Hebrews · Chapter 4

Verse 1. Let us therefore fear] Seeing the Israelites lost the rest of Canaan, through obstinacy and unbelief, let us be afraid lest we come short of the heavenly rest, through the same cause.

Should seem to come short of it.] Lest any of us should actually come short of it; i.e. miss it. See the note on the verb dokein, to seem, Luke 8:18. What the apostle had said before, relative to the rest, might be considered as an allegory; here he explains and applies that allegory, showing that Canaan was a type of the grand privileges of the Gospel of Christ, and of the glorious eternity to which they lead. Come short] The verb usterein is applied here metaphorically; it is an allusion, of which there are many in this epistle, to the races in the Grecian games: he that came short was he who was any distance, no matter how small, behind the winner. Will it avail any of us how near we get to heaven, if the door be shut before we arrive? How dreadful the thought, to have only missed being eternally saved! To run well, and yet to permit the devil, the world, or the flesh, to hinder in the few last steps! Reader, watch and be sober.

Verses 1, 2. In this chapter, which is of the same nature with the foregoing, the apostle proceeds with his exhortation to the Hebrews, and all professing Christians, to faith, obedience, and perseverance; and enforces it by a most apposite and striking instance in the punishment which befel the Israelites, those ancient professors of the true religion, who were guilty of sins contrary to those duties. And the example, as has been often observed, was peculiarly suitable, taken from their own ancestors, the evil being the same, namely, unbelief; the time in both cases being just after the establishment of a new constitution, and the consequence being the same, the exclusion from rest. The superior dignity of Christ above Moses, and the superior excellence of heaven above Canaan, greatly confirm the force of the apostle’s argument. Let us — Christian Hebrews; therefore fear, lest a promise being left — A conditional promise, to be fulfilled to all obedient, persevering believers; (the pronoun us is not in the original;) of entering into his rest — The rest of glory in heaven; and, preparatory thereto, the rest of grace on earth; the peace and joy, the solid and satisfying happiness consequent on pardon and holiness, on the justification of our persons, the renovation of our nature, and that lively, well-grounded hope of eternal life, which is as an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast, and entering in within the veil, chap. 6:19; any of you should seem to come short of it — Should fail of it; as your forefathers failed of entering the rest of Canaan. The fear here inculcated is not a fear of diffidence or distrust, of doubting or uncertainty, as to the event of our faith and obedience. This is enjoined to none, but is evidently a fruit of unbelief, and therefore cannot be our duty. Neither can it be a timidity or dismayedness of mind upon a prospect of difficulties and dangers in the way, for this is the sluggard’s fear who cries, There is a lion in the way, I shall be slain. Nor is it that general fear of reverence with which we ought to be possessed in all our concerns with God; for that is not particularly influenced by threatenings, and the severity of God, seeing we are bound always in that sense to fear the Lord and his goodness. But it is, 1st, A jealous fear of ourselves, lest, having run well for a time, we should be hindered; should grow lukewarm and indolent, formal and dead, and so should fall from that state of grace in which we had once stood. 2d, A suspicious fear of our spiritual enemies, inducing us to watch and stand on our guard against them. For unto us was the gospel preached — That is, good news of entering into his rest have been brought to us; as well as unto them — The Israelites in the wilderness. The Hebrews, to whom he wrote, might be ready to say, “What have we to do with the people in the wilderness, with the promise of entering into Canaan? or with what the psalmist from thence exhorted our fathers to?” Nay, these things, saith the apostle, belong to you in an especial manner. For in the example proposed, you may evidently see what you are to expect, if you fall into the same sins. For he declares, that in the example of God’s dealing with their progenitors, there was included a threatening of similar dealing with all others, who should fall into the same sin of unbelief; that none might flatter themselves with vain hopes of any exemption in this matter; which he further confirms in these two verses, though his present exhortation be an immediate inference from what went before. But the word preached — The promise declared unto them, did not profit them — So far from it, that it increased their condemnation; not being mixed with faith in them that heard it — So firmly believed as to become a principle of obedience in them. And it is then only, when these truths are thus mixed with faith, that they exert their saving power.

Verse 1. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. This caution is repeated from the preseding chapter, but the reading does not satisfy. The ancient Israelites really did come short of the promised land, and the caution is expressly against casting away the gospel, making shipwreck of faith, and of a good conscience. Dokh is not videatur, “should seem,” but as in Montanus, who follows the Vulgate, existimatur, “should be estimated” to come short of it. In Tirinus, videatur is turned, should be found to come short of it. The Mons version, of high repute, reads, Il n’ y ait quelqu’une d’entre vous qui en soit exclus. Lest there be among you some one who should be excluded from it.

Verses 1 and 2, the promise—the gospel—is to us as to them; the same danger from unbelief—and a rest of which we may thereby fail. That there remains for us a rest, (verses 3-9,) as well as to Israel, is demonstrated: for three rests are indicated in the Old Testament; namely, first, God’s creational rest, (Genesis 2:2;) second, the rest which he declared that unbelievers should not enter, (Psalms 95:11Psalm 95:11,) namely, Canaan; and, third, the rest (typified by Canaan) implied in that psalm in the warning to those living in the time of David (verse 7) not to fail of it. These three rests are different, with an underlying sameness; and this third rest, to be entered by faith, remaineth for the people of God, not only in the time of David, but even in our day.

1. Therefore—In view of the fearful examples of apostasy in last chapter. Let us fear—Implying a belief in its practical possibility and an earnest desire to avoid it. Seem—Should appear. To come short—Past tense; to have come short; namely, after the end of Hebrews 3:14, and at the judgment day. Hence the seem, or appear, is not a false seeming, but an appearance of a dread reality to the eye of God and in the light of the final judgment. A direful result is this for us to fear; lest, after once being pardoned and sanctified, we at last are seen to have fallen and become lost.

V. 2. But the word which they heard did not profit them-So far from it, that it increased their damnation. It is then only when it is mixed with faith, that it exerts its saving power.

Verse 2. For unto us was the Gospel preached] kai gar esmen euhggelismenoi. For we also have received good tidings as well as they. They had a gracious promise of entering into an earthly rest; we have a gracious promise of entering into a heavenly rest. God gave them every requisite advantage; he has done the same to us. Moses and the elders spoke the word of God plainly and forcibly to them: Christ and his apostles have done the same to us. They might have persevered; so may we: they disbelieved, disobeyed, and fell: and so may we.

But the word preached did not profit them] all ouk wfelhsen o logov thv akohv ekeinouv. But the word of hearing did not profit them. The word and promise to which the apostle most probably refers is that in Deuteronomy 1:20, 21: Ye are come unto to the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto to us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee: fear not. Many exhortations they had to the following effect: Arise, that we may go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land; for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth; Judges 18:9, 10. But instead of attending to the word of the Lord by Moses, the whole congregation murmured against him and Aaron, and said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt; Numbers 14:2, 4. But they were dastardly through all their generations. They spoke evil of the pleasant land, and did not give credence to his word. Their minds had been debased by their Egyptian bondage, and they scarcely ever arose to a state of mental nobility. Not being mixed with faith in them that heard] There are several various readings in this verse, and some of them important. The principal are on the word sugkekramenov, mixed; which in the common text refers to o logov, the word mixed; but, in ABCD and several others, it is sugkekramenouv, referring to, and agreeing with, ekeinouv, and may be thus translated: The word of hearing did not profit them, they not being mixed with those who heard it by faith. That is, they were not of the same spirit with Joshua and Caleb. There are other variations, but of less importance; but the common text seems best.

The word sugkekramenov, mixed, is peculiarly expressive; it is a metaphor taken from the nutrition of the human body by mixing the aliment taken into the stomach with the saliva and gastric juice, in consequence of which it is concocted, digested, reduced into chyle, which, absorbed by the lacteal vessels, and thrown into the blood, becomes the means of increasing and supporting the body, all the solids and fluids being thus generated; so that on this process, properly performed, depend (under God) strength, health, and life itself. Should the most nutritive aliment be received into the stomach, if not mixed with the above juices, it would be rather the means of death than of life; or, in the words of the apostle, it would not profit, because not thus mixed. Faith in the word preached, in reference to that God who sent it, is the grand means of its becoming the power of God to the salvation of the soul. It is not likely that he who does not credit a threatening, when he comes to hear it, will be deterred by it from repeating the sin against which it is levelled; nor can he derive comfort from a promise who does not believe it as a pledge of God’s veracity and goodness. Faith, therefore, must be mixed with all that we hear, in order to make the word of God effectual to our salvation.

This very use of the word, and its explanation, we may find in Maximus Tyrius, in his description of health, Dissert. x., page 101. “Health,” says he, it is a certain disposition ugrwn kai xhrwn kai yucrwn kai qermwn dunamewn, h upo tecnhv sugkraqeiswn kalwv, h upo fusewv

apmosqeiswn texnikwv, which consists in a proper mixture together of the wet and the dry, the cold and the hot, either by an artificial process, or by the skilful economy of nature.”

Verses 1, 2. In this chapter, which is of the same nature with the foregoing, the apostle proceeds with his exhortation to the Hebrews, and all professing Christians, to faith, obedience, and perseverance; and enforces it by a most apposite and striking instance in the punishment which befel the Israelites, those ancient professors of the true religion, who were guilty of sins contrary to those duties. And the example, as has been often observed, was peculiarly suitable, taken from their own ancestors, the evil being the same, namely, unbelief; the time in both cases being just after the establishment of a new constitution, and the consequence being the same, the exclusion from rest. The superior dignity of Christ above Moses, and the superior excellence of heaven above Canaan, greatly confirm the force of the apostle’s argument. Let us — Christian Hebrews; therefore fear, lest a promise being left — A conditional promise, to be fulfilled to all obedient, persevering believers; (the pronoun us is not in the original;) of entering into his rest — The rest of glory in heaven; and, preparatory thereto, the rest of grace on earth; the peace and joy, the solid and satisfying happiness consequent on pardon and holiness, on the justification of our persons, the renovation of our nature, and that lively, well-grounded hope of eternal life, which is as an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast, and entering in within the veil, chap. 6:19; any of you should seem to come short of it — Should fail of it; as your forefathers failed of entering the rest of Canaan. The fear here inculcated is not a fear of diffidence or distrust, of doubting or uncertainty, as to the event of our faith and obedience. This is enjoined to none, but is evidently a fruit of unbelief, and therefore cannot be our duty. Neither can it be a timidity or dismayedness of mind upon a prospect of difficulties and dangers in the way, for this is the sluggard’s fear who cries, There is a lion in the way, I shall be slain. Nor is it that general fear of reverence with which we ought to be possessed in all our concerns with God; for that is not particularly influenced by threatenings, and the severity of God, seeing we are bound always in that sense to fear the Lord and his goodness. But it is, 1st, A jealous fear of ourselves, lest, having run well for a time, we should be hindered; should grow lukewarm and indolent, formal and dead, and so should fall from that state of grace in which we had once stood. 2d, A suspicious fear of our spiritual enemies, inducing us to watch and stand on our guard against them. For unto us was the gospel preached — That is, good news of entering into his rest have been brought to us; as well as unto them — The Israelites in the wilderness. The Hebrews, to whom he wrote, might be ready to say, “What have we to do with the people in the wilderness, with the promise of entering into Canaan? or with what the psalmist from thence exhorted our fathers to?” Nay, these things, saith the apostle, belong to you in an especial manner. For in the example proposed, you may evidently see what you are to expect, if you fall into the same sins. For he declares, that in the example of God’s dealing with their progenitors, there was included a threatening of similar dealing with all others, who should fall into the same sin of unbelief; that none might flatter themselves with vain hopes of any exemption in this matter; which he further confirms in these two verses, though his present exhortation be an immediate inference from what went before. But the word preached — The promise declared unto them, did not profit them — So far from it, that it increased their condemnation; not being mixed with faith in them that heard it — So firmly believed as to become a principle of obedience in them. And it is then only, when these truths are thus mixed with faith, that they exert their saving power.

