x. 12, προσενέγκας ἐκάθισεν; after offering he sat down: and further- more, just as the English perfect 15 sometimes equivalent to the aorist indicative, so there are cases where a_ perfect participle is the English equivalent of the aorist participle : for instance in vi. 4 the combination of ἅπαξ with φωτισ- θέντας, ‘ those who have been enlightened once for all’, shews that the past conversion is contemplated as having left a permanent result behind it. Such exceptional instances, however, are easily determined by the context. But where the participle marks an antithesis, as in i. I θεὸς λαλήσας... ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν, the antithesis is more correctly rendered, as well as better marked, by the version ‘God who spoke to the fathers... hath spoken to us’, than by the altered form, ‘having spoken’. Again where it expresses the result of an act, as im ix, 12 εἰσῆλθεν εὑράμενος, the simple ‘obtaining’ is far more correct than ‘having obtained’; for the redemption was obtamed by Christ presenting himself as high priest, and not previously to that presentation. Where it expresses the means by which a result was accomplished, as in vi. 15 μακρο- θυμήσας, the addition of a preposition gives the full meaning in English, ‘by patiently enduring’. The elastic force of the Greek participial construction gives to it in short various shades of meaning, for the expression of which various English forms should be selected according to the context. But it can never, like the perfect participle, be used to express the termination of a process: γενηθέντων in iv. 3 cannot mean ‘finished’, though γεγενημένων (perf.) might have done so. Nor can it be used, like the present participle, to denote the occurrence of one act at the same time with, or during the course of, another; ayayovta τελειῶσαι in 11. 10 cannot mean ‘to consecrate in the course of leading’, for that would have been rendered by ἄγοντα (pres.) TeX.; its true meaning is ‘to lead and consecrate’. PRESENT PARTICIPLE. 167 Present Participle. The frequent use of the present participle belongs to the characteristic style of the epistle. It is used to express (1) constant repetition : vi. I καταβαλλόμενοι denotes the constant effort to lay foundations afresh. Vi. 6 ἀνασταυροῦντας Kk. παραδειγματίζοντας, while they keep crucifying afresh and putting to open shame. Vill. IO διδούς vouous...promises the continued grace of God. X. 25 μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες ἀλλὰ παρακαλοῦντες COn- trasts the habitual cowardice or neglect of some Christians with the demand for daily zeal which the times made on the church. X. 26 ἁμαρτανόντων, persisting in sin. (2) permanent nature of things: Xi. I, 3 οὐ βλεπομένων, invisible objects; τὸ βλεπό- μενον, the visible world. ΧΙ, 18 ψηλαφωμένῳ, palpable. ΧΙ, 27 τῶν σαλευομένων, transitory things; τὰ μὴ ca- λευόμενα, eternal things. (3) the date at which events occurred : vil. 28 ἔχοντας ἀσθένειαν, while they have infirmity, Le. during their mortal life. xi, 8 καλούμενος ᾿Αβραάμ, Abraham at the time of his call. 17 πειραζόμενος ᾽Αβρ., Abraham at the time of his trial. (4) to anticipate a future already present to the eye of prophecy : X. 37 ὁ ἐρχόμενος, he that is to come. In like manner present imperatives are frequent in the hortatory parts of the epistle, such as μιμνήσκεσθε, μιμεῖσθε, urging to continuous action, and the same force demands especial notice in the present infinitive ἀνακαινίζειν vi. 6 and present subjunctive ἔρχηται xiii. 23. 