‏ Hebrews 8:10-13

10. make with--Greek, "make unto."

Israel--comprising the before disunited (He 8:8) ten tribes' kingdom, and that of Judah. They are united in the spiritual Israel, the elect Church, now: they shall be so in the literal restored kingdom of Israel to come.

I will put--literally, "(I) giving." This is the first of the "better promises" (He 8:6).

mind--their intelligent faculty.

in, &c.--rather, " ON their hearts." Not on tables of stone as the law (2Co 3:3).

write--Greek, "inscribe."

and I will be to them a God, &c.--fulfilled first in the outward kingdom of God. Next, in the inward Gospel kingdom. Thirdly, in the kingdom at once outward and inward, the spiritual being manifested outwardly (Re 21:3). Compare a similar progression as to the priesthood (1) Ex 19:6; (2) 1Pe 2:5; (3) Is 61:6; Re 1:6. This progressive advance of the significance of the Old Testament institutions, &c., says Tholuck, shows the transparency and prophetic character which runs throughout the whole.

11. Second of the "better promises" (He 8:6).

they shall not--"they shall not have to teach" [Alford].

his neighbour--So Vulgate reads; but the oldest manuscripts have "his (fellow) citizen."

brother--a closer and more endearing relation than fellow citizen.

from the least to the greatest--Greek, "from the little one to the great one." Zec 12:8, "He that is feeble among them shall be as David." Under the old covenant, the priest's lips were to keep knowledge, and at his mouth the people were to seek the law: under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit teaches every believer. Not that the mutual teaching of brethren is excluded while the covenant is being promulgated; but when once the Holy Spirit shall have fully taught all the remission of their sins and inward sanctification, then there shall be no further' need of man teaching his fellow man. Compare 1Th 4:9; 5:1, an earnest of that perfect state to come. On the way to that perfect state every man should teach his neighbor. "The teaching is not hard and forced, because grace renders all teachable; for it is not the ministry of the letter, but of the spirit (2Co 3:6). The believer's firmness does not depend on the authority of human teachers. God Himself teaches" [Bengel]. The New Testament is shorter than the Old Testament, because, instead of the details of an outward letter law, it gives the all-embracing principles of the spiritual law written on the conscience, leading one to spontaneous instinctive obedience in outward details. None save the Lord can teach effectually, "know the Lord."

12. For, &c.--the third of "the better promises" (He 8:6). The forgiveness of sins is, and will be, the root of this new state of inward grace and knowledge of the Lord. Sin being abolished, sinners obtain grace.

I will be merciful--Greek, "propitious"; the Hebrew, "salach," is always used of God only in relation to men.

and their iniquities--not found in Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and one oldest Greek manuscript; but most oldest manuscripts have the words (compare He 10:17).

remember no more--Contrast the law, He 10:3.

13. he--God.

made ... old--"hath (at the time of speaking the prophecy) antiquated the first covenant." From the time of God's mention of a NEW covenant (since God's words are all realities) the first covenant might be regarded as ever dwindling away, until its complete abolition on the actual introduction of the Gospel. Both covenants cannot exist side by side. Mark how verbal inspiration is proved in Paul's argument turning wholly on the one word "NEW" (covenant), occurring but once in the Old Testament.

that which decayeth--Greek, "that which is being antiquated," namely, at the time when Jeremiah spake. For in Paul's time, according to his view, the new had absolutely set aside the old covenant. The Greek for (Kaine) New (Testament) implies that it is of a different kind and supersedes the old: not merely recent (Greek, "nea"). Compare Ho 3:4, 5.

‏ Hebrews 9

CHAPTER 9

He 9:1-28. Inferiority of the Old to the New Covenant in the Means of Access to God: The Blood of Bulls and Goats of No Real Avail: The Blood of Christ All-sufficient to Purge Away Sin, Whence Flows Our Hope of His Appearing Again for Our Perfect Salvation.

1. Then verily--Greek, "Accordingly then." Resuming the subject from He 8:5. In accordance with the command given to Moses, "the first covenant had," &c.

had--not "has," for as a covenant it no longer existed, though its rites were observed till the destruction of Jerusalem.

ordinances--of divine right and institution.

service--worship.

a worldly sanctuary--Greek, "its (literally, 'the') sanctuary worldly," mundane; consisting of the elements of the visible world. Contrasted with the heavenly sanctuary. Compare He 9:11, 12, "not of this building," He 9:24. Material, outward, perishing (however precious its materials were), and also defective religiously. In He 9:2-5, "the worldly sanctuary" is discussed; in He 9:6, &c., the "ordinances of worship." The outer tabernacle the Jews believed, signified this world; the Holy of Holies, heaven. Josephus calls the outer, divided into two parts, "a secular and common place," answering to "the earth and sea"; and the inner holiest place, the third part, appropriated to God and not accessible to men.

2. Defining "the worldly tabernacle."

a tabernacle--"the tabernacle."

made--built and furnished.

the first--the anterior tabernacle.

candlestick ... table--typifying light and life (Ex 25:31-39). The candlestick consisted of a shaft and six branches of gold, seven in all, the bowls made like almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch. It was carried in Vespasian's triumph, and the figure is to be seen on Titus' arch at Rome. The table of shittim wood, covered with gold, was for the showbread (Ex 25:23-30).

showbread--literally, "the setting forth of the loaves," that is, the loaves set forth: "the show of the bread" [Alford]. In the outer holy place: so the Eucharist continues until our entrance into the heavenly Holy of Holies (1Co 11:26).

which, &c.--"which (tabernacle) is called the holy place," as distinguished from "the Holy of Holies."

