/ .>!Vl^-- •:- -joaaODJCJr f'7^7 C :(55iZ'77 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, EXPLANATORY NOTES: TO WHICH ARE ADDED A CONDENSED VIEW OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHEIST, TRANSLATION OF THE EPISTLE, PEEPARED FOR THIS AVORK. HENRY J. 'RIPLEY, LATE PROFESSOR IN NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION, AND AUTHOR OF "NOTES ON THB GOSPELS," " ACTS OP THE APOSTLES," " EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS," ETC., ETC. BOSTON: GJ-OTJLr) A.N1D 1L,TN C O Juisr, 5 'J WASHINGTON STREET. NEW T O K K : SHELDON AND COMPANY. CIXCIXNATI: GEO. S. BLAXCHAUD & CO. 1 8 () 8'. Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 1868, by GOULD & LINCOLN, In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Rockwell & Rolmns, stekeottpbrs and Printkbs, 122 Wasliington iStreet, Boston. PREFACE. This volume is the fruit of long-continued study of the Epistle in the original, to which study the various helps of biblical liter- ature have been made subservient. My aim has been, in free- dom from any improper bias, to exhibit the thoughts and senti- ments of the Epistle according to the true intent of its author ; the original Greek being throughout the real basis of the Notes. As the Epistle is, eminently, a continuous course of thought, it ought to be read as such, so that the connection of parts may I)e discovered and retained in the reader's mind. Much of its bene- fit is lost when only fragments, here and there, are read. As contributing to a connected and comprehensive view, the analy- sis given in the Introduction, section seventh, may be of service. I may also take the liberty of pointing out sections fourth, fiftli, and sixth of the Introduction as particularly helpful to a clear apprehension and a just appreciation of the principal parts of the Epistle. For clearness' sake, also, the Epistle is here divided according to its main parts, and the text presented in para- graphs, while, howevei', for convenience in consulting the Xotes, the division into chapters and the numbering of the verses are I'etained. As the common vei-sion of this Epistle is not so well executed as that of the New Testament books generally, and as the pas- sages inviting emendation are more numerous than could bo Avell introduced into the Notes, I have prepared an indcpen- ik'ut translation. This translation, aided by the recent more ap- fiii) lY PREFACE. proved editions of the original, and designed, of course, only for private use, is as literal as the diflferent idioms of the two lan- guages will allow, regard being paid to grammatical tenses, to the collocation of words and clauses, to the structure of sen- tences, and to employing, for the same original word, the same, or some form of the same, English word, in the several passages Avhere it is found. A degree of harshness may be occasioned by conformity to the original structure of sentences ; but it is better to encounter this than to modify the structure at the risk of also modifying the author's sense. Yet here and there, where the sense evidently requires it, a word or a clause is introduced, and indicated by Italics as a supplied expression. In any translation, there will be room for diversity of judg- ment as to given passages; and particularly so when, as in the present instance, the original is a work of great rhetorical sldll on the part of its author, and of nice appreciation of beauty, of elevation, and of impressiveness in style. The reverence for GOD and his adorable SON cherished by its author, and the so- licitude that the followers of Jesus might adhere to nni, their Leader in the way of life, with ever-growiiig trust till they should reach the goal of their high calling in the perfected state of heavenly glory, were harmonious with this mode of execu- tion. As a labor of love, the volume is commended to "the apos- tle and HIGH-PRIEST of our profession," with the desire that, through HIS blessing, it may contribute to an enlarged and clearer understanding, and deeper consciousness of the value, )f this part of the divine oracles, and thus to his glory. H. J. R. Newton Centre, Mass. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 7 Section I.— ^Authorship of the Epistle and ITS Canonical Authority . 7 Section II. — To whom it was sent . . 9 Section III. — When it was written . . 9 Section IV. — Condition of the Hebrew Chris- tians FOR whose benefit IT was written .... 9 Section V. — Purpose of the Epistle . . 12 Section VI. — Its General Character . . 13 Section VII. — Analysis of its Contents . . 14 Part First ........ 15 Part Second ........ 17 Part Third 18 Part Fourth ....... 21 Part Fifth ........ 22 (V) VI CONTENTS. TEXT,— Common English Version,— WITH NOTES. Part First. — Chapters First and Second . Part Second. — Chapters Third and Fourth . Part Third. — Chapters Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Part Fourth. — Chapters Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Part Fifth. — Chapters Tenth, 19-39, Eleventh Twelfth, and Thirteenth . VIEW OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST . TRANSLATION PREPARED FOR THIS WORK Part First Part Second Part Third Part Fourth Part Fifth 25 45 63 97 128 173 189 189 191 194 200 206 INTRODUCTION. § 1. ^ UTHORSHIP AND CANONICAL A UTBOBITY OF THE EPISTLE. The authoi* is not named either in the opening sentence ov in the course of the epistle. The few sentences of a personal na- ture, also, xiii. 18, 19, 22, 23, though favorable to the opinion that it was written by the Apostle Paul, and showing that those who were addressed knew from whom it was sent, are not suf- ficiently clear to be decisive on this point. In consequence, from an early part of the third century even to our own times, its au- thorship has been a subject of inquiry. In the ancient Oriental churches covering the region to which it was first sent, and therefore favorably situated for knowing from whom and from whose authority it emanated, the belief that it was written by Paul was held and retained from the earli- est times. In the Western churches, less favorably situated for forming an opinion, the prevailing belief set in a difi'erent direc- tion until the middle of the fourth century, when it was acknowl- edged in that part, also, of the Christian church as substantially a work of the Apostle Paul. Among ecclesiastical writers since tlie early pai-t of the third century, the apostle has been variously connected by name with the epistle, either as its writer, or as having furnished the materials for it, while some associate of liis might, with these materials, have j)erformed the work of com- posing it, or, having independently composed it, received his sanction in sending it to the place of its destination, so that it went with the authority of his name, and in popular language ( VII ) Viri INTRODUCTION. niiglit be called his epistle. Its style — that is, its diction - -has, from the early period just mentioned, been extensively felt as unfavorable to the opinion that the apostle was the actual writer. AVhile the historical evidence resjoecting its authorship is con- flicting, and the internal evidence from its style of composition is unfavorable to its being an actual production of the apostle, its general air, as to consciousness of authority and of the right to receive deference from those to whom it was sent, and as to a winning suavity of manner, is apostolic, and the few passages of a personal nature harmonize with the character and circum- stances of Paul. The opinion, which has also come down from remote antiquity, that the epistle, though not composed Ijy him- self, Avas written with his knowledge, and sent with his sanction, agrees well with the two facts, that it was received at the earli- est times in the Eastern churches as a production of Paul's, and yet that its diction is not after the manner of Paul. The question of its actual authorship is a subordinate one. The epistle was quoted from as a sacred book with frequency, and in the same manner as the epistles of Paul were quoted from, bj" the earliest Christian writer after the apostles, towards the end of the first century ; it was, as already stated, received by the Eastern churches from the earliest times, and eventually by the Western ; and those early writers who held it not to be a composition of the apostle's, yet perpetually, in their citations from it, speak as citing the words of the apostle, like Calvin, of later times, who, while he maintains, in his prefatory view of the epistle, that it cannot have been actually composed by Paul, j^et ranks it without hesitation among the apostolic epistles, and speaks frequently, in his commentary, of the apostle as saying thus and thus. The question appears to have been with them a question of literature, not affecting the authority of the epistle. Allowing, then, that the style of composition indicates a differ- ent hand from that of the apostle, we have sufficient ground for the belief that the writer reflected the apostle's views, and that the epistle had the sanction of Paul. And thus, it would hold a place among the authoritative books of the New Testament on INTRODUCTION. IX. the same ground as that on which the Gospel of Mark and the writings of Luke stand : the Gospel of Mark sustained by the authority of the Apostle Peter, the G(-)spel of Luke and the Acts by the authority of Paul. § 2. TO WHOM THE EPISTLE WAS SENT. That the ejjistle was sent, primarily, to the Hebrew Christians of some particular locality, and yet designed to be extensively circulated among the Hebrew Christians in general, is probable from the salutations which it contains, xiii. 24 ; from the personal relations which appear to have subsisted between the writer and those whom he addressed, xiii. 18, 19, 23 ; and from circum- stances in their past history which he calls to their remembrance, vi. 10 ; X. 32-34. But to what particular community it was sent, neither the epistle itself nor any tradition enables us to de- cide. That it was sent to a church, or a circle of churches, in Palestine seems natural. §3. TIME WHEN THE EPISTLE TTAS WRITTEN: It was written previously to the destruction of Jeinisalem, 70 or 72 of the Christian era, since, from the genei'al aspect of the ei^istle, the temple-worship appears to have been still observed. As those to whom it was sent had already sulfei'ed persecution, X. 32-34, and as persecution, probably of a more serious char- acter, was foreseen, xii. 4, 6, we may assign it to the times when tlie j^ublic troubles among the Jews were beginning to become more aggravated and the exposure of Christians to per- secution more probable. This corresponds to the time included within 62 and G4. The means, however, for forming an opinion respecting its date are too meagre and indistinct to warrant an approach to positiveuess. §4. CONDITION OF THE HEniiEW CHRISTIANS FOR WHOSE BENEFIT THE EPISTLE WAS WRITTEN. The condition of the Hebrew Christians was such as severely tested the sincerity and firmness of their faith in Christ and their X INTRODUCTION. adherence to Christianity as a religion distinct from that of Moses. 1. We learn, from Acts xxi. 20, that a vast number of Jews who had avowed themselves believers in Christ were still zealously attached to the Mosaic observances, and insisted on their being retained among Christians ; and, from Acts xv. 1, 5, it is clear that, at the time there referred to, the observance of circumcis- ion was regarded by many of the Jewish Christians as essential to salvation. From among these, doubtless, proceeded the Juda- izing teachers, against whom the Apostle Paul found it so neces- saiy to guard the churches, as men who were subverting the gospel of Christ. Without doubt there continued to be among the converted Jews in Palestine and elsewhere many persons who, at best, in point of doctrine were but semi-Christians ; and Judaizing teachers were perpetually spreading everywhere their baleful dogmas. That many would continue to waver between genuine, complete Christianity and Judaism, afraid so far to commit themselves to Christianity as wholly to give up Judaism, and that many would entirely ai^ostatize from Christ, unless aided by the timely warnings and encouragements, and the con- vincing arguments, of some one who knew how to gain tlie Jew- ish mind and who could obtain credence among the vacillating Hebrew converts, could not but be obvious, even were there no actual instances of this kind, to so clear-sighted an observer and so deejily interested a friend as was the author of this epistle. 2. At the time when this epistle was written, as appears from internal evidence, the Jewish temple at Jerusalem was still standing and the rites of the Jewish religion were still observed. Not only the inliabitants of Jerusalem were eye-witnesses of the Jewish worship, and participated in the various ceremonial ob- servances, but the Jews in all parts of Palestine and elsewhere had occasion to be repeatedly at Jerusalem for religious, as well as other, purposes. Many who had embraced the gospel, more or less intelligent!}', still cherished a fondness for the Jewish worsliip and its accompaniments, and dreaded to bo separated INTRODUCTION XI from the Jewish communit}' and dcban-(^d from the temple. The Jewish service was particuhirly attractive to tliose who were fond of show, especially in contrast with the simple and unimiDosinjj worship of Christians, wiio were separated either by distance or by inclination from the pomp of the Jewish worship. All the impressions and associations of early j^outh and their love of the Jewish country and nation would be connected with the temple and its services, and, so long as the temple stood and its services were continued, a powerful influence would proceed frc^m them, adverse, in the case of manj-, to a steadfast continuance in Chris- tianity. Tlie radical distinction between the Judaism of their times and the religion of the Messiah was not perceived by them, and they were not well prepared to meet the issue of disciple- ship to Christ and departure from the i^revailing Judaism on the one hand, or, on the other, of adherence to Judaism and renuncia- tion of Jesus. The thought of an extensive severance from Jewish customs w'as api^alling, while j"et they admitted that Jesus was the jNIessiah. Tiiey did not understand that the ]\Ies- siah was above Judaism, and that Judaism must give way to him ; they rather thought that he was to bear rule through Judaism reformed and perpetuated. The thought of separation from the Jewish community and of exclusion from the Jewish temple was more than tliey could well bear. o. Besides, these Hebrew Christians were, in consequence of their avowing the religion of Clu'ist, exposed to various formj of persecution. Taunts, with other petty annoyances, and im- prisonment were emploj-ed by their opponents to di-aw tlieni awa}' from tlieir attacliraent to Clirist, and to prevent tlie spreati of the new religion. The spirit wliich at first actuated the Jew- ish rulers in tlieir endeavors to prevent the cause of Christ from being advocated, as shown in the early cliapters of the Acts arid in the conduct of Saul of Tarsus before his conversion, also by the Jewish rulers and by private persons in tlieir treatment of Paul, as shown in the later chajJters of Acts, was ever stimulating the determined adherents to the Jewish rites and ceremonies. How- ever much the Jewish authorities might be restrained by the XII INTRODUCTION. diminution of tlieir power under the Roman rule, they yet had abundant ojiportunities to annoy the followers of Christ; and Roman magistrates, unable to distinguish between Jews and Jewish Christians, but regarding them as alike hostile to the im- perial government, were sufficiently ready to side with the Jewish opponents of Christianity, and to harass the ' sect that was everywhere spoken against.' Acts xxviii. 22. To these trying circumstances this epistle makes sufficiently clear allusion in x. 32-34 ; xii. 4 ; xiii. 3. 4. In addition to these circumstances, the personal spiritual condition of many, at least, among the Hebrews exposed them to great hazards. From the anxiety so often expressed by the writer in regard to their steadfastness, in ii. 3 ; iii. 12, 13 ; iv. 1 ; vi. 1-8, and other passages; from the rebuke, in v. 12-14, of their failure to make progress in religious knowledge, and, in X. 25, of their neglect of opportunities for religious worship, it is evident that many among them had not become well grounded in the distinctive princii^les of the Christian religion, and were but lukewarm in their i-eligious affections. They were conse- quentl}" so vacillating that they might become an easy prey to the enticements of wily oi^ponents of the gospel, or to doubts which readily arise in the absence of a resolute adherence to a good cause. §5. PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE. The Hebrew Christians being so eminently exposed to the hazard of renouncing their profession and of casting away all the animating hopes which they had been led to indulge, the purpose of the epistle is obvious ; namely, to fortify them against these unfavorable circumstances and to confirm both the waver- ing and the steadfast in adherence to Christ. To this end, it was necessary to set forth with vividness the paramount claims of the religion of Christ, and to convince the Hebrews that, if they should abandon the gospel, they would really abandon the otily sure ground of hope for eternal life. Since the Hebrew Christians had always held Moses in profound reverence, as an INTllODUGTIOxV, XIII authorized servant of God, and his religion as divinely instituted, it was necessary to bring the Christian religion, or dispensation, into comparison with the Mosaic, and, by showing its paramount and even exclusive claims, to free them from their former pre- dilections and to dissipate the dread of abandoning the existing Jewish community. § 6. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE EPISTLE. In its general character, the epistle is not so much a logical argumentation of certain points as a vivid setting forth of dis- tinctive fundamental truths in the Christian system, in order to establish its readers in their already professed reception of that system. It discusses these truths, not in order to prove them, but in order deeply to impress them on the readers' minds, to show their harmony with the Old Testament, and thus to strengthen the Hebrews' faith in them; also to exhibit their necessary results. It declares, for instance, and assumes as un- deniable, — the well-known facts in the case being themselves the irrefragable evidence, — that Jesus is the Son of God; and, after vividly setting forth this truth, and showing his superiority to angels and then to Moses, it maintains the authoritative character of his gospel and the inevitable doom which will en- sue from neglecting it. It also declares Jesus to be the predicted High-priest, expatiates on his superlative excellence as such, and details the necessary result of his entering on this office in the abrogation of the Mosaic economy and of the Levitical priest- hood, and in the exclusiveness of the Christian scheme as pro- curing forgiveness and salvation. Thus asserting as worthy of all acceptation the Messiahship of Jesus, it seeks to correct cer- tain practical errors in regard to him, and to open the legitimate comprehensiveness of his official position and of the authority which is vested in him. This positive and didactic feature it is necessary to apprehend, in order justly to appreciate the epistle and to see the true force of many of its views. It was the mode of treatment naturally suggested to a writer who was addressing not unbelievers, but 2 XIV INTRODUCTION. those who had avowed their acceptance of Christ and who still maintained it, though with less firmness than was consistent with theii' safety, and who therefore needed confirmation in their faith rather than conversion to the faith ; who needed fenlarge- ment of views and a just apprehension of the connections and relations of truths which they had embraced, rather than to be reasoned into the primary truths of the gospel. They had em- braced the gospel, but did not thoroughly understand it; they had not sufficiently seen and felt its excellence and its paramount position as compared with the Mosaic law. The ejjistle was de- signed to give this more full and thorough understanding of the gospel, and consequently it affirms, what its readers did not re- quire to be proved, such essential points as the divine Sonship and the priestly position of Jesus, and argues from them either as conceded points, or as necessary to the full idea of his being the Messiah. As addressed to Hebrew Christians, the epistle is also through- out adapted to the Hebrew mind in the analogies and other reasonings which it employs, and in its applications of the Old Testament Scriptures. The vital truths and conclusions which it presents are, indeed, for all men ; but the manner of elucidat- ing these truths and of conducting the readei's to these conclu- sions was specially adapted to those who were primarily addressed, and was most happily fitted to secure their unwaver- ing assent. §7. ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE. The epistle may be divided into five main Parts, which, how- ever, as well as the subdivisions generally, are not by its author formally separated from each other, since it is a beautifully com- pacted whole, like a dovetailed piece of work, the transitions from part to part, though sufficiently discernible, not being abrupt, but interwoven and, apparently without design, maintaining con- tinuity of thought. Hortatory passages, also, sometimes of very considerable extent, occur at appropriate points. INTRODUCTION. XV PART I. — CHAPTERS /., II. Superiority of the Son of God to the angels ; his appointed inferiority, and his subsequent elevation to perfect glory. Propriety of this appointment. The epistle opens with a general declai'ation of the dignity of THE Son, in whom God, having formerly spoken to the Hebrew fathers in the prophets, finally spake to their descendants, and who, having himself made effectual expiation for sins, ascended to the right hand of God, having become as far superior to the angels as his name is superior to theirs, i. 1-3. With this last thought, the first topic is introduced, namely : the superiority of tJie Son of Ood to the angels. This superiority appears, first, from the superiority of his name, or title, to theirs. No angel was ever addressed as the Son of God in such terms as involved sameness of nature with God and as. would authorize the appropriating of this title to him exclusively, vs. 4, 5. This superiority appears, next, from the fact that the angels have been required to worship him, verse 6. Then, again, the language used concerning angels and the Son respectively is indicative of his pre-eminence over them. The angels are called winds and lightning, as being only servants of God, promptly obeying His commands. They thus receive appellations which associate them with the agencies of nature, and occupy only the position of servants. But the Son is ad- dressed as a partaker of deity : he is described as a King whose dominion is to be everlasting, whose government is unexception- ably righteous, and who has received honor and bliss pre- eminently beyond all other kings. Still further, he is declared to be the Creator of the earth and the heavens, to be imperish- able and immutable. Moreover, no angel was ever invited to a seat at the right hand of God, with the promise of univei'sal do- minion. So far from this, the angels ai"e all only ministering spirits sent forth for service in behalf of those who are to receive salvation, vs. 7-14. The superiority of the Son to the angels being thus shown, the correspondingly greater obligation to give heed to his teach- XVI INTRODUCTION". ings is asserted. If the revelation made by tlie agency of angels, that is, the Mosaic, was firm, and disobedience to it was inevitably followed Avith the threatened pnnishment, how can tee escape if we neglect so great salvation, which was first declared by the Lord Jesus himself and has come to us confirmed by those who heard him, and by the joint testimony of God in many and various miracles ? ii. 1-4. If we neglect it, we cannot escape, for it is not to angels that God subjected the new dispensation, but to him whom, as de- scribed in a certain passage of Scripture, God had made a little lower than the angels, and whom he had subsequently exalted to glory and to dominion over all things. In other woi'ds, the new religious economy, with all its authority and blessings, is placed in subjection to Jesus, since to him God had subjected all things. The Son of God in becoming a man was made some- what lower than the angels ; but on account of his submitting to death, in this inferior condition, for the spiritual benefit of man- kind, he is ci'owned with glory and honor, ii. 5-9. The appointment that He who was to lead sons of God among men to glory, should himself be elevated to his perfect glory in heaven through sufi'erings, is specially appropriate, for both he who makes expiation and those for whom the expiation is made are all of one Father, and consequently become jarepared for glory by a similar course of treatment. Hence he calls them his brethren. As th^ Father had given him the children of God to be redeemed, it is proper that between these children and him- self thex'e should be a oneness of nature. Since these children are human beings, he also became a partaker of human natui-e, so that by means of his death he might destroy Satan's power of death, and deliver those who through fear of death had been perpetually held in bondage. For it was not angels that he came to deliver, but men. It was, therefore, befitting that he should be like them in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful High-priest, in order to make propitiation for their sins, for, in that he hath himself suffered through temp- tations, he is able to aid the tempted, ii. 10-18. INTRODUCTION. XVII Both iu his pre-existent state as the Son of God and in his subsequent state as the glorified Man, he is superior to the angels. Hence the superior and permanent claims of his gospel. PART II.— CHAPTERS III., IV. Superiority of Jesus Christ to Moses in the household of God. Jesus and Moses both faithful to their respective trusts, iii. 1, 2. Jesus worthy of more glory than Moses, as being the founder and furnisher of the household of God, vs." 3, 4. The faithfulness of Moses, that of a servant in this household ; the faithfulness of Christ, that of the Son over the household ; of which household believers in Christ are members, vs. 5, 6. The idea of an oriental family of distinction was present to the writer's mind. In such a family, while the head-servant, or steward, occupied a position highly honorable and of great responsibility, the eldest son was co-partner in the honor and rights of the father, and was joint-director of affairs, so that he was over the household. Hortatory section, in which the Hebrews are urged by the fate of their forefathers, who came out from Egypt, to make sure for themselves of the heavenly rest promised to the household, or peojile, of God, iii. 7-19. The promise of entering into His rest, which God made to their forefathers, and which proved of no benefit to them, on account of their unbelief, still remains. This rest is the appointed recompense for believers : unbelievers are deban-ed from it. The rest still remains, for though God entered on His rest at the foundation of the world, it was promised to the Israelites in the desert, and long afterwards the men of David's generation were warned against following the example of their imbelieving forefathers, and exhorted to be believing and obedi- ent while To-day should endure. Hence the rest still i-emains for believers ; they are to enter into it when their earthly labors shall be ended, iv. 1-10. The exhortation receives additional enforcement from the con- sideration that the word of God is living and effective, and penetrates to the inmost soul, judging the very thoughts of 2* XVIII INTRODUCTION. men ; nothing is concealed from Him ; all things are open to His inspection, iv. 11-13. In these circumstances of clanger, the followers of Jesus ought to hold fast their confidence in him ; he is their gi-eat High-priest in heaven, and as he had while on earth been tempted like them- selves, he is able to feel for them in their infirmities. Through him they have access to the throne of grace, and may obtain mercy and gi-ace that will assure to them opportune aid in all their trials, iv. 14-16. Thus the second part terminates like the first, ii. 17, 18, with a cheering mention of Jesus as the High-priest of his followers ; it closes, also, with an incitement to holding fast the profession in respect to Jesus, as their High-priest, whicli was mentioned at its opening, iii. 1, and thus happily prepares the way for intro- ducing the third part. PART III. — CHAPTERS K, VI., VII. The higli-priesthood of Jesus superior to the Levitical high-priesthood. This topic and the results which flow from it are evidently the main burden of the epistle, and were present to the writer's mind at its outset, as well as in its progress. For, having brought into prominent view, in the second chapter, the humili- ation of Christ in assuming human nature, he represents, in ii. 17, the design of this humiliation to be, that Christ might become a merciful and faithful High-priest. Then, again, in introducing the second part, at iii. 1, he mentions Christ anew as the High- priest ; and in closing the second part, after inciting his readers to diligence in view of their spiritual perils and of the scrutiny to which their inmost thoughts were exposed, he encourages them by a repeated mention of their great High-j)riest above, who by virtue of his own experience regards them with com- passion, and through whom they may confidently look for op- portune divine favor, iv. 14-16. This encouragement to expect, through Jesus the High-priest, all needed aid in answer to confiding prayer, is grounded on INTRODUCTION. XIX the vei-y design of the high-priestly office, as divinely established. A high-priest, as being taken from among men, is appointed in behalf of men in their concerns with God, that he may offer both their oblations and their sacrifices, for sins, v. I. This design of the high-priest's office makes it requisite that he should be able to be compassionate towards the ignorant and erring, since he is himself conscious of moral infirmity, and must therefore offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as those of the i^eoiile, v. 2, 3. A call from God to this office is also requisite, v. 4. The requisites for this office are found in Jesus. He did not assume this honor to himself, but God specially appointed him to it, V. 5, 6. Christ also, though he was a Son, learned, by his experience of temptations and sufferings while on earth, the nature and circumstances of human obedience, and thus knows how to pity his followers, v. 7, 8. And having, with this com- plete qualification for his office, been exalted to his perfected state in heaven, he became the author of salvation to all that obey him, thus securing for them the highest good, v. 9. While, however, these requisites are all found in Jesus, a peculiarity is distinctly brought to view in which he differs from the Jewish high-priests ; namely, he is not of the order of Aaron, but of Melchizedek, v. 10. This peculiarity relative to Jesus having been mentioned, a digression of a hortatory character is entered on, in order to stimulate the HebrcAvs to greater mental and spiritual activity, and to apprise them of the danger to which their vacillating state of mind exposed them, v. 11-14; vi. 1-8. The writer then apologizes for the strain of rebuke and warn- ing in which he had addressed them. He had thus spoken through a desire that they might be earnest in seeking confirma- tion of their hope of heavenly blessings, and might follow the example of those who had attained to the final enjoyment of those promised blessings, vi. 9-12. Encouragement to seek those blessings is ample, since they i-est on tlie promise and the oath of the unchangeable God. The hope set before the follow- XX INTRUDUCTiON. ei's of Jesus is, therefore, full of consolation ; it is unfailing and firm ; it reaches to heaven, whither Jesus has already gone in behalf of his followers, as the High-priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, vi. 13-20. The writer now returns to the consideration of the high- priesthood of Jesus. As Jesus is a High-priest according to the order, or rank, of Melchizedek, he first presents the historical items relative to this personage ; he then mentions, in order to show the striking resemblance between Melchizedek and Jesus the Son of God, the etymological significance of Melchizedek's name and kingly title, his being without any known father or mother, and without a recorded beginning or ending of life, and, as the particular point of coincidence here had in view, his abid- ing, so far as the sacred records disclose, a priest perpetually ; thus confirming the declaration in vi. 20, that Jesus is become a High-priest forever, vii. 1-3. In arguing the superiority of Jesus to the Levitical high- priests, the greatness of Melchizedek, according to whose rank, and like to whom, he is made a High-priest, is shown. Melchiz- edek was greater even than Abraham, the patriarch, since he took tithes from Abraham and pronounced a blessing on him : he was greater than the Levitical priests ; for, while they re- ceive tithes from descendants of Abraham, he received them from Abraham himself: besides, they are confessedly dying men, while Melchizedek is testified of as only a living person: he was also greater than Levi, the head of the priestly tribe ; for, so to speak, Levi jaaid tithes, through Abraham, to Melchiz- edek, vii. 4-10. As Jesus is of the rank of Melchizedek, it follows that he is superior to any one of the Levitical priests. The fact that Jesus is now invested with the high-priesthood draws in its train imi^ortant consequences relative to the Leviti- cal priesthood and the Mosaic law. The Levitical priesthood was iuefl&cacious for the ultimate purpose of a priesthood ; else a priest of a different kind would not have been set in office, vii. 11. This change in the priesthood necessitates a change in the law, vii. 12, That the law was disregarded, as being no longer INTRODUCTION. XXI of authority, iu this appointment of Jesus as the High-priest, appears from the genealogy of Jesus and from the very nature of the system which he carries into effect, vii. 13-17. The law is actually set aside, and a better ground of hope towards God is introduced, vii. 18,19. The superiority of Christ's priesthood is further shown by the fact that, unlike the Levitical priesthood, it was established with the solemnity of an oath on the part of God ; vii. 20-22 ; also, from its being unchangeable, inasmuch as he abides foreyer, vii. 23-25. It was also suitable that we should have such a High-priest as Jesus is ; not a sinful man, such as the law appoints, but the Son, appointed by the special declaration and oath of God, and exalted to perfect glory forever, vii. 26-28. PART IV.— CHAPTERS VJIL, IX., X. 1-18. Superiority of the high-priestly ministration of Christ in the heavenly Holy of holies. Christ, as High-priest, ministers in the heavenly Holy of holies, viii. 1-5. His service is as much more excellent than that of the Levitical high-priests, as the covenant by which he acts is superior to theirs, vs. 6, 7. The old covenant Is excep- tionable ; hence, the new is required; the promises of the new covenant recited, and the old represented as abrogated, vs. 8-13. The earthly tabernacle, consisting of the holy apartment and of the most holy, and its priestly ministi*ations, ix. 1-10. In contrast, the heavenly tabernacle, particularly its most holy apartment, and the high-priestly ministration of Christ therein, vs. 11-14. In this ministration he offers, not the blood of saci-ificed animals, but his own blood ; his blood, offered once forever, pro- cures, not a mere external isurification, but cleansing of the con- science and eternal redemption. Necessity of Christ's death for the validity of the new cov- enant and for the entrance of the called ones of past ages on XXII INTRODUCTION. the heavenly inheritance, vs. 15-24. The one offering of Christ, never to be repeated, in contrast with the repeated offerings of the high-priests, availing to this purpose, vs. 25-28. The availing efiScacy and superiority of Christ's one offering still further illustrated. The offering only, which Christ has once for all presented, can avail, since only that fulfils the Avill of God ; for the law with its annual re]Detition of the same sac- rifices cannot procure a pei-fect expiation ; it rather renews the remembrance of sins, x. 1-4. Hence Christ, in order to do what would be acceptable to God for expiation, appeared on earth, and, by offering up himself once forever, has secured for us deliverance from sin, vs. 5-10. The Jewish priests are perpetually repeating the same sacri- fices which can never avail for the removal of sins, v. 11. This is all they can do ; but Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, awaiting universal dominion ; for by one offering he has secured complete and eternal redemption for his followers, vs. 12-14. To this the Holy Spirit also bears witness in the promise which the Loed made through the new covenant that he would not at all remember the sins of his people, but wholly forgive them ; so that henceforth there can be no occasion for an addi- tional offering for sin, vs. 15-18. PART v.— CHAPTERS X. 19-39, XL, XII., XIII. Hortatory topics, proceeding from the truth maintained that through Jesus, and through him only, acceptance with God can be obtained. General exhortations, also, to Christian fidelity, with the closing salutations. Since Jesus has made a perfect exjjiation for sin, and conse- quently no additional, nor a repeated, saci-ifice can be admitted, the profession of the hope in Jesus must be maintained with steadfastness, x. 19-25. The doom of those who, knowing the truth respecting Jesus, turn away from him in contempt of the grace proposed, x. 26-31. INTRODUCTION. XXIII Encouragements not to abandon the hope of a recompense in heaven, but with enduring patience in doing the will of God to wait for tlie promised blessing. Faith in the promises of (xod indispensable to spiritual life ; but unbelief leads to perdition, X. 32-39. Faith, thus indispensable to spiritual life as being a realizing confidence of future blessings, illustrated by examples showing its efficacy, xi. 1-40. Thus encompassed with witnesses to the efficacy of ftiith and to the faithfulness of God, the Hebrews are exhorted to perse- vere in their Clmstian course, xii. 1-3. The sufferings of those who maintain faith in God are His paternal chastisements, xii. 4-11. The weak brethren to be encouraged ; peace and holiness to be cherished ; enticements to sinful gratification to be avoided, lest the promised blessing be irrecoverably forfeited, xii. 12-17. Believers in Jesus are not under a system of law and terror, but of grace which gives them assurance of heavenly glovj, xii. 18-24. The kingdom to which they belong will endure for- ever, xii. 25-29. Brotherly love and hospitality ; remembrance of those who ai'e in distress ; marriage to be honored and kept inviolate ; contentment, without covetousness, xiii. 1-6. Deceased spiritual guides to be kept in remembrance as ex- amples of faith. Since Jesus remains ever the same, doctrines alien to his gospel are to be avoided ; his followers ought to be established in grace, to the abandonment of the Jewish law, xiii. 7-16. A docile and obedient spirit towards their church officers, xiii. 17. The writer then solicits their prayers for him ; implores for them fitness for every good work ; requests their acceptance of his epistle ; acquaints them with his purpose to visit them soon, and closes with salutations, xiii. 18-25. THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, PART FIEST. CHAPTERS I., II. THE SON OF GOD CONTRASTED WITH THE ANGELS. § Dignity of the Son of God asserted in general terms, i. 1-4. § His superiority to the angels,!. 5-14. § The consequent superior obligation to obey him, ii. 1^. § His appointed inferiority to tha angels by his becoming a man, and his subsequent elevation to his perfected state of glory, ii, 6-9. § Propriety of his becoming a partaker of human nature, ii. 10-18. ^ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake PART I. CHAPTERS I., II. THE SON OF GOD CONTRASTED WITH THE ANGELS. This part opens with an assertion, in general terms, of the dignity of the Son of God, i. 1-4, and proceeds to maintain his superiority to the angels, 5-14. The consequent superior oblijra- tion to obey him is next urged, ii. 1-4. IliS appointed inferiority to the angels by his be- coming a MAN is then presented ; also, his sub- sequent elevation to his perfected state of glory, 5-9. The propriety of this intervening state of inferiority is particularly shown, 10-lS. CHAPTER I. 1. At sundry times and in divers manners; more literally, in many parts and in many ways. Reference is here had to the many successive portions in which the comiminications from God to men, which are presented as a whole in the Old Testament, were made from age to age; perhaps, also, to other communications which the do- sign of God did not require to be pre- served in writing. The revelations 25 in the Old Testament were given in numerous portions, successively from age to age; also on various occasions during the official service of each prophet, and cover a large period in the world's history. These revela- tions were made, also, through proph- ets who acted as servants of God, separately from one another and in successive times, and not as a contem- poraneous body of men, like the apos- tles, under the authority, and unfold- ing the teachings, or the princij^los, of one common Master who had appeared personally and given the requisite credentials of being the authorized revealer of God's will. The time during which the agency of prophets was employed was extended over many centuries, and thus, as the prophets were but mortal men, the communications from God must have been in numerous portions. Often, too, disclosures from God were made, during the prophetic ages, in refer- ence to persons and exigencies, which 3 26 H E B K E W S in time past luito the fathers by the prophets, ^ hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, w4iom he hath 'did not directly coucern other persons and occasions, and sometimes such disclosures pertained rather indirectly to the spiritual and eternal interests of men. — The divers inanne'^s, or many ways, refer to the various methods which God employed in making known his will to the prophets for the instruction, guidance, warning, or en- couragement of men. It would seem from expressions in the Old Testament that God sometimes directly imparted .0 prophets what they should declare; it other times, he instructed them ihrough the agency of angels. Some- times his will was expressed as clearly as language was capable of making it known ; at other times, signs and sym- bols were employed as showing his will. Visions were, also, used for the eame purpose. || Unto the fathers; the forefathers of the Hebrews from their commencement as a people as far down as to the ceasing of prophets in the nation, about 400 years before the coming of Christ. || By the prophets; literally, in the prophets. God is here represented as the real author of the communications which the prophets made. He was in the prophets, speak- ing in and through them ; so that their messages came really from him. Com- pare Matt. X. 20. The prophets were, as far as their nature and their essen- tial relation to God were concerned, on the same level as those whom they ad- dressed; differing only in being made agents of God's communications. — During all the time in which God was thus variously and occasionally mak- ing known his will, the revelation was fragmentary and incomplete. The fulness of time was not yet come for completing the revelation. This was reserved for the days of the Mes- siah. 2. In these last days; literally, ac- cording to the best critical editions of the original, at the last, or at the last part, the ending, of these days. This is a mode of speaking which was pecu- liar to the Hebrews. It originated from the fact that, agreeably lu divine predictions, they were expecting the advent of the Messiah. His advent was the grand epoch in the world's history, and constituted a dividing line between its two great portions, namely, the time before his advent, and the time, or the ages, after it, which time would endure forever, since the Messiah's kingdom would bo fully developed only in the eternal world. Among the Hebrews who lived before this event, the time then passing was denominated this age, these times, this world; and the period after this event was designated by corresponding terms, chiefly by the expression the world, or the age, which is coining, or briefly, the world to come. The same technical terms would nat- urally be used by a writer who was contrasting, after the Messiah had made his appearance, the two periods, since his Jewish readers would at once understand these days as a designation of the time which had reached its end, now that the age, or world, to come had actually been introduced by the ad- vent of the Messiah. — When the ante-Messianic times were approach- ing their end, in other words, when that period familiarly known as these times was closing up, Christ was an- nounced by his harbinger, Jo'on the Baptist, as about to appear; and shortly He himself came as the proin- ised One. The new age, the world to come, which was to endure forever, tlion commenced. — The translation, in these last days, though it is not a grammatical representation of the genuine original, conveys a general idea of the true meaning, since the term, the last days, is employed in Scripture to denote the days of the Messiah^s dispensation, as being the last division of time for the human race. See Acts ii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 1; 1 Peter i. 20; 2 Peter iii. 3; 1 John ii. 18; Judo 18. But the original is here more specific and fixes the atten- tion on the closing up of the Mosaic dis- pensation and the entering of the Mes- siah on his official work. At that CliAP.TEIl I 27 appointed licir of all things, l)^' whom also he made the point of time, G,j(1 spake by, more lit- erally in, His Son. He then spake, uot hath spoken, because tiie idea is not that now at the appointed time (iod has begun to speak and during the progress of the Messiah's dispensa- tion is still speakiny to us in His Son, though this sentiment is unquestion- ably true; but the idea is, that at the ending of the former times, the great fact took place that God sent his Son and spake in him to us, Hebrews, the posterity of those to whom the proph- ets had been sent. — Since this epistlo was written by a Christian Hebrew to Hebrew fellow-disciples for their spec- ial benefit, it was natural that the re- lation between them and their ances- tors should frequently appear.- — While the revelations through the prophets were in various parts and still left room for additions, and pointed for- ward to something better yet to bo in- troduced, the revelation by the Son of God is complete and final, since no superior agency can be employed. Revelation has reached its heiglit. This revelation, also, in conformity with ancient prophecy relative to " the last days" and with its own na- ture as making no account of national distinctions, but regarding men every- where in their relation to God as their common Creator and Judge, is de- signed for all men. — || Whom he hath appointed heir of all things; that is, whom he appointed possessor and lord of all things. In Hebrew fami- lies of early times, the first-born son was the heir by way of eminence. He not only received a double portion of the paternal estate. Dent. xxi. 17, but on arriving at maturity he was Considered, during the father's life- time, as joint-possessor of the estate and was associated with his father in the management of affairs. Thus, as we learn from Gen. 24th chapter, when Abraham sent his servant to his kins- man Bethuel, to obtain a daughter of his as Isaac's wife, the transaction appears to have been conducted with Laban, Bethuel's son, quite as much as with Bethuel himself; so much so, that when the two names are men- tioned jointly, that of Laban, the son, is mentioned first. In conformity with this view, the idea of heirship in respect to Christ, an idea naturally connected with that of Sonship, is simply that of the receiving of posses- sion and dominion. The divine ap- pointment was, that the Son of God should bo possessor and Lord of all, by virtue of his filial relation and his fidelity in that relation; and this thought would be readily apprehended by persons habituated to oriental views and practices relative to heir- ship. The relation of the first-born son to his father and to the family, in oriental regions, would make the term heir, as applied to the Son of God, not only intelligible, but singularly ex- pressive. — In respect to the posses- sion of all things and to universal lordship accorded to Christ, see Ps. ii. 8: " Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession ; " Ps. ex. 1 : " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool; " Matt. xi. 27: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father; " Matt, xxviii. 18: "AH power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" 1 Pet. iii. 22: "Who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." See also, Phil. ii. 9-11. — II By whom also he made the worlds. The creation of the visible universe is here ascribed to the Son of God, as the divinely appointed agent of this work. Creation is the work of God, and is expressly represented as discriminat- ing its author from all pretended dei- ties; so that the Creator is truly God. See Ps. xcvi. 5: "For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens;" Is xlii.5-8: "Thus saith God the Lord, ho that created the heavens and stretched them out," etc. Compare, also, Hcb. xi. 3: "The worlds were framed by the word of God." But, in the apportionment, as 28 HEBREWS. worlds ; ^ who being tlio brightness of Ms glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our •we may say, of divino operations, tlio agency of creating the universe was assigned to the Son of God. See John i. 3 : " All things were made by him;" Col. i. 16: " For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and in- visible," etc; 1 Cor. viii. C: " One Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things; " also, Eph. iii. 9: "God who created all things by Jesus Christ," (in which last passage, however, some critical editions of the Greek Testa- ment omit the words by Jesus Christ as not being genuine). — Thus he who, by the divino counsels, was to redeem the world was also its Creator. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory; that is, the effulgence, or radi- ance, of the Father's glory. — The Su- preme Being seems here represented as Light, or as dwelling in light, that cannot, for its splendor, be looked on. Compare 1 Tim. vi. IG: " Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto;" Ps. civ. 2: "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment." But a radiance proceeds from this light which can be beheld. The Son of God, conceived of as proceeding from the Father, is the radiance which is, so to speak, accommodated to human sight. — Compare Col. i. 15, where Christ is said to be "the image of the invisi- ble God." As the image, or likeness, of a man represents him and brings him to our apprehension, so Christ is a true representative of the Father, and through him wo rightly appre- hend the Father; as our Lord said, John xiv. 9: "He that hath seen mo hath seen the Father." 1| The express mage of his person; more exactly, the impressed, or engraven, rese?7iblance of his substance. The word here translated ex- press image means that which is (/raven or stamped, as in the case of the image, or likeness, of some person; for in-- stance, the stamped image on a coin, as representing the sovereign, or other ruler of a country. So the Son of God is the impress, or imprint of God's substance, an exact copy, or likeness, of God, a true expression of the divine nature. As the stamped image repre- sents a living person, so, though in a far higher sense, the Son of God rep- resents him and brings him to the ap- prehension of men. The idea is the same as in the former expression, brightness of the Father's glory: the Son of God is a true representative of the Father; and, as such, he has a transcendent dignity, both personal and otEcial. — || Upholding all things by the word of his power. The universe which was created by the agency of the Son is also sustained by him. The worlds are dependent on him for their being upheld, as well as originally for their creation: by him, Col. i. 17, all things consist. The word, or command, which he utters for the sustaining of the universe proceeds from and is fol- lowed by the requisite power; for this power is inherent in him; so th^t what he speaks is done, what he commands stands fast. Compare Matt. xi. 27, xxviii. 18. 11 When he had by himself purged our sins; or, as more nearly re- sembling tho most approved copies of the original, having himself made a pu- rification of sins; that is, having him- self, in his own person, made expia- tion for sins, so that we might be cleansed from their defilement, be freed from guilt and punishment, and be admitted to favor with God. — Siu brings moral defilement: when the sinner is pardoned and his guilt re- moved, he is regarded as cleansed; he can be looked on with favor by tho holy God. Christ made this expiation by his death, and all who receive Christ as their Saviour are no longer held as guiltj^, but are redeemed from the consequences of sin and cleansed from its defilement. Thus, we read in 1 John i. 7: "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin; " and in Rom. iii. 25, 2G: "Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a pro- pitiation through faith in his blood . . . that he might be just and the CHAPTER I. 1\) sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high • ^ being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Jesus made this expiation himself, by his own death, by becom- ing himself the propitiatory victim; " his own self bore our sins in his own body," 1 Pet. ii. 24. The Jewish ex- piations made by the priest, were, on the contrary, by means of animals offered up according to the Mosaic law.- II !Sat down on the riyht hand of the Majesty on high; sat down at the right hand of God in the highest heaven. See, also, Heb. viii. 1; x. 12; xii. 2. The Supreme Being is hero conceived of, according to human ap- prehension, as seated on the throne of the universe, and the Son of God as taking a seat at his right hand, the place of highest honor and dignity, occupied only by the Messiah as par- taker of the divine sovereignty. Compare Mark xvi. 19 ; Rom. viii. 34; Eph. i. 20; Cul. iii. 1; 1 Pet. iii. 22; Ps. ex. 1. See, also, Phil. ii. 9-11. — The customs of the early orientals relative to the first-born son of a family sharing in the care and management of affairs and occupying, as well as the father, the place of power, would make it appear to the original readers of this epistle, eminently befitting that the first-begotten, the only be- gotten Son of God, should be associ- ated with the Father in the supreme dominion of the universe. — Having humbled himself, agreeably to the divine will, to the endurance of an expiatory death, he is now exalted to glory and honor as Head over all things for the benefit of his followers. Eph. i. 22. The general view, thus given, of the dignity of Jesus as the Son of God, prepared the way for asserting, without the danger of contradiction, Lis superiority, first, to angels, and nest, to Moses. The great reverence with which the Jews universally re- garded Moses, made it necessary to approach the point of his inferiority to Jesus in as guarded and advanta- geous a manner as possible. 4. Being made so much better than the angels, etc. ; that is, having be- come so much superior to the angels as the name bestowed on him by the Father is superior to theirs. It is superiority in dignity and station on the part of Jesus which is hero in- tended to bo expressed. — The claim for Jesus of superiority to angels would be felt by the Hebrews as an asserting for him of very great dig- nity, since angels were held to bo of a vastly high rank in the scale of being. It is worthy of note, also, that the agency of angels was employed in establishing the religion of Moses, agreeably to Acts vii. 53, and Gal. iii. 19, and their dignity reflected a dig- nity also on that religioti. If now Jesus bo seen to be superior to angels, an important point is gained in refer- ence to the religion of Jesus as super- seding the Law of Moses. — || As he hath by inheritance obtained; literally, as he hath inherited, that is, has come into possession of, or, has had bo- stowed on him. This shade of meaning, quite usual in the Scrip- tures, is necessary, because the strict meaning of inheritance, according to modern usage in countries like ours, cannot of course hold here, as the possession could not be at all con- nected with the idea of death on the part of him by whom the possession was bestowed. || A more excellent name than they; a more distinguished more eminent name, or title, than that of angels. Tiie epistle here commences the contrasts by which the Superiority of Jesus is shown, in order to confirm the wavering faith of the Hebrew Christians. The first point of con- trast relates to the Superiority of Jesus to the Angels. This superiority is indicated in verse 5, by the very name, or title, bestowed on them re- spectively. It is shown again, in the 6th verse, by the fact that angels were required to worship the Son of God, thus reverently conceding to him 80 HEBREWS. ' For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee ? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? — ^ And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the an exceeding superiority. In verses 7-14, it is still further shown by the difference between angels and the Son of God in their respective agencies, positions, and attributes. 5. For unto which of the angels, etc.; literally. To which one of the angels. Did God ever say to any one of the angels. Thou art my son ? Angels, as an order of beings, are called sons of God; as in Job i. G; ii. 1; xxxviii. 7. So pious men may be called sons of God; as in John i. 12; Rem. viii. 14; 1 John iii. 1, 2. But no angel in particular was ever ad- dressed individually in language which implied, on his part, a truly filial re- lation to God; a relation, which would warrant the declaration, recorded in Ps. ii. 7: "This day have I begotten thee." — The precise meaning of the word translated this day, as here em- ployed, will always probably be a matter of doubtful speculation. Per- haps it was not, for the immediate purpose of the writer of the epistle, particularly important, since the force of this part of the passage soems to have been in the declaration, "I have begotten thee." This declaration was signally important, as confirming the assertion. Thou art my Son, and as showing such a relation between the Father and the Son as involved same- ness of nature, thus proving his entire superiority to angels. — The filial re- lation of the Son of God was familiar to the sacred writers; yet it was appre- hended in a way which did not con- flict with the real deity of the Son, since they regarded it as existing be- fore time began and as eternal. The sonshi2) of Jesus, however, is wrapped in mystery which will probably never be removed ; but that a relationship ex- isted between the Father and the !3on in bis pre-existent nature, which makes the term Son altogether appropriate, is according to the more obvious inter- pretation of Scripture. || And again, I will be to him a Father, etc. Another passage of Scripture, 2 Sam. vii. 14, is brought forward in reference to the name. Son of God. In this passage, God declares himself Father of the Messiah, and the Messiah his Son. It was understood at the time this epistle was written as having, at least ulti- mately, a real reference to the Mes- siah; for the writer would not, of course, in sustaining a declaration, use a passage of Scripture in a manner which would not be acknowledged by his readers as right, or which would not favorably impress their minds. Looking beyond the primary reference of the passage to the immediate de- scendant of king David, and thence to his posterity in the regal line, he employed it at once in its ultimate application to the great Son of David, who was in a far higher sense than any of David's descendants, the Son of God ; and this application of the pas- sage would meet the assent of all his readers. 6. And again, when he bringeth in, etc. Passing now from the dis- tinguished name. Son of God, as in- dicating a superiority to angels, the writer argues this superiority also from the fact that when the Son was introduced into the world in order to set up the kingdom, or reign, of God, the angels were required to pay hom- age to him, thus reverently acknowl- edging him as their superior. When he bringeth in; more correctly. When he brought in. \\ The first-bcgoltrn; literally, the first-born. The Sou of God is evidently meant. The term firit-born includes the idea of sonsbip, which is hero the prominent one: it is also significant not only of priority of existence, but also of dignity. Compare Ilom. viii. 29; Oul. i. lo ; Ps, Ixxxix. 27. God, having introduced the first-born into the world, saith: " And let all the angels of God wor- ship him." As the citations in this CHAPTER I, 31 ■world, he saitb, And let all the angels of God worship) him. — ^ And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. ^ Bnt unto the Son he saith, Tiiy throne, O God, is forever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. ^ Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; there- fore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of epistle from the Old Testament are throughout made, not from the He- brew text, but from the Scptuagint Greek version, the passage here cited was drawn from the Greek version of Deut. xxxii. 43, where, in the Vatican edition, the very words here cited are found. The application of this pas- sage to the Son of God was unques- tionably hold by the Jews; so that the use made of it would at once re- ceive the assent of the original read- ers of the epistle. — The present He- brew text of Deut. xxxii. 43, does not, indeed, contain a clause corresponding to the citation, and consequently the clause is not found in our English version of Deuteronomy ; but the He- brew text used by the Septuagint translators may have had the corre- sponding clause; and through the vi- cissitudes to which even the sacred Scriptures have been subject, it may have lost its place. It was evidently hold by the Jews as Sacred Writ, when this epistle was composed, and is in harmony with the completed revelation of the divine will. — Some writers maintain that the passage cited is Ps. xcvii. 7, translated in our version, " Worship him, all ye gods; " in place of which we find in the Sep- tuagint Greek version, used by the writer of this epistle, " Worship him, all ye his angels." But the form of the citation is scarcely reconcilable with this opinion. — A partial illustration of this adoration of the Son of God by the angels is probably found in tho praises uttered by " a multitude of tho heavenly host" at his birth, as related in Luke ii. 8-14. Compare E,ev. v. 11-14. 7. And of the any els he saith, etc. He now proceeds to the third proof of the superiority of the Son to the angels; namely, tho diverse terms which are used concerning angels and the Son of God respectively, as indi- cating their positions, their agencies, and their attributes. — Concerning the angels, the Scripture saith, Whi maketh his anjels spirits, etc. ; more correctly. Who maketh his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire, that is, lirjktninj. However elevated in rank the angels are, they are only, like the other created agencies of na- ture, ministers, or servants, to do the bidding of God; and they do it promptly. They go readily and swiftly on the errands of God, like winds and lightning; they occupy merely the place of servants ever ready to perform the tasks assigned them. — Tho passage is quoted from Ps. civ. 4, where also the word winds is preferable to spirits, and such a translation would l)e in harmony with the original language. 