Hebrews · Chapter 2

V. 1. Lest we should let them slip-As water out of a leaky vessel. So the Greek word properly signifies.

Verse 1. Therefore] Because God has spoken to us by his Son; and because that Son is so great and glorious a personage; and because the subject which is addressed to us is of such infinite importance to our welfare.

We ought to give the more earnest heed] We should hear the doctrine of Christ with care, candour, and deep concern.

Lest at any time we should let them slip.] mh pote pararruwmen. “Lest at any time we should leak out.” This is a metaphor taken from unstanch vessels; the staves not being close together, the fluid put into them leaks through the chinks and crevices. Superficial hearers lose the benefit of the word preached, as the unseasoned vessel does its fluid; nor can any one hear to the saving of his soul, unless he give most earnest heed, which he will not do unless he consider the dignity of the speaker, the importance of the subject, and the absolute necessity of the salvation of his soul. St. Chrysostom renders it mh pote apolwmeqa, ekpeswmen, lest we perish, lest we fall away.

Verse 1. Therefore, &c. — The foregoing display of the greatness of the Son of God being designed to convince mankind of the great excellence and importance of that gospel of which he is the author, and of the great guilt of disobeying, neglecting, or apostatizing from it, the apostle now proceeds to caution his readers against these evils, solemnly warning them of the awful consequences thereof, and urging them to pay the utmost attention to the things which they had heard from Jesus and his apostles, that is, to the contents of the gospel in general, whether historical, doctrinal, preceptive, promissive, or comminatory. Therefore, says he, dia touto, on this account, because the Son, by whom God has spoken to us in these last days, and given us his gospel, is so glorious a person, infinitely superior even to the holy angels, and much more to every merely human messenger formerly sent by God to men; we ought to give the more earnest heed to it — More than the Israelites gave of old to the law, which had not such an immediate author, and more than we ourselves have formerly given to the gospel itself, when we were less acquainted with its excellence and importance. We ought to take heed that we neither forfeit nor lose our interest in it; to the things which we have heard — So the apostle expresses the doctrine of the gospel with respect to the way and manner whereby it was communicated, namely, by preaching, an ordinance which he magnifies, making it, as every where else, the great means of begetting faith in men, Romans 10:14, 15. So that he insists upon and recommends to them, not only the things themselves, wherein they had been instructed, but also the way whereby they were made acquainted with them: this, as the means of their believing, as the ground of their profession, they were diligently to remember and attend to. The apostle says we ought, joining himself with them to whom he wrote, to manifest that the duty he exhorted them to was of general concern to all to whom the gospel was preached, so that he laid no singular burden on them; and that he might not as yet discover to them any suspicion of their inconstancy, or make them suppose that he entertained any severe thoughts concerning them; apprehensions whereof are apt to render exhortations suspected, the minds of men being very ready to disregard what they are persuaded to, if they suspect that undeserved blame is the ground of the exhortation. Lest at any time we should let them slip — Namely, out of our minds; lest we should lose the remembrance of them, or the impression they once made upon us. The Greek, mh pote pararruwmen, is literally, lest we should run out, namely, as leaky vessels which let the water, poured into them one way, run out many ways. The word relates to the persons, not to the things, because it contains a crime. It is our duty to retain the word which we have heard, and therefore it is not said that the water flows out, but that we, as it were, pour it out, losing that negligently which we ought to have retained. And, says Dr. Owen, “there is an elegant metaphor in the word; for as the drops of rain falling on the earth water it and make it fruitful, so does the celestial doctrine make fruitful unto God the souls of men upon whom it descends: and hence, with respect to the word, of the gospel, Christ is said to come down as the showers on the mown grass, Psalms 72:6Psalm 72:6; and the apostle calls preaching the gospel, watering men, 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7; and compares them to whom it is preached, to the earth that drinketh in the rain, Hebrews 6:7. Hence men are here said to pour out the word preached, when, by negligence, they lose, instead of retaining, the benefit of the gospel. So when our Lord compares the same word to seed, he illustrates men’s falling from it by all the ways and means whereby seed, cast into the earth, may be lost or become unprofitable.” It may not be improper to observe here, that as water is lost gradually out of a leaky vessel, so the remembrance of, and faith in, the truths of the gospel, with the enlightening, quickening, renewing, strengthening, and comforting influence produced by them, are usually lost gradually, perhaps also insensibly. We lose, 1st, Our remembrance of them; 2d, Our love to and relish for them; and, 3d, The effect produced by them, perhaps both the internal graces and the external virtues flowing therefrom. The apostle says, lest at any time we should let them slip. Some lose their grace in a time of peace and prosperity, some in a time of persecution and adversity, and some in the hour of peculiar temptation: for God in his wisdom suffers such an hour to come upon the church for its trial, and upon every member of it, that they may be conformed to their Head, who had his special seasons of temptation. In this trying time many lose the good effects of the word they have heard, either wholly or in some measure. They are cast into a negligent slumber by the opiates of temptation, and when they awake and consider the state of their hearts and lives, they find that the whole efficacy of the word is lost. The ways also, it ought to be observed, whereby this woful effect is produced, are various; as, 1st, The love of the world, which made Demas a leaky vessel, 2 Timothy 4:10; and choked the fourth part of the seed in the parable, Matthew 13:22. 2d, The love of sin; a vile affection or corrupt passion will make the spiritual vessel full of chinks, so that it will not retain the spiritual water. Again, 3d, False doctrine, formality in worship, contentions and divisions among the serious professors of religion, will easily produce, if yielded to, the same unhappy effect. Let the reader, thus warned, be upon his guard in these and such like respects.

Verse 1. We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. The things relating to the glory of the person of Christ, and all his offices as mediator; these we ought to study, to weigh them in our minds, and see the old testament full of Christ, the Redeemer, the Angel of the covenant, the God of Bethel; for the Saviour of the patriarchs is our Saviour. Lest at any time, whether through prosperity or persecution, we should let them slip, or let the image vanish as the shadows seen in water.

1. Therefore—In view of the great fact unfolded in the last entire chapter, that the Son, who now speaks, is lord of angels, creator of worlds, the eternal through all ages of the changing temporals. The importance of the things… heard is proportionate to the eternal Speaker. Let them slip— Rather, lest we slip past them, in carelessness and inattention. The Greek verb really signifies to flow or glide by, as a stream of water. It is really a neuter verb, and yet is here used in the subjunctive passive, so as to read literally, lest we be flowed (or glided) past them. Similar is the Septuagint phrase in Proverbs 3:2, rendered freely, “My son, let them not depart from thine eyes.”

V. 2. In giving the law, God spoke by angels; but in proclaiming the gospel, by his Son.

Steadfast-Firm and valid.

Every transgression-Commission of sin.

Every disobedience-Omission of duty.

Verse 2. If the word spoken by angels] The law, (according to some,) which was delivered by the mediation of angels, God frequently employing these to communicate his will to men. See Acts 7:53; and Galatians 3:19. But the apostle probably means those particular messages which God sent by angels, as in the case of Lot, “Genesis 19:12” &c., and such like.

Was steadfast] Was so confirmed by the Divine authority, and so strict, that it would not tolerate any offence, but inflicted punishment on every act of transgression, every case in which the bounds laid down by the law, were passed over; and every act of disobedience in respect to the duties enjoined.

Received a just recompense] That kind and degree of punishment which the law prescribed for those who broke it.

Verses 2-4. For if the word spoken by angels — The law delivered by their ministry. It is nowhere affirmed that the law was given by angels, but that the people received it, eiv diatagav aggelwn, by the disposition, administration, or deputation of angels, Acts 7:53; and that it was diatageiv, ordained, appointed, or promulgated, by angels, (Galatians 3:19,) and here that it was spoken by them. From hence it is evident, that not the original, authoritative giving of the law, but the ministerial ordering of things in its promulgation, is that which is ascribed to them. As Chrysostom observes, they excited the thunderings, the lightnings, the smoke, the earthquake, and the sounding of the trumpet which preceded God’s giving the law. And perhaps also an angel effected the articulate voices which conveyed the words of the ten commandments to the ears of the people; or an angel was employed to repeat, in a loud and terrible voice, the words which God pronounced, I am the Lord thy God, with what follows, Exodus 20:2, &c. The apostle having just insisted (chap. 1.) on a comparison between Christ and the angels, his argument is greatly corroborated when it is considered, that the law was the word spoken by angels, but the gospel was delivered by the Son, who is so far exalted above them; was steadfast — Bebaiov, firm, a sure covenant between God and the people; and every transgression and disobedience — The word parabasiv, transgression, signifies the leaping over the bounds which the law had set, by doing the things forbidden by it; parakoh is the refusing to do the things it enjoins; received a just recompense of reward — That is, a just punishment. But how could every sin and transgression be said to receive a just retribution, seeing it is certain that some sins, under the law, were not punished, but expiated by atonements? In answer to this, it must be observed, that every sin was contrary to the doctrine and precepts of the law, and therefore punishment was assigned to every sin, though not executed on every sinner. Besides, the sacrifices of atonement manifested punishment to have been due, though the sinner was relieved against it. But the sins especially intended by the apostle were, in fact, such as were directly against the law, as it was the covenant between God and the people; for which there was no provision made of any atonement or compensation. But the covenant being broken, the sinners were to die without mercy; and thus to be utterly exterminated by the hand of God, or that of man, by his appointment. The expression, endikov

misqapodosin, rendered, a just recompense of reward, signifies a recompense proportionable to the crime, according to the judgment of God, which is infinitely just and equal, and implies that they who commit sin are worthy of death, Romans 1:32; and particularly refers to the temporal punishment of cutting them off from the land of the living, according to the dispensation of the law to which the Israelites were subject.

How shall we escape — Severe punishment; if we neglect —

Amelhsantev, not caring about, not embracing and improving; so great salvation — That is, both the doctrine of salvation, the gospel which brings us tidings of it, shows us our want of it, offers it to us, and is the most powerful means of bringing us to enjoy it; and salvation itself, declared by this doctrine, and announced and exhibited in this gospel. The greatness of this salvation may be inferred with certainty from the great dignity and glory of its Author, as set forth in the preceding chapter, and from the great things he hath done and suffered to procure it for lost mankind; the great price paid for it, (1 Peter 1:18, 19,) and the great power exerted to put us in possession of it, Ephesians 1:19. But, independently of these considerations, it is evidently great, unspeakably great, in its own nature; being, 1st, A deliverance from a state of great ignorance and folly, with respect to things spiritual and divine, Titus 3:3; of great guilt and depravity, weakness and misery, which, were it not for this salvation, would be eternal; 2d, A restoration (so the word swthria, rendered salvation, also signifies) to the favour and friendship, image and nature of God, and communion with him; blessings lost by the fall — blessings of infinite value, and intended to be of everlasting duration; and, (which likewise is implied in the same expression,) 3d, A preservation, notwithstanding all the subtlety and power, malice and diligence of our spiritual enemies, continually exerted to effect our destruction, to eternal life, felicity, and glory; or the being kept by the power of God, through faith, unto final, eternal salvation, of both body and soul, 1 Peter 1:5. A salvation this unspeakably, yea, infinitely greater than that wrought for the Israelites of old, when God delivered them from Egyptian bondage, and established them in the quiet possession of Canaan. Which at the first began to be spoken — To be preached in a clear and distinct manner; by the Lord — The Son of God, the Lord of angels. Jesus is called the Lord, chiefly because, as the Maker and Governor of the world, he is Lord of all, Acts 10:36; consequently he is able both to reward those who obey him, by bestowing on them eternal salvation, and to punish with everlasting destruction those who disobey him; and was confirmed — Further declared, and its truth attested; unto us — Of this age, even every article of it; by them that heard him — The apostles, who had been themselves both eye-witnesses and ministers of the word. “Matters of fact which were transacted before our own time, and whereof we could not be ourselves eye-witnesses, are readily believed upon the report of others. And when the reporters are persons of credit and reputation, and report nothing but what they declare themselves to have seen and certainly known, and they are likewise many, and exactly concur in their testimony, and nothing is alleged against them by any others, and particularly by such as were concerned to invalidate their account if possible, we think we have all the reason in the world to receive their testimony. All which circumstances do evidently concur in the confirmation of the gospel.” — Pierce. God also bearing them witness — As to the truth and importance of their doctrine; both with signs and wonders — Many and marvellous. “The apostle having observed, in verse 2, that the law spoken by angels was confirmed by the miracles which accompanied its delivery, he judged it proper to mention that the gospel was equally confirmed by the great miracles which accompanied the preaching, both of Jesus Christ himself and of the apostles. Wherefore such of the Hebrews as had not heard Jesus preach the great salvation, were nevertheless bound to give heed to the things which he had preached, since they were sufficiently declared and proved to them by the apostles and other ministers of the word, who had heard him preach these things.” — Macknight. With divers miracles and gifts — Merismoiv, distributions; of the Holy Ghost — In his extraordinary operations, imparted in different degrees to different persons; according to his own will — “Moses wrought many signs, wonders, and miracles; but the distributions of the Holy Ghost he knew nothing of. They were peculiar to the gospel dispensation, and consisted of the internal gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, faith, the discernment of spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.” These are called distributions of the Holy Ghost, because God by his Spirit divided them to every one as he pleased, 1 Corinthians 12:11. “The miracles,” says Pierce, “which were wrought by the first preachers of the gospel, were an attestation from God of the truth of what they delivered. And indeed we must entertain very strange and unworthy apprehensions of the blessed God, if we can suppose that he would countenance a notorious imposture, by enabling those who published it to the world to perform, in confirmation of it, so many miracles as they did, things that were vastly above the power and ability of men. It is true there were other confirmations of our Saviour’s character and commission, particularly the concurrence of all that was foretold by the old prophets concerning the Messiah. But this does by no means hinder these miracles to be an attestation from God, and accordingly to deserve our utmost regard.”

And now let the reader consider how those will excuse their conduct to God, their own consciences, or the assembled world of men and angels in the day of final judgment, who neglect this salvation; a salvation which has so glorious an Author, which is so unspeakably great and excellent in itself, has cost such an immense price, and to attest and confirm which God’s almighty power has been exerted in so extraordinary a manner in signs and wonders innumerable; yea, “has waked and worked for ages.” But who are they that may properly be said to neglect this salvation? Surely not those merely who disbelieve and reject the gospel, which proclaims, displays, and offers it; or who oppose and persecute the preachers and professors of it; but those who, as the expression used here by the apostle means, make light of it, have little or no care or concern about it, and consequently take no pains to become partakers of it. All do and will neglect this salvation who do not, 1st, See their want of it, and their undone state without it; who are not convinced of its absolute necessity and great excellence; 2d, Who do not earnestly and perseveringly desire it, and hunger and thirst for the enjoyment of it; 3d, Who do not diligently seek it in the use of the means which God has appointed, the private and public means of grace, such as hearing, reading, and meditating on the word of God, prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, and taking up the daily cross; 4th, Who do not humble themselves before God in true, genuine repentance, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance; 5th, Who do not embrace the gospel in all its branches, its truths, precepts, and promises; its doctrines, privileges, and duties; and the Lord Jesus, its blessed Author, in all his offices and characters, in faith, love, and new obedience. Nay, and, 6th, They, in some measure at least, neglect this salvation who, having experienced one part of it, as, for instance, a sense of pardon and the divine favour, yet do not go forward with zeal and diligence in pursuit of what remains, namely, perfect holiness, and eternal glory. And these, 7th, Most of all neglect this salvation who, having begun in the Spirit, end in the flesh; who fall from grace, and turn from the holy commandment delivered to them; whose case the apostle represents in a just but awful light, Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26- 31; 12:25-27. From which passages the reader may learn how the neglecters of this salvation in general, and apostates, or back-sliders, in particular, may expect to escape. The truth, with respect to this, is, 1st, That mankind in general being by nature and practice in a lost state, a state of ignorance and sin, of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, of depravity, weakness, and misery; and this salvation being provided for their recovery, they who neglect it of course remain in that lost estate, unenlightened, unpardoned, unchanged, unholy, and unhappy. They sin against the remedy, the only remedy which the wisdom of God hath found out for man’s restoration, and therefore must perish without remedy. This is not all; they have, 2d, To expect a superadded and increased misery for neglecting the glorious salvation provided for them; provided at so great an expense of love and sufferings, and with so great an apparatus of grace and mercy. This passage proves this point to a demonstration; as do also the other paragraphs above referred to. Observe, reader, the greatness of the salvation — its eternity — the glory of its Author — the amazing sufferings he endured — the various and extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost, that in former ages sealed and signalized this divine dispensation — the pardon and grace offered to us, and urged upon us — the advices, exhortations, entreaties, and warnings of ministers and others, who had our salvation at heart; — in short, the various means made use of, in various ways, to bring us to the knowledge and enjoyment of this salvation: — all these must aggravate our guilt, and increase our condemnation and future punishment, if we neglect it.