Ver. 2. For unto us was the gospel preached, by Jesus Christ himself, as well as unto them, in all the ancient promises of the Messiah, and in all the types and figures of the law. Nay, they saw his glory, and spake of his passion, and of the glory that should follow, in the conversion of the gentile world. These shadows are called the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery. Howbeit, the word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard. It fell as seed by the wayside, or in rocky places, and had no root in their carnal hearts.

2. Gospel preached—Literally, we were evangelized; greeted with the glad announcement, gospelized. This gospel of the Old Testament, identical with the promise of verse 1, was the glad announcement of a Canaan rest; ours, of a heavenly rest. Mixed with faith—The word, when heard, must be mixed with faith, as food in the stomach must be mixed with gastric juice in order to nourishing and vitalizing our bodies. In the received Greek text the word mixed is nominative singular, and agrees with word, and so makes a clear, good meaning as above. But another, and perhaps true, reading, makes mixed to be accusative plural, and agree with them. The words then would imply that the hearers themselves were to be mixed with faith. That is, so fully should the soul of the hearers be filled and impregnated with faith, that the soul and the faith may be conceived as two elements or fluids mixed together. Them that heard it, is the Greek dative. So the whole may be thus read: The word did not profit them, as they were not impregnated with the faith fitting (or belonging) to the hearers of the word.

d. For us, too, remains a rest, a danger of fall by unbelief, and a stern adjudging WORD, 3-13.

V. 3. For we only that have believed enter into the rest-The proposition is, There remains a rest for us. This is proved, Hebrews 4:3-11, thus: That psalm mentions a rest: yet it does not mean,

1. God's rest from creating; for this was long before the time of Moses. Therefore in his time another rest was expected, of which they who then heard fell short Nor is it,

2. The rest which Israel obtained through Joshua; for the Psalmist wrote after him. Therefore it is,

3. The eternal rest in heaven.

As he said-Clearly showing that there is a farther rest than that which followed the finishing of the creation.

Though the works were finished-Before: whence it is plain, God did not speak of resting from them.

Verse 3. For we which have believed do enter into rest] The great spiritual blessings, the forerunners of eternal glory, which were all typified by that earthly rest or felicity promised to the ancient Israelites, we Christians do, by believing in Christ Jesus, actually possess. We have peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost; are saved from the guilt and power of sin; and thus enjoy an inward rest.

But this is a rest differing from the seventh day’s rest, or Sabbath, which was the original type of Canaan, the blessings of the Gospel, and eternal glory; seeing God said, concerning the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness, I have sworn in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest, notwithstanding the works of creation were finished, and the seventh day’s rest was instituted from the foundation of the world; consequently the Israelites had entered into that rest before the oath was sworn. See Macknight.

We who believe, oi pisteusantev, is omitted by Chrysostom, and some few MSS. And instead of eisercomeqa gar, for we do enter, AC, several others, with the Vulgate and Coptic, read eisercwmeqa oun, therefore let us enter; and thus it answers to fwbhqwmen oun, therefore let us fear, Hebrews 4:1; but this reading cannot well stand unless oi pisteusantev be omitted, which is acknowledged to be genuine by every MS. and version of note and importance. The meaning appears to be this: We Jews, who have believed in Christ, do actually possess that rest-state of happiness in God, produced by peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost-which was typified by the happiness and comfort to be enjoyed by the believing Hebrews, in the possession of the promised land. See before. From the foundation of the world.] The foundation of the world, katabolh kosmou, means the completion of the work of creation in six days. In those days was the world, i.e. the whole system of mundane things, begun and perfected; and this appears to be the sense of the expression in this place.

Verse 3. For we who have believed — Or, who believe, namely, in Christ, and the promises of rest made in the gospel, and are diligent in the use of the means appointed in order to the attainment of it; do enter into rest — Are at present made partakers of the rest promised by Jesus to the weary and heavy-laden that come to, and learn of him, Matthew 11:28, 29: the rest implied in peace with God, peace of conscience, tranquillity of mind, the love of God and of all mankind shed abroad in the heart, and lively hopes of future felicity. Or rather, as Macknight observes, the present tense is put for the future, to show the certainty of believers entering into the rest of God. For the discourse is not directly concerning any rest belonging to believers in the present life, but of a rest remaining to them after death, verse 9. As he said — Clearly showing that there is a further rest than that which followed the finishing of the creation; As I have sworn, &c., if they shall enter — That is, they shall never enter; into my rest — Namely, by reason of their unbelief. The apostle’s argument is to this purpose: Seeing men are by the oath of God excluded from God’s rest on account of unbelief, this implies that all who believe shall enter into his rest. Although the works were finished before, even from the foundation of the world — So that God did not speak of resting from them. The proposition is, There remains a rest for the people of God. This is proved, (verses 3-11,) thus: that psalm (the 95th) mentions a rest, yet it does not mean, 1st, God’s rest from creating, for this was long before the time of Moses, nor the rest of the seventh day, which was instituted from the beginning. Therefore God’s swearing that the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness should not enter into his rest, shows that there was then another rest to be entered into, of which they who then heard fell short. Nor is it, 2d, The rest which Israel obtained through Joshua, for the psalmist wrote after him. Therefore it is, 3d, The eternal rest in heaven.

Ver. 3. For we which have believed do enter into rest. Canaan, where the Hebrews found inheritance and repose, was a figure of the heaven into which we enter by faith, a place of everlasting rest, of which the sabbath instituted at the creation was a standing type from the foundation of the world. There, and only there the church shall rest from all her travail and pain, as God reposed from all his works, and hallowed the sabbath as the seal of the covenant that he would grant us eternal rest. Such also is the promise: they shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

3. For—To unfold the nature of this our rest, mentioned in verse 1, as parallel to the Canaan rest of Hebrews 3:11, 18. We—Believers of our dispensation universally. Do enter—General present tense; it is the law of our present dispensation that we do by faith enter heaven. Rest—The digression on this term is a good instance of what has been called Paul’s “going off at a word.” The word rest, in last chapter, struck his mind impressively, and becomes a key-word for this. It is a beautiful word, soothing to the weary spirit. Indeed, eastern Buddhism feels life so heavy and rest so desirable as to seek for Nirvana, utter annihilation, as a most desirable repose. But that is the religion of despair, as Christianity is the religion of hope. The Christian rest is repose from all that is wearying in life, yet enjoyment of perfect bliss. As he said—Quoting again Psalms 95:11Psalm 95:11 to illustrate the Canaan rest. Although—God applies to this rest a my in the psalm, although it was not his creational rest, for his creation was finished long before he used the words in Psalm 95, even from the foundation of the world.

By bold conception in the present passage the analogous rest of God at creation, of Israel in Canaan, and of the Christian in paradise, are correlated and identified as deeply one. All are three ineffable and divine reposes after a divinely imposed task, and at bottom they are all the same blessed refreshment. Of this bottom reality Israel’s rest in Canaan was but a rough type. But as the deaths in the wilderness under divine wrath implied a deeper death underlying, so the repose of Israel in Canaan implied a profounder underlying rest.

V. 4. For, long after he had rested from his works, he speaks again. Genesis 2:2.

Verse 4. For he spake in a certain place] This certain place or somewhere, pou, is probably Genesis 2:2; and refers to the completion of the work of creation, and the setting apart the seventh day as a day of rest for man, and a type of everlasting felicity. See the notes on “Genesis 2:1”, &c., and see here “Hebrews 2:6”.

Verses 4-8. For he spake in a certain place — Namely, Genesis 2:2; Exodus 31:17; on this wise, God did rest, &c. — These words the apostle quotes, because they show that the seventh-day rest is fitly called God’s rest, and that the seventh-day rest was observed from the creation of the world. “God’s ceasing from his works of creation is called his resting from all his works, because, according to our way of conceiving things, he had exerted an infinite force in creating the mundane system.” — Macknight. And in this place again, If they shall enter — That is, they shall not enter; into my rest — Namely, the rest of Canaan, to be entered above three thousand years after the former. This is called God’s rest, 1st, Because, after the Israelites got possession of that country, God rested from his work of introducing them; 2d, Because they were there to observe God’s sabbaths, and to perform his worship free from the fear of their enemies, Luke 1:68, 74. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein — As if he had said, From what has been spoken, it is evident that, besides the rest of God from the foundation of the world, and a seventh-day sabbath as a pledge thereof, there was another rest, which some persons were to enter into, namely, the rest in the land of Canaan; and they to whom it was first preached — That is, published and offered by Moses in the wilderness; entered not in because of unbelief — As was said above. Again, &c. — And further, besides the two times of rest before mentioned, namely, those of the creation and of Canaan, he afterward, in this psalm, speaks of another; he limiteth a certain day — That is, the Holy Ghost specifies and appoints another determinate time or season of rest besides those before mentioned, whose season was now past; saying in David — In the psalm penned by him; after so long a time — After they had entered into the rest of Canaan, and had possessed it for about five hundred years, he yet again calls upon them to seek after another rest: therefore there is another besides that of Canaan. For if Jesus — That is, Joshua; had given them rest — If that rest which they obtained under the conduct of Joshua, who brought them into Canaan, had been all which was intended by God for them, this latter exhortation by David had been needless. Upon the whole, the apostle proves that after the original rest at the creation, there was a second promised and proposed to the people of God, namely, in Canaan; but yet neither was that the rest intended in the place of the psalm here so often referred to; but a third, which yet remained for them, and was now offered to them, and that under the same promises and threatenings with the former, namely, to be conferred on obedient believers, and withheld from the unbelieving and disobedient.

4. In 4 and 5 our author quotes together the two passages, (Genesis 2:2, and Psalms 95:11Psalm 95:11,) in order to present the difference to the eye. He spake—God by the inspired writer. Did rest—Rest is the season of refreshment after a period of toil. And the Genesis picture of the divine rest, after the work of creation, is a type of all subsequent relaxation from action. For all life has this alternation of action and remission. Not only men, but animals and vegetables take repose; even the flowers have their sleep.