8, t). Bat unto the Son, etc.; more correctly, concerning the Son, he saith, etc. While angels are spoken of as servants of God, and are employed as are the ordinary agencies of nature, far different language is used concern- ing the Son. Quoting from Ps. xlv. C, 7, the writer maintains that the Son is addressed as God, as a King enthroned and having an everlasting dominion; as reigning in perfect righteousness; and as enjoying a condition of bliss incomparably beyond that of all who have shared in the honors of royalty. II A sceptre of righteousness, etc. A sceptre was anciently an emblem of royalty; the Messiah's sceptre is swayed in rectitude; his government is a perfectly righteous one. || There- fore, God, even thy God, hath anoint- ed thee with the oil of gladness; or, aojording to the judgment of some 32 HEBREWS. gladness above thy fellows. — ^^ And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. " They shall perish, but thou remainest ; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment ; ^ and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. — ^^ But to which of the angels said he at any time. Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ? ^* Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? distinguished grammatical authori- ties, Thercfure, O God, thy God hath anointed thee, etc. — Among the Ori- entals, to anoint a friend, or guost, with precious oil at his reception, was indicative of welcome and of respect, and, of course, contributed much to the pleasurablenoss of a festive occa- sion. Hence, as also from its fra- grance, the oil might well bo called oil of gladness. Accordingly, when God is said to have anointed his Son with the oil of gladness, the moaning is that he bestowed on him special honor and blessing. {{ Above thy fel- lows; that is, above, or beyond, thy fellow-kinr/s. In the fact of having a royal name and position, earthly kings are associates with the Messiah ; but the glory and bliss of the Messiah are incomparably beyond those of any earthly king. 10-12. And, Thou, Lord, in the he- ginning, etc. Still further, as showing the eminent dignity of the Son of God, as compared with the angels, the writer applies to him the declarations in Ps. cii. 25-27, as being the Lord who founded the earth and framed the heavens, and who will ever, amid tho decay and perishing of these created things, abide the same and imperish- able. II As a vesture shalt thou fold them up, etc. Like a worn-out mantle, tho heavens shall grow old and pass away, as if laid asido and useless. But change and decay can never come over the Son of God; he is always, forever, the same. — In conformity with the 2d verso of this chapter and passages there referred to, tho creation of tho universe is hero ascribed to tho Son of God ; and this great fact of his being the Creator seems to have car- ried with it the possession of all di- vine attributes, and, therefore, to admit of the application of this entire passage to him, in which ho is also represented as beyond tije liability to decay and change. 13, 14. The diversity in the terms used concerning tho Son of God and angels respectively is further shown by a quotation from Ps. ex. 1, and by the acknowledged employments of angels. In the passage quoted, Jeho- vah invites the Son to partnership in the divine throne, and promises him universal dominion. — Sit on my right hand, etc. See on verse 3. || TJntil I make, etc. The enemies of the Son of God shall not prevail against him; they shall all be subjugated; they shall all be put under his feet. 14. Are they not all ministering spirits, etc. In contrast with tho re- gal dignity of tho Son, and with his sitting at the right hand of tho Father, angels are spirits engaged in minis- tries, as servants of the sovereign Lord, in behalf of those who are to be saved. Tho difference is that between a king at tho right hand of God, and tho servants who are to obey the or- ders and execute the designs of that king. Thus the pre-eminent superiority of THE Son to the angels is establishet. by the name assigned to him, by th; requisition from tho angels of worshi; to him, and by tho disparity in th language concerning the Son ani. angels respectively, as to station, em ployment, and attributes. CHAPTER II. ^ Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. ^ For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience re- ceived a just recompense of reward ; ^ how shall we escape CHAPTER II. The pre-eminence of the Son as the Head of the new dispensation being established, an exhortation now fol- lows gi'ouuded on that fact, and sus- tained by the vastly greater authority of his dispensation than of that of Mosos; also, by the heavier condom- nation which disobedience to him incurs, than disobedience to the law of Moses incurred, the law which was communicated by angels, beings so inferior to him, vs. 1-4. — This exhor- tation is enforced by the consideration that God subjected the new dispensa- tion, not to angels, but to the Man who, after being in a state of inferi- ority to angels, has been crowned with glory and honor in heaven and made supreme over all things. Vs. 5-9. — The proi)riety of this humiliation of the Son of God to the tempted, suifer- ing and mortal condition of human nature, as preliminary to his complete official investitute and final exalta- tion, is then pointed out. Vs. 10- 18. 1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed; on account of the pre- eminence of the Son of God, above the angels, wo ought to give heed the more earnestly to the things which we have heard, that is, to the things which we have heard from him, the instructions of the gospel as distin- guished from the law of Moses. II Lest at any time we should let them jlip; or, more literally, lest we should carelessly glide by, and miss of the blessings which they offer. 2. For if the word spoken by angels, etc. The word spoken by angels here means the body of instructions in the Mosaic code of religion, or the law of Moses, which the Jews held to have been imparted through angels to Moses for delivery to the people. Thus, in Acts vii. 53, the Hebrews are said to have received the law by the disposition, or the arrangements, of angels; and in Gal. iii. It), the law is said to have been ordained, arranged, set completely in order, by angels. — The preseuoo of angels at the giv- ing of the law is not, indeed, men- tioned in the account of this transac- tion recorded in Ex. xx. 1, I'i, 22; but that their agency was held to bo employed on the occasion of the deliv- ery of the law to Moses, appears not only from the above-quoted passages in Acts and Galatians, but also from the Septuagint Greek translation, or para- phrase rather, of Deut. xxxiii. 2, which reads: " At his right hand wore angels with him;'' and from the statement of Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his Antiquities, xv. 5. 3: "We have learned from God the most excellent of our doctrines, and the most holy part of our law, by angels." — 1| A just recompense of reward; more simply, a just recompense, or requital. Reference is here had, of course, to the sure pun- ishment which followed acts of dis- obedience to the Mosaic law. 3. How shall we escape, if we neg- lect, etc. The writer, here, by a com- mon figure of speech, associates him- self with those whom he addresses, in order to gain more ready access to their hearts. The Hebrews here ad- dressed, though professedly believers in Jesus, still needed to bo cautioned against neglecting the instructions and promises of the gospel and allowing its blessings to slip from their grasp. — The blessings of the gospel are lost through neglect as well as through de- termined hostility to it. Indiiference to divine truth is a deadly foe to (33) 34 HEBREWS. if we neglect so great salvation ; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; * God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? the soul. Compare E,ov. iii. IG. II Which at the first brfjan to be spoken by the Lord, etc. Which at its begin- ning was declared by the Lord Jesus himself, and camo to us confirmed by those who had heard him. — It is be- lieved by some, that the writer hero classes himself among those who had not personally known and heard the Lord Jesus, but had received from our Lord's personal hearers their knowl- edge of the gospel. Others are of the opinion, that the writer, though ho may really have had personal knowl- edge of Jesus, here associates himself, as a writei', or a preacher, often does, with the company ho is addressing, in order to impart greater familiarity to his discourse, and to cherish the fra- ternal feeling on the part of his read- ers or hearers. This manner of speech, then, is not decisive as to the authorship of the epistle. 4. God also bearing them witness. The word them was inserted by our translators, as appears by the Italic letters, having no corresponding word in the original; but it is unnecessary. The idea is, that in addition to the personal teachings of Jesus .at the be- ginning of the gospel, and the con- firmation by those who had heard him, God bore a joint testimony to the truth of the evangelical announce- ments by the miracles which were wrought and the special gifts of the Holy Spirit. || Siy7i.s and wonders, etc. These various terms are accumulated rather for showing the abundance of the attestations which were given from above and for the sake of im- pression, than as discriminating be- tween different kinds of mighty deeds. The gifts of the Holy Spirit may also relate to the power of doing all these mighty works, sinco, in 1 Cor. xii. 4- 11, all special and miraculous attesta- tions to the truth of the Christian re- ligion are traced to the Holy Spirit. II According to his own will. It was of his good pleasure that God granted all these spiritual influences; and consequently those influences and the mighty deeds produced by them, man- ifest clearly the sanction of God to the gospel of Christ. The gospel, thus introduced and established by the Son of God, and divinely attested by so many and various wonderful works, claims ac- ceptance from all men, and cannot bo neglected but at extreme peril. 5. The exhortation in the preced- ing four verses is, in the following paragraph, further enforced by the consideration that, not to angels who had held a chief place in the giving of the Mosaic law, did God subject the gospel dispensation ; but that he made quite a different arrangement, and sub- jected it to a certain JVIan, — to that Man in whom a remarkable passage of Scripture must be found verified in all its fulness and exactness. The Man to whom the inspired description thus applies, can be no other than the Messiah, since so complete a dominion is promised to him that all things are put in subjection to him, and that even his enemies are to be made his foot- stool. And since this description is realized in Jesus, it is to him that the now dispensation is subjected, and to him, consequently, as its Head, we must look for its blessings. — Thus far, the writer has avoided the decla- ration that it is Jesus who was origi- nally the Son of God; now, however, having carefully prepared the way, his purpose requires him to claim for Jesus this dignity. He is aiming, in a somewhat circuitous manner, to set before the miiuls of the Hebrews an impressive view of Jesas as the I^Ian CHAPTER II. 35 " For unto the angels hath he not pat in sul)jcction the world to come, whereof we speak. " But one m a certain place testified, saying. What is man that thou art mindful in whom correct ideas of the promised Messiah are, and will hereafter be still more, realized. And by this course he advantageously presents the Messiah, who is the Son of God, as also a Son of Man, that is, a Man. — II Fur. This word introduces an en- forcement of the exhortation in the preceding four verses, by urging the fact that the Messianic dispensation, the new order of things which had so long been hoped for, with its great spiritual and eternal blessings, had been put in subjection to Jesus ; and, consequently, it is by being his fol- lowers that we are to obtain the prom- ised blessings. || Unto the awjels hath he not put in subjection; unto the angels, inferior beings, who are them- selves under subjection. — The old, or Mosaic, dispensation was regarded as bestowed through the agency of augols; and they were, therefore, in an important sense at its head. Not so, however, with the new, the Messi- anic, dispensation: God had appointed as its head one far superior, origi- nally, to them, indeed, the Lord of angels, but who, for the wisest pur- poses, had become somewhat inferior to them and who was again exalted to superiority over them, and to domin- ion over all things. || The world to come. This is one of the phrases by which the Messiah's dispensation, the system of grace for the salvation of men as distinguished from the law of Moses, was designated before it was in- troduced, and the phrase seems to have continued in use after tlie com- ing of Christ. It embraced the time subsequent to the appearing of Christ, extending indefinitely into the future, and including endless duration, eter- nity. See the remarks on i. 2. II Whereof we speak; of which the writer of the epistle was here speak- ing. The new dispensation was, in reality, the theme, or subject of this epistle. C. But one in a certain place testified, etc. See Ps. viii. 4-C. According to his custom in this epistle, a custom with which his original readers were familiar by the usage of Jewish writ- ers and teachers, and the propriety of which was universally conceded, tho writer selects the verses which he can appropriately employ, and regards them as having their ultimate and exact fulfilment only in the Messiah. — It seems to have been a general rule to regard, as relating to the JM^es- siah, any passages of sacred writ which, in their literal fulness and exactness, corresponded to him, or were thus fulfilled in him, as well as passages directly and originally point- ing to him. If, also, a passage, by a construction additional to its primary and direct meaning, found a fulfil- ment in the Messiah, it was regarded as having, by the divine intention, a variety and fulness of meaning which included its reference to tho Messiah ; and such passages, probably, carried peculiar conviction to Jewish minds. Tho passage quoted is accordingly taken as containing language signally applicable to tho Messiah. That, in the fulness of its meaning, it pointed to the Messiah, appears also from 1 Cor. XV. 27. Compare Eph. i. 22. Taken in this fulness of meaning, it brings to view A Man who is an object of singular affection to God; whom God placed in a condition somewhat below that of angels; whom ho had, nevertheless, subsequently crowned with glory and honor, and to whom he had subjected all things. This language is also, in tho usage of this epistle, to be understood with literal exactness; so that, when it is said that all thinjs are put in subjection under his feet, the meaning is that not one thing is excepted. — Of course, the limitation expressed in 1 Cor. xv. 27, is here taken for granted ; namelj', "He is excepted, whodidputall things under him." — Now, since all these cir- cumstances meet in Jesus, ho must bo 36 HEBREWS of him ? or the son of man, that thou visitest him ? ^ Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands : ^ thou hast put all things in subjec- THAT Man to whom God has made subject the world to come, that is, the new dispensation; and it is only through him, as being that man, that the blessings of the new dispensation can bo obtained. The main points here presented the writer proceeds to show as fulfilled in Jesus. He acknowledges, without hesitation and in the way of conces- sion, that we do not yet see all things \mi under him ; but at the same time assorts that we do see him, having been, in the form of man, made some- what lower than angels, now crowned with glory and honor on account of the death which he endured while in his state of inferiority to angels. The use of the expression not yet implies the thought that the complete subjec- tion of all things to him will hereafter take place; and his actual exaltation to glory, after his suffering of death, may even now be taken as an assur- ance, or pledge, that the subjection will in due time be brought about. Compare x. 13, where ho is mentioned as henceforth expecting, waiting, till his enemies shall be made his foot- stool. — This view is in harmony with the statement in 1 Cor. xv. 24-28, that the subjection of all things to him is to be completed at the end; at which epoch the design of the mediatorial reign having been accomplished, that reign will cease. — || Man . . son of 7nan. These two expressions are here equivalent. || Art mindful of him . . . . visitest him; rememberest him in kindness, and showest a care for him. God is said to visit men both in mercy when he sends relief and aid, as in Luke i. 68, 78; vii. 10; and in judgment, when he inflicts punish- ment, as in Ps. Ixxxix. 33 ; Jer. xiv. 10. 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; that is, a little lower in the scale of being. — In the psalm from which the quotation is made, the 8th, man's being placed a little below the angels is expressive of the great dignity which his Creator had ac- corded to him. As used in the pres- ent connection, however, it is intended to express inferiority of position, the state of humiliation which was ap- pointed for the Sou of God, in which he might perform the work of expia- tion. — This is an instance in which the sacred writer seems to find in a pas- sage of Scripture not only ruore than at first appears in it, but also a sense quite diverse from its original and primary sense, yet a sense which the language easily bears; and its capa- bility of bearing this sense, as well as the other, might make it more im- pressive and convincing to the Jewish mind, as showing fulness and diver- sity of application. It was taken as very specially applicable to the case in hand, and applicable in literal exactness; and in literal exactness having its verification solely in Jesus. We, of so different an age and quarter of the world, and with habits of thought so different from those of the Orientals, may not require an argu- ment, or an illustration, of this nature ; but the writer of this epistle, himself most intimately acquainted with the Jewish mind and aiming to fortify Jewish readers, would, of course, adapt himself to their tendencies, in which also he participated. To us, the results at which he was aiming are to be objects of main consideration, while the mode of argument, or illus- tration, or the processes of any kind by which ho led his original readers to the results, are of comparatively minor consideration. — {| Thou crowticdst him with glory and honor. In applying this clause, tire writer has in view the glory in heaven to which Jesus was exalted after his death and resurrection; though originally the dignity of man, as lord of this earthly sphere, was intended. CHAPTER II 37 tion under his feet. — For in that lie put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now ^ye see not yet all things put under him. ^ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for 8. Thou hast put all things in sub- jection under his feet. This clause in the psalm was originally meant to show, in a general manner, the do- miniun which man was to exercise over the inferior creation, the irra- tional orders of being on earth. But in applying it to Jesus, the writer of the epistle gives it a strictly literal meaning, as is also done in 1 Cor. xv. 27, extending the idea of all things to everything absolutely, with the sole exception of God, the Supreme. II For in that he put all in subjection under him, etc. This sentence contains the argument by which the writer confirms the view commenced in the 5th verse, that God did not subject the new dispensation to angels, but to THAT Man, who has been described. The argument may be stated thus: Since all things have been subjected to him, — a declaration, which could not be applicable to angels, — the new dispensation, being included in this universal declaration, had been sub- jected to him ; and hence, to his in- structions and requirements wo must give diligent heed, since from him, as the Head of the new dispensation, is to come our final award. || But now wc see not yet all things put under him; as yet, however, we do not see all things actually subjected to him. — This was eminently true at the time when this epistle was written. False religions were still prevailing in the world, and wickedness still held general sway; powers hostile to Jesus were still active in their opposition to him, and his decided friends were, in com- parison, few. Ho held, indeed, the position of an expectant conqueror, rather than of an actual conqueror, so far as complete and final conquest is concerned. But though all things were not yet brought under subjection to him, in due time the expected issue would come, when every knee should bow, in heaven and ou earth and under the earth, and every tonguo acknowl- edge him as Lord. From the nature of the case, this result is still future; but it is no less certain because future ; and even now wo may rest assured that it will take place, because the prelim- inaries to it are actually in operation, as is expressed in the next verso. — - Compare x. 13, where Christ, exalted to the right hand of God, is represent- ed as expecting, awaiting, the subjuga- tion of his enemies. When that takes place, all things will indeed be ia subjection to him. 9. But ive see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suf- fering of death, crowned with glory, etc. The idea here may be expressed in the following manner: — But we do see him who had been brought down to a state somewhat lower than that of angels, namely Jesus, now, on account of his suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. — He came down to this low condition of humanity so that he might be capable of suffering death ; a death, however, which was the appointed preliminary to his ex- altation to glory, and which by the grace of God he was to taste in behalf of mankind ; the design of which death, too, required that, in order to its effi- cacy, it should be followed by his exal- tation to glory. Both the humiliation of Christ and his exaltation were nec- essary in order that his death might avail for the great purpose of human salvation. — The evidence that Jesus had been exalted to the right hand of God is not here stated, since it would at once occur to the original readers of the epistle. His well-attested res- urrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, agreeably to his promise, John xvi. 7 ; Acts i. 4, 8; and all the miraculous deeds of the apostles and the wonderful interpositions of God in favor of the followers of Jesus, constituted a body S8 HEBREWS. the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour ; that he by the grace of God sliould taste death for every man. ■^'^ For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, of evidence for his exaltation which to a candid mind must have been irre- sistible. — II For the suffering of death. In our common translation, this clause is, by the insertion of the comma, connected with the preceding words as giving a reason why Jesus was made a little lower than the angels ; but the collocation of words in the original makes it sufficiently clear that this clause should be connected with the words crowned with glory and honor; the suffering of death being the gi'ound on which the exaltation of Jesus to glory was mado to rest. Ho was crowned with glory and honor/or, that is, 071 account of, the sujferinj of death. This death, to be succeeded by exaltation to the right hand of God, he suffered, that he might taste death for the benefit of mankind. He was exalted to glory, also, that this pur- pose of his death might be surely ac- complished. — II That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. Not that every man should actually experience the saving effi- cacy of the death of Jesus and enjoy the everlasting benefits which it pro- cures; but that by his death, under- gone for men as a sinful race, every man's spiritual necessities should be amply provided for, so " that whoso- ever belioveth in him should not per- ish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16; that is, that every man, of whatsoever nation, or people, or class, and however sinful, who should be- come a disciple of Jesus, heartily ac- cepting him as the Saviour, should be saved; for " ho is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world," 1 John ii. 2; iv. 14; and " the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe," 1 Tim. iv. 10. Compare John iii. 16- 19. — That the death of Jesus in be- half of man was an appointment by the grace of God, that is, by his loving kindness and favorable regard for men, is the current teaching of the New Testament. See John iii. 16; Rom. V. 8; viii. 32; Gal. i. 4; Eph. i. 7; 1 John iii. 16; iv. 9, 10. 10-18. The writer has thus far shown that Jesus, being the Son of God, is transcendently superior to angels; also, that he is that Man to whom God subjected all things with- out exception, so far as created things are concerned; and this is a dignity which, of course, involves his eleva- tion above angels, since they, as well as all other created beings and things, are put in subjection to him. Ho now proceeds to maintain the propriety of the arrangement by which he, who, as the author of salvation, was to lead numerous sons of God to glory, should himself be conducted to his station of perfect glory at the right hand of God through sufferings, and even the suffering of death. 10. For it became; it was mani- festly suitable and proper. || Him for whom are all things, etc ; that is, God, for whose glory and by whose power all things were created and are upheld. CompareRev.iv.il. See, also, Rom. xi. 36: " For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." || In bringing many sons unto glory. Tlie word translated in bringing relates, grammatically, in the original, to the word translated captain. — The idea of this passage is as follows : — He who was the captain, the leader, of their salvation was conducting many sons to glory; and it was evidently proper that in conducting to glory these sons of God, who were frail, suffering, mor- tal men, he himself, their leader, should attain the height of his per- fected state, in like manner, through sufferings. For both he and they were all from one Father ; so that he acknowledged them as his brethren; he could, therefore, sympathize with them and furnish appropriate succor in the difficulties and temptations CHAPTER II, 39 to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suf- ferings. " For both lie that sauctifieth and they who are which they must encounter. It was clearly a befitting arrangement, that between the children of God whom ho was to conduct to glory and himself there should bo sameness of uature and experience. — The word rendered Captain in this verse is elsewhere rendered Prince, Aots iii. 15; v. 31; and Author, Heb. xii. 2. The idea of leader is here appropriate, since the thought of conductiyvj , hriwjinrj on the way, is evidently the prominent one. — This verse cannot bo translated in strict correspondence to the original, on account of the diiferenco in idiom between the Greek language and our own. It may, however, be correctly represented in the following manner: — For it beca?ne him, on whose account are all things, and by whom are all things, to perfect, by means of sufferings, him who, as the captain of their salva- tion, was leading many sons to glory. (I To make . . perfect. The word thus translated is singularly compre- hensive. The idea of perfection, or completeness, is inherent in it; but the kind of perfection, or completeness, intended, is indicated by the connec- tion in which the word stands. It does not, here, relate to perfection of holiness, since Jesus always possessed this; but to perfection of state, or con- dition; namely, his being crowned with glory and honor, as stated in the 9th verse. And it is hero asserted as suitable, that as he was to lead to glory the sons of God, who must attain to this glory through the discipline of sufferings, he himself should be raised to his own perfect glory through suffer- ings. Thus, as is afterwards ex- plained, in verses 14-18, there would be similarity of experience between them and him, conducing to sympathy on his part and confidence in him on theirs. And as not only the result of being glorified was to be attained, but also a corresponding fitness for that result by having completely performed his official work, so the sufferings through which he was to pass would conduce, on his part, to perfectness of official qualification; while the suffer- ings which his people must endure conduce mainly to their moral fitness for heavenly glory; that is, to their becoming mature in piety. || Many sons; that is, many sous of God. The word many is here used in a sense which comprehends all the numerous sons of God who were to be led to glory. This designation of pious men as sons of God would seem to be here used as making the propriety of this arrangement more obvious; it was the Son of God who was leading to glory many sons of God; hence, it was evi- dently proper that he should, in order to secure this result, be reduced, for a certain period, to the level of the na- ture of the sons whom he was ap- pointed to save. 11. i^or, etc. The propriety that there should be, on the part of him who was to lead suffering sons of God to glory, the same capability of suffering as on their part, is now particularly dwelt on. This appropriateness is grounded on the fact that he and they, — ho, the espiator, procuring rcdemptiuu from punishment, and they, those for whom expiation is made, and who are, by virtue of it, made holy,— are all of one Father, and between them and him the fraternal relation exists.' Since, then, these children of God whom he was to lead to glory are subjected to suffering and death as partakers of flesh and blood, ho also became a partaker of flesh and blood, and thus became liable to suffering and death, so that ho might subvert the deadly power of Satan, and deliver the children of God from the bondage to which the fear of death had sub- jected them. Moreover, by partak- ing of their suffering and mortal nature, he could become a high-priest for them, to atone for their sins and give them aid in their temptations. — II For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified. The original word for sanctify has frequently in the Scripture the sense of consecratijig, or setting apart, persons or things for tho 40 II E B R E W S , sanctified are all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to cull them brethren ; ^ saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. ^^ And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold, I and the children which God hath given me. service of God. In reference to per- sons it has the sense of setting them, apart by means of certain acts signifi- cant of the removal of their sins. — In the usage of the New Testament, the idea of holy character in the sight of God is associated with that of being set apart for his service, or consecrated to him. — In the present passage it is Jesus who sanctifies, or does that by virtue of which certain persons are sot apart as holy and are accepted of God ; they who are sanctified, or thus set apart and accepted, are his followers. It is by his death, also, that they are released from the guilt of sin and brought into favor with God, as ap- pears from Hob. x. 10, 14, 29; xiii. 12. The clause might, therefore, so far as the sense is concerned, be ren- dered. For both he that expiateth and they for ivhom expiation is made. There is a striking agreement between this clause and the idea in the passage, i. 3, where our purification from sin is ascribed to Jesus. — The Hebrews had become accustomed, through their Greek translation of the Old Testa- ment, to the use of the word here rendered sanctify, as expressive of an etfectual expiation followed by consecration to God. In Job i. 5, the word sanctified illustrates this mean- ing. Job is said to have sanctified his children by offering up burnt-oiferings as an expiation for the sins which they might have committed. || Are all of one; that is, from one Father, namely, God. He is the Father of those who need salvation, and of him who effects salvation for them ; Matt, vi. 9; John xx. 17; 2 Cor. xi. 31; Eph. i. 3; 1 Pet. i. 3; and because they and he have one and the same Father, it is suitable that both he and they should be exalted to glory through a similar course of treatment. The common Father of the Redeemer and the redeemed sees fit, since the redeemed must undergo the prepara- tory discipline of suiferings, to appoint sufferings for the Redeemer also. II For which cause he is not ashamed, etc. ; on which account, that is, be- cause he and they proceed from one and the same Father, he willingly re- gards them as his brethren. 12. Saying, I will declare thy name, etc. This quotation is from Ps. xxii. 22; a psalm descriptive of the Mes- siah. II In the midst of the church. In the verse here cited, the word corre- sponding to church is, in our version of the Psalms, congregation. Either of these words sufficiently represents the Greek term, which is significant of an assembly, 13. And again, I will put my trust in him. The equivalent expression is found in 2 Sam. xxii. 3, and Ps. xviii. 2. This passage, regarded as a dec- laration made by Christ, indicates his brotherhood with all the children of God, both he and they alike putting their trust in their common Father. The sameness between him and them in point of nature, so that he may own them as his brethren, is shown by their being alike dependent on God and their alike cherishing reliance on him. II And again, Behold, I and the children, etc. These words are quoted from Is. viii. 18. As God had, for a special purpose, given certain children to the prophet Isaiah, so he had given to Christ the many sons of God to be atoned for and conducted to glory by him. Compare John vi. 37, 3i); xvii. 2, 9-12. As these sons of God and him- self were of one and the same Father, he acknowledged them as his brethren. — The clause cited from Isaiah would happily express the relation which Christ sustained to the redeemed CHAPTER II, 41 " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ; that through death he might destroy him that had the children of God, ho being their ap- pointed Head, tho first-born among many brethren, Rom. viii. 29. The use here made of tho clause was in ac- cordance with Jewish practice, and would at once be acceded to by those for whom the epistle was primarily intended. 14. Forasmuch then as the children, etc. Having thus presented to his readers the company of tho redeemed in the capacity of a family of children, tho writer states the fact that ho who was to bo the Head of that family assumed the same nature as the chil- dren composing it. As they were con- stituted of flesh and blood, that is, wore human, so he himself became a partaker with them in tho elements of human nature and thus became sus- ceptible of death. — The expression, flesh and blood, signifies human nature, rational as well as bodily; as, when our Lord said to his disciple Peter, Matt. xvi. 17, " Flesh and blood," that is, any human being, "hath not revealed it unto thee; " and the apostle Paul to the Galatians, Gal. i. 16, "I conferred not with flesh and blood; " that is, with any human being. As the body is the visible man, so flesh and blood represent the whole man. 11 That throuyh death he iniijht destroy him that had the power of death, etc. ; that by means of his submitting to death he might reduce to nought, might render powerless, him that has [not had] the power of death, that is, the devil. — Tho present tense, has, more correctly expresses the original. — According to views which prevailed among the ancient Hebrews, death was shrouded with terror, and Satan, the foe of God and of man, was re- garded as tho angel, or prince, of death, and as having power to inflict it. Tho account in the first and sec- ond chapters of Job shows that dis- eases and death were traced to Satan's agency, and that he was held to be tho inflicter of death, subject, how- ever, to the supreme will and power of God. This view, modified, of course, by tho rising light of tho gospel, would socm to have continued among the early followers of Christ. More- over, as the terribleness of death con- sists not in tho physical event, but in the righteous and irreversible retribu- tion to which it conducts tho sinful soul under tho judgment of God, 1 Cor. XV. 5C, Satan may well be re- garded as having the power of death, since he is eminently the tempter of men to sin, just as he was the tempter of our first parents, and had an agency in bringing them and their race to death. This malign power of Satan in leading men into sin, thus involving them in guilt and making the event of death so terrible to them, is frequently referred to in the New Testament. He deceives men and effects their ruin, Rev. xii. 9; xx. 3; Acts v. 3; Eph. ii. 2; 2 Tim. ii. 20. He hinders tho progress of tho gospel and puts im- pediments in the way of piety and Christian joy, Rom. xvi. 17-20; 1 Thess. ii. 18; Rev. ii. 10; xii. 10. He blinds men to the glories of heaven and the excellence of the gospel, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. He has been " a mur- derer from the beginning," John viii. 44. Satan, then, has at least an in- direct agency in the infliction of death, and in making the anticipation of it a source of so much fearful apprehen- sion. — That he ini-jht destroy, etc. ; that he might make powerless him that has swayed so deadly a power. The idea here intended is kindred with that convoyed in 1 Cor. xv. 26: "The last enemy, even death, shall be destroyed;" and is substantially the same as that in 2 Tim. i. 10: " Jesus Christ . . . who hath abolished death; " that is, hath ren- dered it powerless, brought it to nought. AVhatever power Satan has in blinding the minds of men, in se- ducing them to habitual sin, and in bringing them to a miserable death, 42 HEBREWS power of death, that is, the devil ; ^^ and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to this power Christ has rendered ineffec- tive in regard to his followers. They are rescued from it by the great De- liverer who came to destroy, to break up, the works of the devil, 1 John iii. 8. — Our Lord annulled the deadly power of Satan, by means of death, since his death was an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world ; by its virtue, the guilt of those who are united to him by faith is removed, forgiveness is granted to them, and acceptance with God, now and hereafter, is secured. For them the dreadfulness of death is removed; and they are warranted to look on it, not as a punishment, but only, agreeably to the idea of the dis- tinguished commentator, Alford, as the passage for them, as it was for Jesus himself, to a new and glorious life of triumph and blessedness. To the believer in Christ, then, death is no longer the king of dread. It is no longer invested with gloom, when viewed in the light of the instructions, the death, resurrection, and ascension, of Jesus; its sting is extracted, and the grave no longer has victory. " death, where is now thy sting ? Thanks be to God who givcth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. XV. 56, 57. Let believers but welcome to their souls the great truth that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, 1 John ii. 2; that he died for the ungodly, Rom. v. C; and admit, with all their fulness, the great ideas of life and immortality which Jesus has made so prominent and lucid, and which he has stamped with the seal of certainty, and they will no longer conceive of death as a harassing, ma- lignant power. 15. And deliver them who through fear of death, were all their lifetime, etc. The form of expression here used in the original indicates that reference is had not to a few believers in Jesus, whoso constitutional timidity, or mel- ancholy turn of mind, or inadequate view of the Saviour's expiation and of the pardoning mercy of God, does not allow them deliverance from harassing fears of death; but to the entire clas3 of pious men. Men, in general, through their conscious sinfulness and desert of divine wrath, are enslaved by fear of death ; and even the pious, in ages preceding the coming of Christ, were usually not disenthralled from that bondage. For down to the time of the actual death of Christ, truly pious men were, for the most part, through lack of New Testament ideas, destitute of that freedom from the fear of death which has so distinctly marked the experience of believers in him. His expiatory death, taking away their guilt, and the knowledge of that death, was necessary to true peace of mind, and the freedom of a filial spirit towards God. Rom. viii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 4-6. By his becoming a partaker of their mortal nature and by his death in their behalf, ho would annul for all the children of God the power of death and deliver them from those painful apprehensions which are inseparable from an obscure view of God's pardoning mercy, but which are dissipated by an intelligent, hearty faith in Christ. — The gloomy and distressing views to which even pious men of former ages were liable, and from which Jesus delivers his follow- ers, may be correctly apprehended by examining such passages as Ps. vi. 5, " In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" Ps. xxx. 9, " V/hat profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit ? Shall the dust praise thee ? shall it declare thy truth?" Ps. Ixxxviii. 10-12, "Wilt thou show wonders to the dead ? shall the dead arise and praise thee ? " Ps. cxv. 17, " The dead praise not the Lord;" Is. xxxvii. 18, "The grave cannot praise thee ; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." In contrast with these and as showing the clear and joyful light which Jesus has shed on the future state of his followers, see Luke xxiii. 43, "To-day shalt thou bo with mo in Paradise;" 1 Cor. xv. 35-37; 2 CHAPTER II. 43 bondage. ^^ For verily lie took not on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. ^^ Wherefore in all thinars it behoved him to be made like Cor. iv. 14-18; v. 1-8; Phil. i. 23, " For I am ia a strait botvvixt twu, having a dosiro to depart, and to bo with Christ, which is far hotter;" 1 Thoss. iy. 13, 18; 2 Tim. i. 10. IG. For verily he took not on him, etc. This verse ia our common trans- lation, which encumbers it with an addition in Italic words, fails to ex- hibit the real thought of the original, and oven forestalls the succeeding verso, thus causing a degree of tautol- ogy. It really, in tho original, gives a reason why the Son of God became a partaker of human nature, as stated in tho 14th verso; and may bo thus translated : — For verily it is not of aiiijels that he takes hold; that is, to deliver them; but it is of the seed of Abraham that he takes hold. Angels need no such aid ; they are not mor- tal; they are not in bondage through fear of death. But it is men, mortal, sinful, death-fearing men, whom he interposed to deliver. Eminently proper, then, for the Son of God, when Le would become a leader of salvation to men, is this ability to abolish the power of death over men, by means of his partaking, jointly with them, of human nature and by suffering death himself. || The seed of Abra- ham. The contrast here made be- tween the seed of Abraham and angels shows that it was not the seed of Abraham in a national point of view that was intended; but the seed of Abraham as representative of mankind, or, at least, of believers among all nations of men. — As this epistle was sent to Hebrew believers, who were lineal descendants of Abraham, it was natural that their outward relation to Abraham, particularly as they were, also, through faith in Jesus, his spir- itual posterity, should occur to the writer's mind, and give form to his ex- pression. Moreover, by using this expression, he would remind his read- ers of Abraham's faith, and of his being the father of believers, Rom. iv. 11, 12. Tho expression would, also, include the entire company of believ- ers of whatever nation, as would ap- pear from Rom. iv. 11, 12, 16, 17; also, Gal. iii. 7, They which are of faith, the same are tho children of Abraham; Gal. iii. 9, 14, 29, " If ye bo Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the prom- ise." Obviously, not tho natural de- scendants of Abraham, as such, are meant, but his spiritual posterity, be- lievers, the redeemed through faith in Jesus. — Perhaps, coo, those of the natural posterity of Abraham, who had, also, by faith become his spirit- ual posterity, were regarded, agree- ably to Rom. xi. 16, 17, as a primary stock into which other men were to be grafted in order to be saved, and thus all believers would constitute the seed of Abraham. 17. Wherefore in all things it be- hoved him, etc. Since, then, those whom he comes to deliver are men, he ought to become like them, his breth- ren. His brethren are tho numerous sons of God whom he was to lead to glory, verse 10, whom he acknowl- edged as his brethren, verse 11, called also,ia verses 13 and 14, the children whom God had given to him to redeem. — It behoved him; literally, he ought; that is, on the ground of fitness and propriety he ought to be like thorn, similar in nature and circumstances, that he might know by experience their liabilities and necessities, and that thoy might, correspondingly,, bo attracted towards him and affection- ately confide in him. — In all things; that is, in all things essential to their nature; also, in their liability to temptation and suffering. Sinfulness, howevor,is not included in these things ; fo^sin is not an original and essential attribute of our nature. Our first parents were originally without sin; still, their nature was human; so the Son of God became a partaker of sin- less human nature, with its liability 44 IIEBUEWS, unto Ids brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconcilia- tion for the sins of the people. ^^ For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. to suffering and temptation. It is ex- pressly said, in iv. 15, that Jesus was "without sin; " also, in 1 Pet. ii. 22, that he " did no sin." Though ho had all those natural susceptibilities to which temptation is directed, and by which it leads men into sin, and though in consequence of his having these human susceptibilities, tempta- tion actually assailed him, he had that strength of holy inclination and pur- pose which made him always com- pletely victorious over it. Such was his perfect consciousness of being sin- less that he challenged his adversaries to prove him otherwise: — "Which of you convinceth [more correctly, convictetK] me of sin ? " John viii. 46. He was as much like his brethren of mankind as he could be without sin. II That he might be a merciful and faith- ful Hiijh-priest, etc. It was necessary that he should become like his breth- ren, in order that he might be a High- priest for them in their spiritual and eternal concerns, merciful in his re- gards for them and faithful to their interests. Thus their cause would never suffer, and all their necessities would be met with favor and aid from above. — The high-priesthood of Jesus, which is the main topic of this epistle, is thus glanced at. The writ- er's mind was filled with this topic. By pertinent and touching references to it beforehand, he would gradually prepare his readers for the full treat- ment of it to which he was conducting them. — This official relation to his people was one of the great objects had in view by the Son of God when ha de- scended to a position a little lower than that of the angels. — || To make recon- ciliation, etc. This is the result to be ob- tained by his becoming a merciful and faithful Uigh-priest; namely, to make propitiation for the sins of his people, 1 John ii. 2, so that God might be propitious to them and adiuit them to his favor. — Under the Mosaic econ- omy, it was a part of the high-priest's office to make an annual offering of the blood of a slain animal on account of the transgressions of the nation, by virtue of which offering the nation's guilt was removed, Lev. xvi. 29-34. What was thus done for the Hebrew people ceremonially, and in regard to their national state, was to bo done by Jesus for his followers spiritually, and in regard to their personal relations to God. II The people. The connection shows that this propitiation was to be effectually made for those who are called the brethren of Jesus, the chil- dren of God given him to be re- deemed ; that is, the people of God. 18. For in that he himself hath suf- fered, etc. The fact that the Son of God in human nature has been person- ally subjected to temptations and suf- ferings, makes him know what it is to be tempted and to suffer, and what aid is necessary for tempted and suf- fering children of God. Mero5^ and faithfulness in a high-priest are emi- nently promoted by his having per- sonal experience of the necessities and dangers of those in favor of whom he acts. These necessities and dangers the Son of God well knew, for in his state of humiliation below angels ho was himself human, and endured, far beyond the experience of his people, the temptatiionsand sufferings incident to human nature in its period of pro- bation. The propriety of the Son of God, so transoendently superior to angels, be- coming reduced to a state somewhat inferior to theirs, is thus made evi- dent. And then, after this humilia- tion and as a recompense for it, xii. 2, he was, as being the Messiah, elevated to the right hand of God, crowiiod with glory aad honor, and having the assurance that all things should, in due time, be brought into subjection PART SECOND. CHAPTERS III., IV. SUPERIORITY OF JESUS CHRIST TO MOSES IN THE HOUSE, THAT IS, THE FAMILY, OF GOD. § Faithfulness ascribed both to Moses and to Jesus; but the position held by Christ in the family of God far more dignified than that of Moses, ili. 1-6. § Hortatory section, urging the Hebrews to make sure of the heavenly rest remaining for the people of God, iii. 7 — iv. 10. § The searching nature of God's word and his perfect knowledge of us, as enforcing the exhortation, iv. 11-13. § Encouragement to steadfastness, from the compassion of our High-priest in heaven, through whom mercy and grace may be obtained, iv. 14-16. ^ Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly to him. Wo may then take a twofold view of his superiority to the angels; namely, that which he had before ho became man, and that to which, as a result of his voluntary humiliation, he was afterwards exalted. The latter view, however, namely, that which per- tains to his glorified Messiah-nature, the writer's purpose did not require him to present at this stage of the epis- tle. This elevation to dignity and glory at the right hojid of God after volun- tary humiliation and suflFering, is minutely set forth in Phil. ii. 9-11, and 1 Pet. iii. 18, 22. 10. This exhortation is enforced by a consicl- eriition of the penetrating quality of divine truth as addressed to men, and of the must in- timate knowledge which God has even of our thoughts and purposes, iv. 11-13. Our confi- dence* in Jesus, the Son of God and our great High-priest in heaven, is to be steadfastly maintained, since he reg'ards us with coin])a3- sion, and through him we may, coming to God with our petitions, obtain mercy and grace, iv. 14-lG. PART II. CHAPTERS III., IV. STJPEBIORITr OP JESUS CHRIST TO MOSES IN" THE HOUSE, THAT IS, THE FAMILY, OF GOD. Tho second part of the epistle presents a com- parison between Jesus and Moses in respect to their fidelity and dignity in the respective posi- tions divinely assigned to them in the house, or family, of God. Faithfulness is ascribed both to Moses and to Christ, iii, 1, 2. Christ, how- ever, is entitled to greater honor than Moses, as bf'ing the founder and regulator of the family, iii. 3, 4. In regard to faithfulness, Christ has the superiority, because Moses acted only in tlie capacity of a servaiU in the family, but Christ administers its affairs as the Sun, iii. 6» 6. — A hortatory section follows, founded on the sentiment, that believers in Christ aro the people (the family) of God, and urging tho necessity of persevering faith and obedience in order to obtain the heavenly rest, which is still promised to the people of God, but from which tlie ancient Hebrews, who were professedly his people, were debarred in consequence of their disobedience and unbelief, iii. Z-IW; iv. 1- CHAPTER III. 1. Wherefore, etc. The preceding chapter ended with a mention of Jesus as a merciful and faithful High-priest for the people of God, to expiate for their sins, and to aid them when tempted. In view of his having been sent forth from God to men, and hav- ing become such a High-priest, the Hebrews aro called on carefully to con- sider him as specially entitled to their abiding confidence. || Holy brethren. The Hebrew believers are here ad- dressed as persons who, in consequence of the expiation which Jesus had made for their sins, ii. 11, had been deliv- ered from tlie condemnation and powpr of sin, and had become members of God's holy family. Whatever might be the case as to individuals among them, yet as a company of avowed followers of Jesus they were separated from the un- godly world and consecrated to God as holy persons, and, notwithstanding their weakness and deficiencies, were, ' on the whole, genuine disciples of Christ. Compare vi. 9, 10; x. 32-34. The expression holy brethren was then, 45 46 II E r. R E W S calling, consi Jer tlie Apostle and High-priest of our profes- both according to their profossion and according to the reality, applicable to thorn. The terms h dy, saints, sancti- fied, are ropcatidly used in the New Testament as designating the followers of Christ, Acts ix. 41; Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2, since those terms are indic- ative of what Christians are required to be, Eph. i. 4, and of what they re- ally are, so far as they are influeneod by the gospel. All departures from holy affection and conduct are depart- ures from the avowed obligations of Christ's disciples. || Partakers of the heavenly caJlinrj; that is, of the calling, or invitation, which addresses us from heaven, xii. 25, and which proposes heavenly blessings. The followers of Christ have been invited, and have accepted the invitation, to the enjoy- ment and the still continued pursuit of heavenly blessings. It is not earthly good to which they are specially in- vited, but that state of heavenly en- joyment which consists in pardon of sin, iu deliverance from its power, and from an unquiet conscience, in the well-grounded hope and ultimate pos- session of the bliss of heaven. Of this invitation, and of the blessings pro- posed in it, the followers of Christ are joint partakers. — Usually, in the New Testament, the calling, or invitation to the blessings of the heavenly king- dom is mentioned with reference to those who have accepted it: hence, the term the called is a designation oi fol- lowers of Christ; as in Rom. i. 6, 7; viii. 28"; 1 Cor. i. 2, 24; Judel; Rev. xvii. 14. II Consider; give special con- sideration, or earnest heed; the origi- nal word being expressive of intensity. The exhortation is of the same tenor as in ii. 1, where the superiority of Christ to the angels is the ground of the exhortation. Here the exhortation is grounded on the view of Jesus as having been sent from God and having become the Uigh-priest of his follow- ers, and consequently deserving special regard. The Hebrews, hero addressed, had been in the habit, like all the J ows, of paying special honor to Mo- oes, the faithful servant of God and bearer of God's messages to their fore- fathers : their chief regard and consid- eration are now claimed for Jesus. — This claim, while it did not disparage Moses iu reality, yet placed him in a subordinate position, and would, in all likelihood, encounter strong prejudices, not only on the part of Jews in gen- eral, but even of Jewish believers in Christ who wore vacillating in their faith. The wisdom of the writer, in putting this topic in the second place instead of putting it forth at the outset, is hence obvious; for if Christ be seen to be superior to angels, it would not be difficult for Jewish minds to ac- knowledge his superiority to Moses. The reasoning, then, very sagaciously commences with the higher point, and afterwards treats a comparatively low one; and thus what might seem, on a superficial view and to a modern reader, an objectionable arrangement, was by far the best adapted for gain- ing the assent of tho original readers. II The Apostle and Hifjh-priest of our pro- fession; him in whom we. have pro- fessed to believe as the one sent forth from God and as our High -priest. — The primary meaning of the word apostle in the original is, one who has been sent; and it here designates Christ as him whom the Father had specially sent into the world, John x. 30; xvii. 3; XX. 21, at the closing up of tho ancient dispensation, to make tho final revela- tion of his will, i. 1, in reference to tho salvation of men, ii. 3, and to lay down his life for their salvation, Jolm x. 11, 17, 18; Hob. ii. 9. — Christ is here pre- sented to contemplation in the twofold capacity of the messenger, Mai. iv. 1, sent forth from God to men, and tho High-priest, gone up to God from among men to act in behalf of his people. Tho Hebrew believers, like all others, had already avowed their reception of Jesus in this twofold capacity. — It is im- portant to bear in mind that the He- brews addressed in this epistle were avowed believers in Jesus, since it takes for granted that its original readers did not need arguments to prove that Jesus was the Son of God, as they had al- CHAPTER III. 47 sion, Christ Jesus ; ^ who was faithrul to Him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful iu all his house. * For this man was counted worthy of more glory than ready acted on their knowledge of his miracles and the other evidences of his divine commission. But they needed stronger faith in him, enlarged con- ceptions of his character and dignity, of his personal and official excellence, and of his great superiority to all whom they had been accustomed to regard with reverence. The epistle is not so much a series of arguments, as a series of views respecting Jesus, de- signed to cherish such a conviction in regard to him as would fortify them against the seducing influences of un- believers who sought, througli a pro- fessed respect for the authority of Moses, to disparage the claims of Jesus to religious reverence and confidence. 2. IF/i-) was faithful to Him that appiinted him; literaMy, being faithful to Him that appointed him, that is, to God who sent him. Reference is had to faithfulness at the present time as well as in the past: Jesus was faithful to God in the work given him on earth, and is still faithful in the relation which he ever sustains to the household of God. II As also Moses was faithful. Moses is here acknowledged as having been faithful to the high trust which had been committed to him, relative to the Jewish household of God. While asserting the faithfulness of Jesus, the writer would by no means disparage the reputation of Moses, but would concede to him grea* honor. Besides acknowledging a just claim for Moses, he would thus put the minds of read- ers into an attitude favorable for can- didly considering his view of the para- mount authority of Jesus. || In all his house. The word his here refers to the phrase Him that appointed him, that is, God; and thus it is the house, that is, the family, of God in which Moses is pronounced to have been faithful. Compare Num. xii. 7, where the Lord said concerning Moses, " My servant Moses is faithful in all mine house," which passage the writer of the epistle, U)ubtless, hero bad in view. 3. Having claimed for Jesus fidel- ity in the position to which God had appointed him, and conceded to Moses fidelity in his position, the writer now proceeds to point out the superiority of Jesus to Moses in two particulars: 1. Christ was the founder and ordcrer, or furnisher, of the house of God; an honor which could by no means be claimed for Moses. 2. The fidelity of Moses was that of a ohiet servant in tho family of God; while the fidelity of Christ is that of the first-born son. — For. This word is connected in sense with the word consider iu the first verse, and introduces an additional reason for the special regard which should be paid to Jesus as compared with Moses. || This man; Jesus. II Was accounted worthy, etc. ; rather, has been accounted, and is still ac- counted, worthy of more glory, that is, honor, or estimation. — According to the judgment of God and any correct view of the part which Christ has acted in the house of God, Christ is entitled to higher honor than Moses. || Inas- much as, etc. The superior estimation to which Christ is entitled is indicated by the superior honor which belongs to tho one who founded the house of God and furnished it with all its needful appointments, as compared with tho house itself thus furnished. In some- what similar terms, the head, or founder, of a family is worthy of more distinction than the family, since the family and all its departments of privi- lege and service are to bo traced to him. — The word house, throughout this paragraph, is not to be understood as meaning o building, but a household, or, more properly, a family; a family subsisting through many generations, as in the case of royal, or noble, fami- lies. It is also the house of God, as existing and set in order under the Mosaic dispensation, and subsequently under the Christian. Under the Mo- saic dispensation the family of God in- cluded the entire nation, with its array 48 HEBREWS Moses, inasmuch as he who hath buildecl the house hath more honor than the house. ■* For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. of priests and Levites and all tho ar- rangements for worship, and tho pro- vision for punishing, and for pardon- ing, transgression. The nation, thus constituting the family of God, wore required to be a holy people, obedient to God, and they had covenanted with him to be such, in view both of his threatenings and of his promises. See Ex. xix. 3-8; xxiv. 1-3; Deut. xxvi. 16-19; Josh. xxiv. 14-22. Though, as a nation, they violated their cove- nant engagements and lost the prom- ised blessings, they still had all the external and typical arrangements which distinguished them as the peo- ple of God, and still had promises of renewed favor on condition of penitent return to obedience. See Deut. iv. 29, XXX. 1-10. There was, also, ever among them a company of faithful children of God, who were acknowl- edged as his spiritual family, and to whom, in consequence of their piety, the blessing of eternal life was assured. Such was the family of God, particu- larly at the period soon after their de- liverance from Egypt, when the stat- utes and ordinances from heaven were communicated through Moses. To this family Moses belonged aL« a member and as the chief servant in administer- ing its affairs. |1 He who hath builded the house; rather, he who built the house. Tho original word for builded means, more strictly, prepared, sff in order: the connected idea of constructing, found- ing, creating, is also conveyed by it. Here the idea seems to be that of a person founding, or forming, or organ- izing, a household, and furnishing it with all needful accompaniments, such as servants and assistants of various sorts, so as to make the establishment complete according to oriental views. II Hath more honor than the house. The proportional glory, or honor, here as- signed to Christ and to Moses respect- ively, seems to involve the thought that Christ was tho founder and ar- ranger of tho house here specified. And this is in accordance with the oc- casional recognition in the New Testa- ment of the agency of Christ, in his pre-existent nature, previously to his advent. Thus, the creation of the universe is ascribed to his agency in John i. 3, in Col. i. 16, in Hub. i. 2; the wonderful appearance of Jehovah to the prophet Isaiah, related in Is. vi. 1-3, is said in John xii. 41 , to have been a manifestation of Christ's glory; and in 1 Cor. x. 4, 9, mention is made of Christ in a manner which best com- ports with the opinion that the agency of Christ in connection with the aftairs of the ancient Hebrews was familiar to the apostle's mind. Christ, then, as having established the Jewish family of God and set it in order, has more honor than the family itself with all its apparatus, since the founding of it and all its arrangements are tho result of his wisdom, power, and goodness. All that was good and excellent in the Jew- ish economy, both in itself and in its design of foreshadowing, and providing for, better things under the new dis- pensation, is but a reflection of the wisdom and goodness of Christ. Such honor as this could not be claimed for Moses, since ho was only the servant of God in communicating to the people the divine arrangements and in ad- ministering the atfairs accordingly. He did not found and furnish the house; he was a subordinate in it. — This view, if properly apprehended by the Hebrew Christians, would obvi- ously have had much force; since it shows that the honor which they had been in the habit of ascribing to Mo- ses, however great it was, ought really to be regarded as only a reflection of the honor which belonged to Christ as having originated and established the religious economy which Moses com- municated to the nation. 