A solemn warning and exhortation (1 4). Christ's temporary humiliation for the redemption and glorification of Mankind does not disparage His pre-eminence over Angels (5 13), but was necessary for the perfectness of His High-Priestly work (14 18)... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_ Because we are heirs of a better covenant, administered not by Angels but by A SON, to whom as Mediator an absolute dominion is to be assigned. _we ought_ The word implies moral necessity and not mere obligation. The author never loses sight of the fact that his purpose was to warn as w... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ An argument _a minori ad majus_, of which indeed the whole Epistle is a specimen. It was the commonest form assumed by the Rabbinic interpretation of Scripture, and was the first of the seven exegetic rules of Hillel, who called it "light and heavy." _the word spoken by angels_ The "by" is not... [ Continue Reading ]
_how shall we escape_ The "_we_" (being expressed in the original) is emphatic _we_who are sons, not servants. The verb means "how shall we succeed in escaping," or, "make good our escape" namely, from similar, but yet more awful punishment (comp. Hebrews 12:25). _if we neglect_ Rather, "after negl... [ Continue Reading ]
_God also bearing them witness_ The original is stronger, "God bearing witness _with them;_" the supernatural witness coincided with the human. _both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles_ "Signs" to shew that there was a power behind their witness; "portents" to awaken the feeling of as... [ Continue Reading ]
The voluntary humiliation of Jesus was a necessary step in the exaltation of Humanity 5. _For_ The "for" resumes the thread of the argument about the superiority of Jesus over the Angels. He was to be the supreme king, but the necessity of passing through suffering to His Messianic throne lay in Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_but one in a certain place testified_ The writer was of course perfectly well aware that the Psalm on which he proceeds to comment is the 8th Psalm. This indefinite mode of quotation ("some one, somewhere") is common in Philo and the Rabbis. Scripture is often quoted by the words "It saith" or "He... [ Continue Reading ]
_a little lower_ The "little" in the original (_mëat_) means "little in degree;" but is here applied to time "for a little while" as is clear from Hebrews 2:9. The writer was only acquainted with the LXX. and in Greek the βραχύ τι would naturally suggest brevity of time (comp. 1 Peter 5:10). Some of... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou hast put …_ Rather, "Thou didst put …" by one eternal decree. This clause should be added to the last verse. The clause applies not to Christ (as in 1 Corinthians 15:25) but to man in his redeemed glory. _all things_ This is defined in the Psalm (Hebrews 8:8-9) to mean specially the animal wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_But we see_ Rather, "But we look upon." The verb used is not ὁρῶμεν _videmus_as in the previous verse, but βλέπομεν _cernimus_(as in Hebrews 3:19). In accordance with the order of the original the verse should be rendered "_But we look upon Him who has been, for a little while, made low in comparis... [ Continue Reading ]
_For it became him_ Unlike St Paul the writer never enters into what may be called "the philosophy of the plan of salvation." He never attempts to throw any light upon the mysterious subject of the antecedent necessity for the death of Christ. Perhaps he considered that all which could be profitably... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ The next three verses are an illustration of the moral fitness, and therefore of the Divine necessity, that there should be perfect unity and sympathy between the Saviour and the saved. _both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified_ The idea would perhaps be better, though less literal... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will declare thy name unto my brethren_ Psalms 22:22. This is a typico-prophetic Psalm, accepted in a Messianic sense, which was supposed to be mystically indicated by its superscription, "_On the hind of the dawn_." The sense of its prophetic and typical character had doubtless been deepened amo... [ Continue Reading ]
_And again, I will put my trust in him_ The quotation is probably from Isaiah 8:17, but nearly the same words are found in Psalms 18:2 and 2 Samuel 22:3 (LXX.). The necessity of putting His trust in God is a proof of Christ's humanity, and therefore of His brotherhood with us. When He was on the Cro... [ Continue Reading ]
A fuller statement of the moral fitness of Christ's participation in human sufferings 14. _are partakers of flesh and blood_ Rather, "have shared (and do share) in blood and flesh," i.e. are human. They are all inheritors of this common mystery. This is implied by the perfect tense. "Blood and fles... [ Continue Reading ]
_them who_ Lit. "those, as many as," i.e. "all who." _through fear of death_ This was felt, as we see from the O.T., far more intensely under the old than under the new dispensation. Dr Robertson Smith quotes from the _Midrash Tanchuma_, "In this life death never suffers man to be glad." See Numbers... [ Continue Reading ]
_For verily he took not on him the nature of angels_ Rather, "for assuredly it is not angels _whom He takes by the hand_." The word δήπου, "certainly," "I suppose," occurs here only in the N. T. or LXX., though common in Philo. In classic Greek it often has a semi-ironic tinge, "you will doubtless a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore_ The Greek word ὅθεν, "_whence_," common in this Epistle, does not occur once in St Paul, but is found in Acts 26:19, in a report of his speech, and in 1 John 2:18. _in all things_ These words should be taken with "to be made like." _it behoved him_ Stronger than the "it became Him" of... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted_ These words have been taken, and grammatically may be explained, in eight or nine different ways. One of the best ways is that here given by the A. V. and endorsed by the R. V. This method regards the Greek ἐν ᾦ as equivalent to the Hebrew _ba-ash... [ Continue Reading ]