SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST TO MOSES There is a remarkable parallelism between the general structure of this and the next chapter, and that of the first and second Chapter s. This illustrates the elaborate and systematic character of the entire Epistle. Christ higher than angels (Hebrews 1:5-14). Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
CH. 3. SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST TO MOSES (1–6). EXHORTATION AGAINST HARDENING THE HEART (7–19)... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΗΣΟΥ͂Ν אABC1D1M. The reading Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν is not only supported by inferior authority (EKL), but is against the usage of this writer, who never elsewhere uses this collocation, and Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς only (_if at all_) in Hebrews 6:20. He uses the simple Ἰησοῦς (Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 6:2... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΙΣΤῸΝ ὌΝΤΑ, “_being faithful_,” i.e. as Cranmer excellently rendered it, “how that He is faithful.” The word is suggested by the following contrast between Christ and Moses, of whom it had been said “My servant Moses is not so, who is _faithful_ in all mine house,” Numbers 12:7. ΤΩ͂Ι ΠΟΙΉΣΑΝΤΙ ΑΥ̓Τ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟὟΤΟΣ, “_He_,” i.e. Christ. The ΓᾺΡ depends on the κατανοήσατε. ἨΞΊΩΤΑΙ, “_hath been deemed worthy_,” namely, by God. ΠΛΕΊΟΝΟΣ … ΔΌΞΗΣ “_of a fuller glory_” (_amplioris gloriae_, Vulg.). ΠΑΡᾺ ΜΩΫΣΗ͂Ν. Eagerly as the writer is pressing forwards to develop his original and central conception of Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΆΝΤΑ אABC1D1E &c. The reading τὰ πάντα (= “the Universe”) would be less suitable to the context. 4. ΠΑ͂Σ ΓᾺΡ ΟἾΚΟΣ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΆΖΕΤΑΙ ὙΠΌ ΤΙΝΟΣ. “_Every household is established by some one_.” The establisher of the Old Dispensation as well as of the New was Christ, but yet, in some sense (as an instr... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ὍΛΩΙ ΤΩ͂Ι ΟἼΚΩΙ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂, i.e. in all God’s house. Two “houses” are contemplated, Mosaism and Christianity, the Law and the Gospel. Both were established by God. In the household of the Law, Moses was the faithful minister; in the household of the Gospel, Christ took on Him, indeed, “the form of a... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΆΝ אBD1EM. The reading ἐάνπερ (ACKL) may be right, since the author uses it in Hebrews 3:14 and Hebrews 6:3. 6. ἘΠῚ ΤῸΝ ΟἾΚΟΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂, “_over His_ (i.e. _God’s_) _house_.” In the words “Servant” and “Son” we again (as in Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 1:8) reach the central point of Christ’s superiority to... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΌ. The verb which depends on this conjunction is delayed by the quotation, but is practically found in Hebrews 3:12, βλέπετε. Christ was faithful: therefore take heed that ye be not unfaithful. ΚΑΘῺΣ ΛΈΓΕΙ ΤῸ ΠΝΕΥ͂ΜΑ ΤῸ ἍΓΙΟΝ. For this form of quotation see Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16; 2 Peter 1:21. ἘᾺ... [ Continue Reading ]
