The first eighteen verses of this chapter are a summary, rich with fresh thoughts and illustrations, of the topics on which he has been dwelling; namely (1) The one sacrifice of Christ compared with the many Levitic sacrifices (1 10). (2) The perfectness of His finished work (11 18). The remainder o... [ Continue Reading ]
The one Sacrifice and the many Sacrifices 1. _of good things to come_ Of _the_good things which Christ had now brought into the world (Hebrews 9:11). _not the very image of the things_ "The Law," says St Ambrose, "had the _shadow_; the Gospel the image; the Reality itself is in Heaven." By the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_once purged_ having been cleansed, by these sacrifices, once for all. _conscience_ Rather, "consciousness.... [ Continue Reading ]
_there is a remembrance again made of sins_ This view of sacrifices that they are "a calling to mind of sins yearly" is very remarkable. It seems to be derived from Numbers 5:15, where "the offering of jealousy" is called "an offering of memorial, _bringing iniquity to remembrance_." Philo also spea... [ Continue Reading ]
_it is not possible …_ This plain statement of the nullity of sacrifices _in themselves_, and regarded as mere outward acts, only expresses what had been deeply felt by many a worshipper under the Old Covenant. It should be compared with the weighty utterances on this subject in the O.T., 1 Samuel 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he cometh into the world, he saith_ The quotation is from Psalms 40:6-8. The words of the Psalmist are ideally and typologically transferred to the Son, in accordance with the universal conception of the O.T. Messianism which was prevalent among the Jews. It made no difference to their point o... [ Continue Reading ]
_burnt offerings_ Lit., "Holocausts." The word occurs here alone in the N.T. These "whole burnt offerings" typified absolute self-dedication; but the holocaust without the _self_-sacrifice was valueless.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lo, I come_ Rather, "I am come." This 40th Psalm is one of the special Psalms for Good Friday. _in the volume of the book_ The word _kephalis_, here rendered volume, does not occur elsewhere in the N. T. It means the knob (_umbilicus_) of the roller on which the vellum was rolled. The word in the H... [ Continue Reading ]
_which are offered by the law_ Rather, "according to the Law." A whole argument is condensed into these words, which the context would enable readers to develop for themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
_then said he_ Lit., "_Then he has said_." _He taketh away the first_ namely, Sacrifices, &c. _that he may establish the second_ namely, the Will of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_By the which will we are sanctified_ Rather, "we have been sanctified "because, as we have already seen, the word _hagiasmos_is not used of _progressive_sanctification, but of consecration in a pure state to God's service (Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 13:12, &c., and comp. Joh 17:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And every priest_ The better reading seems to be "High Priest." _standeth_ None were permitted to sit in the Holy Place. Christ sat in the Holiest, far above all Heavens. _oftentimes_ "Day by day for a continual burnt-offering" (Numbers 28:3; comp. Hebrews 7:27). _take away sins_ The word is not... [ Continue Reading ]
_on the right hand of God_ Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 1:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_his footstool_ Psalms 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he hath perfected_ Hebrews 7:11; Hebrews 7:25. _them that are sanctified_ "those who are in the way of sanctification" (Hebrews 2:11; comp. Acts 2:47).... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereof_ Rather, "But." _the Holy Ghost_ For "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21). _for after that he had said_ There is no direct completion of this sentence, but the words "again He saith" are found in some editions before Hebrews 10:17. They have no manus... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is the covenant_ Jeremiah 31:33-34 (comp. Hebrews 8:10-12).... [ Continue Reading ]
_will I remember no more_ This oblivion of sin is illustrated by many strong metaphors in Isaiah 44:22; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 50:20; Psalms 103:12; Micah 7:19, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_there is no more offering for sin_ Since the object of all sacrifices is the purging of the soul from guilt, sacrifices are no longer needed when sins have been annulled (Hebrews 9:26). Those words form the triumphant close of the argument. To revert to Judaism, to offer sacrifices, meant hencefort... [ Continue Reading ]
An exhortation to Christian confidence and Fellowship 19. _brethren_ Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 13:22. _boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus_ Rather, "confidence in the blood of Jesus, for our entrance into the Holiest." This right of joyful confidence in our access to... [ Continue Reading ]
_by a new and living way_ The word rendered "new" is not _kainos_as elsewhere in this Epistle, but _prosphatos_, which means originally "_newly-slain_." It may be doubted however whether the writer intended the oxymoron "_newly-slain_yet _living_." That the road was "new" has already been shewn in H... [ Continue Reading ]
_a high priest_ Lit. "a great Priest" (as in Leviticus 21:10), here meaning a Kingly Priest (Zechariah 6:11-13). _over the house of God_ See Heb 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us draw near_ We have seen throughout that the notion of _free access and approach to God_is prominent in the writer's mind. _in full assurance of faith_ See Hebrews 6:11. _having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience_ That is, having our souls our inmost consciousness sprinkled as it w... [ Continue Reading ]