168 ARTICLE, Article. In the idiomatic use of the Greek article the epistle approaches closely to the practice of classical Greek. It is often used, where we should employ a possessive pronoun or demonstrative in English, with reference to persons or things defined by the context or by the subject : ll. 14 διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, through his death; he being the subject of the sentence’. τὸ κράτος τοῦ θανάτου, of that death, 1.e. the death of flesh and blood to which he had subjected himself. lv. 3 τὴν κατάπαυσιν, that rest, i.e. the rest which the previous promises had held out to the faithful. v. ὃ τὴν ὑπακοήν, his obedience, 1.6. the obedience essential to him as man. Vl. I τὴν τελειότητα, that manhood, i.e. the manhood on which the previous verses had insisted as justly to be claimed of the Hebrew church. ix. 1 εἶχεν...τὸ ἅγιον, its sanctuary, 1.6. the sanctuary which a covenant between God and man neces- sarily entails as an essential condition. X. 22 τὰς καρδίας, τὸ σῶμα, our hearts, our body. XL 35 τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, their redemption, 1.6. the re- * To explain this use of the article and many subsequent in- stances an arbitrary dictum is sometimes laid down that ab- stract substantives always take the article ; the falsehood of this assertion is illustrated by the next verse; where death in the abstract is referred to in the words φόβῳ θανάτους Had this verse spoken simply of death in the abstract, it would have run διὰ θανάτου and κράτος θανάτου. The use of the article with ab- stract substantives is really sub- ject to definite laws; and it is the duty of Greek scholarship to decide in each case whether any equivalent is required in English ; and if so, what it is. In 1 Cor. xiii. the word ἀγάπη is used four times without and four times with the article ; but there is nothing arbitrary or capricious in the omission or insertion of the Greek article there. ARTICLE, 169 demption from death offered to them by their persecutors. xl. 4 τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, that sin, 1.6. the sin whose oppo- sition Jesus endured as his earthly cross. ΧΙ, 14 τὸν ἁγιασμόν, that holy living, without which no man shall see the Lord. xiii. I, 2, 16 ἡ φιλαδελφία, τῆς φιλοξενίας, τῆς ev- ποιίας K. κοινωνίας, your love of the brethren, your love to strangers, your well-doing and almsgiving. These qualities had been especially alluded to in the epistle as marked merits in the Hebrew church (vi. 10). Xl, 4 ὁ γάμος, their marriage. The admonition en- forces on those who are married the duty of honouring their marriage. Again it is used, as in English, to point the reader’s attention