A SOLEMN WARNING AGAINST HARDENING THE HEART [The constant interweaving of warning and exhortation with argument is characteristic of this Epistle. These passages (Hebrews 2:1-4; Hebrews 3:7-19; Hebrews 4:1-14; Hebrews 6:1-9; Hebrews 10:19-39) cannot, however, be called digressions, because they be... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜῊ ΣΚΛΗΡΎΝΗΤΕ. Comp. Acts 19:9. Usually _God_ is said to harden man’s heart (Exodus 7:3, &c.; Isaiah 63:17; Romans 9:18), an anthropomorphic way of expressing the inevitable results of neglect and of evil habit. But that this is man’s own doing and choice is always recognised (Deuteronomy 10:16; 2 K... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΔΟΚΙΜΑΣΊΑΙ אABCDEM. 9. ΟὟ, not “_when_” as in the A. V. but “_where_,” i.e. at Massah, or in the wilderness. The rendering “_wherewith_” (R. V.) or “with which temptation,” would have been more naturally expressed in other ways. It is true that οὗ for ὅπου is not found elsewhere in this Ep., but... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΗ͂Ι ΓΕΝΕΑ͂Ι ΤΑΎΤΗΙ. This reading (אABDM Vulg. &c.) differs from the LXX. (ἐκείνῃ) but is an intended and admissible change. See the note. 10. ΠΡΟΣΏΧΘΙΣΑ, “_I was indignant_.” The word is derived from the dashing of waves against a bank (πρός, ὄχθος). It only occurs in the N. T. here and in Hebrews... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ, “_as_” (Heb. אֲשֶׁר), not “_so_” (ὥς) as in A. V., for ὥς is rare in prose, and is not found in the N. T. ὬΜΟΣΑ. The reference is to Numbers 14:28-30; Numbers 32:13. ΕἸ ἘΛΕΎΣΟΝΤΑΙ, “IF _they shall enter_”; but “_They shall not enter_” (Hebrews 3:18 μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθαι) is here a correct rendering... [ Continue Reading ]
ΒΛΈΠΕΤΕ. It is evident that deep anxiety mixes with the warning. ἜΣΤΑΙ. The fut. ind. implies a dread that this _will_ be the case. Comp. Luke 11:35, σκόπει μὴ τὸ φῶς … σκότος ἔσται. Colossians 2:8; Galatians 4:11. ἜΝ ΤΙΝΙ ὙΜΩ͂Ν. The warning is expressed indefinitely; but if the Epistle was address... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΕΙ͂ΤΕ ἙΑΥΤΟΎΣ. The verb implies the mutually _strengthening_ intercourse of consolation and moral appeal. It is the verb from which comes the word _Paraclete_, i.e. the Comforter or Strengthener. The literal rendering is “exhort _yourselves_,” but this is only an _idiom_ which extends recipro... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΈΤΟΧΟΙ ΤΟΥ͂ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ͂. Lit., “_partakers of Christ_,” but the meaning may rather be “partakers _with_ Christ”; for the thought of mystical union with Christ extending into spiritual unity and identity, which makes the words “_in Christ_” the “monogram” of St Paul, is scarcely alluded to by this writ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΛΈΓΕΣΘΑΙ. “_While_” or “since it is said.” It is better to give this sense to the phrase than to suppose a long parenthesis between this verse and the φοβηθῶμεν οὗν of Hebrews 4:1 (which is the view of the construction taken by Chrysostom and other Greek fathers); or to join it to the παρακα... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊΝΕΣ; Who? The rec. has τινές with LM. See the note. 16. ΤΊΝΕΣ ΓᾺΡ�; “For _who_ (τίνες) _when they heard, embittered_ (_Him_)?” This (τίνες;) is the reading of the Peshito. It would have been absurd to use the word τινές, “_some_,” of 600,000 with only two exceptions, Numbers 14:38; Joshua 14:8-9.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΠΕΣΕΝ most MSS. ἔπεσαν DE. 17. ΤΊΣΙΝ ΔῈ ΠΡΟΣΏΧΘΙΣΕΝ; “_And with whom was He indignant?_” See Hebrews 3:10. ὯΝ ΤᾺ ΚΩ͂ΛΑ. To us the words read as though there were a deep and awful irony in this term, as though, “dying as it were gradually during their bodily life, they became _walking_ corpses” (D... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΟΙ͂Σ�, “_to them that disobeyed_.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΒΛΈΠΟΜΕΝ. Lit., “AND _we observe_.” Βλέπειν means to see with the eye of the mind and soul, as in Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 11:1. The translators of the A.V. seem by their version, “_so we see_,” to regard the words as a logical inference from the previous reasoning. It is better, however, to regard... [ Continue Reading ]