V. 5. In this psalm, of a rest yet to come.

Verse 5. And in this place again] In the ninety-fifth Psalm, already quoted, Psalms 95:3Psalm 95:3, 4. This was a second rest which the Lord promised to the believing, obedient seed of Abraham; and as it was spoken of in the days of David, when the Jews actually possessed this long promised Canaan, therefore it is evident that that was not the rest which God intended, as the next verse shows.

Verses 4-8. For he spake in a certain place — Namely, Genesis 2:2; Exodus 31:17; on this wise, God did rest, &c. — These words the apostle quotes, because they show that the seventh-day rest is fitly called God’s rest, and that the seventh-day rest was observed from the creation of the world. “God’s ceasing from his works of creation is called his resting from all his works, because, according to our way of conceiving things, he had exerted an infinite force in creating the mundane system.” — Macknight. And in this place again, If they shall enter — That is, they shall not enter; into my rest — Namely, the rest of Canaan, to be entered above three thousand years after the former. This is called God’s rest, 1st, Because, after the Israelites got possession of that country, God rested from his work of introducing them; 2d, Because they were there to observe God’s sabbaths, and to perform his worship free from the fear of their enemies, Luke 1:68, 74. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein — As if he had said, From what has been spoken, it is evident that, besides the rest of God from the foundation of the world, and a seventh-day sabbath as a pledge thereof, there was another rest, which some persons were to enter into, namely, the rest in the land of Canaan; and they to whom it was first preached — That is, published and offered by Moses in the wilderness; entered not in because of unbelief — As was said above. Again, &c. — And further, besides the two times of rest before mentioned, namely, those of the creation and of Canaan, he afterward, in this psalm, speaks of another; he limiteth a certain day — That is, the Holy Ghost specifies and appoints another determinate time or season of rest besides those before mentioned, whose season was now past; saying in David — In the psalm penned by him; after so long a time — After they had entered into the rest of Canaan, and had possessed it for about five hundred years, he yet again calls upon them to seek after another rest: therefore there is another besides that of Canaan. For if Jesus — That is, Joshua; had given them rest — If that rest which they obtained under the conduct of Joshua, who brought them into Canaan, had been all which was intended by God for them, this latter exhortation by David had been needless. Upon the whole, the apostle proves that after the original rest at the creation, there was a second promised and proposed to the people of God, namely, in Canaan; but yet neither was that the rest intended in the place of the psalm here so often referred to; but a third, which yet remained for them, and was now offered to them, and that under the same promises and threatenings with the former, namely, to be conferred on obedient believers, and withheld from the unbelieving and disobedient.

5. And in this place again—In Psalm xcv, quoted previously. If—An elliptical form of the divine oath, supposed, when used by men, to be preceded by a fearful penalty upon perjury, as “So do God to me, and more also, if,” etc. 2 Samuel 3:35. My rest—Not the my rest of the creation, but my appointed rest for Israel in Canaan.

Verse 6. It remaineth that some must enter therein] Why our translators put in the word must here I cannot even conjecture. I hope it was not to serve a system, as some have since used it: “Some must go to heaven, for so is the doctrine of the decree; and there must be certain persons infallibly brought thither as a reward to Christ for his sufferings; and in this the will of man and free agency can have no part,” &c, &c. Now, supposing that even all this was true, yet it does not exist either positively or by implication in the text. The words epei oun apoleipetai tinav eiselqein eiv authn, literally translated, are as follows: Seeing then it remaineth for some to enter into it; or, Whereas therefore it remaineth that some enter into it, which is Dr. Owen’s translation, and they to whom it was first preached (oi proteron euaggelisqentev, they to whom the promise was given; they who first received the good tidings; i.e., the Israelites, to whom was given the promise of entering into the rest of Canaan) did not enter in because of their unbelief; and the promise still continued to be repeated even in the days of David; therefore, some other rest must be intended.

Verses 4-8. For he spake in a certain place — Namely, Genesis 2:2; Exodus 31:17; on this wise, God did rest, &c. — These words the apostle quotes, because they show that the seventh-day rest is fitly called God’s rest, and that the seventh-day rest was observed from the creation of the world. “God’s ceasing from his works of creation is called his resting from all his works, because, according to our way of conceiving things, he had exerted an infinite force in creating the mundane system.” — Macknight. And in this place again, If they shall enter — That is, they shall not enter; into my rest — Namely, the rest of Canaan, to be entered above three thousand years after the former. This is called God’s rest, 1st, Because, after the Israelites got possession of that country, God rested from his work of introducing them; 2d, Because they were there to observe God’s sabbaths, and to perform his worship free from the fear of their enemies, Luke 1:68, 74. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein — As if he had said, From what has been spoken, it is evident that, besides the rest of God from the foundation of the world, and a seventh-day sabbath as a pledge thereof, there was another rest, which some persons were to enter into, namely, the rest in the land of Canaan; and they to whom it was first preached — That is, published and offered by Moses in the wilderness; entered not in because of unbelief — As was said above. Again, &c. — And further, besides the two times of rest before mentioned, namely, those of the creation and of Canaan, he afterward, in this psalm, speaks of another; he limiteth a certain day — That is, the Holy Ghost specifies and appoints another determinate time or season of rest besides those before mentioned, whose season was now past; saying in David — In the psalm penned by him; after so long a time — After they had entered into the rest of Canaan, and had possessed it for about five hundred years, he yet again calls upon them to seek after another rest: therefore there is another besides that of Canaan. For if Jesus — That is, Joshua; had given them rest — If that rest which they obtained under the conduct of Joshua, who brought them into Canaan, had been all which was intended by God for them, this latter exhortation by David had been needless. Upon the whole, the apostle proves that after the original rest at the creation, there was a second promised and proposed to the people of God, namely, in Canaan; but yet neither was that the rest intended in the place of the psalm here so often referred to; but a third, which yet remained for them, and was now offered to them, and that under the same promises and threatenings with the former, namely, to be conferred on obedient believers, and withheld from the unbelieving and disobedient.

6. Now for the third rest, namely, that for the obedient in the days of David, long after the abode in Canaan. It remaineth—As a clear inference from the words in Psalm xcv, quoted last verse. Must—The word not in the Greek. Alford rightly renders the words, “Since then it yet remains that some do enter.” They… entered not—Since some enter, and yet the Israelites of Exodus failed, we find in this ninety-fifth Psalm another and a later day of probation, and possible rest, specified.

V. 7. After so long a time-It was above four hundred years from the time of Moses and Joshua to David.

As it was said before-St. Paul here refers to the text he had just cited.

Verse 7. He limiteth a certain day] The term day signifies not only time in general, but also present time, and a particular space. Day here seems to have the same meaning as rest in some other parts of this verse. The day or time of rest relative to the ancient Jews being over and past, and a long time having elapsed between God’s displeasure shown to the disobedient Jews in the wilderness and the days of David, and the true rest not having been enjoyed, God in his mercy has instituted another day-has given another dispensation of mercy and goodness by Christ Jesus; and now it may be said, as formerly, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. God speaks now as he spoke before; his voice is in the Gospel as it was in the law. Believe, love, obey, and ye shall enter into this rest.

Verses 4-8. For he spake in a certain place — Namely, Genesis 2:2; Exodus 31:17; on this wise, God did rest, &c. — These words the apostle quotes, because they show that the seventh-day rest is fitly called God’s rest, and that the seventh-day rest was observed from the creation of the world. “God’s ceasing from his works of creation is called his resting from all his works, because, according to our way of conceiving things, he had exerted an infinite force in creating the mundane system.” — Macknight. And in this place again, If they shall enter — That is, they shall not enter; into my rest — Namely, the rest of Canaan, to be entered above three thousand years after the former. This is called God’s rest, 1st, Because, after the Israelites got possession of that country, God rested from his work of introducing them; 2d, Because they were there to observe God’s sabbaths, and to perform his worship free from the fear of their enemies, Luke 1:68, 74. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein — As if he had said, From what has been spoken, it is evident that, besides the rest of God from the foundation of the world, and a seventh-day sabbath as a pledge thereof, there was another rest, which some persons were to enter into, namely, the rest in the land of Canaan; and they to whom it was first preached — That is, published and offered by Moses in the wilderness; entered not in because of unbelief — As was said above. Again, &c. — And further, besides the two times of rest before mentioned, namely, those of the creation and of Canaan, he afterward, in this psalm, speaks of another; he limiteth a certain day — That is, the Holy Ghost specifies and appoints another determinate time or season of rest besides those before mentioned, whose season was now past; saying in David — In the psalm penned by him; after so long a time — After they had entered into the rest of Canaan, and had possessed it for about five hundred years, he yet again calls upon them to seek after another rest: therefore there is another besides that of Canaan. For if Jesus — That is, Joshua; had given them rest — If that rest which they obtained under the conduct of Joshua, who brought them into Canaan, had been all which was intended by God for them, this latter exhortation by David had been needless. Upon the whole, the apostle proves that after the original rest at the creation, there was a second promised and proposed to the people of God, namely, in Canaan; but yet neither was that the rest intended in the place of the psalm here so often referred to; but a third, which yet remained for them, and was now offered to them, and that under the same promises and threatenings with the former, namely, to be conferred on obedient believers, and withheld from the unbelieving and disobedient.

7. He—God by the psalmist. Limiteth—Defines, specifies, a certain day. In David—Delitzsch explains this as by David. For David does not here stand for the book of Psalms, but as name of the author of this ninety-fifth Psalm. To day—In our, David’s, day. After so long a time as has elapsed since Israel’s second generation entered Canaan, namely, a time of five hundred years. And even at this day there still remains a rest to those who hear his voice, but forfeited by those who harden their hearts.

V. 8. The rest-All the rest which God had promised.

Verse 8. For if Jesus had given them rest] It is truly surprising that our translators should have rendered the ihsouv of the text Jesus, and not Joshua, who is most clearly intended. They must have known that the [vwhy Yehoshua of the Hebrew, which we write Joshua, is everywhere rendered ihsouv, Jesus, by the Septuagint; and it is their reading which the apostle follows. It is true the Septuagint generally write ihsouv nauh, or uiov nauh, Jesus Nave, or Jesus, son of Nave, for it is thus they translate נון בנ [vwhy Yehoshua ben Nun, Joshua the son of Nun; and this is sufficient to distinguish it from Jesus, son of David. But as Joshua, the captain general of Israel, is above intended, the word should have been written Joshua, and not Jesus. One MS., merely to prevent the wrong application of the name, has ihsouv o tou nauh, Jesus the son of Nave. Theodoret has the same in his comment, and one Syriac version has it in the text. It is Joshua in Coverdale’s Testament, 1535; in Tindal’s 1548; in that edited by Edmund Becke, 1549; in Richard Cardmarden’s, Rouen, 1565; several modern translators, Wesley, Macknight, Wakefield, &c., read Joshua, as does our own in the margin. What a pity it had not been in the text, as all the smaller Bibles have no marginal readings, and many simple people are bewildered with the expression.

