Hebrews 4 - Introduction
Continued exhortation to embrace the yet open offer of God's rest (1 14). Exhortation founded on the High Priesthood of Christ (14 16)... [ Continue Reading ]
Continued exhortation to embrace the yet open offer of God's rest (1 14). Exhortation founded on the High Priesthood of Christ (14 16)... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us therefore fear_ The fear to which we are exhorted is not any uncertainty of hope, but solicitude against careless indifference. It is a wholesome fear taught by wisdom (Philippians 2:12). _lest_ Lit. _lest haply_. _being left us_ It is better to omit the word "_us_," It means "since a prom... [ Continue Reading ]
_For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them_ We should have expected rather "For unto _them_, as well as unto us," if this had been the right translation. The better version however is "For indeed we too, just as they, have had _a Gospel_preached unto us." The "Gospel" in this instanc... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we which have believed do enter into rest_ Rather, "For we who believed" (i.e. we who have accepted the word of hearing) "are entering into that rest." _if they shall enter_ This ought to have been rendered as in Hebrews 3:11, "_they shall not enter_" The argument of the verse is (1) God promi... [ Continue Reading ]
_he spake in a certain place_ Rather, "He _hath said somewhere_." By the indefinite "He" is meant "God," a form of citation not used in the same way by St Paul, but common in Philo and the Rabbis. The "somewhere" of the original is here expressed in the A.V. by "in a certain place," see note on Hebr... [ Continue Reading ]
_If they shall_ i.e. "they shall not.... [ Continue Reading ]
_it remaineth_ The promise is still left open, is unexhausted. _because of unbelief_ Rather, "because of _disobedience_" (_apeitheian_). It was not the Israelites of the wilderness, but their descendants, who came to Shiloh, and so enjoyed a sort of earthly type of the heavenly rest (Joshua 18:1).... [ Continue Reading ]
_again he limiteth a certain day …_ There is no reason whatever for the parenthesis in the A. V., of which the reading, rendering, and punctuation are here alike infelicitous to an extent which destroys for ordinary readers the meaning of the passage. It should be rendered (putting only a comma at t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus_ i.e. Joshua. The needless adoption of the Greek form of the name by the A. V. is here most unfortunately perplexing to uninstructed readers, as also in Acts 7:45. _had given them rest_ He did, indeed, give them _a_rest and, in some sense (Deuteronomy 12:9), _the_rest partially and primarily... [ Continue Reading ]
_There remaineth therefore a rest_ Since the word used for "rest" is here a different word (_sabbatismos_) from that which has been used through the earlier part of the argument (_katapausis_), it is a pity that King Jameses translators, who indulge in so many needless variations, did not here intro... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he that is entered into his rest_ This is not a special reference to Christ, but to any faithful Christian who rests from his labours. The verse is merely an explanation of the newly-introduced term "Sabbath-rest.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us labour_ Lit., "let us be zealous," or "give diligence" (2 Peter 1:10-11; Philippians 3:14). _lest any man_ See note on Hebrews 4:1. _of unbelief_ Rather, "of disobedience.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the word of God is quick_ "Quick" is an old English expression for "living;" hence St Stephen speaks of Scripture as "the living oracles" (Acts 7:38). The "word of God" is not here the personal Logos; a phrase not distinctly and demonstrably adopted by any of the sacred writers except St John,... [ Continue Reading ]
_in his sight_ i.e. in the Sight of God, not of "the Word of God." "He seeth all man's goings," Job 34:21. "Thou hast set … our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance," Psalms 90:8; comp. Psalms 139:1-12. _opened_ The Greek word τετραχηλισμένα must have some such meaning, but it is uncertain wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Exhortation founded on Christ's High Priesthood 14. _Seeing then that we have a great high priest_ These verses refer back to Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1, and form the transition to the long proof and illustration of Christ's superiority to the Levitic Priesthood which occupies the Epistle to Hebrews... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ He gives the reason for holding fast our confession; [we may do so with confidence], for Christ can sympathise with us in our weaknesses, since He has suffered with us (συμπάσχειν). Romans 8:17; 1 Corinthians 12:26. _with the feeling of our infirmities_ Even the heathen could feel the force a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us therefore come boldly_ Rather, "let us then approach with confidence." The notion of "approach" to God (προσέρχεσθαι) in the Levitical service (Leviticus 21:17; Leviticus 22:3) is prominent in this Epistle (Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:1; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 12:18-22). In St Pau... [ Continue Reading ]