Ver. 2, 3. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, when the law was given on Sinai, with cloud, and fire, and thunder, and the sound of trumpets. If the first offenders against that law, whether for blasphemy, or sabbath-breaking were stoned; How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, and slight the gospel spoken by the Son of God? To urge the plea of having bought a yoke of oxen, or lands, or having contracted marriage, as some did when invited to the feast, is to insult the Lord, by saying that corn and cattle, worldly pursuits and pleasures are of more importance than the redemption of the world, or the eternal salvation of the soul. How shall we escape, how will it be possible? We can neither flee the arm of vengeance, nor oppose it; can neither justify that neglect, nor bear up under its consequences, but must sink into everlasting fire.

2. Word spoken by angels—By word, here, must undoubtedly be centrally meant the Law as given at Sinai, yet so as to include the various angelic messages delivered by angels and recorded in the Old Testament, which were truly subordinate additions. That the Law is centrally meant, is clear from the fact that the entire comparison is between the giving the old Law and the giving the new Gospel, showing the superiority of the latter. Spoken by angels—But we are told very explicitly (Exodus 20:1, 19, 22, and Deuteronomy 5:4) that it was God himself who spoke at Sinai. This difficulty, which affects the very foundations of the argument of this epistle, has been met in various ways. In our note on Acts 7:53, we have understood angels to be the real designation, idiomatically plural, for the one Angel of the covenant, by whom the word of the Sinaitic Law was truly spoken. The inferiority of the old dispensation would then consist in its transient Angel-form mediatorship instead of the permanent and personal form of the incarnate Son.

A full review of the mind of the Jewish Church, especially the Alexandrian, however, seems to reveal the fact that the audiences addressed by Stephen and by this epistle truly believed that, notwithstanding the very explicit words of Exodus 20:1, asserting that God himself was the speaker, yet God spoke through an angelic medium. Whitby on this passage quotes the remarkable words of Philo, that God spoke at Sinai, keleusav hchn aoraton en aeri dhmiourghqhnai, by commanding an invisible sound to be formed in the air. Hence, while Philo and his contemporaries would still affirm that God spoke by himself alone, he would none the less affirm that the divine speech was shaped into vocal articulation and conveyed to man by angels. This, as Whitby well says, “supposes God the Father to be the supreme Author both of the Law and the Gospel; asserting only that his ambassadors and ministers in the one were much inferior to his Ambassador and great Prophet by whom the other was revealed.” The mind of the Jewish Church underwent a great enlargement in regard to the nature of God during its residence in Babylon. From the vast plains and clear skies of that great East, where astronomy was born, new impressions were conceived of the greatness of immensity; and, consequently, grander conceptions of the omnipresence of God. The Jewish mind was thereby educated to read into the conception of Jehovah a more realized absolute Infinity. It realized more fully the vastness of the omnipresence truly expressed in the inspired words of their old revelation. It thereby never again inclined to relapse into its old idolatries. And, true to its old monotheism, it equally rejected the mythologies and idolatries of Babylon. Hence, when it was asked how so immense a Being could commune with man, it would be answered, through angels. But when it was asked how could the Infinite commune with even an angelic finite, there came the distinct conception of a God essential and a God manifest, yet both one. God manifestive was the Logos, the Word. St. John, in the commencement of his gospel, assumes to define the true conception of the Word. The author of this epistle still further elaborates the conception, maintaining that the Word or Son is superior to angels, and is divine; and that, therefore, the period inaugurated by his incarnation is a higher dispensation than that of its predecessor.

The following paragraph, by Delitzsch, shows how, under such experiences, the highest minds of the Jewish Church, in possession of the divine Oracles, were led towards the truths to be realized in the New Dispensation:—

“Though possibly disturbing to some minds, it must not be concealed that Philo also regards the Logos in some places as a Mediator, Paraclete, or Heavenly Intercessor. For example, in 2:155, 25, (vit. mos., 3:14,) in explaining the priest’s breastplate, (logion,) he says: ‘It was necessary that one who was to serve as priest to the Father of the world should have as this Paraclete, [Advocate or Intercessor,] the all perfected Son, [that is, the Logos symbolized in the logion,] so as to obtain both forgiveness of sins and a supply (in abundant measure) of all good.’ Again, 2:501, 44, [Quis, rer. div. her., § 42,] speaking of the cloud which stood between Israel and the Egyptians, (Exodus 14:19,) he thus applies it to the Logos: ‘The all producing Father vouchsafed to this Logos, as leader of the angelic host, and eldest of all existences, that He should stand as the boundary between created things and the Creator. And he (the Logos) is himself an intercessor for mortality in its longings after the incorruptible, and an ambassador from the Lord of all to that which is His subject.’ In this way the Logos exhibits Himself as [Mediator] mesithv, (so He is frequently styled by Philo,) or, as the personal covenant, (i, 960, 12, De Somn., 2:36,) and interposer, sunagwgov, between God and man, (i, 144, 3, Lib. de Cherub, § 9.) Surely in all this we must recognise dawnings of New Testament light.”

V. 3. So great a salvation-A deliverance from so great wickedness and misery, into so great holiness and happiness.

This was first spoken of (before he came it was not known) by Him who is the Lord-of angels as well as men.

And was confirmed to us-Of this age, even every article of it. By them that had heard him-And had been themselves also both eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.

Verse 3. How shall we escape] If they who had fewer privileges than we have, to whom God spoke in divers manners by angels and prophets, fell under the displeasure of their Maker, and were often punished with a sore destruction; how shall we escape wrath to the uttermost if we neglect the salvation provided for us, and proclaimed to us by the Son of God? Their offence was high; ours, indescribably higher. The salvation mentioned here is the whole system of Christianity, with all the privileges it confers; properly called a salvation, because, by bringing such an abundance of heavenly light into the world, it saves or delivers men from the kingdom of darkness, ignorance, error, superstition, and idolatry; and provides all the requisite means to free them from the power, guilt, and contamination of sin. This salvation is great when compared with that granted to the Jews: 1. The Jewish dispensation was provided for the Jews alone; the Christian dispensation for all mankind. 2. The Jewish dispensation was full of significant types and ceremonies; the Christian dispensation is the substance of all those types. 3. The Jewish dispensation referred chiefly to the body and outward state of man-washings and external cleansings of the flesh; the Christian, to the inward state-purifying the heart and soul, and purging the conscience from dead works. 4. The Jewish dispensation promised temporal happiness; the Christian, spiritual. 5. The Jewish dispensation belonged chiefly to time; the Christian, to eternity. 6. The Jewish dispensation had its glory; but that was nothing when compared to the exceeding glory of the Gospel. 7. Moses administered the former; Jesus Christ, the Creator, Governor, and Saviour of the world, the latter. 8. This is a great salvation, infinitely beyond the Jewish; but how great no tongue or pen can describe.

Those who neglect it, amelhsantev, are not only they who oppose or persecute it, but they who pay no regard to it; who do not meddle with it, do not concern themselves about it, do not lay it to heart, and consequently do not get their hearts changed by it. Now these cannot escape the coming judgments of God; not merely because they oppose his will and commandment, but because they sin against the very cause and means of their deliverance. As there is but one remedy by which their diseased souls can be saved, so by refusing to apply that one remedy they must necessarily perish.

Which at the first began to be spoken] Though John the Baptist went before our Lord to prepare his way, yet he could not be properly said to preach the Gospel; and even Christ’s preaching was only a beginning of the great proclamation: it was his own Spirit in the apostles and evangelists, the men who heard him preach, that opened the whole mystery of the kingdom of heaven. And all this testimony had been so confirmed in the land of Judea as to render it indubitable; and consequently there was no excuse for their unbelief, and no prospect of their escape if they should continue to neglect it.

Verses 2-4. For if the word spoken by angels — The law delivered by their ministry. It is nowhere affirmed that the law was given by angels, but that the people received it, eiv diatagav aggelwn, by the disposition, administration, or deputation of angels, Acts 7:53; and that it was diatageiv, ordained, appointed, or promulgated, by angels, (Galatians 3:19,) and here that it was spoken by them. From hence it is evident, that not the original, authoritative giving of the law, but the ministerial ordering of things in its promulgation, is that which is ascribed to them. As Chrysostom observes, they excited the thunderings, the lightnings, the smoke, the earthquake, and the sounding of the trumpet which preceded God’s giving the law. And perhaps also an angel effected the articulate voices which conveyed the words of the ten commandments to the ears of the people; or an angel was employed to repeat, in a loud and terrible voice, the words which God pronounced, I am the Lord thy God, with what follows, Exodus 20:2, &c. The apostle having just insisted (chap. 1.) on a comparison between Christ and the angels, his argument is greatly corroborated when it is considered, that the law was the word spoken by angels, but the gospel was delivered by the Son, who is so far exalted above them; was steadfast — Bebaiov, firm, a sure covenant between God and the people; and every transgression and disobedience — The word parabasiv, transgression, signifies the leaping over the bounds which the law had set, by doing the things forbidden by it; parakoh is the refusing to do the things it enjoins; received a just recompense of reward — That is, a just punishment. But how could every sin and transgression be said to receive a just retribution, seeing it is certain that some sins, under the law, were not punished, but expiated by atonements? In answer to this, it must be observed, that every sin was contrary to the doctrine and precepts of the law, and therefore punishment was assigned to every sin, though not executed on every sinner. Besides, the sacrifices of atonement manifested punishment to have been due, though the sinner was relieved against it. But the sins especially intended by the apostle were, in fact, such as were directly against the law, as it was the covenant between God and the people; for which there was no provision made of any atonement or compensation. But the covenant being broken, the sinners were to die without mercy; and thus to be utterly exterminated by the hand of God, or that of man, by his appointment. The expression, endikov

misqapodosin, rendered, a just recompense of reward, signifies a recompense proportionable to the crime, according to the judgment of God, which is infinitely just and equal, and implies that they who commit sin are worthy of death, Romans 1:32; and particularly refers to the temporal punishment of cutting them off from the land of the living, according to the dispensation of the law to which the Israelites were subject.

How shall we escape — Severe punishment; if we neglect —

Amelhsantev, not caring about, not embracing and improving; so great salvation — That is, both the doctrine of salvation, the gospel which brings us tidings of it, shows us our want of it, offers it to us, and is the most powerful means of bringing us to enjoy it; and salvation itself, declared by this doctrine, and announced and exhibited in this gospel. The greatness of this salvation may be inferred with certainty from the great dignity and glory of its Author, as set forth in the preceding chapter, and from the great things he hath done and suffered to procure it for lost mankind; the great price paid for it, (1 Peter 1:18, 19,) and the great power exerted to put us in possession of it, Ephesians 1:19. But, independently of these considerations, it is evidently great, unspeakably great, in its own nature; being, 1st, A deliverance from a state of great ignorance and folly, with respect to things spiritual and divine, Titus 3:3; of great guilt and depravity, weakness and misery, which, were it not for this salvation, would be eternal; 2d, A restoration (so the word swthria, rendered salvation, also signifies) to the favour and friendship, image and nature of God, and communion with him; blessings lost by the fall — blessings of infinite value, and intended to be of everlasting duration; and, (which likewise is implied in the same expression,) 3d, A preservation, notwithstanding all the subtlety and power, malice and diligence of our spiritual enemies, continually exerted to effect our destruction, to eternal life, felicity, and glory; or the being kept by the power of God, through faith, unto final, eternal salvation, of both body and soul, 1 Peter 1:5. A salvation this unspeakably, yea, infinitely greater than that wrought for the Israelites of old, when God delivered them from Egyptian bondage, and established them in the quiet possession of Canaan. Which at the first began to be spoken — To be preached in a clear and distinct manner; by the Lord — The Son of God, the Lord of angels. Jesus is called the Lord, chiefly because, as the Maker and Governor of the world, he is Lord of all, Acts 10:36; consequently he is able both to reward those who obey him, by bestowing on them eternal salvation, and to punish with everlasting destruction those who disobey him; and was confirmed — Further declared, and its truth attested; unto us — Of this age, even every article of it; by them that heard him — The apostles, who had been themselves both eye-witnesses and ministers of the word. “Matters of fact which were transacted before our own time, and whereof we could not be ourselves eye-witnesses, are readily believed upon the report of others. And when the reporters are persons of credit and reputation, and report nothing but what they declare themselves to have seen and certainly known, and they are likewise many, and exactly concur in their testimony, and nothing is alleged against them by any others, and particularly by such as were concerned to invalidate their account if possible, we think we have all the reason in the world to receive their testimony. All which circumstances do evidently concur in the confirmation of the gospel.” — Pierce. God also bearing them witness — As to the truth and importance of their doctrine; both with signs and wonders — Many and marvellous. “The apostle having observed, in verse 2, that the law spoken by angels was confirmed by the miracles which accompanied its delivery, he judged it proper to mention that the gospel was equally confirmed by the great miracles which accompanied the preaching, both of Jesus Christ himself and of the apostles. Wherefore such of the Hebrews as had not heard Jesus preach the great salvation, were nevertheless bound to give heed to the things which he had preached, since they were sufficiently declared and proved to them by the apostles and other ministers of the word, who had heard him preach these things.” — Macknight. With divers miracles and gifts — Merismoiv, distributions; of the Holy Ghost — In his extraordinary operations, imparted in different degrees to different persons; according to his own will — “Moses wrought many signs, wonders, and miracles; but the distributions of the Holy Ghost he knew nothing of. They were peculiar to the gospel dispensation, and consisted of the internal gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, faith, the discernment of spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.” These are called distributions of the Holy Ghost, because God by his Spirit divided them to every one as he pleased, 1 Corinthians 12:11. “The miracles,” says Pierce, “which were wrought by the first preachers of the gospel, were an attestation from God of the truth of what they delivered. And indeed we must entertain very strange and unworthy apprehensions of the blessed God, if we can suppose that he would countenance a notorious imposture, by enabling those who published it to the world to perform, in confirmation of it, so many miracles as they did, things that were vastly above the power and ability of men. It is true there were other confirmations of our Saviour’s character and commission, particularly the concurrence of all that was foretold by the old prophets concerning the Messiah. But this does by no means hinder these miracles to be an attestation from God, and accordingly to deserve our utmost regard.”

And now let the reader consider how those will excuse their conduct to God, their own consciences, or the assembled world of men and angels in the day of final judgment, who neglect this salvation; a salvation which has so glorious an Author, which is so unspeakably great and excellent in itself, has cost such an immense price, and to attest and confirm which God’s almighty power has been exerted in so extraordinary a manner in signs and wonders innumerable; yea, “has waked and worked for ages.” But who are they that may properly be said to neglect this salvation? Surely not those merely who disbelieve and reject the gospel, which proclaims, displays, and offers it; or who oppose and persecute the preachers and professors of it; but those who, as the expression used here by the apostle means, make light of it, have little or no care or concern about it, and consequently take no pains to become partakers of it. All do and will neglect this salvation who do not, 1st, See their want of it, and their undone state without it; who are not convinced of its absolute necessity and great excellence; 2d, Who do not earnestly and perseveringly desire it, and hunger and thirst for the enjoyment of it; 3d, Who do not diligently seek it in the use of the means which God has appointed, the private and public means of grace, such as hearing, reading, and meditating on the word of God, prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, and taking up the daily cross; 4th, Who do not humble themselves before God in true, genuine repentance, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance; 5th, Who do not embrace the gospel in all its branches, its truths, precepts, and promises; its doctrines, privileges, and duties; and the Lord Jesus, its blessed Author, in all his offices and characters, in faith, love, and new obedience. Nay, and, 6th, They, in some measure at least, neglect this salvation who, having experienced one part of it, as, for instance, a sense of pardon and the divine favour, yet do not go forward with zeal and diligence in pursuit of what remains, namely, perfect holiness, and eternal glory. And these, 7th, Most of all neglect this salvation who, having begun in the Spirit, end in the flesh; who fall from grace, and turn from the holy commandment delivered to them; whose case the apostle represents in a just but awful light, Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26- 31; 12:25-27. From which passages the reader may learn how the neglecters of this salvation in general, and apostates, or back-sliders, in particular, may expect to escape. The truth, with respect to this, is, 1st, That mankind in general being by nature and practice in a lost state, a state of ignorance and sin, of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, of depravity, weakness, and misery; and this salvation being provided for their recovery, they who neglect it of course remain in that lost estate, unenlightened, unpardoned, unchanged, unholy, and unhappy. They sin against the remedy, the only remedy which the wisdom of God hath found out for man’s restoration, and therefore must perish without remedy. This is not all; they have, 2d, To expect a superadded and increased misery for neglecting the glorious salvation provided for them; provided at so great an expense of love and sufferings, and with so great an apparatus of grace and mercy. This passage proves this point to a demonstration; as do also the other paragraphs above referred to. Observe, reader, the greatness of the salvation — its eternity — the glory of its Author — the amazing sufferings he endured — the various and extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost, that in former ages sealed and signalized this divine dispensation — the pardon and grace offered to us, and urged upon us — the advices, exhortations, entreaties, and warnings of ministers and others, who had our salvation at heart; — in short, the various means made use of, in various ways, to bring us to the knowledge and enjoyment of this salvation: — all these must aggravate our guilt, and increase our condemnation and future punishment, if we neglect it.