The apostle shows that, although Joshua did bring the children of Israel into the promised land, yet this could not be the intended rest, because long after this time the Holy Spirit, by David, speaks of this rest; the apostle, therefore, concludes,

Verses 4-8. For he spake in a certain place — Namely, Genesis 2:2; Exodus 31:17; on this wise, God did rest, &c. — These words the apostle quotes, because they show that the seventh-day rest is fitly called God’s rest, and that the seventh-day rest was observed from the creation of the world. “God’s ceasing from his works of creation is called his resting from all his works, because, according to our way of conceiving things, he had exerted an infinite force in creating the mundane system.” — Macknight. And in this place again, If they shall enter — That is, they shall not enter; into my rest — Namely, the rest of Canaan, to be entered above three thousand years after the former. This is called God’s rest, 1st, Because, after the Israelites got possession of that country, God rested from his work of introducing them; 2d, Because they were there to observe God’s sabbaths, and to perform his worship free from the fear of their enemies, Luke 1:68, 74. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein — As if he had said, From what has been spoken, it is evident that, besides the rest of God from the foundation of the world, and a seventh-day sabbath as a pledge thereof, there was another rest, which some persons were to enter into, namely, the rest in the land of Canaan; and they to whom it was first preached — That is, published and offered by Moses in the wilderness; entered not in because of unbelief — As was said above. Again, &c. — And further, besides the two times of rest before mentioned, namely, those of the creation and of Canaan, he afterward, in this psalm, speaks of another; he limiteth a certain day — That is, the Holy Ghost specifies and appoints another determinate time or season of rest besides those before mentioned, whose season was now past; saying in David — In the psalm penned by him; after so long a time — After they had entered into the rest of Canaan, and had possessed it for about five hundred years, he yet again calls upon them to seek after another rest: therefore there is another besides that of Canaan. For if Jesus — That is, Joshua; had given them rest — If that rest which they obtained under the conduct of Joshua, who brought them into Canaan, had been all which was intended by God for them, this latter exhortation by David had been needless. Upon the whole, the apostle proves that after the original rest at the creation, there was a second promised and proposed to the people of God, namely, in Canaan; but yet neither was that the rest intended in the place of the psalm here so often referred to; but a third, which yet remained for them, and was now offered to them, and that under the same promises and threatenings with the former, namely, to be conferred on obedient believers, and withheld from the unbelieving and disobedient.

Ver. 8, 9. If Jesus (the greek name for Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Paul does not deny that Joshua gave them rest, and a paternal inheritance, but he denies that this was the true rest, else why did wars and troubles follow; else why does David speak of another rest, for by the Holy Spirit he foresaw that Christ would prepare a better country for his people; that is, a heavenly heritage.

8. And what rest is this? It is plain that this is not the rest which Joshua won for the survivors of the desert; for if Joshua (Jesus is here the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, who is really here meant, see note on Matthew 1:1) had given it, this another day would not have been spoken of five hundred years later than Joshua. A permanent rest of faith for all the faithful, other than the literal Canaan rest, is, therefore, a valid conclusion, stated next verse.

V. 9. Therefore-Since he still speaks of another day, there must remain a farther, even an eternal, rest for the people of God.

Verse 9. There, remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.] It was not, 1. The rest of the Sabbath; it was not, 2. The rest in the promised land, for the psalmist wrote long after the days of Joshua; therefore there is another rest, a state of blessedness, for the people of God; and this is the Gospel, the blessings it procures and communicates, and the eternal glory which it prepares for, and has promised to, genuine believers. There are two words in this chapter which we indifferently translate rest, katapausiv and sabbatismov. the first signifying a cessation from labour, so that the weary body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning, not only a rest from labour, but a religious rest; sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both soul and body partake. This is true, whether we understand the rest as referring to Gospel blessings, or to eternal felicity, or to both.

Verse 9. There remaineth therefore a rest, &c. — Since neither of the two former rests is intended by David, and there was no new rest for the people to enter into in the days of David, and the psalm wherein these words are recorded is acknowledged to be prophetical of the days of the Messiah, it unavoidably follows that there is such a rest remaining; and not only a spiritual rest, in the peace and love of God, and in the enjoyment of communion with him entered into by believing in Christ, (Matthew 11:28, 29; Isaiah 32:17, 18,) but an eternal rest in the heavenly world. “The apostle having established this conclusion by just reasoning on the sayings of the Holy Ghost, uttered by the mouth of David, they misrepresent the state of the Israelites under the Mosaic dispensation who affirm that they had no knowledge of the immortality of the soul, nor of future retributions. They had both discovered to them in the covenant with Abraham, as recorded by Moses, and explained by the prophets. The apostle here, in this conclusion, substitutes the word sabbatismov, sabbatism, for the word katapausiv, rest, in his premises. But both are proper, especially the word sabbatism, in this place, because, by directing us to what is said verse 4, it showeth the nature of that rest which remaineth to the people of God. It will resemble the rest of the sabbath, both in its employments and enjoyments. For therein the saints shall rest from their work of trial, and from all the evils they are subject to in the present life; and shall recollect the labours they have undergone, the dangers they have escaped, and the temptations they have overcome. And by reflecting on these things, and on the method of their salvation, they shall be unspeakably happy, Revelation 21:3. To this add, that being admitted into the immediate presence of God to worship, they shall, as Doddridge observes, pass a perpetual sabbath in those elevations of pure devotion, which the sublimest moments of our most sacred and happy days can teach us but imperfectly to conceive. Here it is to be remarked, that the Hebrews themselves considered the sabbath as an emblem of the heavenly rest: for St. Paul reckons sabbaths among those Jewish institutions which were shadows of good things to come, Colossians 2:17.” — Macknight.

Ver. 8, 9. If Jesus (the greek name for Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Paul does not deny that Joshua gave them rest, and a paternal inheritance, but he denies that this was the true rest, else why did wars and troubles follow; else why does David speak of another rest, for by the Holy Spirit he foresaw that Christ would prepare a better country for his people; that is, a heavenly heritage.

9. Remaineth—The full conclusion given. There is a permanent rest underlying the Canaan rest, which is God’s and the believer’s rest. But, significantly, our author for the word rest, which has hitherto been anapausiv, a pausing, now substitutes sabbatismov, sabbatismos, sabbatism, a sabbath-rest, thus finely identifying the saints everlasting rest with God’s sabbatic rest. On this Whitby gives a number of interesting extracts from the early Christian writers. “Irenaeus saith, ‘The seventh day, which was sanctified, and in which God rested from all his works, is the true sabbath of the just; in which they shall do no earthly labour.’ And Origen saith that ‘Celsus understood not the mystery of the seventh day, and the rest of God, in which all that had done their work in six, and had left nothing undone which belonged to them, should feast with God, ascending to the vision of him, and in that to the general festivity of the just and blessed.’ And again: ‘If we further inquire which are the true sabbaths, we shall find that the observation of the true sabbath reaches beyond the world; the true sabbath, in which God will rest from all his works, being the world to come, when all grief, sorrow, and sighing shall fly away, and God shall be all in all.’”

And as the early Christian writers are thus in accord with our apostle, so our apostle is in accord with the Hebrew doctors, it not being easy to say which made the earlier utterance. Says Whitby:

“Thus in their descants upon the 92d Psalm, which bears, both in the Hebrew and the Greek, this title, A Song of the Sabbath, (eiv thn hmeran tou Sabbatou,) they say, ‘This is the age to come which is all sabbath.’

‘The psalmist,’ saith R. Solomon Jarchi on the passage, ‘speaks of the business of the world to come, which is all sabbath.’ ‘A psalm upon the sabbath day,’ saith R. Eliezer, cap. xix, p. 42, ‘that is, upon the day that is all sabbath and rest, in the life of the world to come.’ And again, cap. xviii, p. 41, ‘The blessed Lord created seven worlds, (that is, ages,) but one of them is all sabbath and rest in life eternal.’ Where he refers to their common opinion, that the world should continue six thousand years, and then a perpetual sabbath should begin, typified by God’s resting the seventh day and blessing it. So Bereschith Rabba, ‘If we expound the seventh day of the seven thousand years, which is the world to come, the exposition is, and he blessed; because that in the seventh thousand all souls shall be bound in the bundle of life; for there shall be there the augmentation of the Holy Ghost, wherein we shall delight ourselves. And so our Rabbies, of blessed memory, have said in their commentaries, God blessed the seventh day; the Holy God blessed the world to come, which beginneth in the seven thousand of years.’ Philo is very copious in this allegory, who, disputing against those who, having learned that the written laws were sumbola nohtwn pragmatwn, symbols of intellectual things, did upon that account neglect them, saith that though the seventh day was a document of the power of God, and of this rest of the creature, yet was not the outward rest to be cast off.”

V. 10. For they do not yet so rest. Therefore a fuller rest remains for them.

Verse 10. For he that is entered into his rest] The man who has believed in Christ Jesus has entered into his rest; the state of happiness which he has provided, and which is the forerunner of eternal glory.

Hath ceased from his own works] No longer depends on the observance of Mosaic rites and ceremonies for his justification and final happiness. He rests from all these works of the law as fully as God has rested from his works of creation.

Those who restrain the word rest to the signification of eternal glory, say, that ceasing from our own works relates to the sufferings, tribulations, afflictions, &c., of this life; as in Revelation 14:13. I understand it as including both.

In speaking of the Sabbath, as typifying a state of blessedness in the other world, the apostle follows the opinions of the Jews of his own and after times. The phrase tbvw hal[ tbv hath shabbath illaah, veshabbath tethaah, the sabbath above, and the sabbath below, is common among the Jewish writers; and they think that where the plural number is used, as in Leviticus 19:30: Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, that the lower and higher sabbaths are intended, and that the one is prefigured by the other. See many examples in Schoettgen.

Verse 10. For that rest of which we were speaking, may properly be called a sabbatical rest, or the celebration of a sabbath; for he that hath entered into this his final and complete rest, hath ceased from his own works — From all his labours and toils; as God did from his — In that first seventh- day, which, in commemoration of it, was appointed to be kept holy in all future ages. Probably God appointed men to rest on the seventh day, not only in commemoration of his having rested on that day, but to teach them that their happiness in a future state will consist in resting from their work of trial, and in reviewing it after it is finished, as God, when he rested from the work of creation, surveyed the whole, and pronounced it good. From this account of the rest which remaineth for the people of God, namely, that they do not enter into it till their works of trial and suffering are finished, it is evident that the rest which is here said to remain to them is the rest of heaven, of which the seventh-day rest is only an imperfect emblem.

10. Showing the true identity between God’s rest and the believer’s rest. Man is in God’s image, and as God passed through his great week and then came to an ever-blessed repose, so man passes through his probationary work and goes to his eternal salvation.

V. 11. Lest any one should fall-Into perdition.

Verse 11. Let us labour therefore] The word spoudaswmen implies every exertion of body and mind which can be made in reference to the subject. Rebus aliis omissis, hoc agamus; All things else omitted, this one thing let us do. We receive grace, improve grace, retain grace, that we may obtain eternal glory.

Lest any man fall] Lest he fall off from the grace of God, from the Gospel and its blessings, and perish everlastingly. This is the meaning of the apostle, who never supposed that a man might not make final shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience, as long as he was in a state of probation.

