"The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews." This title is wholly without authority. The original title if there was one at all, probably ran simply "to the Hebrews" as in א, A, B, K, and as in the days of Origen. In various MSS. the Epistle is found in different portions. In D, K, L, it stands... [ Continue Reading ]
Thesis of the Epistle 1. _God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake_ It is hardly possible in a translation to preserve the majesty and balance of this remarkable opening sentence of the Epistle. It must be regarded as one of the most pregnant and noble passages of Scripture. The author d... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hath … spoken_ Rather, "spake." The whole revelation is ideally summed up in the one supreme moment of the Incarnation. This _aoristic_mode of speaking of God's dealings, and of the Christian life, as _single acts_, is common throughout the New Testament, and especially in St Paul, and conveys the... [ Continue Reading ]
_the brightness_ The substitution of "effulgence" for "brightness" in the Revised Version is not, as it has been contemptuously called, "a piece of finery," but is a rendering at once more accurate and more suggestive. It means "efflux of light" "Light of (i.e. from) Light" (" _effulgentia_" not "_r... [ Continue Reading ]
_being made_ Rather, "becoming," or "_proving himself to be_." The allusion is to the Redemptive Kingdom of Christ, and the word merely qualifies the "better name." Christ, regarded as the Agent or Minister of the scheme of Redemption, _became_mediatorially superior to the Angel-ministrants of the O... [ Continue Reading ]
Illustrations from Scripture of the superiority of Christ to Angels 5. _For_ The following paragraphs prove "the more excellent name." By His work on earth the God-man Christ Jesus obtained that superiority of place in the order and hierarchy of salvation which made Him better than the Angels, not o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world_ The older and literal rendering is as in the R. V., "_and when he, again, shall have brought in_…" The A. V. takes the word "again" (_palin_) as merely introducing a new quotation, as in Hebrews 1:5, and in Hebrews 2:13; Hebrews 4:5,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And of the angels he saith_ Rather, "And, with reference to the Angels, He saith." He has shewn that the title of "Son" is too special and too super-eminent to be ever addressed to Angels; he proceeds to shew that the Angels are but subordinate ministers, and that often God clothes them with "the c... [ Continue Reading ]
_But unto the Son he saith_ Rather "But of (lit., with reference to) the Son." The Psalm (45) from which the quotation is taken, is called in the LXX. "A song for the beloved," and has been Messianically interpreted by Jewish as well as Christian expositors. Hence it is chosen as one of the special... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast loved_ Rather, "Thou lovedst" idealising the whole reign to one point. Comp. Isaiah 32:1, "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness;" and Jeremiah 23:5, "I will raise unto David a righteous Branch." _iniquity_ Lit., "lawlessness." _therefore_ Comp. Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 2:16-17; Hebre... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou, Lord, in the beginning_ The quotation is from Psalms 102:25-27. The word "Lord" is not in the original, but it is in the LXX.; and the Hebrew Christians who already believed that it was by Christ that "God made the world" (see note on Hebrews 1:2) would not dispute the Messianic application o... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall perish_ Isaiah 34:4, &c.; 2 Peter 3:12; Revelation 21:1. _remainest_ The verb means "abidest through all times." _as doth a garment_ A common Scripture metaphor. Isaiah 50:9, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shalt thou fold them up_ Lit., "Thou shalt roll them up." This reading (ἑλίξελς) is found in most MSS. and is perhaps an unconscious reminiscence of Isaiah 34:4 (comp. Revelation 6:14); but א, D read "thou shalt _change_them" (ἀλλάξεις), as in the original, and in the LXX. (_Cod. Alex._). On this f... [ Continue Reading ]
_until I make thine enemies thy footstool_ This same passage from Psalms 110:1 had been quoted by our Lord, in its Messianic sense, to the Scribes and Pharisees, without any attempt on their part to challenge His application of it (Matthew 22:41-44). It is also referred to by St Peter in Acts 2:34 a... [ Continue Reading ]
_ministering spirits, sent forth to minister_ Here as elsewhere the A. V. obliterates distinctions, which it so often arbitrarily creates out of mere love for variety in other places. The word "ministering" (_leitourgika_) implies sacred ("liturgic") service (Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:21); the word "mi... [ Continue Reading ]