4. The founder of the house of God had just been mentioned. This house had, of course, some one as its founder; fur every house is builded by some mani CHAPTER III. 49 " And Moses verily loas faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after ; ® but Christ as a son over his own house ; that is, every house is founded and fur- nished by some one. The word one, some one, is preferable to the supplied word man; siuce the original word is iudofinito and would be applicable to any one, whe%er human, angelic, or divine. Every family has some founder: consequently, this family of God had its founder; and, as appears from the preceding verse, Christ was its founder. || But he that built all things is God. God, however, is to bo acknowledged as the universal Creator, or Founder, how true soever it be in respect to every particular household that some one had founded it. — This thought appears to have been inserted in order to forestall the supposition that the statement just made excluded the sovereign, all-comprehending, agency of God; which agency, however, the writer reminds us, is by no means overlooked in his declaration. — The founding of the household of God by Christ is to bo understood as performed in his capacity of the Son of God, who was in due time to appear as the Mes- siah and Saviour. 5. The superiority of Christ to Moses in point of dignity being thus, as it were incidentally, indicated, the fidelity of Moses and Christ respect- ively is i)ow resumed in order to show, in this respect also, tho superiority of Christ. — Moses verity was faithful in all His house. Moses indeed was faith- ful in the whole household of God, that is, in regard to all parts of it and all tho persons and things pertaining to it. II As a servant. Moses was put into the position of the chief servant, or steward, in the house of God. — The writer had before his mind the pic- ture, or representation, of an oriental family with a head-servant, or stew- ard, entrusted with the general care of its interests, and clothed with all needful authority of management and of control over the inferior servants. In families of distinction, the position was a very honorable one. || For a testimony, etc. ; for the purpose of tes- 5 tifying to tho people the things which should be spoken to him in order to be communicated to them for their ob- servance. Moses was made the medium of communicating to the people the divino commands and arrangements. Ho did not act otherwise than as under authority, and he was to see that all things pertaining to the ritual service were done agreeably to instructions given him from above. Compare Ex, XXV. 1; 9; also verse 22, "And there I will meet with thee, and I will com- mune with thee ... of all things which I will give thee in command- ment unto the children of Israel ; " al- so verse 40; Heb. viii. 5. Also, in Acts vii. 38, 44, Moses is said to have " received the lively oracles to give unto " the people ; and God is said to have required Moses to make "the tabernacle of witness according to the fashion that he had seen" in the mount. Moses accordingly gave the directions ; and the instructions received by him from time to time and communicated to the people, guided, even in the mi- nutest particulars, the arrangements in their affairs. 6. But Christ as a son over his own house. Tho translation his own house is not required by the original: the rendering should be. His house; that is, the house of God. — AVhile Moses must be acknowledged as having been faith- ful in his capacity of a servant in the household of God, to Christ must be conceded a far higher degree of faith- fulness, as being the Son, occupying a place of authority over the family of God. Christ is denominated tho First- born, the Only-begotten, Son of God. His position in this capacity was one of signal authority, illustrated as well, perhaps, as could be, yet of course in- adequately, by the usage in oriental families. The eldest son in those fami- lies was admitted to a share in the dig- nity and power belongin^o the father of the household; and nothing was done without his consent and co-opera- tion. In some instances it would soem 50 HEBREWS, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. ^ Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith. To-day if ye will that the son gave direction to affairs, and occupied, as it were, a paternal position. See the note on i. 2. The position of Christ in the houseliold of God was, then, one of high authority. Hence we see a reason for the different terms employed in this verse and the 5th; namely, Moses was faithful in God's house, but Christ was faithful over God's house. — || Whose house are we. Believers in Christ are here rep- resented as being the household of God over which Christ presides. They are now his family, as in ancient times the truly pious among the Hebrews, or Israelites, were. And in respect to the organization, or outward state, of be- lievers, by which they are separated from the world, Christ was the founder and orderer of it, as he was of the Jew- ish organized state. || If we holdfast the confidence, etc. Our membership in the family of God is dependent on our faith in Christ, which faith gives us a ground of joyful hope for heavenly blessings. We belong indeed to his family, if we steadfastly adhere to Christ in faith and hope. || The re- joicing of the hope; the rejoicing which springs from hope in Christ; or, the hope in which we rejoice. — Steadfast perseverance in Christian faith is essen- tial to our being acknowledged by our final Judge as members of the house- hold of God. Such is the uniform tes- timony of the Scriptures. See John viii. 31, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." John xv. (i, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered." Compare Matt. xiii. 8, 23; xxiv. 13, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Luke xiii. 24-27; Col. i. 21-23; 2 Pet. ii. 18. 7-19, etc. The necessity of a perse- vering adherence to Christ, if we would be acknowledged as members of the household of God and share in the ever- lasting blessings to be bestowed on his children, leads the writer now into a strain of exhortation, terminating with the 13th verse of the 4th chapter. It is grounded on the sad fate of the Is- raelites who perished in the wilder- ness, debarred from the heavenly rest, in consequence of their disbelieving the promise of God and of their diso- bedience. — Throughout this hortatory passage it is the thouglit of the heav- enly rest, as lost by the unbelieving Israelites, with which the writer's mind was occupied; their loss of a quiet settlement in Canaan, being com- paratively of so small moment and so inadequate to his purpose, is quite aside from his view, although the term rest was used in the Old Testament, Deut. xii. 9, 10, with reference to dwelling in the land of Canaan. 7. Wherefore, etc. ; that is, Since we, followers of Christ, are the house- hold of God, provided we persevere in our confident and joyful hope, etc. — Next follows a quotation from Ps. xcv. 7-11, which the writer employs as the groundwork of the exhortation to his readers to beware of unbelief and of forsaking God, lest they, like their disbelieving and disobedient ancestors, spoken of in the psalm, should fail of the promised rest in heaven. || As the Holy Ghost saith. It is interesting to observe here the direct ascription of the following verses to the Holy Spirit. Not only is their divine origin thus asserted, but they are also presented in a manner best adapted to make the sol- emn impression which the writer's pur- pose required. In iv. 7, God is said to have spoken these words in and through David. See also Acts i. 16. — The quotation, with nearly verbal ex- actness, gives the sense of the original passage. || To-day. As the Psalms were used in the public worship, every occasion of repeating this psalm re- minded the musical performers and the hearers that now, on the present pass- ing day, they were addressed in this exhortation; and it continued appli- cable to the Hebrews addressed in this epistle, as well as to their ancestors. CHAPTER III 51 hear his voice, ^ harden not j^our hearts, as in the provoca- tion, in the day of temptation in the wilderness : ^ when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. ^"^ Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said. They do always err in their heart ; and they have not knoAvn my ways. " So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. — ^^Take heed, brethren, lest there the mention of To-day reminding them of their ever-present and ever-pressing duty to heed the warning and to se- cure an entrance into the heavenly rest. 8. Harden not your hearts; become not insensible to the calls of God. |{ As in the provocation, etc. Compare Ex. xvii. 1-7, and Num. xx. 1-10, relative J;o the people's murmuring for water, as specimens of conduct provoking the displeasure of God. Numerous other instances occurred during the forty years of the journey through the des- ert, in which, though they saw the works of God, both of mercy and of judgment, they still withheld from him an affectionate, persevering trust and obedience. See, also, Ps. cvi. 7-33. II Your fathers tempted me, etc. ; tried me, or put me to the test. They put God to the test, as doubting whetlier he would keep his word. Compare Ex. xvii. 7 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 18-24. || Where- fore I was grieved. The original word is more intensive than our word grieved: God's holy wrath was kindled by their sins. 11 They have not known my ways; they knew not, that is, practically. They acted as if they knew not the ways in which God required them to walk; they paid no heed to his coun- sels; they consented not to his will. 11. So I sware — They shall not enter into my rest. The determination of God that the rebellious Israelites should not enter the promised land, which seems the primary, though by no means the exclusive, meaning of his declaration, is fully set forth, with the reasons for it, in Num. xiv. 22, 23, 27-32,35; xxxii. 10-13; also in Deut. i. 34, 35; and in Deut. xii. 9, 10, the term rest is applied to the quiet posses- sion of Canaan. But the writer of this epistle passes beyond this inferior view, and does nut at all recognize the set- tlement in Canaan as being the rest from which the unbelieving Israelites were debarred. That rest was such a rest as God is represented, in Gen. ii. 2, as having entered into when he had completed the creation of the world; rest in heaven for believers, when their earthly toils should be completed, as were God's works finished at the crea- tion. — The expression my rest, as used in this epistle, is equivalent to the rest into which I entered, and is evidently significant of heaven, which is to be en- tered on when the believer's earthly labors are ended. The writer was anx- ious, in this hortatory paragraph, to disabuse his readers' minds of the thought that the possession of Canaan was THE REST which their unbelieving forefathers had lost, and that the doom pronounced against them contained no deeper significance. Though the land of Canaan had been an object of prom- ise to the patriarchs and their de- scendants, — see Gen. xv. 16; xvii. 18; xxvi. 3; xxviii. 4; xxxv. 12, — and though the possession of it would indeed have been a resti7ig from the migratory life of the early Hebrews, and from the toils of the Arabian des- ert, yet such an earthly rest would be, after all, only an emblem, or type, of the true rest; and this emblematic ful- filment of the promises would seem to have become less and less regarded by the pious Jews, while that deeper mean- ing which would be applicable to all generations of the true people of God seems to have crowded out of the mind, particularly of the enlightened disci- ples of Jesus, the inferior and earthly fulfilment of the promises. 12. Take heed, brethren. The wri- ter now proceeds to use the quoted pas- sago as a ground of direct exhortation to his readers. || Lest there be in any 62 HEBREWS, be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. ^^ But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day ; lest auy of j^ou be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. " For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. ^ While it is said, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. ^^ For of you; or, more precisely, Lest there ehall be in any one of xou, as there was in your ancestors, an evil heart of unbelief; an evil and unbelieving heart; an evil heart in which unbelief bears sway, unbelief being hero made prominent as the cause of departing from God. {{ In departing, etc. ; in apostatizing from God, here denomi- nated the living God as being the over- living One, the God who claimed the faith and obedience of their forefa- thers ; as distinguished, also, from the false gods of the heathen ; and as the God of living power to do all his will, to execute his threatenings as well as to fulfil his promises. 13. Lest any of you, etc.; more literally. Lest any one from among YOU be hardened — as were mi^ny among your forefathers — against the calls of God by the deceitfulness of sin; that is, by the deceit which sin practises on those who yield to it. 14. The necessity of thus guarding against unbelief and departing from God arises from the principle, that we can attain to heavenly glory only through steadfastly maintaining to the end our confidence in Christ and in his promises. — For we are made partakers of Christ. To be a partaker of Christ is to be so connected with him as to par- take of the blessings which he bestows as being the author of salvation. True believers in him are members of the body of which he is the Head, Eph. v. 30, or members of the family of which he is the Head, verse 6th. Compare John i. 16, " And of his fulness have all we received." As being thus con- nected with him, believers are to share in the eternal bliss and glory which he will award. — The form of expression, we are made partakers, denotes what is HOW a fact; but it is employed in the way of anticipation, as appears by the conditional clause immediately follow- ing. II If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast, etc. ; if indeed, — such is the force of the original, — if indeed we hold the beginning of our con- fidence, that is, of our firm trust in Christ, and exj)ectation of heavenly good from him, steadfast unto the end, • namely, the end of our time of trial, whether the end of each one's life, or the ending of the present world, which event appears to have been expected among the earliest Christians as soon to take place, in connection, probably, with the coming of Christ to destroy Jerusalem. — The Hebrew brethren, like the Galatians, Gal. v. 7, had be- gun to confide in Christ; but in order to become actual partakers of the great objects for which they placed confi- dence in him, they must persevere. Compare 2 Pet. i. 5-11. A firm, un- yielding adherence to Christ in faith and hope was evidently enjoined as indispensable to obtaining heavenly good. See the note on verse 6th. 15. While it is said. To-day, if ye will hear his voice, etc. We must hold fast our confidence in Christ and j'ield ready obedience to God so long as the word To-day is used in the warnings of God to us ; so long as the day of life endures. 16. For some, etc. — Our common translation of this verse is very imper- fect, and wholly fails to represent the sense of the original. The writer's design was to show that the liability to become insensible to the calls of God and to depart from him, and thus to fail of obtaining the promised good, is great and imminent; and this liability is illustrated by the case of the unbe- lieving Israelites during their journey- ings in the desert. The true sense of CHAPTER III. 55 some, when they had heard, did provoke : howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. ^^ But with whom was he grieved forty years ? was it not with them that had sin- ned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? ^^ And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to the vorse may be presented in the fol- lowing manner, — For, who were thry that, having heard, did provoke God ? But why do I ask this ? Rather, were they not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses ? — In contemplating the unbelief and the fate of these an- cient Israelites, we may well, the wri- ter seems to say, tremble at our peril and give heed to the exhortation. The danger is fearfully great; for the gen- eration who left Egypt with the ex- pectation of entering the promised laud failed of entering it, andfiiiled of the heavenly rest. Not merely a few disbelieved God and perished; but the generation, as a whole, were debarred from the promised rest. — The verso as presented iu our English version is singularly inappropriate and deficient. Instead of setting forth the magnitude of the danger, it represents it as com- paratively small, and consequently diminishes the force of the exhorta- tion; for, if only so7ne, who had heard, provoked God by their unbelief, the tendency of men's hearts would be to regard themselves as likely to belong to the larger mass who, according to this view, were believing and obedi- ent, and obtained the blessing. — The error of our translators arose from their not apprehending here, as they did in the succeeding vorse, the inter- rogative force of the word which they rendered some. The word rendered howbeit was also misapprehended by them, and hence the difficulty of the passage was increased. The progress which has since their time been made in ordinary philology and in biblical ■ interpretation has relieved the passage of its difficulty. — It is also to be ob- served, that the word all is here to be taken in its general sense, and not ab- Eulutely, as meaning every orac without exception. The exceptions in the his- torical instance were so few, that, in an animated address like this, they 5* would naturally be overlooked. Of all the men who set out from Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua lived to enter the promised land. The entire generation of adults, that is, of persons over the age of twenty years, Num. xiv. 29, perished, with the exception of these two, since only these, on the memora- ble occasion of spying the land of Ca- naan and making a report, manifested an abiding faith in the promises of God. Even Moses and Aaron were not permitted to enter Canaan, though on other grounds. Num. xx. 12, than that for which the generation, as a whole, were cut off in the desert. — For the historical account see Num. chap. xiv. ; also, xxxii. 10-13; Deut. i. 22-36. — The number of truly pious persons in that entire generation must have been fearfully small; yet the eye of God may have seen some whose hearts were right with him, but who, from their position in society and from various circumstances, would not be reckoned among the actors in any public affairs, and would consequently be wholly overlooked in history. 17. But with whom was he grieved, etc. With whom was he angry, verso 10, forty years? Was it not with those who through disregard to the promisea and warnings of God relapsed into sin, and who perished in the desert ? 18. As showing still more impres- sively the necessity of persevering faith and obedience in order to attain to the promised blessing, a similar in- quiry is made respecting God's debar- ring, with the solemnity of an oath, the generation of the disobedient Isra- elites from the heavenly rest. — To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest ? The expression, his rest, agreeably to the view in the 4th chap- ter, means God's own rest, that on which, humanly speaking, God entered when he had completed the works of creation, Gen. ii. 2; in other words, 54 HEBREWS, them that believed not? ^' So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. the heavenly rest, such as God enjoys in heaven. See note on the 11th verse. II To them, that believed not; in the orig- inal, To them that obeyed 7iot; the same class mentioned in the preceding verse, them that had sinned. In these two verses, the im?nediate cause of the an- cient Israelites' failure to attain the promised blessing is stated, rather than the remote cause, the latent source, namely, unbelief. — Anger or wrath, ascribed to God in this paragraph, and elsewhere, is not a sudden and tempo- rary passionate excitement, like that which agitates men under provocations, and which impels them to take ven- geance, or to imprecate curses, on those who have injured them. It rather re- sembles the deep sense of a criminal's wrong-doing and ill-desert which is felt by a judge, or executive magis- trate, when, through an unswerving regard to his oflBcial duty as a minister of public justice and guardian of the rights and happiness of well-disposed members of society, he pronounces, or executes, the just doom of the law, with no personal gratification in so doing, but even with unfeigned sor- row for the unhappy fate of the crimi- nal. God's anger is his abiding dis- pleasure against all sin and his sense of the ill-desert of those who, against the just claims of the Creator and Ru- ler of all, who^is sovereign Goodness itself, disregard his authority and abuse his mercy. When sinfulness is specially manifested, and the special goodness of God towards an individual, or a generation, is grossly abused, it is not surprising that a corresponding special expression is made of God's sense of such wrongfulness and ill- desert; and such expression requires the strongest terms which human lan- guage employs, and the strongest modes of asserting God's determina- tion to inflict a righteous retribution. Hence, humanly speaking, he is angry, or wroth ; and swears, or uses the lan- guage of an oath, in order to assure men of the inevitableness of the doom which they incur. 19. So we see; literally. And we see, or, We sec also. \\ They could not enter in; tliat is, into his rest, the rest, or ceasing from labor, into which God is ropreseutod as having entered. || Be- cause of unbelief . The immediate cause of the Israelites' failure having been mentioned in the two preceding verses, the source whence the relapsing into sin proceeded, is now presented; namely, unbelief, or disbelief of the declarations of God, an evil heart of unbelief, as it is termed in the l'2th verse. Had they heartily believed his declarations and reposed an unwaver- ing confidence in him for their fulfil- ment, they would not have disobeyed, and would not have perished under hia displeasure. CHAPTER IV. The fate of the Israelites who per- ished in the desert is in this cliapter applied directly to the Hebrew follow- ers of Jesus, as a ground of warning to them against unbelief and disobedi- ence to God; for the promise of admis- sion into HIS REST was not only made to those ancient Israelites, who were the professed people of God, but it also remains good for the believing and obedient at the present time. In verses l-lO of this chapter it is maintained, first, that those who are here addressed had received, as well as their ancestors, the promise of enter- ing into God's rest. Secondly, that their ancestors failed of the offered benefit because they did not cherish faith in the promise; for, thirdly, this rest is the recompense of believers, ac- cording to God's declaration in the words. They, the unbelieving Israel- ites, shall not enter into my rest; a doom pronounced against that genera- tion of unbelieving Israelites, although the works from which God rested were finished at the creation; a clear inti- mation that THE REST still continued at that time, while that generation of Israelites was on earth, as a recom- pense for some. According to the CHAPTER IV. ^ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. ^ For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them : but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. ^ For we which have believed do enter into rest ; as he said. As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest : same declaration, this rest is the rec- ompense of believers, fur it was unbe- lievers who were debarred from it. It is maintained, fourthly, that this rest still remains as the recompense for the believing; for, long after the time of the disobedient Israelites, namely, in the time of David, God marked out a certain day for its attainment by those who should obey his voice, that is. To- day ; so that the settlement of the peo- ple in the land of Canaan under Joshua, so long before the time of David, could not have been tub kest; and hence, it still remains for the people of God, to be entered on by them in successive generations when their earthly labors are ended. 1. Let us therefore fear, etc. Let us, therefore, fear lest, a promise of entering into his rest still remaining, any one from among you, believers in Jesus, should fail of it as did your fore- fathers. — The assertion, tliat there still remains to the believing a promise of entering into God's rest, being of prime importance in order to admit- ting the force of the exhortation cited in the preceding chapter, it is here made a matter of argument; and the Cimclusion, as stated in the 'Jth verse, is substantially the same as the implied assertion in this verse; namely, there remaineth a rest for the people of God. II His rest; the rest on which, speaking after the manner of men, God entered when he had finished the creation, Gen. ii. 2; the rest in heaven. In Ex. xxxi. 17, the strong expression is used, " On the seventh day the Lord rested and was refreshed." || Seem to come sh'irt of it. The word seem is not here par- ticularly emphatic, as though convey- ing the wish that no one might even seem to come short ; but it is used ac- cording to the refinement of the Greek style of address as a mild, conciliatory term, in order to avoid apparent arro- gance and repulsiveness. A similar instance occurs in xii. 11, where it is said, " No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous ; " and in 1 Cor. xi. 16, " If any man seem to be con- tentious." In our ordinary conversa- tion we frequently employ the words seem and appear in a similar manner. — To come short ofit; literally, to have come short of it. In accordance with the perfect tense here used in the orig- inal, the writer was looking forward to the time when the bestowal of the promise is to be made, and when those who through unbelief and disobedi- ence shall have forfeited the blessing will indeed appear to have come short of it. 2. For unto us was the gospel preacjied, etc. ; more correctly. For unto us have glad tidings been announced as well as unto them; that is. We have received the joyful promise of the rest as well as they. || But the word preached, etc. ; more correctly. But the declaration which they heard did not profit them, because they did not have faith in it. 3. For we which have believed do en- ter into rest; rather, into the rest, that rest which God denominated his rest. Itiabelievers who enter into that rest: THAT REijT is the recompense for be- lievers, as appears from the declara- tion, They, the unbelieving Israelites, shall not enter into my rest. || Jf they shall enter, etc. This is the He- brew formula of an oath, transferred to the Greek version; and it amounts to a most ))ositive assertion. It is rightly translated in iii. 11, " They 65 S6 HEBREWS. although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ^ For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. ^ And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. ^ Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: ^ again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time ; as it is said, shall not enter." || Although the works were finished, etc. ; that is, God thus and at that time spake of his rest, al- though the works from which he rested were finished at ending the creation; that rest, then, was still abiding, as a recompense to be bestowed on some men. 4. For he spake in a certain place, etc. In proof that God entered on his rest at terminating the work of crea- tion, the passage in Gen. ii. 2 is pro- duced; and the term rested in this quuttid passage is considered as ex- plaining the words viy rest in the oath uttered against the unbelieving Isra- elites. 5. And in this place again, If, etc. The language of the oath is now em- ployed for the additional purpose of confirming the thought that the rest is to be bestowed on believeus ; for it was -of the unbelieving Israelites that God said, They shall not enter into my rest. — The language of this doom serves the twofold purpose of showing, first, in the 3d verse, that believers are to enter into the best; and, secmidly, in the 5th verse, that believers, and believers only, are to enter into this rest. 6. The thought that the rest still CONTINUES for bestowal on believers is next presented. — Sceiiig therefore it re- maineth, etc. Since, then, it remains that some are to enter into this rest (else God would not have spoken of it as that into which believers enter, and from which unbelievers are debarred), and since they who formerly received the joyful tidings, namely, the unbe- lieving Israelites, entered not into it, God specified at a subsequent time (as appears in the next verse) another day during which this rest might be se- cured. II They to whom, it was first preached; more properly. They who for- merly received the joyful tidings. II Be- cause of unbelief; literally, because of disobedience. 7. Again; that is, at a still later period of time, after having debarred the disobedient Israelites from the REST. — In many editions of the Eng- lish version a parenthesis is here used, embracing verses 7-10. This was in- serted by the translators, but errone- ously, as it impairs the proper connec- tion of the passage. The word again, with which the 7th verse commences, was designed to introduce the thought that God had, long after the time of the unbelieving generation, called the attention of men to this rest still again, and specified a certain day, or time, for securing it. || He li7nitcth; more properly. He niarhcth out, ap- pointeth. \\ Saying in David; in and through David. — The 9oth Psalm, here referred to, is in tho Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament ascribed to David. || To-day. Ac- cording to the original, this word ought to have been placed, in the translation, immediately after the words a certain day, since it mentions the day, or time, in which tho rest, as still promised to believers, might be made sure of; namely. To-day, while the voice of God still addresses us; so long as the term To-day can be em- ployed, so long the rest continues an object of promise. || After so long a time; that is, so long a thne as from tho denunciation in the desert to the exhortation by the psalmist David. Tb*! CHAPTER IV. 57 To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. *For if Jesus had given them rest, then "would he not after- ward have spoken of another day. ^ There remaineth, there- fore, a rest to the people of God. -^^ For he that is entered rest still remained in David's time as an object to be sought; and it still re- mains so long as To-day continues. It is, therefore, so long as life endures, a still future rest. Compare 2 Cor. vi. 2, " Now is the accepted time ; now is the day of salvation." || As it is said; leath- er, according to the more correct editions of the Greek Testament, As it has been before said; namely, in iii. 15. — It is an obvious reflection, that if we fail to secure this during the time which God has appointed for our se- curing it, the failure is irreparable ! We incur a loss which can never be retrieved ! 8. For if Jesus, etc. The word Je- sus signifies here, as also in Acts vii. 45, Joshua, who after the death of Mo- ses led the Israelites into Canaan and divided the country among them. The Hebrew name Joshua can bo e.xpressed in the Greek, the original language of this epistle, only by the name Jesus. — Since the rest was still an object of promise in the time of David, it is evi- dent that the settlement of the people in Canaan under Joshua, so long a time before David, was not the rest; for if Joshua had led them into the rest God would not, after the time of Joshua, have spoken of another day in which the rest might be gained. But as, long after the age of Joshua, men were cautioned against failing of it, and another definite time was marked out, so late as the age of David, in which it might be secured, that rest still remains to be gained or to be lost. II Then Would he not have spoken, etc. ; then God would not have spoken of ajiotherdnj during which the rest might bo secured. Yet he did speak, in the time of David, so long after Joshua's time, of another day. 9. There remaineth, therefore, a rest, etc. Hence it is evident that there stdl remains a sacred resting to the pL'ople of God. This conclusion fol- lows from the preceding reasoning, and is in agreement with the promise al- luded to in the first verse; and, in ac- cordance with the language of the psalmist, To-day is still the time ia which it is to be sought. — A rest. The original word for rest here used is a different one from that which occurs ia preceding verses. It is formed from tho original term for sabbath; if trans- ferred to our language, it would be sabbatism, and it signifies sabbath-keep- ing, or ceasinrj from labor. It was natu- rally suggested by tho use made, ia preceding verses, of the seventh day, as that on which God ceased, or rested, from the work of creation, and which he set apart as thenceforth to be a day for man's resting from ordinary earthly labors. It is not only, hero, equiva- lent to the word elsewhere used in this connection for rest, but was probably designed to intimate a resemblance be- tween the heavenly rest and the sab- bath-repose from the labors and cares of earthly life; those labors and cares being wholly and forever laid aside at a person's entering on the heavenly rest, or heavenly sabbath-keeping, like as they are partially and temporarily laid aside on each weekly sabbath. 10. For he that is entered, etc. That rest still remains; for it is to be en- tered on after the labors of earth are terminated, according as God entered on /ii6- rest after completing the work of creation. \\ His rest; God's rest, that on which God entered, and which he has called my rest. The man who has entered on that rest ceased himself from his earthly works just as God did from his own works. — That rest is rest in heaven for the people of God when their earthly labors are ended. " Bles- sed are the dead which die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors," Rev. xiv. 13. — Yet this rest is not a state of inac- tive repose. On tho contrary, as Gi.d, though " he rested from all liis work," Gen. ii. 2, yet " worketh hitherto," 58 H E B R E AV S into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. John V. 17, so they who " rest from their labors " on earth cease not from unwearying activity ia doing the will of God. — This passage, it may be re- marked in passing, is incompatible with the notion that the human soul sinks, at the death of the body, into a state of sleep, or of unconsciousness. It plainly teaches that at death, which terminates the labors of earth, a rest- ing in heaven, comparable to the state in which God is, awaits the truly pious. As the paragraph embracing verses 1-10 is, in our common English ver- sion, singularly imperfect, it seems desirable to present the following free translation of it: — Let us, then, fear lest, a promise of entering into his rest still remaining, any one from among you may, at last, seem to have come short of it. For we have received, as well as they, the joyful message: but the declaration of God which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For wo enter into the rest who have believed ; according as he spake, So I sware in my wrath, They shall not ENTER INTO MY REST. And this he said at that period, though the works from which ho rested were finished from the foundation of the world; for he has somewhere said concerning the seventh day, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And that BELIEVERS are to enter into his rest appears again from this passage, They, the unbulieving Israelites, shall not enter into my rest. — Since, then, it remains that some are to enter into it, and they who formerly received the joj'ful message entered not into it, on account of disobedience, God again marks out a certain day, namely, To- day, saying in David, after so long a time from the age of the unbelieving Israelites, as has before been said, To- day, if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The rest, then, still remained in the days of David as fu- ture and as an object of promise ; for if Joshua had led the people into the REST, God would not have afterward spoken of another day as a time for gaining it. There certainly, then, re- mains a rest to the people of God ; for one who has entered into His rest ceased from his earthly works as God did from his own works. In the several passages of the Old Testament which relate to the debar- ring of the rebellious Israelites from the land of Canaan, and which employ the term rest in reference to the settle- ment of the people in that country, Num. 14th chapter, and xxxii. 10-13 ; Deut. iii. 20; xii. 9, 10; xxv. 19; Josh, i. 13, I'j; xxi. 44, no mention is made of such an extension of thought con- cerning that land and the resting in it as to show that the heavenly land, or heavenly rest, was understood by the ancient Hebrews as included in it. Tha representations and arguments in Heb. iii. 18, 19, iv. 1-10, proceed, however, on the principle that this extension of thought was apprehended by them. Perhaps this may be accounted for by the consideration that, in the prog- ress of religious knowledge and of ac- quaintance with the Scriptures, and particularly after the gospel began to reflect light on the Old Testament, re- ligious teachers came to perceive the greater comprehensiveness of the word of God than was obvious at first read- ing, and they detected under the lit- eral expression a remote significance of spiritual and eternal things. Perhaps, again, it may be justly said, that all the temporal recompenses to be awarded to the Jews, as a people and as individuals, were in reality only emblems of the eternal recompenses in reserve for them; and that this mode of understanding the Scriptures was apprehended at an early period of the nation. Still another view may be takea, which agrees with the spiritual mode of understanding the pTrnnined ifU as- sumed in this part of the epistle. — CHAPTER IV. 59 " Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. " For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two- Though tho rewards promised to the Israelites in ease of their obedience to the divine commands were temporal, yet the obedieuco required of them and promised by them was a genuine obedience springing from supreme lovo to God. It was not an external and ccromouial obedience only; but as truly the sincere obedience of the heart as is that required by the gospel. Now, with such a spirit towards God as this would indicate on the part of the obe- dient, the merely temporal rewards would, of course, be inadequate: they would be suitable while the persons should remain in this temporal state; but on their departure to the unseen world, only the heavenly recompenses would be suitable, and these would certainly bo given. In the divine mind, then, the ultimate and eternal blessings were as really designed to be bestowed as the present and temporal. Hence, a sacred writer, commenting on passages of the ancient Scriptures, a long time after the period alluded to in them, might be expected to leave quite out of account the present and temporal recompense, and bring into prominence the spiritual and eternal, as the ground of encouragement and warning. That the radical ditference between the righteous and the wicked is found in the Old Testament, that a truly spiritual obedience was required in the Old Testament, and that cordial penitence for transgression was re- quired and graciously accepted by God in those early times, and that ceremo- nial service without such penitence could not avail for recovering the lost favor of God, must be evident to every attentive reader of the Pentateuch and the other historical books, of the Pi'alms, of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets. And since the service which God required was a service of the whole heart, it is not surprising that he purposed to recompense the obedient Israelites not only with a quiet gettloment in Canaan, but also with REST IN HEAVEx; and, conse- quently, that the unbelieving and dis- obedient Israelites were debarred, not only from Canaan, but also from heaven. 11. Let us labor therefore, etc. Since, then, the promise of entering into that REST still remains, let us bo in earnest to gain it. Compare vi. 11, 12; 2 Pet. i. lU. II Lent any man fall, etc.; lest any one fall into destruction as did the disobedient Israelites. Comparo verso 1. — Unbelief; literally, disobedience. 12, 13. This incitement to give all diligence for attaining to the heavenly rest is further enforced by the consid- eration that divine truth, as delivered from God to man, has in it life and energy, and penetrates to the inmost soul, judging the very thoughts; that nothing is concealed from God; all things are open to his inspection. — For the utjrd of God; the messages of God to men; his revealed will, par- ticularly the system of divine di^ctriue by the Son of God. Compare xiii. 7. II Is quick. The term quick in the Bi- ble has the sense of livmj. The word of God is not a dead mass of instruc- tions, incapable of acting on men'a souls, ministering nothing to their spiritual life. On the contrary, it is a living agency, and wakes to ready ac- tivity the dormant powers of men. II And p,werlul; full of energy, effec- tive in producing results. The gospel, thus powerful, secures to those who obey it the heavenly rest as the appropriate result of their faith in its promises and their obedience to its directions: it also effectually debars from that rest those who are not in good earnest seek- ing it, but are neglecting the great salvation. To the one it is a savor of life unto life; to the other, of death unto death. Compare 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. Obedience to the gospel tends directly and strongly to produce fitness for sal- vation, while those who obey it not be- come "thereby fitted to destruction," Kom. ix. 22. || Sharper than any two' 60 HEBREWS, edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of tlie joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ^^ Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight : but all things edged sword; a sword which cuts both ways, and therefore does sare execu- tion. This comparison is made in or- der to illustrate the power, or effective- ness, of the word of God; it more surely executes its purpose of mercy and of judgment than does a double- edged sword answer the purpose of a man who skilfu41y wields it. || Pierc- ing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. The idea of a sword is still further employed to illustrate the pene- trating, scrutinizing quality of divine truth. The word of Ood pierces deeply into man; it penetrates through the surface even to the dividing of the Boul asunder and to the dividing asun- der of the spirit. A two-edged sword pierces through the flesh and sundei'S it : the word of God, sharper than that, penetrates to the interior of man's na- ture, dividing, as it were, the sentient soul, that is, the seat of man's natural life and impulses; dividing asunder, also, the spirit, that is, the rational and moral part of man. The idea is that of close scrutiny, a)id of gaining access to the very inmost of man's heart and causing it to feel the power of divine truth. || And of the joints and marrow; another mode of express- ing the same thought. The word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword ; for while a sword pierces and sunders the flesh, the word of God goes so deep into the soul, with its scrutinizing power, that its operation may be likened to that of dividing the joints of a living body, yea, even of pene- trating through the bones to the mar- row and dividing even that. — The dividing of joints and marrow may have been a proverbial expression, of a hy- perbolical character (such as common sayings frequently are; compare our Lord's simile, in Matt. xix. 24, of a camel going through the eye of a needle), as if one should conceive of a Bword capable of penetrating through bones into the marrow. If it were a proverbial expression, its use after tho mention of soul and spirit, more im- portant and deeper parts of man, is natural, as a colloquial and intensive mode of repeating the thought. || And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word discerner is here used in its primary sense o{ distinguish- ing, or discriminating, between several things. The word of God makes a man examine with discrimination even his thoughts and designs; he is made to contemplate them from a moral point of view, so that he discerns between what is right in them and what is wrong. He is thus led either to self- approbation or to self-condemnation, ac- cording as his affections and principles are in harmony with the will of God or in opposition to it; and thus, from the latent operations of his spirit, as well as from his acts, he is compelled to form his judgment of himself. — The aim of this passage is, to impress the certainty that God penetrates the inmost soul of man, taking cognizance of the most secret purposes and mo- tives; that in executing his declara- tions nothing, however concealed from man, can escape his notice; that the most hidden and intricate elements of character are all known to him. With unerring certainty he detects every departure from his will, and with un- failing execution gives energy to his threatenings against sin. — The word of God when properly apprehended, especially by an awakened conscience, is seen to lay its demands on the very thoughts and designs; it penetrates so deeply as to reach even them, and to pass judgment on them. It extends to the very springs of human action, and passes judgment on men in precise ac- cordance with their latent purposes and motives. 13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. And there is not a creature unseen, or unoKserved, in the sight of God : nothing app^^ra CHAPTER IV. 61 ai'e naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. " Seeing then that we have a great Iligh-priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. ^" For we have not a High-priest wliieh cannot be touched with the feeling of our iniirmities ; but before him in a false light: all things lire naked and laid bai'o to the eyes of kun with u'h^m we have to do, of that Being who lays on us his commands, who will call us to account and dispose of us in perfect agreement with his declarations. || Opened. The word thus translated is singularly expres- sive, being doi'ived from the word which signifies neck, and suggested by the action of a person who suould seize another by the throat and force his head back, thus laying bare his neck, and, in countries where the upper dress is loose, his breast. Thus com- pletely laid bare to the inspection of (jtod are all things. Compare Ps. cxsxix. 1-12. — The insidious nature pf unbelief, working out its fatal re- sults without alarming its victim, is silso strongly intimated, as well as the Dmniscience of God in detecting its lurking places and subjecting it to his righteous judgment. 14-lG. The view just presented of the word of God naturally awakens solicitude, lest when brought to the test we may fail of his approval. The consciousness of our liability to sin and of the inherent weakness of our hearts directs our thoughts to our great High-priest in heaven, who knows our intirmitios and can feel for us in re- spect to them. With confidence in him we may come to the throne of grace, to obtain pardoning mercy and to find grace, or favor, in securing to our- selves opportune aid, help that meets our difficulties in good season, and, be- fore it is too lato, delivers us from danger. — Seeiiij, then, thit we have a ijre.it Hijh-priest. In view of the strict regard which God maintains for his W(n-d, and of t:ie certainty that he de- tects tile m.ist latent sins, the writer again, as in ii. 17, 18, presents the en- couraging thought that wo have a High-priest in heaven, Josus the Son of God, and exhorts to a steadfast maintenance of- our avowal of confi- dence in him. || That is passed into the heavens; literally, who has gone through the heavens; that is, gone through the visible heavens up to the throne of God, and is there acting in behalf of his followers, procuring for them mercy and aid in their trials. The thought is substantially the same as in ix. '24, where Christ is said to have entered " into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." See, also, i.'i, where Christ is said, after having made expiation for sins, to have taken his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high ; also, i. 13; xii. 2. Compare Mark xvi. 19. II Let us hold fast our profession; our profession of faith in Jesus as the Son of God and our High-priest. Compare iii. 1; also, x. 23, which enjoins an unwavering profession of the hope in Jesus. 15. The sympathizing spirit of .Je- sus the great High-priest encourages in his followers an unwavering confi- dence in him. — For we have not an liijh-priest which cannot be touched, etc. ; or, agreeably to the original expres- sion, For ive have not a High-priest ivho cannot sympathize with us in our infirm- ities, who cannot feel with us and for us in our infirmities. — The infirmities hero spoken of are both the sinful frailties for which we are culpable, and those which are necessarily incident to the pi'esent state and circumstances of human beings as composed of body and spirit, as liable to ignorance and error, and constantly meeting with tempta- tions to sin from so many sources. Christ, by his having become a par- taker of human nature in this world, has become able to feel for his follow- ers in their circumstances of trial, and to have a priestly pity for them even in their sins. || Was in all point* •62 HEBREWS. was in all points tempted like as loe are, yet without sin •"^ Let ns therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtaiii mei-cj^, and find grace to help in time of need.. tempted like as we are. In ii. 17, Christ is said to have become ia all essential respects liko men; he was, conse- quently, liable to bo tempted in all respects like them. J>eing on earth as truly a man as any of us, he was tempted as men are, by Satan, by his human adversaries, and by his pro- fessed friends. Temptations arose from his bodily nature, from his rational faculties, from his emotional suscepti- bilities, from his connections with his natural relatives and with men to whom he was intellectually so superior that he might have swayed them to the accomplishment of the most daring and ambitious proji'cts, had ho been willing to indulge the love of power and pre-eminence so natural to man. — That Christ was really tempted and keenly felt the force of temptations, as well as endured sulTerings, while on earth, is evident from this passage, as also from the general account, in the Gospels, of his lifo and death. What- ever difficult questions may bo raised from the peculiarity of his being the Son of God while yet humbled to the level of humanity, we must not allow ourselves to lose the efficacy of the equally scriptural truth that he was like us, that ho was really made liable to the frailties and temptations of which men have experience, and doubt- less that he suffered, on account of his perfect siulessness, far more from some, at least, of the temptations which as- sailed him than it is possible for us to conceive of. || Yet without sin. The likeness of Jesus to us in nature and liabilities was as close as it could bo without sin. lie was without sin as resulting from the temptations to which he was subjected. Temptation never prevailed over him, but left him, after the most dire and insidious con- flicts, as free from sin as it found him. Ho was without sin, also, as being en- tirely free from inclination to sin ; his entire moral bent was against it, and was unswervingly towards obedicuco to the will of his heavenly Father. Though he had all the natural suscep- tibilities by which temptation over- comes us, yet these were always coun- terbalanced by his unconquerable love to God and purpose to do his Father's will. ^Vhen the prince of this world, Satan, came to him, ho found nothing in him, .John xiv. 30, on which he could successfully operate, and he re- tired invariably foiled. From every conflict with temptation Jesus camo forth unharmed and ready for new con- quests. Compare the note on ii. 17. See also 1 Pet. ii. 21-23, the substance of which verses is, Christ has left us a perfect example; he did no sin. — Though Christ was without sin, he yet know by experience what it is to be tempted ; ho also knows by experience whatstrongth of holy feeling and pur- pose is necessary for overcoming temp- tations; ho can, therefore, sympathize with us and aid us, as a compassionate and experienced high-priest. See ii. 18. — It was highly important to give prominence to the thought that Jesus was without sin; as this was a point on which ho differed from the Jewish high-priests, and whicli was necessary for maintaining unimpaired the rever- ence due to him, and for preventing the slightest suspicion that his official work might not have been acceptable to God. It was, also, important to affirm that though ho was without sin, yet his human experience capacitated him to feel the pity which a high- priest ought to feel for those who have been drawn astray into sin; for if the high-priest, who is entrusted with our interests in reference to God, be not compassionate toward us, whence can we hope for pardon and acceptance ? — To be tempted is not a proof that we are sinners; sin aousiiii in yielding to temptation. A man of the simplest and strictest integrity may be strongly tempted to a dishonest act, yet he may PART TIIIKD. CHAPTERS v., VI., VII. JESUS CHRIST, THE IIIGH-PKIEST, SUPEUIOK TO THE LEVITICAL HIGH-PRIESTS. § Requisites for the high-pricstly office, v. 1-4. § These requisites found in Jesus, v. 5-10. § Horta- tory section, v. 11-14; vi. 1-20. — Jj Coincidences between Melchizedek and Christ, vii. 1-3. § Greatness of Melchizedelc and implied greatness of Jesus as High-priest, in comparison with the Levitical high-pi iests, vii. 4-10. § Imperfectness of the Levitical pi'iesthood and of the Mosaic law; ahrugation of the Law and establishment of the Better Dispensation, vii. 11-19. § Superiority of Christ's priestlyod further asserted, vii. 20-113. instautly repel the temptation, and the honor with which ho thinks of a dis- honest act when under the temptation may bo a sure safeguard ay,'aiust a similar temptation. 10. Let ux thenfore come boldly unto the throne of grace. God is here repre- sented as a king occupying his throne and waiting to receive petitions from his subjects. His throne is not merely a throne of holiness and justice, but also of grace; from it proceeds an an- swer of favor to the sincere and earnest suppliant. To this throne, since we have so great a High-priest at the right hand of God, patronizing our .cause, ■we are encouraged to come boldly, that is, confidingly, with assurance that God i3 ready to bestow all needed aid. II Thtt we may obtain mercy, etc. The tlesign of applying to God in our con- sciousness of sins and of temptations is, that he may mercifully deal with us, freely forgiving our sins and ex- tending to us grace, or favorable re- gard, for our help ill time of need; rath- er, agreeably to the original, opportune, seasonable, ot well-timed aid ; an expres- sion which covers the entire grouud of ' our necessities, and which assures us that the aid we need will not be de- layed beyond the proper time. Such are the alfecting tlioughts with which this second part of the epistle closes, in remarkable similarity to the close of the first part, ii. 17, 18. It is also interesting to observe, at this jjoint, the return, with some enlarge- ment, to the ideas with which this part commenced; for in iii. 1, mention ia made of Jesus as the High-priest, aud of the profession of having received him in this capacity; in iv. 14-10, is a renewed mention of Jesus, the Son of God, as the great High-priest, and exhortation to hold fast this pro- fession, in view of the matchless fit- ness of Jesus to occupy that relation. Again, then, we see the topic of Christ's priesthood, the main one of the epistle, incidentally, yet attractively, suggested, previously to the full con- sideration of it to which the writer was now about to conduct his readers. PART III. CHAPTERS v., VL, VII. JESUS CHRIST, THE HIGH-PRIEST, SU- PERIOR TO THE LEVITICAL HIGH- PRIESTS. This part treats of Christ as tlie fftf/Ji-priest o/his Failowers; a topic alri'ady glancud at several times, ii. 17, IS, iv. 14-iG, and evidently de- Bi}i:ut'd at the outset ns the priiieipal necessary in order to a person's bccuujiiig a liigh-priest, Cliristdid not put lui th a claim to this ofiice by as- seiting for liimself superior excel- lence; he did not set up liimself as eminently worthy of it on tlie ground of personal qualifications, and thus seek to bo made the higli-priest. Com- pare John viii. 54. Uut his Father appointed him to this station of glory, and at length elevated him to it through the sufferings and trials of his liunian experience. That it was the Father who glorified him with tliis oftico appears from the declarations which he had made to Christ. First, he had said, as in Ps. ii. 7, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." — The designation of Christ to the high-priesthood seems to have been regarded as implied in the fact that he was the Son of God ; in other words, Christ was the Iligh-priest by virtue of being the Son of God. In what way, however, the sonship of Christ contains his api:)ointmeut to be Iligh-priest, does not readily appeaV. But to the Hebrews hero addressed this was doubtless clear. The views which were familiar to them as to the relation of the first-born son in a fam- ily might, perhaps, have made the statement clear. According to Jewish writers, the first-born son was, before the giving of the Mosaic law, entitled to the right of discharging the priestly ofiice in the family to which he be- longed. In the ]iatriarchal times, the father, as head of the family, was the familv-priest; but, as the first-born Son shared in the honors and rights of the father, so likewise ho came to be regarded as the priest of tlio family. In the household of God, then, iii. 6, the Sun of God, called the First-born, i. 0; Horn. viii. 29; Col. i. 1.'), and the Only-begotten, John i. 14, 18; iii. 16, 18; 1 John iv. 9, would easily bo con- ceived of as occupying, by virtue of his sonship, the relation of high-priest. What would be thus easily appre- hended by the original readers of this epistle, corresponded with the actual appointment of the Father, an appoint- ment which was afterward clearly re- vealed, Ps.cx. 4; Zech. vi. 12, 13, that his Son should bo the Uigh-priest of his spiritual family. 6. To the indirect proof, just given, that it was the Father who had con- ferred on Ciirist the glory of the high- priestly office, a second, and direct, proof is now added. — As he saith also in another place; namely, Ps. ex. 4. II Thou art a priest forever, etc. Thi.S address was universally understood as made to Christ. Compare Matt. xxii. 41-45. II The order of Mchhizedek ; or, more properly, the rank of Melchize- dek. Christ was to have a priestly of- fice of a rank like that of Melchize- dek; as is explained in vii. 15, where Christ is spoken of as a priest " after the similitude," that is, likeness, "of Melchizedek." — He was to be a priest forever; an abiding, perpetual priest, not liable, through death, or any cause, to the necessity of giving placo to another. So long as a priestly office for the people of God shall be required, it is to bo held by the Son of God only. — From the nature of the case, as be- ing tiio only priest thus appointed, and as being a divinely appointed king, Ps. ii. (J, as well as priest, the Son of God is the IIiGn-priest. — The particu- lars involved in the resemblance to Melchizedek arc not here unfolded by the writer, as he was not now institut- ing a comparison between the Leviti- cal priests and Christ, but was merely sustaining the position that Christ was called of Ged to bo ahigh-priest; henca the words Thou art a priest are hereth« specially important ones as meeting the case in hand. Still, without di- 68 HEBREWS ' Who in the da3's of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was lating on the particulars contained in the latter part of the address, it was important to secure for this declaration of God a place in the minds of the He- brews. Their reflections on it would awaken inquiry and prepare them to follow the writer in his subsequent de- velopment of its meaning. It con- tained a fruitful seed of thought in reference to the priestly office of Christ. It was, indeed, the hinge on which turned the vast difference between the Jewish priests and Christ the High- priest of his followers. 7. Having now seen that Christ was exalted to the office of High-priest by appointment of the Father, wo are next led to contemplate his possession of the other requisite for officiating in behalf of men, and his actual entrance on his office. He is able to feel with and for those in whose behalf he me- diates with God; he can sympathize with them in their sufferings and temp- tations, and seek mercy for them as one who can pity them even when overcome by temptation through the weakness of their moral nature. — In. the days of his flesh; while a partaker of flesh and blood, passing through the vicissitudes of this frail, mortal state. His days on earth were the days of his flesh in distinction from the state in which he was with the Father before the world was made, John xvii. 3, 24; also, in distinction fi'om the state to which he was exalted after he had humbled himself to the form of man and become obedient even to the death of the cross, Phil. ii. 9-11. || Whc?i he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, etc. While the entire series of .sufferings and temp- tations which our Lord endured on earth would be necessary for a com- plete view of bis human experience, an eminent scene of suffering and obe- dience, namely, that which passed in Gethscmane, is here selected as best adapted to sliow the very trying na- ture of the probation to which he was subjected, the intensity of the anguish thus occasioned to him, and the thor- oughness of his obedience to his heav- enly i"'ather. The appalling scenes in our Lord's earthly life, here instanced, are particularly detailed in Matt. xxvi. 36-4G; Mark xiv. 32-j J ; Luke xxii. 30-44. Compare, also. Matt. xx. 22; John xii. 27. As the obedience of Jesus was not completed till ho expired on the cross, all the indignities and sufferings which ho endured at his seizure, his condemnation, and on tho cross, must also be included in the list of his trials. {{ And was heard; was heard favorably, was accepted. He was .accepted in his prayer, while yet the suffering, both that which he was enduring and that which was in pros- pect, could not, according to the de- sign of God and his own purpose in Coming into the world, be averted. His prayer, breathed forth in intense an- guish, was marked by submission to the divine will, Matt. xxvi. 3'J, 42; Luke xxii. 42; John xviii. 