_And hospitality do not forget,...some being not aware [1] of it, have entertained Angels. They imagined they received men, when they were Angels. The Latin interpreter followed exactly the Greek, though the expression be unusual in both languages. It is meant of Abraham, (Genesis xviii. 2.) and of... [ Continue Reading ]
_As being yourselves also in the body. That is, liable to troubles and afflictions as long as you are in a mortal body. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
Marriage honourable in all. [2] It is doubtful both in the Latin and Greek, whether the sense be, marriage is honourable, or let it be accounted honourable, as it rather seems to be by the rest of the text. Again it may be doubted whether the sense be honourable in all persons, or in all things, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee. It is an exhortation to covetous persons not to be too solicitous, but to trust in Providence. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember your prelates, &c. who have been placed over you to be your guides and directors in what belongs to the service of God; he seems to mean the two Sts. James, the apostles, who perhaps had already suffered martyrdom for the gospel. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever. That is, Christ is the same merciful and powerful advocate and protector, in regard of all that serve him faithfully to the end of the world. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_With various and strange doctrines. Such as the disciples of Simon Magus had begun to teach; nor with the false doctrine of those among you, who would make you subject to the ceremonies and sacrifices of the former law, which never of themselves profit those who walk in them, so as to give true san... [ Continue Reading ]
_We, Christians, have at present an altar, [3] and consequently a sacrifice, whereof they have no power to eat, who serve the tabernacle, confiding in the law and in Moses, not in Christ and the gospel. He does not say, we had an altar. (Witham) --- St. Paul has often mentioned the high priest and v... [ Continue Reading ]
This is commonly interpreted of the sacrifice of the Eucharist, by which is continued (though in a different manner) Christ's sacrifice on the cross, of which he speaks in the following words, telling them that _the bodies of those beasts, with the blood of which the sanctuary was sprinkled on the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us go forth, therefore, to him without the camp. It is an exhortation to them to be willing to suffer with Christ reproaches, persecutions, and death itself, if they desire to partake of the benefit of Christ's redemption. (Witham) --- Bearing his reproach. That is, bearing his cross. It is an... [ Continue Reading ]
We have not a permanent city in this world, but are like pilgrims or banished men, seeking for our happy country of heaven; but in the mean time must offer to God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, which is done chiefly in the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, also by confessing his name, and pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_For by such sacrifices God's favour is obtained, [4] and a recompense or a reward from him. (Witham) --- The Protestant version, God is well pleased: If God be well pleased and shew favour for them, then are they meritorious, and faith alone is not the sole cause of God's favour to man._ [BIBLIOGR... [ Continue Reading ]
_Obey your prelates, &c. Join the sacrifice of obedience to your bishops and pastors, whom God has placed over you, who must render an account even of your souls, i.e. whether they have discharged their duty towards you, and whether it be not by their neglect that you have remained in your sins. Fol... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who brought, or raised from the dead, the great pastor of the sheep, of all the faithful, Jesus Christ, in the blood of the everlasting testament: in the testament that is to last for ever, not for a time, like the former testament made to the people of Israel. These words, in the blood, may either... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bear with the word of consolation, with what I have written to exhort and comfort you in a very few words, considering the importance of the subject, and the sublime mysteries. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Our brother, Timothy, is set at liberty. From which we may conjecture that Timothy had been a prisoner, though it is not known where, nor on what occasion. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]