Hebrews 2:1-4
A SOLEMN WARNING AND EXHORTATION... [ Continue Reading ]
A SOLEMN WARNING AND EXHORTATION... [ Continue Reading ]
CH. 2. A SOLEMN WARNING AND EXHORTATION (1–4). CHRIST’S TEMPORARY HUMILIATION FOR THE REDEMPTION AND GLORIFICATION OF MANKIND DOES NOT DISPARAGE HIS PRE-EMINENCE OVER ANGELS (5–13), BUT WAS NECESSARY FOR THE PERFECTNESS OF HIS HIGH-PRIESTLY WORK (14–18)... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙᾺ ΤΟΥ͂ΤΟ. Because we are heirs of a better covenant, administered not by Angels but by A SON, to whom as Mediator an absolute dominion is to be assigned. ΔΕΙ͂. The word implies moral necessity and not mere obligation. The author never loses sight of the fact that his purpose was to warn as well a... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ ΓΆΡ. An argument _a minori ad majus_, of which indeed the whole Epistle is a specimen. It was the commonest form assumed by the Rabbinic interpretation of Scripture and was the first of the seven exegetic rules of Hillel, who called it “light and heavy.” Ὁ ΔΙʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΛΑΛΗΘΕῚΣ ΛΌΓΟΣ. The “by” is... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΩ͂Σ ἩΜΕΙ͂Σ ἘΚΦΕΥΞΌΜΕΘΑ; The “_we_” (being expressed in the original) is emphatic—_we_ who are sons, not servants—the compound verb means “how shall we _succeed in escaping_,” or, “_make good our escape_”—namely, from similar, but yet more awful punishment (comp. Hebrews 12:25). ἈΜΕΛΉΣΑΝΤΕΣ, “_afte... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΥΝΕΠΙΜΑΡΤΥΡΟΥ͂ΝΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΘΕΟΥ͂, “_God bearing witness with them_”; the supernatural witness coincided with the human. ΣΗΜΕΊΟΙΣ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΤΈΡΑΣΙΝ ΚΑῚ ΠΟΙΚΊΛΑΙΣ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΣΙΝ. “_Signs_” to shew that there was a power behind their witness; “_portents_” to awaken the feeling of astonishment, and so arouse int... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΆΡ. The “_for_” resumes the thread of the argument about the superiority of Jesus over the Angels. He was to be the supreme king, but the necessity of passing through suffering to His Messianic throne lay in the fact of His High-Priesthood for the human race. To Him, therefore, and not to Angels, t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VOLUNTARY HUMILIATION OF JESUS WAS A NECESSARY STEP IN THE EXALTATION OF HUMANITY... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΕΜΑΡΤΎΡΑΤΟ ΔΈ ΠΟΎ ΤΙΣ. The writer was of course perfectly well aware that the Psalm on which he proceeds to comment is the 8th Psalm. This indefinite mode of quotation (“some one, somewhere”) is common in Philo (_De ebriet._, Opp. I. 365, where he quotes Genesis 20:12 with the formula εἶπε γάρ πού... [ Continue Reading ]
[ΚΑῚ ΚΑΤῈΣΤΗΣΑΣ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ἘΠῚ ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ ΤΩ͂Ν ΧΕΙΡΩ͂Ν ΣΟΥ]. This clause, retained in the rec., is found in אACM Vulg. &c., but not in BKL, and may be only a gloss added from the LXX. 7. ΒΡΑΧΎ ΤΙ. The “little” in the original (_meät_) means “little in degree”; but is here applied to time—“for a little whi... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΈΤΑΞΑΣ, “_Thou didst put …_” by one eternal decree. This clause should be added to the last verse. The clause applies not to Christ (as in 1 Corinthians 15:25) but to man in his redeemed glory. ΠΆΝΤΑ. This is defined in the Psalm (Hebrews 8:8-9) to mean specially the animal world, but is here app... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΆΡΙΤΙ ΘΕΟΥ͂ אABCDEKL. The χωρὶς θεοῦ of M Syr. and the rec. is an ancient variation known to Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Jerome and others. It has been supposed to be a Monophysite corruption, but was more ancient than that controversy. It is probably a mere pragmatic gloss on the ὑπὲρ παντός.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΠΡΕΠΕΝ ΓᾺΡ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι. Πρέπει has four constructions; (1) with dat. and inf. Matthew 3:15; (2) dat. followed by acc. and inf. as here; (3) personal as in Hebrews 7:26; (4) with acc. and inf. 1 Corinthians 11:13. Unlike St Paul the writer never enters into what may be called “_the philosophy_ of the pl... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΆΡ. The next three verses are an illustration of the moral fitness, and therefore of the Divine necessity, that there should be perfect unity and sympathy between the Saviour and the saved. Ὅ ΤΕ ἉΓΙΆΖΩΝ ΚΑῚ ΟἹ ἉΓΙΑΖΌΜΕΝΟΙ. The idea would perhaps be well, though not literally, expressed by “both the... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΑΓΓΕΛΩ͂ Κ.Τ.Λ. Psalms 22:22. This is a typico-prophetic Psalm, accepted in a Messianic sense, which was supposed to be mystically indicated by its superscription, “_On the hind of the dawn_.” The sense of its prophetic and typical character had doubtless been deepened among Christians by our Lord’... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓῺ ἜΣΟΜΑΙ ΠΕΠΟΙΘῺΣ ἘΠʼ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι. The quotation is probably from Isaiah 8:17, but nearly the same words are found in Psalms 18:2 and 2 Samuel 22:3 (LXX.). The necessity of putting His trust in God is a proof of Christ’s humanity, and therefore of His brotherhood with us. When He was on the Cross His... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑἽΜΑΤΟΣ ΚΑῚ ΣΑΡΚΌΣ. This less usual sequence is supported by אABCDEM. 14. ΚΕΚΟΙΝΏΝΗΚΕΝ, “_have shared_ (and do share) _in blood and flesh_,” i.e. are human. They are all inheritors of this common mystery. This is implied by the perfect tense. “Blood and flesh,” as in Ephesians 6:12. ΠΑΡΑΠΛΗΣΊΩΣ. T... [ Continue Reading ]
A FULLER STATEMENT OF THE MORAL FITNESS OF CHRIST’S PARTICIPATION IN HUMAN SUFFERINGS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΟΎΤΟΥΣ ὍΣΟΙ. Lit., “_those, as many as_,” i.e. “all who.” ΦΌΒΩΙ ΘΑΝΆΤΟΥ. This fear was felt, as we see from the O.T., far more intensely under the old than under the new dispensation. Dr Robertson Smith quotes from the Midrash Tanchuma, “In this life death never suffers man to be glad.” See Numbers... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ ΓᾺΡ ΔΉΠΟΥ Κ.Τ.Λ., “_for assuredly it is not angels_ whom He takes by the hand.” The word δήπου, “certainly,” “I suppose” (_opinor_), occurs here only in the N. T. or LXX., though common in Philo. In classical Greek it often has a semi-ironic tinge, “you will doubtless admit that,” like _opinor_... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΘΕΝ. This word “_whence_,” common in this Epistle, does not occur once in St Paul, but is found in Acts 26:19, in a report of his speech, and in 1 John 2:18. ὬΦΕΙΛΕΝ. He was morally bound, stronger than the “it became Him” of Hebrews 2:10. It means that, with reference to the object in view, there... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ὮΙ ΓᾺΡ ΠΈΠΟΝΘΕΝ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΣ ΠΕΙΡΑΣΘΕΊΣ. These words have been taken, and grammatically may be explained, in eight or nine different ways. One of the best ways is that given by the A. V. and endorsed by the R. V. This method regards the Greek ἐν ᾦ as equivalent to the Hebrew בַּאֲשֶׁר, which means “_in... [ Continue Reading ]