Ver. 2, 3. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, when the law was given on Sinai, with cloud, and fire, and thunder, and the sound of trumpets. If the first offenders against that law, whether for blasphemy, or sabbath-breaking were stoned; How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, and slight the gospel spoken by the Son of God? To urge the plea of having bought a yoke of oxen, or lands, or having contracted marriage, as some did when invited to the feast, is to insult the Lord, by saying that corn and cattle, worldly pursuits and pleasures are of more importance than the redemption of the world, or the eternal salvation of the soul. How shall we escape, how will it be possible? We can neither flee the arm of vengeance, nor oppose it; can neither justify that neglect, nor bear up under its consequences, but must sink into everlasting fire.

3. How shall we—Both Christians and all who hear the word spoken. Escape—Namely, the recompense suited in severity to the new conditions. So great salvation—Its greatness being here measured by the greatness of the Mediator who brings it, the clearness by which it is attested, the price (verse 9) which it cost, and the glory to which it brings. At the first—At the commencement of the new revelation. Confirmed unto us… heard him—That Paul never heard the living Christ at the first, we have recognised in our note to Acts 9:1. So that this statement perfectly accords with Paul’s authorship of the epistle. Lunemann and others, indeed, argue that Paul always claims that he derived his Gospel not from men, but from Christ, and so could not have written these words or this epistle. But, certainly, Paul does not ever claim that he was a personal hearer of the teachings of Jesus, or an eye-witness of his miracles. How he acquired his knowledge of the facts of Christ’s history we have discussed in our note, Acts 9:23. It is the doctrinal interpretation of those facts which he claimed to have obtained by revelation. We have shown in our notes on Acts 8:1-4, that the Pentecostal Church was dispersed, and succeeded by a later body of believers. The Hebrews, to whom this epistle was written, assuming them to be Jerusalemite and Palestinian Jews, received their knowledge of Christ’s history from living testimony, as did Paul. Compare our notes on Luke 1:1-3. Nevertheless the we and us here do not literally or necessarily include the apostle; but may be simply used from delicacy, as a modest identification of himself with his hearers. The first person plural is used six times in 1-3, where it is clear that Paul does not mean himself. Stuart has abundantly shown this self-identification with his readers to be Paul’s custom, both in this epistle and elsewhere, adducing a mass of instances, as follows: “See Hebrews 2:1, 3; 3:6; 4:1, 2, 11, 13, 16; 6:1-3, 18, 19; 10:22-26, 39; 11:40; 12:1, 9, 10, 28; 13:10, 13, 15. He also uses we or ye indifferently for the persons whom he addresses; for example: Hebrews 4:1, let us fear… lest any of you, etc.; we, in Hebrews 12:1, 2; ye, in Hebrews 12:3-8; we, in Hebrews 12:9, 10; ye, in Hebrews 12:17, 18, 22, 25; we, in 13:14, 18, and often in the same way elsewhere, the address being still most manifestly made to the very same persons. He often employs, also, the first person plural to designate merely himself; as for example, in Hebrews 2:5; 6:9, 11; 13:18. This, in like manner, he interchanges with the first person singular; for example, Hebrews 13:18; compare Hebrews 13:19, 22, 23. The same use of the first person plural runs through all the Pauline epistles; for example, we and I for the writer himself, Galatians 1:8: comp. Hebrews 1:9-24, Galatians 2:5; comp. Hebrews 2:1-4, and 2:6, 7, and so very often elsewhere. So we and you for the persons addressed, Galatians 3:1-12; 3:13-25; 3:26-29; 4:3-5; 4:6-20; 4:26-31, and elsewhere.” The passage, with the entire class of facts, is, therefore, not a disproof, but rather a proof, of the Pauline origin of this epistle; as it shows a full conformity with the apostle’s habit of using the pronouns. See our note on 1 Corinthians 15:51.

V. 4. By signs and wonders-While he lived. And various miracles and distributions of the Holy Ghost-Miraculous gifts, distributed after his exaltation. According to his will-Not theirs who received them.

Verse 4. God also bearing them witness] He did not leave the confirmation of these great truths to the testimony of men; he bore his own testimony to them by signs, wonders, various miracles, and distributions of the Holy Ghost, pneumatov aJgiou merismoiv. And all these were proved to come from himself; for no man could do those miracles at his own pleasure, but the power to work them was given according to God’s own will; or rather, God himself wrought them, in order to accredit the ministry of his servants.

For the meaning of signs, wonders, &c., See the note on “Deuteronomy 4:34”.

Verses 2-4. For if the word spoken by angels — The law delivered by their ministry. It is nowhere affirmed that the law was given by angels, but that the people received it, eiv diatagav aggelwn, by the disposition, administration, or deputation of angels, Acts 7:53; and that it was diatageiv, ordained, appointed, or promulgated, by angels, (Galatians 3:19,) and here that it was spoken by them. From hence it is evident, that not the original, authoritative giving of the law, but the ministerial ordering of things in its promulgation, is that which is ascribed to them. As Chrysostom observes, they excited the thunderings, the lightnings, the smoke, the earthquake, and the sounding of the trumpet which preceded God’s giving the law. And perhaps also an angel effected the articulate voices which conveyed the words of the ten commandments to the ears of the people; or an angel was employed to repeat, in a loud and terrible voice, the words which God pronounced, I am the Lord thy God, with what follows, Exodus 20:2, &c. The apostle having just insisted (chap. 1.) on a comparison between Christ and the angels, his argument is greatly corroborated when it is considered, that the law was the word spoken by angels, but the gospel was delivered by the Son, who is so far exalted above them; was steadfast — Bebaiov, firm, a sure covenant between God and the people; and every transgression and disobedience — The word parabasiv, transgression, signifies the leaping over the bounds which the law had set, by doing the things forbidden by it; parakoh is the refusing to do the things it enjoins; received a just recompense of reward — That is, a just punishment. But how could every sin and transgression be said to receive a just retribution, seeing it is certain that some sins, under the law, were not punished, but expiated by atonements? In answer to this, it must be observed, that every sin was contrary to the doctrine and precepts of the law, and therefore punishment was assigned to every sin, though not executed on every sinner. Besides, the sacrifices of atonement manifested punishment to have been due, though the sinner was relieved against it. But the sins especially intended by the apostle were, in fact, such as were directly against the law, as it was the covenant between God and the people; for which there was no provision made of any atonement or compensation. But the covenant being broken, the sinners were to die without mercy; and thus to be utterly exterminated by the hand of God, or that of man, by his appointment. The expression, endikov

misqapodosin, rendered, a just recompense of reward, signifies a recompense proportionable to the crime, according to the judgment of God, which is infinitely just and equal, and implies that they who commit sin are worthy of death, Romans 1:32; and particularly refers to the temporal punishment of cutting them off from the land of the living, according to the dispensation of the law to which the Israelites were subject.

How shall we escape — Severe punishment; if we neglect —

Amelhsantev, not caring about, not embracing and improving; so great salvation — That is, both the doctrine of salvation, the gospel which brings us tidings of it, shows us our want of it, offers it to us, and is the most powerful means of bringing us to enjoy it; and salvation itself, declared by this doctrine, and announced and exhibited in this gospel. The greatness of this salvation may be inferred with certainty from the great dignity and glory of its Author, as set forth in the preceding chapter, and from the great things he hath done and suffered to procure it for lost mankind; the great price paid for it, (1 Peter 1:18, 19,) and the great power exerted to put us in possession of it, Ephesians 1:19. But, independently of these considerations, it is evidently great, unspeakably great, in its own nature; being, 1st, A deliverance from a state of great ignorance and folly, with respect to things spiritual and divine, Titus 3:3; of great guilt and depravity, weakness and misery, which, were it not for this salvation, would be eternal; 2d, A restoration (so the word swthria, rendered salvation, also signifies) to the favour and friendship, image and nature of God, and communion with him; blessings lost by the fall — blessings of infinite value, and intended to be of everlasting duration; and, (which likewise is implied in the same expression,) 3d, A preservation, notwithstanding all the subtlety and power, malice and diligence of our spiritual enemies, continually exerted to effect our destruction, to eternal life, felicity, and glory; or the being kept by the power of God, through faith, unto final, eternal salvation, of both body and soul, 1 Peter 1:5. A salvation this unspeakably, yea, infinitely greater than that wrought for the Israelites of old, when God delivered them from Egyptian bondage, and established them in the quiet possession of Canaan. Which at the first began to be spoken — To be preached in a clear and distinct manner; by the Lord — The Son of God, the Lord of angels. Jesus is called the Lord, chiefly because, as the Maker and Governor of the world, he is Lord of all, Acts 10:36; consequently he is able both to reward those who obey him, by bestowing on them eternal salvation, and to punish with everlasting destruction those who disobey him; and was confirmed — Further declared, and its truth attested; unto us — Of this age, even every article of it; by them that heard him — The apostles, who had been themselves both eye-witnesses and ministers of the word. “Matters of fact which were transacted before our own time, and whereof we could not be ourselves eye-witnesses, are readily believed upon the report of others. And when the reporters are persons of credit and reputation, and report nothing but what they declare themselves to have seen and certainly known, and they are likewise many, and exactly concur in their testimony, and nothing is alleged against them by any others, and particularly by such as were concerned to invalidate their account if possible, we think we have all the reason in the world to receive their testimony. All which circumstances do evidently concur in the confirmation of the gospel.” — Pierce. God also bearing them witness — As to the truth and importance of their doctrine; both with signs and wonders — Many and marvellous. “The apostle having observed, in verse 2, that the law spoken by angels was confirmed by the miracles which accompanied its delivery, he judged it proper to mention that the gospel was equally confirmed by the great miracles which accompanied the preaching, both of Jesus Christ himself and of the apostles. Wherefore such of the Hebrews as had not heard Jesus preach the great salvation, were nevertheless bound to give heed to the things which he had preached, since they were sufficiently declared and proved to them by the apostles and other ministers of the word, who had heard him preach these things.” — Macknight. With divers miracles and gifts — Merismoiv, distributions; of the Holy Ghost — In his extraordinary operations, imparted in different degrees to different persons; according to his own will — “Moses wrought many signs, wonders, and miracles; but the distributions of the Holy Ghost he knew nothing of. They were peculiar to the gospel dispensation, and consisted of the internal gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, faith, the discernment of spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.” These are called distributions of the Holy Ghost, because God by his Spirit divided them to every one as he pleased, 1 Corinthians 12:11. “The miracles,” says Pierce, “which were wrought by the first preachers of the gospel, were an attestation from God of the truth of what they delivered. And indeed we must entertain very strange and unworthy apprehensions of the blessed God, if we can suppose that he would countenance a notorious imposture, by enabling those who published it to the world to perform, in confirmation of it, so many miracles as they did, things that were vastly above the power and ability of men. It is true there were other confirmations of our Saviour’s character and commission, particularly the concurrence of all that was foretold by the old prophets concerning the Messiah. But this does by no means hinder these miracles to be an attestation from God, and accordingly to deserve our utmost regard.”

And now let the reader consider how those will excuse their conduct to God, their own consciences, or the assembled world of men and angels in the day of final judgment, who neglect this salvation; a salvation which has so glorious an Author, which is so unspeakably great and excellent in itself, has cost such an immense price, and to attest and confirm which God’s almighty power has been exerted in so extraordinary a manner in signs and wonders innumerable; yea, “has waked and worked for ages.” But who are they that may properly be said to neglect this salvation? Surely not those merely who disbelieve and reject the gospel, which proclaims, displays, and offers it; or who oppose and persecute the preachers and professors of it; but those who, as the expression used here by the apostle means, make light of it, have little or no care or concern about it, and consequently take no pains to become partakers of it. All do and will neglect this salvation who do not, 1st, See their want of it, and their undone state without it; who are not convinced of its absolute necessity and great excellence; 2d, Who do not earnestly and perseveringly desire it, and hunger and thirst for the enjoyment of it; 3d, Who do not diligently seek it in the use of the means which God has appointed, the private and public means of grace, such as hearing, reading, and meditating on the word of God, prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, and taking up the daily cross; 4th, Who do not humble themselves before God in true, genuine repentance, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance; 5th, Who do not embrace the gospel in all its branches, its truths, precepts, and promises; its doctrines, privileges, and duties; and the Lord Jesus, its blessed Author, in all his offices and characters, in faith, love, and new obedience. Nay, and, 6th, They, in some measure at least, neglect this salvation who, having experienced one part of it, as, for instance, a sense of pardon and the divine favour, yet do not go forward with zeal and diligence in pursuit of what remains, namely, perfect holiness, and eternal glory. And these, 7th, Most of all neglect this salvation who, having begun in the Spirit, end in the flesh; who fall from grace, and turn from the holy commandment delivered to them; whose case the apostle represents in a just but awful light, Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26- 31; 12:25-27. From which passages the reader may learn how the neglecters of this salvation in general, and apostates, or back-sliders, in particular, may expect to escape. The truth, with respect to this, is, 1st, That mankind in general being by nature and practice in a lost state, a state of ignorance and sin, of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, of depravity, weakness, and misery; and this salvation being provided for their recovery, they who neglect it of course remain in that lost estate, unenlightened, unpardoned, unchanged, unholy, and unhappy. They sin against the remedy, the only remedy which the wisdom of God hath found out for man’s restoration, and therefore must perish without remedy. This is not all; they have, 2d, To expect a superadded and increased misery for neglecting the glorious salvation provided for them; provided at so great an expense of love and sufferings, and with so great an apparatus of grace and mercy. This passage proves this point to a demonstration; as do also the other paragraphs above referred to. Observe, reader, the greatness of the salvation — its eternity — the glory of its Author — the amazing sufferings he endured — the various and extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost, that in former ages sealed and signalized this divine dispensation — the pardon and grace offered to us, and urged upon us — the advices, exhortations, entreaties, and warnings of ministers and others, who had our salvation at heart; — in short, the various means made use of, in various ways, to bring us to the knowledge and enjoyment of this salvation: — all these must aggravate our guilt, and increase our condemnation and future punishment, if we neglect it.

Ver. 4. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ, the sign he had promised to his enemies, under the figure of Jonah being raised from the deep. Matthew 12:38-40. Acts 2:43. And with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, as when the Spirit fell on the devout people in the house of Cornelius. Acts 10:44. Galatians 3:2. Matthew 11:2.

4. Not angels, but Jesus, Lord of this dispensation, 5-8.

4. Bearing… witness—While the Lord was main speaker, God corroborated the divinity of his person and the truth of his announcements with signs and wonders. Signs implies their significance as proofs; wonders their startling supernaturalism; miracles their divine power, as dealings of omnipotence. Gifts—Rather, distributions, distributive impartations. Will—And according with his divine wisdom. The apostles could not work miracles at their own will.

V. 5. This verse contains a proof of the third; the greater the salvation is, and the more glorious the Lord whom we despise, the greater will be our punishment.

God hath not subjected the world to come-That is, the dispensation of the Messiah; which being to succeed the Mosaic was usually styled by the Jews, the world to come, although it is still in great measure to come, Whereof we now speak-Of which I am now speaking. In this last great dispensation the Son alone presides.

Verse 5. The world to come] That abh µlw[ olam habba, the world to come, meant the days of the Messiah among the Jews, is most evident, and has been often pointed out in the course of these notes; and that the administration of this kingdom has not been intrusted to angels, who were frequently employed under the law, is also evident, for the government is on the shoulder of Jesus Christ; he alone has the keys of death and hell; he alone shuts, and no man opens; opens, and no man shuts; he alone has the residue of the Spirit; he alone is the Governor of the universe, the Spirit, Soul, Heart, and Head of the Church: all is in his authority, and under subjection to him.

But some think that the world to come means future glory, and suppose the words are spoken in reference to the Angel of God’s presence, Exodus 23:20, who introduced the Israelites into the promised land, which land is here put in opposition to the heavenly inheritance. And it is certain that in this sense also we have an entrance into the holiest only by the blood of Jesus. Dr. Macknight contends for this latter meaning, but the former appears more consistent with the Jewish phraseology.