Verse 11. Let us labour therefore, &c. — That is, since the Israelites were so severely punished for their unbelief, let us labour — Greek, spoudaswmen, let us be in earnest, use diligence, and make haste, (all which particulars are included in the word,) to enter into that rest — By sincerely believing and steadfastly obeying the gospel, aspiring after and striving to attain every branch of holiness, internal and external; lest any man fall — Into sin and eternal perdition; after the same example of unbelief — By reason of such unbelief as the Israelites gave an example of. The unbelief against which we are here cautioned, as being the cause of men’s falling under the wrath of God, is chiefly that kind of it which respects the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the reality and greatness of the joys of heaven, and the miseries of hell; the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, men’s sinfulness and guilt, depravity and weakness, and their need of the salvation of the gospel in all its branches, the ability and willingness of Christ to save them from their sins here, and conduct them to the heavenly country hereafter, together with his authority to judge the world, and power to dispense rewards to the righteous, and inflict punishments on the wicked. The unbelief of these great truths, revealed to us in the gospel, being the source of that wickedness which prevails among those called Christians, as well as among Mohammedans and heathen, we ought carefully to cherish a firm and steady belief of these things, lest by the want of a lively sense of them, we be led to live after the manner of the ungodly, and God he provoked to destroy us by the severity of his judgments.

Ver. 11. Let us labour, or as the greek, let us study, and warmly espouse the cause of religion, to enter into that rest, lest any one stumbling at our walk and misconduct should fall through unbelief. Satan puts the stumblingblock of some beguiling sin before men, and seduces them by their passions to destruction. The best guard against sin is to realize the presence of an omniscient God.

11. Therefore—The doctrine of the divine rest has been stated; now for the solemn inference as to practice. Labour—God laboured, so let us labour. Unbelief—Still the key-word; the fatal secret of Israel’s fall, the fearful token of our fall.

V. 12. For the word of God-Preached, Hebrews 4:2, and armed with threatenings, Hebrews 4:3.

Is living and powerful-Attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers.

Sharper than any two-edged sword-Penetrating the heart more than this does the body.

Piercing-Quite through, and laying open.

The soul and spirit, joints and marrow-The inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words.

And is a discerner-Not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.

Verse 12. For the word of God is quick, and powerful] Commentators are greatly divided concerning the meaning of the phrase ‘o logov tov qeou, the word of God; some supposing the whole of Divine revelation to be intended; others, the doctrine of the Gospel faithfully preached; others, the mind of God or the Divine intellect; and others, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is thus denominated in John 1:1, &c., and Revelation 19:13; the only places in which he is thus incontestably characterized in the New Testament. The disputed text, 1 John 5:7, I leave at present out of the question. In the introduction to this epistle I have produced sufficient evidence to make it very probable that St. Paul was the author of this epistle. In this sentiment the most eminent scholars and critics are now agreed. That Jesus Christ, the eternal, uncreated WORD, is not meant here, is more than probable from this consideration, that St. Paul, in no part of his thirteen acknowledged epistles, ever thus denominates our blessed Lord; nor is he thus denominated by any other of the New Testament writers except St. John. Dr. Owen has endeavoured to prove the contrary, but I believe to no man’s conviction who was able to examine and judge of the subject. He has not been able to find more than two texts which even appeared to look his way. The first is, Luke 1:2: Us, which-were eye witnesses, and ministers tou logou, of the word; where it is evident the whole of our Lord’s ministry is intended. The second is, Acts 20:32: I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace; where nothing but the gracious doctrine of salvation by faith, the influence of the Divine Spirit, &c., &c., can be meant: nor is there any legitimate mode of construction with which I am acquainted, by which the words in either place can be personally applied to our Lord. That the phrase was applied to denominate the second subsistence in the glorious Trinity, by Philo and the rabbinical writers, I have already proved in my notes on John i., where such observations are alone applicable.

Calmet, who had read all that either the ancients or moderns have said on this subject, and who does not think that Jesus Christ is here intended, speaks thus: “None of the properties mentioned here can be denied to the Son of God, the eternal Word; he sees all things, knows all things, penetrates all things, and can do all things. He is the ruler of the heart, and can turn it where he pleases. He enlightens the soul, and calls it gently and efficaciously, when and how he wills. Finally, he punishes in the most exemplary manner the insults offered to his Father and himself by infidels, unbelievers, and the wicked in general. But it does not appear that the Divine Logos is here intended, 1. Because St. Paul does not use that term to express the Son of God. 2. Because the conjunction gar, for, shows that this verse is an inference drawn from the preceding, where the subject in question is concerning the eternal rest, and the means by which it is to be obtained. It is therefore more natural to explain the term of the word, order, and will of God, for the Hebrews represent the revelation of God as an active being, living, all-powerful, illumined, executing vengeance, discerning and penetrating all things. Thus Wisd. 16:26: ‘Thy children, O Lord, know that it is not the growing of fruits that nourisheth man, but that it is thy word that preserveth them that put their trust in thee.’ See Deuteronomy 8:3. That is, the sacred Scriptures point out and appoint all the means of life. Again, speaking of the Hebrews who were bitten with the fiery serpents, the same writer says, Wisd. 16:12: ‘For it was neither herb nor mollifying plaster that restored them to health, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things;’ i.e. which describes and prescribes the means of healing. And it is very likely that the purpose of God, sending the destroying angel to slay the firstborn in Egypt is intended by the same expression, Wisd. 18:15, 16: ‘Thine almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into a land of destruction, and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and, standing up, filled all things with death.’ This however may be applied to the eternal Logos, or uncreated Word.

“And this mode of speech is exactly conformable to that of the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 55:10, 11, where to the word of God, spoken by his prophets, the same kind of powers are attributed as those mentioned here by the apostle: For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my WORD BE that GOETH FORTH OUT OF MY MOUTH: it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The centurion seems to speak a similar language, Luke 7:7: But say in a word, (alla eipe logw, speak to thy word,) and my servant shall be healed.”

This is the sum of what this very able commentator says on the subject. In Dr. Dodd’s collections we find the following:—

“The word of God, which promises to the faithful, an entrance into God’s rest in David’s time, and now to us, is not a thing which died or was forgotten as soon as it was uttered, but it continues one and the same to all generations; it is zwn, quick or living. So Isaiah says: The word of our God shall stand for ever; Isaiah 40:8. Compare Isaiah 51:6; 55:11; 1Esdras 4:38; John 3:34; 1 Peter 1:23. And powerful, enrghv, efficacious, active; sufficient, if it be not actually hindered, to produce its effects; effectual, Philemon 1:6. See 2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:13. And sharper than any two-edged sword; tomwterov uper, more cutting than. The word of God penetrates deeper into a man than any sword; it enters into the soul and spirit, into all our sensations, passions, appetites, nay, to our very thoughts; and sits as judge of the most secret intentions, contrivances, and sentiments of the heart. Phocylides has an expression very similar to our author, where he says, of reason, ‘that it is a weapon which penetrates deeper into a man than a sword.’ See also Isaiah 40:4; Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 1:16; 2:16.

“Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.-When the soul is thus distinguished from the spirit, by the former is meant that inferior faculty by which we think of and desire what concerns our present being and welfare. By spirit is meant a superior power by which we prefer future things to present, by which we are directed to pursue truth and right above all things, and even to despise what is agreeable to our present state, if it stand in competition with, or is prejudicial to, our future happiness. See 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Some have thought that by the expression before us is implied that the word of God is able to bring death, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira; for, say they, if the soul and spirit, or the joints and marrow are separated one from another, it is impossible that life can remain. But perhaps the meaning of the latter clause may rather be: ‘It can divide the joints and divide the marrow; i.e. enter irresistibly into the soul, and produce some sentiment which perhaps it would not willingly have received; and sometimes discover and punish secret, as well as open wickedness.’ Mr. Pierce observes that our author has been evidently arguing from a tremendous judgment of God upon the ancient Israelites, the ancestors of those to whom this epistle is directed; and in this verse, to press upon them that care and diligence he had been recommending, he sets before them the efficacy and virtue of the word of God, connecting this verse with the former by a for in the beginning of it; and therefore it is natural to suppose that what he says of the word of God may have a relation to somewhat remarkable in that sore punishment of which he had been speaking, particularly to the destruction of the people by lightning, or fire from heaven. See Leviticus 10:1-5; Numbers 11:1-3; 16:35; Psalms 78:21Psalm 78:21. All the expressions in this view will receive an additional force, for nothing is more quick and living, more powerful and irresistible, sharp and piercing, than lightning. If this idea be admitted, the meaning of the last clause in this verse will be, ‘That the word of God is a judge, to censure and punish the evil thoughts and intents of the heart.’ And this brings the matter home to the exhortation with which our author began, Hebrews 3:12, 13; for under whatever disguise they might conceal themselves, yet, from such tremendous judgments as God executed upon their fathers, they might learn to judge as Moses did, Numbers 32:23: If ye will not do so, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.” See Hammond, Whitby, Sykes, and Pierce.

Mr. Wesley’s note on this verse is expressed with his usual precision and accuracy:—

“For the word of God-preached, Hebrews 4:2, and armed with threatenings, Hebrews 4:3, is living and powerful-attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers; sharper than any two-edged sword-penetrating the heart more than this does the body; piercing quite through, and laying open, the soul and spirit, joints and marrow-the inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words; and is a discerner, not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.” The law, and the word of God in general, is repeatedly compared to a two-edged sword among the Jewish writers, twypyp ytv brj chereb shetey piphiyoth, the sword with the two mouths. By this sword the man himself lives, and by it he destroys his enemies. This is implied in its two edges. See also Schoettgen.

Is a discerner of the thoughts] kai kritikov enqumhsewn kai eunoiwn kardiav. Is a critic of the propensities and suggestions of the heart. How many have felt this property of God’s word where it has been faithfully preached! How often has it happened that a man has seen the whole of his own character, and some of the most private transactions of his life, held up as it were to public view by the preacher; and yet the parties absolutely unknown to each other! Some, thus exhibited, have even supposed that their neighbours must have privately informed the preacher of their character and conduct; but it was the word of God, which, by the direction and energy of the Divine Spirit, thus searched them out, was a critical examiner of the propensities and suggestions of their hearts, and had pursued them through all their public haunts and private ways. Every genuine minister of the Gospel has witnessed such effects as these under his ministry in repeated instances.

But while this effect of the word or true doctrine of God is acknowledged, let it not be supposed that it, of itself can produce such effects. The word of God is compared to a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces, Jeremiah 23:29; but will a hammer break a stone unless it is applied by the skill and strength of some powerful agent? It is here compared to a two-edged sword; but will a sword cut or pierce to the dividing of joints and marrow, or separation of soul and spirit, unless some hand push and direct it? Surely, no. Nor can even the words and doctrine of God produce any effect but as directed by the experienced teacher, and applied by the Spirit of God. It is an instrument the most apt for the accomplishing of its work; but it will do nothing, can do nothing, but as used by the heavenly workman. To this is the reference in the next verse.

