Διὸ “wherefore,” _i.e._, because beginnings belong to a stage which ought long since to have been left behind (Hebrews 5:12), ἀφέντες … let us abandon [give up] the elementary teaching about Christ and press on to maturity. [Of the use of ἀφιέναι in similar connections Bleek gives many instances of... [ Continue Reading ]
The next pair, βαπτισμῶν διδαχῆς ἐπιθέσεώς τε χειρῶν “instruction regarding washings and laying on of hands”. “The historical sequence is followed in the enumeration”. Some interpreters make all three conditions directly dependent on θεμέλιον, “foundation of baptisms, teaching, and laying on of hand... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσομεν : “and this will we do,” that is, we will go on to perfection and not attempt again to lay a foundation. So Theoph.: τὸ ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φέρεσθαι. And Primasius: “et hoc faciemus, _i.e._, et ad majora nos ducemus, et de his omnibus quae enumeravimus plenissime docebimus nos, ut... [ Continue Reading ]
First, the description here given of those who have entered upon the Christian life is parallel to the description given in Hebrews 6:1-2 of elementary Christian teaching; although the parallel is not carried out in detail. The picture, though highly coloured, is somewhat vague in outline. “The writ... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 6:4-6 give the writer's reason for not attempting again to lay a foundation. It is, he says, to attempt an impossibility. The statement falls into three parts: (1) A description of a class of persons τοὺς ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας … καὶ παραπεσόντας. (2) The statement of a fact regarding these person... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ καλὸν γευσαμένους … “and tasted God's word that it is good”. ῥήματα καλά in LXX (_vide_ Joshua 21:43) are the rich and encouraging promises of God, _cf._ Zechariah 1:13, ῥήματα καλὰ καὶ λόγους παρακλητικούς. Here it probably means the Gospel in which all promise is comprehended; _cf._ 1 Peter 1:... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ παραπεσόντας, “and fell away,” _i.e._, from the condition depicted by the preceding participles; “grave verbum subito occurrens” (Bengel). The word in classical Greek has the meaning “fall in with” or “fall upon”; in Polybius, “to fall away from,” “to err,” followed by τ. ὁδοῦ, τ. ἀληθείας, τ. κ... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 6:7-8 present an analogy in nature to the doom of the apostate. Hebrews 6:7. γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα … ὑετόν, “For land which drank in the rain that cometh oft upon it”; this whole clause is the subject of Hebrews 6:7-8; the subject remains the same, the results are different. It might almost be ren... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκφέρουσα δὲ … “but if it brings forth thorns and thistles it is rejected and nigh unto a curse and its end is burning”. The other alternative, which corresponds to the possible state of the Hebrews, is here introduced. With all its advantages, the land may prove disappointing, may not stand the sol... [ Continue Reading ]
πεπείσμεθα δὲ.… “But of you, beloved, we are persuaded things that are better and associated with salvation, though we thus speak.” “Alarm at the awful suggestion of his own picture (Hebrews 6:4-8) causes a rush of affection into his heart” (Davidson). He hastens to assure them that he does not cons... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ γὰρ ἄδικος.… “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye shewed toward His name in that ye ministered and still do minister to the saints.” He recognises in their Christian activities (ἔργου ὑμῶν) and in their practical charities (τῆς ἀγάπης) things that are associated w... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε : “that ye become not sluggish,” “be not, misses the fine delicacy of the writer” (Alford). “The γένησθε, pointing to the future, stands in no contradiction with γεγόνατε at Hebrews 5:11. There, the sluggishness of the intellect was spoken of; here, it is sluggishness in the re... [ Continue Reading ]
Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ.… “For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could sware by none greater, He sware by Himself, saying, etc.” Abraham is introduced because to him was made the fundamental and comprehensive promise (_cf._ Luke 1:73, and Galatians 3) which involved all that God was ever to bestow. A... [ Continue Reading ]
Reasons for diligently cultivating hope and exercising patience, thus becoming imitators of those who have patiently waited for the fulfilment of the promises, the reasons being that God has made the failure of the promises impossible, and that already Jesus has passed within the veil as our forerun... [ Continue Reading ]
The oath runs εἰ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε.… “Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” “Sentences which denote assurance … are in classical Greek introduced by ἦ μήν, which in the Hellenistic and Roman period is sometimes written in the form of εἶ (accent?) μήν; so in... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ οὕτω μακροθυμήσας … “and thus having patiently waited he [Abraham] obtained the promise”. οὕτω, in these circumstances; that is, thus upheld by a promise and an oath. The oath warned him of trial. It would not have been given had the promise been a trifling one or had it been destined for immedi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄνθρωποι γὰρ, κ. τ. λ. “For men swear by the greater.” The procedure of God in confirming His promise by an oath is justified by human custom, and the confident hope which God's oath warrants is justified by the fact that even a human oath ends debate. ἄνθρωποι refers back to ὁ Θεός of Hebrews 6:13... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον.… “Wherefore God, being minded more abundantly to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His purpose, interposed with an oath.” ἐν ᾧ = διὸ (Theoph.), and see Winer, 484. It might be rendered “quae cum ita sint,” or “this being so”. The oath having among men thi... [ Continue Reading ]
The motive of this procedure on God's part has already been indicated in βουλόμενος, but now it is more fully declared. ἵνα διὰ δύο … ἐλπίδος “that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who fled for refuge to hold fast the hope set befo... [ Continue Reading ]
ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν … “which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil”. An anchor was in ancient as well as in modern times the symbol of hope; see Aristoph., _Knights_, 1224 (1207) λεπτή τις ἐλπίς ἐστʼ ἐφʼ ἧς ὀχούμεθα. “A slen... [ Continue Reading ]
The holding-ground of the anchor of hope, the real presence of God, is further described in the words ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, “whither as forerunner for us entered Jesus”. ὅποι does not occur in N.T. or LXX, ὅπου taking its place, as in English “where” often stands for “whither”; s... [ Continue Reading ]