Verse 5. For, &c. — This verse contains a proof of the third: the greater the salvation is, and the more glorious the Lord whom we despise, the greater will be our punishment. Unto the angels hath he (God) not put in subjection the world to come — That is, as most commentators have understood the clause, the dispensation of the Messiah; which, being to succeed the Mosaic, was usually styled by the Jews, The world to come; although it is still, in a great measure, to come: whereof we speak — Of which I am now speaking. In this last great dispensation, the Son alone presides. Macknight, however, objects to this interpretation of the words, observing, “The gospel dispensation is called aiwnov mellontov, the age to come, (Hebrews 6:5,) but never oikoumenhn mellousan, the habitable world to come. That phrase, if I mistake not, signifies the heavenly country promised to Abraham, and to his spiritual seed. Wherefore, as oikoumenhn, the world, (Luke 2:1, and elsewhere,) by a usual figure of speech, signifies the inhabitants of the world, the phrase oikoumenhn mellousan, may very well signify the inhabitants of the world to come, called, (Hebrews 1:14,) them who shall inherit salvation. If so, the apostle’s meaning will be, that God hath not put the heirs of salvation, who are to inhabit the world to come, the heavenly Canaan, in subjection to angels, to be by them conducted into that world, as the Israelites were conducted into the earthly Canaan, by an angel, Exodus 23:20. They are only ministering spirits, sent forth by the Son to minister for the heirs of salvation, but not to conduct them. The heirs who are to inhabit the world to come, God hath put in subjection to the Son alone. Hence he is called the Captain of their salvation, Hebrews 2:10. And having introduced them into the heavenly country, he will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, as we are told 1 Corinthians 15:24.”

Ver. 5. To the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. This is another reason why we should bow to the authority of Christ the Lord, all power both in heaven and in earth being given to him. He is Lord of all, sitting at the right hand of God, principalities and powers being made subject unto him.

5. For—Illustration. All this danger of offending a divine dignity is true, for Christ is lord of our dispensation. The development of thought is this: verse 5 declares that angels rule not this dispensation: verses 6-8 quote the psalmist’s description of man, (as in his first paradisaic state,) made ideal ruler of the lower creation: verse 8 declares how complete that supremacy was, nothing being excepted; but it adds that now, (since the fall,) that subjection is annulled: verse 9 descries that supremacy potentially restored in one, namely, Jesus, who is divinely so exalted as that he may be a glorious atoning sufferer for every man. It is this glorious divine Sufferer who, identifying himself with man by being man, restores the primitive exaltation of man. Beautifully does our author meet those who would revolt from Christ on account of the suffering of the cross, by showing that it was a suffering glorified by the divinity of the Sufferer. Unto the angels—Not only was the Law given through angels, but the entire old dispensation was rife with angelic over-rulings, either of subordinate angels or transient phenomena of the Angel-Jehovah, who thus anticipated in shadow his incarnation. That angelic guidance led Israel from Egypt. Moses declares, (Numbers 20:16:) “When we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt.” And God says, (Exodus 23:20:) “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” And verse 23: “Mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites… and I will cut them off.” And so the last of the prophets, Malachi, (Malachi 3:1,) predicts the incarnate Lord himself under the title “Messenger (or Angel) of the Covenant.” It was not until the time of the Captivity that Israel came fully to form the conception, as we learn from Daniel, that even secular nations were overruled by angels. Daniel 10:13, 20; 12:1. Against Michael, the prince of the people of God, there stood a “prince of Persia” and “of Grecia.” The Jewish doctors then read the same idea into Deuteronomy 32:8, which the Seventy translates, “When the Almighty divided the nations, he set the borders of them according to the number of the angels of God.” This, Rabbi Menahem paraphrases, “He placed seventy angels over the seventy nations.” See our note preceding Luke 10:1. But under our present dispensation angels are in the background. Even popular imagination, when, at the present day, it sees supernatural phenomena, never sees them in an angelic form. World—Not aeon, the time-world, nor cosmos, the frame-world, but oikomene, the inhabited world, or territory; and so the world more or less completely of human population and territory. Matthew 24:14; Luke 2:1; 4:5; 21:26; Acts 11:28; 17:6, 31; 19:27; 24:5; Romans 10:18; Revelation 3:10; 12:9; 16:14. World to come—Buxtorf says: “By ‘world to come,’ some Jews understand the world which is to be after the destruction of this inferior world, and after the resurrection of dead men, when their souls will again be united with their bodies. Others, by ‘world to come,’ understand the days of the Messiah, in which, that is, the Messiah shall come, whom they still expect, and that he will reign temporally in this world.” In the New Testament, when speaking from a Christian standpoint, the world to come would signify the world beyond the judgment-day, as in Matthew 12:32: but speaking from the Jewish standpoint, as here, the phrase signifies the days of the Messiah, the incoming period between the first and second advent. So in the Septuagint of Isaiah 9:6, Christ is called o pathr mellontov aiwnov, the Father of the age or time-world to come, (English translation, “the everlasting Father.”) See notes on 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 1:10. Whereof we speak—Which is the subject of verses 1-4.

V. 6. What is man-To the vast expanse of heaven, to the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained! This psalm seems to have been composed by David, in a clear, moonshiny, and starlight night, while he was contemplating the wonderful fabric of heaven; because in his magnificent description of its luminaries, he takes no notice of the sun, the most glorious of them all. The words here cited concerning dominion were doubtless in some sense applicable to Adam; although in their complete and highest sense, they belong to none but the second Adam. Or the son of man, that thou visitest him-The sense rises: we are mindful of him that is absent; but to visit, denotes the care of a present God. Psalms 8:4Psalm 8:4.

Verse 6. But one in a certain place] This one is David; and the certain place, Psalms 8:4Psalm 8:4-6. But why does the apostle use this indeterminate mode of quotation? Because it was common thus to express the testimony of any of the inspired writers; btk awhh rma amar hahu kethab, thus saith a certain scripture. So Philo, Deuteronomy Plant. Noe: eipe gar pou, he saith somewhere; eipe qap tiv, a certain person saith. Thus even the heathens were accustomed to quote high authorities; so Plato, Tim.: wJv efh tiv, as a certain person saith, meaning Heraclitus. See in Rosenmuller. It is such a mode of quotation as we sometimes use when we speak of a very eminent person who is well known; as that very eminent person, that great philosopher, that celebrated divine, that inspired teacher of the Gentiles, the royal psalmist, the evangelical prophet, hath said. The mode of quotation therefore implies, not ignorance, but reverence.

What is man] This quotation is verbatim from the Septuagint; and, as the Greek is not as emphatic as the Hebrew, I will quote the original: yk אדם ובנ wnrkzt yk vwna hm wndqpt mah enosh ki thizkerennu, uben Adam ki thiphkedennu; What is miserable man, that thou rememberest him? and the son of Adam, that thou visitest him? The variation of the terms in the original is very emphatic. Adam, mda, is the name given to man at his creation, and expresses his origin, and generic distinction from all other animals. Enosh, vwna, which signifies sick, weak, wretched, was never given to him till after his fall. The son of Adam means here, any one or all of the fallen posterity of the first man. That God should remember in the way of mercy these wretched beings, is great condescension; that he should visit them, manifest himself to them, yea, even dwell among them, and at last assume their nature, and give up his life to ransom them from the bitter pains of eternal death, is mercy and love indescribable and eternal.

Verse 6. But one in a certain place — Namely, David, Psalms 8:4Psalm 8:4; testified, saying, What is man — The Hebrew word vwna, used in the Psalm, means weak, miserable, and mortal man; man in his fallen state; obnoxious to grief, sorrow, anxiety, pain, trouble, and death: that thou art mindful of him — What is he to the vast expanse of the heavens, to the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained? This Psalm seems to have been composed by David in a clear, moon-shiny, and star-light night, while he was contemplating the wonderful fabric of the heaven; because, in his magnificent description of its luminaries, he takes no notice of the sun, the most glorious of them all. The words here cited concerning dominion, were doubtless in some sense applicable to Adam; although, in their complete and highest sense, they belong to none but the second Adam. It has indeed been a great question among interpreters, whether the Psalm speaks of man in general, and of the honour which God put upon him in his creation, or only of the man Christ Jesus. But upon comparing the contents of it with this chapter, it seems evident that both are included. For the design of the Psalm appears plainly to have been to display and celebrate the great love and kindness of God to mankind: not only in their creation, but also in their redemption by Christ Jesus; whom, as he was man, God advanced to the honour here spoken of, that he might carry on that great and glorious work. Some parts of the Psalm, however, relate more eminently to Christ than to man in general, and accordingly are so interpreted, both by our Lord and by his apostles, particularly verses 2, 6. Or the Son of man — Hebrew, µda ˆb, the son of Adam, of one made out of the earth; that thou visitest him — The sense rises: we are mindful of him that is absent; but to visit denotes the care of one present. And it is worthy of observation, that the Hebrew word occurring in the Psalm, and rendered visitest, though variously used, yet constantly denotes the action of a superior toward an inferior, and commonly expresses some act of God toward his people for good. And especially in the term visiting used to express the stupendous act of God in sending his Son to take our nature upon him, as Luke 1:68, 78. “He hath visited and redeemed his people;” and “The day-spring from on high hath visited us.” This was the ground of the psalmist’s admiration, and will be a cause of admiration to all believers through eternal ages.

6. But one—The indefiniteness of the quotation compliments his readers, by presupposing that they know all about the books quoted. The division into chapters and verses for easy reference did not exist in the apostle’s day. One—You know who. In a certain place—You know where. This was a customary style of quotation with Philo and the Rabbies. The quotation is from Psalm viii, and is David’s pensive words on contemplating the glory of the heavens above, and the insignificant magnitude of man below. Modern astronomy reads a deeper meaning into the words than David’s science knew. It is, indeed, a wonderful thing that so minute a body as man should be distinguished above the vast globes that swim through immensity. But an immortal, intelligent being is of more value than an infinite number of globes of dead matter. They might just as well be nonexistent, leaving pure space alone, except as they may serve the welfare of an intelligent being. Man… son of man—An expressive parallelism. Jesus assumed to himself the epithet son of man as expressive of his humiliation. We see no direct reference by the psalmist to Christ. Visitest—As a physician does a patient, or as a patron does his favourite.

V. 7. Thou hast made him-Adam.

A little lower than the angels-The Hebrew is, a little lower than (that is, next to) God. Such was man as he came out of the hands of his Creator: it seems, the highest of all created beings. But these words are also in a farther sense, as the apostle here shows, applicable to the Son of God. It should be remembered that the apostles constantly cited the Septuagint translation, very frequently without any variation. It was not their business, in writing to the Jews, who at that time had it in high esteem, to amend or alter this, which would of consequence have occasioned disputes without end.

Verse 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels] We must again have recourse to the original from which this quotation is made: מאלהים c[m whrsjtw vattechasserehu meat meelohim. If this be spoken of man as he came out of the hands of his Maker, it places him at the head of all God’s works; for literally translated it is: Thou hast made him less than God. And this is proved by his being made in the image and likeness of God, which is spoken of no other creature either in heaven or earth; and it is very likely that in his original creation he stood at the head of all the works of God, and the next to his Maker. This sentiment is well expressed in the following lines, part of a paraphrase on this psalm, by the Rev. C. Wesley:—

“Him with glorious majesty

Thy grace vouchsafed to crown:

Transcript of the One in Three,

He in thine image shone.

Foremost of created things,

Head of all thy works he stood;

Nearest the great King of kings,

And little less than God.”

If we take the words as referring to Jesus Christ, then they must be understood as pointing out the time of his humiliation, as in Hebrews 2:9; and the little lower, bracu ti, in both verses, must mean for a short time, or a little while, as is very properly inserted among our marginal readings. Adam was originally made higher than the angels, but by sin he is now brought low, and subjected to death; for the angelic nature is not mortal. Thus, taking the words in their common acceptation, man in his present state may be said to be lessened below the angels. Jesus Christ, as the eternal Logos, or God with God, could not die, therefore a body was prepared for him; and thus bracu ti, for a short while, he was made lower than the angels, that he might be capable of suffering death. And indeed the whole of the passage suits him better than it does any of the children of men, or than even Adam himself in a state of innocence; for it is only under the feet of Jesus that all things are put in subjection, and it was in consequence of his humiliation that he had a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, <502609> Philippians 2:9-11. Therefore he must be infinitely higher than the angels, for they, as well as all the things in heaven, bow in subjection to him.

Thou crownedst him with glory and honour] This was strictly true of Adam in his state of innocence, for he was set over all things in this lower world; all sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth over the paths of the seas, Psalms 8:7Psalm 8:7, 8. So far all this perfectly applies to Adam; but it is evident the apostle takes all in a much higher sense, that of universal dominion; and hence he says, he left nothing that is not put under him. These verses, collated with the above passage from the Epistle to the Philippians, mutually illustrate each other. And the crowning Christ with glory and honour must refer to his exaltation after his resurrection, in which, as the victorious Messiah, he had all power given to him in heaven and earth. And although we do not yet see all things put under him, for evil men, and evil spirits, are only under the subjection of control, yet we look forward to that time when the whole world shall be bowed to his sway, and when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall become great, and fill the whole earth. What was never true of the first Adam, even in his most exalted state, is true of the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ; and to him, and to him alone, it is most evident that the apostle applies these things; and thus he is higher than the angels, who never had nor can have such dominion and consequent glory.

Verse 7. Thou madest him — That is, 1st, Man, when first created; a little lower than the angels — So the LXX., and all the old Greek translations, as also the Targum, read the clause; but the Hebrew, µyhlam c[m, is a little lower than God; the word God being probably put by an ellipsis for the angels of God. Man, when first formed, was, it seems, in the scale of creatures next to angels, his soul being spiritual, intelligent, free, and immortal; but, as by his body he was allied to the earth, and to the beasts that perish, he was lower than they. But, 2d, The expression here used, bracu ti, may be rendered, for a little while, as it is Acts 5:44; And commanded to put the apostles forth, bracu ti, a little space, or while; and Luke 22:58, meta bracu, after a little while. Thus translated, the clause is, Thou hast made him, for a little while, lower, or less, than the angels: in which sense the passage may be properly applied to Christ, as it here is by the apostle, whose meaning appears to be, Thou, O God, hast made thy Son, by his incarnation, humiliation, and obedience unto death, for a little while, lower than the angels. For although from Christ’s birth the angels adored his person as their Lord, yet in the outward condition of his human nature he was made exceedingly beneath their state of glory and excellence, for a little while, a short season. “That which renders this sense unquestionable,” says Dr. Owen, “is the apostle’s restraining the words precisely thereto, verse 9. It was but for a little while that the person of Christ, in the nature of man, was brought into a condition more indigent than that to which the nature of angels is exposed: neither was he for that season made a little, but very much lower than the angels. And had this been the whole of his state, it could not have been an effect of that inexpressible love which the psalmist so admires. But, seeing it was but for a short season, and that for the blessed ends which the apostle speaks of, nothing could more commend it to us.” Thou crownedst him with glory and honour — That is, not only man at his first creation, to whom God gave dominion over the creatures, but also, and more especially, Jesus, after his resurrection from the dead, and ascension into heaven. Jesus was covered with the greatest ignominy when he was crucified by the Jews as a deceiver, for calling himself Christ the Son of God. But at his resurrection and subsequent exaltation that ignominy was entirely removed; and his fame, and name, and honour, as the Son of God, were, in the most illustrious manner, restored to him. See <502609> Philippians 2:9-11. And didst set him over the work of thy hands — As Ruler and Lord of all; namely, in a lower sense Adam when created, and more eminently Christ when raised from the dead, and set at God’s own right hand. For as he had actual dominion given him upon his ascension into heaven, so the extent of this dominion is the works of God’s hands.

Ver. 7, 8. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, in his incarnation, in which state angels ministered unto him. The eighth psalm, cited here, confessedly regards the Messiah. What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou shouldst visit him. What is man’s nature that thou shouldst visit him so, that the fulness of the deity should dwell in him. And after his minority and humiliation, and in reward of his obedience, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, hast given him a name above every name, and set him over the works of thy hands. The Messiah is enthroned; let earth and hell tremble, let sinners make haste and prostrate at his feet. In him humiliation and glory are joined, the cross and the crown.

In this luminous psalm, it is very remarkable that instead of malachim, the usual name of angels, we find here Meod Elohim, little less than God, or the Gods. This must refer to the suffering state of Christ on earth; for in regard of his soul, says Erasmus, Christ was not inferior to angels. And though we do not yet see all things put under him, yet in the full blaze of vision we see Jesus, thus humbled by suffering, that through the grace of God he should taste death for every man, or to use the words of Agag, the bitterness of death for every man: pantov for all. The apostle follows here the words of the Hebrew, and the LXX in Isaiah 53:6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7. Little lower than the angels—Unfallen man belonged to a high order, but the angels were a grade above him. Set… hands—A reference to the Genesis history, in which primeval man is exhibited as lord of the lower creation.

