Hebrews 5:1-3
(1) CAPACITY FOR SYMPATHY... [ Continue Reading ]
(1) CAPACITY FOR SYMPATHY... [ Continue Reading ]
CH. 5. TWO QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIGH PRIESTHOOD: (1) CAPACITY FOR SYMPATHY (1–3); (2) A SPECIAL CALL (4–10). SPIRITUAL DULNESS OF THE HEBREWS (11–14)... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΑΜΒΑΝΌΜΕΝΟΣ, “_being taken_,” or “_chosen as he is_” (comp. Exodus 28:1). The writer now enters on his proof that in order to fit Him for the functions of a High Priest for men it was necessary that Christ should become Man. He has already called attention to the subject in a marked manner in Hebre... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΤΡΙΟΠΑΘΕΙ͂Ν, “_deal gently with_.” The word means properly “to shew moderate emotions.” All men are liable to emotions and passions (πάθη). The Stoics held that these should be absolutely crushed and that “apathy” (ἀπάθεια) was the only fit condition for a Philosopher. The Peripatetics on the othe... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΡῚ ἉΜΑΡΤΙΩ͂Ν אABCD. The ὑπὲρ of the rec. (EKL) is probably due to its occurrence in Hebrews 5:1. 3. ΔΙʼ ΑΥ̓ΤΉΝ, i.e. because of this moral weakness. ὈΦΕΊΛΕΙ. He is bound not merely as a legal duty, but as a moral necessity. ΚΑῚ ΠΕΡῚ ἙΑΥΤΟΥ͂. The Law assumed that this would be necessary for every... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΛΟΎΜΕΝΟΣ. The ὁ κ. of the rec. is only in C2L, and furnishes no true antithesis to the οὐχ ἑαυτῷ. ΚΑΘΏΣΠΕΡ. The MSS. also have καθώς and καθάπερ. The author probably preferred the rarer and more sonorous καθώσπερ, which accounts for these variations. 4. ΤῊΝ ΤΙΜΉΝ, i.e. this honourable office. We... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) A SPECIAL CALL... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟὝΤΩΣ ΚΑῚ Ὁ ΧΡΙΣΤΌΣ. “SO EVEN THE CHRIST.” Jesus, the Messiah, the true Anointed Priest, possessed both these qualifications. ΟΥ̓Χ ἙΑΥΤῸΝ ἘΔΌΞΑΣΕΝ. He has already called the High Priesthood “an honour,” but of Christ’s Priesthood he uses a still stronger word “glory” (Hebrews 2:9; John 12:28; John... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ἙΤΈΡΩΙ. The phrase is adverbial—“elsewhere.” There is no need to understand τόπῳ. The quotation is from Psalms 110:4. This Psalm was so universally accepted as Messianic that the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the first verse of it “The Lord _said to His Word_.” ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῊΝ ΤΆΞΙΝ, עַל־רּבְרָתִי, “_... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΣ, i.e. the Christ. ΤΗ͂Σ ΣΑΡΚΌΣ. The word “_flesh_” is here used for His Humanity regarded on the side of its weakness and humiliation. Comp. Hebrews 2:14. ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂. Here, as elsewhere, some editions read αὑτοῦ, but according to Bleek and Buttmann αὑτοῦ is never used in the N. T. for ἑαυτοῦ. Winer... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΊΠΕΡ ὪΝ ΥἹΌΣ. “SON though He was,” so that it might have been thought that there would be no need for the great sacrifice; no need for His learning obedience from suffering. ἜΜΑΘΕΝ … ΤῊΝ ὙΠΑΚΟΉΝ. “_He learnt His obedience_.” The stress is not on His “_learning_” (of course _as a man_), but the who... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΕΛΕΙΩΘΕΊΣ. Having been brought to the goal and consummation in the glory which followed this mediatorial work. See Hebrews 2:10, and comp. Luke 13:32, “the third day _I shall be perfected_.” ΑἼΤΙΟΣ. “_The cause_.” ΣΩΤΗΡΊΑΣ ΑἸΩΝΊΟΥ. It is remarkable that the epithet αἰώνιος is here alone applied t... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣΑΓΟΡΕΥΘΕΊΣ, “_saluted_” or “addressed by God as.” This is the only place in the N. T. where the verb occurs. ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῊΝ ΤΆΞΙΝ ΜΕΛΧΙΣΕΔΈΚ. We should here have expected the writer to enter at once on the explanation of this term. But he once more pauses for a solemn exhortation and warning. These pa... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΡῚ ΟΥ̓͂, i.e. about Melchisedek in his typical character. There is no need to render this “of which matter” or to refer οὖ to Christ. ΠΟΛῪΣ ἩΜΙ͂Ν Ὁ ΛΌΓΟΣ ΚΑῚ ΔΥΣΕΡΜΉΝΕΥΤΟΣ. “_Respecting whom what I have to say is long, and hard of interpretation_.” The word ἑρμηνευόμενος (whence comes the word “h... [ Continue Reading ]
COMPLAINT THAT HIS READERS WERE SO SLOW IN THEIR SPIRITUAL PROGRESS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙᾺ ΤῸΝ ΧΡΌΝΟΝ. “_On account of the time_,” comp. Hebrews 2:9. Scholz wrongly rendered it “after so long a time.” “Though you ought, by this time, to be teachers, considering how long a time has elapsed since your conversion.” The passage is important as bearing on the date of the Epistle. ΧΡΕΊΑΝ ἜΧ... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΜΕΤΈΧΩΝ ΓΆΛΑΚΤΟΣ, “_who feeds on milk_.” ἌΠΕΙΡΟΣ, “_inexperienced_.” ΝΉΠΙΟΣ. This is a frequent metaphor in St Paul, who also contrasts “babes” (νήπιοι) with the mature (τέλειοι), Galatians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 4:13-14. We are only to be “babes” in wickedness (1 Corinthians 14:20).... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΕΛΕΊΩΝ. The solid food of more advanced instruction pertains to the mature or “perfect.” ΔΙᾺ ΤῊΝ ἝΞΙΝ, “_because of their habit_,” i.e. from being habituated to it. This is the only place in the N. T. where this important word ἕξις _habitus_ occurs. ΤᾺ ΑἸΣΘΗΤΉΡΙΑ, “_their spiritual faculties_.” I... [ Continue Reading ]