to what is already well known : v. 12 τὸν χρόνον, the time, i.e. the length of time which had elapsed since their conversion. Xl. 10 τοὺς θεμελίους, the foundations, whose eternal strength distinguished the heavenly from the earthly Jerusalem. ΧΙ, 26 τὴν μισθαποδοσίαν, the payment, i.e. which the Beatitudes had attached to the reproach of Christ as its sure reward. ΧΙ, 28 τὴν πρόσχυσιν, the striking of the blood upon the lintel and door-posts prescribed in Ex. xii. 7. ΧΙ]. 2 τῆς πίστεως, the faith, 1.6. the Christian faith. The position of the words, however, with which it is con- nected differs from that adopted in classical Greek: as other qualifying words are freely subjoined to the substantive, adjective, or participle designated by the article, instead of being interposed between them : 1. 3 τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, the majesty on high. Vill. I τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν τ. οὐρανοῖς, the majesty in the heavens. ΙΧ. Il τῶν γενομένων ἀγαθῶν...κτίσεως, the good things that came through the greater and more complete tabernacle. 170 ARTICLE. ΧΙ, 3 τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰς ἑαυτούς, those that were sinners against themselves, i.e. against their own souls, ΧΙ, 20 τὸν μέγαν ἐν αἵματι 6. a., that 1s mighty in the blood of an eternal covenant. ΧΙ, 21 τὸ evdpeotov...Xpiotod, that which rs well- pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. INDEX OF Abel XL 45, ΧΙ: 24 Altar, Christian ΧΙ]. τὸ of incense 1x. Angels, contrasted with Christ i, 4—I4, ll. 5, 16 employed in the giving of the law 11. 2 entertained by patri- archs ΧΗ 2 objects of superstitious reverence p. ΧΧΙ͂Υ ;1. 4 Anonymous character of the epistle ps Seeds τ Aorist, corresponding to English perfect p- 163 corresponding to English pluperfect Ρ. 164 epistolary ΧΙ]. 22, p.165 gnomic Ρ. 164 participle pp. 165, 6 Apollos not author of the epistle Ark of the covenant of Noah i Article pp. 168—170 Atonement, foreshadowed by sin- offering pp. 155—157 as assurance of forgive- ness ix. II—I4 as basis of the new cove- nant ix, I5—20 as a continual means of SUBJECTS. cleansing Christian life 1x. 21—23 Author, not himself a hearer of Christ, nor an apostle p. ΧΗ his antecedents _ p. ΧΙ relation to Philo pp. χῖν, XV to St Paul pp. Xv, XVi position in the Hebrew church xii, 18 detention at Rome Pp. SXill 5, ΧΙ: ΤῸ anticipated return home xii. 19, 23 Authorship, various traditions about pp. vu—ix Beheading employed as means of execution x37 Blood, as means of atonement 1x. 12—-25,pp.155—157 of sprinkling 1x. 13, 19, Xll. 24, p. 152 note of the covenant ix. 18—20, Xlil. 20 Champions of the faith ΧΙ. 32—34 Chastening, value of xii. 4—11 Cherubim Ix, ἢ 172 Christology of the epistle com- pared with the epistle to the Colossians ἢ. XXiv; 1. 2, 3, 4 Clement (Alex.), discussion of authorship pp. vii, viii, xvi Clement (Rom.), quotations from the epistle ues Consecration, Levitical vii. 11, ix. 9 of Christ 11. 10, Υ. 9, Vil. 28, pp. 160—1 of the church x, TA, exon xia 2. 