11, more than by shrinking from distress and by desire to be spared tho pain; it was therefore acceptable. Though his soul was sorrowful even unto death, and ho prayed, saying, " Father, if thou bo willing, remove this cup from me," he immediately added, " Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done," Luke xxii. 42, thus meekly bowing to the will of God. When, in consciousuess of deep trouble, ho was for a moment considering whether he should pray for deliverance from the closing sufferings of his earthly course, he dismissed the thought, and said, "For this cause came I unto this hour; Father, glorify thy name," John xii. 27, 2S. The prayer of Christ in his agony was not, strictly speaking, a prayer for deliv- erance from thosu'.feriugs the pressure of which was already so great; it was in reality a prayer that the will of God might bo done throughout, that the Father would glorify his name through his suffering Sou; and it vir- tually contained a petition that the full measure of needed aid might bo CHAPTER V. 69 heard in that he feared : ^ though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the tilings whieh he suffered : ^ and being made perlcct, he became the author of eternal salvation unto granted hiui. His prayer was heard; aad ia answer to it, there appeared au angel unto him from heaven, strength- ening him, Luke xxii. 43. — Let the pervading spirit of our prayers, also, jjo, that the wise and gracious purpose of God iu respect to us may bo ac- complished by whatever means he may appoint. II III that he feared; that is, on account of his pious fear of God, his reverence for his heavenly Father. His holy fear and love of God never gave way, and he was consequently in all things accepted of God. 8. Th'ju'jh lie were a Son, yet learned he obedience, etc. Though being a son and most tenderly regarded in that re- lation, it was yet the Father's appoint- ment that ho should bo subjected to trials and sufferings that ho might ' Icarn by experience the nature and circumstances of human obedience to the will of God, and the difficulties and hazards which it must encounter. His spirit of obedience was thus specially tested, and it gathered fresh strength to do and endure all the will of God; it was carried to the highest perfection through sufierings. The virtue of Christ, though never in the least degree deficient, was yet capable of increasing iu strength and ability to resist temp- tation; somewhat as it is said in Luko ii. 52, " he increased in wisdom and iu favor with God and man." Though he was his Son, yet God saw fit to adopt suf- fering as the method of his learning Completely the lesson of obedience and the method of effecting a connection of sympathy between him and the people of God, who so greatly need the dis- cipline of suffering in order to breali the power of sin in them and to fit them for heaven. — Since the sinless Son of God, in order to become the ef- foctutil lligh-priest, passed through inconceivable sufferings on the way to his de-tined glory, well may his fol- luwers bear with acquiescence the suf- ferings which infinite Wisdom .nppoints f(ir bringing them to the full enjoy- ment of the benefits procured by the great High-priest in their deliverance from sin and becoming partakers with him in the heavenly glory. 9. And bcin'j made perfect, he be- came the author, etc. ; and having, through his sufferings, become per- fected in the capacity of a high-priest, ■ both as to fitness for the office and ex- altation to it iu heaven, ho became the author, more strictly the causer, of eternal salvation to all who obey hiin. — His beiii!/ made perfect \i to be ex- plained iu the comprehensive sense mentioned under ii. 10. It embraces his elevation, after having been raised from the dead, to the perfect dignity of his high-priestly office in heaven. Compare vi. '.iO ; Lukexxiv. 2G. Being thus exalted through a course of suf- ferings to that position for which those sufferings eminently qualified him, he is become the procuring cause of salvation to his followers. At this point wo may regard him not only as possessing the requisites for the high- priesthood, but also as invested with the office. — Those wlio obey him are those who acknowledge him as the great High-priest in whom they truft for acceptance with God, and as their heavenly Lord to whoso authority they bow. No particular act of obedience is here specified or intended; it is the spirit of obedience to Clirist, a regard to his will in all the relations which he sustains to us, that is required. Without this, wo are not his followers, and have no ground for expecting to bo finally acknowledged as his. " Yo are my friends," he says, "if ye do whatsoever I command you," John xv. 14; also, xiv. IJ, 21. See, also. Matt, vii. 21-23; Luke vi. 46. — The salva- tion which he bestows is tternal, as be- ing an everlasting deliverance from the penalties and thraldom of sin and the evei lasting possession of holiness and bliss i;i heaven. Christ saves completely, vii. 2.i, and forever, them that obey him. The mention oi obedi- ence to him is here eminently appropri- ate, since he himself attained his per- 70 HEBREWS, all them that obey him ; ^° called of God a high-priest after the order of Melchizedek. " Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. ^For w^heu for the fected state through sufferings which required on his part constant obedi- ence to tho Father ; and now those who are iu like manner obedient to him will receive the salvation of which he is the procuring Cause. — Perhaps iu tho word ttcrnal a contrast is de- signed of the temporary deliverances from the Mosaic penalties through the agency of the Jewish priests, and the unending deliverance from the power and condemnation of sin through Christ. Thus the great purpose of the priestly office is completely an- swered by Christ ; namely, salvation from the deserved consequences of sin and from its power ; a salvation only faintly shadowed forth by the deliv- erances from the penalties of tho Mo-' saic law through the agency of the Jewish priests. ID. Called of God a hiyh-priest. The original word here for called is dif- ferent from the word in the 4th verse. It does not mean appointed, but is more correctly translated having been ad- dressed. Reference is had to Ps. ex. 4, where the address to Christ, " Thou art a priest," etc., is recorded. — When Christ had completed his whole course of obedience and suffering, he was ex- alted to his perfect glory, and became the author of eternal salvation, having been long since addressed of God as a High-priest. Prophetically and by an- ticipation he had been pronounced a priest : that prophetic address had now become fulfilled. God had ex- alted him to this official position. — That Jesus, as priest, was to be the High-priest, see on verse 6th. 1| After the order of Melchizedek. See on verse Gth. Before entering fully on the consid- eration of Christ as a Iligh-priest, the writer judged it necessary to awaken anew, by a hortatory strain of address, tho attention of the Hebrews, and to stimulate their faculties so that they might properly apprehend the subject. This hortatory section embraces the re- mainder of the 5th chapter and the whole of the 6th. — After rebuking their lack of progress in Christian knowledge, v. 11-14, he encourages them to aim at maturity in Christian attainments, vi. 1-3, and unfulds the danger which they would incur by apos- tatizing from Christ, vi. 4-8. lie then expresses confidence iu their piety, and avows, as the ground of his solicitude for them, his desire that they may abide in faith, and may follow the example of those who have entered on the enjoy- ment of the promised blessings, vi. 9-12. He encourages them to do this iu view of tho unchangeable faithful- ness of God to his promises, vi. 13-20. 11. Of whom ; that is, of Melchiz- 'edek, who has been twice named al- ready, vs. 6 and 10, in a connectioa suited to arrest the attention of the Hebrews. Of Melchizedek it would be necessary to say many things, in the argument concerning Christ as the High-priest. || Hard to be uttered ; things hard to explain so as to ba fully understood ; not difficult of ap- prehension, however, in themselves, but difficult to be properly under- stood by tho Hebrews, in consequence of their spiritual dulaess. || Seeing ye are dull of hearing i more cori'octly, since ye are become dull, slow of ap- prehension as to religious truth. 12. They had lapsed into this state of spiritual imbecility from a hopeful beginning of the Christian profession. — For when for the time ye ought to he teachers, etc. They had for so lung a time professed to be disciples of Christ, and consequently to be learning the Christian religion, that they ought to have been able to teach others. — That they had for a long time been pro- fessed Christians appears also from ii. 3, xiii. 7. But through lack of in- terest in Christian knowledge, and sjio- cially through the decline of an obedi- ent spirit, together with the disposition to rest in external forms of religioa CHAPTER V. 71 time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach 3"ou again which he the first principles of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. ^'^ For every one that useth milk is un- skilful in the word of righteousness : for he is a babe. "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. without penetrating to the meaning of the I'urms, and to receive directions on authority without inquiring into the reasons of them, — a disposition which was doubtless fostered by the Jewish externalism in which their early years had been spent, — they were now not only incapable of teaching the Christian doctrine, but needed tube themselves taught anew its very elements. In- stead of advancing in Christian knowl- edge, they had lost ground, and the work of Christian instruction needed to be commenced again. || First prin- ciples; the very beginnings, the first rudiments. || Of the oracles of God ; of the communications of God to men ; particularly, in this connection, the gospel of Christ. || And are become such as have need of milk, and not of Strang meat ; you have reduced your- selves to the necessity of being fed with milk, not having acquired ability for solid food. This incapacity for receiving the higher instructions of the gospel they had themselves in- duced by their neglect of religious truth : instead of having advanced to maturity, they had declined to an in- fantile stage of Christian ability, and must now be treated accordingly as to spiritual nourishment. They must be fed with milk, not with solid food. The first rudiments of Christian doc- trine were all they could now profit- ably receive. Compare 1 Cor. iii. 2, " I have fed you with milk and not with meat ; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." 13. For every one that useth nulk is unskilful, etc. You must be fed with milk, not with solid food ; for every one who receives the milk of Christian in- struction is so treated because he is un- skilled or ignorant as to the gospel, having not yet become sufficiently mature to bear advanced instruction. Spiritually, he is a babe ; and such, the implication is, are ye. — In other words, instead of having attained to maturity, so as properly to receive and appreciate the loftier truths of the gospel, you have receded to the state of childhood. || The word of right- eousness ; the gospel, viewed par- ticularly as disclosing the divine plan of justifying men in the sight of God and conducting them to righteousness. 14. But strong meat belongeth, etc. But the solid food of advanced in- struction belongs to the mature, those who have reached maturity of Chris- tian experience, and whose se?ises or perceptive faculties have, through habitual use of them in the devout contemplation of religious subjects, been exorcised and become trained for a correct judgment as to good and evil. — It is not the mere discerning between right and wrong, in general, that is here meant ; but the judging between the good and wholesome, and the bad and hurtful, in religious doctrines, so as rightly to estimate Christian truth in contrast with the errors and the merely outward right- eousness which were so common among the Jews. This e.^ercising, or training, of the faculties to the right apprehen- sion of the doctrine of righteousness in the sight of God leads to maturity, the advanced stage of Christian strength. A well-exercised judgment in ref- erence to this part of divine doctrine was necessary for appreciating the high theme of Christ's priesthood. — Slothfulness in religion dwarfs our powers, and robs us of the advantages and enjoyments of Christian maturity. — Advancement in Christian knowl- CHAPTER VI. ^ Therefore, leaving the principles of tlio doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection ; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith edge and in the Christian life produces an acuteness of spiritual perception which greatly aids discrimination in matters both of doctrine and of con- duct. We thus also go forward from strength to strength " unto a per- fect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." See Eph. iv. 13-1(3. CHAPTER VI. This chapter opens with an exhor- tation, Vs. 1-3, to proceed from the el- mentary stage, spoken of in the pre- ceding chapter, to maturity of Chris- tian knowledge. — This exhortation is enforced by distinctly warning the Hebrews of the danger, to which their present lack of religious earnestness exposed them, of falling away from their discipleship, and of becoming hopeless apostates from Jesus, vs. 4-(i. 1. Therefore ; that is, Since you have been disciples of Christ sufEcient- ly long to have become teachers of his doctrine, but through sluggishness have lost ground and need to be again taught the very rudiments of the gos- pel, let us now leave this rudiuiental stage, and advance to the maturity req- uisite for completeness of knowledge. — The writer hero takes the attitude of a teacher solicitous to conduct his pupils to a forward stage of spiritual ability. While proposing thus to lead them forward, lie associates himself with them and invites them to ac- company him. II Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ ; leaving the elements of Christian doctrine, the very beginnings or starting-points of Christian teaching. See on v. 12. II Let us go on unto perfection ; let us carry ourselves forward, as the original might bo expressed, to maturity. Perlcction is hero that stage or con- dition of maturity, fulness of age, v. 14, to which the solid food of advanced instruction is suited, as distinguished from the infantile stage, at which only the milk of instruction would bo suit- able. From this elementary stage the writer invites his Hebrew brethren to advance with him to the stage of maturity, he going forward as their guiding teacher, they as his scholars accompanying him. || Not laying again the foundatim. The foundation of their Christian instruction had already been laid at the beginning of their professed discipleship, and their re- ligious edification ought to have been far advanced. Hence the writer wish- es that he may not bo under the neces- sity of laying again for them this foundation, and that they may not be again employed with that work. The laying of the foundation for a structure is indeed indispensable ; but that is only the commencing work, and it must give place to the rearing of the edifice. To be alwaj'S laying the foundation, or to be again and again laying it, would bo childish ; we ought rather to be going onward like jnen. — The things composing the founda- tion on which the spiritual structure is to rest, in other words, the topics which comprise the principles, the ele- ments, of Christian teaching, are next mentioned. They are six in number, and may be grouped together in three pairs : repentance and faith in God, baptism and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. These entered into tho earliest experience and pro- fession of tho Christian converts ; and the converts were to proceed from these to advanced instructions and at- tainments. II Repentance from dead wirks. Dead works are such as have no vitality in them for good, are fruit- less of good, consequently sinful. Gen- uine repentance is a turning away from such works, with heart-felt sorrow, and entering on a life of obedience to 72 CHAPTER VI. 73 toward God, ^ of the doctrine of baptisms, find of laj'ing on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal God. II Faith toward God ; strictly, faith on or in God, 1 Pet. i. 21, Mark si. 22; true belief in him and in iiis declarations. This will insure a cor- dial reception of all his communica- tions, and obedience to all his known will. It means here, particularly, faith in him as having fulfilled his long-standing promise of the coming of the Messiah, who appeared, at length, in the person of Jesus as tho Saviour of men. — Such repentance and faith had been enjoined at the very commencement of the gospel, and were constantly inculcated as the very first requisites for obtaining its blessings. See Matt.iii. 2; iv. 17; Mark i. 15; Acts ii. 38; xvi. 31; xx. 21; Heb. xi. 6. These two were matters of personal experience, and lay at the foundation of Christian chai-acter. 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms. The teaching concerning baptism was also a primary matter, pertaining to the earliest stage of the Christian life, since baptism was the appointed public avowal of a person's having become a- believer in Christ. Special instruction as to this duty was therefore necessary to the convert at the earliest stage ; and particularly would it seem req- uisite, in tho case of Hebrews who had become believers in Jesus, that they should understand the ditference between tho numerous ablutions re- quired in tho Jewish law for ceremo- nial purification, and the Christian rite of baptism, — tho same word baptism, in its primary and literal signification, being applicable both to tho Jewish observances and to the Christian rite, and there being some hazard of fail- ing to apprehend the distinctive spirit- ual significance of Christian bapiism. It might, also, have been necessary, at the time when this epistle was writ- ten, to give such instruction to recent converts as would free them from all mistakes concerning tho baptism which John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, administered. The case of tho twelve disciples found in Corinth by tho apostle Paul, as related in Acts xix. 1-7, who had not been properly instructed in reference to baptism, probably exemplified many cases in which the distinction between John's baptism and that under the apostles needed explanation. The case of Apollos, also, who at first " knew only the baptism of John," but was afterwards taught " the way of God more perfectly," Acts xviii. 24-20, sliows the necessity, at that early period, of such instruction. In con- sequence of these several immersions, or baptisms, for religious purposes, the word baptisms in tiio plural number is used ; and in order that the Christian convert might make an intelligent avowal of his faith in Christ, it would seem that a convert from among tlio Jews, particularly, should bo taught respecting baptisms of which ho knew, that ho might discriminate between them, and apprehend tho distinctive significance of Christian baptism and tho obligations which it involved. II The loyiny on of hands. The laying of hands by the apostles on baptized persons was a preliminary to such i^er- sons' receiving the extraordinary in- fluences of tho Holy Spirit. See Acts viii. 15-18; xix. 5, 6. This visible act may have grown into a customary observance at the baptism of converts generally, since, as being an emblem of the bestowal of blessings, it was ex- pressive of the Holy Spirit's influence having been imparted to them and still to be imparted, whether for mi- raculous operations or for preservation and growth in spiritual life. It would also servo in all eases as a visible acknowledgment of the person's ad- mission into tho company of Christ's followers, on whom the gift of the Holy Spirit was bestowed. — To these two matters of incipient Christian ex- perience, and these two outward acts connected with the profession of dis- cipleship, two points of doctrine aro added as avowed at the very com- mencement of the Christian life. II Resurrecti'm of the dead. This was a primary' or elementary principle of 74 HEBREWS. judgment. 'And this will we do, if God permit. *For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and the gospel, inasmuch as it was in the gospel that it was first disclosed with perfect clearness, and the denial of it was virtually a denial of the future life and retribution, and would thus bo fatal to morality and religion. See John V. 28, 2i»; Acts xxiv. 15; 1 Cor. XV. 32; 2 Tim. i. 10; ii. 10-18. || Eter- nal judgment ; the final judgment of men, the decisions of which will be irreversible and the results eternal. Matt. XXV. 40; Rom. ii. 5-10; 2 Cor. V. 10. 3. And this will vk do, if Gud per- mit. This advance to ripeness of un- derstanding in Christian truth we will make, I as your teacher leading you on to this forward position, and you following me to it, if God permit. Not that there was any doubt of its being pleasing to God that the Hebrew brethren should shake off their leth- argy, and set themselves earnestly to the good work of making progress ; but it was manifestly proper devoutly to acknowledge man's dependence on God for right purposes and their ful- filment, as well as for continuance of life and outward good. For nearly the same expression, namely, if the Lord permit, see 1 Cor. xvi. 7. Compare James iv. 15, " If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that ; " Prov. jii. 6, " In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." 4. The exhortation to press for- ward to the mature stage of Christian .attainments is enforced by the ad- ditional consideration that those who, instead of advancing, abide still in infantile weakness, are in danger of falling a prey to men who would se- duce them from the gospel ; and, should they renounce Jesus after hav- ing felt the power of his gospel, their recovery to repentance would bo hope- less. — For it is impossible, etc. The im- possibility, here asserted, of bringing to renewed repentance the class of per- sons described would arise from their having renounced the only Saviour and declined the benefit of the only scheme of salvation which God has ap- pointed, and that not in ignorance, but with knowledge. No more ex- tensive or more alfecting exhibition of divine mercy can bo made, than has been made by tho Son of God in his teachings and in the sacrifice of him- self for men's pardon and salvation. If God's method for saving men through him be spurned by any wlio have felt its influences, surely no ground of hope for additional or great- er mercy remains. Should they fall away from Jesus, and from the in- structions, promises, and threatenings of his gospel, no reasonable basis would remain for a hope of their again for- saking sin, and entering on a life of righteousness. No higher, no dif- ferent influences could be employed than those which they had already felt, and from which they had turned away. The gospel comprising, and carrying forward to perfection, all the vital principles of the Old Testament religion, making known the Saviour and the appointed method of salvation, is the only and the final system of re- ligious truth by means of which God brings men to repentance. If this tljen bo rejected, and all its merciful provisions, its promises, and the hopes which it proposes, bo spurned as u-u- worthy of confidence, particularly by any who have seen and felt its power, no clearer light can bo given to such, no weightier motives or considerations can be urged, no additional method be emploj'ed ; and as men come to re- pentance not in a mechanical way, but through an intelligent and felt conviction of the truths of the gospel, no ground for hope remains that thoso who sliglit and disown Christ, after ex- periencing the present blessings of his gospel, will be recovered to re- pentance. The guilt, too, of such per- sons is beyond atonement ; no sacrifice remains of sufficient efiicacy to reach their case ; for what sacrifice can bo more acceptable to God and more ef- ficacious for securing his mercy and influencing the hearts of men than that of his Son ? Specially, what CHAPTER VI, 75 have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^aud have tasted the good word of sacrifice can atone for tlio guilt of casting contempt on that saciificc? It is tho case of apostates that this passage contemplates ; and the apos- tasy is a hopeless one, such poi'sons really classing themselves with those Jews who actually ciucilied Jesus and Covered him with ignominy, thus vir- tually endorsing and repeating this ignominy. Tho case is substantially the same as is stated in x. 'Hj-'31, "If we sin wilfully after that we have re- ceived tho knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," etc. As no sacrifice remains which might bo oifcred, the guilt of such sin must still remain : reconciliation with God is hopeless, there being no basis for it. The case is also of tho same nature as that stated in ii. 3, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation," since, in this last-quoted jiassage, it is not persons who make no profession of religious character that are addressed, but the Hebrew Chris- tums themselves. The language in this last-quoted passage is indeed far milder, for, the writer becomes more intensive in feeling and in language as he proceeds in developing his sub- ject and in unfolding the guilt and hazard of undervaluing the gracious provision which God has made for men in the sacrifice and mediation of his Son. The case of presumptuous sins, so called in the Old Testament, — see note on v. 2, — is parallel to this. No sacrifice was appointed under the ancient economy for such sins ; the otfender was to be certainly cut off and to perish without hope, because he had deliberately and of set purpose Contemned the authority of Jehovah ; and having in mind and heart disa- vowed tho true God and refused the appointed methods of procuring his favor, what ground of hope could there be for him, either as to the removal of his liability to punishment, or as to his becoming a truly righteous man ? In tho view of such a transgressor, tho authority of Jehovah was naught, his riivor was naught. Transgressions of such a character really, for all prac- tical purposes, annihilated the idea of tho true God, disowned any au- thority claimed for him, aud left no basis for repentance and recovery, through sacrifice or any other way, to his favor. See Num. .xv. 30, 31. — 11 Those who were once enlightened. This appears to have been a usual designation of the followers of Christ, as having been called out of darkness into marvellous light, 1 Pet. ii. 9; out of the ignorance, sinfulness, and unhappiness of their former state to tho knowledge, piety, and joy which Christ, the Light of the world, bestows. See John i. 9; viii. 12; ix. 5. Tho Ephesian Christians accordingly are characterized, Eph. i. 18, as having the eyes of their understanding enlight- ened. See, also, Eph. v. 8 ; Heb. x. 32. Compare John iii. 19-21 ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; Rom. xiii. 12 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14 ; Lulie xvi. 8; JohH xii. 35, 36 ; 1 Tiiess. V. 5. II Have tasted of the heavenly gift ; the gift from heaven, the gift of God's grace, or favorable regard, shown in his acceptance of those who are justified through faith in Christ, and in his giving spiritual strength and joy. See Rom. v. 15, 17 ; Eph. iii. 7. To taste of tho heavenly gift of God's grace is, to par- take of it, to try it so as to know it by experience, to enjoy it. Compare Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; 1 Pet. ii. 3.— The Holy Spirit is often spoken of as the gift of God. See Luke xi. 13 ; Acts ii. 38 ; viii. 20 ; X. 45 ; xi. 17. As, however, partaking of the Holy iS'/)2Vi< is especially mentioned in tho next clause, it seems better to explain the heavenly gift in a broader sense. || Were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Reference is here made to tho miraculous powers which were bestowed on the primitive believ- ers, and, as would seem by the connec- tion, to the influence of the Spirit in enlightening the minds of men and converting them to faith and hope in Christ, Acts ii. 38; viii. 15-19; x. 44-47 ; xix. C ; 1 Cor. xii. 8-11. 5. And have tasted the good word of 76 HEBREWS, God, find the powers of the world to come, ® if tliey sball fall away, to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing the}^ crucily to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put God ; have received and enjoyed God's word of promise to believers in Christ. II The powers of the world to come. See on ii. 5. By the plirase tvjrld to come, as used among the Jews, the times of the Messiah were designated previously to his advent : it indicated the 7iew nrrlcr of things which was to be intro- duced by the Messiah, to bo consum- mated at the fmal judgment, and to be of endless duration. This expression, though, before the advent of Christ, in- dicative of what was then future, would naturally bo retained as an epithet after his advent ; particularly as the devel- opment of the period was still future, and its consummated glory was to take place in the eternal world. The Chris- tian dispensation, then, is here intend- ed, with its vast increase beyond all pre- ceding dispensations in the revelation of God's purposes, for men's spiritual good and in its adaptation to fit men for eternal life and its so intimate con- nection with the eternal state. The instructions, promises, andthreatenings brought by the Christian dispensation pertain to men's spiritual and im- mortal nature, and thus the invisible, everlasting state of men is included in the expression. The powers of this world to come are the miraculous dis- plays of God's power, by which he tes- tified to the genuineness of the claim of Jesus to be the Son of God ; also, the elevating and stirring force of the truths so clearly made known by Jesus and his apostles concerning the future world ; likewise, the stlmulatinr) hopes and jo3's awakened in those who em- braced the instructions of Christ. Com- pare ii. 4. See, also, 1 Cor. iv. 20; 1 Thcss. i. 5. Those who witnessed and who participated in these accom- panying and these inherent powers of the new dispensation, not only had strong rational evidences of its truth, but had also grounds for admiration and joy, which wo of the present time, who are instructed in the gospel from childhood, can scarcely appreciate. 6. If they shall fall away; literal- ly, having fallen away, or, agreeably to the mode of translation adopted in the preceding verses, who have fallen away; who have apostatized from Jesus and renounced the promises and hopes of his religion, giving preference to a diifercnt leader, as, for instance, in the case of professed Hebrew Christians giving preference to Moses and the Jewish religion as taught by the Jew- ish rabbins of their time, thus aban- doning Jesus, and refusing all further connection with him. Such was the falling away from Jesus which this epistle was designed to prevent; a falling away, whether to a renewed ac- ceptance of the errors and delusions which had usurped the name of the Mosaic religion, and which could give no rational hope of salvation, or to entire recklessness in regard to relig- ion. II To renew them ar/ain unto re- pentance; to recover them again to penitence and a pious life. || Seeing they crucify, etc. ; literally, crucifying again to themsdves the Son of God, and exposing him to open shame. By falling away from Jesus they virtual- ly for themselves, and so far as they are concerned, join with those who crucified him, and thus, as it were, re- peat their act, and heap fresh igno- miny on him, as if he were a mere pretender, deserving, instead of the confidence and homage of men, only their execration and their rejection of his claims. Thus rejecting Jesus and publicly pouring contempt on him, they cut themselves oif from the pos- sibility of a renewed repentance unto life, since such repentance is effected only through his religion, and for such guilt as they would contract no par- doning provision was made. A rejecter of Christ cannot be savingly benefited by the religion of Christ; and beyond the pale of this religion there is no ground for hope of pardon and peace with God. The paragraph which wo have just CHAPTER VI, 77 him to an open shame. ^ For the earth, which drhiketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them bj whom it is dressed, I'eceiveth blessing fi-om God : ** but that Avhich beareth thorns and briers is re- considered is only one of several pas- sages breathing the same sentiment. It shows how imminent was the danger of those Hebrews, and how deep the writer's solicitude fur them in the lan- guid state of their religious atFections and purposes, and iu tlio poverty of their Christian knowledge. See ii. 3; iii. 12-14; iv. 1; x. 20-31, 33, 3S; xii. 15, 2). The principle ap- plicable to all, without exception, tliat without holiness no one shall sec the Lord, xii. 14, is here applied to the case of those who were avowedly Christians. Of the same tenor, though not so vividly expressed, is our Lord's declariition, Matt. x. 22, " He that en- dardh to the md shall be saved ; " also the declaration in Kom. ii. 7, that eter- nal life will be awarded to those who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immor- tality; as also the faith/ul saying in 2 Tim. ii. 12, " If we diny him, he also will deny us." Compare, likewise, Lom. xiv. l.v, 1 Cor. viii. 11; x. 12; Gal. iv. 9-11; v. 1-4; Col. i. 21-23; ii. 6-8; 2 Pet. ii. 20-22; Rev. iii. 16. If it be asked whether an apostate, becoming afterwards convinced of his error and sin, would be beyond the pale of hope, if ho should in a peni- tent spirit seek forgiveness through Jesus, the answer is easy. Such a case is altogether unlikely, in view of the depraved temper of mind vrhich apos- tasy involves, and of the insensibility to religious obligations, to the mercy and love of God, and to the pure and ennobling hopes which the gospel im- parts. According to all human proba- bilities, it will not occur. But should it occur, and the sin consequently be ii(;t persisted in, but abandoned, such a case, notwithstanding the enormity of wickedness chargeable to the person who, by the supposition, has become penitent, would come within the range of our Lord's merciful declaration in John vi. 37, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 7. An illustration of the sentiment expressed iu verses 4-6 now follows, showing that wo must profit by our religious adrantages, if wo would stand in favor with God; but that, on the contrary, certain doom awaits us, if we yield no fruit of righteousness in return for our advantages. — For the earth, more properly land; that is, a piece of land, a plat of ground. II Herbs; plants. || By whom it is dressed; more properly, for whom, on account of whom, it is also cultivated by the husbandman, in addition to the rain which it receives from heaven. II Keceivcth blessimj from. God. God regards it with delight and pronounces it blessed; declares his pleasure in it. Reference seems had hero to the ex- pression of pleasure on the part of God in the various objects of creation, agreeably to Gen. i. 10, 12, 31, " And God saw that it was good." A field covered with fragrant blossoms, or abounding in fruit, is also represented as the object of God's delight, in Gen. xxvii. 27, •■ It is a field which the Loud hath blessed.' See, also, Ezek, xxxiv. 2G, "And I will make them and the places round about ray hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to como down in his season: there shall be showers of blessing." The delight which wo feel in looking over a well- cultivated and luxuriant field is, by a figure, transferred to God; so that ho is represented as pleased with it, and pronouncing on it words of blessing. 8. But that which beareth thirns and briers. The form of expression in the original, and the purpose of the illus- tration, both show that it is the samo plat of ground above described, that is still before the writer's mind; if, instead of useful plants, it bear only thorns and briers, and is, therefore, a useless pint, m;iking no iuitablc re- 78 HEBREWS, jected, and is nigb uuto cursing ; whose end is to be burned. '•*But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. ■^Tor God is not unrighteous to forget your work and la- tum for the showers which God sent on it, and for tho hibor of its cultiva- tor, then it docs not receive a blessing, but isrejccte-l; is pronounced worthless after the abundant trial of its quali- ties. II Is ni[/h unto curshir/. A curse, instead of a blessing, is ready to bo pronounced on it; its doom is at hand. II Whose end is to be burned. The curse of its proprietor, which is just ready to be uttered, dooms it to bo burned up; instead of being further enriched and cultivated, it is devoted to tho flames: as if the proprietor, in despair of over receiving profit from it, should order, Spend no more labor on it; give it to tho Games. Compare, with reference to a country given up to burning. Dent. xsix. 23. — In applying this illustration, we ought to rest iu the simple fact of the laud being de- voted to flames; any questions as to what might bo done afterwards, and whether the land itself was to be burned, or only its hurtful products, arc irrelevant to tho design of tho il- lustration, and only hinder the proper apprehension of tho passage. Scrip- ture illustrations, like those of common life, are directed to the point in hand, and should not be extended to all pos- sible lengths, or in all possible direc- tions; and here, evidently, the point is tho abandonment of tho worthless ground and its being given up to the fire as useless, as not holding out a hope of good results to the labors of a cultivator. Practical Suggestions. 1. Tho condition of such as contentedly re- main at a low degree of religious knowledge, and in a languid state of religious affection, is exceedingly dan- gerous. 2. Progress in piety is neces- sary in order to a well-established Christian hope, to the successful resist- ance of temptation, and the final at- tainment of eternal life. 3. The piety which wears well and ends well' is alone worthy to be tiustcd as having tho promise of the life to come. 4. Our religious advantages are our spir- itual capital: let us trade well with it, and it will j'icld us ample interest; but if we abuse or neglect it, we shall become sadly bankrupt. " Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Matt. xxv. 2U ; xiii. 12. "J-20. Having thus earnestly warned the Hebrews of their danger, the writer adopts a strain of encouragement, ex- pressing his strong hopefulness of their salvation, and ascribing his solicitude to his desire for their diligent pursuit of the objects of Christian hope and for their emulating those who through faith and persevering obedience have attained to tho promised heavenly blessings. Such faith and persever- ance he encourages by the example of Abraham, and by the unwavering ad- herence of God to his promises. 9. VVc are persuaded better thinjs of yryu — thowjh ive thus speal;. Even though I have spoken in such words of fearful warning, I trust you are still in tho way to salvation. 10. For God is not unrif/hteous, etc. The ground on which his confidenca concerning them rests, is, that God, as being righteous, would acknowledge and accept the Christian deeds which they had performed, and tho love for himself which they had shown. Their love to bim and their deeds of kind- ness to distressed Christians, both iu former years and at present, God would not forget, but would appropriately recompense. — Love to God and to Lis people, manifested in suitable deeds, is not, indeed, the r/round of salvation, but it is a good ground for a favorable judgment of professed followers of Christ ia regard to their salvation, inasmuch as it results from a renewed heart. Benevolent deeds, proceeding from a right heart, are nut only ac- CHAPTER VI 79 bor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to tbe saints, and do minister. " And wc desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: '^that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ^^ For when God made ccptablo to God, but are deemed by him suitable to bo recompensed. Roia. ii. (i; Matt. xxv. 34-40. — Good crit- ical editions of the Greek Testa- ment omit the word wliicli is laere rendered labor, and present the orig- inal thus: For God is not unright- eous to forget j'our work, and the love which ye have shown to his name, — thus mentioning deeds per- iVjrmed and love to God manifested. II And do minister. Their kind deeds in behalf of Christians whose circum- stances required aid were not confined to the past, but were still habitually performed. Compare x. 32-34; xiii. 3. — There is no real contrariety be- tween the cautionary language in verses 4-6 and the confidence here ex- pressed as to the final salvation of the Hebrew Christians; for, first, the past and the continued evidence furnished by them of sincere love to God and faith in Christ encouraged the belief that they would, as a community, abide in this love and faith, and endure to the end, notwithstanding the vacil- lating spirit which not a few of them had manifested; secondly, their for- mer and continued faith and obedience encouraged the belief that He who had begun a good work in them would complete it. Phil. i. C. — However strong the belief might be that, by the grace of God, and according to his uncliangeablo purpose, their faith and obedience would issue in eternal life; yet, as they were Christians not by compulsion, but in the use of their natural faculties, and were liable to temptations which might prove an overmatch for their unaided power, they ought obviously to be reminded that peniition would be the inevitable result of forsaking Christ; this would arouse their cautiousness and contrib- ute to steadfastness in following Christ, and thus would coincide with the pur- pose of God to save those who are justified by the blood of Christ, Rom. v. y, 10, and would be a means for ef- fectuating this purpose. 11. And we desire, etc.; more cor- rectly, But we desire. Tlie AVriter here unfolds the reason for his solicitude respecting the Hebrews, and for his boldness in warning them. It was not because he was ready to abandon his hope of their salvation, but because ho felt an earnest desire that, as they hud formerly been diligent in deeds of kindness and in manifesting love to the name of God, so every one of them, without exception, would arouse himself to unceasing diligence in main- taining, and advancing to confirma- tion, ^he hope in Christ. || Unto the end. These words are connected in sense with the words do show the same dilifjenee; and they impress the oft-re- peated sentiment of this epistle, that we must be faithful unto death in order to receive the crown of life. Rev. ii. 10. 12. That ye he not slothful; literal- ly. That ye becotne not .•slothful. The writer thus shows his delicate feelings and his ever-present aim to win liis brethren by kindness. He wished that they would not remit their former dil- igence, but steadily follow in the track of the pious dead, imitating their per- severing fidelity to God, and pursuit of heavenly good. || Who throu-jh faith and patience inherit the promises; who through faith in God's declara- tions and patient continuance in obey- ing him, Luke viii. 15; Matt. xiii. 23, are now in actual possession of the heavenly blessings promised to those who believe and obey God. 13. The certainty that persever- ance in faith and obedience will issue in receiving the promised blessings is 60 HEBREWS. -promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, lie sware by himself, " saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply tlice. ^^ And so, after lie had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ^° P'or now argued from the fact tliat God ap- pended to his promises an oath, aud from the example of Abraham, whose patient confidence in the fulfilment of God's promises was amply recompensed. — For when God made promise, to Abra- ham. Reference is here had to the series of promises made to Abraham, as recorded iu Gen. xii. 2, 3, 7; xiii. 14-17; svii. 4-8; xviii. IS; xxii. Ki- 18. These promises had a spiritual, as well as a secular, significancy; they included heavenly good. The earthly prosperity, consisting of a numerous p(!sterity and of wide-spread posses- sion of the world, was only the prelim- inary and visible part, emblematic or typical of the spiritual and eternal good which the promises really em- b:aced. — The manner in which the New Testament writers speak of the promises made to Abraham shows that those promises were understood as thus extensive. They were considered as valid for the spiiitual posterity of Abraham; that is, for believers in all ages. The followers of Christ, accord- ingl3', were regarded as partakers with believing Abraham iu the blessings bestowed through Christ, who was, em- inently, THAT ONE of his posterity, or TUAT SEED, in whom all nations were to be blessed. See Rom. iv. 11, IC; Gal. iii. 7, 9, 14, IG, 2'd. \\ He sware hy himself. See Gen. xxii. 16: " Ey myself have I sworn, saith the Lord." — By the solemn and irreversible lan- guage of an cath, God gave Abraham the strongest assurance that his prom- ises would bo fulfilled. 14. Sayiny, Siireli/, etc. See Gen. xxii. 17. The blessing hero promised was indefinite, and included all real good, earthly and heavenly: and the promise to multiply Abraham's postei'- ity had respect, ultimately, to his spiritual posterity, that is, to believers of all times, as Well as to his natural descendants. Ij. And so; that is, And being thus situated, having promises and an oath from God. || After he had patient- ly endured, etc. ; having patiently con- fided in the promises of God, notwith- standing all unfavorable appearances, he at length obtained the promise; that is, the promised blessing. — God had repeatedly promised to Abraham a nu- merous posterity. Gen. xii. 2, 3 ; xiii. IC; xvii. 4-C; xviii. 18; which was to descend through Isaac, Gen. xvii. 19; xxi. 12. The birth of Isaac com- menced the visible fulfilment of tho promise; but subsequently God re- quired the sacrificing of Is.-iac, which requisition appeared entirely adverse to his expectations: yet he still be- lieved the declaration of God, Ueb. xi. 17-19. The requisition for sacrificing Isaac was revoked, and tho continued life of Isaac in such circumstances might well be considered as enfolding in itself the entire accomplishment of all tho promises of God. Abraham also lived after this event sufiioiently long to see all the providential ar- rangements made for the full accom- plishment of tho divine promise. See Gen. xxiv. ; xxv 5-8. IC. The design of God, in swearing to Abraham by himself, had its ground in the usage among men of employing the oath : For men verily swear by the greater; that. is, by One greater than themselves, namely, God; thus by an appeal to his omniscience avowing their perfect truthfulness, and by an appeal to his justice and almighty power avowing their expectation of being doomed by him to merited jjun- ishment, should they utter a false dec- laration, or not abide by their eng.agc- ments. Since this is tho practice among men, God condescended to give in this manner binding force to his promise, and to confirm Abraham's be- lief in its fulfilment. From the nature of the case, however, he, being su- preme over all, could swear only by himself. II ^4;jd an oath — an end of C II A P T E U VI 81 men verily swear by the greater : and an oath for confirma- tion is to them an end of all strife. " Wherein God, will- ing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath : ^^that by two immutable things, in which it tvas impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolatioir, wdio have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us : ^'^ which Jiope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure all strife; and on any occasions of dispute, or strife, among men, the oath which is taken is an end to the strife, and loads to a confirmed settlement of the matter. The oath, unluss there is ground for suspecting the crime of perjury, gives final assurance in regard to a matter in dispute; it is held of an obligatory nature, and is finally deci- sive. Compare Geu. xxi. 22-24; 1 Sam. six. 0; Is. liv. 9; Matt. xiv. 7. 17. Whfrcin; that is. In accord- ance with which usage; or, on which account; on account of an oath being employed among men to. give assur- ance and to place a matter beyond con- troversy or doubt. II God, willing inore abundantly, etc. ; (iod, out of re- gard to man's weakness and liability to distrust, desiring, by "assurance made doubly sure," to show unto the heirs of promise; more correctly, heirs of the promise, — The promise is here used collectively for the promises made to Abraham, which might bo considered as comprised in the one promise that within the veil, since it reaches forward to heaven. In the phrase that within the veil allusion is made to that recess in the .Jewish tabernacle, and afterwards iii the tjmple, which was named the VI lit hily place, or the h^ly of h-jlies. This was separated by a veil, or cur- tain, from trie hiiy place, that is, tho outer sanctuary, Ex. xxvi. 33. Into this inner apartment, beyond the sanc- tuarv, only the high-priest was al- lowed to enter, aud even he only one day in t!ie year, the day of annual atonement for the nation. It was re- garded as the place of Jehovah's special presence; and hence it was Considered an emblem of heaven. Con- sequentlj', that within the veil means tho place of God's abode, heaven. 20. Whither the f:rerunnrr, etc. ;" to which most holy abode of God, rep- resented by the interior recess of the tabernacle, .Jesus has gone beforehand in our behalf, having become our abid- ing High-priest. || Forever; from age to ago, through all generations. His priesthood is an abiding one, held ever by himself, not transmitted to an- other person. The Jewish high-priest's office was necessarily successive, pass- ing from one incumbent to another on account of death. Not so with Jesus, who has entered beforehand into heav- en, as our Leader and our perpetual, ever-living, ever-acting Iligh-priest. — Tho word ybrcDcr was not yet partic- ularly dwelt on by the writer, since tho thought convej'od by it belonged to a more advanced part of his argu- ment, as one of the points in proving the superiority of Christ's priesthood to that of Aaron. He seems, howev- er, to have felt it important to keep the expression before his readers' minds. || After the order of Mclchize- dek. See on v. 6. — The writer tluis terminates his hortatory address by again distinctly bringing Jesus to view in the capacity of a High-priest oflici- ating for his followers in the immedi- ate presence of God; a High-priest, also, bearing a marked resemblance to Mulchizedek and occupying a higher priestly rank than the high-priests of Aaron's time. To the consideration of Christ, in this exalted capacity, ho next directs attention. CHAPTER VII. Having repeatedly mentioned Jesus as the High-priest according to tho rank of Melchizedek, v. G, lU; vi. 20, the writer now proceeds formally to consider Jesus as occupying this posi- t^n. After alluding to the few his- torical particulars in the sacred records concerning Melchizedek, he points out several striking coincidences, official and personal, between him and Jesus. As tho thought that Jesus had been made a high-priest forever, like Mel- chizedek, was particularly prominent in the wiiter's mind, he confirms this thought by the coincidence between tho two in this respect; /or Melchiz- edek abideth a priest continually. Vs. 1-3. He next directs attention to the great- ness of Melchizedek in his priestly ca- pacity. He was so great that even Abraham, the patriarch of the He- brew nation, gave tithes to him, vs. 4. Again, while tho Levitical priests have the great honor of receiving tithes from the descendants of Abra- ham, Melchizedek has tho greater CHAPTER VII. For tliis Melchizcdek, king of Salem, priest of the most honor of having received tithes fmm Abiahrtin himself, and of having pro- nounced a blessing on him, vs. 5-7. Thus an additional proof is given of Melchizedok's superiority to xVbraham, in connection vvitli a proof of his su- periority to thoLevitical priests. — The Ljvitical priests, also, who receive tithes, arc but dy'uvj men; while Mcl- chizodeli is testified of only as a livinj person, vs. 8. Moreover, the progeni- tor of these priests, Levi, has, through Abraham, given tithes to Melchizo- dek, and thus acknowledged Melchiz- edok's superiority to him and his de- scendants, vs. 9, 10. — The superiority of Melchizedek to thoLevitical priests, to any one or to all of them, virtually proves the superiority of Jesus to those priests, for Jesus was of the rank of ]\Ielchizcdck. From the fact that Jesus is become the lligh-priest, it follows that the Le- vitical priesthood was imperfect; for it would not have been changed and given place to a diiferent priesthood, if it had furnished a perfect expiation and secured a perfect state of holiness and gU)ry for men, vs. 11. Since the Levitical priesthood was established in vital connection with the Law, and was regulated by the Law, such a change in the priesthood as the intro- duction of a priest of a ditTorent or- der, or rank, involved a change, also, of the Law. The fact that Jesus has become the Iligh-priest, lias brought about that change of the Law, inas- much as in his becoming lligh-priest the Mosaic law was not followed; for Jesus belonged to a tribe from which, according to that Law, a priest could not be selected, vs. 12-14. Still fur- ther; that it was not in accordance with an external, ineffectual economy, gucli as the Mosaic, that Jesus is made lligh-priest, but in accordance with an economy having power to bestow end- less life, is clear; because ho is made a Vncsi forever, vs. IG, 17. — The Mo- Baic law, then, is superseded by a sys- tem capable of securing eternal life: it is set aside, for it carried nothing to perfection ; and a better ground of hope, by which we draw near to God for mercy and grace, is introduced, vs. 18, IS). Also, Jesus was made ai Priest with the solemnity of an oath on the part of God, and thus with a sanction tran- scending -that of the Levitical priest- hood; in this same transcending de- gree, the covenant, of which he is be- come the surety, is better than the Mosaic, and he consequently a lligh- priest superior to the Levitical, vs. 20- 22. —Still further; the priesthood of Jesus is superior, since he abides for- ever, and thus has an unchangeable priesthood, one which abides in his own person, and does not pass from him to another ; whence he is able to save completely all who come to God through him, because he is ever-living so as to intercede for them, vs. 23-25. It was, moreover, eminently befit- ting that such a High-priest as Jesus has been described to bo in preceding parts of this chapter, also in ii. 17, 18, iv. 14, 15, V. 9, should be ap- pointed for us; one free from every taint of sin and all contact with sin- ners, and exalted on high, not needing to offer up repeatedly sacrifices for him- self first and then for the people, since his once offering up of himself for the people is all-sufficient; for the priests appointed by the Law were only men burdened with a consciousness of sin; but the divine declaration confirmed by the oath, which was subsequent to the Law and therefore set it aside, ap- points as lligh-priest the Son of God, exalted to the perfection of his heav- enly dignity forever, vs. 26-28. 1-3. For this Melchizedek — abideth a priest contimially. At entering on the discussion of the high-priesthood of Jesus as contrasted with the Leviti- cal high-priesthood, the transition from the last verse of the preceding chap- ter to the present paragraph is very s;5 84 HEBREWS. high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him ; ^ to whom also Abraham natural. The thought of Jesus' hav- ing become a High-priest forever after the order of Melcliizedek had been expressed. In confirmation of that thouglit, and as showing a resemblance bi>tweeu Melc'hizedek and him, Mel- chizedek is now presented to our no- tice as abidin'j a priest contitmally. In this respect, as in various others, the ci)incidcnco between the two is very observable. The statement is not an crjununt in proof of the perpetuity of Christ's priesthood, no argument being needed, since its perpetuity was made known in the divine appoint- ment of Christ to this office. This point was not a matter for reasoning; but the coincidence in this respect be- tween Mclohizedek and Jesus needed to be distinctly stated as confirming the point, and as unfolding one of the essential elements of Christ's priest- hood which had not been sufficiently well apprehended. It is indeed the chief point, both of resemblance to Molchizcdek and of contrast with the Levilical priests, which the writer was seeking to impress on the He- brews. This attribute of perpetuity belonged, in a certain sense, to Mel- chizedek; so, too, Jesus is, in a still higher sense, an enduring Priest; his office extends throughout all ages, so long as his followers shall need a high- priest. — Before distinctly mentioning this culminating point of resemblance, the writer recalls the brief historical account, Gen. xiv. 18-20, in which Melchizedek is so honorably commem- orated, and then, in suggesting points of resemblance between him and Jesus which were involved in the declara- tion, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, gives the explanation of his name and of his kingly title, and directs special atten- tion to the remarkable fact that this king-priest appears without father, without mother, without beginning, and without ending, of life. Thus he is made, in the remarkable providence ol' God, like unto the Son of God, who is really without beginning and with- out ending. What was really true in reference to the Son of God has a counterpart in Melchizedek by the po- sition in which the providence of God, according to the sacred records, placus him. When ho first appears in the sacred records, he is presented to us as a king and a priest of the most high God ; and no information is given as to his parentage, his birth, or his death. So far as human knowledge goes, the case is as if he had no par- ents and never ceased to live, or to be a king-priest. Now, what is true of him in a certain view is really and lit- erally true of Jesus, the Son of God; and iMelchizedok is a signal typo of the Sou of God, who is become the King-priest of his followers. — The only account which wo have concern- ing Melchizedek is found in Gen. xiv. 18-20. He is there called " king of Salem" and "the priest of the most high God." On the return of Abra- ham from a successful expedition against the five confederate kings into whose hands Lot, Abraham's nephew, had fallen, he met Abraham with a present of bread and wine, and pro- nounced a blessing on him in language indicative of intelligent and sincere piety ; and Abraham gave to him tithes of all the goods he had captured. — Jlclchizcdek appears to have been a king of one of the tribes in ancient Pal- estine, and Salem to have been tho city of his i-esidcnce. In the midst of tho prevailing depravity and idolatry, he maintained the knowledge and worship of the one true God, and, according to a pi'actice which was observed in patri- archal times, he was the priest as well as the king of his people. 2. Abraham gave a truth part of all; gave even a tithe of all ; went so far as to give tithes, Gen. xiv. 20. — Tho practice of tithing, or setting apart a tenth of all income as an offering to God, for tho support of priests and for the service of religion, is very an- cient. The tenth of all was consid- ered due to God as an expression of gratitude to him, the bostower of all CHAPTER VII 85 gave a tenth part of all ; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace ; ^ without father, wnthout mother, without de- scent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but good, and an acknowledgment of his sovereignty as God over all, entitled to homage from all men and in regard to all things. — On the occasion hero mentioned, Abraham gave tlie tenth of his spoils to Melchizedek as being t!ic priest of the Most High, and en- titled to what was considered as the Lord's portion. Such was the signifi- cance of tithing among the Hebrews as regulated by the Mosaic law; God claimed as his own the tenth of all in- come, Lev. xxvii. 30, and this, to- gether with various offerings. Num. xviii. 8, was given to the priests and Levites for their support, siiioo the tribe of Levi, being set apart for the service of religion, h.ad no possessions in common with the other tribes. See Num. xviii. 20-32. — The poor, also, were to receive a portion from the tithes, Deut. xiv. 29. || Bciny by in- terprctati m, etc. The name Mrhhiz- edek, according to the meaning of the two words of which it is composed, signifies kinj of rijhte.ouxnexs ; that is, a righteous king. || Kinj nf Salem, which is, etc. The Hebrew word St/y. IHs name is not recorded in any genealogical register, and, con- sequently, he appears without lineage or ancestry. — This mention of there being no genealogical record of him may be either explanatory of the terms loithout father, withrut mother, or may be a more general statement, namely, that he had no recorded an- cestry. This circumstance was a very striking one in the view of orientals, who made great account of genealogi- cal registers; and its occurrence in regard to a distinguished individual would naturally arrest attention as a noteworthy peculiarity. || Ilaviyiy nei- ther beyinniny of days, nor, etc. ; without a beginning, or a termination, of life, so far as the sacred record gives us in- formation concerning him. We know him only as a living person; we have never read of his birth, or of his death. — The writer's design evidently was to present resemblances in Mel- chizedek to Jesus, regarding one as the intended type of the other. la unfolding the type, that is, in present- ing coincidences between the two, the silence of the Scriptures concerning Melchizedek suggested points of re- semblance, as well as the positive in- formation contained in the Scriptures. Those coincidences, drawn out in de- tail, are certainly very remarkable, and must have been deeply impressive to the original readers of this epistle. 11 But made like unto the Son nf God. In these various particulars, as to name, titles, lineage, beginning and ending of life, he was, by a special di- vine providence, made like the Son of God: a signal resemblance was oc- casioned between him and the Son of God, who is in reality a perfectly righteous and peaceful King, without beginning and without end, and who, in conueetiou with his kingly authori- ty, is invested with priesthood. — The coincidences between Melchizedek and Jesus, as here set forth, and the use which was made by the Spirit of God, in the 110th Psalm, of this venerable 86 II E B 11 E W S made like unto the Son of God, al)ideth a priest continual!}'', and mysterious man, as furnishing a / parallel to the kingly priesthood of ;■ Jesus, have their most satisfactory ex- ^' planation in the belief that Melehiz- f edek was originally designed of God to be a type of Jesus, both in regard t<) what is made known concerning him and in regard to what God saw fit to keep in concealment. la his personal character and official position, which are matters of record, and in the si- lence of the Scripture as to any hu- man parentage, as to a beginning and an ending of life to him, he .was de- signed to foreshadow the Son of God as the kingly lligh-priest. — The in- tention of the writer in grouping to- gether many circumstances of resem- blance between Melchizedek and Jesus was, probably, to make impressive and suggestive the fact that Jesus had, agreeably to the llUth Psalm, become a Iligh-priest aft^r the likeness of Melciiizedek, and to prepare the read- er to see how vastly important was this predicted change in the priest- hood. Such a group of coincidences in respect to persons and circumstances, . mentiimed in the sacred records, was well fitted to deepen conviction in the mind of a candid Jew concerning any religious subject. A similar tendency on the part of the saored writers, when narrating certain events, to recall par- allel or strikingly similar events, or even language which corresponds to such events^ in order to impress the thought of a divine foresight and of a complete fulfilment of God's designs, is repeatedly shown in the Gospeis. Events there narrated arc frequently set in connection with some Old Testa- ment declarations or events, rather on account of their striking resemblance and being corresponding parts of ono great plan of divine Providence, than as furnishing a basis for direct argu- ment. This is not surprising. In the instance before us, let any person, un- der the impression that a divine design is connected with the minutest events, — that God numbers the very hairs of our heads, — contemplate these coinci- dences between Melchizedek and Jesus, and ho cannot but feel that the case is a remarkable one; that this ancieni king-priest may well bo regarded as typical of Ilirn who was to be a priest upon his throne, Zcch. vi. 12, 13. — It is observable that neither here, nor elsewiiere in this epistle, is any special notice taken of the union of the kingly office with the priestly in Melchizedek as a main point of distinction between the priesthood of Melchizedek and that of Aaron, while yet in this re- spect, also, and eminent!