V. 8. Now this putting all things under him, implies that there is nothing that is not put under him. But it is plain, this is not done now, with regard to man in general.

Verses 8, 9. Thou hast put all things — All things without exception; in subjection — Upokatw twn podwn autou, under his very feet — Such are the psalmist’s words, expressive of a dominion every way unlimited and absolute. For in that it is said, he put all things under him, he left nothing — That is, nothing is excepted; that is not put under him — But the whole universe and every creature in it is included. But now we see not yet all things put under him — That is, under man, concerning whom the words were spoken, being connected with verse 4 of the Psalm, What is man? As if the apostle had said, A long space of time hath elapsed since the giving out this testimony, and much longer since the creation of man; and yet, during all these years, or rather, all these ages, we see that all things are very far from being put under man’s feet, from being subjected to the human race in general, or to any individual mere man. Hence, (as if the apostle had added,) we ourselves, by our own observation, may easily discern that these words of the psalmist respect not only, or principally, either the first man or his posterity, under whom certainly all things are not, and never were, put in subjection. But we see Jesus — That is, it is only in Jesus that the psalmist’s testimony is verified; he was made lower than the angels — And he hath had all things put in subjection to him. These things, says the apostle, we see. Yet it was not on his own account that he was made lower than the angels, in being clothed with our frail and mortal nature, but in order that he might suffer death, which is further explained by the addition of the next clause. For the words dia to paqhma tou qanatou, for the suffering of death, are evidently intended to express the final cause of the humiliation of Christ, (he was made lower than the angels, who cannot die, that he might suffer death,) and not the meritorious cause of his exaltation. This, therefore, is the import and natural order of the words: we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour, who was for a little while made lower than the angels, for the suffering of death; that he by the grace of God — By his gracious, free, sovereign purpose, suited to, and arising from, his natural goodness and benignity, mercy and compassion; might taste death — Tasting death, (like seeing death,) is a Hebrew form of expression, signifying really dying, not dying in appearance or pretence, as some of old foolishly taught respecting the death of Christ, which shadow of dying could only have produced a shadow of redemption. The expression may also imply, finding by experience what is in death; Christ knew by experience what bitterness was in that cup of death which is threatened to sinners. He understood and felt it fully. The expression might also be intended to intimate, (as Chrysostom and the ancients thought,) our Lord’s continuing only a short time in the state of the dead, and, of consequence, his conquest over death; for though the phrase be used concerning other persons also, yet as applied to him, the event shows that it was only a thorough taste of it that he had. He neither was nor could be detained under the power of it. For every man — That ever was or will be born into the world, without the exception of any. To die for another, according to the constant use of the expression, imports to die in his room and stead; and this the Jews understood in the use of their sacrifices, where the life of the beast was accepted instead of the life of the sinner. Thus Christ tasted death; he was, by the grace and wisdom of God, substituted as a mediator and surety in the stead of others, of all others; for he gave himself a ransom for all, 1 Timothy 2:6; when all were dead, he died for all, 2 Colossians 5:15.

Ver. 7, 8. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, in his incarnation, in which state angels ministered unto him. The eighth psalm, cited here, confessedly regards the Messiah. What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou shouldst visit him. What is man’s nature that thou shouldst visit him so, that the fulness of the deity should dwell in him. And after his minority and humiliation, and in reward of his obedience, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, hast given him a name above every name, and set him over the works of thy hands. The Messiah is enthroned; let earth and hell tremble, let sinners make haste and prostrate at his feet. In him humiliation and glory are joined, the cross and the crown.

In this luminous psalm, it is very remarkable that instead of malachim, the usual name of angels, we find here Meod Elohim, little less than God, or the Gods. This must refer to the suffering state of Christ on earth; for in regard of his soul, says Erasmus, Christ was not inferior to angels. And though we do not yet see all things put under him, yet in the full blaze of vision we see Jesus, thus humbled by suffering, that through the grace of God he should taste death for every man, or to use the words of Agag, the bitterness of death for every man: pantov for all. The apostle follows here the words of the Hebrew, and the LXX in Isaiah 53:6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

8. Left nothing—The supremacy was complete, leaving no exception, and no rebellion such as sin afterwards produced, and as exists in the now of the following sentence. But now—Since the fall, and before the renovation. Not yet—As will be in the renewal.

5. That lordship assumed that he might suffer for and with our humanity, 9-18.

V. 9. It is done only with regard to Jesus, God-Man, who is now crowned with glory and honour-As a reward for his having suffered death. He was made a little lower than the angels-Who cannot either suffer or die.

That by the grace of God, he might taste death-An expression denoting both the reality of his death, and the shortness of its continuance. For every man-That ever was or will be born into the world.

Verse 9. Should taste death for every man.] In consequence of the fall of Adam, the whole human race became sinful in their nature, and in their practice added transgression to sinfulness of disposition, and thus became exposed to endless perdition. To redeem them Jesus Christ took on him the nature of man, and suffered the penalty due to their sins. It was a custom in ancient times to take off criminals by making them drink a cup of poison. Socrates was adjudged to drink a cup of the juice of hemlock, by order of the Athenian magistrates: pinein to fapmakon, anagkazontwn twn arcontwn. The sentence was one of the most unjust ever pronounced on man. Socrates was not only innocent of every crime laid to his charge, but was the greatest benefactor to his country. He was duly conscious of the iniquity of his sentence, yet cheerfully submitted to his appointed fate; for when the officer brought in the poison, though his friends endeavoured to persuade him that he had yet a considerable time in which he might continue to live, yet, knowing that every purpose of life was now accomplished, he refused to avail himself of a few remaining moments, seized the cup, and drank off the poison with the utmost cheerfulness and alacrity; episcomenov kai mala eucerwv kai eukolwv exepie. Plato, Phæd. sub. fin. The reference in the text seems to point out the whole human race as being accused, tried, found guilty, and condemned, each having his own poisoned cup to drink; and Jesus, the wonderful Jesus, takes the cup out of the hand of each, and chearfully and with alacrity drinks off the dregs! Thus having drunk every man’s poisoned cup, he tasted that death which they must have endured, had not their cup been drunk by another. Is not this the cup to which he refers, Matthew 26:39: O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me? But without his drinking it, the salvation of the world would have been impossible; and therefore he cheerfully drank it in the place of every human soul, and thus made atonement for the sin of the whole world: and this he did, cariti qeou, by the grace, mercy, or infinite goodness of God. Jesus Christ, incarnated, crucified, dying, rising, ascending to heaven, and becoming our Mediator at God’s right hand, is the full proof of God’s infinite love to the human race.

Instead of cariti qeou, by the grace of God, some MSS. and the Syriac have cwriv qeou, without God, or God excepted; i.e. the manhood died, not the Deity. This was probably a marginal gloss, which has crept into the text of many MSS., and is quoted by some of the chief of the Greek and Latin fathers. Several critics contend that the verse should be read thus: “But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made less than angels, that by the grace of God he might taste death for every man, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour.” Howsoever it be taken, the sense is nearly the same: 1. Jesus Christ was incarnated. 2. He suffered death as an expiatory victim. 3. The persons in whose behalf he suffered were the whole human race; every man-all human creatures. 4. This Jesus is now in a state of the highest glory and honour.

Verses 8, 9. Thou hast put all things — All things without exception; in subjection — Upokatw twn podwn autou, under his very feet — Such are the psalmist’s words, expressive of a dominion every way unlimited and absolute. For in that it is said, he put all things under him, he left nothing — That is, nothing is excepted; that is not put under him — But the whole universe and every creature in it is included. But now we see not yet all things put under him — That is, under man, concerning whom the words were spoken, being connected with verse 4 of the Psalm, What is man? As if the apostle had said, A long space of time hath elapsed since the giving out this testimony, and much longer since the creation of man; and yet, during all these years, or rather, all these ages, we see that all things are very far from being put under man’s feet, from being subjected to the human race in general, or to any individual mere man. Hence, (as if the apostle had added,) we ourselves, by our own observation, may easily discern that these words of the psalmist respect not only, or principally, either the first man or his posterity, under whom certainly all things are not, and never were, put in subjection. But we see Jesus — That is, it is only in Jesus that the psalmist’s testimony is verified; he was made lower than the angels — And he hath had all things put in subjection to him. These things, says the apostle, we see. Yet it was not on his own account that he was made lower than the angels, in being clothed with our frail and mortal nature, but in order that he might suffer death, which is further explained by the addition of the next clause. For the words dia to paqhma tou qanatou, for the suffering of death, are evidently intended to express the final cause of the humiliation of Christ, (he was made lower than the angels, who cannot die, that he might suffer death,) and not the meritorious cause of his exaltation. This, therefore, is the import and natural order of the words: we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour, who was for a little while made lower than the angels, for the suffering of death; that he by the grace of God — By his gracious, free, sovereign purpose, suited to, and arising from, his natural goodness and benignity, mercy and compassion; might taste death — Tasting death, (like seeing death,) is a Hebrew form of expression, signifying really dying, not dying in appearance or pretence, as some of old foolishly taught respecting the death of Christ, which shadow of dying could only have produced a shadow of redemption. The expression may also imply, finding by experience what is in death; Christ knew by experience what bitterness was in that cup of death which is threatened to sinners. He understood and felt it fully. The expression might also be intended to intimate, (as Chrysostom and the ancients thought,) our Lord’s continuing only a short time in the state of the dead, and, of consequence, his conquest over death; for though the phrase be used concerning other persons also, yet as applied to him, the event shows that it was only a thorough taste of it that he had. He neither was nor could be detained under the power of it. For every man — That ever was or will be born into the world, without the exception of any. To die for another, according to the constant use of the expression, imports to die in his room and stead; and this the Jews understood in the use of their sacrifices, where the life of the beast was accepted instead of the life of the sinner. Thus Christ tasted death; he was, by the grace and wisdom of God, substituted as a mediator and surety in the stead of others, of all others; for he gave himself a ransom for all, 1 Timothy 2:6; when all were dead, he died for all, 2 Colossians 5:15.

9. We see not yet a full subjection; the psalmist’s ideal description is but imperfectly realized; but we do see the dawn of a better state. We see one Jesus, who, like man, is below the angels, yet crowned with divinity, that he might be the suffering redeemer for every other man. The order of the Greek words is nearly as follows: One, however, a little somewhat lower than angels we do see, (namely,) Jesus, for the sake of the suffering of death, with glory and honour crowned, in order that by grace of God he, in behalf of every man, might taste of death. Alford says here that Jesus is unemphatic, being a mere supply to tell us who is meant by the previous descriptive phrase. On the contrary, the previous descriptive phrase holds the mind in suspense to fall with emphasis on the word Jesus, an emphasis destroyed by our translators’ reversing the order. See note on verse 14. Jesus, the Saviour’s most purely human name, is used because pure humanity, in its earthly state, is being described, in whose line Jesus is presented. The human Jesus is thence the basis of the crowned, which follows; a crowning in view, and with purpose of, his atoning death. He is crowned with glory and honour in a higher sense than primeval man, (verse 7,) by being divinized. In primeval man the blessed Spirit dwelt in elevating power; in the divine man “dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus’s being crowned, as man, with divinity, that is, glory and honour, was in order to render the efficacy of his death extensive to every man. He was human, that he might die; he was divine, that he might redeem. By the grace of God—It was by grace of the Father both to him and to us, that the man Jesus was crowned with divinity that he might efficiently atone. Taste death—Experience death; the experience being expressed by one of our experiential senses. The term taste for experience is frequently used by ancient writers, as taste of labour, taste of bitter grief, taste of liberty. It here suggests, though it does not expressly include, the ideas of the brevity, the reality, and the bitterness of death. Compare Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; John 8:52. For every man—The Greek might be read as neuter, for all, that is, humanity, or the race. But later commentators, as Lunemann, agree that it truly means every man, in order to emphasize the fact that Christ’s death not merely embraces the collective race, but expressly comes in contact upon every individual of the race.

V. 10. In this verse the apostle expresses, in his own words, what he expressed before in those of the Psalmist.

It became him-It was suitable to all his attributes, both to his justice, goodness, and wisdom.

For whom-As their ultimate end.

And by whom-As their first cause.

Are all things, in bringing many adopted sons to glory-To this very thing, that they are sons, and are treated as such,

To perfect the captain-Prince, leader, and author of their salvation, by his atoning sufferings for them. To perfect or consummate implies the bringing him to a full and glorious end of all his troubles, Hebrews 5:9. This consummation by sufferings intimates, 1. the glory of Christ, to whom, being consummated, all things are made subject. 2. The preceding sufferings. Of these he treats expressly, Hebrews 2:11-18; having before spoken of his glory, both to give an edge to his exhortation, and to remove the scandal of sufferings and death. A fuller consideration of both these points he interweaves with the following discourse on his priesthood. But what is here said of our Lord's being made perfect through sufferings, has no relation to our being saved or sanctified by sufferings. Even he himself was perfect, as God and as man, before ever be suffered. By his sufferings, in his life and death, he was made a perfect or complete sin-offering. But unless we were to be made the same sacrifice, and to atone for sin, what is said of him in this respect is as much out of our sphere as his ascension into heaven. It is his atonement, and his Spirit carrying on "the work of faith with power" in our hearts, that alone can sanctify us. Various afflictions indeed may be made subservient to this; and so far as they are blessed to the weaning us from sin, and causing our affections to be set on things above, so far they do indirectly help on our sanctification.

Verse 10. For it became him, &c.—”Such has been the conduct of God in the great affair of our redemption; and the beauty and harmony of it will be apparent in proportion to the degree in which it is examined; for, though the Jews dream of a temporal Messiah as a scheme conducive to the Divine glory, it well became him-it was expedient, that, in order to act worthy of himself, he should take this method; Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things-that glorious Being who is the first cause and last end of all, in pursuit of the great and important design he had formed, of conducting many, whom he is pleased to adopt as his sons, to the possession of that inheritance of glory intended for them, to make and constitute Jesus, his first-begotten and well beloved Son, the Leader and Prince of their salvation, and to make him perfect, or completely fit for the full execution of his office, by a long train of various and extreme sufferings, whereby he was, as it were, solemnly consecrated to it.

Verse 10. In this verse the apostle expresses, in his own words, what he before expressed in those of the psalmist. For it became him — It was suitable to all his attributes, especially to his justice and mercy, his holiness and goodness, his wisdom and truth; for whom — As their ultimate end; and by whom — As their first cause; are all things; in bringing many sons unto glory — Namely, believers, called God’s sons, John 1:12; Romans 8:14; and frequently elsewhere. The clause seems to be an allusion to the introduction of Israel (whom God dignified with the title of his son) into Canaan, which was a type of heaven; called glory, both because God there manifests his presence in a most glorious manner, and because there all his saints are rendered unspeakably glorious; to make the Captain — Archgon, the prince, leader, and author; of their salvation perfect — That is, a complete Saviour; through sufferings — Endured for them. By which sufferings he was consecrated to his office, and qualified to discharge it; expiated men’s sins, obtained for them the Holy Spirit, John 16:7; Acts 2:33; showed them by his example that their way lay through sufferings to glory, and in what spirit they must suffer; learned, as man, to sympathize with, and to succour and support them in their sufferings, verses 17, 18; Hebrews 4:15, 16.

Ver. 10-12. It became him — to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The Son being the author of the great salvation, it pleased the Father to try and prove him, to bruise him and put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin, as the medium by which to bring many sons to glory, numerous as the drops of morning dew, who are to be reconciled to God by his death and passion. And for this glorious cause, having assumed their nature, he is not ashamed to call them brethren. And having once washed and purified them, and given them power to become the sons of God, he says with joy to the Father, — I will declare thy name unto my brethren. What grace and mercy, what honour to sinners! What a moment was that, when the trembling sons of Jacob heard that voice, — I am Joseph your brother. Aye, a voice to brothers too, who had hated and sold him for a paltry price.

The sacred writer says, it became him, by whom and for whom are all things, to save sinners through the sufferings of Christ, as a vicarious sacrifice, such a substitution providing a medium for the honourable exercise of mercy, so that now he can be a just God and yet the Saviour, and declare his righteousness in the very act of pardoning mercy. Romans 3:25. All the claims of the law are fully satisfied by the sufferings and death of Christ, the law itself is magnified and made honourable by his obedience, and the Lord hath received at his hands double for all our sins. But if “it became” the supreme Lawgiver thus to provide for the justification of his righteous government, thus to display the unsearchable riches of his grace, if it was infinitely worthy of himself, and tended most of all to illustrate the glory of his perfections, then with the deepest reverence be it said, it would not have become Him for whom are all things to have contemplated the salvation of the world in any other way. Who then shall dare to impugn this unsearchable wisdom, or presume on the hope of mercy without the intervention of a mediator, or without a sacrifice sufficient for the expiation of human guilt.