Verse 12. For the word of God — As if he had said, Take heed of unbelief, for the word of God will try and condemn you if you be guilty of it. It is greatly debated among commentators whether this is to be understood of Christ, the eternal Word, or of the gospel. “None of the properties,” says Calmet, “mentioned here can be denied to the Son of God, the eternal Word. He sees all things, knows all things, penetrates all things, and can do all things. He is the Ruler of the heart, and can turn it where he pleases. He enlightens the soul, and calls it gently and efficaciously, when and how he wills. Finally, he punishes in the most exemplary manner the insults offered to his Father and to himself by infidels, unbelievers, and the wicked in general. But it does not appear that the divine Logos is here intended: 1st, Because St. Paul does not use that term to express the Son of God. 2d, Because the conjunction, gar, for, shows that this verse is an inference drawn from the preceding, where the subject in question is concerning the eternal rest, and the means by which it is obtained. It is therefore more natural to explain the term of the word, order, and will of God; for the Hebrews represent the revelation of God as an active being, living, all- powerful, illumined, executing vengeance, discernibly and penetrating all things.” Of this he produces divers examples. Macknight considers the passage in the same light, observing, “The apostle having said, (verse 2,) that logov thv akohv, the word which they heard did not profit them; the word of God in this verse, I think, signifies the preached gospel; understanding thereby its doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatenings, together with those examples of the divine judgments which are recorded in the Scriptures; by all which the gospel operates powerfully on the minds of believers. In our common version of 1 Peter 1:23, the word of God is said to be living. So also Christ, John 6:63, The words that I speak to you they are spirit and they are life; and in the last clause of this verse, actions are ascribed to the word of God which imply life, namely, it is a discerner of the devices and purposes of the heart.” And as the word is here said to be, energhv, efficacious, “this efficacy is described by Paul, 2 Corinthians 10:4, The weapons of our warfare are powerful, for the overturning of strong holds, &c. Also 1 Thessalonians 2:13, the word of God is said to work effectually in them who believe: Ephesians 6:17, the sword of the Spirit denotes the doctrine of the gospel, called a sword, because it is of great use to repel the attacks of our spiritual enemies; and a sword of the Spirit, because it was dictated by the Spirit of God: Revelation 1:16, the word of God is represented as a sharp, two-edged sword, which went out of the mouth of Christ: Isaiah 11:4, it is said of Christ, He shall smite the earth with the rod, or (as the LXX. render it) tw logw, the word of his mouth.” Bengelius and Wesley understand the passage in the same sense, the note of the latter being as follows: “The word of God preached, (verse 2,) and armed with threatenings, (verse 3,) is living and powerful, attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers; sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating the heart more than this does the body; piercing quite through, and laying open the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, the inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words: and is a discerner not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.”

In the clause, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, the writer proceeds on the supposition that man consists of three parts, a body, a sensitive soul, which he hath in common with the brutes, and a rational spirit, of which see the note on 1 Thessalonians 5:23. In representing the word, or gospel, as a person who shall judge the world at the last day the apostle hath imitated Christ, who said to the Jews, (John 12:48,) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: o logov, the word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day. But to raise the figure, the apostle ascribes to the word life, strength, discernment, and action; qualities highly necessary in a judge.

Ver. 12. The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two- edged sword. By the Word is generally understood Jesus Christ, out of whose mouth goes a sharp sword with two edges. Isaiah has said, He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked: Hebrews 11:4. Now as the sword lays open the body by a stroke, and as the sacrificial knife divided the victims, so the word of the Lord makes manifest the thoughts of the heart. The sense is the same, if we understand it of the word preached, for it is the voice of Christ which raises the dead, and bids the dry bones hear and live. Where can we hide from him, who has eyes like flames of fire. Apostates from truth and righteousness can find no cover at his bar. — We should notice the term: the word of God is “quick,” or living; it is spirit and life to the soul.

12. For—The momentous reason for our taking warning, the character of the word by which our unbelief is searched out and we condemned. Word of God—The solemn word, in form of oath, which excludes from rest. Verse 3, and Hebrews 3:11. This divine word is terribly searching of spirit, soul, and body; searching whether that fatal unbelief lurks, the least particle, in any secret corner of our being. The many personal attributes here ascribed to the word has induced many eminent commentators, ancient and modern, to find here the Word of John 1:1, and to identify it with the second Person of the Trinity. The view of Delitzsch on this point seems most plausible—which is about this. The divine Word is the true expression of the divine nature, both as revealed person and as revealed truth. As the personal Word is the formative energy in the realm of physical things, so he is the actuating energy in the spiritual realm. He is the soul of spiritual truth, which from him derives its penetrative power upon and within the human soul. Hence, this description of the searching power of the word has a blending and identification of the person and the utterance, united in the term Word. And as the Son, by virtue of his being sent forth from the Father, is Apostle, and as the expression of the Father he is the Word, so this passage constitutes the climax of that terribleness of the administration of the apostle which calls for transition to the gracious High Priest, which follows in the next verse. This view is confirmed by a strong similar passage in Philo, of which this is a great improvement, and which we thus translate: “You may contemplate the uncomprehended God, cutting in succession all the natures of bodies and things, which seem to be compacted and unified, with the cleaver of all things, his Word, which, being sharpened to its keenest edge, (akmh,) divides unceasingly all sensible things, and afterwards goes through, even to the atoms and the so-called indivisibles.” Quick—That is, living; full of a pervading, searching life. Powerful—Intensely energetic in its search. Sharper—With an omniscient keenness of edge. Two-edged sword—Cutting either way, according as the presence of the element of unbelief may be. Piercing— Rather, with a personification, going through; for both this word and sword are living. It is not a sword, which is an instrument, but which is vital and self-active. Even—Expressive of the surprising extent to which the live word can penetrate. Dividing asunder—The question is raised by commentators, does this mean a separation of soul from spirit, and of joints from marrow; or does it mean that the word so subtly inserts itself into the interstices between, as we may say, the particles of these four entities as to separate particle from particle? The very fact that they are ranged in couplets seems to indicate that a separation between the two units of each couplet is meant. Yet the language of Philo seems to imply an interpenetration of the ultimate elements. And Lunemann and Alford find that meaning in the text. Says Alford: “The word pierces to the dividing, not of the soul from the spirit, but of the soul itself and of the spirit itself; the former being the lower portion of man’s invisible part, which he has in common with the brutes, ‘the irrational of the soul’ of Philo; the latter, the higher portion, receptive of the Spirit of God, ‘the rational of the soul’ of the same; both which are pierced and divided by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.”

It is, of course, not meant that the word produces a literal separation of the joints and marrow. But these two parts are mentioned as the residences of mental operations; the former of activities and the latter of sensations; and it is between these mentalities that the word inserts its penetrative and divisive energy.

Discerner—Rendered by Alford “judger,” as being derived from a word signifying to judge. It continues the personification expressed in quick, or living, and going through; implying a discerning power in the word. Thoughts—Thoughts in action, thinkings, trains of mental operations. Intents—Mental intentions, out of which spring volitions and actions. Heart—Note on Romans 10:10.

V. 13. In his sight-It is God whose word is thus "powerful:" it is God in whose sight every creature is manifest; and of this his word, working on the conscience, gives the fullest conviction.

But all things are naked and opened-Plainly alluding to the sacrifices under the law which were first flayed, and then (as the Greek word literally means) cleft asunder through the neck and backbone; so that everything both without and within was exposed to open view.

Verse 13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest] God, from whom this word comes, and by whom it has all its efficacy, is infinitely wise. He well knew how to construct his word, so as to suit it to the state of all hearts; and he has given it that infinite fulness of meaning, so as to suit it to all cases. And so infinite is he in his knowledge, and so omnipresent is he, that the whole creation is constantly exposed to his view; nor is there a creature of the affections, mind, or imagination, that is not constantly under his eye. He marks every rising thought, every budding desire; and such as these are supposed to be the creatures to which the apostle particularly refers, and which are called, in the preceding verse, the propensities and suggestions of the heart.

But all things are naked and opened] panta de gumna kai

tetrachlismena. It has been supposed that the phraseology here is sacrificial, the apostle referring to the case, of slaying and preparing a victim to be offered to God. 1. It is slain; 2. It is flayed, so it is naked; 3. It is cut open, so that all the intestines are exposed to view; 4. It is carefully inspected by the priest, to see that all is sound before any part is offered to him who has prohibited all imperfect and diseased offerings; and, 5. It is divided exactly into two equal parts, by being split down the chine from the nose to the rump; and so exactly was this performed, that the spinal marrow was cloven down the centre, one half lying in the divided cavity of each side of the backbone. This is probably the metaphor in 2 Timothy 2:15, where see the note.

But there is reason to suspect that this is not the metaphor here. The verb trachlizw, from which the apostle’s tetrachlismena comes, signifies to have the neck bent back so as to expose the face to full view, that every feature might be seen; and this was often done with criminals, in order that they might be the better recognized and ascertained. To this custom Pliny refers in the very elegant and important panegyric which he delivered on the Emperor Trajan, about A. D. 103, when the emperor had made him consul; where, speaking of the great attention which Trajan paid to the public morals, and the care he took to extirpate informers, &c., he says: Nihil tamen gratius, nihil sæculo dignius, quam quod contigit desuper intueri delatorum supina ora, retortasque cervices. Agnoscebamus et fruebamur, cum velut piaculares publicæ sollicitudinis victimæ, supra sanguinem noxiorum ad lenta supplicia gravioresque pœnas ducerentur. Plin. Paneg., cap. 34. “There is nothing, however, in this age which affects us more pleasingly, nothing more deservedly, than to behold from above the supine faces and reverted necks of the informers. We thus knew them, and were gratified when, as expiatory victims of the public disquietude, they were led away to lingering punishments, and sufferings more terrible than even the blood of the guilty.”

The term was also used to describe the action of wrestlers who, when they could, got their hand under the chin of their antagonists, and thus, by bending both the head and neck, could the more easily give them a fall; this stratagem is sometimes seen in ancient monuments. But some suppose that it refers to the custom of dragging them by the neck. Diogenes the philosopher, observing one who had been victor in the Olympic games often fixing his eyes upon a courtezan, said, in allusion to this custom: ide krion areimanion, wv upo tou tucontov korasiou trachlizetai. “See how this mighty champion (martial ram) is drawn by the neck by a common girl.” See Stanley, page 305.

With whom we have to do.] prov on hmin o logov. To whom we must give an account. He is our Judge, and is well qualified to be so, as all our hearts and actions are naked and open to him.

This is the true meaning of logov in this place; and it is used in precisely the same meaning in Matthew 12:36; 18:23; Luke 16:2. Romans 14:12: So then every one of us logov dwsei, shall give an account of himself to God. And Hebrews 13:17: They watch for your souls, wv logon apodwsontev, as those who must give account. We translate the words, With whom we have to do; of which, though the phraseology is obsolete, yet the meaning is nearly the same. To whom a worde to us, is the rendering of my old MS. and Wiclif. Of whom we speake, is the version of our other early translators.