}'', Christ, as a priest, resembled Melchizedek and diii'ered from the Levitical high-priests. This union of regal power with priest- ly ofiiees is, indeed, implied in the ex- planation of the name and title of Melchizedek, and in the repeated men- tion of Jesus being seated at the rijlit hand nf Gxl, and it could not fail to be perceived by readers so familiar as were the Hebrews with the brief his- torical notice of Melchizedek in Gen. xiv. 18-'20 ; but no distinct and prom- inent place is given to it in the epistle. Those to whom it was primarily addressed, and who, probably, were not unfamiliar with the thought, how- ever incorrectly they may have appre- hended it, that the Messiah was to have the power of royalty in conjunc- tion with the sacrcdnessof priesthood, doubtless needed that a certain other item, namely, that of perpetuity, should be brought distinctly and im- pressively before them. Besides, it was the special view of a high-priost expiatiny for sin and interceding with God, which was occupying the writer's mind, and which ho desired to fiisten in the minds of his readers. If this view were fully admitted and properly appreciated, they would then be in a condition better to understand the na- ture and design of Christ's kingly power. — II Abideth a priest continual/ y ; that is, forever. The word continually here corresponds to the word forever in vi. 20, and is designed to confirm the thought tliere expressed; thus pre- senting the closing point of resem- blance between Melchizedek and Je- sus. — This declaration concerning Melchizedek is not to be understood absolutely, as if alTirming that, in the CHAPTER VII 87 * Now consider how great ihis man 'icas, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. ^ And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, v/ho receive the oillce of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of tlieir brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham : " but he whose descent is not counted from them recei\ed tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises : ' and without all contradiction the less is blessed strict meaning of the word, he abides a priest c'antinudli/, furLVcr; for Jesus oisly is the evcr-Uvhi'j Priest. It is used Concerning Melohizcdok as com- pared with priests who, at their death, resign tlioir otiices to others; and as a typical person. The sacred record gives no account of his having died and having ceased to be a priest; as ho appears in the sacred record, ho abideth a priest continually. In this respect ho t.ypifies Jesus, who is really the everlasting lligh-priest. — The ex- planation of this clause leads to the explanation of the other mysterious torms in this connection. They are to bo understood of Melchizedek as a typical person; so that what may in a certain sense be said of him is exactly and fully true of Jesus, the Son of God. 4-10. The writer now directs at- tention to the dignity of the priest Melchizedek as far transcending that of the .Jewish priests, and thus, by implication, without a formal state- ment, assorts the corresponding dignity of Jesus as made a priest of the rank of Melchizedek. — Now consider how great this man was. The greatness, or dignity, of Melchizedek is shown by t'.io fact that Abraham, tlie distin- guished patriarch of the Hebrew na- tion, and so highly reverenced by them, treated him as entitled, in his priestly capacity, to special lionorfrom himself, and gave him the tenth of his spells as tithes; thus acknowledging Meichizedek's superiority and right to homage from him. || The patriarch. Tiii.s title is more usually given to the tv.elve sons of Jac;.b, as being the pr(>gcnitoi-s of the twelve tribes. See Acts vii. 8, y. Ilciy it is used, with eminence, of Abraham, as being the earliest of the distinguished men from whom the Hebrew people descended. See Gon. xii. 1-3; siv. 13. Since Melchizedek was greater than Abra- ham, the inference is easy that he is to be held greater than Abraham's de- scendants, among whom vrere the Le- vitical priests. 5-7. From Abraham as compared with Melchizedek, the writer passes to the Lovitical priests as compared with him, interweaving an additional proof of his superiority to Abraham. — And verili/ they that areofthesons of Levi, etc. It is, indeed, true that the descendants of Levi, who enter the priesthood, that is, the Levitical priests, have a command according to the Law, Num. xviii. 20-32, to take tithes of the peo- ple, althougli the people are thcij brethren, enjoying equally with them- selves the distinction of being descend- ants of Abraham. They are, indeed, greatly honored in having such a command. G. But he whise descent is not counted fr.m them, etc. But Melchizedek, who was not lineally connected with the Levitical priests, has still higher honor in that he has received tithes from Abraham himself, the patriarch and head of the Hebrew people. Ho is therefore eminently superior to them. II And blessed him that had the promises. See Gen. xiv. H). The fact that Melchizedek pronounced a bless- ing on Abraham, who was so honored of God as to be the recipient of most remarkable promises, is indicative al.-:o of his superiority to Abraham, on the principle stated in the following verso. 7. And with'ut oil cntrodiction, etc. Every one concedes that the person oa 88 II EB HEWS. of the better. ^ And here men that die receive titlies ; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed tliat lie liv- eth. ^And as I may so say, Levi also, who receivetli tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. ^'* For lie was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him. whom a blos.sing is pronounced is held to be inferior to him who pronounces it: the one who utters the blessing is superior, iu point of age, or weight of character, or relative position, to him on whom it is pronounced. — The rea- soning here turns aside for a moment from the priests to Abraham, as an- other circumstance relative to him was brought to mind. — The remark iu this verse was eminently true iu early times when the pronouncing of a bless- ing was universally felt to be of a very grave as well as aifectionate charac- ter, and was so often a prophetic dec- laration, thus connecting the speaker intimately with Uod. See Gen. xxvii. 4, '27; xlviii. 1j; Dcut. xxxiii. 1. 8. An additional argument now follows for Melchizedek's superiority to the Lcvitieal priests, namely, while we know that these priests are mortal men, we have no such positive knowl- edge of death having been undergone by Melchizedek. The Scriptures tes- tify of him only as a living person. So far as the record goes, while death stands connected with these priests, only life is mentioned in connection with Melchizedek. — And here; that is, on the part of the Lovitical priests, they who are known as dying men re- ceive tithes; but there, on the part of Melchizedek, it is one who is testified of only as living that receives them. — The silence of Scripture is here em- ployed as suggesting a point of con- trast in Molehizedek's favor; and when he is viewed as a designed typo of Christ, selected from all priests as the one who was to be specially com- parable to the Son of God, the fact that we have no positive knowledge of his having died is significant. 9. His superiority to the Levitical priests appears also from the fact that Levi, the progenitor of these priests, acknowledged him as his superior, and consequently the superior of his de- scendants. — And, as I may so say; or, so to spcah; a form of expression implying that what we say needs somo qualification, as not being strictly and literally the case, but requiring to be understood with such allowance as the ordinary apprehension of men will nat- urally suggest. II Levi — paid tithes in Abraham; more correctly, throujh Abraham. 10. For he was yet in the loini, etc. In the light of events which took place ages afterwards, and iu view of the purpose of God, who giveth life to all who have it, and who calleth things that are not as though they were, Rom. iv. 17, Levi, who now, in the persons of his descendants, receiveth tithes, may bo said to have paid tithes to Melchizedek. This is on tho com- mon principle that a man's acts often bind his children and remote posterity. The homage which Abraham rendered to Melchizedek may bo regarded as shared in by his descendants, since he was the head and representative of tho Hebrew nation. || His father. The word father is here equivalent to pro- f/enitor, or ancestor, for Abraham was great-grandfather to Levi, the succes- sion being Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi. The Scripture, after the man- ner of the orientals, uses terms of kindredship with much latitude; thus, in Gen. xiv. 12, Lot is mentioned as Abraham's nephew, and in Gen. xiv. 14, ho is called Abraham's breather. Melchizedek has now been shown to be greater than any Levitical priest. But Jesus has become a priest after tho rank, or according to the likeness, of Melchizedek; his priesthood, then, is greater than tho Levitical. — The event of Jesus' being invested with this priesthood is of great importance in its relation to the Levitical priest- hood and the Mosaic law, as the writer nov? proceeds to show. 11-28. The ground for the intro- CHAPTER VII 89 " If therefore perfection T\'ere by the Levitical priest- hood (for under it the people received the law), what fur- duction of this diacrcnt and superior priesthood is next brought to view in the form of an inference', and some Consequences stated which result from its introduction. The ground for it is the inadequacy of the Levitical priest- hood for relieving the spiricual neces- sities of men. In consequence of this inadequacy, the Levitical priestho(;d is terminated and the Mosaic dispen- sation is displaced by one difereut and Letter, vs. 11-1'J. Tiie covenant on v/hich the new dispensation rests is far better than that of the old, and the p; iesthooil of Jesus on the basis of this new covenant is consequently better than the Levitical priesthood; bis priesthood is also superior, since it is an unchanging one in his own per- son, vs. 20-2J. It was befitting that ■we should have such a High-priest as Jesus, who has no need to oifer sacri- fices for himself, or to ofter repeated saciifices for the people, since liis of- fering up of himself once was all-suf- ficient fur their necessities, vs. 2t;-'28. IL If therefore perfection were by the Levitical prieiwer of an endless Ufe; or, according to a power of endless life. Reference is had to what we call the systern of the gospel in distinction from the Mosaic system. While the latter was so much occupied with ceremonies and the external relations of men, the former, the gospel, is directly and per- petually occupied with men's spiritual concerns, or their becoming possessors of spiritual and endless life on earth and in heaven; the gospel, conse- quently, has a power, through the in- fluences of the Holy Spirit, which ac- company it, on the conscience towards God, on the radical purposes and af- fections of men, renewing the soul and making it acceptable to God. This the Law had not power to do; it was carnal, weak; but the gospel is made the power of God unto salvation, llom. i. 10; viii. 3, 4. This other and dif- ferent priest, then, is set in oflice, not according to a Law which enjoined commands pertaining to external and temporal things, to the flesh rather than to the spirit, and which conse- quontly Avas weak as to spirituw.l con- cerns; but he is set in office according to a power, or a powerful, eflicacious system, which is designed and adapted to secure endless life. 17. For he testifieth; that is, God testifieth, in Ps. ex. 4. The most ap- proved Copies of the original have here, it is testifcd. The anuouncenieat of Jehovah, here referred to, is takea as a prophetic testimony; and as it bears witness that Jesus, of whom it was spoken, was to become a priest forever, an everlastinj priest, it is God's testimony to a change in the priest- hood, whereby, in place of the Leviti- cal, which dealt with the flesh, a priesthood is substituted which deals with the spirit, and which establishes an ever-living priest to administer a system for securing spiritual and eter- nal life. 18, 19. Such a priest, one able to secure spiritual and eternal life, is now set in office; for the Mosaic law is set aside as being powerless to secure eternal salvation, and a better hope than the Law could give is introduced. — For there is verily a disannulling, etc. For the Mosaic law is set aside on ac- count of its weakness as to securing spiritual and eternal good for men, and on account of its consequent un- profitableness in this respect. — The ch'inye spoken of in the I'ith verse is here expressed by a stronger term, a setting^ aside. The abrogation of tlie Mosaic law, as a religious system, is meant; an issue which was gently and gradually presented to the readers of the epistle. {| The comynandment going before; that is, the system of com- mands which was formerly in force, namely, the Mosaic law, the former dispensation. {{ For the wcalcness and unprofitableness thereof. The ilosaic law, viewed as a system of external prescriptions and rites designed to reg- ulate the standing of i^idividuals in the Jewish community, to prevent cer- emonial uncleanness, to remove it when CHAPTER VII 93 ness and unprofitableness thereof. ^^ For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. contracted, and to separate visibly the its expiations, its hopes, to perfection ; Jewish people from Gentiles, was from but left all imperfect, in expectaticai its very nature, since it liad so uiuch of a better system, which should fur- to do with externals, destitute of nish ample ieacAiJiys on mgn's spiritual power and of profit as to man's highest concerns and prospects, an elfectuul spiritual welfare; such external pre- expiation for sin, so tiiat sin might bu scriptions could not purify the soul pardoned and removed, and peace with and give peace to a conscience bur- God bo obtained, also a better h pe dened witli a sense of sin and of con- which should not bo liable to di.-ap- dcmnation. They were rather resem- poiutment, but should be sure, stcad- blances and preparatives of what was fast, and be actually consummated in designed to bo introduced when the the possession of heaven. — This clause full time. Gal. iv. 4, 5, should have ought to be set in a parenthesis, as come for establishing a spiritual econ- giving a passing and comprehensive ouiy which, passing beyond these ex- reason for the statement in the loth ternal matters, should provide for verse. — \\ But thebrinyinj in of a bdlvr peace with God in the conscience, and hope did. The word did was suppli%,d for the sure hope of eternal life. — by our translators, but it fails to rep- Tho Law, viewed also as a system of resent the meaning of tliis clause aad divine cumiuands enjoining obedience its relation to the preceding verse, in heart and life to the will of God, This clause is really, according to the and requiring genuine and universal original, a contrast to the statement, piety, supremo love to God, holy af- For there is verily a disannuUinij of the fection and holy conduct, as it unques- commandment (joinj before, and not the tionably did, was also weak and un- contrast to the words. The law made profitable, not through its own nature, nuthiiiy perfect. Its intent is better but through the strong sinful inclina- shown by the following version: There tion of men's hearts. As tho epistle is, on the one side, a disannullinij , rath- to the Romans, viii. 3, expresses tho er, a setting aside.o/ the fore(j".inj co?n- thought, " the law was weak through mandment (for the law made nothing the flesh." In itself, holy and good as perfect), and on the other a brinijinj in, it was, it could not secure the obedi- an introduction, of a better hipe, tliat enceof men; their hearts were arrayed is, a better ground of hope, by which, against it, and it was completely man- no doubt, is meant the 7iew covenant, ifest that a ditferent system from one as representing the gospel, on which of commands and prohibitions, of the priesthood of Jesus is based. — Tho promises on condition of perfect obo- view here given of the Mosaic law and dieuce to tho law and of threatenings tho gospel agrees with that in 2 Cor. in case of any disobedience, was req- iii. G-11, wliere tho Mosaic ecunomy is uisite for bringing men to holiness represented as having passed away and and salvation. A disannulling, that given place to the gospel, which is tho is, a setting aside of tho former system abidiny system, as the completion of of commands, therefore, has taken God's arrangements for enlightening place. and saving men. Compare, also. Gal. 19. For the law made nothing perfect, iii. 21-2t). — || By the which we draw A reason is now given for this setting niyh unto God; by means of which aside of tho Mosaic law, namely, tho hope, founded on tho high-priesthoud Law carried nothing to completion; of Jesus, who has offered up for us an^ it was intended to be, not a complete effectual sacrifice, and who has entered and final system, but preparatory and into heaven on our behalf, vi. It), 20, preliminary to another and a perfect wo draw nigh to God, presenting system. It did not carry its teachings, our petitions with unfaltering confi- 94 II E 15 11 E W S . ™ Auel inasnincb as not Avitlioiit au oatli he tvas made priest: ^^ (for those priests were made without an oath ; but this with au oatli l)y him that said uuto him, The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melehizedek :) ^- bj^ so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. ^•^ And.they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death : ^^ but this mun^ dence. — In all our acts of worship, personal and social, private and public, we are Cuusiderud as appearing before God, presenting to him praise and prayer, cherishing the spirit of obedi- ent learners of his will, and doing homage to him as having the right to our service and affection. The hope of acceptance as to our persons and our service, springingfrom the priestly oiieriug and intercession of Jesus, brings us into affectionate harmony with God and cherishes the spirit of filial trust and delight, while yet it in no wise diminishes the reverence and awe which his greatness and holiness naturally inspire. 21)-'2j. The superiority of the priest- hood of Jesus is further shovv'n from the superiority of the covenant of whicli he is the surety, as compared with the covenant of the Mosaic law, and from the unchangeableness of his priesthood. — And inasmuch as, etc. The covenant of which Jesus has be- come the surety is as much bettor than the ancient covenant as tlie manner in which he was announced a priest was more solemn than the manner in which the Levitical priests were appointed. He was made a priest with the solem- nity and assurance of au oath on the part of Jehovah; but no oath accom- panied ihcir entrance into office. 21. The Lord sware, and will not re- pent, Ps. ex. 4. Will not repent; that is, will not turn from his sworn prom- ise as if he regretted it, but will surely adhere to it. 22. Surety; a sponsor, one who be- comes responsible for the fulfilling of an engagement. Compare Gen. xliii. 9; xliv. 32. In order to impress the mind with the indubitable certainty that the promise of eternal life in the covenant, which is substituted for that of the Mosaic law, will not fail, the Son of God is represented as becoming security for its fulfilment. This rep- resentation is, of course, in accommo- dation to human modes of establishing confidence in the fulfilment of prom- ises or contracts; and no stronger as- surance could be given that the prom- ise or engagement of God, to besiow eternal life, would bo fulfilled, than by his Son's becoming the surety. In the sufferings, death, and resurrection of his Son, and in making him the Iligh- priest of the covenant in which eternal life is promised to the followers of Je- sus, God has given the very highest assurance that that covenant shall ba kept inviolable. Compare Rom. viii. 32, 34. II A belter testament; more proper!}', covenant, namely, that which has taken the place of the covenant on which the Mosaic law, or dispensa- tion, rested; it is better, inasuiueu as it provides for the renewal of the heart, so as to make obedience to God its choice, and for a free and entire for- giveness of sins, equivalent to a blot- ting of them out of remembrance, so that those who have become, by virtue of this covenant, the forgiven and ac- cepted objects of divine favor, will bo treated as if- they had never sinned. Compare viii. 10-12. 23-25. The superiority of Jesus, as High-priest, appears, also, in the fact that Jesus, unlike the Jewish high- priests, is an ever-living High-priest; his interest in those who confide in his mediation never ceases, never wanes; his priesthood is never transferred to other hands, but he personally carries on to completeness the salvation of every one who comes to God through him. — And they truly were many CIIAPTEU YIl. 'Jo because he contiiuieth ever, h;itli an unchangeable priest- hood. ^^ Wherefore he is able also to save them to the ut- termost t!iat come unto God liy him. seeing- he ever livelh to make intercession for them. "*' For such a high-priest became us, lulio is holy, harm- less, undefiled, sci^arate from sinners, and made higher than prinsts. Tho priests under the Mosaic were intercessors for tho people and law, or the former covenant, were for individuals witli God; so Jesus is many, since tlicy were mortal, and tiic intercessor for his followers, and succession from one to another was, of procures for them divine grace ade- nccossity, constantly taking place. quate to their necessities. As in con- '24. I3ut this man, etc.; but on the sequence of their liability to sin they contrary, Jesus, on account of his always need the kind of'iicos of an cf- abiding forever in life, since in bis fectual intercessor, so Jesus lives al- bcavenly exaltation he is beyond lia- ways to intercede in their behalf. — bilitj' to death, has a priesthood which Precisely hrAu Jesus intercedes in be- does not pass from one incumbent to half of his followers it is wholly use- another, but is continued in hiui per- less to inquire. 'The fact of his so du- sonally. ing is here presented, and, by impli- 2J. He is al)h to save to the litter- cation, the f//?cac?/ of his intercessions. viost; that is, to cmijilcteness, or com- Of course, the manner of thus securing pletely, perfectly. IJe is able to save divinefavor for us is in accordance with entirely, leaving nothing more to be his spiritual nature; earthly and bod- done for those in whose behalf he acts, ily forms and modes are incompatible but carrying forward tho work of their with that spiritual nature, and wa salvation to its utmost extent. The need not embarrass the subject with priestly work of Jesus for them is effi- any material, or earthly, rcpresenta- cacious not merely in part, but in tivcs. As in our Lord's kingly rela- whole; it reaches not merely to a cer- tion to his followers, his power makes tain point in tho exigencies of the all things work together for their good case, but covers the whole ground of in ways beyond our comprehension, so their necessities, however sinful and in his priestly relation, since he knows ill-deserving they may have been. By all their liabilities, their actual sins, tho completeness of the salvation which and their need of special divine aid to ho b2otows, ho is also tho author, or meet emergencies, he secures for them, "captain, of their salvation," able to through his interest in their behalf conduct tho sons of God wh''llythro7iyh and the perfect compliance of the to glory, ii. 10. " He perfects what Father with his wishes for them, the his love begins." — Every constant fol- abiding mercy of God and his con- lower of Jesus may, then, indulge the tiuuod sanctifying and strengthening encouraging thought. My interests are grace. Compare Rom. viii. 31-34; in the hands of tho great Iligh-priest John x. 27-30. who knows me and all my circum- 2U-28. Another, and the final point stances throughout, who cares for me of superiority on the part of Jesus; and will care for me to tho end, John namely, the Jewish high-priests have xiii. 1 ; to no other is my cause to bo need to o3fer sacrifices time after time, transferred, and never will there be a first for themselves and then for the waning of his interest towards me. people; but the sacrifice which Jesus 'I know whom I have believed, and oHered for the people, not needing any am persuaded that he is able to keep for himself, he oJered once for all. tiiat which I have committed to him," 2G. For such a hij/i-priest became 2 Tim. i. 12. |{ Sceiny he ever livrlh us. For it was suitable also to our to make intercession for them; since he case, eminently suitable for us, that •-: always living so as to intercede in wo should have such a high-priest aa their behalf. The Jewish high-priests Jesus is; perfectly ^-^/^, /iarm/«s, do- 96 II E B R E W S the heavens ; ^ who necdeth not daily, as those high-priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for liis own sins, and then for the people's : for tliis lie did once, when he offered up himself. '^'^For the law maketh men high-priests which have infirmi- ty ; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. ing no evil to any one, undcfiled, whol- ly unpolluted, separate, rather, separ- ated, from sinners, by his departure from among sinful men, thus freed from all contact with unholy beings and from the possibility of any dimi- nution of the venerabloness which his persou and his ofTice inspire ; and 7nade hijher than the heavens, who has passed through the heavens, iv. 14, to tho right liand of God on high, i. 3 ; Mark xvi. J'J; 1 Pet. iii. 22. 27. Who 7ieedeth not daily, as those hijh-priests, to offer up sacrifices, etc. As he is perfectly sinless, he has no need to otfer sacrifices on his own ac- count; and as ho otfered up himself a sacrifice for the sins of the people, this one sacrifice was all-sufficient for all the people of all time. — This is the first passage in the epistle which speaks of Christ as having offered up himself; the mention of it occurs re- peatedly in subsequent passages. — Tho death of Christ was not compul- sory, but voluntary. He had said, " I lay down my life. No man taketh it from mo, but I lay it down of my- self; I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again." John X. 17, 18. When he was fastened to the cross, he still retained power over his life, and did not expire by natural consequence of crucifixion; it is doubt- ful whether death would have occurred by natural consequence so soon as it did in his case. Hence, " Pilate mar- velled if he were already dead." See Mark xv. 44. Compare Luke xxiii. 40; John xix. 33. His sufferings may indeed be called mortal sufferings, be- cause death would have resulted from them had he seen fit to allow the re- sult to take place in an entirely natu- ral way. But when, on the cross, ho saw tliat all things appointed for him to do and to sulfer were accomplished, ho exclaimed, " It is finished," and of his own accord breathed out his soul. John xix. 30, thus offering up himself as a sacrificial victim. Compare Kom. iii. 23; Gal i. 4; 1 Pet. i. 18-20; ii. 21-24. II Once; once forever. — Tho Mosaic law required a daily morning and evening sacrifice, Ex. xxix. 38-42. As tho high-priest's offering of sacri- fices took place on the day of the n/j- nnal atonement. Lev. 16th chapter, the word daily is here understood b3' some writers in the broad sense vi fre jurntly. The Jewish historian, Josephus, how- ever, says, in his Jewish War, v. 5, 7, that the high-priests frequently par- ticipated in the daily offerings. The high-priest was also the head of tho entire company of priests, and might, therefore, naturally be thought of as concerned virtually, if not actually, in all the services of priests, the priestly and sacrificial system cent- ring in him. 28. For the law mal;eth men hijh- priests which have infirmily, etc. A reason for the vast diiference here pre- sented between the Jewish high-priests and Jesus in their respective sacrifices, lies in the vast personal contrast be- tween them and him. The Law makes high-priests men who have infirmity; that is, who are sinful, v. 2, and who therefore have need to offer sacrifices for themselves, verse 27; but the word of the oath, tho declaration of God ac- companied with an oath, verse 21, that is, tlio divine announcement concern- ing a priest after the manner of Mel- chizedek, Ps. ex. 4, the oath confirma- tory of which was sworn subsequently to the establishment of the Law, since it was announced through David, and which, consequently, when it took ef- fect, set the Law aside, appoints as High-priest his Sov, who v/as wiihout sin, and who is made perfect in glory forever. — Christ did, indeed, have in- firmity', but in a sense diileront from that which is here affirmed of the Le- vitieal priests; for while they had PAET FOURTH. CHAPTERS VIII., IX., X. 1-18. SUPERIORITY OF THE HIGH-PRIESTLY MINISTRATION OP CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY HOLY OF HOLIES. §His ministration as much more excellent than that in the earthly sanctuary, as the new covenant is more excellent than the old, viii. 1-7. Promises of the new covenant, viii. 8-13. § The earthly tabernacle and its priestly service, the heavenly and its service, in contrast, ix. 1-14. The new covenant has Christ for its mediator by reason of the efficacy of his death, which was necessary to its validity, ix. 15-23. Christ entered into heaven in our behalf with his own blood, which ho of- fered once foi'ever, ix. 24-28. § The Law cannot procure a perfect expiation, but rather renews the consciousness of guilt, x. 1-4. Christ, in consequence, came to make an efficacious otfering, x. 5- 10. § The Levitical priests are offering, day after day, the same unavailing sacrifices ; but Christ, after oITering one sacrifice, sat down at the right hand of God, haiang made a perfect and ever- abiding expiation, x. 11-14, agreeably to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, x. 15-18. moral infirmity, that is, sin, he was sinless and had only the nitural in- firmity of men, by which he became liable to death. His death, too, was dilferent from theirs, since it was not of a penal nature ; but was required by the divine appointment, that through deatii ho should become the author of salvation and bo elevated to his per- fect glory. II Consecrated. The orig- inal word means perfected, made per- fect, and relates to tho state of perfect glory to which Jesus is exalted in heaven. Compare v. 9. Having passed through tho scenes of humiliation and siiSfering on earth, by which ho be- came perfectly qualified for his priest- hood, he is crowned with glory and honor forever, ii. 9, and set in that state of perfect dignity to which his perfection of holiness and of official qualification entitles him. He is " head over all things to the church." Eph. i. 22. PART IV. CHAPTERS VIII., IX., X. 1-18. StrPERIOBITY OF THE HIGH-PRIESTLY MINISTRATION OP CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY HOiY OF HOLIES. To this Part the writor invites special attention by denominating it tihe chief, or main, thing m his discourse. — Ha/had shown the superioriry of Christ to the Jingels and to Moses; he had also shown not only that Clirist, as High-priest, Is far superior to the Levitical high-priests, but even that the Le\-itical priesthood and the Mo- saic law are set aside by the entrance of Christ on his priestly office. He %vished, however, to carry forward the view to a more convincing and affecting point by presenting Christ offici- ating, as the High-priest, in the heavenly sanc- tuary, clottied at the same time with the au- thority and majesty of the Son OF God, seated at the right hand of the Father. He would thus group together and concentrate various atFocting particulars concerning Christ as to the uttering which he presented, the redemp- tion which he has secured, and the ever-avail- ing efficacy of his one sacrifice which super- sedes the necessity of any other and puts an end to the sacrificial system. Sucli contrasts between Christ and the Levitical high-jiriesta could hardly fail to rivet conviction and secure the adherence of the Hebrew brethren to Jesus, a.s their Redeemer and Lord. The following is a summary of this Part : —Christ is the regal Iligh-priest in the heavenly sanctu- ary, viii. 1-5. His priestly service is far more excellent than that of the Levitical priests, in the same proportion as the covenant in refer- ence to which he acts is more excellent than the old covenant, ver. 6. The old covenant was open to exception, and was therefore supersed- ed by the new, ver. 7. The promises of the new covenant are rehearsed, and the abrogation of the old affirmed, vs. 8-13. Under the first covenant, priestly service was performed in an earthly sanctuary, and was ■><._ cupied with off"erings which could impart only an external purification, ix. 1-10. But Christ s priestly service is performed in the heavenly sanctuary, into which he entered once for all with his own blood, "which procures cleansing to the conscience in reference to God, vs. 11-14. — Since it is only the new covenant that pro- vides for eternal redemption from sin and for cleansing of the conscience, he is the mediator of this covenant, in order that by death, under- gone for redemption from transgressions during the fli-st covenant also, those who have been called of God might receive the promised in- heritance ; for a covenant conveying an inheri- tance, that is, a testament, requires death for its validity, vs. 15-17. Even the first covenant was not ratifieil without blood, as indicative of death, vs. 18-22. 'Ihe sacrificial death of ani- 97 CHArTER VIII. ' Now of the things which we have spoken tliis is the sum : we have such a High-priest, who is set on the right course present an offering for the expia- tion of sins, 3. It is in heaven, not on earth, that he must officiate, because the earthly sanctuary is already pro- vided with priests according to the Law, and their service on earth ia but a foreshadowing of his service iu heav- en, 4, 5. His priestly service is a more excellent one than theirs, inas- much as the covenant by which he acts is superior to the first covenant and is establisDed on promises of richer bless- ings, 6. This new covenant was intro- duced, because the first was imperfect and liable to exception, since it did not provide for the inward holiness and final acceptance with God of those who entered into it. By the new cov- enant, God engages to give to his peo- ple an obedient heart, to be their God, and to acknowledge them as his peo- ple, to forgive their sins fully and finally, 8-12. In calling this a new covenant, he has evidently regarded the former as antiquated ; and as being such, it is abrogated, 13. 1. Now of the thinr/s which we have spoken this is the sum. This first clause is to be taken as a title of the remain- ing part of the discussion respecting Christ. The original word hero trans- lated sum, more properly signifies the chief, or principal matter. The argu- mentative view of Christ in this epis- tle has its culmination here; this part is the principal matter in the things here spoken of. For in this are un- folded, with particularity, the abroga- tion of the Mosaic covenant and the completing of God's arrangements for men's spiritual welfare by the intro- duction of the Christian dispensation, which provides fully, for believers in Jesus, pardon and redemption from sin. II We have such a Hirjh-priest; such as is described in vii. 26, 27, pos- sessed not only of every personal and ofiioial requisite, but also exalted to perfect glory in heaven. || Who is set on the right hand of the throne, etc. ; more correctly, who sat down. — The Majesty in the heavens is an appellative 98 xnals was necessary in order that the taberna- cle, an earthly resemblance of heaven, might be accessible ; but for access into heaven a more excellent sacrifice was necessary : for Christ entered into heaven itself in our behalf with hia own blood ; an offering which need not be repeated, siace his one sacrifice is all suffi- cient, vs. 23-28. The sacrifice which Christ offered was necessary ; for the Mosaic law could not convey heavenly blessings, but only shadowed them forth. Its repeated sacrifices could not effect a complete expiation, but were continually renewing- the remembrance of sins; for the blood of mere animals cannot remove sins, x. 1—4. Conse- quently, Christ, in fulfilment of the will of God, offered up himself once forever to deliver us from sin, vs. 5-10. The Levitical priests never reach a higher posi- tion than that of offering, day after day, the same sacrifices which cannot take away sins ; but Christ, having once offered up himself, sat down on the right hand of God, there awaiting the subjection of all his enemies; for by his one offering he has secured for his followers perfect and eternal deliverance from sin, ac- cording to the testimony of the Holy Spirit that God will not remember their sins. There is, consequently, no more any offering for sin, vs. 11-18. — Christ's ministration is superior, then, to that of the Jewish high-priests: 1, he min- isters in the heavenly sanctuary ; 2, he offers, not the blood of animals, but his own priceless blood; 3, he secures cleansing for the con- science and redemptiun from sin; 4, his one of- fering is forever availing and acceptable. The substance of this Fourth Part jnay also be stated in the following compendiou.s form of contrasts between the services of the Levitical priests and the priestly service of Christ: 1. As to their respective covenaiUs: the old was exceptionable and temporary ; the new is per- fect and permanent, viii. 7-13. 2. As to place: the Levitical priests served in an earthly sanctuary; Christ serves in the heaven- ly, ix. 1-7,11. 3. As to the offerings: the Levitical priests of- fered up mere animals; Christ oftered up him- self, ix. 7, 12. 4. As to efficacy: the Levitical priests could pro- cure only external purification ; Christ procures purification of the conscience towards God, ix. 9,10,12-14; X. 1-10. fi. As to repetition: the Levitical priests offered year by year and daily; Christ offered once forever, ix. 6, 7, 12, 2.5-28; x. 1-10, 18. 6. As to position of the LeWtical priests and of Christ respectively : the Levitical priests were perpetually occupied in the routine of offering sacrifices which were ineffectual for taking away sin; no higher post than this awailed them ; Christ, having made his offering, ^vas exalted to the right hand of God, to participate in the dominion of the universe, having regal power as well as priestly efficacy, viii. 1: x. 11-14. CHAPTER VIII. Christ, the High-priest, exalted to the right hand of the throne of God, ofiBciates in the heavenly sanctuary, 1, 2. As being Hi^h-pricst, he must of CHAPTER VIII 99 hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens : ^ a min- ister of the sanctuary, and of tlie true tabernacle, which for God in his sovereignty on high; and the representation hero is, that Christ, the Son of God, who is our High- priest, took his position on the throne of God as partaking in the government of the universe. — For the regal posi- tion of Christ, see 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25; Eph. i. 20-23; 1 Pet. iii. 22; Rev. v. 12, 13; vii. 9, 10. The regal author- ity of Christ is conjoined with his ])riestly mediation in securing all needed blessings for his followers. 2. A minister of the sanctuary ; a ministering priest of the Holy of ho- lies, or the most holy apartment in the heavenly tabernacle. — The innermost apartment of the Jewish tabernacle was distinguished from the other por- tions of the structure by the appella- tion hilly of holies; that is, the most hily, Ex. xxvi. 33. Into this apart- ment only the high-priest was allowed to enter, and he but one day in the year, namely, the day of the annual atonement for the sins of the entire people, Ex. xxx. 10; Lev. xvi. 2, 29- 34. In this most holy place God made, on the day of the annual atonement, a special and visible manifestation of himself over the mercy-seat, to the officiating high-priest, as the God of pardoning mercy. Lev. xvi. 2. See, also, Ex. XXV. 22, where God promises to meet Moses in that apartment in order to give him commandments for the children of Israel. Though the Lord made this special manifestation of himself in the most holy apartment, the tabernacle, as a while, was erected according to divine command as a dwelling for Ilim, Ex. xxv. 8; xxx. 6. As so minute directions were given from God in regard to the structure, Ex. 25th chapter, and a pattern, or model, was presented to the mind of Moses while he was on the mount re- ceiving instructions from God, Ex. xxv. 9, 40, also. Acts vii. 44, the earthly tabernacle with its several apartments was regarded as a copy of a structure in heaven ; and thus, when Christ is conceived of as the High- priest in heaven, he performs his priestly oflBees in the heavenly Holy of holies. II And of the true tabernacle; the veritable heavenly tabernacle of which tliat erected under Moses was but a shadow, or copy. || Which the Lord pitched, and not mayi; which was framed and set up, not by human hands, but by the Lord himself. — In harmo- ny with the generally received view among the Jews, the writer c(Jhceives of a tabernacle in heaven, shown to Moses, probably in vision, in corre- spondence to which that on earth was made; so that the true tabernacle was the original one in heaven, which served as the model for the one on earth. The representation is, of course, figurative ; the true tabernacle is heaven itself, and the sanctuary, that is, the most holy apartment, ia which Christ olEciates as High-priest, is heaven itself, ix. 24, where Christ procures for his people all needed spiritual aid. Yet, to carry out the idea of his being a ministering High- priest, the conception of the heavenly tabernacle and most holy place, would be particularly advantageous to the Jewish mind. — It would seem that, when Moses was instructed in the mount, Ex. xxiv. 12, 13, 15, 16, to build the tabernacle, a pattern, or model, of a tabernacle in heaven, was shown him, perhaps in a vision. This model would appear to have been re- garded by the Jews as a structure ac- tually existing in heaven; so that the structure erected by order of Moses was a copy, or shadow, of the one in heaven. In conformity to this idea, when Christ is represented as a High- priest in heaven, it is in the most holy apartment of the heavenly structure, conceived of as still standing, that he is performing priestly service. A tab- ernacle in heaven is, of course, to be understood figuratively' ; and when we ask, what is the real meaning of the figure, we learn, from ix. 24, that heaven itself is intended by it. When we consider that under the Mosaic dis- pensation the blood for the annual atonement was offered up by the high- 100 HEBREWS the Lord pitcbed, and not man. ^ For every liigh-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices ; wlierefore it is of ne- cessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. ^ For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests tliat offer gifts according to the law : ^ who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was aljout to make the tabernacle : for, See, saith he, that thou make all things ac- cording to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. priest in the mist Inly apartment of be his own blood for expiating the sins the tabernacle, and tlie transgressions of his people. of the people were iu consequence re- 4. For if he were on earth, he should mitted, the corresponding representa- not be a priest, etc. His priestly ser- tion is a natural one, that Christ pre- vice is performed in heaven, or in the sents the true blood of atonement in heavenly sanctuary; for the earthly the place where God specially shows sanctuary, that is, the Jewish holy himself merciful. As the tabernacle place, is already furnished with priests, on earth was his abode, and he there who make offerings to God agreeably dispensed mercy, so in heaven God is to the Law. If he were still on earth, regarded as having his special abode, then, there would be no occasion for from which he dispenses pardoning him to be a priest. mercy and needful grace in cunsidera- 5. Who serve unto the example and tion of the offering presented by the shadow of heavenly things; literally, great High-priest. — The ideas thus who serve the example, eio. The term originally associated with the Mosaic heavenly things is here equivalent to tabernacle were afterwards transferred the sanctuary, or holy of holies, in to the temple erected by Solomon; but heaven; and the phrase, the example throughout this epistle it is the Mo- and shadow of this heavenly holy of saic structure that was had in view, holies, signifies the most kAy apart- For a similar representation adapted ment of the earthly tabernacle, in to the temple service, namely, that of which the Jewish high-priests ren- a temple in heaven, see Rev. iii. 12; dered service. These priests officiated xi. 1, 2, 19; xiv. 15, 17; xv. 6, 8. in, or served, the tabernacle, xiii. 10, Then, as dispelling the idea of a ma- wliieh was an example, that is, a pat- terial structure in heaven, it is said, tern, a likeness, and shadow of the in xxi. 22, " And I saw no temple heavenly tabernacle, the true taberna- therein; for the Lord God Almighty ele in heaven. The Jewish taberna- and the Lamb are the temple of it." — cle, particularly the innermost apart- In Rev. vii. 15, xvi. 17, it is notice- ment, iu which God manifested his able that the two objects, a throne and special presence, was a shadowy, ob- a temple, are simultaneously contem- scure resemblance of the heavenly plated; in striking harmony with the sanctuary, having been framed accord- union in Christ of the regal and the ing to the model of the heavenly priestly offices. structure shown to Moses. — For this 3. For every high-priest, etc. See on resemblance of the one to the other, V. 1. Christ is mentioned in the 2d seeix. 23. \\ As Moses %vas admonished, verso as a ministering priest, on the etc. The resemblance between the ground that every high-priest is, from Jewish tabernacle and the heavenly is the nature and design of his office, to here sustained and illustrated by the offer up gifts and sacrifices; and fact that Moses was particularly cau- hence, this High-priest, Jesus, must tioned to observe the directions given have something which he may offer, liim, and the model shown him on the This offering is said, in ix. 12, 14, to mount, Ex. xxv. 9, 40; xxvi. 30; CHAPTER VIII 101 ® But now liatli he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. ^ For if that first covenant liad been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. ^ For finding fault with them, he saith^ Behold, the da^^s come, saith the Lord, when I will make a'new coA^enaut with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah : '■* not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt ; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them Acts vii. 44 ; thus making the earthly tabernacle a copy of the heavenly. As the tabernacle when completed cor- responded to that pattern, so those who served the tabernacle, that is, offici- ated in it as priests, served the copy, or shadow, of the heavenly sanctuary. 6. But ?iow hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, etc. The priestly ministration on which Christ has en- tered in heaven is superior to that of the Lovitical priests in the same pro- portion as the covenant of which he is the mediator, or by virtue of which he interposes in behalf of his followers, is superior to the covenant in respect to ■which the Levitical priests officiated. The superiority of this covenant ap- pears particularly in the blessings which it makes sure : the former cov- enant engaged, indeed, to bestow the favor of God, and all needed benefits, on condition cf obedience to all the commands of God ; but the people who engaged to render this obedience failed, through their sinfulness, of compli- ance, and, therefore, of the bene- fits: in the new covenant God prom- ises to his people a heart which should be inclined to obedience; also the for- giveness of their sins which he will no more remember. 7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, etc. This new covenant is pronounced better than the old. The implication, then, is that the old was defective, and that exception could be taken against it; since, if it had been uncA'ceptionable, no place would have been sought for a second covenant. — This defectiveness, or liability to be 9* excepted against as being faulty, con- sists not in the covenant itself, but in the spirit of those with whom it was made: it was a righteous covenant, requiring righteous obedience which they promised, but failed, to render. The second covenant makes particular account of the sinfulness of men, which had been brought into so full relief by the operation of the first: it con- sequently provides for the renovation of their hearts, so that God may be really their God, and they, in their possession of a holy temper, may be really his people; it also provides for the pardon of their sins, without which they could not stand in the relation of a people accepted of God. 8. For finding fault with them, he saith, etc. To show that the first cov- enant, the one made with the people under Moses, and on which the Mosaic law was founded, was faulty, or excep- tionable, the censure is now adduced which God passed on the Jewish peo- ple for not adhering to the covenant which they had engaged to observe. The new covenant, also, is adduced which God promised to make with his genuine people. — With them; that is, with the ancient Israelites, the nation- al people of God, who had covenanted to obey his laws, but had violated their engagement. — The declaration of God, here quoted in vs. 8-12, is found in Jer. x.xxi. 31-34. || The days come. A future time is here indicated, name- ly, the days of the Messiah, when the Christian dispensation should be in- troduced, and the covenant of mercy and salvation should be made, not 102 HEBREWS, not, saith the Lord. "* For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those daj'S, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws iuto their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people : " and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, I^iow the Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. ^ For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness^ and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. to their souls. Comparo Is. liv. 13 ; Acts ii. 17, 18. — This experimentiil knowledge of the will of God makes a wide distinction between the true peo- ple of God and other men. || For all shall know mc, etc. ; more properly, For they, that is, my people, shall all know me. It is not merely an intel- lectual knowledge of God, designed to be spread throughout the human fam- ily, that is here meant; but a knowl- edge characteristic of his real people, such a knowledge as is associated with love and obedience to him and with the forgiveness of their sins. All, of whatever age and of whatever posi- tion, all his true people embraced in this new covenant shall thus know the Lord, and not need the exhortation to acquire knowledge respecting him. This spiritual knowledge of the Lord and of his will, and a heart conformed to his laws, are promised in the new covenant. 12. For Iwill he merciful to their un- righteousness. The covenant by which the people of God sustain this relation to him does not overlook the fact of their sinfulness, but takes distinct cog- nizance of it as requiring mercy for them; and this mercy is promised. II Will I remember no more; not that God can lose the knowledge of his chosen people's sins, but that the par- don of them will bo so complete that it will amount to a ceasing to remem- ber them ; thoy shall never be brought forward as charged against them: an act of amnesty on the part of God ia passed, and their oifcuces are no more to bo named. — This new covenant, on which rests the gospel, the dispensa- tion of mercy and eternal life through Jesus Christ, is distinguished from the with the house of Israel as a national people, but with the spiritual house of Israel, the believing people of God of whatever nation. 9. With their fathers; the forefa- thers of the Israelites, whom God de- livered from Egypt. II They continued not iyi my covenant; they did not abide in it, did not stand by it. See Ex. xxxii . 7-10. The entire history of the nation furnishes proof of this dec- laration. II And I regarded them not; I withdrew from them my favorable reg.ards. By such language God ex- pressed his displeasure with the Isra- elites, on account of their disregarding their obligations and engagements. 10. The house of Israel; the spirit- ual Israel, the true people of God. Compare Rom. ix. 6. || / will put my laws into their mind, etc. ; my laws shall not bo an external set of pre- scriptions, but shall be properly ap- prehended and bo responded to in their mind and heart, so that they shall obey from choice, from the very impulse of their renewed dispositions; their obedience shall bo the outward ■working of an internal spirit at har- mony with the divine laws. || And I will be to them a God, etc. ; I will be in truth their God, and they shall be truly my people. This mutual rela- tion shall not be external and nation- al, but a spiritual one, having its ground in the grace of God, and in the .love, faith, and hope of the renewed souls of his people. 11. Atid they shall not teach every man his neighbor, etc. They sh.all not need to bo taught one of another, for they shall be all taught of God ; they shall have personal knowledge of God's will derived from his communications CHAPTER VIII 103 ^^ In that be saith, A new covenant^ he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish awaj'. old, particularly by its consisting of promises on tbo part of God. In ful- filment of these promises, a renewed heart is given which harmonizes with the will of God, so that obedience springs spontaneously from it; those who are embraced in this covenant are acknowledged by God as his people, aad in correspondence to this he avows himself their God; they are divinely taught his will; compare John xiv. 20; xvi. 14, 15; and full remission of sins is bestowed on them. Compare E/.ck. xi. 19, 20; xxxvi. 25-27. The difercnce between this covenant and the old is at once discerned by com- paring with it the specimens of cove- iiaut-uugagoments into which the an- cient Israelites entered with God, and in which they promised obedience to Lis commands as the condition on which he was to bestow on them his blessings. The old covenant was not, then, a covenant of grace, of promises to bestow undeserved favor and to as- sure the people of that favor; but a mutual compact, wherein blessings from God vvora conditioned on obedieuco from the people, which obediunce, though there was a readiness to prom- ise it, there was not a heart to render, and which therefore was not rendered when temptations to dis'.bedienco were encountered. See Ex. xix. 3-9; xxiv. 3-8; Deut. xxvi. 10-10; xxix. 10-28. Compare Deut. v. 27-33; Josh. xxiv. 10-25. A covenant of this nature cannot secure eternal life to men; hence a new covenant was necessary, founded on forgiving mercy and saving grace. — The dilTerenco between the old covenant and the new is the same &i is noticed in Rom. x. 5-10 between " the righteousness which is of the law" and " the righteousness which is of faith." " For Moses describoth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the right- eousness which is of faith speakcth, in this wise. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." 13. In that he saith, A new c:^vennnt, etc. In denominating this a new cov- enant, God has pronounced the first an old, antiquated covenant. || Ntw th it which decaycth, etc. Whatever is be- come antiquated and old, so as to be unfit for use, is near to being put out of sight, near to destruction. — This general remark respecting things which are grown old and are no further of service, is applicable to the first cove- nant. That, too, is old and useless; it is annulled. As the whole Mosaic economy was vitally connected with that covenant, it also, as a religious dispensation, was to bo annulled; aad when the new covenant was established by the death of Christ, it reached the point of its abolishment, giving way to the dispensation of Christ, which is founded on the covenant of grace, and which assures to the believing people of God pardon and eternal life. Com- pare' John xvii. 2, 3; x. 27, 28. CHAPTER IX. Christ having been mentioned as the High-priest of the new covenant, viii. 2, 6, the old covenant of the Mosaic dispensation, and the new of the Christian, having also been distinctly brought to view, viii. 8-12, the priest- ly ministration connected with each covenant respectively is next shown. That under the old covenant was per- formed in the earthly tabernacle as erected and furnished with its variuus appurtenances by divine direction; tliat could procure only external pu. i- fication; it could not cleanse the con- science in the sight of God, ix. 1-10. — The ministration under the new covenant is performed in the heavenly t;ibornaclc, agreeably to the represen- tati(m in viii. 2; this cleanses the con-ocience towards God, and bestows Ctaoss to reu(/ ' to hiui acceptable CHAPTER IX ' Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldl}^ sanctuary. ^ For there was a tabernacle made ; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show-bread ; which is called the sanctu- ar3^ ^ And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all ; * which had the golden censer, worship, vs. 11-14. — The resemblance and the contrast between the two cov- enants and the corresponding dispen- sations are thus both kept before the reader's mind. 1. This verse commences the illus- tration of the sentiment presented in viii. G, that the priestly ministration of Christ is more excellent than that of the priests under the old covenant; this sentiment being the topic of the present part of the epistle. — Then verily the first covenant had also ordi- nances of divine service; or, Then, in- deed, also the first covenant had ordi- nances of worship; that is, prescribed rites of service, particular reference being had to the priestly service. 11 And a worldly sanctuary; a sanctuary composed of earthly materials, — wood and other materials, — and which was furnished with needed earthly appur- tenances. This sanctuary was the sa- cred tent, or tabernacle, which was erected agreeably to instructions from God to Moses. Ex. xxv. 8, 9. 2. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, etc. The word tabernacle in this verse and in the third does not mean the whole structure, as it does in viii. 5, but is used in a more particu- lar sense, as designating the first, or outer, apartment of the tabernacle. The word san'-tuary in the preceding verso means the tabernacle as a whole; in this verse and the third, notice is taken of the division of the structure into two apartments, the first, or outer, and the second, or inner. The origi- nal in this second verse would be bet- ter understood by translating it thus: For there was built the first tent, or apartment, namely, the outer; this was denominated the hAy place, in distinc- tion from the inner, which was called the most holy. Ex. xxvi. 33. The in- ner was separated from the outer by a very costly veil, or curtain, Ex. xxvi. 31-33, and the outer was defended by a less costly hanging, or curtain, which answered the purpose of a door. Ex. xxvi. 30, 37. 11 Wherein was the can- dlestick; the splendid candlestick, or chandelier, of pure gold, with six branches, furnishing, together with the main stem, seven places for lights. Ex. xxv. 31-39. II The table and the shjw- bread; the table, which was overlaid with gold, and on which the show- bread was to be deposited. Ex. xxv. 23-30. The show-bread consisted of twelve cakes, set on this table every Sabbath in two piles, with frankin- cense spread on them. They were thus set forth or shown before the Lord, and probably represented the twelve tribes, who were pledged to honor the name and maintain the worship of the Lord. This bread was to be eaten only by the high-priest and his sons in the holy apartment, and the frankincense was to be oifered by fire unto the Lord. Every Sabbath a fresh suj.ply was to be placed there; thus the table was constantly furnished with the bread. Lev. xxiv. 5-9. || Which is called the sanctuary; more correctly, the h-'ly, that is, holy apartment, or place. 3. After the second veil; beyond the second veil, or the costly curtain be- tween the two apartments. || The tab- ernacle, etc. ; properly, the apartment of the tabernacle which was called holy of h dies, — a Hebraistic expression for the mjst hdy, or, as here translated, the holiest of all. Tiiis was regarded as specially the presence-room of Je- hovah, Ex. xxv. 22; Lev. xvi. 2; al- so, note on viii. 2; and access into it was forbidden, verse 7 of this chapter, to every one but the high-priest. 4. Which had the ijolden censer. This 104 CHAPTER IX 105 and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and censer was probably the one which was employed on the day of the annual atonement, Lev. xvi. 12. In conse- quence of the unusual solemnity of that day's observances, it would seem that a censer was specially and exclu- sively appropriated to the occasion, and deposited within the most sacred apartment of the tabernacle. As the altar of incense was overlaid with gold, and was called the golden altar, Ex. xl. 2(i, and its horns and rings were of gold, and its staves were overlaid with gold, Ex. XXX. 3-5, it is congruous that the censer also was of gold. It is indeed remarkable that, in the mi- nute particularity of details in the books of Exodus and Leviticus re- specting the contents and appurtenan- ces of the tabernacle, no mention oc- curs of a golden censer thus appropri- ated and deposited. But the state- ment in this epistle is for us adequate testimony; and the writer would not have made it, if his Hebrew readers had no knowledge of such a censor. II The ark of the. covenant. The ark was a chest, about six feet long, three broad, and three deep, lined witliin and without with pure gold, furnished with golden rings and staves for the purpose of transportation during the journey ings in the wilderness, and while the tabernacle had no fixed location, and with a cover of pure gold, which was called the mercy-seat, since the Lord there made a special manifesta- tion of himself to the high-priest as granting mercy to the people. Ex. XXV. lU-21; Lev. xvi. 2. It was called the ark of the covenant, also of the 'testimony, because the ten com- mandments, which were the ground of the covenant between God and the Is- raelites, and of the statutes, or pre- cepts, which he enjoined on them, and which they promised to obey, Ex. xix. 8; xxiv. 3, were, as engraven on tab- lets of stone, deposited in it. See Deut. iv. 13, It; ix. 9-11; x. 1-.') ; Ex. xxxi. 18; xxxiv. 