10. It became him—It was suitable to the wisdom and goodness of God, who saw that the sufferings of one Son were the truest method and condition for bringing many sons unto glory. This becomingness of the suffering Messiah, our author adduces to convince and console those wavering Hebrews who desired a glorious, but disliked a crucified, Saviour. For whom… by whom… all—The author of our salvation is the author and proprietor of all. No method but that which became him— which was worthy of his dignity as God of the universe—could be adopted. Many sons—Who might be all the race, every man, if every man would consent. The divine idea, the brotherhood of Christ, extends to every man. The failure is not upon the part of God, but of man. Note on Ephesians 1:10. Captain—Rendered in Acts 3:15, prince. The word signifies doubly an author or originator, and a military leader. It here includes both, and especially the latter, as presenting the image of Christ leading many unto glory. Perfect—Fitted and completed perfectly as the great leader of salvation. Through sufferings—So far from being a ground of misgiving, O ye tremulous Hebrews, the sufferings of our Captain are requisite in order to his perfect fitness and success in his divine enterprise. And let all sufferers know, throughout this suffering world, that as he was glorified through suffering, so our sufferings are glorified through him. Happy for us if our sufferings make us perfect as brethren of the Son. For this is the true mission of sorrow—to solidify our virtues by trial, to deepen our characters by solemn experiences.

V. 11. For-They are nearly related to each other. He that sanctifieth-Christ, Hebrews 13:12. And all they that are sanctified-That are brought to God; that draw near or come to him, which are synonymous terms. Are all of one-Partakers of one nature, from one parent, Adam.

Verse

11. Now, in consequence of this appointment, Jesus, the great Sanctifier, who engages and consecrates men to the service of God, and they who are sanctified, (i.e. consecrated and introduced to God with such acceptance,) are all of one family-all the descendants of Adam, and in a sense the seed of Abraham; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them, whom he thus redeems, and presents to the Divine favour, his brethren.

Verses 11-13. For — As if he had said, And it appears that it was meet that Christ should suffer, because, having the same nature with us, it was necessary he should thus be made like us, who must suffer before we can reign; both he that sanctifieth — That washes men from their sins in his blood, renews them in the spirit of their minds, and consecrates them unto God; and they who are sanctified — Who are renewed and dedicated to God; are all of one — Of one nature, from one parent, Adam; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them — Whom he thus sanctifies and saves; brethren — He reckons it no disparagement to him, though in respect of his divine nature he is infinitely above them, to acknowledge and deal with them as his brethren; saying, (Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22,) to his Father, When I appear in the human nature on the earth, I will declare thy name — Thy perfections, and especially thy grace and mercy in sending me into the world; unto my brethren — Of mankind; in the midst of the church — Publicly among the people of God; will I sing praise unto thee — As the precentor of the choir. This he did literally in the midst of his apostles, on the night before his passion. And in a more general sense, as the expression means setting forth the praise of God, he has done it in the church by his word and Spirit in all ages; and he still does, and will do it throughout all generations. It is well known that the 22d Psalm, from which this passage is cited, is a prophetic description of the sufferings of Christ, the apostles and evangelists having applied many passages of it to him. Also by repeating the first words of it from the cross, our Lord appropriated the whole of it to himself. The ancient Jewish doctors likewise interpreted this Psalm of the Messiah. And again — (Psalms 18:2Psalm 18:2,) as one that has communion with his brethren in sufferings, as well as in nature, he says; I will put my trust in him — To support me under, and carry me through them all. Hereby the apostle proves that Christ had the same affections, and consequently the same nature with believers. For had he been God only, or the Son merely in his original state, he could not have been brought into such a condition as required dependance upon another; neither is the nature of angels exposed to such dangers or troubles, as render it necessary for them to have recourse to God for support, protection, and consolation. And again — Isaiah 8:18, (where see the note,) when he says; Behold I and the children which God hath given me — He makes a like acknowledgment of his near relation to them, and of his being of the same nature with them, parents being of the same nature with their children. The opposers of Christianity affirm, that the prophecy from which this is taken doth not relate to the Messiah, and that in applying it to Jesus, the writer of this epistle hath erred; and from this they infer that he was not inspired. But, in answer, be it observed, that the application of this prophecy to Christ doth not rest on this writer’s testimony alone. The 14th verse of the prophecy is applied to him both by Paul, (Romans 9:33,) and by Peter, (1 Peter 2:6, 8,) and by Simeon, (Luke 2:34;) nay, our Lord has applied the 15th verse to himself, Matthew 21:44. So that if the writer of this epistle hath erred in the application of that prophecy, all the others have erred in the same manner. But that they have not, is sufficiently shown in the notes on the passages referred to.

Ver. 10-12. It became him — to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The Son being the author of the great salvation, it pleased the Father to try and prove him, to bruise him and put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin, as the medium by which to bring many sons to glory, numerous as the drops of morning dew, who are to be reconciled to God by his death and passion. And for this glorious cause, having assumed their nature, he is not ashamed to call them brethren. And having once washed and purified them, and given them power to become the sons of God, he says with joy to the Father, — I will declare thy name unto my brethren. What grace and mercy, what honour to sinners! What a moment was that, when the trembling sons of Jacob heard that voice, — I am Joseph your brother. Aye, a voice to brothers too, who had hated and sold him for a paltry price.

The sacred writer says, it became him, by whom and for whom are all things, to save sinners through the sufferings of Christ, as a vicarious sacrifice, such a substitution providing a medium for the honourable exercise of mercy, so that now he can be a just God and yet the Saviour, and declare his righteousness in the very act of pardoning mercy. Romans 3:25. All the claims of the law are fully satisfied by the sufferings and death of Christ, the law itself is magnified and made honourable by his obedience, and the Lord hath received at his hands double for all our sins. But if “it became” the supreme Lawgiver thus to provide for the justification of his righteous government, thus to display the unsearchable riches of his grace, if it was infinitely worthy of himself, and tended most of all to illustrate the glory of his perfections, then with the deepest reverence be it said, it would not have become Him for whom are all things to have contemplated the salvation of the world in any other way. Who then shall dare to impugn this unsearchable wisdom, or presume on the hope of mercy without the intervention of a mediator, or without a sacrifice sufficient for the expiation of human guilt.

11. For—Reason for this becomingness of Jesus sufferings; based upon the need of his identification with his brethren. They who are sanctified—Are being sanctified; the present tense of the Greek participle implying a now continuous process, carried on unto the final glorification. Hence Christians are all, more or less perfectly, “saints.” According to Hebrews 10:10, 14, this is wrought through the efficacy of Christ’s death. But the Greek word for sanctify, here, should not therefore be rendered (as by Stuart and others) expiate. All of one—The English, here, would suggest race, or nature, to be added; but the Greek word for one is masculine, and requires father, or God. This brings us to the same essential meaning as lineage, or race. Jesus is a true man, in order that as man brought sin and death, so a man should bring holiness and life. And still more, by being man he is brother with us, enabled by his humanity to sympathize with us, and by his divinity to so rise as that we may be raised as one with him to the heights of glory. Not ashamed—For it is by a most wonderful and divine condescension that the divine Son becomes with us a human son. Brethren—Thereby we become brother to the God-man.

V. 12. I will declare thy name to my brethren-Christ declares the name of God, gracious and merciful, plenteous in goodness and truth, to all who believe, that they also may praise him.

In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee-As the precentor of the choir. This he did literally, in the midst of his apostles, on the night before his passion. And as it means, in a more general sense, setting forth the praise of God, he has done it in the church by his word and his Spirit; he still does, and will do it throughout all generations. Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22.

Verse 12.

Saying, in the person of David, who represented the Messiah in his sufferings and exaltation, I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church will I praise thee.

Verses 11-13. For — As if he had said, And it appears that it was meet that Christ should suffer, because, having the same nature with us, it was necessary he should thus be made like us, who must suffer before we can reign; both he that sanctifieth — That washes men from their sins in his blood, renews them in the spirit of their minds, and consecrates them unto God; and they who are sanctified — Who are renewed and dedicated to God; are all of one — Of one nature, from one parent, Adam; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them — Whom he thus sanctifies and saves; brethren — He reckons it no disparagement to him, though in respect of his divine nature he is infinitely above them, to acknowledge and deal with them as his brethren; saying, (Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22,) to his Father, When I appear in the human nature on the earth, I will declare thy name — Thy perfections, and especially thy grace and mercy in sending me into the world; unto my brethren — Of mankind; in the midst of the church — Publicly among the people of God; will I sing praise unto thee — As the precentor of the choir. This he did literally in the midst of his apostles, on the night before his passion. And in a more general sense, as the expression means setting forth the praise of God, he has done it in the church by his word and Spirit in all ages; and he still does, and will do it throughout all generations. It is well known that the 22d Psalm, from which this passage is cited, is a prophetic description of the sufferings of Christ, the apostles and evangelists having applied many passages of it to him. Also by repeating the first words of it from the cross, our Lord appropriated the whole of it to himself. The ancient Jewish doctors likewise interpreted this Psalm of the Messiah. And again — (Psalms 18:2Psalm 18:2,) as one that has communion with his brethren in sufferings, as well as in nature, he says; I will put my trust in him — To support me under, and carry me through them all. Hereby the apostle proves that Christ had the same affections, and consequently the same nature with believers. For had he been God only, or the Son merely in his original state, he could not have been brought into such a condition as required dependance upon another; neither is the nature of angels exposed to such dangers or troubles, as render it necessary for them to have recourse to God for support, protection, and consolation. And again — Isaiah 8:18, (where see the note,) when he says; Behold I and the children which God hath given me — He makes a like acknowledgment of his near relation to them, and of his being of the same nature with them, parents being of the same nature with their children. The opposers of Christianity affirm, that the prophecy from which this is taken doth not relate to the Messiah, and that in applying it to Jesus, the writer of this epistle hath erred; and from this they infer that he was not inspired. But, in answer, be it observed, that the application of this prophecy to Christ doth not rest on this writer’s testimony alone. The 14th verse of the prophecy is applied to him both by Paul, (Romans 9:33,) and by Peter, (1 Peter 2:6, 8,) and by Simeon, (Luke 2:34;) nay, our Lord has applied the 15th verse to himself, Matthew 21:44. So that if the writer of this epistle hath erred in the application of that prophecy, all the others have erred in the same manner. But that they have not, is sufficiently shown in the notes on the passages referred to.

Ver. 10-12. It became him — to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The Son being the author of the great salvation, it pleased the Father to try and prove him, to bruise him and put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin, as the medium by which to bring many sons to glory, numerous as the drops of morning dew, who are to be reconciled to God by his death and passion. And for this glorious cause, having assumed their nature, he is not ashamed to call them brethren. And having once washed and purified them, and given them power to become the sons of God, he says with joy to the Father, — I will declare thy name unto my brethren. What grace and mercy, what honour to sinners! What a moment was that, when the trembling sons of Jacob heard that voice, — I am Joseph your brother. Aye, a voice to brothers too, who had hated and sold him for a paltry price.

The sacred writer says, it became him, by whom and for whom are all things, to save sinners through the sufferings of Christ, as a vicarious sacrifice, such a substitution providing a medium for the honourable exercise of mercy, so that now he can be a just God and yet the Saviour, and declare his righteousness in the very act of pardoning mercy. Romans 3:25. All the claims of the law are fully satisfied by the sufferings and death of Christ, the law itself is magnified and made honourable by his obedience, and the Lord hath received at his hands double for all our sins. But if “it became” the supreme Lawgiver thus to provide for the justification of his righteous government, thus to display the unsearchable riches of his grace, if it was infinitely worthy of himself, and tended most of all to illustrate the glory of his perfections, then with the deepest reverence be it said, it would not have become Him for whom are all things to have contemplated the salvation of the world in any other way. Who then shall dare to impugn this unsearchable wisdom, or presume on the hope of mercy without the intervention of a mediator, or without a sacrifice sufficient for the expiation of human guilt.

12. Saying—Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22, where see note. The I refers to the Messiah, this being held by the Jewish Church as a Messianic psalm. My brethren—Those whose nature he had assumed, and renewed by redemption.

V. 13. And again-As one that has communion with his brethren in sufferings, as well as in nature, he says,

I will put my trust in him-To carry me through them all. And again-With a like acknowledgment of his near relation to them, as younger brethren, who were yet but in their childhood, he presents all believers to God, saying, Behold I and the children whom thou hast given me. Isaiah 8:17, 18

Verse 13. And again, speaking as a

mortal man, exposed to such exercises of faith in trials and difficulties as others were, he says, in a psalm which sets forth his triumph over his enemies: I will trust in him, as other good men have done in all ages; and again, elsewhere in the person of Isaiah: Behold I, and the children which my God hath given me, are for signs and for wonders.

Verses 11-13. For — As if he had said, And it appears that it was meet that Christ should suffer, because, having the same nature with us, it was necessary he should thus be made like us, who must suffer before we can reign; both he that sanctifieth — That washes men from their sins in his blood, renews them in the spirit of their minds, and consecrates them unto God; and they who are sanctified — Who are renewed and dedicated to God; are all of one — Of one nature, from one parent, Adam; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them — Whom he thus sanctifies and saves; brethren — He reckons it no disparagement to him, though in respect of his divine nature he is infinitely above them, to acknowledge and deal with them as his brethren; saying, (Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22,) to his Father, When I appear in the human nature on the earth, I will declare thy name — Thy perfections, and especially thy grace and mercy in sending me into the world; unto my brethren — Of mankind; in the midst of the church — Publicly among the people of God; will I sing praise unto thee — As the precentor of the choir. This he did literally in the midst of his apostles, on the night before his passion. And in a more general sense, as the expression means setting forth the praise of God, he has done it in the church by his word and Spirit in all ages; and he still does, and will do it throughout all generations. It is well known that the 22d Psalm, from which this passage is cited, is a prophetic description of the sufferings of Christ, the apostles and evangelists having applied many passages of it to him. Also by repeating the first words of it from the cross, our Lord appropriated the whole of it to himself. The ancient Jewish doctors likewise interpreted this Psalm of the Messiah. And again — (Psalms 18:2Psalm 18:2,) as one that has communion with his brethren in sufferings, as well as in nature, he says; I will put my trust in him — To support me under, and carry me through them all. Hereby the apostle proves that Christ had the same affections, and consequently the same nature with believers. For had he been God only, or the Son merely in his original state, he could not have been brought into such a condition as required dependance upon another; neither is the nature of angels exposed to such dangers or troubles, as render it necessary for them to have recourse to God for support, protection, and consolation. And again — Isaiah 8:18, (where see the note,) when he says; Behold I and the children which God hath given me — He makes a like acknowledgment of his near relation to them, and of his being of the same nature with them, parents being of the same nature with their children. The opposers of Christianity affirm, that the prophecy from which this is taken doth not relate to the Messiah, and that in applying it to Jesus, the writer of this epistle hath erred; and from this they infer that he was not inspired. But, in answer, be it observed, that the application of this prophecy to Christ doth not rest on this writer’s testimony alone. The 14th verse of the prophecy is applied to him both by Paul, (Romans 9:33,) and by Peter, (1 Peter 2:6, 8,) and by Simeon, (Luke 2:34;) nay, our Lord has applied the 15th verse to himself, Matthew 21:44. So that if the writer of this epistle hath erred in the application of that prophecy, all the others have erred in the same manner. But that they have not, is sufficiently shown in the notes on the passages referred to.

13. And again—Isaiah 8:17. The words in our English version are, “I will wait upon the Lord;” but in the Septuagint Greek they are as here quoted verbatim. The I is here applied to Christ. The passage can hardly be considered as Messianic in Isaiah. Words applied by the prophet to himself as a man, are here as a man applied to Christ. The same words, I will put my trust in him, are found in the Greek of the Septuagint of 2 Samuel 22:3, with which similar words in Psalms 18:3Psalm 18:3 closely correspond. But the reference here is, doubtless, to Isaiah’s words. And again—Quoted from Isaiah’s next verse. Both quotations imply that the same Christ trusted, like his brethren, in God, and that he presented the children of God, by God to him given, before the God who had given them. They were not Christ’s children, but God’s, and Christ’s brethren.