Verse 13. Neither is there any creature — Especially no human creature; that is not manifest — Afanhv, unapparent; in his sight — Namely, in the sight of God, whose word is thus powerful; for it is God in whose sight, or before whom, Greek enwpio, autou, every creature is manifest, and of this his word, working on the conscience, gives the fullest conviction; but all things are naked and opened — Gumna kai tetrachlismena, expressions used with a plain allusion to the state in which the sacrifices called burnt-offerings were laid on the altar. They were stripped of their skins, their breasts were ripped open, their bowels were taken out, and their back-bone was cleft from the neck downward, as the latter word signifies. So that every thing, both within and without them, was exposed to open view, particularly to the eye of the priest, in order to a thorough examination, Leviticus 1:5, 6. And being found without blemish, they were laid in their natural order on the altar, and burned, verse 8. The apostle’s meaning is, that neither infidelity, nor hypocrisy, nor worldly- mindedness; neither covetousness, nor pride, nor ambition, nor any sinful disposition, however secretly it may lurk in the mind, can be concealed from our judge; with whom we have to do — Prov on hmin o logov, to whom we must give an account. So the word logov frequently signifies. See Matthew 12:36; 18:23; Luke 10. 6:2; and particularly Romans 14:12Romans

13. Thus far is described the searching action of the word upon our inmost being; now is correspondently described the complete passive subjection of our being to the scrutiny of the same word. Creature—Of any nature, but especially human. From the fact that sight and eyes are affirmed, Lunemann, Alford, and Moll tell us that it is no longer the word, but God, that is described. But: 1. That forgets that nearly every term so far gives personality to this word. Living, energizing, going through, discerning, are its attributes. Now what are sight and eyes other than powers of discerning; powers which are attributed to the word in a very intense degree? 2. The word is the sole subject thus far, and it is a violation of grammar to suppose a change without an indication of change. 3. All the commentators we know overlook the correspondence above mentioned between verses 12 and 13. Verse 12 describes the active scrutiny of the word upon us; verse 13 antithetically describes our absolute nakedness beneath that same scrutiny, namely, of the word. Opened—The Greek word literally signifies throated. It is used of a wrestler grasped by the throat, and prostrated by his antagonist, and so Alford renders it, “prostrate.” By Roman custom, a criminal’s face and throat were exposed to public gaze by a dagger placed under his chin. But the real allusion is to the exposure of the throat of an animal to the knife of the slaughterer, produced by the drawing back of his head for that purpose. Hence the true meaning is, that we are as exposed to the view of the word as the victim’s throat to the eye of his sacrificer. Have to do—Literal Greek, him to whom is to us the word. To this divine word there is incumbent upon us an answering human word. From this stern apostle and word turn we now to our gracious High-Priest.

III. THE SON AS OUR DIVINE HIGH PRIEST FULLY CONTEMPLATED, Hebrews 4:14-10:18.

A. INTRODUCTORY, Hebrews 4:14-6:20.

1. Recurrence to former view (Hebrews 2:9-18)

of our High Priest, 14-16.

V. 14. Having therefore a great high priest-Great indeed, being the eternal Son of God, that is passed through the heavens-As the Jewish high priest passed through the veil into the holy of holies, carrying with him the blood of the sacrifices, on the yearly day of atonement; so our great high priest went once for all through the visible heavens, with the virtue of his own blood, into the immediate presence God.

Verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest] It is contended, and very properly, that the particle oun, which we translate seeing, as if what followed was an immediate inference from what the apostle had been speaking, should be translated now; for the apostle, though he had before mentioned Christ as the High Priest of our profession, Hebrews 3:1, and as the High Priest who made reconciliation for the sins of the people, Hebrews 2:17, does not attempt to prove this in any of the preceding chapters, but now enters upon that point, and discusses it at great length to the end of chap. x.

After all, it is possible that this may be a resumption of the discourse from Hebrews 3:6; the rest of that chapter, and the preceding thirteen verses of this, being considered as a parenthesis. These parts left out, the discourse runs on with perfect connection. It is very likely that the words, here, are spoken to meet an objection of those Jews who wished the Christians of Palestine to apostatize: “You have no tabernacle-no temple-no high priest-no sacrifice for sin. Without these there can be no religion; return therefore to us, who have the perfect temple service appointed-by God.” To these he answers: We have a High Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God; therefore let us hold fast our profession. See on Hebrews 3:1, to which this verse seems immediately to refer.

Three things the apostle professes to prove in this epistle:—

1. That Christ is greater than the angels.

2. That he is greater than Moses.

3. That he is greater than Aaron, and all high priests.

The two former arguments, with their applications and illustrations, he has already despatched; and now he enters on the third. See the preface to this epistle.

The apostle states, 1. That we have a high priest. 2. That this high priest is Jesus, the Son of God; not a son or descendant of Aaron, nor coming in that way, but in a more transcendent line.

3. Aaron and his successors could only pass into the holy of holies, and that once a year; but our High Priest has passed into the heavens, of which that was only the type. There is an allusion here to the high priest going into the holy of holies on the great day of atonement. 1. He left the congregation of the people. 2. He passed through the veil into the holy place, and was not seen even by the priests. 3. He entered through the second veil into the holy of holies, where was the symbol of the majesty of God. Jesus, our High Priest, 1. Left the people at large. 2. He left his disciples by ascending up through the visible heavens, the clouds, as a veil, screening him from their sight. 3. Having passed through these veils, he went immediately to be our Intercessor: thus he passed ouranouv, the visible or ethereal heavens, into the presence of the Divine Majesty; through the heavens, dielhluqota touv ouranouv, and the empyreum, or heaven of heavens.

14:12, where the final judgment is spoken of. So every one of us, logon dwsei, shall give an account of himself to God; and Hebrews 13:17, they watch for your souls, wv logon apodwsontev, as those who must give account.

Verse 14. The writer of this epistle having spoken of the Author of the gospel, as the Creator of the world, as the Lawgiver in God’s church, as the Conductor of the spiritual seed of Abraham into the heavenly country, the rest of God, and as the Judge of the whole human race, now proceeds to speak of him as the High-Priest of our religion, and to show that, as such, he hath made atonement for our sins by the sacrifice of himself. This is the fourth fact whereby the authority of the gospel, as a revelation from God, is supported. See note on Hebrews 1:1. They who are acquainted with the history of mankind, know that from the earliest times propitiatory sacrifices were offered by almost all nations, in the belief that they were the only effectual means of procuring the pardon of sin and the favour of the Deity. In this persuasion the Jews more especially were confirmed by the law of Moses, in which a variety of sacrifices of that sort, as well as freewill-offerings, were appointed by God himself. And as the heathen offered these sacrifices with many pompous rites, and feasted on them in the temples of their gods, they became extremely attached to a form of worship which at once eased their consciences and pleased their senses. Wherefore, when it was observed that no propitiatory sacrifices were enjoined in the gospel, and that nothing of the kind was offered in the Christian places of worship, Jews and Gentiles equally were very difficultly persuaded to renounce their ancient worship for the gospel form, in which no atonements appeared; and which, employing rational motives alone for exciting their affections, was too naked to be, to such persons, in any degree interesting. Wherefore, to give both Jews and Gentiles just views of the gospel, the apostle, in this passage of his epistle, affirms, that although no sacrifices are offered in the Christian temples, we have a great High- Priest, even Jesus the Son of God, who, at his ascension, passed through the visible heavens into the true habitation of God, with the sacrifice of himself; and from these considerations he exhorts the believing Hebrews in particular to hold fast their profession. Then to show that Jesus is well qualified to be a High-Priest, he observes, that though he be the Son of God, he is likewise a man, and so cannot but be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. On which account we may come boldly to the throne of grace, well assured that through his intercession we shall obtain the pardon of our sins, and such supplies of grace as are needful for us. These being the doctrines which the apostle is to prove in the remaining part of this epistle, this paragraph may be considered as the proposition of the subjects he is going to handle in the following chapters. And as his reasonings on these, as well as on the subjects discussed in the foregoing part of the epistle, are all founded on the writings of Moses and the prophets, it is reasonable to suppose that his interpretations of the passages which he quotes from these writings, are no other than those which were given of them by the Jewish doctors and scribes, and which were received by the people at the time he wrote. See Macknight. Seeing then that we have — Greek, econtev oun, having therefore. The apostle refers to what he had affirmed, (Hebrews 1:3,) that the Son of God had made purification of our sins by the sacrifice of himself, and to what he had advanced Hebrews 2:17, that he was made like his brethren in all things, that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest; and to his having called him the High-Priest of our profession, Hebrews 3:1. He had not, however, hitherto attempted to prove that Jesus really was a high-priest, or that he had offered any sacrifice to God for the sins of men. The proof of these things he deferred till he had discussed the other topics of which he proposed to treat. But having finished what he had to say concerning them, he now enters on the proof of Christ’s priesthood, and treats thereof, and of various other matters connected with it, at great length, to the end of chap. 10. Theodoret, who had divided this epistle into sections, begins his second section with this verse, because it introduces a new subject. Indeed, the 5th chapter, according to our division of the epistle, should have begun with this verse. A great High-Priest — Great indeed, being the eternal Son of God; that is passed into the heavens — Or, through the heavens, as the expression dielhluqota touv ouranouv, literally signifies. The word heavens is taken in two senses: 1st, For the palace of the great King, where is his throne, and where thousands of the holy ones stand ministering before him. This heaven the Lord Jesus did not pass through but into, when he was taken up into glory, 1 Timothy 3:16. There he is at the right hand of the majesty on high; and these heavens have received him until the time of restitution of all things, Acts 3:27. But by the heavens we are sometimes to understand, 2d, the air, as when mention is made of the fowls of heaven; and concerning them our apostle says, (chap. 7:26,) that Jesus is made higher than the heavens; he passed through them, and ascended above them, into that which is called the third heaven, or the heaven of heavens. The allusion is evidently made to the Jewish high- priest, and to what he typically represented to the church of old. As he passed through the veil into the holy of holies, carrying with him the blood of the sacrifices on the yearly day of atonement; so our great High-Priest went, once for all, through the visible heavens with the virtue of his own blood, into the immediate presence of God. It is to be observed, the apostle calls Jesus, the Son of God, a great High-Priest, because in chap. 1. he had proved him to be greater than the angels; and in Hebrews 3:1-4, to be worthy of more honour than Moses. Let us hold fast our profession — Our professed subjection to him and his gospel, notwithstanding our past sins, the present defects of our obedience, and our manifold infirmities. The word omologia, however, may be properly rendered, and probably was chiefly intended to signify, confession; for it is required that we should make a solemn declaration of our subjection to the gospel, with prudence, humble confidence, and constancy; for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, Romans 10:10. The open acknowledgment of the Lord Christ, of his word and ways under persecution, is the touch-stone of all profession. This is what we are to hold first, totis viribus, with our whole strength, as kratwmen signifies, or with resolution, zeal, and firmness. See Revelation 2:25; 3:12. This verse, therefore, contains the enjoinment of a duty, with a motive and encouragement to the due performance of it. We have a great High-Priest, therefore let us hold fast, &c.

