κεφάλαιον ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις, not, as A.V., “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum” (_cf._ Grotius “post tot dicta haec esto summa”), but with Field “Now to crown our present discourse” or with Rendall “Now to crown what we are saying”. κεφάλαιον is used to denote either _the sum_,... [ Continue Reading ]
The idea of Christ's priesthood, merely suggested in Hebrews 1:3, expressly affirmed in Hebrews 2:17, has been from Hebrews 4:14 onwards enlarged upon and illustrated. It has been shown that Christ is a priest, called by God to this office and proclaimed by God as High Priest. The superiority of His... [ Continue Reading ]
τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργὸς … “a minister of the [true] holy place and of the true abernacle which the Lord pitched, not man”. τῶν ἁγίων not = τῶν ἡγιασμένων as Œcumenius translates, but as in Hebrews 9:8; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:25; Hebrews 10:19; Hebrews 13:11 = ἅγια ἁγίων of Hebrews 9:3. In Hebrews 9:2-... [ Continue Reading ]
πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεὺς.… “For every High Priest is appointed for the offering of gifts and sacrifices, and therefore it was necessary that this man also have something to offer”. That Christ is in heaven as a λειτουργός, as an active minister in holy things, is proved by the universal law, that every Hig... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ γῆς … “And indeed if He were on earth He would not even be a priest, since there are those who according to law offer the gifts”. μὲν οὖν = et quidem (Devarius, p. 125) or, it might be rendered “If however,” see Hermann's _Viger_, p. 442. Vaughan says: “The οὖν is (as usual) _in accor... [ Continue Reading ]
οἵτινες ὑποδείγματι … “priests who serve a suggestion and shadow of the heavenly things even as Moses when about to make the tabernacle was admonished, for ‘See,' He says, ‘that thou make all things after the pattern shown thee in the Mount' ”. οἵτινες with its usual classifying and characterising r... [ Continue Reading ]
νυνὶ δὲ … “But, as it is, He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much He is also mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.” νυνὶ δὲ, _i.e._, He not being on earth, the δὲ pointing back to μὲν in Hebrews 8:4. For νυνὶ δὲ in its _logical_ significance, _cf... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ γὰρ ἡ πρώτη … “For if that first had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second.” ἡ πρώτη sc. διαθήκη. πρώτη for προτέρα as in Acts 1:1; 1 Corinthians 15:47, and this epistle _passim_. The covenant did not accomplish the purpose for which it was enacted; it did not bring men int... [ Continue Reading ]
A justification of the establishment of a better covenant, on the grounds (1) that the first covenant was not faultless; (2) that Jeremiah had predicted the introduction of a new covenant (_a_) not like the old, but (_b_) based upon better promises; and (3) that even in Jeremiah's days the first cov... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην … “Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers.” These words express negatively wherein the καινότης of the covenant consists. It was not to be a repetition of that which had failed. It was to be framed with a view to avoiding the defects of the old. It must no... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι … “For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.” The ὅτι justifies the differentiation of this covenant from the Sinaitic, and the ascription to it of the term “new”. It also introduces the positive aspect... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν … “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more.” This third better promise is united to the former by ὅτι, showing that the forgiveness of sins or God's grace is fundamental to any possible renewal and maintenance of covenan... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τῷ λέγειν Καινήν. “In saying ‘New,' He hath antiquated the first; and that which is antiquated and growing old is near extinction [lit. disappearance].” That is to say, by speaking in the passage quoted, Hebrews 8:8, of a new covenant, God brands the former as old. Thus even in Jeremiah's time th... [ Continue Reading ]