_the profession of our hope_ Rather, "the confession of our Hope." Here we have the same trilogy of Christian graces as in St Paul Faith (Hebrews 10:22), Hope (Hebrews 10:23), and Love (Hebrews 10:24). _without wavering_ "So that it do not bend." It must be not only "secure" (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_to provoke unto love_ "For provocation to love." The word _paroxusmos_(whence our "paroxysm") is more generally used in a bad sense, like the English word "provocation" (see Acts 15:39; Deuteronomy 29:28; LXX.). And perhaps the writer here chose the word to remind them that the "provocation" at pre... [ Continue Reading ]
_the assembling of ourselves together_ i.e. "our Christian gatherings." Apparently the flagging zeal and waning faith of the Hebrews had led some of them to neglect the Christian assemblies for worship and Holy Communion (Acts 2:42). The word here used (_episunagôgç_) only occurs in 2 Thessalonians... [ Continue Reading ]
A solemn Warning of the Peril of Wilful Apostasy 26. _For if we sin wilfully_) The word "wilfully" stands in contrast with sins of weakness, ignorance and error in Hebrews 5:2. If the writer meant to say that, after the commission of wilful and heinous sins, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for si... [ Continue Reading ]
_but a certain fearful looking for of judgment_ All that is left for willing apostates when they have turned their backs on the sole means of grace is "some fearful expectance of a judgment." They are "heaping up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath" (Romans 2:5). _and fiery indignation_ Li... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that despised Moses" law_ Especially by being guilty of the sin of idolatry (Deuteronomy 17:2-7). Literally, it is "_any one_, on setting at nought Moses" law." _died_ Lit., "dies." Here is another of the favourite Jewish exegetical arguments a _minori ad majus_. _without mercy_ The Mosaic law... [ Continue Reading ]
_of how much sorer punishment_ The word for "punishment" in the N.T. is in every other passage _kolasis_, which means, in accordance with its definition, and in much of its demonstrable usage, "_remedial_punishment." Here the word (though the difference is not observed by our A.V. which has created... [ Continue Reading ]
_Vengeance belongeth unto me_ The Scripture warrant adduced in support of this stern language is Deuteronomy 32:35, and a similar phrase ("O God, to whom vengeance belongeth") is used in Psalms 94:1-2. It is remarkable that the citation does not agree either with the Hebrew or the LXX., but is quote... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God_ Fearful for the deliberate apostate and even for the penitent sinner (1 Chronicles 21:13; 1 Samuel 24:14; LXX. Sir 2:18), and yet better in any case than to fall into the hands of man. _of the living God_ Hebrews 3:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Words of appeal and encouragement 32. _But call to remembrance the former days_ Rather, "keep in remembrance." Here, as in Hebrews 6:9-12, he mingles appeal and encouragement with the sternest warnings. The "former days" are those in which they were in the first glow of their conversion. _after ye... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye were made a gazingstock_ Lit. "being set upon a stage" (_theatrizomenoi_). The same metaphor is used in 1 Corinthians 4:9 ("We became a _theatre_," comp. 1 Corinthians 15:32). _companions_ Rather, "partakers." _that were so used_ "Who lived in this condition of things.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye had compassion of me in my bonds_ This reading had more to do than anything else with the common assumption that this Epistle was written by St Paul. The true reading however undoubtedly is not τοῖς δεσμοῖς μου, but τοῖς δεσμίοις, "ye sympathised with the prisoners." The reading of our text was... [ Continue Reading ]
_your confidence_ Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 4:16. _which hath_ The Greek relative implies "seeing that it has" (_quippe quae_). _recompence of reward_ The compound _misthapodosia_as before for the simple _misthos_(Hebrews 2:2; Hebrews 11:26; comp. Hebrews 11:6).... [ Continue Reading ]
_of patience_ Few graces were more needed in the terrible trials of that day (Hebrews 6:12; Luke 21:19; Colossians 1:11; James 1:3-4). _after ye have done_ The meaning perhaps rather is "by doing," or "by having done the will of God ye may win the fruition of the promise." The apparently contradicto... [ Continue Reading ]
_yet a little while_ The original has a very emphatic phrase (μικρὸν ὅσον ὅσον) to imply the nearness of Christ's return, "yet but a very very little while." The phrase occurs in the LXX. in Isaiah 26:20. The quotations in this and the next verse are adapted from Habakkuk 2:3-4. In the original it i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the just shall live by faith_ The true reading here (though not in the Hebrew) perhaps is, "But _my_righteous one shall live by faith" (as in א, A, K), and this is all the more probable because the "my" is omitted by St Paul, and therefore might be omitted here by the copyists. In D, as in some... [ Continue Reading ]
_But we are not of them who draw back_ More tersely in the original, "But we are not of defection unto perdition, but of faith unto gaining of the soul." "Faith," says Delitzsch, "saves the soul by linking it to God … The unbelieving man loses his soul; for not being God's _neither is he his own_.... [ Continue Reading ]