Ver. 14. Seeing then we have such a great highpriest, who is as gracious, compassionate and tender to sincere souls as he is terrific to those who harden their necks, let us hold fast our profession. Let the defection of some make us the more bold and determined in the Lord. Let us repose under his wings, rely on the intercession of our great highpriest above, and give him our cause to plead, for him the Father heareth always.

14. Seeing—Joins on to 2:18, and continues the description of the approachable sympathy of the suffering Saviour. Then—Or, therefore. In view of the stern nature of the divine legation (apostleship) of the Messiah. Seeing that this terrible Word—this adjudging King—is also a tender Priest, with all the saving power of royalty, let us not merely fear (Hebrews 4:1) and labour, (verse 11,) but come boldly for mercy and grace, (verse 16.) A great high priest—Greater than the highest sacred dignitary known to the Hebrews. Great high priest means a dignitary highest in the line of high priests. If our faltering “Hebrews” reverence that sacred line, most of all should they reverence Jesus. Passed into—Rather, passed through; namely, in his ascension to the right hand of God. See notes on Ephesians 4:8-10. The great high priest surpassed the ordinary line in this transcendent respect, that, whereas they only passed annually through the temple veil into the most holy, he passed through the heavens to the presence of God, of which the most holy was symbol. He was the real of which they were figure. Jesus the Son of God—Not Jesus (Joshua) the son of Nun, verse 8. Profession—Note, verse 1.

V. 15. He sympathizes with us even in our innocent infirmities, wants, weaknesses, miseries, dangers.

Yet without sin-And, therefore, is indisputably able to preserve us from it in all our temptations.

Verse 15. For we have not a high priest] To the objection, “Your High Priest, if entered into the heavens, can have no participation with you, and no sympathy for you, because out of the reach of human feelings and infirmities,” he answers: ou gar ecomen apcierea mh dunamenon sumpaqhsai taiv asqeneiaiv hmwn. We have not a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness. Though he be the Son of God, as to his human nature, and equal in his Divine nature with God; yet, having partaken of human nature, and having submitted to all its trials and distresses, and being in all points tempted like as we are, without feeling or consenting to sin; he is able to succour them that are tempted. See Hebrews 2:18, and the note there.

The words kata panta kaqoJmoiothta might be translated, in all points according to the likeness, i.e. as far as his human nature could bear affinity to ours; for, though he had a perfect human body and human soul, yet that body was perfectly tempered; it was free from all morbid action, and consequently from all irregular movements. His mind, or human soul, being free from all sin, being every way perfect, could feel no irregular temper, nothing that was inconsistent with infinite purity. In all these respects he was different from us; and cannot, as man, sympathize with us in any feelings of this kind: but, as God, he has provided support for the body under all its trials and infirmities, and for the soul he has provided an atonement and purifying sacrifice; so that he cleanses the heart from all unrighteousness, and fills the soul with his Holy Spirit, and makes it his own temple and continual habitation. He took our flesh and blood, a human body and a human soul, and lived a human life. Here was the likeness of sinful flesh, Romans 8:5; and by thus assuming human nature, he was completely qualified to make an atonement for the sins of the world.

Verse 15. For we have not a high-priest, &c. — As if he had said, Though he be so great, yet he is not without concern for us in our mean and low condition. Here the apostle lets the Hebrews know that in the gospel there is no loss of privilege in any thing. Had they a high-priest who, with his office, was the life and glory of their profession and worship? We also, says he, have a High-Priest, who is, in like manner, the life and glory of our profession and service; and not one who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities — Or, who cannot, sumpaqhsai taiv asqeneiaiv hmwn, sympathize with our weaknesses, our temptations, trials, and troubles, of whatever kind they may be, ghostly or bodily. The Son of God, having been made flesh, experienced all the temptations and miseries incident to mankind, sin excepted; consequently he must always have a lively feeling of our infirmities; of our wants, weaknesses, miseries, dangers; but was in all points tempted — That is, tried; like as we are — Kaq’ omoiothta, according to a similitude of our trials, or with such as belong to human nature. What is here said of the similarity of our Lord’s trials to ours, does not imply an exact likeness; for he was free from that corruption of nature which, as the consequence of Adam’s sin, has infected all mankind; which is intimated likewise in the expression, (Romans 8:3,) sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh; yet without sin — For he never committed any; and is able to preserve us in all our temptations from the commission of it.

15. For—These next two verses extend and amplify Hebrews 2:17, 18, intending to show that the Saviour’s humiliation, instead of being a ground of disgust, is truly most glorious and attractive, as being most tender. In all points tempted—How this could be, see our notes introductory to and on Matthew 4:1. Without sin—Without a derived depravation from the fall, and so without a preferential tendency to sin; so that Satan could find “nothing in” him (John 14:30) as base for inducing apostasy. And yet, as human, possessing those susceptibilities which, pure and right in themselves, may, without the preventive will fixing itself firmly in obedience to the Right, be excited to sin. Hence with the full ability to sin, yet without the commission or guilt of sin. All the more glorious his merit, and all the more complete his example, because sin was possible, yet not committed.

V. 16. Let us therefore come boldly-Without any doubt or fear. Unto the throne of God, our reconciled Father, even his throne of grace-Grace erected it, and reigns there, and dispenses all blessings in a way of mere, unmerited favour.

Verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace] The allusion to the high priest, and his office on the day of atonement, is here kept up. The approach mentioned here is to the trpk kapporeth, ilasthrion, the propitiatory or mercy-seat. This was the covering of the ark of the testimony or covenant, at each end of which was a cherub, and between them the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Majesty, which appeared to, and conversed with, the high priest. Here the apostle shows the great superiority of the privileges of the new testament above those of the old; for there the high priest only, and he with fear and trembling, was permitted to approach; and that not without the blood of the victim; and if in any thing he transgressed, he might expect to be struck with death. The throne of grace in heaven answers to this propitiatory, but to this ALL may approach who feel their need of salvation; and they may approach meta parrhsiav, with freedom, confidence, liberty of speech, in opposition to the fear and trembling of the Jewish high priest. Here, nothing is to be feared, provided the heart be right with God, truly sincere, and trusting alone in the sacrificial blood.

That we may obtain mercy] iJna labwmen eleon. That we may take mercy-that we may receive the pardon of all our sins; there is mercy for the taking. As Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, so every man may go to that propitiatory, and take the mercy that is suited to his degree of guilt. And find grace] Mercy refers to the pardon of sin, and being brought into the favour of God. Grace is that by which the soul is supported after it has received this mercy, and by which it is purified from all unrighteousness, and upheld in all trials and difficulties, and enabled to prove faithful unto death.

To help in time of need.] eiv eukairon bohqeian. For a seasonable support; that is, support when necessary, and as necessary, and in due proportion to the necessity. The word bonqeia is properly rendered assistance, help, or support; but it is an assistance in consequence of the earnest cry of the person in distress, for the word signifies to run at the cry, qein eiv bohn, or epi bohn qein. So, even at the throne of grace, or great propitiatory, no help can be expected where there is no cry, and where there is no cry there is no felt necessity; for he that feels he is perishing will cry aloud for help, and to such a cry the compassionate High Priest will run; and the time of need is the time in which God will show mercy; nor will he ever delay it when it is necessary. We are not to cry to-day to be helped to-morrow, or at some indefinite time, or at the hour of death. We are to call for mercy and grace when we need them; and we are to expect to receive them when we call. This is a part of our liberty or boldness; we come up to the throne, and we call aloud for mercy, and God hears and dispenses the blessing we need.

That this exhortation of the apostle may not be lost on us, let us consider:—

1. That there is a throne of grace, i.e. a propitiatory, the place where God and man are to meet.

2. That this propitiatory or mercy-seat is sprinkled with the atoning blood of that Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

3. That we must come up, prosercwmeqa, to this throne; and this implies faith in the efficacy of the sacrifice.

4. That we must call aloud on God for his mercy, if we expect him to run to our assistance.

5. That we must feel our spiritual necessities, in order to our calling with fervency and earnestness.

6. That calling thus we shall infallibly get what we want; for in Christ Jesus, as a sacrificial offering, God is ever well pleased; and he is also well pleased with all who take refuge in the atonement which he has made.

7. That thus coming, feeling, and calling, we may have the utmost confidence; for we have boldness, liberty of access, freedom of speech; may plead with our Maker without fear; and expect all that heaven has to bestow; because Jesus, who died, sitteth upon the throne! Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

8. All these are reasons why we should persevere.

HEBREWS

Verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly — Without any doubt or fear, trusting in his sacrifice and intercession for acceptance; unto the throne of grace — The throne of our reconciled Father, which grace erected, and where it reigns and dispenses all blessings in a way of unmerited favour; that we may obtain mercy — To pardon all our past sins, and compassionate our condition, amidst our various infirmities and sufferings; and find grace to help in time of need — Or, for a seasonable help; according to our respective necessities, as eiv eukairon bohqeian implies. The latter word properly signifies help obtained in consequence of crying aloud, or strong crying for it. Observe, reader, though every time may be properly termed a time of need, in which we want supplies of grace, yet some times are peculiarly such: as seasons of affliction, of persecution, and temptation; or times when God, to chastise us for our lukewarmness and sloth, our hypocrisy and formality, or pride, self-will, discontent, or impatience; our neglect of prayer and watchfulness, our levity and folly, or any other fault or failing, withdraws his presence from us: or when we are called to the performance of any great and signal duty, as it was with Abraham when he was called first to leave his country, and afterward to sacrifice his son: or to something that is new, and in which we are yet inexperienced; a duty against which there is great opposition, or for which we may seem to be very unfit, or in which the glory of God is in an especial manner concerned. And, above all, the time of death will be such a season. To part with all present things and present hopes, to give up one’s departing soul, entering the invisible world, an unchangeable eternity, into the hands of our sovereign Lord, are duties which require strength beyond our own, for their right and comfortable performance. And at such seasons, as we have peculiar need to make application to the throne of grace, here spoken of, for the purpose of obtaining seasonable help; so, if we apply in faith, and with sincere and earnest desire and persevering diligence, we shall not apply in vain.

Ver. 16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. The word has reference to the mercyseat, where the glory appeared in the holy place, and where the Lord held communion with his people. On this throne he dwells in glory, and still communes with and blesses them that fear him. On this high throne he now sits at the Father’s right hand, uniting the regal, and the priestly dignity in his own person. Here he reigns, the defence of Zion, till all his enemies are put under his feet. He is full of compassion, being touched with the feeling of our infirmities. To him we may boldly come with our complaints; no ear will listen like his ear, no bosom will commiserate like his. He is able also to save to the uttermost all who come to God through him.

16. Therefore—In view of this glorious tenderness of our great high priest. Come boldly—With free and confident utterance. Throne—Of God, to which we have access through him. Mercy—For our past sins. Grace—For future holiness. Grace to help in time of need—Literally, grace for timely (suited to the demand) aid; that is, against weakness and trial.