22. Ὁ: Dom Contents of the epistle pp. XXi, XXll, XXVil, ΧΧΥΠΙ Covenant viil.7—13,ix.15—20, ἘΠ ΖΗ, All. 20 Date of the epistle pp. XiX— Xxiv Day of the Lord’s coming ju Getic ee er Death of the flesh 1]. 9, 10, 14, v.7 Devil’s mastery over the flesh i τῇ Enoch dbs Esau’s rejection ΠῚ ΤΟ ΤΠ Essene doctrines about angels p. XXiV Essene doctrines about marriage Ρ ξεν: 1.14 Essene doctrines about. sacri- ficial meals pp. XXV, XXV1; ἘΠῚ: Ὁ Foundations of the heavenly city xi. Te Future after verbs of fearing iit, 12 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. Hebrew church, by whom found- ed p. XVill; ΠῚ 5 Hebrew church, early persecu- tions XK. 32—34 Hebrew church, spiritual stag- nation Vv. II—Vl. 12 Hebrew church, labours of love Vi... 10, XU1. 1,2, Τῷ Hebrew church, heretical ten- dencies pp. XX1V—xxvi}; 1. 4, XG Hebrews, as a title Ῥ. Xvi Holy of holies ix. Ὁ Holy place 1X. 2500 Incarnation of Christ ii. g—18 Irenaeus’ testimony as to St Paul’s authorship Das Isaac, sacrifice of ΧΙ ὙΠ blessing on Jacob and Esau ΧΙ. 20 Jacob ἘΠ ΖΤ Jericho ἘΠ 30 Jerusalem, the heavenly xi. 10, Xl, 22, ἘΠῚ ΤΠ Jerusalem, not identical with the Hebrew church Ρ. xviii Jerusalem, allusions to siege of Pp. Sk pax ΧΙ oy xii. 26—29, xiii. 14 Jesus ll; Ὁ ἦν: £4, ΧΗΣ Joseph xl, 2 Joshua iv. 8 Locality of the Hebrew church pp. XVi—xviil Marriage to be had in honour Xill. 4 Martyrs xl. 35—38 Massah 111, ὃ Melchisedek as type of Christ v. 6, το, Vi. 20—VIi. 25 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. Mercy seat 1X, 5 Meribah il. ὃ Moses, compared with Christ 111. I—6 refusal of royal adoption xi. 24 abandonment of Egypt x 27 institution of the pass- over XL,,.28 Noah Σὶν ἢ Object of the epistle pp. ΧΧΙ, xxil Origen’s opinions about the epi- stle pp. vill, ix Passover instituted xi. 28 Paul’s (St) claims to the author- ship pp.vii—xui relation to the au- thor pp.xv, Xvi Perfect indicative p. 165 ‘ Philo’s coincidences with the epistle p. XIV divergence from the epistle pp. Xiv, XV Preincarnate glory of the Son 1255 Present participle p. 167 indicative p. 165 forms implying a con- tinuous state Vl. 4 Priesthood of Christ — iv. 14— V. 10, Vi. 20—Vlil. 3 Psalm 11. 165 V5 vill, 1.6 ἘΣΤΙΝ ale, 12 en 5 Ἐν 1 ὃ ΟΝ, || 7» ΠῚ ee 07) ἘΠ i. 10 Psalm civ. 1.7 ὍΣΟ ἡ τῶν; 11 ΤῊΣ 2 Rahab xe oe Red Sea Xl. 29 Reproach of Christ ΄ ΕΞ αληθινός vill. 2 ἀμήν Xl, 25 ἄμωμος ἼΣ. τῇ > , . ἀναδέχεσθαι x τῇ ἀναθεωρεῖν ΧΠΙ ἢ ἀνασταυροῦν vi. 6 Py , aie ἀνατέλλειν ὙΠ. 14 ἀντίτυπος ix. 24 ἅπαξ ὙΠ 1x ἢ, ΣΙ 206, 27 ἀπαράβατος Vil. 24 ἀπαύγασμα Ree ἀπογεγραμμένος X11. 23 ἀπόστολος 111. 1 ἀρχηγός il, ©O, ΧΙ: 2 ἀστεῖος ΧΠ 20 αὐτός 11 τῷ, ΧΙ: Ὁ ἀφανισμός Vili. 13 ἀφορᾷν ΧΙ], 2 ἄχρις 1 15 INDEX. βαπτισμός vi. 2 βέβαιος it, 2: ix 07 βλέπειν 11. Ὁ, Π1 ΧΟ; ἘΠῸὋ βούλεσθαι Vis 17 γεύεσθαι il. Ὁ» γα δέησις γ: 7 δήπου il. 16 διά (gen. ) 1X. ΤΊ ΕΖ, ἘΠ ΖΟ, ἘΠῚ διά (ace.) ll, Ὁ; 1%. 18. ΣῊ 20 διαθήκη Vill, Ὁ; ᾿ς. τὸ; τὸ, τῇ διηνεκές ἈΠ Ὶ ἘΣ δικαιοσύνη Ἧ 12, ΣῚΡ ἡ δικαίωμα 1X, Π δοκεῖν lv. I δοκιμασία ill. 9 δόξα ii. TO, UX, Π; Xion ἐάνπερ lil. 14 ἐγκαινίζειν 1X: 18; πὶ 29 εἰ (as negation) lil, II εἰ (after δῆλον Xe.) Vii. ας εἰ μήν vi. 14 εἰκών στὸ αὐ εἰσάγειν 1. 