29. || Wherein was the golden pot that had vianna. Shortly after the manna was provided for the daily food of the Israelites in the desert, Ex. xvi. 14, 15, Moses, by divine command, ordered a quantity of it to be deposited in a vessel and preserved as a remembrancer for futuro generations. Ex. xvi. 32-34. The ex- pression in the original command, Lay it up before the Lord, evidently required it to be placed in the most holy apart- ment. In obedience to this command, Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, Ex. xvi. 34; that is, as appears from this epistle, within the ark and near the tablets containing the ten com- mandments. — The material of which the vessel containing the manna was made is not mentioned in the original command, Ex. xvi. 33; but, as the furniture in the holy of holies was of gold, doubtless this vessel was also a golden one; as indeed it is expressly so called in the Greek translation of the Hebrew in Ex. xvi. 33. || And Aaron's rod that budded. At the mur- muring against Moses and Aaron, oc- casioned by the destruction of Korah and his associates with their company, Num. IGth chapter, the Lord com- manded twelve rods, representing the twelve tribes, to bo deposited in the tabernacle, marked with the names of the tribes, excepting that, instead of the name of Levi, the name of Aaron was written. In order that the dis- pute might be decided which had aris- en concerning Aaron's being selected by him as the priest, and his family as the priestly family, Num. xvi. 3, God promised. Num. xvii. 1-5, that the rod which belonged to the man whom he had chosen should bear blos- soms. On the following day, the rods were brought out in the presence of all the people; and tho rod marked with Aaron's name "was budded, and brouglit forth buds and bloomed blos- soms, and yielded almonds." It was then ordered by the Loud, that Aaron's rod should be again placed " bufore the Testimony," for a token in con- firmation of Aaron's divine appoint- ment to the priesthood. Num. xvii. 6-11. II The tables oj the covenant; 106 HEBREWS Aaron's rod that budded, and the tallies of the covenant ; * and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy- seat ; of which we cannot now speak particularly. ** Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went alwaj's into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. '' But into the second went tlie high-priest the two tablets inscribed with the ten commandments which the people cov- enanted to obey. Ex. xix. 5-8; xxiv. 3; xxxiv. 1,4; xl. 20; Deut. x. 1, 2. — In the ark, when it was subsequent- ly deposited iu the temple of Solomon, we learn from 1 Kings viii. 9, 2 Chron. V. 10, there was nothing but the two tablets of stone. This fact, however, is not inconsistent with the statement here made; for this statement has re- spect to the Mosaic tabernacle, not to the temple of Solomon; and doubtless iu the various removals of the ark, and calamities which befell it before the time of Solomon, the other articles had been taken out and lost. The purpose of the epistle did not require anything to be said concerning the temple, inasmuch as it was the Mosaic tabernacle, erected and furnished for priestly service by divine direction, that was here contemplated. 5. And over it; that is, over the ark. {I The cherubims of yl:>ry, ato. In the material and figurative represen- tation of God as dwelling in the sa- cred tabernacle, the cherubim were regarded as attendants on God, who, by the visible token of a cloud, doubt- loss a resplendent cloud, appeared on the mercy-seat. Lev. xvi. 2. They were cherubim of (/lory, in consequence cf their position near this glorious ap- pearance; also, because their shining appearance would symbolize the daz- zling splendor in which the Loud was conceived of as dwelling. See Ex. xxiv. 10. Compare 1 Tim. vi. 16. Two golden cherubim were attached to the cover of the ark, one at each end, facing each other, and looking down- ward to the cover, which was called the mercy-seat, and with wings ex- tended on high (compare Ezek i. 6, 11), covering the mercy-seat. See Ex. XXV. 18-20; xxxvii. 7-9. On, or above, this mercy-seat, and from be- tween the cherubim, the Lord was rep- resented as manifesting himself. Ex. XXV. 22; Num. vii. 89. 1| Of which we cannot now speak particularly . Gon- corning these things pertaining to the tabernacle, the purpose of this epistle and the topic in this part of it did not require a particular account. The writer proceeds, therefore, at onco to the precise point in hand, namely, the priestly service perfornied in the Mo- saic tabernacle, and the priestly ser- vice of Christ in the heavenly taber- nacle, or in heaven. 6. J\'ow when these things were thus ordained; set in order, fully prepared; the things already mentioned, namely, the outer and the inner apartments of the tabernacle, and the respective fur- niture of each being thus prepared, set in order, for the priestly services. II Tlie priests v>cnt always; the ordinary priests went at all times, daily, and as often as any occasion required either sacrifices or oblations. See Ex. xxvii. 21; xxviii. 38, 39; xxx. 7, 8. \\ Into the first tabernacle; into the first, or outer, apartment of the tabernacle, called in verse 2, as explained in the note, the holy. Access to this apart- ment was of daily and constant occur- rence. II Accomplishing the service of God; literally, performing the services, the sacred rites, the services assigned to the priests, both the morning and evening sacrifices and other set ser- vices, together with occasional sacri- fices and offerings as the circumstances of individuals required. 7. But into the second; the second, or inner, apartment of the tabernacle, called the hdy of holies, or the hdicst of all, ver. 2. || Went the hijh-priest al :ne once every year. See Ex. xxx. 10; Lev. xvi. 2, 29, 30, 34. No one was allowed to enter the holy of holies but the high-priest, Lev. xvi. 17, and ho only on the day of the annual atone- CHAPTER IX. 107 alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people : * the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was mcnt for the people, as prescribed in Lev. ICth chapter. During that day, liuwevcr, the appointed services would fcqui'.o him to go in and out at least three times; first, when ho olTored in- cense before the Lord, Lev. xvi. 12; next, when he offered up the blood of the bullock which had been slain for the sins of himself and his family, Lev. xvi. 11-1-t, compare verse (J; again, when he offered up the blood of the goat which had been slain for the sins of the people. Lev. xvi. 13. II Nut without blood. This is so partic- ularly stated, because the blood of the animal slain as a sacrifice was indis- pensable to expiation. Compare ver. '22. See Lev. xvii. 11, " For it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." The blood was iudioative of death which had been undergone as preliminary to forgiveness, and as showing the ill-desert and the liability of the transgressor; it kept the thought of guilt and deserved punishment be- fore the people's minds. || Which he offered for himself, Lev. xvi. G. || ^Irtd for the errors of the people. The word for errors means, more strictly, acts of ignorance, and is a mild expression for sins. The Jewish law made a distinc- tion between sins of ignorance, Lev. iv. 2, 13, 22, 27, and sins of presumption, that is, such as could not admit of ex- cuse or palliation, but were committed in known disregard of the divine will; for a pardon of such sins no provision was made, Ex. xxi. 14; Num. xv. 30, 31; Deut. xvii. 12. Such words, then, as errors, ignorance, would naturally bo employed to designate ordinary sins, or sin ia general. See note on v. 2. 8. The Hilly Ghist this signifying , niG. The rule that admission into the most HAy apartment was not granted to the people, but was limited exclusively to the high-priest, and that even he had access to it only one day in the year, was a divine figurative declaration that the way into the true hAy of holies, heaven itself, also the way of personal access to God in prayer and other acts of worship, was not yet made clearly known, was not yet laid open so as to be obvious to all, so long as the first, that is, the outer, apart- ment of the tabernacle was still stand- ing, and still in use, as separated from the inner apartment. So long as the distinction was observed between tlie holy and the most holy place, and ac- cess was not allowed to the people into the most holy, obscurity rested on the subject of entrance into heaven, God's abode, and of access to him in suppli- cation and praise. But when this distinction was terminated by the re- moval, the rending, Luke xxiii. 45, of the veil which separated the inner from the outer apartment, then the way into the most holy was unob- structed, access was freely given to all alike; that is, in the way of explana- tion, the death of Christ abolished the distinction between the inner and the outer, removed the separation between men and God, and opened the way to him as on his throne of grace hearing the prayers of all believers, and as on his throne of glory welcoming them to the bliss and glory of heaven. — Not that knowledge of heaven, admission to it, and access, in personal worship, to God with a peaceful reliance on his mercy, were not granted before the death of Christ; but the coming and the death of Christ shed new and all necessary light on these topics, John viii. 12; 2 Tim. i. 10, and were indis- pensable to the complete reconciliation between men and God. Rom. v. 1, 11; Eph. ii. 13, IG, 17. —The Mosaic tab- ernacle, which is spoken of in this epistle, and which furnished the bi'.sis of its representations, was not, indeed, in existence when the epistle was written, nor when the death of Christ took phice, but it had been tra'x-forred to the temple of Solomon, 2 Ciiron. i. 3 ; 1 Kings viii. 4, and though Solo- 108 HEBREWS yet standing : ^ which was a figure for the time then pres- ent, in which were ofTered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertain- ing to the conscience ; ^"^ which stood only in meats and mon's temple had been despoiled of its contents and burned up, 2 Ivings xxiv. 13 ; XXV. 9, yet the tabernacle had its counterpart within that temple which was standing in the time of Christ. The tabernacle might, then, well be employed as an abiding gi'ound of in- structive representation. 9. Which was a figure for the time then present, etc. ; which first apartment was a symbol whose signiiicanco, vcr. 8, extends to the present time, that is, the time at which this epistle was written, the word then not being au- thorized by the original ; in which both gifts and sacrifices are still olTered that cannot, as to the conscience, make perfect the worshipper, the person in wiiose behalf the gifts and sacrifices are oifered. These offerings cannot procure for him a perfect expiation of his sins in respect to his conscience to- wards God, so as to impart an abiding freedom from a sense of guilt and to give him settled peace of mind. II Were offered; properly, are offered; the present tense being here used in the original. The oliering of sacri- fices and the other parts of the ritual service were still observed by the Jews when this epistle was written. The practice continued until the national calamities and the destruction of the temple, about the year TO of the Chris- tian era, brought it to an end. The tabernacle, and particularly, in this connection, the first apartment of it, still answered the purpose of a sym- b(jl. II Him that did the service; liter- ally, the worshipper; him in whoso be- half these acts of worship, or priestly service, are performed. The idea is the same as is expressed in x. 1, by the words, "the comers thereunto;" that is, the persons who came to the altar with their sacrifices, and in whose behalf the priests offered the sacrifices. II Make the worshipper perfect; make him perfect, or complete, as to expia- tion, so as to be paidonod in the sight of God and to obtain peace of con- science towards him. — The Jewish sacrifices were designed to be available, not for the pardon of sin against God, viewed as the moral Governor of the universe, and for the salvation of the soul ; but for removing the penalty in- curred by transgression against the Mosaic code which regulated the af- fairs of the nation, considered as an external and temporal people of God. Transgressions of the national code were remitted by observing the pre- scribed rites; the remission, thus ex- ternal and temporal, symbolized the true forgiveness of sins through the great Sacrifice, offered, not for an indi- vidual, nor for a particular nation, but fcir the liuman race. 10. This verse is very obscure, in the original as well as in the transla- tion; because the sentence is an im- perfect one, and important manuscripts diiler from one another in regard to one of the leading words. The follow- ing, including a part of the 9th verse, may be taken as a preferable render- ing, in accordance with some approved manuscripts of the original text: " Gifts and sacrifices that cannot make the worshipper perfect as to the con- science; fleshly statutes, imposed until the time of reformation, in respect only to moats and drinks and various immersings." — The idea, doubtless, is, that the statutes of the Jewish law were of an external and ceremonial nature, designed to be only temporary, and, as preliminary to a new and spir- itual dispensation, to cease when that new dispensation, the reformed order of things, here called the time of reftr- rnation, under the Messiah, should be introduced. — The 9th verse having declared that the gifts and sacrifices of the Jewish law could not procure a perfect expiation, the present verse makes a statement explanatory of the 9th, and, at the same time, suggestive of the ceremonial and temporary char- CHAPTER IX 109 drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. " But Christ being come a High-priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made acter of the entire system of Jewish picsciiptious, or appointments. By this comparatively disparaging view of the Mosaic dispensation, the para- bolic, or figurative, use of the outer apartment of the tabernacle suggested iu the preceding verse would be more deeply impressed, and the way bo pre- pared for introducing the thought of Chi'ist, as the High-priest, having en- tered into the heavenly holy of holies, and procured for his people thorough and enduring remissiun and acceptance with God. — In meats and drinks; in respcoc to articles of food and drink. The Jewish law made a distinction in regard to such articles, forbidding 6omo as rendering a person ceremoni- ally unclean, and permitting others. See Lev. 11th chapter; Deut. xiv. 3- 21. 11 And divers washings; that is, the various ablutions which were en- joiui d, biith of persons and of things tliiit hail b^'oome ceremonially unclean. These ablutions appear to have been entire, not partial, both as to persons and as to things. Compare Lev. xi. 32; xiv. 8, 9. Hence the original word hero used, immersions. \\ Carnal ordinances ; statutes, or precepts, per- taining to the liesh, the body, and to external things; to ceremonial clean- ness and uncleanness, and to the stand- ing of a person in reference to mem- bership iu the Jewish congregation and his participation iu its privileges. II Imposed un them until, etc. ; enjoined on the Jewish people until the reformed order of things should commence, at the coming of the iMessiah. The dis- pensation by Christ was to be the pe- riod of amendment, in which particu- larly piety and mutual justice were to have sway, and God was thus, emi- nently, to reign in the souls of men. — The tine nf reformation , or amendment, is .also called times nf refreohiny from the presence of the Lord, Acts iii. I'J, and the restitution of all things foretold by the prophets, Acts iii. 21. — Tho 10 priestly service in the earthly taber- nacle, then, was of a ceremonial and external nature, not securing true peace with God: it was also merely temporary in its duration and elTects. — F.ar diflFereut is tho priestly service of Christ in the heavenly tabernacle, as appears from the contrast presented in tho following verses. 11, 12. But Christ being come, etc. But Christ, having made his appear- ance as High-priest of the good things which had been promised, namely, a temper of mind conformed to the will of God and an entire blotting out- of sins, viii. 10-12, entered by means of a more excellent and perfect outer apartment, not constructed by human hands, not of this visible creation, into tho heavenly holy of holies, having procured for us an everlasting redemp- tion from sin, not by the blood of sac- rificed animals, but by his own sacri- ficial blood. II A Hijh-priest of good things to come; literally, of the good things to come, namely, those things which were to be bestowed through tho mediation of Christ, as the Hi^h- priest. II By a greater and more perfect tabernacle. The word hero rendered tabernacle, since it stands connected, in verse 12, with the holy place, more csr- rectly, the holy of holies, means the ftrst, or outer, apartment of the heavenly tabernacle, corresponding to that in the earthly tabernacle, through, or by means of, which the high-priest had to pass into the most holy apartment. The conception of a tabernacle in heaven, of which the earthly was a copy and symbol, was still before the writer's mind. || Not made with hinds, that is, not of this building; literally, not of this creation. As in viii. 2, Christ is regarded as the officiating High-priest of the holy of holies in heaven, and as the outer apartment of the tabernacle spoken of in that pas- sage is said to have been set up by the Lord, not by man, so here the structure 110 HEBREWS. with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; ^^ neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. goats, and the ashes sanctifleth to the purifying of the flesh ; ^^ how much more ■•^ For if the blood of bulls and of of a heifer sprinkling the unclean. is declared to be not the work of hu- man hands, nor to be of this visible creation: it is a heavenly structure. 12. Tseither by the blood of goats and calves, etc. ; nor by means of the blood of goats and calves, as prescribed for the Jewish high-priest, Lev. xvi. 5, 7, etc.; is. 2; in other words, nor by taking with him, as the medium of atonement, the blood of those animals slain in sacrifice, but by his own blood, by virtue of his own blood shed for the remission of sins, he entered into the inner sanctuary on high, the heavenly holy of holies, in our behalf. — His voluntary death on the cross was the offering up of himself as a sacrificial victim ; and, in order to draw a perfect parallel, he is represented as carrying the blood which was then shed into the heavenly holy of holies and offering it for the expiation of his people's sins. The representation is, of course, a kind of picture, designed to furnish a simil- itude between the .Jewish high-priest taking the blood of the proscribed sac- rificial victim into the most holy place and offering it for the Jewish people. Lev. xvi. 15, and Christ as High-priest procuring, by virtue of his death, for- giveness for his people and acceptance with God. Christ is, therefore, repre- sented as taking his own blood into tlie heavenly holy of holies and offering it up to God before the mercy-seat. II Once; that is, once for all, once for- ever; in distinction from the Jewish high-priest, who went into the holy of holies year by year to repeat the sprinkling of blood on the mercy-seat. Lev. xvi. 29. || Into the hdy place; the same as is called in verse 8 the holiest of all; that is, the holy of holies in the heavenly tabernacle, into which Christ is conceived of as having gone to officiate in the capacity of High-priest for his followers. || Eter- nal redemption; redemption from sin; everlasting, not temporary, like the redemption from the penalties of the Mosaic ritual procured by the Jewish high-priest, whicli must be bestowed again and again, year by year. So, in Eph. i. 0, 1 , the apostle declares that God hath made us accepted in the Be- loved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. 13. If the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprink- ling the unclean. See Lev. iv. 'i, 28; xvi. 3, u; Num. xix. 2-22. The un- clean are persons defiled in the view of the Levitical law. See Lev. v. 2. The occasions of contracting such defile- ment were numerous. || Sanctifeth to the purifying of the flesh; procures pu- rifi[cation in the view of the Law, and thus restores the person to the rights and privileges of the Jews considered as the national people of God. The Hebrews were regarded as a holy peo- ple, in that they were set apart from other nations and were required to ab- stain from the defilements of the Gen- tiles, Ex. xix. G; Lev. xi. 42-45; xviii. 26-30; xix. 2; xx. 22-20; and wlicn by any circumstances a Hebrew had contracted defilement, ho might be- come purified by the prescribed cere- monial observances, and continue to be acknowledged as belonging to the holy people and entitled to their privi- leges. 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, etc. Such is the contrast between the blood of irrational ani- mals slain in sacrifice and the blood of Christ, that as in point of worth and dignity no proportion can be instituted between them and him, so in point of efficacy the blood of Christ inconceiv- ably transcends theirs. It reaches to the inmost soul of the penitent sin- ner; it relieves his conscience in tha sight of God from the guilt of sin, CHAPTER IX. Ill shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit odcred hhiiself without spot to God, purge your conscience Iroui dead works to serve the living God ? and cleanses him from its defilement, so that ho becomes a true servant of God, and is at peace with him. II Throxijh the eternal Spirit ;■ rather, in accordance with the original, throwjh, or by means of, an eternal spirit. These words have reference to Christ personally, and signify his eternal spiritual nature. The word spirit is elsewhere used in reference to Christ. See Rom. i. 4 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45 ; '2 Cor. iii. 17, 18; 1 Pot. iii. 18. Compare John i. 1, 2; xvii. 5; 1 Tim. iii. 16. It was this spiritual nature which made his offering so acceptable and efficacious. A contrast is here made between the blood of mere animals of- fered in sacrifice and the blood of Christ: those animals had only an earthly, temporal, perishable nature, besides being incapable of an intelli- gent, responsible, and cordial assent to their being sacrificed; but Christ had an eternal, spiritual nature. The dif- ference between them and him in ref- erence to the value of a sacrificial of- fering results from the fact that he was THE Soy of God; his sacrificial offering had a dignity and value cor- responding to his divine nature, so that it could remove the guilt and defile- ment of sin in the soul, while the blood of irrational animals was in- tended only to relieve from the penal- ties of the Mosaic law incurred by ceremonial pollution ; their blood could avail no further, and was, at best, only an emblem of the blood of Christ which takes away sin. His offering was an intelligent one, with full con- sent to its meaning and design: he olTored up himself. Compare John X. 17, 18; Gal. i. 4. || Without spot. It was required by the Mosaic law that an animal selected for sacrifice should be entirely free from blemish. Lev. xxii. 18-24. So Christ was en- tirely sinless; and for tho redemption of men from tho impurity and con- demnation of sin he, thus spotless, perfectly holy, gave up himself an offering and a sacrifice to God. Eph. V. 2. \\ Purge yntcr conscience; deliver your conscience from the guilt and de- filement of sin and make you accepta- ble to God. II From dead works; from sinful works, such as conduct to spirit- ual and eternal death. {| To serve the living God; so as, by a righteous course of life, to serve God in spirit and in truth, the God who has life in himself, and who over lives to recom- pense men according to their deeds. Rom. ii. G. — In contrast, then, with the service performed in the earthly sanctuary, where the Jewish high- priest presented the blood of the aai- wal sacrifices, and procured for the people an external, ceremonial purifi- cation, Christ, tiie High-priest in the heavenly sanctuary, has presented his own blood, having oifered up himself as a sacrifice, and has obtained for us spiritual purification, a cleansing of the conscience. — The two main points of contrast are, the inherent value of 'his offering and its efficacy. l.')-28. It was indispensable to the validity of the new covenant and to our Coming into possession of its bene- fits, that Christ should be its mediator and should suffer death. — The ever- lasting bliss of heaven is spoken of as an inheritance, devised for us through this covenant; hence, the covenant re- sembles a testamentary document, and may, therefore, bo illustrated by the rule which regulates the validity of testaments and the descent of property to heirs. In the case of a human tes- tament, the testator's death is neces- sary in order that tho inheritance may be entered on; so Christ's death was indispensable to the validity and effi- cacy of this covenant. Vs. 15-17. In conformity to the requisition of death for the validity of covenants (oriental usage sometimes requiring this even in covenants not testamentary), even the first, tlie Mosaic, covenant required blood, as indicating death, for its be- ing confirmed and held sacred. Vs. 18- 23. It was necessary, then, that the earthly copies of heavenly things. 112 HEBREWS ^ And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testa- ment, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that icere under the first testament, they that is, the tabernacle and its appur- tenances, should bo made available, as to the benefits connected with them, by muans of the sacrificed animals and the rites connected with the otiering of them; but the heavenly things themselves, that is, the heavenly tab- ernacle, or, without a figure, heaven itself, by a superior sacrifice, namely, that of Christ; for he has actually en- tered into heaven itself, to appear as the High-priest in our behalf. JJut it is not necessary that he sliould fre- qwntly otfer up himself, like as the high-priest was required to enter into the holy of holies year by year with the blood of a sacrifice; Christ has once forever made his appearance for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. Vs. 23-26. The divine ap- pointment of men's dying once for all is then produced as a parallel to Christ's offering up himself once for all. As men die but once, and after that comes, not repeated death, but judgment, so Christ, having boon of- fered up once forever to bear our sius, will appear a second time, not as bear- ing sins and od in connection with hyssop, as in Num. xix. G; Lev. xiv. G. Probably the cedar wood was employed, like the hyssop, both as an ingredient and as a convenient handle. — The combination of the various ar- ticles mentioned in this lyth verse evidently present the twofold idea of expiation, or atonement, for sin, and purification from it, prefiguring recon- ciliati'ni with (Tod and holiness of heart through the great sacrifice. — 1| And spriyiJcled both the book; that is, the roll, on which, according to Ex. xxiv. 4, " Moses wrote all the words of the Lord." See, also, Ex. xxiv. 7. The circumstance of sprinkling the book, though not mentioned in Exodus, would be almost a matter of course, since the altar also was on this occa- sion sprinkled over with tho bhjod. The occasion was one of deep solemni- ty, when an impression was t;) be made Concerning tho purity of God and of everything connected with his service, and a salutary dread was to bo aw ik- encd of incurring his displeasure. |l And all the people. See Ex. xxiv. 8, " Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people; " that is, on such of the people as stood sufficiently near. They represented tho people generally, or all the people. 20. Sayin'j, This is the blood of the testament, etc. ; more correctly, of the covenant. Ex. xxiv. 8. The blood of the covenant is the blood by moans of which the covenant was confirmed. 21. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, etc. This transac- tion occurred at a ditferent time from that mentioned in tho 19th verse, since tho tabernacle was not erected till a later date; the command for building it and providing its furniture being recorded in the 25th chaijter of Exo- dus. Tlie act here mentioned is com- monly believed to have stood con- nected with the command in Ex. xl. 9, " Thou shalt take tho anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof; and it shall be holy." No mention, however, is made in this command of sprinkimj bl >i:d on the tabernacle, but only of anoint- ing it with oil. Still, tho sprinkling of blood may have been a part of the ceremony, though not mentioned in tho recorded command, inasmuch as a similar case can be adduced. For in Ex. xl. 12-15, no mention is made of tho sprinkling of blood on Aaron and his sons, but only of the washing with water and tho anointing as preparatory to their performing priestly duties in tho tabernacle; yet in Ex. xxix. 20, 21, tho sprinkling of blood on them, when set apart to the priesthood, was enjoined; and from Lev. viii. 24, 30, we learn that Aaron and his sons wore sprinkled with blood as well as anointed with oil. It is altogether rea- sonable, then, that tho two parts of the ceremony were performed in refer- enco to the tabernacle, as well as to tho priests, though tho purpose of the epistle required only tho mention cf the use of blood. The knowledge of tho fact that blood was spri'.ikled on the tabernacle and its utensils may have been preserved among the He- brews by traditiim from age to ago, so that the original readers of the epistle at ouCo acceded to the statement. Jo- 116 II E B 11 E W S . tabernacle, and all the vessels of the miuistiy. ^ And al- Bephus, also, ia his Antiquities of the Jews, iii. 8, 0, reooids it as a histori- cal fact that iMoses consecrated " the tabernacle and the vessels thereto be- longing, both with oil .... and with the blood of bulls and of rams." — II The vessels of the ministry; the uten- sils which were required for the min- istrations in the tabernacle. 22. And almost all thinys are by the law pur'jcd with blood. The requisition for blood in cases demanding ceremo- nial purification was almost universal. In some cases, the use of water was sufficient, Ex. xix. 10; Lev. xv. 5-13, 17; xvi. 2G, 28; and in some the use of fire and of water was enjoined. Num. xxxi. 22-24. But in almost all cases, the blood of some animal was required for making both persons and things ceremonially pure, as signify- ing, both in regard to persons and to things, that guilt, real and ascribed, had been contracted which needed ex- piation, and that God now looked on them with favor, reconciliation having been effected. Compare Lev. xvi. 10, 18, 20. Persons were required to be, or to become, ceremonially pure, so that they might be regarded as fit to associate with the people and partici- pate in their privileges and services; and thin-js, that they might be regarded as fit to be used, both on the ordinary occasions of life and in the sacred ser- vice. II Arid without shedding of blood is no remission; that is, remission, or forgiveness of sins in the Jewish cere- monial sense, forgiveness of violations of the Mosaic law, or of failures to obey its requisitions. This declara- tion, as connected with the preceding clause, has reference to the Mosaic statutes which regulated the Jewish commnuity, and does not imply that the blood-shedding required by the Law could procure forgiveness, spirit- ually speaking, a forgiveness suited to genuine penitence towards God and Connected with eternal life. Indeed, it is a main point in this part of the cpistlo that the Mosaic sacrifices could not thus take away sin, and that the death of Christ was requisite for that purpose. Yet the shedding of blood in the Mosaic sacrifices was a constant inculcation of the great principle that an expiatory sacrifice was required for taking away the guilt which the holy law of God, binding on men univer- sally, has connected with sin. — The Jews had been separated from all other people and brought into a special rela- tion to God, so that they became, in a national sense, the people of God, a holy people. Standing in this out- ward relation to God, he furnished them, as their special Ruler, through Moses, a system of legislation, having its appropriate recompenses ; when pre- cepts, or laws, were violated, the per- son forfeited the favor of God, the Ruler of the nation, and his standing in the community of God's people, and was debarred from their privileges; or when, through any circumstances, he had become defiled in view of the Law, and therefore unfit to be continued in favor with God and to be associating with the people, lest he should com- municate defilement to others, he was for a time debarred the usual privi- leges, and was required to observe certain ceremonial regulations relative to his case. Thus, temporal penalties were afiixed to transgressions and de- linquencies; and, when the prescribed ceremonies for purification had been observed, he was restored to his posi- tion. In all cases of pardonable of- fence, pardon and restoration to the community were granted in connection with the sacrificing of animals and with prescribed rites of purification, as indicating the ill-desert of the of- fender and vindicating the honor and purity of the legal system under which the nation was placed by Jehovah as its Sovereign. The entire Mosaic economy was doubtless designed to foreshadow the Christian dispensation, under which forgiveness of sins, as in the sight of God, and the purification of the soul from their defilement, were to be bestowed on the truly penitent through the sacrifice of Christ. If, indeed, a person had a true sense of sin as committed against God, and were heartily penitent for it, as doubtless was the case in many instances, he CHAPTER IX, 117 most all things are by the law purged with blood ; and "without shetlding of blood is no remission. ^ It was therelbre necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purilied with these ; but the heav- would of course receive forgiveness bojond that provided for in the Mosa- ic law; but it would not be bestowed through the virtue of the Mosaic sac- rifices and ceremonies : a remission of oil'ences against that Law, procured through the appointed observances, did n )t carry with it forgiveness of of- fences as committed against God, the uuiversal Ruler. Thus the Jewish economy had reference to externals; it was iieshly, outward; and though it gave a vast amount of instruetiou, and amply revealed the pardoning mercy of (iod, and led many to true piety, yet it was mainly external, and pre- paratory, by its emblems and shadows, to a corresponding spiritual dispensa- tion, that of Jesus Christ, designed for the human race at large, and disclosing the true method of the forgiveness of sins, as against God, and of a sinner's becoming fit to have a place, on earth and in heaven, among the inwardly holy people of God. The Mosaic sys- tem of sacrifices and purifications was admirably fitted to prepare a reflect- ing Jew to receive the great truth that " it behooved Christ to suSer and to rise from the dead, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." Luke xxiv. 46, 47. Compare Is. liii. 8-11; IPet. i. 18-22; ii. 24. 23. While, then, both the old cove- nant and the new required death as necessary to their ratification, the ne- cessity in the case of the old covenant was fully met by the sacrificing of an- imals, since it was only an earthly sanctuary, the faint copy of the heav- enly, whoso privileges were to be se- cured by this covenant; but in the case of the new covenant, as it was the heavenly sanctuary whose privi- leges were to be secured, a sacrifice inoro uoble and precious was required. — It u>as therefore 7iecessary, eto. The necessity here afiirmcd arises from what has already been maintained in verses 16 and 17, namely, that such covenants as are hero the subjects of treatment require death as the basis of their confirmation. || That the pa! - terns of thtnys in the heavens. Tuo word pitterns does not well represent the original term, which is here sigaifi- cant, nut of models, but of copies, or representations. The Mosaic taber- nacle is meant, viewed as a counter- part, or copy, of the tabernacle in hea^'cn, the structure presented to the mind of Moses, according to the view given in viii. 2. Thinys in the heavens; the heavenly tabernacle. || Should be purified. A proper apprehension of the idea intended by this expression may be obtained by considering the directions given in Lev. xvi. 10, 18- 20. From these verses it appears that on the annual day of atonement for the nation certain rites indicative of reconciliation and of purification were performed in reference to the holr/ place, the tabernacle, and the altar, as well as certain rites in reference to the people themselves. The high-priest was by these rites to " make an atone- ment for the holy place, because of the uncleauness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness." He was to "go out unto the altar that is be- fore the Lord, and make an atonement for it; " ho was to " sprinkle the blood upon it, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel," and was to " reconcile the holy place." In addition to this pas- sage, it is important to consider the statement in Lev. viii. 15, 19, 24, of acts in connection with the consecra- tion of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. Moses is there said to have taken the blood of a sacrificed buUock and with it to have purified the altar and sanctified it. — The Jewish 118 HEBREWS. enly things themselves with better sacnfiees than these. ^* For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, wJiich are the figures of the true ; but into heaven tabernacle and all its appurtenances were regarded as contracting impurity by the presence and contact of the worshippers, who were sinners and, more or loss, in a state of ceremonial defilement, and who, of course, com- municated their defilement to every- thing with which they came into con- nection; purification was, therefore, necessary for the taboruacle and its furniture. — The tabernacle was also, emblematically, the abode of God; and, therefore, whatever defilement it should have contracted by the presence and contact of the worshippers must be cleansed away, and a state of purity be maintained becoming the reverence due to the infinitely Holy One who condescended to make it his earthly dwelling. Also, as being resorted to by sinful men, from whom it contracted defilement, it was regarded with dis- pleasure on the part of God; conse- quently, reconciliation must be ef- fected in reference to it, or, which is the same thing, atonement must be made for it. The same may be said of the altar and all things pertaining to the tabernacle. — Moreover, a de- filed thing was not legally in a condi- tion to be used by the Jews; even the tabernilcle, then, must be purified in order to be made suitable for them to resort to for the service of God, and in order for them to partake of the priv- ileges and blessings connected with it. The several ideas, thus presented, are contained in the word purified as ap- plied to the earthly tabernacle. Ac- cess to this, which was so important and desirable, required legal purity not only in the persons but also in the tabernacle itself. — 1| Wilh these; by means of these sacrificed animals. || But the heavenly things themselves ; that is, the heavenly tabernacle ; the heavenly sanctuary, as mentally conceived of; in other words, heaven itself. — The heavenly thitvjs did nut, indeed, need to be purified, as if they had become de- filed; but as the earthly copy of the heavenly tabernacle was, by purifica- tion, ?nade acce:;siblc, so tliis indirect sense of the yjord. purified was applica- ble to the h'avenly ; that is, the hjav- ealy tabernacle was made .tr ng conviction which results from adequate and sure reasons or arguments. — It was not the writer's purpose here to instruct the Hebrews as to the miture of faith ; they needed no instruction on that point. Hence, he did not de- sign to give a. logical definition of faith, but to assert strongly and to inculcate impressively its efficacious quality. It gives substance, as it were, to things which as yet are only objects of hope, so that those things liave the force of realities actually existing and within our grasp, and consequently they en- gage our affections and determine our purposes. It makes us apprehend things not seen, not yet possessed and enjoyed, Rom. viii. 24, 25, with a con- viction of their reality, such as is pro- duced by the strongest evidence. A person who cherishes faith couecrning future things, relative to which God has- made declarations, regards those things as substantial realities, like ex- isting things around him; so tlsat the things which he hopes for, on the tes- timony of God, are not, to his view, mere possibilities, mere supposable things, having no power over his alfec- tions and aims. He who has faith in God's declarations, — that is, who fully believesthem, — has a thorough convic- tion of future unseen things, just as he has of other things concerning which he has all necessary appropriate evidence. As from irrefragable arguments com- plete evidence arises and by them thor- ough conviction and confidence arc pro- duced, so God's testimony respecting the future is, to him who has faith in God, entire and controlling evidence. — It is not, then, faith as an abstract principle that is here treated of, but faith as rel.ited to God's declarations, and, more particularly, to his declara- tions concerning things future and unseen. 2. For by it the elders obtained a good report. The word elders here is not a 135 136 HEBREWS, good report, ' Throngh faith we understand that the worlds were framed b}" the word of God, so that things which are term of office, but a respectful desig- nation of the men of ancient times, the momory of whom was cherished with veneration. From the historical records in the word of God, their names had been handed down with distinction as of patterns of moral ex- cellence; and the high estimation in which they stood was due to their faith; that is, to their firm confidence in the things which the promises of God had led them to hope for, and their deep cmivktion concerning things which they were not permitted to see, but which, on the testimony of God, they believed would, in due time, be actually present. They had received promises from God; and though they did not speedily see the fulfilment of these promises, though circumstances, sometimes, even appeared fatal to their fulfilment, they yet confided in the divine declarations; and through their steadfast expectation of the things promised, they lived in such a manner as to secure the testimony of their own age and of all succeeding time, to the uncommon worth of their characters. If they had not reposed faith in the promises of God pertaining both to this life and the life to come, they could not have attained the moral worth for which they were distin- guished; they would have lacked the stimulus to patient continuance in well-doing. || Obtained a good report; obtained the favorable testimony which has been borne to their eminent good- ness. The fact that the ancient wor- thies obtained the good testimony borne to them by being and abiding in faith is eminently an illustration of the statement in the first verse. That faith in God was a prime element in the characters of those ancient men is the current representation of the Scrip- ture. Uut what was their faith in God? It was an unfailing confidence in the promises of God, so that they lived in hope of the blessings : it was a firm conviction that promised bless- ings, though not yet possessed and en- joyed, would, in duo time, be bestowed. It was not present good, but future promised good, on wliich their hearts were fixed. Of such faith Abraham is an instance, as appears from Rom. iv. 20, 21; and Abraham is a repre- sentative of the men who had faitli in God. — The mention of the ciders, or men of ancient times, here is general ; in succeeding verses we have the det;iil of examples. 3. By faith we understand, etc. As the writer's purpose led him back to the earliest records in the word of God, the very first statement in the Bibla furnished him an instance, not indeed of the exercise of faith, but of its ne- cessity and value. Our knowledge of the creation of the universe by the word, that is, the uttered will, of Gjd rests on faith in his declaration to that effect; for human speculation cuuld never decide respecting the origin of the material universe. || The worlds; the heavens and the earth, the uni- verse. II Were framed; were created and set in order. || So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear; so that the visible uni- verse was not made of materials which were already existing, and which were objects of sight. — Allusion is here made to the ancient philosophical dog- ma which prevailed among men who knew not the revelation from God, that matter, as well as the Deity, was from eternity; that matter was not created, strictly speaking, but that it always existed; and that the work of the Deity in regard to the material universe was not that of a Creator, but of an Intelligence arranging and moulding matter, and bringing out of eternally pre-existing materials tho earth and tho heavens. Now it is to faith in the declaration of God that we are indebted for our freedom from the obscurities of human speculation, and for our understanding that at the beginning God actually created the heavens and the earth, that he brought them into being from non-existence. Gen. i. 1; Ps. viii. 3; xxxiii. 6. We understand from the divine testimony CHAPTER XI. 137 seen wore not made of things which do appear. * Hy faith Abel Oilered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God that tho visible universe did not spring from already existing materials : it was au original product of God's cre- ating power. This truth, familiar as it is to the youngest child in lands which enjoy divine revelation, and a starting-point to the intelligent and s.itisfactory contemplation of tho uni- verse, both for young and old, was, n'jvertholess, unknown to tlio ancient sages, since they relied on human wis- dom, not on a declaration of God. It was the vast importance of this truth, doubtless, that made the writer, before commencing the detail of examples of faith, seize on it in this connection as an instance of the indispeusableness of faith to men both as to their under- standings and to their hearts. § Examples of the efficacy of faith. 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain; that is, a better sacrifice, one of more worth in the sight of God. See Gen. iv. 3-5. — As it was in consequence of his faith, that Abel's sacrifice was accepta- ble to God and was of more worth than Cain's, it would seem, since faith is, in this epistle, a confiding in the declara- tions of God and acting according to them, that God had commanded the olfering of an animal and had prom- ised that his mercy should be bestowed iu connection with such an otiering. The oliering up of the animal, there- fore, in obedience to the command and iu reliance on the promise, implied a confiding in tho mercy of God and in- dicated faith in his declarations. How far any intimation of tho greater Sac- rifice was given to Abel, we know not; but as knowledge concerning tho Seed of the woman who was to bruise the serpent's head had been given to Abel's parents, it is certainly presumable that, from the beginning, the animal sacrifice stood in some intelligible re- lation to the true sacrifice on Calvary. At any rate, tho moral idea Connected witii an animal saciifice, namely, that tho otFerer deserved, on account of his ei'is, a doom similar to that which the 12 * animal suffered, and that, therefore, he must place confidence, not in any personal worth of his own, but in tho ?nercy of God, was easily apprehensi- ble at the earliest times: and conse- quently this oifering on the part of Abel may have been indicative of faith in God, or confidence in his merciful forgiveness. — Cain, on the other hand, declining to offer an animal, but re- garding it sufficient to offer the fruits of the ground, instead of the animal, or, to the omission of the animal, showed a disregard of the divine will and a spirit, not of confidence in the divine mercy, but of dependence on bis own offerings. The offering of the fruits of the ground also may have been required," as a thank-offering; but if made with *he neglect of tne sin-offering, penitence would not have been expressed, nor trust in the divine mercy for pardon; so that without the animal sacrifice, any other offering, however expressive and suitable for other purposes, would be materially defective as not indicating a right dis- position towards God. Cain's orfering of the fruits of his labor may seem a very suitable one and would, in other circumstances, be regarded as indica- tive of a grateful spirit; but the .show of gratitude would be very questiona- ble, if there were no manifestations of penitence and of regard for the known direction of God. — 1| By which he ob- tained witness that he was righteous, etc. ; by means of which faith he was testi- fied to as being a righteous man, God himself giving this testimony in view of tho gifts which Abel offered, name- ly, the sacrifices of tho firstlings of his flocks. This testimony is implied in Gen. iv. 4, where the Lord is said to have had respect to Abel and his offering. — The epithet righteous is given to Abel in Matt, xxiii. 35, and, virtually, in 1 John iii. 12. — Abel is here regarded as an instance y their mode of life and temper of mind, they professed to have on earth no settled home, but to bo mere sojourners. The land of Canaan, though theirs by divine gift, and t j be occupied after the lapse of a long pe- riod by their descend;ints, Acts vii. 5, was not their home; they cherished tiie feeling that they had no homo on earth, but fondly anticipated a h'lmo in heaven with their God. — The idea of being only a sojourner in Canaan found ready expression in Abraham, when contracting with the sons of Heth for a burial-place after the decease of his wife; Gen. xxiii. 4, " I am a stranger and a sojourner with you : " also, in Ja- cob when he first met Pharaoh, king of Egypt; Gen. xlvii. 9, "The days of the years of my pUgrimage are an hun- dred and thirty years." 14. For they that say such things de- clare plainly that they seek a country. Men who regard themselves as only strangers and pilgrims on the earth show clearly by this that they have not a homo here, but that the country, or city, which they call their home is elsewhere; they have not yet arrived at it; they are longing for it as yet to be attained. Compare Col. iii. '2; Phil. iii. 20. — The religious yearn- ings of the pious patriarchs are, per- haps, illustrated in Gen. xlis. 18, where Jacob, while pronouncing bless- ings on his sons, seems to have paused awhile, and then to have given utter- ance to his faith and hope in the ex- pressive language, "I have waited for thy salvation, Lord." — \\ A coun- try; properly, native country, or na- tive city, regarded as a person's homo. 1"). //' they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, eto. If they had borne in fond remem- brance the land from which they came U2 HEBREWS, they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, ^'^liut now they desh'c a better country^ that is, a heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God : for he hath prepared for them a city. ^TJy faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered np Isaac : and he that had received the promises olfered np his only begotten son, '^of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall tlay seed be called : ^^ accounting that God ii:as able to raise out, and had still clung to it with the home-feeling, they might easily have returned to it. — Abraham personally, in obedienco to God's command, left his native country, with Sarah his wife and Lot his nephew. Gen. xii. 1, 5. The native laud of Abraham would in common conversation be called the land of his more immediate descend- ants; so that they might be said, as well as ho, to have come from it. IG. But now they desire a better coun- try, etc. But, as the case really stands (speaking of it as if it were now pres- ent), so far from embracing any op- portunity to return to the land which they had left, they are willing to for- get it as a home, they are longing for abetter land; that is, a heavenly land. And because they willingly forget their former earthly home, and have become intent on dwelling in the heav- enly land, God is not ashamed of them, but is willing to acknowledge him- self as their God, Gen. xvii. 7 ; Ex. iii. 6; Matt. xxii. 32; Luke xs. 37, and to receive them into the heavenly city in which he is, and in which it is ap- propriate that his people should have their home. || Foi he hath prepared for them a city. A clear proof of his fa- vor towards them and his readiness to bo known as their God is given in the fact that ho made ready for them a city in which they might have their endur- ing, everlasting abode. Compare ver. 10. 17. Abraham., when he was tried, etc. ; that is, when the Lord put to the test his laith and obedience by requiring him to oJer up Isaac, agreeably to Gen. xxii. 1, 2. This requisition was indeed a close test of Abraham's faith ii the promise of God, since the prom- isj had reference to this very son, Gen. xvii. IG, 19; xxi. 12, and it was through Isaac that the prt^miscd pos- terity was to descend. The requisi- tion Boemed to conflict direcily and entirely with the promise. In these trying circumstances, would Abraham obey and continue to believe the prom- ise ? It was, in truth, a trying of his faith ; and if he should bear the test, his faith must bo strong indeed, and he might well bo called the father of believers. Rom. iv. 17. || He that had rccdvcd the promises, etc. Repeated promises had been made to him of a son and of an innumerable posterity. These promises ho had accepted with joy, and he had entire confidenco in their fulfilment; but now, after the promised son was born, and that, too, when, according to tho course of na- ture, there was no ground for expect- ing his birth, tho confiding father was required to offer up that son as a burnt- oifering. || His only-begotten son. Isaac was so called as being the only prom- ised son and the only son of Abratiaai and Sarah. How greatly this circum- stance added to the trial of his faith! 18. Of whom it was said; more cor- rectly, to whom it was spoken; that is, to Abraham. || In Isaac shall thy seed be called. See Gen. xxi. 12. Tho ad- ditional trying circumstance is here mentioned, of its having been distinctly declared to Abraham that through Isaac the numerous posterity was to descend. 19. Accounting that God was able tn raise him up even from the dead; taking into account, or considering, that even from the dead God was able to raise him up, and believing that God would do so rather than allow his promise to fail. This only promised son, therefore, through whom ho bad CHAPTER XI 143 him up, even from the dead: from whence also he received him in a figure. ^ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. ^^ By faith Jacob, A\hen he vvas a djing, blessed both the sons of Joseph ; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. ^"By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel ; and gave commandment concerning his bones. ^•' By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three mouths been promised an innumerable poster- ity, he laid on the altar of sacrifice, not indeed without seeing that the death of this son would, to human view, bhist all his own cherished hopes and make void the promise of God, yet checking every doubt by consider- ing that God could restore him to life and still carry into effect what he had promised. || From whence also he re- ceived him, in a figure. Figuratively, or in the way of similitude, Abraham may be said to have at first received Isaac from the dead. Compare verse Vl ; also, Rom. iv. 19. 20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, etc. See Gen. xxvii. 27-29, 39, 40. The benediction of Isaac on his two sons proceeded from his firm belief iu the promises of God. 21. Jacob, when he was a dying; or, as we say, when on his death-bed. 11 Blessed both the sons of Joseph. The two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and E[)hraim, born in E^^ypt before Jacob removed to that country, were adopted by Jacob as his own sons. Gen. xlviii. 5, and their names, consequently, were substituted, among the heads of the tribes in place of Joseph their father, and of Levi, whoso descendants were not to have any landed inheritance, as being the priestly tribe. || And wor- shipped, leaning on the top of his staff; more exactly, he bowed, in worship, on the top of his staif. This circumstance seems added here to show the devout spirit in which the patriarch pro- nounced his benediction: he did it re- ligiousl}', with unwavering faith in the promises of God. — The act here as- cribed to Jacob is not found recorded in our English Bible; but the Greek version of tho Hebrew original, in '■ca. xlvii. 31, has the very words here used. In our translation of the Hebrew Scriptures we there read, "And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head." The original Hebrew words admit of either translation, according as diiferent vowel-poiuts are attached to the word rendered bed. 22. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing, etc. ; Jo- seph, when near to death, reminded his brethren that their descendauta were to remove from Egypt to Canaan. His faith in the promises of God did not falter. See Gen. 1. 24, " And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Compare Gen. XV. 13, 14; xxvi. 3-5; xxviii. 13, 14. 11 And gave commandment concerniyig his bones. Joseph, through his faith in the promise that the Israelites should iu future ages possess the land of Ca- naan, was unwilling that his remains should be deposited in Egypt. Hence he " took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence." Gen. 1. 2 J. They ac- cordingly " embalmed him, and he was put iu a coffin in Egypt." Gen. 1. 20. This oath was borne iu mind age after age; and when, at length, the Israel- ites left Egypt, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, Ex. xiii. 19; and when the Israelites under Joshua obtained possession of Canaan, thoy buried them in Sheehem. Josh. xxiv. 32. — Compare Gen. xlix. 2J-31; 1. 4-13, with reference to a similar di- rection by the patriarch Jaci b. 23. By faith, Aloses, when he was born, was hid three months, etc. See Ex. ii. 2. Tho parents of M'lsescher- 144 HEBREWS, of his parents, because thej^ saw lie ivas a propei' cliilcl ; and thc3^ were not afraid of the king's comniandment. '^Bj faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; ^ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleas- ures of sin for a season; ^^ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Eg^qDt : for he enduring, than to possess the agreeable worldly condition which a couipliaiico with the sinful institutions and prac- tices of Egypt might have procured for him. — The Israelites were avowedly the people of Jehovah, the true Gud; they were his chosen nation; and it was among them that his spiritual people were found. By adhering to them, Jloses was identifying his inter- ests with those of God on earth. Had he been willing to disown his relation to the Hebrews and to the true Gud, and to accept rank and power among the idolatrous Egyptians, he might have secured the temporary enjoyment of great worldly distinction ; but, through faith in the promises of God, he preferred to maintain his connec- tion with the ill-treated Hebrews and to suffer his full share in their afflic- tions, knowing that enduring bliss and glory would be given to faithful ser- vants of God. 26. Esteeming the. reproach of Christ greater riches tha7i the treasures in Egypt. The New Testament writers regarded Christ, the Messiah, as present, in his pre-existent nature, among the early Hebrews, directing their movements and controlling events relative to them. See 1 Cor. x. 4, 9. Whatever re- proach, then, was cast on them, as a distinct people, was really cast on the Messiah, who was their Head. Moses accounted it a glory to share in such reproaches. The riches and dignities of Egypt were light iu comparison with the honor of being united with Christ, even in sulfering cruel mal- treatment. II For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. He con- templated the future retribution ; on the one hand, the final recompense of a servant of God, faithful ia the midst of reproaches; and, on the other, tlio final recompense of one who should ished the belief that their nation, agreeably to the divine prediction, Gen. XV. 13-16, would be delivered from bondage in Egypt and possess the land of Canaan. A deliverer was to be raised up; and every true-hearted Hebrew parent might hope that a son of his was to be the honored one, and would cheerfully, with such a hope, incur many hazards. || They saw he was a proper child; a peculiarly fine- looking child. Ex. ii. 2; Actsvii. 20. His very appearance in the earliest in- fancy seemed to indicate an uncom- monly honorable destiny. || They were not afraid of the king's command merit. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had "tjharged all his people, saying. Every son that is born [of the Hebrews] ye shall cast into the river. ' Ex. i. 22. The parents of Moses had no such fear of the king's decree as would induce them to consent to its execution. Their pious fear of God and their faith in Lim emboldened them to disregard it. 24. Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. According to Hebrew tradi- tions preserved by Joscphus, the Jew- ish historian. Antiquities, II. 9, 7, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted Moses as her son, in order that, should she have no son of her own, he might be the heir of the kingdom. In Ex. ii. 10, we are informed that Moses " be- came her son." But in after years, that is, " when he was full forty years old," his regard for his oppressed brethren, and his faith in the purpose of God to deliver them, led him to re- nounce the honor of belonging to the royal family. Ex. ii. 11, 15; Acts vii. 23-25. 25. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy, etc. He chose rather to share in the ill- treatment which his brethren were CHAPTER XI. 115 had respect unto the recompense of the reward. ^ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king : for lio endured, as seeing him who is invisible. '^ Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them. ^-^ By faith abandon the service of God in order to acquire the wealth and honor of distinguished rank in Egypt. The faith of Moses left him no room for hesitation. 27. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. This step appears to have been a personal one exclusively, and to have been taken previously to the instituting and first observance of the passover, verso 28, which took place in Egypt, on the night of the Israelites' departure. It was, therefore, his departure from Egypt when, after his slaying of the Egyptian, he fled from the face of Pharaoh, and went to the land of Midian. Ex. ii. 15. On that occa- sion the king had assumed a threaten- ing attitude towards Moses ; but at the final departure of the people from Egypt, the king and the Egyptians were desirous that they should depart and Moses had then no ground for an immediate dread of his wrath. Ex. xii. 31, 33. Not fearing the wrath of the king. Yet it is said in Ex. ii. 14, that Moses feared, because he had dis- covered that his killing of the Egyp- tian had become known. To avoid death at the hands of Pharaoh, Moses fled. He ,was, indeed, aware of his danger and took means to avert it. He did not, however, so fear the king's wrath as to be terrified by it and seek to conciliate the king's favor; he did not waver in his determination to share in the lot of his nation, nor give up the expectation of being their deliverer. According to Acts vii. 2o, he understood that God would deliver his brethren by his hand; and the wrath of the king did not deter him from abiding faithful to God and to his brethren. Uo saw that a temporary absence from Eg3'pt for avoiding the anger of the king then reigning, would be the only means of his be- coming eventuallv the deliverer of 'l3 his people. || He endured, as seeing him who is invisible. He remained steadfast, as if actually seeing the in- visible God, the true object of fear, the fear of whom elevated him above the fear of man, and to whom he held himself accountable, from whom only could also come needed aid for the de- liverance of his brethren. According to Acts vii. 30, he remained forty years in tho land of Midian before ho was specially called bytheLoKD to re- turn to Egypt for leading forth tho Hebrews. During this long interim, he endured in faithfulness to God : his confidence in the ever-present God, who is ever mindful of his servants and ever watchful of their ways, never deserted him. 28. Through faith he kept the pass- over, etc. ; more literally, he instituted the passover; that is, by divine direc- tion. See Ex. xii. 1-28. Moses had faith in tho declaration of God that ho would, on an appointed night, as tho last visitation on the Egyptians pre- vious to the departure of the Hebrews, destroy all the first-born of the Egyp- tians, Ex. xi. 4, 5; xii. 12, 13, but would pass over the houses of tho He- brews on which the blood of the lambs required to be slain by them on that occasion should be sprinkled. Thus was instituted and commenced tho fes- tival which was hence denominated tho passover. Ex. xii. 27. || Lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them ; that is, should touch the He- brews. Moses had thus informed tho people; Ex. xii. 23, "The Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon tho lintel, and on the two side-posts, tho Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you." Seo also Ex. xi. 7; xii. 12, 13. 29. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land. God had 146 HEBREWS. they passed through the Hed Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. ^By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. ^^ By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. ^^ And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah ; of David also, and Samuel, and of the proph- ets : ^ who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought right- oromised the Hebrews deliverance xom the Egyptians, who were in pur- suit of them, and a passage through che sea on dry ground. Ex. xiv. 13- 22. On this promise they relied : ac- eordingly they passed through in safety. |{ Which the Egyptians assay- ing to do were drowned. The Egyptians ventured presumptuously into the sea in pursuit of the Hebrews, and God gave them up to their fool-hardiness, Ex. xiv. 17, and made the waters re- turn, covering " the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh : there remained not so much as one of them." Ex. xiv. 28. They were all, in the expressive language of the original, swallowed up. 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, etc. God had promised to Joshua that Jericho should fall into the hands of the Israelites, and had directed that the priests, bearing the ark of the Lord, and the armed men should march around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day : then the wall was to fall down. Confiding in the promise and obeying the direction, they thus came into pos- session of the city. Joshua vi. 1-20. 31. By faith the harlot Rahab per- ished not, etc. The spies who had been sent by Joshua to Jericho were protected by Rahab. Joshua ii. 1-21. In con- sequence of information which had reached Jericho concerning the Lord's wonderful deeds in behalf of the Is- raelites, she fully believed that ho would give them the land of Canaan. Her belief of this rested on her faith in the true God ; " for," she said, " the Lord, your God, ho is God in heaven above and in earth beneath." Joshua ii. 11. In consequence of her firm be- lief that Jericho and the whole country would fall into the hand of the Isra- elites, she solicited a promise from the spies that she and her relatives should bo spared in the destruction which awaited the city : a promise, which was sacredly observed. Joshua ii. 12, 13, 18; vi. 22, 23, 25. || Received the spies with peace; with good will or wel- come. — Though a disgraceful name had become associated with Rahab, yet, from the honorable mention which is made of her, we can have no doubt that she was, at the time spoken of, leading a virtuous life. 32-40. This list of worthies is now brought to a close by a rapid grouping together of names hold in devout and honored remembrance, and of events indicative of strong faith on the part of the actors in them, from the time of the Judges to the period suceecuiug the termination of the Old Testament canon. — Gideon. Judges vi. 11, etc. II Barak. Judges iv. C, etc. || Sam- son. Judges xiii. 24, etc. || Jephthah. Judges xi. 1, etc. || David, Samuel. I and 2 Samuel. 33. Who through faith subdued king- doms. Reference seems had here par- ticularly to the victories of David. II Wroiight righteousness. Since tuo men spoken of were occupied in civil aft'airs as well as sacred, it is probable that a righteous administration of pub- lic business is here intended; they ad- ministered righteously the offices to which they had been called. —A re- ligiously upright mode of life in what- ever capacity may also be intended as CHAPTER XI 117 eousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ^ quenched the violence of lire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ^ Women received their dead raised to life again : and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance ; that they might obtain a better resurrection : ^ and others had trial of cruel mock- ings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprison- ment : ^' they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were would appear from Ps. xv. 2 ; the ex- pression, "He that walketh uprightly andwo7-l-eihrif/hteous7iess,"h(imgdesaiip- tive of the man in whom God delights; and from Acts x. 35, " lie that feareth God and workcth rujhteousnetss " being the man who is accepted with God. || Ob- tained promises; obtained tho/M//;^mfi?it of promises. The promises of victories and of other distinguished blessings are probably here meant; such as in Judges iv. W:, the promise that the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hand of Barak; in Judges vii. 7, the promise that the Loud would deliver the Midianites into the hand of Gid- eon. II Stopped the mouths of lions; as in the case of Daniel. Dan. vi. 22. 34. Quenched the violence of fire ; as in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Dan. iii. 27. || Es- caped the edge of the siuord. The vari- ous escapes of David may illustrate this. 1 Sam. xviii. 11; six. 10, 12; xxi. 10; xxiii. 13. Also the escape of Elijah from the rage of Jezebel, I Kings, chapter lOth, and of EJisha from the king of Syria, 2 Kings vi. 8-23. II Out of wrahncss were made strong; as was Samson, Judges xv. 18, 19; xvi. 28; as was also Hezekiah. Is. xxxviii. 1-5. || Waxed valiant in fight ; as at the capture of Ai, Joshua 8th chapter; at the capture of Gibcon, Joshua X. 1-14 ; as in the case of Gideon's band of three hundred men routing the hosts of Midian and Ama- lok. Judges vii. 19-22. 35. Women received their dead, etc. ; as the widow at Zarephath, 1 Kings xvii. 17-24; and the Shunamite, 2 Kings iv. 18-37. — Thus far the in- stances adduced illustrate the efficacy of faith in God as honored with deliv- erance from perils and with other sig- nal lecompenses. But the efficacy of faith is equally seen in the support which it gives to suffering piety, in enabling its possessors to endure con- tempt, privation, the terrors of a vio- lent death, without complaint and even cheerfully. Hence, specimens of this latter description are now added. II Others were tortured. Reference is had hero to persecutions endured by faithful Jews in times subsequent to the Old Testament history, when the nation was under the oppression of heathen princes. — The original term here used is derived from the name of the instrument employed for torturing. It was called tympanum, and was shaped like a kettle-drum : the victim was fastened ou it and either beaten, or scourged, to death. || Not accepting deliverance ; literally, the deliverance, that which was promised by their per- secutors in case they would abandon their religion. || That they might ob- tain a bitter resurrection. They re- mained steadfast and would not accept the temporary deliverance, preferring the better deliverance from death, namely, the resurrection to immortal life. 3G. Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Reference is, probably, here also made to persecutions of which the Jewish history, subsequent to the times of the Old Testament, preserved some memorable instances. || Of bonds and imprisonment. Cases like that of Jeremiah the prophet, as related in Jer. xxxvii. 11-21, and of Micaiah, 1 Kings xxii. 2G, 27, and others in other trying periods of Jewish history are here meant. 37. T/uy tvcre stoned ; as was Zcch 148 HEBREWS. tempted, were slain with tlie sword : tliey wandered about in sheepskins and goatslcins ; being destitute, afflicted, tor- mented ; ^ of wliom the world was not worthy : they wan- dered in deserts, and in mountains, and m dens and caves of the earth. ^^ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise : '^ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. ariah. 2 Chron. xxiy. 20, 21. || Sawn asunder. Jewish tradition relates that such was the fate of Isaiah the prophet. II Slaiti ivith the sword. Com- pare 1 Kings xix. 10, where Elijah speaks of the Lord's prophets slain with the sword; also Jer. xxvi. 20-23. 38. Of whom the w.>rld was not worthy. Though the men just spoken of appeared externally as objects of pity and scorn, they were yet the ex- cellent of the earth; the world was not worthy to possess such treasures of moral worth. || They wandered in des- erts, etc. Thus, in the days of Jeze- bel, who so bitterly hated the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah concealed a hundred prophets in caves. 1 Kings xviii. 4, 13. The prophet Elijah wan- dered about, having no security for his life. 1 Kings xix. 4, 8, 13. Jewish history records other cases of similar trying circumstances. 39. These all; these, who are brought to view in this chapter as examples of faith. WHavini/ obtained a good report, etc. ; having obtained a good testi- mony among men through their faith in God. Compare verse 2. || Re- ceived not the promise; that is, the fulfilment of the promise; they re- ceived not '•/he promised blessing. — But what was the promised blessing here referred to? In iv. 1 and vi. 12, 17, the promise is that of the heavenly rest; and in ix. 15 it is that of the eternal inheritance. See also x. 36; xi. 13. In view of these passages, and from the general tenor of the practical views presented in this epistle, it would seem that the promise is that of the completed glory and bliss of heaven as connected with Christ's actual com- ing into the world and the establish- ment of his kingdom by his becoming exalted to the right hand of God. The promise of an abode in heaven had been made to the pious in the early ages, but the realization of it in full measure, or in perfection, was not be- stowed. The promise is substantially, that of the city which hath foundations, verse 10, and of the better land, verse 16; yet that promise is here to bo understood, not in a general sense, since they had, in such»a sense, re- ceived the fulfilment of it, but in its complete enjoyment, in its stage of per- fection, which was reserved for the time of Christ's actually occupying tho heavenly throne. All the promises of God made to the patriarchs and handed down to their posterity came to be re- garded as concentrated in the coming of Christ into the world and his be- ing exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, which events would naturaUy carry to a higher degree the ineffable bliss and glory of the faithful people of God who had long before finished their earthly career. The as- cension of Christ to the right hand of the Father was the great event which would bring on tho complete fulfil- ment of the promise; so that, com- paratively speaking, the pious of for- mer ages did not receive its fulfilment, but entered into the heavenly rest with tho prospect of a still future complete realization of the prouiise, the com- menced fulfilment of which had been bestowed. 40. God having provided some better thing for us; or, God having looked forward to something bettor concerning us; something more excellent than had been bestowed on tho pious of past ages, and which was held in reserve CHAPTER XII ^ Wheuefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, until Christ should have accomplished his earthly work and been exalted to the throne of almighty power. This better thing is the more privileged state of knowledge and spiritual enjoyment granted to believers in Christ than that to which the Old Testament saints were admitted. They had merely a shadow of the good things to come, an obscure representation of them : we have the iina/je, the clear representa- tion of those things. Compare x. 1. The increased knowledge and enjoy- ment granted to believers in Christ, while yet on earth, in reference to the great sacrifice in their behalf, to their freeness of access to the throne of grace, their acceptance with God, as forgiven, as liberated from sin and adopted into his household, are a great advance on the measure of light and of divine favor accorded to the pious under the Old Testament. || That they without us should not be made per- fect; or, should not be perfected. The perfection here meant is the perfected state of heavenly bliss which was held in reserve till Christ should have actually performed the work of re- demption and ascended to his Father's throno as King of kings, Head over all things. Till then, the bliss of those who had been faithful to God in all preceding generations would be incomplete. || Without us; without having us in their company; us, be- lievers who have lived since the coming and the ascension of Christ. The pious of preceding ages were not to attain their completely glorified state till we, of the Christian period, should be joined to their number. They were to await the coming of Christ on earth and his ascension to the right hand of God before they could enter on the perfection of their glory. The ran- somed of past ages and tlie ransomed of the ages since the coming of Christ, being associated together, present a scone which could not exist till the groat events of Christ's death and as- 13* cension had actually taken place. — The incompleteness of the happy state of the redeemed of past ages as com- pared with their state after the ascen- sion of Christ and the addition of Christ's actual disciples to their num- ber, may be illustrated by the descrip- tions of the heavenly worship and the bliss of the redeemed, as given in the book of Revelation. The mention of Christ occupies so important a place in these descriptions, Rev. v. 6-l4; vii. 9-17; xii. 10; xiv. 1-5; xv. 3; xix. 7-lG, that the blessed state of the de- parted righteous during the period preceding his appearing on earth and his ascension must have seemed, to one contemplating it after Christ's ascen- sion, imperfect. In order to its being made perfect, the actual work of Christ and the presence in heaven of those who had actually tasted on earth of his redeeming grace were necessary. — Concerning the pious dead before the ascension of Christ we are sufficiently assured in the woi'd of God that they were in a state of happiness, freed from sin and from the trials and toils of earth. But according to the view in this passage, and in harmony with the representations in the book of Rev- elation concerning the bliss of deceased followers of Christ, their condition was, to a great extent, one of expectancy, and the completion of Christ's work brought a vast accession to their bliss. CHAPTER XII. Incitements to perseverance in the Christian course, from the examples detailed in the preceding chapter; also from the view of Christ, the exemplar of believers, as well as their Lord; vs. 1-3 ; likewise, from the compara- tive mildness of the trials to which the Hebrew Christians had thus far been subjected, and from the design of God in the discipline to which he sub- jects his children; vs. 4-11. They ought, then, to encourage one another, 149 150 II E B R E W S and the sin whicli doth so easily beset «s, and let us ran with patience the race that is set before us, ^looking unto and live in peace with all and in holi- ness; vs. 12-17; for the new covenant has brought them, not to Mount Sinai with its scenes of terror, but to Mount Zion, the heavenly city, with its scenes of glory and delight. The voice of God addressing them from heaven they ought, then, carefully to heed; for though the earth and the visible heaven are to pass away, the kingdom to which they belong will abide forever, vs. 18-29. 1. Where/ore, seciny we also are com- passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, etc. ; wherefore, let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, run with patience the race set before us, as did they. The testimony which the pious worthies of former ages bear to the faithful- ness of God, and to the efficacy of faith in him, is thus adduced as en- couraging the Hebrew believers in their Christian course. They main- tained faith in God and ran their race : let us also, stimulated by their exam- ple and their testimony to the faith- fulness of God, run the race which lies before us. — The immense multitude of pious worthies who have finished their course is here conceived of as gathering around those who are now running the course, and as bearing witness to the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises, and to the effi- cacy of abiding faith in him, thus giving fresh courage to those now on the course, and stimulating' them to emulate the example which has been set them. 1| Let us lay aside every weight; let us remove every impedi- ment, as the racer divests himself of every superfluous garment and enters the contest without any incumbrance. Compare 1 Cor. ix. 24-27. Many of the cares and enjoyments of the present life, not sinful in themselves, may j'et prove serious hindrances to an earnest pursuit for the heavenly prize, dead- weights to the spiritual racer. Com- pare Matt. xiii. 22. || And the sin which doth so easily beset us. The sin of unbelief, which so directly leads to apostasy, see iii. 19; iv. 11, and against which this epistle so earnestly cautions its readers, may have btea here particularly intended; while yet the inevitable tendency of siu in any of its forms would require the caution here given; for anj' sinful indulgence weakens the power of faith in tho promises of God. This siu was con- stantly besetting the ancient Israelites, and overcame multitudes of them : circumstances often seemed adverse to the accomplisliment of God's promises, so that their confidence in him was shaken, and through unbelief they could not enter into the heavenly rest. See iii. 19. The same danger met the disciples of Jesus here addressed : they were, besides, exposed to tempta- tions and persecutions from their un- converted countrymen, and to various other drawbacks from a steadfast ad- herence to Christ. In common with all who begin to run well, Gal. v. 7, they were liable to languor of .a Jce- tion and of right purpose, making them an easy pvey to unbelief. — While a particular form of sin may have boon here had in view, yet such is the very nature of sin, as being opposi- tion to God, and so constant are our liabilities to it, that it may well be universally described as that which easily besets and overcomes us unless we steadily resist its approaches. An avoidance of needless worldly compli- cations, which may not be necessarily sinful, but may compose the wrijht against which wo are here cautioned, will help us in avoiding what is positive- ly sinful; and steadfast watchfulness against sin will make it comparatively easy to avoid such worldly embarrass- ments. Compare Rom. xii. 2. || Let us run with patience; let us through enduring patience run with persevering steadiness the race that is set before us. Tho idea of a race as practised in t!)0 Grecian games was in the writer's mind. This well represents the course of the Christian life, at tho end of which a reward awaits the faithful. 2 Tim. iv. 7; 1 Cor. ix. 2G, 27. CHAPTER XII. 151 Jesus, the author and fiuisher of our faith ; who for the joy- that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ^ For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. * Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against 2. Looking unto Jesus; looking off, from all hindrances, to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In the origi- nal, it is not our faith, but the faith; that is, the faith in God's promises, such as was exemplified by the worthies mentioned in the eleventh chapter. The word for author is better expressed by leader, as in ii. 10, where the same word in reference to Jesus is translated captain. Jesus is the Leader of the faith, inasmuch as he has led the way in this faith, and leads forward the be- lieving company, as its Head and as the illustrious Exemplar of faith in God; he is the Finisher, rather Per- fecter, of the faith, as he has, in his own person, carried it to perfection and entered on the perfect glory which was to be awarded to him, ii. 9; also, as he conducts to the perfection of heavenly dignity those who follow him in faith; V. 9; vii. 25. || Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross; on account of the joy which ho had, pro- spectively, of bringing many sims of God to glory, ii. 10, when, agreeably to Is. liii. 10-12, he should see of tho travail of his soul and be satisfied. II Despising the shame; making no ac- count of the ignominy of crucifixion. The ignominy of crucifixion, as well as the suffering; was great indeed, since this was a punishment for tho vilest and most abandoned criminals and for convicts from the lowest order cf .society. || And is set down, at the right hand of the throne, of Gad. As a suitable and foreknown recompense for the suffering and humiliation to which Jesus willingly subjected him- self, he is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God, sharing in su- premo dignity and power. As neces- sary to his attaining this exalted state, he must endure the cross with its suf- fering and ignominy : " tho cross be- fore the crown." Compare Phil. ii. 5- 11, where the exaltation of Christ is represented as a recompense for his deep voluntary humiliation; also. Rev. iii. 21, " I overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne." See also Is. liii. 10-12. — This recompense of glory is not presented here as the mo- tive by which Christ was actuated, but as a suitable and promised appoint- ment by the Father, in consideration of the humiliation to which Christ cheerfully submitted in order that, as his controlling object, he might redeem men from sin. x. 7; John x. 11, lo, 17. Being now exalted to the tlirime of God, he is an example of tho rec- ompense for an unswerving faith, for privation and suffering endured in tho service of God, and is invested with divine power, so that he is able to suc- cor his followers and deliver them from all the opposition of their foes. They may look to him, then, as their Lord as well as their Exemplar. The suf- fering and ignominy through which he passed had a glorious issue, ii. 10; BO an abiding faith in God on our part, though it conduct us through perils and sufferings, will have a blissful issue as truly as did his. 3. Consider him that endured such contradiction, etc. ; so great opposition both in word and in deed, far beyond what his followers are called to suffer. If Jesus endured such opposition, his followers must not expect to escape opposition. Compare Matt. x. 22, 24, 2). Since he overcame it, he will not fail to strengthen them, that they, too, may overcome. Having himself had experience of severe trials, he is able to succor his followers in their trials. ii. 18. Compare John xiv. 19. 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood. 152 HEBREV;S sin. ^ And y(i have forgotten the exhortation which, speak- eth unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him : ^ for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, aaid scourg- eth every son whom he receiveth. ^ If ye endure chasten- ing, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ^But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bas- tards, and not sons. ® Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected zis, and we gave them rever- ence : shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? ^'^ For they verily for a few days chas- As an additional ground of encourage- ment to perseverance, they are re- minded that they had not been caUed to the extremity of suffering in the cause of Christ by any of their num- ber being put to death. Agreeably to X. 32, 33, they had endured many suf- ferings and privations ; but they had not been exposed to death for Christ. — Unto blood is significant of a violent death. The expression, perhaps, con- tains an allusion to instances of mar- tyrdom in the earlier days of the gos- pel, such, for instance, as that of Ste- phen, Acts vii. 59, CO, and of the apostle James, Acts xii. 2. Persecu- tion against those here addressed had not reached such a height. || Striving aijainst sin; contending ■with those who would alienate them from Christ. 5, C. And yc have forgotten the ex- hort(diirn. The language in the orig- inal hero is very strong, conveying a rebuke as well as reminding of a^crip- tural exhortation. It might well be rendered, Yo have re. Tlie precise point which the writer intends to present is contained in this expression; since it indicates that the predicted convulsion of the universe yet remains to be effected, and that only once more is such a convul- sion to be experienced : once more and once only, as preliminary to the ever- abiding consummation of the Messiah's kingdom, the reign of righteousness and the prevalence of holy bliss. All beyond this era is, so far as revclati>/u teaches, unending retribution ; of grace to the disciples of Jesus a. id of righteous doom to those who shall remain impenitent and unbelieving. II Siijnijieth the removing of those things that are shaken; sign-ifieth the removal, the passing away, or changing to some other form, of the things shaken ; that is, the removal of the earth and heaven. Compare 2 Pet. iii. 7 : " The heavens and the earth, which are now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and per- dition of ungodly men; " also, 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12. II As of things that are made; as of things that have been made, not originally independent, and there- fore mutable, material things, liable to bo changed at whatever time and in whatever way and to whatever extent the Maker wills. || That those things which cannot be shaken may remain; that things not belonging to the earth and the visible heavens, and therefore not liable to the changes which the earth and the heavens are destined to undergo, may abide undisturbed, es- tablished for perpetuity; that is, the kingdom of Ciirist, which is to endure forevar. Compare 2 Pet. iii. 13 : " Nevertheless wo, according to his promise, look fur new heavens and a now earth wherein dwelleth righteous- ness." Rev. xxi. 1. — In the 26th and 27th verses there is a contrast between the Mosaic dispensation and that of Christ, in reference to dura- bility. As the visible earth and heaven are to experience a convulsion and to disappear, and are to be suc- ceeded by the new heaven and new earth, so the Mosaic economy was de- signed to be only temporary and pre- paratory to the Christian dispensation, or the kingdom of Christ, which is to havo no end. CHAPTER XIII, 161 kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, where- by we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear : -^ for our God is a consumius: fire. CHAPTER XIII. ^ Let brotherly love continue. ^ Be not forgetful to en- tertain strangers : for thereby some have entertained angels 28. Wherefore we receiving a Mng- dom whichcannot be moved, etc. Where- fore, being admitted to the blessings of au indestructible, everlasting king- dom, let us cherish gratitude to God, by which let us serve him acceptably Tfith godly fear and awe. — Tlie un- dccaying glory and bliss of the Mes- siah's kingdom is thus presented as an additional motive to steadfastness in the service of God. || Let us have grace. The idea in the original is, Let us be grateful to God; a state of mind dependent indeed on divine grace. — The spirit of gratitude and praise is acceptable to God, Ps. 1. 23, and prompts to thorough and reverent obedience. The ground for gratitude, here presented, is the singularly blessed condition, now and hereafter, into which the subjects of the Messiah's reign are introduced. 20. For our God is a consuming fire; literally, For, also, our God is a con- suming fire. A reason is here given for the reverence and awe which we ought to cherish towards God. Ilis invitations and commands are not to be trilled with. He will render a most fearful retribution to those who slight his messages. His fiery indig- nation, X. 27, will consume them. — The expression consiiminy fire is derived from Deut. iv. 24:, " For the Lokd, thy God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God." — Ho will, as such, vindicate his holiness and his abused majesty by inflictions corresponding to the enor- mity of oiTencos against him. God, under the new dispensation, as well as the old, must beserved with reverence. He is unchangeable; ho Avill ever ren- der terrible recompense to them who despise the riches ot his goodness and forbearance and long suffering. Rom. ii. 4; 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. CHAPTER XIII. MISCELLANEOUS EXHORTATIONS AND CLOSING SALUTATIONS. 1. Let brotherly love conthiue. The Hebrews had already, in vi. 10, been commended for the love which they had shown to their Christian brethren. They are now exhorted to a continu- ance of this affectionate regard for one another, which would, besides being an act of obedience, happily regulate all the intercourse of life. Compare Rom. xii. 10. 2. Be not forgetful to entertain stran- gers; more literally, Forget not hospi- tality. Compare Rom. xii. 13 ; Tit. i. 8. The occasions for gratuitous hos- pitality in ancient times and in orien- tal countries were frequent. Persons of all descriptions, when away from home, were greatly dependent on it. Those early Christians who had occasion to travel from place to place wore in the habit of socking eutortaiumont among their brethren, to whom thoy mad© themselves known both by re- porting themselves as Chri^tiauj, and by commendatory letters from their church-officers. Tho duty of hospi- tality included, also, tho furnishing of facilities to travellers for prosccutiug their journey. Tit. iii. 13 ; 3 John 6, G. II Some have entertained angels una- wares. Such was the case with Abra- ham, Gen. xviii. 2-8 ; and with Lot, Gen. xix. 1-3. The historian on both of these occasions seems to havo known that the strangers were heav- enly beings; but they had the aspect, 162 HEBREWS. unawares. ^Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them ; and them which sulTer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. * Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undijflled : but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. ^ Let your conversation be without covetousuess ; and be content with such things as ye have : for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. *^ So that we may boldly say. The Lord is my helper and, I will not fear what man shall do unto me. at first, to Abraham and Lot, of mere meu. 3. Remember them that are in bonds, etc. Christian brethren, restrained of their liberty, particularly as im- prisoned, on acoount of their religion, are here referred to : they were to bo remembered with a sympathizing spirit by the Christians, as if enduring the same treatment, putting themselves, as it were, in their circumstances. II Them which suffer adversity, etc. llemember them, also, who aro in dis- tress, particularly through ill treat- ment, as being yourselves, likewise, in the body and therefore liable to simi- lar trouble. — The duty of tender and active sympathy with distressed Chris- tian brethren, on the ground of having the same nature with them and being therefore liable to similar suiferings, is evidently enjoined. Sympathy hav- ing such a ground will extend to the case oi any persons in affliction, whether the affliction proceed, properly speak- ing, from divine Providence, or from oppression, or any ill treatment, by their fellow-men. 4. Marriaye is honorable in all, etc. The connection in which this verse stands shows that it was not originally iiitondod as a declaration, but as an exhortation. It would be better ren- dered. Let marriaye be in all respects k mired, held in sacred regard as an honorable state, not to bo shunned nor abused; make not light of the mar- riage relation, but pay due honor to the will of God concerning it. 5. Lrt yjur conversation be withmt covetoustiess. Our present usage of the word conversation is more limited than when the translation of the Bible was made. It was then equivalent to manner of life, intercourse, deportment. It therefore generally, in the English Scriptures, fails to express the idea of the original. The original word here corresponds well to our expression turn of mind as influencing the course of life. The exhortation, then, is, Let your disposition and conduct bo free from covetousness; more particu- larly, as the original indicates, free from love of miney. Compare 1 Tim. vi. 8-10. II For he hath said; that is, God. II I will never leave thee, etc. This assurance of divine aid occurs, almost in the same words, with refer- ence to various occasions, in Deut. xxxi. G; Joshua i. 5; and 1 Caron. xxviii. 20. The expression is highly intensive in the original, and might bo translated, I will surely not leave thee ; nor will I by any means forsake thee. C. So that we may bddly say. The Lird is my helper, etc. See Ps. cxviii. G. Compare iv. IG, where we are en- couraged to pray boldly; that is, with unfaltering contideaco in God. 7-lG. The Hebrews are next re- minded of their deceased spiritual guides, as examples of faith in God to the close of life. The way is thus prepared to enjoin on them the duty of an uncompromising avowal of them- selves as folluwers of Ciiriat, as being entirely distinct in their principles and spirit from the adherents to Ju- daism, as having come out from the Jewish community and arranged themselves under the leadership of Jesus. CHAPTER XIII 1G3 'Remember them which have the rule overj'ou, who have spoken unto you the word of God : whose faiili follow, con- sidering the end of i!/Kii/' conversation: ** Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. '•' Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines ; for it is a good thing that the heart be established with 7. Remember them which have the rule over you; rather, them who had the rule over you. — Reference is made to their former leaders iu instructiun, ia wor- ship and church-affairs, their spiritual guides, now deceased. The original expresses hero not so much the idea of ruling as that of leading, guiding. II Who have spoken tmto you, etc.; lit- erally. Who spake to you the word of God. These men, probably, were personally known to the flrst readers of the epistle, and had reached the end of their course within a comparatively recent time. || Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation ; whose faith in the divine promises through Jesus imitate, considering the end of their course; that is, the end- ing of their earthly course. — Whether these had died a natural death, or had perished by martyrdom in some perse- cution raised by Jewish and Roman hatred, we have not the means of de- termining. In either case, the remem- brance of them would strengthen the faith of the Hebrews. — The Word conversation here is equivalent to man- ner, or course, of life. — In common edi- tions of the English New Testament this verso ends with a colon, indi- cating that a complete sentence is not formed, and that the following verse is a part of the sentence. The meaning of the passage is thus made obscure. The verse ought to be ended with a period, as containing an entire sentence. 8. Jesus i'hrist the same yesterday, etc. This verse should be translated as a sentence by itself; thus, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday , to-day, and forever; that is, Uo is the same to-day as he was yesterday, the same now as in the past, and will forever bo the same. He is unchangeable in his principles and purposes. — This asser- tion seems introduced for the twofold purpose of showing the ground for imitating the faith of the spiritual guides who had formerly preached tho gospel to the Hebrews, and of cau- tioning them against being carried away by the erroneous doctrines which false teachers were seeking to intro- duce. As if it had been said, Jesus Christ, in whom your former guides believed, remains the same now as ever before, and is equally entitled to your unqualified credence and reliance as he was to theirs: he will forever in the future be the same, and will as surely reward your adherence to him as he did theirs. Hence, imitate their faith. Tho doctrines, also, which they maintained as the doctrines of Christ, are unalterable: hence, as in the fol- lowing verse, adhere to them; be not carried away by any teachings alien to those doctrines. 9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines; with doctrines diverse from, and foreign to, the re- ligion of Christ: adhere to the true Christian doctrine. Compare Epb. iv. 14. Reference is had to the Judaizing teachers who were endeavoring to amalgamate the gospel with principles and practices which were maintained by the Jews. |i For it is a good thing that the heart be established, etc. It is rigiit and profitable that a person's heart become steady and firm, and that in grace; that is, in the graeo of God as made known by Jesus Chiist and taught in tho gospel ; not in mcuts, not in Jewish statutes and customs relative to food for the body. — The Jewish precepts and usages related so extensively and precisely to articles of food, as being ceremonially clean or unclean, that the term incats here is expressive of tho whole Jewish system of religious observances, as distin- guished from tho gospel which dis- closes tho grace of God in bestowing salvation. Compare ix. lU. We ought 1C4 HEBREWS gi-ace ; n.ot with meats, which have not profited them that luive been occupied therein. ^^ We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat Avhich serve the tabernacle. " For the bodies of those beasts, ■whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high- to be established as Christians, relying on the grace of God; not as Jews, sedulously observing the ceremonial law. II Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Those who have lived in scrupulous con- formity to the Jewish distinctions rela- tive to meats, distinctions multiplied and made more precise and stringent by traditions than by the original ap- pointment, have gained from such practice no spiritual profit. On the contrary, the more scrupulously they have observed these distinctions, the further have they been from an abiding intelligent peace with God; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. Kom. xiv. 17. 10-10. As enforcing this distinction between the gospel of Christ and the Jewish ceremonial observances, a con- trast is next presented between the Christians as a body of believers in J.esus, and the Jewish community as adherents to the Mosaic ritual. In this Contrast, these two bodies are shown to be entirely distinct, as to the basis of their religious hopes, and in- capable, as to religious principles, of commingling : those who persist in adherence to the Jewish ritual cannot participate in the benefits of the gos- pel; and since Christ, in order to be put to death, was taken out from the Jewish city, as unacknowledged and rejected by the nation, his followers must likevviso,as to their religious posi- tion, separate, themselves from the Jewish community, whatever reproach this might cause them. 10. We have an altar; we, followers of Jesus, have an altar; but an en- tirely different one from the Jewish altar. || Whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. Those who serve the tabernacle are the Jews, both the priests and the ordinary wor- shippers. See viii. 4, 5, where priests are mentioned as serving; ix. 9, whore the individual who brought the offer- ing is mentioned as serving; also x. 2, where those in whoso behalf the service was performed are similarly mentioned. — To eat. It was a pro- vision of the Mosaic law, in regard to many of the animal sacrifices, that portions of them were appropriated to the officiating priests for food, and that the individuals bringing the sac- rifices, in various instances, should eat portions of them. Of such sacrifices the Jews, in accordance with the rule regulating the observance, had the right to eat, and thus they obtained present immediate benefit from the al- tar which the}' acknowledged as their altar, the altar of their religion. To eat of the altar, that is, of things offered on the altar, was expressive of deriving benefit from the altar. But from the Christian altar, the Jews, persistently adhering to their own altar, that is, persisting in their re- ligious principles and customs, can claim no benefit. The blessings and privileges which it conferred cannot be partaken of by them. 11. That Jews who adhere to the Mosaic observances cannot share in the blessings and privileges conferred by the Christian altar is next illus- trated by an analogy drawn from the ritual observances in regard to the ani- mals sacrificed on the annual day of atonement among the Jews. — For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood, etc. ; for the bodies of those animals whoso blood is brought into the most holy place by the high-priest as an expia- tory offering, are carried forth out of the Jewish encampment and burned : they were no longer permitted to re- main in the encampment, but wore removed away from it and finally dis- posed of, as no longer needed, as having nothing more to do with the ritual ob- servances. II The sanctuary; the inner apartment of the tabernacle, the most CHAPTER XIII 165 priest for sin, are burned without tlie camp. ^Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. ^^ Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. " For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. ^^ By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of holy place, as in ix. 3, 12, into which, once a year, the blood of expiation for the sins of the nation was carried by the high-priest, ix. 7. || Without the camp; outside of the Jewish en- campment: the language being adapted to the time of the Israelites' journey- iugs iu the wilderness. 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people, etc. On ac- count of which practice and in corre- spondence to it, Jesus, that he might sanctify the people, that is, might make expiation and procure redemp- tion for his people, ii. 11, x. 29, with his own blood, suffered death out- side of the city-gate. He was made to go out of Jerusalem, the central spot of Judaism, as unsuitable to be allowed any longer to remain in it, as one rejected by the nation, as a person with whom the authorities representing the nation would have no connection, and from whom they spurned the thought of ever receiving good. |{ Suf- fered; suffered death, and thus became a propitiatory sacrifice. Rom. iii. 25 ; 1 John ii. 2. — The altar which be- lievers in Jesus are here represented as having is the cross on which our Lord endured his sacrificial and pro- pitiatory death, or offered up himself as our sacrifice. It is here employed as the visible emblem of the Christian religion. From this altar those who adhered to the Jewish religion and con- fided in its observances would have no right to expect blessings : they did not believe it to be a source of blessings, but treated it and its sacrifice with disdain. — It was, also, entirely dif- ferent from the altar prescribed by the Mosaic law. It is indeed only by a figure of speech, though a very easy and appropriate figure, that it is called an altar. Jews would not acknuwleJgo the Christian altar; and so would have no right to receive the blossiuL's which it secures for those who heartily ac- knowledge the sacrifice which was offered up on it. — Again; the Chri.-;- tian altar was not in the court of the tabernacle, not near the sacred en- closure of the Jews, or of Judaism; it was situated, so to speak, quite out- side of Judaism : hence, avowed .Jews, persisting in adherence to the national customs, could not receive blessings from it; they were incapable of ap- prehending and appreciating the bless- ings which it imparts. — Nor was it the Jewish high-priest that offered up the sacrifice on this altar; but the great High-priest, of an entirely ditfercnt rank, who, moreover, was himself the voluntary offering unto God. See John X. 17, 18. " No man taketh my life from me ; I lay it down of myself." 13. Let us go forth thertfore, etc. Since, now, Jesus whom we acknowl- edge as our Head and Leader was, by the superintending providence of (iod, made to go out from Jerusalem, the representative city of Judaism, to suffer his ignominious death, let us then go out to him, as his followers, abandoning Judaism, bearing such re- proach as he bore, and thinking it no strange thing to be treated, as our Leader was, with indignity and scoru. 14. For here have we no continuing city, etc. A reason is given for wil- lingly withdrawing themselves from Jewish observances and enduring re- proach as followers of Jesus, and indeed for holding themselves as pil- grims and strangers on the earth. Here, on earth, in this life, we have not a Continuing city ; there is here no city, nor country, that we regard as our permanent abode; our stay on earth is brief; we have no homo here, but we are seeking for the city which is to como, the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. Compare xi. 13-16. 15. By him therefore let us offer the 166 HEBREWS, praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of otir lips, giving thanks to his name. ^'^Bub to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. ^'' Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves : for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for j'ou. sacrifice of praise, etc. Through Josus, therefore, our High-priost, lot us offer up, as our sacrifice, praise to God, a sacrifice far better than that of ani- mals, Ps. Ixix. 30, 31, that is, to speak without a figure, Let us be grateful to God; let us with our lips make grateful acknowledgments to him. Compare Ps. 1. 23 ; Hos. xiv. 2. The expression, fruit of our lips, is found in the Greek translation of Hosea, xiv. 3 [English version, xiv. 2], where the Hebrew has, agreeably to our English version, calves of our lips. The idea of both the expressions is the same, namely, Instead of animal sacrifices, let our sacrifice be that of our lips, offering to God the gratitude of our hearts. 16. But to do good and to communi- cate forget not. But let not this fruit of lips be merely lip-service; let it be connected with corresponding acts. Forget not the duty of doing good to others and of distributing to the necessities of fellow-Christians and of any in distress. || For with such sacri- fices, God is well pleased. God has pleasure in such sacrifices, or offerings, since they come from the heart and minister to the good of the needy. He acknowledges them as offerings well pleasing to himself, while the most costly and punctilious sacrifices of cere- monial worship he passes by as en- tirely unacceptable.' Compare Is. i. 11-17; Iviii. 1-11; 1 Sam. xv. 22; Ps. 1. 14, 23; IPet. ii. 5. 17. Obey them that have the rule over you; obey your spiritual guides. See verse 7. — These men were known as having taken the oversight of the Cock of God not by constraint, but willingly; uotas being lords over God's heritage, but being examples of the flock, 1 Pet. v. 2, 3 ; not as having a spirit of domination, but as helpers of the Christians' faith and joy, 2 Cor. i. 24. Their instructions prtiseeded from their knowledge of the gospel and their steadfast purpose to act ac- cording to the divine will. || Submit yourselves; cherish the deference which is due to the official work of your spiritual guides and their qualifica- tions for it. II For they watch for your souls, etc. The nature of their office, as designed to promote the salvation of men's souls, James i. 21, 1 Pet. i. 9, and their responsibility to Christ, whose servants they are and to whom they are to give account , 1 Pot. v. 4, require the obedience here enjoined. By a contrary spirit you will impede their work, endanger your salvation, make an ungrateful requital for their watchfulness in your behalf, and will hinder them from rendering up a fully satisfactory account. They act under the pressure of a grave responsibility : encourage them under this pressure by following their instructions. — The idea of a spiritual guide watching, guarding with sleepless care, in be- half of men, was also fiimiliar to the ancient prophets. See Jer. vi. 17; Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 2-7. || That they may do it with joy ; that they may perform this watching with joy, en- couraged by your ready obedience; not with grief, not sorrowing, as they would, should you refuse to heed their instructions. || For this is unprofitable for you; your own benefit would be impeded. You would dishearten them and repress their solicitous diligence for your eternal welfare. Specially would you displease God, and not only deprive yourselves of good, but incur the greatest harm. — The last clause CHAPTER XIII 1G7 '^ Pray for us : for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. ^^ But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. ^"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, of the vorse is probably a soft ex- pression for This would be cxceediwjly harmful to you. 18. Pray for us. A personal request for the intercessions of the Hebrew brethren is next presented. This is in accordance with the habit of the apostle Paul. See 1 Thess. v. 25; 2 Thess. iii. 1; Eph. vi. 19; Col. iv. 3; 2 Cor. i. 11. II For we trust we have a good conscience ; a modest declaration of the writer's conscientiousness in all his conduct, whether his conduct was always acceptable to his Christian brethren and others, or not. Compare Acts xxiii. 1; xxiv. IG. || /« all things willinfj to live honestly; in all respects desiring to live rightly in the sight of God and of men. \ij this strong, yet modest, assertion he sought to awaken a fraternal confidence in reference to himself as an honest and earnest teacher of the gospel. This accords with the manner of the apostle Paul when seeking to remove difficul- ties which any of the Christians might have felt towards him. See Acts xxi. 20, 21. 19. But I beseech you the rather to do this, etc. He was not only conscious of a desire to pursue a right course in all respects, but was also particularly desirous to visit again the brethren to whom he was writing : I the rather beseech you to pray for me that I may be restored to you sooner than it has hitherto appeared possible. — It would seem, from verse 23, that he was not at this time in prison. He had doubt- less been acquainted with those to whom he was writing, and had formerly labored among them as a preacher. He was now anticipating a renewal of his Christian intercourse with them. 20. 21. Ke now adds to this avowal ./f his own integrity and of his desire to be again mingling in their society and to his request for their interces- sions in his behalf, a most solemn ex- pression of his desire for their becom- ing complete in Christian character and deeds by the etfectual agency of God in their souls through Jesus Christ. — This expression of feeling for the Hebrews is introduced, not as a form of leave-taking, or farewell, but, in the manner of the apostle Paul, as an earnest Christian wish suggested by the subject under treatment or by some thought just uttered. Compare Rom. XV. 13; 1 Thess. v. 23. See also 1 Pet. V. 10. 20. The God of peace; an expres- sion frequently used by the apostle Paul, referring to peace in the minds of true Christians towards God, peace between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians, and the peaceable senti- ments which the gospel inspires tow- ards all men. As peace is also indicative of spiritual prosperity, the term God of peace may here be used in acknowledg- ment of him as the Author of all real good for time and eternity. See Rom. XV. 33; xvi. 20; 2Cor. xiii. 11; Phil, iv. 9; 1 Thess. v. 23. || Who brnwjht again from the dead our Lord Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is ascribed to God also in Acts xiii. 30. In John x. 17, 18, it seems ascribed to an inherent power in Jesus. II That great Shepherd of the sheep. In John X. 11, 14, Jesus calls himself the good Shepherd; and in 1 Pet. v. 4, ho is called the chief Shepherd. The figure of a flock under the care and guidance of a shepherd is hero applied to the followers of Christ, owning him as their Leader and subjecting themselves to his guidance. || Through the bhod of the everlasting covenant. These words are connected in sense with the IfiS HEBREWS. ^^ make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in 3^011 that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ : to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. " And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhor- tation : for I have written a letter unto you in few words. "^ Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty : with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. words browjht again from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus took place through, or in accordance with, the blood of the covenant, since, in order that the promises of the now covenant might be completely fulfilled, it was not only necessary that Jesus should die and ratify the covenant with his blood, but also that ho should become the ever-living High-priest of his people in the heavenly sanctuary. His resurrection consequently was se- cured by that covenant which was rat- ified with his blood. It is an everlasting covenant, as not being destined, like the first covenant, to become anti- quated and to be set aside : it secures everlasting blessings. 21. Make you perfect %n every good work; completely qualify you to meet every call of duty, so that you may be found not lacking in any good work. Compare 2 Cor. viii. 7; xiii. 11; 1 Pet. V. 10. II To do his will; so that you may do his will, Eph. vi. 6. For this result his inworking power is in- dispensable. II Working in you, etc. Compare Phil. i. 6, ii. 13. It is through Jesus Christ and by virtue of his gospel that God bestows on his people this completeness for doing his will. See also John xv. 5. || To whom be glory, etc. As the term God of peace is the leading one in the sen- tence, this clause may relate to it: according to the structure of the sen- tence, however, it more naturally re- fers to Jesus Christ. In 2 Tim. iv. 18; 2 Pet. iii. 18; Rev. i 6, a similar formula evidently relates to Christ. 22. Suffer the word of exhortation; boar with, kindly admit, the exhorta- tions herein sent you. The whole epistle is prob.ably meant; and as a considerable portion of it is after the method of direct exhortation, and the whole is such a treatment of its sub- ject as was designed to strengthen the Hebrews in faith and obedience, it might be condescendingly thus desig- nated. II For I have written a letter unto y >u in few words. Notwithstanding the length of the epistle, it is brief, considering the magnitude and com- prehensiveness of the subject. Many additional topics might have been in- troduced; but the purpose of the epis- tle was best answered by restricting it to a brief compass. 23. Kwjw ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty. Through lack of his- torical data respecting Timothy, this verse is liable to a variety of explana- tions. The expression is set at liberty implies that he had been imprisoned; and the original word, though ex- plained diiferently by some, is favora- ble to the opinion that Timothy was now released from some imprisonment. II With whom, if he come shortly, etc. It was the writer's purpose, if Timothy should come in good season, either from the place of his imprisonment or from some business on which he had been sent, to the place where the writer was, to visit the Hebrews in company with him. — It would seem that Timothy, as well as the writer, was well known to these Hebrews, and held by them in alfectionate regard. 24. Salute all them that have the rule over you; saluto all your spiritual guides. See verses 7 and 17. Com- pare Phil. i. 1. \\ All the saints. This term, as expressive of separation from irreligious men and of consecration to God in holy obedience to his will, had become appropriated to the disciples of CHAPTER XIII. 169 ^* Salute all them that have the rule over you, aud all the saints. They of Italy salute 3'ou. ^ Grace be with you all. Amen. Christ. Compare iii. 1; Rom. i. 7. See also 1 Thess. v. 27. || They of Italy salute you. The form of ex- pression in the original makes it prob- able that the Christians here meant were persons who had come from Italy and were at this time in the place from which the epistle was sent. 25. Grace be with you all; the grace which brings salvation, Tit. ii. 11, and bestows all spiritual good. Com- pare Rom. xvi. 24; 1 Cor. xvi. 23; 2 Cor. xiii. 14. With this commenda- tion of his brethren to divine grace, either thus briefly expressed, Cul. iv. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 21; 2 Tim. iv. 22; Tit. iii. 15, or somewhat enlarged, it was customary with the apostle Paul to close his epistles. THE PRIESTHOOD. OF CHRIST CONDENSED VIEW, AS PRESENTED IN THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST The titles ascribed to our Lord illustrate his relations to us and our consequent duties and advantages. With such modify- ing information as the Scriptures furnish, we have not only comprehensive views, but also guards against hurtful mistakes. Among these, the title priest, or high-priest, holds an eminent place, and pi-esents him to us as an object of reverence, affection, obedience, and confidence. The manner in which the priesthood of Christ is treated in this epistle is such as was natural to a writer of the age in which it was composed, and such as was required by the wants of that age, and by the habits of thought among the jjeople for whose special benefit it was primarily intended ; while the substantial view which it presents will in all time be full of interest to his disciples, since they are ever, while on earth, "compassed with infirmity," and need the strength and solace which can come only from their great High-priest. The epistle first shows, v. 1-4, the design of the high-priest- hood agreeably to the law of Moses, and the requisites for the office. — A high-priest, as being taken from among men, was appointed " in behalf of men in things pertaining to God." As Creator, Upholder, and Giver of all good, God ought to be acknowledged with suitable expressions of dependence and gi'atitude. Particularly as our moral Governor, ought we to acknowledge him in expressions of penitence, of trust in his pardoning mercy, and of obedience. A mediating agency. 174 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. accordingly, was appointed, under the Mosaic economy, tlirough which these various acknowledgments should be made : man's sinfulness rendering it proper that his approach to God, even with tears of penitence, should be through such agency. Hence, the high-priest was appointed by the Mosaic law, in behalf of the people " to offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins," and to obtain for them favor with God. Such being the design of the office, it was requisite that the high-j)riest should have a compassionate spirit towards the ignorant and erring. Firm against violations of duty to God, he yet ought to be gentle towards those who had wandered from the right path, but had become desirous to regain it ; he was required not to be harsh, lest he should repel the trembling seeker of the divine favor, but by mild and considerate treat- ment to attract him, cherishing the ever-ready sympathy of intelligent benevolence. Specially appropriate was this qualifi- cation in a human high-priest, because he was himself a sinful man, conscious of needing, like othei's, the mercy of God. — Again ; it was requisite, in order to enter lawfully on the office, that a man be called of God to it. The epistle asserts, v. 5-10, that these qualifications met in the case of Jesus. " He did not glorify himself to be made a high- priest," but became such at the call of the supreme Father, who said to him. Thou art my Son, and. Thou art a priest forever. — To this eminent station he was exalted through humiliation, having subjected himself to frail, though sinless, humanity, to a trying experience of human obedience, to sufi'erings, and temp- tations from the evil One and from men ; an experience of diflS- culty and of trial even from infancy, and particularly during the last days of his eventful sojourn on earth. ' Though being a son, yet the purpose for which he came required that he should learn obedience by sufferings ' that through sufferings his always obedient spirit should not only be tested, but also be advanced in earnestness and strength ; that he should know the difficulties of human obedience and the harassments of tempta- tion, so that ' he might be able to succor the tempted.' His THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 175 human sufferings endear him as an object of confidence, while his divine dignity secures for him reverence ; and most fittingly, therefore, he is our High-priest ; faithful to God and merciful to us. The epistle next, vii. 1-10, shows the superiority of the priest- hood of Jesus to that of Aaron. This was made aj^parent to the original readers by a consideration of the fact that Jesus was made a priest after the likeness of Melchizedek, who was a king as well as a priest. The main argument is drawn from the ancient practice of paying tithes to priests, and fi*om the cir- cumstance, recorded in Gen. xiv. 20, that the patriarch Abra- ham gave tithes to Melchizedek. The force of the argument would be readily admitted by the original readers of the ei^istle, and would prepare the way for their admitting the important consequences which must flow from the priesthood's becoming vested in Jesus. The entrance of Jesus on the high-priesthood was the grand event in the histoxy of religious dispensations. ~ It was that to which all preceding divine arrangements for men's religious welfare were preliminary. In its bearing, consequentlj^ on the Levitical priesthood, so reverenced by the Jewish nation, it was fraught with most serious consequences, and therefore the topic needed to be unfolded with caution and with transparent evi- dence. To this point the epistle next (vii. 11-18) turns. — The Jews were indulging the fond belief that their priesthood, divinely appointed, procured for them perfect expiation of sin, and final admission to heaven. But, the epistle ai-gues, if per- fection could be attained through the Levitical priesthood, wliat need was there that a different priest should arise, quite dissimi- lar from Aaron ? The introduction of a priest, not like Aaron, but like Melchizedek, could be accounted for on no other ground than that the Aaronic priesthood was inadequate to the ultimate purposes of the office ; that it could not procure valid forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The Jewish priesthood, consequently, was superseded and annihilated by the coming of Jesus into the priestly office. — Still further : Since the Law of 176 THE PllIESTIIOOD OF CHRIST. Moses rested on the Levitical priesthood, as a basis for whatever good the Law could bestow, and as there was thus a vital connection between the priesthood and the entire Law, what- ever affected the priesthood affected also the Law : they stood, or fell, together. The change in the priesthood, then, necessitated a change in the Law. The whole Mosaic economy, as well as the priesthood, was superseded and abrogated: a Law, corre- sponding to the new priesthood, had taken its place. The pre- vailing sentiment among the Jews, that their pi-iesthood and their religious economy were to be permanent, and that all nations were to be blessed through the Messiah by becoming proselj'tes to their faith and ranged with native Jews under his victorious rule, could no longer be entertained. Judaism was henceforth done away : the authority of the Mosaic law had ceased. This evidently resulted from the accession of Jesus to the priesthood, because the Mosaic law in reference to the priest- hood was, in this event, entirely disi'cgarded ; for the Law directed that priests should be taken only from the tribe of Levi, whereas Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah. Also, the Mosaic law made provision for a succession of j^riests, since death was continually removing from office those who held it : yet the divine announcement which made Jesus the High-priest declared him a priest forever, to endure age after age, officiating not in the realm of mortality. — Thus a new economy was introduced ; not a ceremonial, symbolical one, but a spiritual economy, adapted to the highest wants of men, providing for eternal life, procuring not temporary, but eternal, redemption. This new spiritual economy, at the head of which is Christ as the mediating High-priest, is declared in the epistle to be vastly supei'eminent above the Mosaic, in the following points : — 1. It gives us access to God, vii. 19, without the medium of any earthly priest, or of any symbolical forms and ceremonies. Under the old economy God seemed to keep aloof fi'om the peo- ple : communication with him was to be had by the agency of certain men whom he had appointed for that purpose and through the medium of external offerings. Now, on the con- THE PRIESTHOOD OF CURIST. 