V. 14. Since then these children partake of flesh and blood-Of human nature with all its infirmities. He also in like manner took part of the same; that through his own death he might destroy the tyranny of him that had, by God's permission, the power of death with regard to the ungodly. Death is the devil's servant and serjeant, delivering to him those whom he seizes in sin.

That is, the devil-The power was manifest to all; but who exerted it, they saw not.

Verse 14. Seeing

then those whom he represents in one place and another, as the children of the same family with himself, were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself in like manner participated in them, that thereby becoming capable of those sufferings to which, without such a union with flesh, this Divine Sanctifier could not have been obnoxious, he might, by his own voluntary and meritorious death, abolish and depose him who, by Divine permission, had the empire of death, and led it in his train when he made the first invasion on mankind; that is, the devil, the great artificer of mischief and destruction; at the beginning the murderer of the human race; who still seems to triumph in the spread of mortality, which is his work, and who may often, by God’s permission, be the executioner of it.

Verses 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children — Believers, who are Christ’s spiritual seed; are partakers of flesh and blood — Of human nature with all its infirmities; he also took part of the same — See on <502308> Philippians 2:8; that through his own death, he might destroy the tyranny of him that had — By God’s permission; the power of death — The power of bringing death on all mankind by tempting our first parents to sin. Hence he is called a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, and the father of it, John 8:41. It is observable that the power of death, ascribed to the devil, is called kratov, and not exousia, because he had no right to it. It was a power usurped by guile. And all the baneful effects of this power Christ at the resurrection will remove, as far as they relate to the righteous. The word katarghsh, rendered that he might destroy, properly signifies, that he might render ineffectual. “Since the Son of God is said to have partaken of the flesh and blood of the children in the same manner that they themselves partake of these, namely, by being born of a woman; and since he was born into the world in that manner, to render him capable of dying, that through his death in the flesh he might frustrate the malicious contrivance of the devil, who first introduced death into the world; we are thereby taught that he is the seed of the woman, which at the fall was promised to bruise the head of the serpent; and that the serpent who deceived Eve was not a natural serpent, but the devil, who, because he assumed the form of a serpent on that occasion, is called (Revelation 20:2) the great dragon, or serpent; and that old serpent, the devil. See on 2 Corinthians 11:3. The intention of the devil, in seducing our first parents, was to destroy them, and thereby put an end to the human species. This malicious design the Son of God rendered ineffectual, by assuming our nature, and in that nature dying as a sacrifice for sin.” — Macknight. And — By his death making atonement for their sins, and procuring for them pardon and holiness; that is, both justification and sanctification, both a title to heaven and a meetness for it, and also an earnest of it by the Holy Spirit in their hearts, he delivers them — Even all who are made God’s children by faith in him; who — Before they received this deliverance; were all their life-time, through tormenting fear of death, subject to bondage — In a slavish uncomfortable state of mind. And every man fears death, more or less, who is not savingly acquainted with, and united to Christ; who is not justified through faith in his blood, and regenerated by the influence of his Spirit, and therefore is not begotten again to a lively hope of a heavenly inheritance. Death is unwelcome to him if he knows what death is. But he delivers all true believers from this bondage.

Ver. 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. The assumption of our nature was voluntary, which it could not have been but for his preëxistence, but “he took” our mortal flesh, that by dying he might in the end of time, after the unfolding of human generations, abolish death. By taking the sons of God for his own family, he also expelled the usurper, who exercised the power of death, that is, the devil. Thus by holiness, the Sanctifier and the sanctified being one, he delivered those who through fear of death, occasioned by sin, were all their lifetime subject to bondage and legal fears. Here we have the full assurance of hope, that he who has claimed kindred with us in this state of humiliation, will not forsake us in the hour of death, but will perfect his work in bringing us to glory, and to that eternal inheritance of which Canaan was a figure.

14. Forasmuch then—This inference reverts back to close of verse 11, in support of which 12 and 13 are citations. This verse reasserts the main thought, which beautifully interprets, to the dubious Christian Jew, the glory of the condescension of the eternal Son, the divine Logos, in assuming our nature that he might be capable of death. Flesh and blood—Note, 1 Corinthians 15:50. The true reading is, blood and flesh, in which the blood, as the more immediate residence of the life and soul, is mentioned first. Both blood and flesh mean the bodily nature as impregnated with sensitivity and susceptibility to impressions, shared by both man and lower animals, whereby it becomes the basis of soul and spirit in man. This assumption of a sensitive body was in order that he might be capable of human death, and might, through death, destroy the author of death. Destroy—The Greek word is used, as Alford says, twenty-five times by St. Paul. It often signifies, to put out of existence, (as Romans 6:6, 1 Corinthians 15:24,) and hence this might be a favourite text with those who believe in the annihilation of the devil. But it also signifies to ruin, to bring to naught, to despoil, as Luke 13:7, Romans 3:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, where see note. The Apocryphal Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs uses the word in the phrase, “He shall destroy Belial and those serving him.” Had the power of death—Christ (Revelation 1:18) has the “keys of hell and of death,” that is, to deliver and bring forth to a resurrection; Satan has the power, through sin, of introducing death. Hence he was a murderer from the beginning. The rabbies carried this idea so far as to teach that Samael was the angel of death, inflicting it whenever a man dies. The antithesis, through death… destroy… death, strikingly expresses the work of the dying Redeemer. And not until this antithesis is completed are we brought in the sentence, with closing emphasis, to the name of the murderer—the devil. See note on verse 9.

V. 15. And deliver them, as many as through fear of death were all their lifetime, till then, subject to bondage-Every man who fears death is subject to bondage; is in a slavish, uncomfortable state. And every man fears death, more or less, who knows not Christ: death is unwelcome to him, if he knows what death is. But he delivers all true believers from this bondage.

Verse 15. But

Christ, the great Prince of mercy and life, graciously interposed, that he might deliver those miserable captives of Satan-mankind in general, and the dark and idolatrous Gentiles in particular, who, through fear of death, were, or justly might have been, all their lifetime, obnoxious to bondage; having nothing to expect in consequence of it, if they rightly understood their state, but future misery; whereas now, changing their lord, they have happily changed their condition, and are, as many as have believed in him, the heirs of eternal life.”

Verse 11. For both he that sanctifieth] The word o agiazwn does not merely signify one who sanctifies or makes holy, but one who makes atonement or reconciliation to God; and answers to the Hebrew rpk caphar, to expiate. See Exodus 29:33-36. He that sanctifies is he that makes atonement; and they who are sanctified are they who receive that atonement, and, being reconciled unto God, become his children by adoption, through grace.

In this sense our Lord uses the word, John 17:19: For their sakes I sanctify myself; uper autwn egw agiazw emauton, on their account I consecrate myself to be a sacrifice. This is the sense in which this word is used generally through this epistle.

Are all of one] ex enov pantev. What this one means has given rise to various conjectures; father, family, blood, seed, race, nature, have all been substituted; nature seems to be that intended, see Hebrews 2:14; and the conclusion of this verse confirms it. Both the Sanctifier and the sanctified-both Christ and his followers, are all of the same nature; for as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, i.e. of human nature, he partook of the same, and thus he was qualified to become a sacrifice for man.

He is not ashamed to call them brethren] Though, as to his Godhead, he is infinitely raised above men and angels; yet as he has become incarnate, notwithstanding his dignity, he blushes not to acknowledge all his true followers as his brethren.

Verse 12. I will declare thy name] See Psalms 22:22Psalm 22:22. The apostle certainly quotes this psalm as referring to Jesus Christ, and these words as spoken by Christ unto the Father, in reference to his incarnation; as if he had said: “When I shall be incarnated, I will declare thy perfections to mankind; and among my disciples I will give glory to thee for thy mercy to the children of men.” See the fulfilment of this, John 1:18: No man hath seen God at any time; the ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, which is in the bosom of the Father, HE HATH DECLARED HIM. Nor were the perfections of God ever properly known or declared, till the manifestation of Christ. Hear another scripture, Luke 10:21, 22: In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, &c. Thus he gave praise to God.

Verse 13. I will put my trust in him.] It is not clear to what express place of Scripture the apostle refers: words to this effect frequently occur; but the place most probably is Psalms 18:2Psalm 18:2, several parts of which psalm seem to belong to the Messiah.

Behold I and the children which God hath given me.] This is taken from Isaiah 8:18. The apostle does not intend to say that the portions which he has quoted have any particular reference, taken by themselves, to the subject in question; they are only catch-words of whole paragraphs, which, taken together, are full to the point; because they are prophecies of the Messiah, and are fulfilled in him. This is evident from the last quotation: Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel. Jesus and his disciples wrought a multitude of the most stupendous signs and wonders in Israel. The expression also may include all genuine Christians; they are for signs and wonders throughout the earth. And as to the 18th Psalm, the principal part of it seems to refer to Christ’s sufferings; but the miracles which were wrought at his crucifixion, the destruction of the Jewish state and polity, the calling of the Gentiles, and the establishment of the Christian Church, appear also to be intended. See among others the following passages: SUFFERINGS-The sorrows of death compassed me-in my distress I called upon the Lord. MIRACLES at the crucifixion-The earth shook and trembled-and darkness was under his feet. DESTRUCTION of the Jewish state-I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them; they are fallen under my feet. CALLING of the GENTILES-Thou hast made me head of the heathen; a people whom I have never known shall serve me; as soon as they hear of me-they shall obey me, &c., &c. A principal design of the apostle is to show that such scriptures are prophecies of the Messiah; that they plainly refer to his appearing in the flesh in Israel; and that they have all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles to the privileges of the Gospel. To establish these points was of great importance. Verse 14. The children are partakers of flesh and blood] Since those children of God, who have fallen and are to be redeemed, are human beings; in order to be qualified to redeem them by suffering and dying in their stead, He himself likewise took part of the same-he became incarnate; and thus he who was God with God, became man with men. By the children here we are to understand, not only the disciples and all genuine Christians, as in Hebrews 2:13, but also the whole human race; all Jews and all Gentiles; so John 11:51, 52: He prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but also that he should gather together in one the CHILDREN of GOD that were scattered abroad; meaning, probably, all the Jews in every part of the earth. But collate this with 1 John 2:2, where: the evangelist explains the former words: He is the propitiation for our sins, (the Jews,) and not for ours only, but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD. As the apostle was writing to the Hebrews only, he in general uses a Jewish phraseology, pointing out to them their own privileges; and rarely introduces the Gentiles, or what the Messiah has done for the other nations of the earth.

That through death] That by the merit of his own death, making atonement for sin, and procuring the almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, he might counterwork katarghsh, or render useless and ineffectual, all the operations of him who had the power, kratov, or influence, to bring death into the world; so that death, which was intended by him who was a murderer from the beginning to be the final ruin of mankind, becomes the instrument of their exaltation and endless glory; and thus the death brought in by Satan is counterworked and rendered ineffectual by the death of Christ.

Him that had the power of death] This is spoken in conformity to an opinion prevalent among the Jews, that there was a certain fallen angel who was called twmh Ëalm malak hammaveth, the angel of death; i.e. one who had the power of separating the soul from the body, when God decreed that the person should die. There were two of these, according to some of the Jewish writers: one was the angel of death to the Gentiles; the other, to the Jews. Thus Tob haarets, fol. 31: “There are two angels which preside over death: one is over those who die out of the land of Israel, and his name is Sammael; the other is he who presides over those who die in the land of Israel, and this is Gabriel.” Sammael is a common name for the devil among the Jews; and there is a tradition among them, delivered by the author of Pesikta rabbetha in Yalcut Simeoni, par. 2, f. 56, that the angel of death should be destroyed by the Messiah! “Satan said to the holy blessed God: Lord of the world, show me the Messiah. The Lord answered: Come and see him. And when he had seen him he was terrified, and his countenance fell, and he said: Most certainly this is the Messiah who shall cast me and all the nations into hell, as it is written Isaiah 25:8, The Lord shall swallow up death for ever.” This is a very remarkable saying, and the apostle shows that it is true, for the Messiah came to destroy him who had the power of death. Dr. Owen has made some collections on this head from other Jewish writers which tend to illustrate this verse; they may he seen in his comment, vol. i., p. 456, 8vo. edition. Verse 15. And deliver them who through fear of death] It is very likely that the apostle has the Gentiles here principally in view. As they had no revelation, and no certainty of immortality, they were continually in bondage to the fear of death. They preferred life in any state, with the most grievous evils, to death, because they had no hope beyond the grave. But it is also true that all men naturally fear death; even those that have the fullest persuasion and certainty of a future state dread it: genuine Christians, who know that, if the earthly house of their tabernacle were dissolved, they have a house not made with hands, a building framed of God, eternal in the heavens, only they fear it not. In the assurance they have of God’s love, the fear of death is removed; and by the purification of their hearts through faith, the sting of death is extracted. The people who know not God are in continual torment through the fear of death, and they fear death because they fear something beyond death. They are conscious to themselves that they are wicked, and they are afraid of God, and terrified at the thought of eternity. By these fears thousands of sinful, miserable creatures are prevented from hurrying themselves into the unknown world. This is finely expressed by the poet:—

“To die,—to sleep,—

No more:—and, by a sleep, to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die,—to sleep,—

To sleep!—perchance to dream;—ay, there’s the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause:--There’s the respect

That makes calamity of so long life:

For who could bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear

To grunt and sweat under a weary life;

But that the dread of something after death,—

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

No traveller returns,—puzzles the will;

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;

And enterprises of great pith and moment,

With this regard, their currents turn awry

And lose the name of action.”

I give this long quotation from a poet who was well acquainted with all the workings of the human heart; and one who could not have described scenes of distress and anguish of mind so well, had he not passed through them.

Verses 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children — Believers, who are Christ’s spiritual seed; are partakers of flesh and blood — Of human nature with all its infirmities; he also took part of the same — See on <502308> Philippians 2:8; that through his own death, he might destroy the tyranny of him that had — By God’s permission; the power of death — The power of bringing death on all mankind by tempting our first parents to sin. Hence he is called a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, and the father of it, John 8:41. It is observable that the power of death, ascribed to the devil, is called kratov, and not exousia, because he had no right to it. It was a power usurped by guile. And all the baneful effects of this power Christ at the resurrection will remove, as far as they relate to the righteous. The word katarghsh, rendered that he might destroy, properly signifies, that he might render ineffectual. “Since the Son of God is said to have partaken of the flesh and blood of the children in the same manner that they themselves partake of these, namely, by being born of a woman; and since he was born into the world in that manner, to render him capable of dying, that through his death in the flesh he might frustrate the malicious contrivance of the devil, who first introduced death into the world; we are thereby taught that he is the seed of the woman, which at the fall was promised to bruise the head of the serpent; and that the serpent who deceived Eve was not a natural serpent, but the devil, who, because he assumed the form of a serpent on that occasion, is called (Revelation 20:2) the great dragon, or serpent; and that old serpent, the devil. See on 2 Corinthians 11:3. The intention of the devil, in seducing our first parents, was to destroy them, and thereby put an end to the human species. This malicious design the Son of God rendered ineffectual, by assuming our nature, and in that nature dying as a sacrifice for sin.” — Macknight. And — By his death making atonement for their sins, and procuring for them pardon and holiness; that is, both justification and sanctification, both a title to heaven and a meetness for it, and also an earnest of it by the Holy Spirit in their hearts, he delivers them — Even all who are made God’s children by faith in him; who — Before they received this deliverance; were all their life-time, through tormenting fear of death, subject to bondage — In a slavish uncomfortable state of mind. And every man fears death, more or less, who is not savingly acquainted with, and united to Christ; who is not justified through faith in his blood, and regenerated by the influence of his Spirit, and therefore is not begotten again to a lively hope of a heavenly inheritance. Death is unwelcome to him if he knows what death is. But he delivers all true believers from this bondage.

Ver. 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. The assumption of our nature was voluntary, which it could not have been but for his preëxistence, but “he took” our mortal flesh, that by dying he might in the end of time, after the unfolding of human generations, abolish death. By taking the sons of God for his own family, he also expelled the usurper, who exercised the power of death, that is, the devil. Thus by holiness, the Sanctifier and the sanctified being one, he delivered those who through fear of death, occasioned by sin, were all their lifetime subject to bondage and legal fears. Here we have the full assurance of hope, that he who has claimed kindred with us in this state of humiliation, will not forsake us in the hour of death, but will perfect his work in bringing us to glory, and to that eternal inheritance of which Canaan was a figure.

15. The destruction of the destroyer is a final act. Revelation 20:10. But there is an earlier process of deliverance in progress. It is a deliverance even now from that bondage caused by the fear of death. But for sin and Satan men would have passed through the immortalizing “change,” (see note on 1 Corinthians 15:51,) like Enoch and Elijah, without pain or fear. But death is now the king of terrors. To the atheist and the skeptic death is an endless night; to the heathen a land of shadows; to the sinner a vista of woe. It is Christ who in death has conquered death, and has opened to the believer’s faith the blessed vision of life and immortality. Hence the saints of God have found their death beds scenes of joy and triumph, and have left many a precious testimony of their deliverance from fear.

