Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 9:17

ἐπὶ νεκροῖς. Lit., “over the dead.” The A.V. rendering (“after men are dead”) expresses the meaning rightly—a will is only valid “in cases of death,” “in the case of men who are dead.” Ex vi termini, “a testament” is the disposition which a man makes of his affairs with a view to his death. The attempt to confine the word διαθήκη to the sense of “covenant,” which it holds throughout the rest of the Epistle, has led to the most strained and impossible distortion of these words ἐπὶ νεκροῖς in a way which is but too familiar in Scripture commentaries. They have been explained to mean “over dead victims,” &c.; but all such explanations fall to the ground when the special meaning of διαθήκη in these two verses is recognised. The author thinks it worth while to notice, in passing, that death is the condition of inheritance by testament, just as death is necessary to ratify a covenant (Genesis 15:7-10; Jeremiah 34:18). To his readers, in all probability, the momentary change of sense would have been at once intelligible; and especially if they were readers of Philo. The unusual expression ἐπὶ νεκροῖς, where ἐπὶ τοῖς� might have been more intelligible, is due to the silent parallel between the “testament” and the “covenant” which is passing through the author’s mind. Ἐπὶ often implies supposition or condition; ἐπὶ ν. over dead persons, i.e. not until there are dead persons, when death has taken place. Winer, p. 491.

ἐπεὶ … μήποτε ἰσχύει …; The words are perhaps better taken as a question—“Since is there any validity in it at all while the testator is alive?” This is an appeal to the reader’s own judgement. The μὴ is thus accounted for, which we must otherwise explain by the fact that he is not thinking of any particular testament, Winer, p. 602. As a matter of fact, however, though we should here have expected the absolute denial of οὔποτε, later writers constantly use μὴ after ἐπεί.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 9:17

Old Testament

New Testament