6 εἶτα ΧΙ. 9 ἐκ, ἐξ ii, τα ἢ ἔκβασις Xili, 7 ἐκδοχή Χο 217 ἐκφέρειν vi. ὃ ἔλαττον Vil. 7 ἐμφανίζειν 1x. 24 GREEK INDEX. ἐν πᾶσιν xili, 4, 18 ἐν ᾧ i, τὸν Vio 27 ἐνεστηκώς ix. Ὁ ἔννοια lv. 12 ἐνοχλεῖν ἘΠῚ BS ἔνοχος 1. 15 ἐπειράσθησαν ΧΙ 37 ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι 11. τό ἐπιτυγχάνειν Wis ΤΡ; ΣΙ 29 ἕτερος vil. II εὐλάβεια γ ἢ εὐπερίστατος xii, 2 Gove Wis 12. iV. 12. 1Χ: 14, X. 3% ἡγούμενοι Xiil. 7, 175-24 ἡμέρα Χ. 25 θεμέλιον ΧΙ ΤῸ θυμιατήριον ἴχ 4 Ἰησοῦς ii. Ὁ; iv. 8, 14, xii. 2 ἱκετηρία v.7 ἱλάσκεσθαι, -τήριον 11. 17, 1X. 5 Ἰταλία Xlil. 24 καί 1 ὁ. Vin ΥΣἸΣΟῚ καίειν ΧΙ, 18 κατά (in adjuration) vi. 13 καταγωνίζειν ΧΙ. 33 κατανοεῖν iil. 1 καταπέτασμα ix Kataptiley X. 5, Xl. 3, ΣΧ]: 21 κεφάλαιον vill. I Keparis Xe κιβωτός EX: ἢ κοινός ἘΠ 20 κοινωνία Xl. 16 κομίζεσθαι ΧΙ 17.) 30 κοσμικός ban κρείττων 1. 4. Vie, Ὁ; ὙΠ: ὕ; xi, 40 Κύριος Wills Ζ. Σὶ 1: ai, Ὁ 175 λαλεῖν LT, lil, 5, Xi. 7 λατρεύειν το ΟἹ λειτουργικός 1.14 λόγιον Vv. 12 λόγος Ἵν ΤΣ λυχνία ix 2 μακροθυμία Ὑ 15 μάρτυς xi) Τ μάχαιρα IVs ΤΩΣ Kip 27 μέλλων 1 55 Vas 5; ἘΠῚ Τῇ μέμφεσθαι vill. ὃ μὲν οὖν ὙΠ EE, Ville 7. ΣΤ μένειν ΠῚ 27 μεσιτεύειν VAN μετάνοια ἈΠῸ 17 μετέχειν ὙΠ 12 ’ . wee μέτοχος 1. Ὁ. dl, τὸ ΤῊ μετριοπαθεῖν vas μηδ x ῃ μήποτε Ἵ τὸ 1: τ 2. ν Τὶ μισθαποδοσία il, 2, xi. 26 μνημονεύειν ΧΙ 2. ΣΙ 7 νεκρός Vi, Eo 1x: Τῇ ἘΠ νυνί vill. 6 ὄγκος ΧΙ Τ οἶκος lil, 2 οἰκουμένη τ Ὁ 1: 5 ὀλοθρεύων xi. 28 ὁλοκαύτωμα x56 ὁμολογία ΤΗΣ Τὶ ἵν. ΤΆ ὀνειδισμός ΧΠ 26, ΧΗ ΤΠ ὅστις ll 2, Vill, 6, Σ- ὃ ὅταν 1. 6 οὗτος 2. 1s ΤῈ παθεῖν, πάθημα ii. g, 18, 1x. 26 παιδεία ΧΙ, 7 παλαιοῦν 1. ΤΙ, Vill, 15 πάλιν 1, (65, Ve ΤΣ ΜΕῚ παράβασις 11. 2 176 παραιτεῖσθαι xl, 1Oy 25 7 ie παρακοή 11. 2 παραλαμβάνειν ΧΙ]. 28 παραλελυμένος ἘΠῚ 12 παραπικρασμός 111. ὃ παραπίπτειν vi. 6 Tapappetv mig 2 παρειμένος ΧΙ. 12 παρεμβολή Kl, 34, ΧΗ Ta, 12 παρρησία lll, ὍΣ. Τὸ πειρασμός lil. 8 περιποίησις x39 πίστις ΧΙ πιστὸς i: Τ7 akin 2 ποιεῖν lil, 2, Xi, 28; sib 27 : : τ ae TONS ΧΙ. 10, 16, XU. 22, MUU 74 πολυμερῶς a πολυτρόπως ΠΣ Ἢ που 1. Ὁ. τὰ ἡ πρεσβύτερος ἘΠῚ 2 προειπεῖν iv. ἢ πρόθεσις ix Ζ προσέρχεσθαι iv. 16 προσοχθίζειν 111, 10 πρόσφατος XO πρόσχυσις ΧΙ 2 Ὁ προφήτης τὰ τ πρωτότοκος Xai 23 ῥάβδος 32,2 ῥαντισμός Xll, 24 caf Batic p03 iv. 9 σαλεύειν ΧΙ. 26 Σάρρα ἈΠ ΤΊ σείειν ΧΗ. 26 σήμερον 1B ἨΠ ΤΟ σκηνή ΜΠ ὩΣ, 2, IT στοιχεῖον τς ΤΖ GREEK INDEX, συνκεκερασμένος συνπαθεῖν συντέλεια σωτηρία , / τέλειος, -OTNS τελειοῦν ll. , τελείωσις τελειωτής τετραχηλισμέιος τεχνίτης τομώτερος τότε / τράπεζα τρίμηνον τυμπανίζειν e? υἱός ε , ὑπεναντίος ε / ὑπόδειγμα i , ὑπόστασις ε ὑποστέλλειν ΄΄ ὕσσωπος ε “ ὑστερεῖν φέρεσθαι φοβερός φωτίζειν ἵν. "2 lv. 15 1xs26 vi. 9 V. 14, Vie Ty App. B. LO; Vs ὃ) Vil. τὸ; 295 1X. (9, XT, xi. 40, App. B. 1, 3; ils, 12. ἘΠῚ Ka 36 ix. 19 ἵν. £ ix. 16 Si 57 Vis 4y Kage χαρακτήρ ἘΦ χάρις Xi 28, xiii. 97 25 Χερουβείν ibe ς χρηματίζειν Vill, δ, ΧΠ ΖΕ Χριστός ix. 28 ψηλαφᾷν ὙΠῸ τῷ CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, Μ.Α.,), AND SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. ἊΝ A eet 5 irks war tine Τὼ Ἂ t : “δ i BS2775 .R398 The Epistle to the Hebrews in Greek and ince Ca y-Spe 77 iii 1 1012 00070 8547