V. 16. For verily he taketh not hold of angels-He does not take their nature upon him.

But he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham-He takes human nature upon him. St. Paul says the seed of Abraham, rather than the seed of Adam, because to Abraham was the promise made.

Verse 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels] ou gar dhpou aggelwn epilambanetai, alla spermatov abraam

epilambanetai. Moreover, he doth not at all take hold of angels; but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. This is the marginal reading, and is greatly to be preferred to that in the text Jesus Christ, intending not to redeem angels, but to redeem man, did not assume the angelic nature, but was made man, coming directly by the seed or posterity of Abraham, with whom the original covenant was made, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; and it is on this account that the apostle mentioned the seed of Abraham, and not the seed of Adam; and it is strange that to many commentators should have missed so obvious a sense. The word itself signifies not only to take hold of, but to help, succour, save from sinking, &c. The rebel angels, who sinned and fell from God, were permitted to fall downe, alle downe, as one of our old writers expresses it, till they fell into perdition: man sinned and fell, and was falling downe, alle downe, but Jesus laid hold on him and prevented him from falling into endless perdition. Thus he seized on the falling human creature, and prevented him from falling into the bottomless pit; but he did not seize on the falling angels, and they fell down into outer darkness. By assuming the nature of man, he prevented this final and irrecoverable fall of man; and by making an atonement in human nature, he made a provision for its restoration to its forfeited blessedness. This is a fine thought of the apostle, and is beautifully expressed. Man was falling from heaven, and Jesus caught hold of the falling creature, and prevented its endless ruin. In this respect he prefers men to angels, and probably for this simple reason, that the human nature was more excellent than the angelic; and it is suitable to the wisdom of the Divine Being to regard all the works of his hands in proportion to the dignity or excellence with which he has endowed them.

Verse 16. For verily he took not on him — Greek, ou gar aggelwn epilambanetai, he took, or taketh, not hold of angels, to save them from the abyss of misery into which they are fallen, as not taking their nature upon him; but he took, or taketh, hold of the seed of Abraham — And hath made a gracious provision for the salvation of all who shall by true faith approve themselves the genuine children of that holy patriarch. The apostle says, the seed of Abraham, rather than the seed of Adam, because to Abraham was the promise made. “If the sin of the angels, who, as Jude tells us, (verse 6,) kept not their own office, consisted in their aspiring after higher stations and offices than those originally allotted to them by God, as Jude’s expression intimates, we can see a reason why the Son of God did not take hold of them to save them, but took hold of the seed of Abraham; that is, of believers of the human species. The first parents of mankind sinned through weakness of nature and inexperience, and by their lapse brought death on themselves and on their posterity, notwithstanding their posterity were not accessory to their offence. Whereas the angels, through discontentment with their own condition, and envy of their superiors, perhaps also animated by pride, rebelled presumptuously against God. Wherefore, since they could not plead weakness of nature and inexperience in excuse of their sin, nor complain that the sin for which they were doomed to punishment was the act of another, they were justly left by the Son of God to perish in their sin.” — Macknight.

16. Took not on him—This verb signifies primitively to grasp, to take hold of; generally with some degree of force or earnestness. This taking is for the purpose of aid, or to possess and appropriate. Hence a difference of opinion between commentators; some of whom render it as in our translation, and others (as Alford) translate it simply “helpeth.” The word truly includes both ideas, namely, to forcibly grasp, to seize, and a purpose thereby to aid, to rescue, to redeem. Our author did not mean simply to help, otherwise he would have used the ordinary Greek verb for to help; but he means to help by grasping forcibly the seed of Abraham. And the very word seed implies a lineage genetically assumed. The previous verses 14, 15, affirm Christ’s partaking our nature to deliver us from fear of death; this verse confirms that thought by specifying his omitting angels and redemptively assuming manhood; and ver. 17 urges the perfect fitness of that assumption. Seed of Abraham—A touching fact for these Hebrews, sons of Abraham, whose special lineage Christ assumed. He was their Abrahamic brother, and they were of the Messianic family of man. Why shrink from that suffering cross, which was truly glorious to the Sufferer and honouring to a Hebrew?

V. 17. Wherefore it behoved him-It was highly fit and proper, yea, necessary, in order to his design of redeeming them.

To be made in all things-That essentially pertain to human nature, and in all sufferings and temptations.

Like his brethren-This is a recapitulation of all that goes before: the sum of all that follows is added immediately.

That he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest-Merciful toward sinners; faithful toward God. A priest or high priest is one who has a right of approaching God, and of bringing others to him. Faithful is treated of, Hebrews 3:2, &c., with its use; merciful, Hebrews 4:14, &c., with the use also; High Priest, Hebrews 5:4, &c., Hebrews 7:1, &c. The use is added from Hebrews 10:19.

In things pertaining to God, to expiate the sins of the people-Offering up their sacrifices and prayers to God; deriving God's grace, peace, and blessings upon them.

Verse 17. Wherefore in all things] Because he thus laid hold on man in order to redeem him, it was necessary that he should in all things become like to man, that he might suffer in his stead, and make an atonement in his nature.

That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest] iJna elehmwn genhtai. That he might be merciful-that he might be affected with a feeling of our infirmities, that, partaking of our nature with all its innocent infirmities and afflictions, he might know how to compassionate poor, afflicted, suffering man. And that he might be a faithful high priest in those things which relate to God, whose justice requires the punishment of the transgressors, or a suitable expiation to be made for the sins of the people. The proper meaning of ilaskesqai tav amartiav is to make

propitiation or atonement for sins by sacrifice. See the note on this word, “Luke 18:13”, where it is particularly explained. Christ is the great High Priest of mankind; 1. He exercises himself in the things pertaining to GOD, taking heed that God’s honour be properly secured, his worship properly regulated, his laws properly enforced, and both his justice and mercy magnified. Again, 2. He exercises himself in things pertaining to MEN, that he may make an atonement for them, apply this atonement to them, and liberate them thereby from the curse of a broken law, from the guilt and power of sin, from its inbeing and nature, and from all the evils to which they were exposed through it, and lastly that he might open their way into the holiest by his own blood; and he has mercifully and faithfully accomplished all that he has undertaken.

Verses 17, 18. Wherefore in all things — That essentially pertain to our nature, and in all sufferings and temptations; it behooved him — In respect of the office, duty, and employment he had taken upon him; or it was highly fit and proper, yea, necessary, in order to his design of redeeming them; to be made like his brethren — That is, a mortal man; that — By experience of suffering in himself; he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest — Merciful toward sinners, affected with the sorrows and sufferings of others, and the more inclined to pity and relieve them; and faithful toward God, in discharging every other part of his office, as well as in relieving his suffering members. A priest or high-priest, is one who has a right of approaching God, and of bringing others to him. His being faithful is treated of, Hebrews 3:2, &c., with its use: merciful, Hebrews 4:14, &c., with the use also: high-priest, Hebrews 5:4, &c., 7:1. The use is added, from Hebrews 10:19. “The Son of God, who made men, no doubt had such a knowledge of their infirmity, as might have rendered him a merciful intercessor, though he had not been made flesh. Yet, considering the greatness of his nature, it might have been difficult for men to have understood this. And therefore, to impress us the more strongly with the belief that he is most affectionately disposed, from sympathy, to succour us when tempted; and, in judging us at the last day, to make every reasonable allowance for the infirmity of our nature, he was pleased to be made like us in all things, and even to suffer by temptations.” In things pertaining to God — That were to be done either for men with God, or for God with men; to make reconciliation for — Or to expiate, as ilaskesqai signifies, the sins of the people — Not the people of the Jews merely, but the people of all nations, whether Jews or Gentiles, who, in repentance and faith, should turn to God. Hence St. John tells us, he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, offering sacrifice and interceding for them, and deriving God’s grace, peace, and blessings upon them. For in that e himself suffered, being tempted — See Hebrews 4:15; he is able — Has a greater fitness and readiness; to succour them that are tempted — And he has given a manifest, demonstrative proof that he is able so to do. Our Lord was not only tempted immediately after his baptism in the wilderness, but his whole life was a continued scene of temptation, as we learn from Luke 22:28: Ye are they who have continued with me in my temptation. Christ’s temptations, like those of his brethren, arose from the persecutions and sufferings to which he was exposed, as well as from direct attacks of the devil by evil suggestions, such as those mentioned Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.

17. Wherefore—Deduction from the preceding. If, to redeem us, he assumed our nature, he must complete his brotherhood with us by suffering like unto us. In all things—Birth, pain, and death included. Might be— Rather, might become. Merciful—The statement quoted from Calvin by Alford, with approval, must not be for a moment accepted: “Not that the Son of God needed to be formed by experience to a feeling of mercy, but because we could not otherwise be persuaded that he was clement, and inclined to render us aid.” The plain doctrine is not merely that such a fact took place to give us assurance of mercy, (though that was one point to be received,) but that such an assemblage of elements was formed into the divine-human Jesus, that a genuine human sympathy might truly exist. It was not to be a mere assuring show, but a most beneficent reality. There was not merely a divine mind forming anthropomorphic conceptions, but a human mind feeling human sympathies. High priest—This very central term in this epistle is now, for the first time, arrived at; the preparation for its introduction was commenced at verse 15. Verse 14 affirms the necessity of Christ’s death, in order to become the conqueror of death; this affirms the necessity of his human suffering, that he might sympathize with us sufferers. Faithful—Embracing the double meaning of fidelity and of reliability. Christ is true to his mission, and is trustworthy for its completion. Make reconciliation for—The Greek word signifies, to make propitious. The Greek adjective of the same verb ‘Ilarov, hilaros, (from which comes our English word hilarity,) is equivalent to our adjective propitious; and the word, in its various forms, was customarily applied by the Greeks to their gods when induced by expiation to be gracious: hence, in its biblical use, the verb means such a satisfaction sacrificially made to justice, as that God may deal with us in mercy. Anger can be ascribed to God only as a sense of justice and of subjective purpose against sin. When the demands of justice are obviated, we may behold that purpose of justice obviated, and the face of God beaming upon us in unobstructed benefaction. The objective of the verb is sins, and the meaning is, that Christ’s death so reaches and affects our sins as that God may be propitious to us. Of the people—The Old Testament phrase for the Israelite people, enlarged to a world-wide sense.

V. 18. For in that he hath suffered being tempted himself he is able to succour them that are tempted-That is, he has given a manifest, demonstrative proof that he is able so to do.

Verse 18. For in that he himself hath suffered] The maxim on which this verse is founded is the following: A state of suffering disposes persons to be compassionate, and those who endure most afflictions are they who feel most for others. The apostle argues that, among other causes, it was necessary that Jesus Christ should partake of human nature, exposed to trials, persecutions, and various sufferings, that he might the better feel for and be led to succour those who are afflicted and sorely tried. This sentiment is well expressed by a Roman poet:—

Me quoque per multas similis fortuna labores

Jactatam hac demum voluit consistere terra:

Non ignara mali, miseris succurere disco.

VIRG. Æn. i., v. 632.

“For I myself like you, have been distress’d,

Till heaven afforded me this place of rest;

Like you, an alien in a land unknown,

I learn to pity woes so like my own.”

DRYDEN.

“There are three things,” says Dr. Owen, “of which tempted believers do stand in need: 1. Strength to withstand their temptations; 2. Consolations to support their spirits under them; 3. Seasonable deliverance from them. Unto these is the succour afforded by our High Priest suited; and it is variously administered to them: 1. By his word or promises; 2. By his Spirit; (and, that, 1. By communicating to them supplies of grace or spiritual strength; 2. Strong consolation; 3. By rebuking their tempters and temptations;) and 3. By his providence disposing of all things to their good and advantage in the issue.” Those who are peculiarly tempted and severely tried, have an especial interest in, and claim upon Christ. They, particularly, may go with boldness to the throne of grace, where they shall assuredly obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Were the rest of the Scripture silent on this subject, this verse might be an ample support for every tempted soul.

HEBREWS

Verses 17, 18. Wherefore in all things — That essentially pertain to our nature, and in all sufferings and temptations; it behooved him — In respect of the office, duty, and employment he had taken upon him; or it was highly fit and proper, yea, necessary, in order to his design of redeeming them; to be made like his brethren — That is, a mortal man; that — By experience of suffering in himself; he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest — Merciful toward sinners, affected with the sorrows and sufferings of others, and the more inclined to pity and relieve them; and faithful toward God, in discharging every other part of his office, as well as in relieving his suffering members. A priest or high-priest, is one who has a right of approaching God, and of bringing others to him. His being faithful is treated of, Hebrews 3:2, &c., with its use: merciful, Hebrews 4:14, &c., with the use also: high-priest, Hebrews 5:4, &c., 7:1. The use is added, from Hebrews 10:19. “The Son of God, who made men, no doubt had such a knowledge of their infirmity, as might have rendered him a merciful intercessor, though he had not been made flesh. Yet, considering the greatness of his nature, it might have been difficult for men to have understood this. And therefore, to impress us the more strongly with the belief that he is most affectionately disposed, from sympathy, to succour us when tempted; and, in judging us at the last day, to make every reasonable allowance for the infirmity of our nature, he was pleased to be made like us in all things, and even to suffer by temptations.” In things pertaining to God — That were to be done either for men with God, or for God with men; to make reconciliation for — Or to expiate, as ilaskesqai signifies, the sins of the people — Not the people of the Jews merely, but the people of all nations, whether Jews or Gentiles, who, in repentance and faith, should turn to God. Hence St. John tells us, he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, offering sacrifice and interceding for them, and deriving God’s grace, peace, and blessings upon them. For in that e himself suffered, being tempted — See Hebrews 4:15; he is able — Has a greater fitness and readiness; to succour them that are tempted — And he has given a manifest, demonstrative proof that he is able so to do. Our Lord was not only tempted immediately after his baptism in the wilderness, but his whole life was a continued scene of temptation, as we learn from Luke 22:28: Ye are they who have continued with me in my temptation. Christ’s temptations, like those of his brethren, arose from the persecutions and sufferings to which he was exposed, as well as from direct attacks of the devil by evil suggestions, such as those mentioned Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.

Ver. 18. He is able to succour them that are tempted. All the sympathies of his nature, all his compassion as a merciful and faithful highpriest, declare that he will cover us with his shield, against all the fiery darts of the wicked one. When we are furiously assailed with doubts of revelation, and of providence, he will remove our doubts by clearer light, as in Psalms 73:16Psalm 73:16-18. When we are tempted to neglect early piety, by pleas of sensual pleasure and self-indulgence, or harrassed with doubts and fears concerning answers of prayer, the Lord will lift upon us the light of his countenance, and scatter all the mists and darkness with which we are surrounded. When our trials come in succession to teach us the way of submission to providence, he will inspire us with courage to say, Rejoice not against me, oh mine enemy. When I fall I shall arise: when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Micah 7:8. — Excuse one adjection: had Paul written a commentary on the Hebrew scriptures, the rabbins and christian doctors had all been thrown into the shade.

18. For—To illustrate the word sufferings by the particular case of temptation. Being tempted—An historical confirmation of Matthew 4:1-11. He is able—We are connected to the man Jesus by a pure and beautiful human sympathy. Abstract theism, presenting a pure infinite, fails to awaken our human affections until deity is to us humanized. But in Jesus we find a divine brother. And, through Jesus, infinite righteousness is able to deal with us, not by the rule of the infinitely perfect law, but according to the measure of human weakness. Under the Old Testament the psalmist could say, “As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” In Jesus we find one who has suffered as we, and been tempted like us, and with a human sympathy for us can bring a divine succour to us. On this chapter we note:—1. Pure theism, as in Judaism, (whether philonean, rabbinical, or modern,) as in Mohammedanism and in modern deism, is cold and barren, (throwing God to an infinite distance upward,) destitute of that element of tenderness embodied in the divine Jesus, and so beautifully portrayed in the closing part of this chapter. There is added, also, especially in Mohammedanism, a fierceness, a fanaticism, which is adverse to a genial civilization, and holds its subjects in a dreary semi-barbarism. Just so far, too, as the incarnation is rejected from a professed Christianity, the piety tends towards a cold morality, and the religion to become a mere philosophy. 2. Yet while we deeply recognise the tender sympathy of the blessed Jesus, neither thought nor language should forget a most profound reverence. We must not assume his interference in our trifling secular affairs, nor speak of him in fondling or amatory language. It is as our sympathizing Saviour from temptation, sin, and death, that we are ever reverently to contemplate him.