177 traiy, we draw nigh to God personally, each one for himself, without the necessit}^ of resorting to a priest on earth, to make sure of acceptance with him. The only priest now acknowl- edged of God as a medium of access to him is the Lord Jesus ; and such is his person, that we may come to him in all confi- dence with our burden of sin and sorrow, with our gratitude, desires, and trust ; for we are assured that the Father hearetli him always, that the will of the Father is his will, and that if we honor the Son with oiir confidence we thereby honor the Father and do what is pleasing iu his sight : or, again, we may draw nigh to the Father through the great High-pi-iest, his rela- tion to the Father being such that we do not thereby set an obscui'ing cloud between us and God ; we come, as it were, more gradually to the brightness of the divine glory, God con- descending to us and lifting us up nearer to his exalted plane. Indeed, so completely is an intervening earthly priesthood done away by the new spiritual dispensation that the disciples of Christ themselves are made kings and priests unto God, Rev. i. 6, V. 10, invested with dignity comparable to that of kings, and permitted access to God as real as was granted to the ancient accepted high-priests, so that they are, in the language of inspiration, 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9, "a royal priesthood, to ofter up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 2. The new dispensation presents a better covenant between God and his people, vii. 19. — The ancient covenant between God and his national people was a compact, or agreement, in which blessings were promised on condition of obedience to the commands of God. This obedience the people engaged to render, as we read in Ex. xix. 3-8 : " If ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treas- ure unto me above all people ; and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all tlie people answered together and said. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." But they did not abide by their engage- 178 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. nient; the}' proved faithless to it: and such is the disordered state of human nature, that any blessings conditioned on obedi- ence to law will be lost. This being foreseen, a belter cove- nant was provided for the enduring dispensation of Christ : a covenant, rather, more correctly speaking, an arrangement, on the part of God, assuming that men are sinners and need spir- itual renewal and pardoning mercy, and promising of his own free bounty these indispensable blessings. The nature of this arrangement is clearly set forth in the language of the prophet Jeremiah, xxxi. 31-34, as quoted in this epistle, viii. 8-12, — "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people ; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord ; for they all shall know me, from the least to the greatest ; for 1 will be merciful to their unrighteous- ness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." God here promises to make his people know his will, to make their hearts conformed to it, and by this change in their minds and hearts to be their God and to own them as his people ; bemg so merciful to them that he will no longer remember their sins. This system of grace and of promises rests not on their obedience to law, but on God's faithfulness, and it requires on their part simply a cordial acceptance of the promised boon. This cordial acceptance of the promised boon on the part of those who feel their need of it is, in reality, faith in Christ who died to confirm the arrangement ; a confiding in him not merely for the pardon which it ofi'ers, but also for the spirit of loving obedi- ence to God's will which it also equally offei's, and without which a pardon would be of no avail. He who accepts this covenant becomes a disciple of Christ, and subjects himself to the religion of Christ, by which he is to be trained up in right- eousness unto eternal life. Thus it is by faith in Christ, and through the Holy Spirit graciously influencing believers and perfecting their spiritual renovation, that the purposes of this THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 179 covenant are accomplislied. It thus exactly meets the necessi- ties of men, recovers them from condemnation to justification in the sight of God, and from entire sinfulness to holiness com- menced and at length made perfect and everlasting. The difference between the old Mosaic covenant and the covenant of the gospel under the great High-priest is the same as is asserted in Rom. x. 5-10 between "the righteousness which is of the law " and "the righteousness which is of faith : " " For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith saith, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The position is, indeed, fondly clung to by some, that the covenant anciently made with the national people of God is virtually identical with that which is made with believers in Christ. But, it must be considered, while blessings virtually identical would have followed obedience to the terms of the ancient covenant, it was reserved for the new covenant to pro- vide for men as sinners, and to give a promise of grace for the renewal of their hearts, and a promise of pardoning mercy. The principle that men are ruined sinners was not recognized in the ancient covenant. And, agreeably to the teaching of the epistle, ix. 15, it was precisely for the reason that the new cove- nant contained an assurance of pardoning mercy that Christ was appointed its mediator, inasmuch as only he could offer a sacrifice which would be availing to that extent, ' The blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin ; ' no earthly high-priest could effect a saving reconciliation between men and God, To bring about such a result required the sacrifice of the Son of God ; because his person was of inestimable value, it was he who must be the mediator of the new covenant. 3, The perpetuity of the priesthood in the person of Christ shows also, vii. 24, the supei-eminence of the new dispensation. To the Hebrews, who had been accustomed to frequent changes of high-priests, this was a thought of gfeat interest. To all ISO TOE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. believei's, also, it has an afTecling significance, since it is per- petuity on the part of him who is, and who only could be, an availing High-priest. The efficacy of his offering endures ; the efficacy of his intercessions endures, and never diminishes. Through all revolutions of time, from age to age, he holds the same relation to us, and will never cease to care for the inter- ests which he has taken into his heart. Througli all the diver- sified scenes of our earthly lot, he is ever the High-priest, compassionate and faithful. When first we became burdened with a sense of our sinfulness and could find no aid from any human source, we found safety and peace in committing our- selves to the great High-priest : year after year he has been our High-priest, and we have no occasion to wish for a change : years have multiplied, and he is still more and more precious, more and more trusted. And when we have reached the limit of our earthly sojourn, and with unwonted solemnity anticipate the rendering up of our account, or with unruffled peace have some foretaste of the heavenly rest, his faithfulness will abide : he will without fail present us faultless to God with exceeding joy; for "he has an unchangeable priesthood, and hence he is able to save to the uttermost, to save entirely, all who come unto God through him." 4. The remaining particular, in the epistle, which shows the superior excellence of the spiritual dispensation under Jesus, as High-priest, is, that his sacrifice once oifered is ever-availing. vii. 27. It is never to be repeated ; and no other, or additional, sacrifice for sin is required, or can be admitted. Under the old economy, the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the nation was oflfered year by year; sacrifices were also offered every day ; and, in the varying circumstances of individuals and fam- ilies, special sacrifices were required, and were of constant occurrence. But the one sacrifice of Christ availed forever for carrying into effect the new covenant ; and when he offered up himself as the Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world, the entire sacrificial system of the former date was annulled. This system, at its Origin and during its entire history, pointed THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 181 to the great Sacnfice, and was ended when that was offered up once for all : it was a shadowmg of " a better Sacrifice," ix. 23, and lost its intent and its place when that Sacrifice was offered up. This one sacrifice avails ever without repetition ; for the forgiveness which it procures is so complete that the sins are remembered no more against the foi'given. x. 17. Should they, as, alas ! tliey do through adverse influences, wander from the path of obedience and again become conscious of anew needing pardon and reconciliation, another sacrifice in their behalf is not required ; but as at first they obtained mei'cy and peace through the death of Christ, so through the same sacrifice they anew find relief from guilt and sin. And so, through the whole period of their Christian life, the death of Christ is the sure basis for faith and hope, peace and joy ; and when they reach heaven, they will unite with the myriads, saved through the sacrifice once offered, in the "new song," "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom and stre.ngth, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Rev. v. 9 12. Such are the particulars showing the supereminence of the new dispensation. But a question naturally arises here : — If it be only through the efficacy of Christ's death as ratifying the new covenant that sin can be forgiven in the sight of God, was there no forgiveness under the old covenant? The epistle dis- tinctly replies to this inquiry : — Since such a sacrifice as that of Christ was necessary to the cleansing of the conscience, to forgiveness and acceptance with God, he became the Mediator of the covenant which i^romised these blessings in order that, through his death, sins committed under the first covenant might be removed from those who were called of God, and that they might receive the promised eternal inheritance, ix. 15. The sacrifices of the law could not take away their sins, however punctiliously they observed them; a better sacrifice must be offered : and sins under the old covenant, when really forgiven so as to secure acceptance with God and a purified conscience, were forgiven through the prospective offering up of the pre- figured Lamb of God. This expected sacrifice was availing 16 182 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. beforeJiand, though even the pious of jji-ececling times may not have fully understood the basis on which their acceptance rested. They were conscious of sinfulness; they heartily bewailed it ; they reposed confidence in the mercy of God ; and by the appointed sacrifice which they offered, and which was to them indicative of their sinfulness and ill-desert at the hand of God, they made confession of their sins and acknowledged their ill-desert. Thus, all the elements of genuine repentance and of faith in the propitiatory Sacrifice were possessed by the truly pious under the former covenant. — And hence throughout the Old Testament, particularly in the Psalms and the other devo- tional books, we have expressions of genuine religious experi- ence as really as in the New, though without distinct recognition of the basis of hope and without the clear and enlarged views of heavenly glory found in the New : hence, too, we have emphatic declarations in the Old Testament, of the mercy, kindness, and faithfulness of God to the penitent and those who trust in God, as well as in the New. — It is, indeed, sometimes said that the Old Testament presents God mainly as a just and holy Being, administering law ; while in the New he api^ears as the God of grace and mercy, " reconciling the world unto himself." But this savors too much of human systematizing. Let us not forget the disclosure which he made of himself to Moses, Ex. xxxiv. 6-7, as " the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffer- ing, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin ; " nor the oft-repeated avowals in the Old Testament that there is for- giveness with him, that he is slow unto anger, plenteous in redemption. It is indeed in the New Testament that we learn how God can be just and justify the ungodly, and that we find the most affecting motives for seeking mercy and walking in the way of piety and salvation. The death of Christ, then, had a retrospective efficacy : in other words, the certainty that he would offer up himself as a propitiatory sacrifice furnished a basis for the spiritual and eternal blessings of the new covenant to be bestowed even THE PRIESTHOOD OF CnRIST. 183 before it was actually confirmed. A similar idea appears, also, in Rom. iii. 25, where the death of Christ is mentioned as accounting for the forbearance of God towards sins in preced- ing ages. — In this we see the importance of the pre-existence of Christ in eternity before the foundation of the world ; for his anticipated offering was not that of a person who, not jet existing, should in future ages come into being ; but it was He, who was the Beloved of the Father before the foundation of the world, that was in due time to take the form of man and to humble himself to the very lowest plane of humanity, becoming obedient even to the death of the cross, that ' with his precious blood we might be redeemed.' 1 Pet. i. 18-19. Ratified, indeed, was the covenant when such an One " poured out his soul unto death," Is. liii. 12, for that purpose ; available indeed might its provision be ages before the death actually took place. Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Rev. xiii. 8." Where and how does Christ perform his priestly ministra- tions? — The question, Whei-e, is answered in the epistle, viii. 2 ; ix. 11, 12, with sufficient clearness. A figurative mode of representation is employed, suited to conceptions habitual to its first readers. In the account of the arrangements for making the Hebrew sacred tabernacle, Ex. xxv. 9, xxvi. 30, xxvii. 8, a model according to which the structure was to be fashioned appears to have been shown to Moses in the mount. This model, shown in what we might call a vision, came to be con- ceived of as a structure in heaven, a tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man. This tabernacle in heaven, of which that on earth was regarded as a copy or shadow, was considered as of perpetual duration ; and into the holy of holies on high Jesus ascended, thus appearing in the presence of God in behalf of his people. Such is the figurative representation. That the wi'iter of the epistle regarded it as figurative would appear from the fact that in a subsequent passage, ix. 24, he says, Christ is ascended into heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for ns. Christ, then, went up to heaven, the 184 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. abode of God, there to consummate bis priestly work ia behalf of his followers. The question, Hoio he performed and still performs his priestly office, will be variously answered according as we accustom ourselves to discriminate between the representation and the essence of things, between the material and the spirit- ual. — It was the distinguishing work of the Jewish high-priest to slay the sacrificial victim on the day of atonement for the nation and to offer its blood in the most holy apartment of the tabernacle, where God made a visible representation of himself ; and there the high-priest appeared virtually as an intercessor. So Jesus, having given up himself to death as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men, ascended in due time to his Father, carrying with him, virtually, not literally, of course, but virtu- ally, his own blood, inasmuch as he ascended after having shed his sacrificial blood. This offering uj) of himself as a sacrifice and this entering, virtually with his own blood, into the pres- ence of God, was done once for all. ix. 12, 25, 26 ; x. 10, 12. The remembrance, however, of this transaction, never ceases ; and his ever-during presence with the Father is the ever-during presence of that beloved Son in whom the Father is ever well pleased because he laid down his life for his ]Deople. John, x. 17. But while this part of the priestly work was done once for all, the intercessoiy work of priesthood appears to be abiding ; for " Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us." vii. 25. Rom. viii. 34. How is this performed? Hei'c, we must think of heaven as a spiritual state, and of Christ in his present spiritual nature ; all the material and earthly associations which we may connect with Christ in his heavenly employments are merely expedients which our earthly nature and circumstances suggest or require. The priestly service of Christ in heaven is spiritual. The mode, then, of his intercession, if there be any mode, is entirely beyond our apprehension ; for while in the body we have no way of conceiving how spiritual beings act, whose mode of existence is so different from ours. We must, then, content ourselves Avith knowing the thing itself; namely, that THE PRIESTHOOD OP CHRIST. 185 Christ bears his followers, collectively and individually, on his heart, and leaves them not to suffer the lack of any good thing, but maintains in their behalf a perpetual intercourse vpith the Almighty Father. He sustains to his followers a relation like that of an intercessor, and whatever is needful for them in their spiritual contests, in their sorrows, in their pressure of duty, he will provide. This going beyond the material representation and resting content with knowing the fact that Christ acts as our intercessor has a parallel in what, doubtless, is ordinarily the operation of our minds when we think of Christ as the king of his people and for his people. We do not regard as necessary an actual throne in heaven, Heb. i. 8, 13, Rev. iii. 21, occupied by him after the manner of men ; nor do we think of him as actually holding a sceptre indicative of royalty. All the language on this point has its full explanation in the fact that he is invested with com- plete authority and power over his people, over all things indeed, and for the benefit of his people ; and by this power he controls all things and brings into effect the good pleasure of his goodness. An earthly king is clothed with power : a good earthly king employs his power for the benefit of his subjects, being a praise to them that do well, and a terror to evil-doers. So Christ sustains such a relation to his followers and to the human race as involves kingly power. And while this relation is one eminently of authority, he also sustains the priestly rela- tion, and cherishes for us the affectionate interest of an inter- cessor. He thus, in ways beyond our capacity to aj^prehend, secures all suitable favor for us, who most pressingly need condescension, grace, and consolation from on high. TRANSLATION EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, PREPARED FOR THIS WORK. NOTICE. As the following translation is not a paraphrase, but aims, with very considerable regard to literalness of expression, to observe the difference between a translation and a commentary, reference to the preceding Notes will be necessary for explaining peculiarities of phraseology, as well as for showing the connection and purport of various passages. — The use of Italics here, as in our common version, is, to indicate words not in the original, but supplied by the translator, as the sense seemed to require. — For the most part, the common Greek text is here followed; but in some instances, the punctuation and the words of recent critical editions are adopted. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. PART FIRST. JESUS CHEIST, THE SON OF GOD, CONTRASTED WITH ANGELS. CHAPTER I. The dignity of the Son of God declared in general terms, 1-4. — His superiority to the angels, 5-14. ' God, wlio in many portions and many ways anciently spake to om* fathers in tlie propliets, ^ at the last of these days" spake to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds : ^ who, being the effulgence of his glory and the impress of his substance, upholding, too, all things by the word of his power, after making by himself purification of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ^having become so much greater than the angels as he has inherited a more distinguished name than they. ^ For to which one of the angels did he ever say. Thou art my Son; I have to-day begotten thee ? and again, I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son? ^When also, again, he brought the First-born into. the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. ''Also, of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire ; 8 but of the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepti'e of uj)rightness is the sceiDtre of thy reign ; ^ thou didst love righteousness and hate iniquity: thei'efore God, thy God, anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. '"And, a These days: the ante-lMessianic times. — See Notes. 189 190 TRANSLATION OF THE [Paut I. Thou at the begmning, O Lord, didst found the oiirth, and the heavens are works of thy hands : " they Avill perish, but thou abidest; and they all, as a garment, will become old, ''^and as a mantle thou wilt fold them up and they will be changed : but thou art the same and thy years will not fail. — ^^But to which one of the angels has he ever said, Sit thou at my right hand till I have made thine enemies thy footstool? '^ Are not all they ministering spirits sent forth for service on account of those who are to inherit salvation ? CHAPTER II. The consequent duty of obedience to him, 1-4. — The appointed inferiority of the Son of God to the angels by his becoming a son of man, and his subse- cxuent elevation to perfect glory, 5-10. — The propriety of his becoming a par- taker of the human nature, 10-18. ' Therefore we ought the more abundantly to give heed to the things which have been heard, lest we should miss of ilie promised good. ^ For if the word spoken by angels was made firm, and all transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, ^how shall we escape after neglecting so great salvation, which, having been at the first spoken by the Lord, has come confirmed to us by those who heard liim, ^ God wit- nessing to it with them by signs and wonders and various miracles and distributions of the Holy Si^irit according to his will? ^ For not to angels did he subject the world to come," of which we are speaking : * but a certain one somewhere testified, say- ing, What is man that thou I'ememberest him ? or the son of man that thou visitest him ? ' Thou didst make him a little lower than angels, with glory and honor didst thou crown him, all things didst thou put in subjection under his feet. For in 8 subjecting to him all things, he left nothing not subjected to a The world to come .• The Messiah's dispensation. — See Notes. Pa-rt I.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 19] him.* Now intleecl we do not yet see all things subjected to him : 'but we see him who was made a little lower than angels, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor on account of the suffer- ing of death, in order that by the grace of God he might taste death for every man. 'Tor it became Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things to perfect" 7iim through sufferings, since he was bringing many sons of God unto glory, as the leader of their salvation. "For both he who sanctifieth'^ and they who are sanctified are all from one Father: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren ; ^' saying, I will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly I will sing praises to thee: '^and again, I will be trusting in Him: and again. Behold, I and the children whom God gave me, "Since, then, the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner shared with them in the same, that by means of death he might bring to nought him that has the power of death, that is, the devil, '^ and deliver them who by fear of death were all their lifetime subjects of bondage : "^ for verily not of angels does he take hold to deliver them, but of the seed of Abraham he takes hold. "Whence he ought in all respects to be made like his bi'ethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God, so as to make propitiation for the sins of the people : '* for in that he hath himself suffered, having been tempted, he is able to succor those who are tempted. 6 See Notes. e To perfect him .• to exalt him to his perfect state of glory.— See Notes. d Sanctifieth. — See Notes. PART SECOND. SUPERIORITY OF JESUS CHRIST TO MOSES IN THE HOUSE, THAT IS, THE FAMILY, OF GOD. CHAPTER III. Faithfulness ascribed both to Moses and to Jesus : but the position held by Christ in the family of God far more dignified than that of Moses, 1-6.— Hortatory section, urging the Hebrews to make sure of the heavenly rest remaining for the people of God, 7-19. ' Whence, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, carefully consider the Apostle and High-priest of our profession, Jesus, ^ who is faithful to Him that appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in His house." Tor this person has been deemed worthy of more honor than Moses, by as much as he who built the house hath more honor than the house. {* For every house is built by some one : yet it is God who built all things.) ^ And Moses was indeed faithful in all His house as a servant, for testifying of the things that were to be spoken : « but Christ IS faithful as a Son over His house, whose house are we if we hold fast to the end the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope. ''Wherefore, — as saith the Holy Spirit, "To-day if ye shall bear his voice, * harden not your hearts as in the provocation during the day of the temptation in the desert, ^ when your fathers tempted me: they put me to the proof, and saw my works forty years, i" Wherefore I was wroth with that genera- tion, and said, They are always erring in their heart ; also they knew not my ways : " so I sware in my anger, They shall not enter into my rest" — '^ see, brethren, lest there shall be in any <» His house: the household, or family, of God. 192 Part II.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 193 one of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the livino- God ; 1^ but exhort one another every day, while it is called To- day, lest any one from among you be hardened by the deceitful- ness of sin. "For we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we hold the beginning of the confidence in him firm unto the end. '^ While it is said To-day, if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. ^^ For who were they that, having heard, provoked Oocl? But — tvhy do Task this ? Were they not all those who came out from Egypt by Moses ? " And with whom was he wroth forty years ? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the desert ? '8 And to whom did he sware that they shoul'd not enter into his rest but to those who were disobedient ? ^^ We see, too, that they could not enter into it on account of unbelief. CHAPTER IV. Hortatory section, 1-10. — The searching nature of God's word and his per- fect knowledge of us, as enforcing the exhortation, 11-13. — Encourage- ment to steadfastness, from the compassion of our High-priest in heaven through whom mercy and grace may be obtained, 14-10. 1 Let us, then, fear lest, a promise of entering into his rest remaining, any one from among you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For to us also glad tidings have been proclaimed, as well as to them : but the declaration which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard. 2 For we enter into THE rest who have believed; according as he said. So I sware in my anger. They shall not enter into my kest, though the works of Ood were done, and he entered on his rest, from the foundation of the world (* for somewhere he has said concerning the seventh day thus, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works); ^and in this place, again, They shall >fOT enter into my rest. ^ Since, then, it remains that some are to enter into it, and they to whom the glad tidings were befox'e proclaimed did not enter in, on account of disobe- dience, 'he again marks out a certain day, namely. To-day, ■17 194: EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [Part II. saying in David after so long a time, as has already been said, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your heart. ^For if Joshua had given them the rest, then Ood would not have spoken, afterward, of another day. ^ There siill remaineth, therefore, a resting to the people of God ; '"for he who has en- tered into His rest, also, himself rested from his works like as God did from his own. " Let us be in earnest, then, to enter into that rest, lest any one fall after the same example of disobedience. '2 For the word of God is living, and effective, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing through even unto the dividing of soul and of spirit, of joints also and of marrow, and judging the thoughts and intents of the heart : '^ and there is not a creatui'e that is unseen in his presence ; but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. '* Having, then, a great High-priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast the profession. '^ For we have not a high-priest who cannot feel with us in our infirmities, but one who has been tempted in all things like our- selves, without sin. '^Let us, then, come with freeness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace for seasonable aid. PART THIRD. JESUS CHRIST, THE HIGH-PRIEST, SUPERIOR TO THE LEVITICAL HIGH-PRIESTS. CHAPTER V. Requisites for the high-priestly office, 1-4. — These requisites found in Jesus, 5-10. — Hortatory section, 11-14. iFoR every high-priest, being taken from among men, is appointed in behalf of men, as to things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins ; * one who can be compassionate to the ignorant and erring, smce he also himself is compassed with infirmity : ^ and on account of it he must, as for the people, so too for himself, offer for sins. ^And not to himself does any one take the honor, but as called of God, even as also was Aai'ou. ^ So, too, Christ did not glorify himself to be made a high-priest ; but He that said to him. Thou art my Son, I have this day begotten thee ; ^ as also in another place he says. Thou art a priest forever according to the rank of Melchiz- edek : ' who in the days of his flesh, having with earnest outcry and tears offered up prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard on account of his godly fear, * though being a son, learned, from the things which he suffered, obedience : ^ and having been perfected he became to all who obey him the authftr of eternal salvation, 10 having been addressed of God as a High-priest according to the rank of Melchizedek. "Concerning whom" we have much to say, and that hard to explain since ye have become dull of hearing : ^^ for even though, on account of the time, ye ought to be teachers, ye o Whom; Melchizedek. 195 196 TRANSLATION OF THE [Paut III. ao-ain have need of one's teaching you what are the first rudi- ments of the oracles of God, and have come to need milk, not solid food. 12 For every one that partaketh of the milk is un- skilled as to the word of righteousness ; for he is an infant : '^ but the solid food is that of the mature, those who through use have their faculties trained to discerning both good and evil. CHAPTER VI. Hortatory section, 1-20. 'Wherefore, leaving the pinmary instruction concerning Christ, let us advance to the stage o/" maturity ; not again laying a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God, *of teaching of baptisms, also of laying on of hands, of resur- rection of the dead also, and of eternal judgment. ^ j^j^cl this we will do, if God permit. * For it is impossible again to renew unto repentance those Avho have been once enlightened, who have tasted too of the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit « and have tasted the good word of God, the powers, too, of the world to come, ^and have fallen away, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God and exposing him to public shame. ''For, land which has drunk the rain often coming upon it and bringeth forth plants suitable for them on whose account it is also tilled, partaketh of a blessing from God : * but if it produce thorns and briers, it is worthless and nigh to a curse, whose end is burning. 9 But we are persuaded concerning you, beloved, better things, and things connected with salvation, though we even thus speak. '"For God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love which ye showed towards his name, in that ye ministered to the saints and still minister : " but we desire every one of you to show the same earnestness for the full assurance of the hope unto the end, '^so that ye may not become slothful, but imitators of those who through faith and patient endurance are inheriting the promises. ^^Yov God, having made promise to Abraham, Part III.] EPISTLE TO THE IIEBllEWS. 197 since he could swear by no one greater, svvai*e by himself, '■* say- ing, Assuredly blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee : "^and thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the fulfilment of i\\e promise. '^For men indeed swear by One greater ; and the oath is an end of all controversy to them, for confirmation : '' conformably to which, God, purposing to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath ; '^ in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should lie, we may have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us : '* which, as an anchor of the soul, we have both unfailing and firm and entering into the space within the veil, ^^ whither, a forerunner in our behalf, Jesus entered, having become forever a High-priest, according to the rank of Melchizedek, CHAPTER VII. Coincidences between Melcliizedek and Christ, 1-3. — Greatness of Melchiz- edek and implied greatness of Jesus as High-priest, 4-10. — Imperfectness of the Levitical priesthood and of the Mosaic law : abrogation of the Law and establishment of the better dispensation, 11-19, — Superiority of Christ's priesthood further shown, 20-28. 'For this man, Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God the most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ^to whom also Abraham appor- tioned a tithe of all, being, first, interpreted king of righteous- ness, and then, also, king of Salem, which is, king of peace, 2 without father, Avithout mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but being made like the Son of God, remaineth a priest perpetually. ■* Consider, now, how great was this man to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave also a tithe from the spoils. ^And those, indeed, of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood, have a command to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though these came out of the loins of Abra- 17* 198 TRANSLATION OF THE [Part III. ham; ^but he who is not traced in genealogy from them took tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises : ''and, without any contradiction, the less is blessed by the greater. ^And here," indeed, men who die receive tithes; but there,* he received them -who is testiRed of that he is living. ^And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes ; '" for he was even then in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him. ''If indeed, then, there were perfection by means of the Levitical priesthood (for on the ground of this the people was furnished with the Law), what need, henceforth, that a different priest should arise according to the rank of INIelchizedek, and that he should not be spoken of as according to the rank of Aaron? ''^For the priesthood being changed, of necessity a change, also, of the Law is made: '^for he of whom these things are said belongeth to another tribe, fi-om which no one hath attended at the altar. '''For it is well known, that from Judah our Lord sprang, in respect to which tribe Moses said nothing concerning priests. — '^ And still more abundantly manifest it is, that" according to the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth a different priest, '^ who has become a priest, not according to the rule of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an endless life ; " for he is thus testified of,- Thou art a priest forever according to the rank of Melchize- dek. "^For, on the one hand, there takes place a setting aside of the commandment which preceded, on account of its being weak and profitless ('*for the Law carried nothing to perfec- tion) ; and, on the other hand, an introduction of a better hope, by means of which we draw nigh to God. ^"And, by as much as not without the swearing of an oath he was made a priest — "for these, indeed, ai'e priests made without the swearing of an oath, but he, with the swearing of an oath a Here ; on the part of the sons of Levi. * There; on the part of Melchizedek. c That ; literally, if, equivalent to whether. Part III.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 199 by Him who said to him, The Lokd swarc, and he will not repent, Thou art a priest forever — -by so much has Jesus become surety of a more excellent covenant. — "3^4,)^ these, indeed, are made priests very many, on account of being hin- dered by death from continuing ; ^^ but he, on account of his continuing in life forever, hath the priesthood not passing to another. " Whence he is able to save entirely those who come unto God through him, ever living so as to intercede for them, 26 For such a High-priest was, also, suitable for us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, made higher than the heavens ; " who has not need daily, as the high-priests, fii-st for his own sins to offer sacrifices, afterwards for those of the people : for this he did once for all, having oifered up himself. 28 For the Law appoints men high-priests, who have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was sworn subsequently to the Law, appoints the Son, who is perfected forever. PAET FOUETH. SUPERIORITY OF THE HIGH-PRIESTLY MINISTRATION OF CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY HOLY OF HOLIES. CHAPTER VIII. The ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary as much more excellent than that in the earthly, as the covenant of which he is mediator is more excellent than the old covenant, 1-7. — Promises of the new covenant, 8-13. I The PRINCIPAL MATTER, now, concerning the things we are speaking of. We have such a High-priest who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ^ a minister of the holy of holies, even of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man. ^ For every high-priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices : whence it is necessary that this i^rlest also have something which he may offer. ^For if, indeed, he were on earth, he would not be a priest, there being those who offer the gifts according to the law, ^who serve the copy and shadow" of the heavenly sanctuary, according as Moses was divinely admonished when about to make the tabernacle : for "See," saith He, "that thou make all things according to the pattern which has been shown to thee in the mount." ''But now he has obtained a more excellent ^9?7'es% service, by as much as he is the mediator of a better covenant which has been established on better promises. 'For if that first covenant had been faultless,* there would not be sought a place for a second. ^For, finding fault with them, he says, "Behold, the o Who serve, etc. ; who officiate in that which is but a copy of the heavenly sanctuary. i Faultless ; without defect. 200 Part IV.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 201 days are coming, saith the Lord; and I will, make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, 8 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day of my taking hold of their hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt ; because they did not abide in my covenant, and I ceased to care for them, saith the Lord. ^° For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Isi'ael after those days, saith the Lord, putting my laws into their mind, even on their hearts 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 each one his neighbor and each cme his brother, say- ing, Know thou the Lord ; for they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them : '^ for I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins I will not at all still remember." — "In saying New, he has pronounced the first covenant anti- quated : now anything antiquated and grown old is near to being put out of sight. CHAPTER IX. The earthly tabernacle and its priestly service in contrast with the heavenly and its service, 1-14. — The new covenant has Christ for its mediator, on account of the efHcacy of his death, which was necessary for its validity, 15-23. — Christ entered into heaven in our behalf with his own blood, which he offered once forever, 24-28. ^ TuE first covenant, then, had also precepts regulating the service, and an earthly sanctuary. ^ For the first apartment of the tabernacle was prepared, in which were the candlestick and the table and the show-bread, which apartment is called Holy : " and after the second veil was the tabernacle-opar^men^ which is called Most hoi}-, * having a golden censer and the ark of the covenant covered all around with gold, in which were a golden vase hav- ing the manna, and the rod of Aaron which sprouted, and the tables of the covenant ; * up above it, also, the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat: concerning which things it is 202 TRANSLATION OF THE [Part IV, not no'^ pertinent to speak pai'ticulady. » These tiling?, then, having been thus prepared, into the first apartment of the taber- nacle the priests enter at all times performing the services ; ' but into the second, once a year the higli-priest only, not without blood which he offers for his own errors and those of the people : 8 the Holy Spirit signifying this, that the way to the real Most holy pZ«ce was not yet made manifest while the first apartment o/^/te tabernacle was standing; » which figurative significancy has continued to the present time, at which both gifts and sacri- fices are offered which cannot, in respect to conscience, carry the worshipper to perfection : ^^ carnal ordinances, imposed only until the time of re-formation, concerning articles of eating and drinking and vai'ious immersings. '' But Christ having come, a High-priest of the future good things, by means of a greater and more perfect tabei'nacle not made with hands, that is, not of this material creation, '"nor by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, entered once for all into the Most holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. ^^ For, if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the defiled, make holy for the purification of the flesh, " how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by means of an eternal spirit offered him- self without spot to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God ! '^ And on this account he is mediator of the new covenant, so that, his death having taken place for redemi^tion from transgres- sions during the first covenant, those who have been called might receive fulfilled the promise of the eternal inheritance. '^For where there is a covenant disposing of an inheritance [that is, a testamenf] , there is necessity that the testator's death be ad- duced : " for a testament becomes firm whe7i resting on dead persons, since it is never valid while the testator is alive. '8 Whence, not even the. first covenant was conseci-ated without blood : '9 for every command having been spoken according to the law by Moses to all the people, taking the blood of the Part IV.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 203 calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, -"saying, " This is the blood of the covenant which God liath enjoined on you." ^^And the tabernacle, moreover, and all the utensils of the service, he sprinkled, in like manner with the blood ; "^ and almost all things are, according to the law, purified with blood, and without blood-shedding remission does not take place. °s There was necessity, then, that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these sacrificed animals ; but the heavenly things themselves with more excellent sacrifices than these ; ^^ for not into a Holy of holies made by hands did Christ enter, a resemblance of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God in our behalf. ^^Novdid he enter tliitlier that he might often offer himself, as the high-priest enters into the most holy place year by year with blood not his own ; 26 for then it would be necessary that he should often have suffered from the foundation of the world : but now once at the end of the ages " he has made his appearance for the removal of sin by his sacrifice. — ^^ And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this, judgment ; -^ so likewise. Christ, having once offered up himself in order to bear the sins of many, will appear, a second time, without sin, to those who are waiting for him, for salvation. a End of the agesi end of the ante-Messianic period. 204 TRANSLATION OF THE [Part IV. CHAPTER X. The Law cannot, with its perpetual repetition of the same sacrifices, procure a perfect expiation : indeed, it kept alive the consciousness of guilt. In order to make an efficacious and acceptable oflering and to secure for us heavenly blessrngs, Christ came, 1-10. — The priests under the Law never attain a higher official position than that of perpetually offering the same sacrifices which cannot avail for expiation : but Christ, having ofiered one sacrifice, sat down forever at the right liaud of God, in expectation of universal dominion, having made a perfect and ever-abiding expiation, 11-14, agreeably to the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the promises of the new covenant, 15-18. 'For the Law, having a shadow of the good things to come, not the image itself of the things, can never make pei-fect those who come year after year to the same sacrifices wliicli they ofier. 2 For then, would they not have ceased being offered on account of the worshippers having henceforth no consciousness of sins, having been once pui'ified ? ^ But in these sacrifices is a remembrance of sins year after year: ^for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. ^ Wherefore coming into the world he saith, " Sacrifice and offering thoix didst not desire : but a body didst thou prepare for me : ^ whole burnt-offerings and offerings for sins thou wast not pleased with. ^ Then said I, Behold, I am come — in the roll of the book it has been written concerning me — to do, O God, thy will." ^ Above, saying that ' Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt-offerings and offerings for sins thou didst not desire, nor wast i^leased with,' those which are offered according to the law ; ' then he said, 'Behold, lam come to do thy will.' He takes aAvay the first declaration, that he may establish the second. '"In accord- ance with which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. " Also, every priest, indeed, has stood day by day officiating and many times offering the same sacrifices, those which can never wholly take away sins : ■'^ but lie, having offered one sacrifice Part IV.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 205 for sins, sat down forever at the right hand of God, ^^ hence- forward waiting, till his enemies be made his footstool. ''•For by one offering he hath perfected forever those Avho are sancti- fied. '^ The Holy Spirit even, also, testifies this to us, for after having before said, '^ " This is the covenant which I will make with them after those days, the Lord saith, Putting my laws upon their heart, even on their minds I will write them; ''and their sins and their iniquities I will not at all still remember." 18 Where, now, there is forgiveness of these, no longer is there an oflfering for sin. 18 PAET FIFTH. EXHORTATIONS AND ENCOURAGEMENTS TO A FAITHFUL MAIN- TENANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. CHAPTER X. 19-39. Abiding faith essential, 19-39. " Having, then, brethren, confidence to come into the entrance- way of the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, ^'* which way he dedicated" for us, a way new and living, through the veil, that is, his flesh, '^'^ and having a great Priest over the house of God, '''^let us come to Ood with a true heart in full assurance of faith, hav- ing been sprinkled as to our hearts from an evil conscience and bathed as to our body with pure water. ^^Let us hold fast the profession of the hope, an unwavering profession ; for faithful is he who promised. ^^ And let us consider one another for incite- ment to love and good deeds, ^^not forsaking the assembling of ■ ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting each other, and so much the more as ye see the day drawing near. "^ For if we sin willingly after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remaineth a sacrifice for sins : ^t but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, which is ready to devour the adversaries. ^^ Whoever violated the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses: '^of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be thought worthy who trampled under foot the Son of God, and counted as unholy the blood of the covenant, the blood by which he was sanctified, and who contemned the Spirit of grace ! ^o por we know him that said, " Vengeance belongeth to me, I will re- pay," saith the Lord; and again, "The Lord will judge his people." ^' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the liv- ing God. a Dedicated; inaugurated, first opened. 206 Part V.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 907 3'2 But call to mind the former days, in wliich after beiiif'' en- lightened ye endured a great conllict with sufferings, ^^ partly being by reproaches and distresses made a spectacle of, partly having become sharers with those who were thus living in afflic- tion. ^^For ye had compassion on those who were in bonds, and accepted with joy the seizure of j'our possessions, knowino' that ye have for yourselves a better possession in heaven and an enduring one. ^^Cast not away, then, your confidence, which has a great reward: ^^for ye have need of patient endurance, in order that, after doing the will of God, ye may receive the promised blessing. "'For, yet a very little while, '• The coming One will come and will not tarry: ^^but the righteous man shall .live by faith ; and if he draw back, my soul is not well pleased with him." — ^^But we are not of those who draw back, to per- dition ; but of those who maintain faith, to the salvation of the soul. CHAPTER XI. Abiding faith encouraged by examples, 1-10. 1 Faith, now, is a strong confidence as to tilings lioped for, a firm conviction of things not seen. ^For b}' this tlie ancients obtained the good testimony which is borne to them. ^ By fail h we understand that the worlds were framed by tlie word of God; to the purport that the things which are seen were not made out of visible materials. ^B}- faith Aliel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain ; by which y«(Y/i he obtained testimony that he was righteous, God bearing testimony con- cerning his gifts ; and by it he, tliough dead, yet speak(^lh. ' By faith Enoch "was translated, so that he did not see death ; and he was not found, because God translated him : for before his translation it was testified of him that " he pleased God." ®But without faith it is impossible to please him; for it is necessary that a person coming to God should believe that he is and that 208 TRANSLATION OF THE [Part V. to those who diligently seek after him he becomes a rewarder. ' By faith Noah, having been divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved by godly fear, prepared the ark for the preserva- tion of his household ; by which faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness according to faith. ^ By faith Abraham obeyed, being called to go out into the l^lace which he was to receive for an inheritance ; and he went out, not knowing whither he was going. ^By faith he sojom-ned in the promised land as a foreign land, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the joint heirs of the same promise ; '° for he was expecting the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. "By faith also Sarah herself received strength for conception even when past age, because she • counted him faithful who promised. '^Therefore sprang there from one man, and him as good as dead, a posterity even as the stars of heaven for multitude, and as the sand by the sea-shore which cannot be numbered. " These all died in faith, not having received the promises in fulfilment, but having seen them afar off and welcomed them, and having professed that they were strangei's and sojourners on the earth: ^^ for those who say such things make it evident that they are seeking a home-land. '^ And if they had borne in mind that from which they came out, they might have had opjiortunity to return ; '* but now they seek a better, that is, a heavenly land. Whence God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God ; for he prepared for them a city. ^'By faith Abraham offered up Isaac, when put to the proof; even his only begotten son he offered up, he who had received the promises, ^^ to whom it was said. In Isaac shall a seed be called for thee, ^' since he accounted that God was able to raise liim even from the dead ; whence he also, figuratively, obtained him. '""'By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning future things. ^' By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed in worship on the to^) of his staff. *^By Part V.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 209 faitli Joseph, when dying, made mention of the departure of the sons of Israel, and gave command concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw him a fair-appearing child, and they feared not the decree of the king. ^'*By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 2^ choosing rather to suffer wrong with the people of God than to have a temporary enjoyment of sin, ^^ since he regarded the rei)roach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt ; for he looked away to the recompense. " By faith he left Egypt, not feai'ing the wrath of the king ; for he was steadfast, as seeing the invisible One. ^^ By faith he instituted the pass- over and the shedding of the blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them. ^^ By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry ground ; which the Egyptians trying were swallowed up. ^^By faith the walls of Jericho fell, having been encompassed seven days. "' By faith Rahab, the harlot, perished not with the disobedient, having received the spies with peace. ^■^And what further do I say? For the time would fail me telling of Gideon, Barak also, and Samson, and Jephthah, David also, and Samuel and the prophets, "^who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stojiped the mouths of lions-, ^quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in battle, turned to flight armies of foreigners : ^^ women obtained their dead ones by resurrection ; while others were beaten to death, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resmTcction. ^"Others, too, had trial of scofhngs and scourgings, and still further of bonds and imprisonment. ^■■They wei'C stoned, wei'e sawn asunder, were tempted, died by the slaying of the sword, went about in sheep-skins, in goat- skins; destitute, disti'essed, ill-treated, — ^s of whom the world was not worthy, — wandering in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. ^8 And these all, having been well testified of through faith, 18* 210 TRANSLATION OF TUE [PartV. did not obtain the full accomplishment q/tlie promise, ''"God hav- ing, on account of us, pi'ovided something better, that they without us might not be perfected. CHAPTER XII. Perseverance under trials, 1-17, in view of the grace and authority of the Gos» pel-dispensation, 18-29. ' Wherefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses encom- passing us, let us also, laying aside every weight and sin which easily besets us, through patience run the race set before us, * looking away to the leader and perfecter of the faith, Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, des2:)ising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ^For, consider him who has endured such ojiposition by sinners against himself, so that ye may not become weary, desjjonding in your souls. ■*Not yet unto blood have ye resisted, striving against sin: *and ye have quite forgotten the exhortation which sijcaketh to you as to sons, " My son, make not light of the chastening of the Lord, nor despond when rebuked by him ; ^ for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." ' If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastening, of which all sons have been partakers, then ye are bastards, and not sons. ^Then, again, the fathers of our flesh we had as chasteners of us, and we rever- enced them : shall we not much ratlier submit ourselves to the Father of spirits, and live? '"For they, indeed, for a few days chastened us as it seemed fit to them ; but he, for our profit, so tliat we might partake of his holiness. " All chastening, how- ever, seems not, for the present, a matter of joy, but of sorrow ; yet at last it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to them who are trained up thereby. Part V.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 211 '^Wherefore lift .up the hands which hang down and strengthen the enfeebled knees ; '^ and make even paths foi* your feet, so that the lamed limh may not be tm'ned out of the way, but may rather be healed. '^Follow peace with all, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord ; '^ looking carefully that no one fail of the grace of God ; that no root of bitterness growing up trouble you, and by it many be defiled; '^that no one be a fornicator, or a profane man as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright. "For ye know that also, afterwards, when wishing to inherit the blessing, he was rejected ; for he found not a place of repentance, though with tears he eai'nestly sought it. '®For ye have not come to the mount that could be touched and that was burning with fire, and to thick darkness and blackness and a tempest, '' and to the noise of a trumpet and the sound of words, which sound they who heard entreated that not a word in addition should be spoken to them; ^'^ for they could not bear that which was commanded, "And even if a beast touch the mount it shall be stoned : " ^' and, so fearful was the sight, Moses said, " I exceedingly fear and tremble." 22 gut; ye have come to mount Sion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads, the joyous gathering of angels, "^and the church of the first-born enrolled in heaven, and to the Judge of all, God, and to the spirits of the jjerfected righteous, -'*and to the mediator of the new covenant, Jesus, and to the blood of sjii'lnkling which speaks better things than Abel spake. "^ See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they did not escape who refused him that on earth delivered to them in- structions from God, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him who speaks to us from heaven : ^^ whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, " Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven." -"Now this expression. Yet once more, indicates the removal of the things which are shaken, that the things not shaken may abide.. ^^ 'therefore, let us, receiving a kingdom not to be Bhaken, have gratitude, whereby let us serve God acceptably 212 TRANSLATION OF THE [PartV. with reverence and fear: ^'for. also, our God is a consuming fire. CHAPTER XIII. Miscellaneous directions, 1-25, ' Let brotherly love continue. ^ Be not forgetful of hospitality ; for by this some entertained angels unawares. ^Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; those who are afflicted, as being also yourselves in the body. * Let marriage be honorable in all things and the bed undefiled : but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ^Let your conduct be free from covetousness : be contented with the things which you have ; for He hath said, " I will surely not fail thee, nor will I by any means forsake thee:" ^so that we may confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear : what shall man do to me ? " '' Call to mind your guides, who spake to you the word of God ; whose faith imitate, considering the end of their course. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-daj% and forever. 'Be not carried away by doctrines divei'se and foreign to the gos- pel : for it is well that the heart be established hi grace ; not in meats, which profited not those who occupied themselves in them. '" We have an altar from which they who serve the tabernacle have not a right to eat. '^ For the bodies of the animals, whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high-priest, are burned outside of the encampment. '- Wherefore Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. '^ Let us, therefore, go out to him outside of the en- campment, bearing his reproach ; " for we have not here an abiding city, but we are seeking one which is to come. ''By him, therefore, let us offer up the sacrifice of praise* continually to God ; that is, the fruit of lips openly giving thanks to his Part v.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 213 name. '^Of doing good, also, and communicating to oihers, be not forgetful; fox* with such sacrifices God is well-ijleased. '' Obey your guides and be in subjection ; for they watch for your souls, as those who shall give an account : that they may do this with joy, and not sorrowing ; for this would be profitless to you. '8 Pray for us ; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live aright. '^ But I beseech you the more earnestly to do this that I may the sooner be restored to you. ^"Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead the Shepherd of the sheep, the great Shepherd, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ, " make you perfect in every good work for doing his will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ ; to whom be the glory foi'ever. Amen. 22 But I beseech you, brethren, bear with the word of exhorta- tion ; for I have also briefly written to you. 23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty ; with whom, if he soon come, I shall see you. 2"* Salute all your guides and all the saints. Those from Italy salute you. 25 Grace be with tou all. Amen. 6ouIli niitr S^hxrolu's publications. CRUDE jS"S COKDEXSEJ} COKCORDAXCE. A Complete Concordanoe to the Holy Scriptures. By Alicxandku Cuuden. Revistxl and re-ediled by the Kev. David King, LL. D. Octavo, cloth arabesque, 1.75 ; sheep, a.oo. The condensation of the quotations of Scripture, arranged under the most ohvioiia heads, whils ft dimniixhi'S the hulk of the work, (mnthi facvitatex the finding of any roqnircd passage. '• We have in this edition ot Crudeu the best made better." — Puritan Heconler. EADIE'S AKAXTTICAZ, CONCORDANCE OF THE nOT^T SCIilPTVltES ; or, the Bible presented under Distinct and Classilied Pleads or Topics. By John Eadik, D. D., LL. D., Author of " Biblical Cyclo- psedia," " Ecclesiastical Oyclopa;dia," " Dictionary of the Bible," etc. One vol- ume, octavo, 840 pp., cloth, 4.00 ; sheep, 5.00 ; cloth, gilt, 5.50 ; half calf, G.50. 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With a beautiful Map, illustrating the Travels of the Apostle Paul, with a track of his Voyage from Cesarea to Rome. By Prof. Henry J. Ripley, D. D. 12mo. cloth, embossed, 1.25 JtlPLET'S NOTES ON THE EPISTLE OF PATTL TO THE JiOMANS. Designed for Teachers in Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction. By Henry J. Ripley. 12mo, cloth, embossed, 90 cts. The above works by Prof. Ripley should be in the hands of every student of the Bible, especially •very Sabbath-school and Bible-class teacher. They contain just the kind of information wanted. 19 ys- /