3. And--Greek, "But."

after--behind; within.

second veil--There were two veils or curtains, one before the Holy of Holies (catapetasma), here alluded to, the other before the tabernacle door (calumma).

called--as opposed to "the true."

4. golden censer--The Greek, must not be translated "altar of incense," for it was not in "the holiest" place "after the second veil," but in "the holy place"; but as in 2Ch 26:19, and Eze 8:11, "censer": so Vulgate and Syriac. This GOLDEN censer was only used on the day of atonement (other kinds of censers on other days), and is therefore associated with the holiest place, as being taken into it on that anniversary by the high priest. The expression "which had," does not mean that the golden censer was deposited there, for in that case the high priest would have had to go in and bring it out before burning incense in it; but that the golden censer was one of the articles belonging to, and used for, the yearly service in the holiest place. He virtually supposes (without specifying) the existence of the "altar of incense" in the anterior holy place, by mentioning the golden censer filled with incense from it: the incense answers to the prayers of the saints; and the altar though outside the holiest place, is connected with it (standing close by the second veil, directly before the ark of the covenant), even as we find an antitypical altar in heaven. The rending of the veil by Christ has brought the antitypes to the altar, candlestick, and showbread of the anterior holy place into the holiest place, heaven. In 1Ki 6:22, Hebrew, "the altar" is said to belong to the oracle, or holiest place (compare Ex 30:6).

ark--of shittim wood, that is, acacia. Not in the second temple, but in its stead was a stone basement (called "the stone of foundation"), three fingers high.

pot--"golden," added in the Septuagint, and sanctioned by Paul.

manna--an omer, each man's daily portion. In 1Ki 8:9; 2Ch 5:10, it is said there was nothing in the ark of Solomon's temple save the two stone tables of the law put in by Moses. But the expression that there was nothing THEN therein save the two tables, leaves the inference to be drawn that formerly there were the other things mentioned by the Rabbis and by Paul here, the pot of manna (the memorial of God's providential care of Israel) and the rod of Aaron, the memorial of the lawful priesthood (Nu 17:3, 5, 7, 10). The expressions "before the Lord" (Ex 16:32), and "before the testimony" (Nu 17:10) thus mean, "IN the ark." "In," however, may be used here (as the corresponding Hebrew word) as to things attached to the ark as appendages, as the book of the law was put "in the side of the ark," and so the golden jewels offered by the Philistines (1Sa 6:8).

tables of the covenant--(De 9:9; 10:2).

5. over it--over "the ark of the covenant."

cherubim--representing the ruling powers by which God acts in the moral and natural world. (See on Eze 1:6; Eze 10:1). Hence sometimes they answer to the ministering angels; but mostly to the elect redeemed, by whom God shall hereafter rule the world and set forth His manifold wisdom: redeemed humanity, combining in, and with itself, the highest forms of subordinate creaturely life; not angels. They stand on the mercy seat, and on that ground become the habitation of God, from which His glory is to shine upon the world. They expressly say, Re 5:8-10, "Thou hast redeemed us." They are there distinguished from the angels, and associated with the elders. They were of one piece with the mercy seat, even as the Church is one with Christ: their sole standing is on the blood-sprinkled mercy seat; they gaze down at it as the redeemed shall for ever; they are "the habitation of God through the Spirit."

of glory--The cherubim were bearers of the divine glory, whence, perhaps, they derive their name. The Shekinah, or cloud of glory, in which Jehovah appeared between the cherubim over the mercy seat, the lid of the ark, is doubtless the reference. Tholuck thinks the twelve loaves of the showbread represent the twelve tribes of the nation, presented as a community before God consecrated to Him (just as in the Lord's Supper believers, the spiritual Israel, all partaking of the one bread, and becoming one bread and one body, present themselves before the Lord as consecrated to Him, 1Co 10:16, 17); the oil and light, the pure knowledge of the Lord, in which the covenant people are to shine (the seven (lights), implying perfection); the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God's kingdom in the old covenant, and representing God dwelling among His own; the ten commandments in the ark, the law as the basis of union between God and man; the mercy seat covering the law and sprinkled with the blood of atonement for the collective sin of the people, God's mercy [in Christ] stronger than the law; the cherubim, the personified [redeemed] creation, looking down on the mercy seat, where God's mercy, and God's law, are set forth as the basis of creation.

mercy seat--Greek, "the propitiatory": the golden cover of the ark, on which was sprinkled the blood of the propitiatory sacrifice on the day of atonement; the footstool of Jehovah, the meeting place of Him and His people.

we cannot--conveniently: besides what met the eye in the sanctuary, there were spiritual realities symbolized which it would take too long to discuss in detail, our chief subject at present being the priesthood and the sacrifices. "Which" refers not merely to the cherubim, but to all the contents of the sanctuary enumerated in He 9:2-5.

6. The use made of the sanctuary so furnished by the high priest on the anniversary of atonement.

ordained--arranged.

always--twice at the least every day, for the morning and evening care of the lamps, and offering of incense (Ex 30:7, 8).

went--Greek, "enter": present tense.

7. once every year--the tenth day of the seventh month. He entered within the veil on that day twice at least. Thus "once" means here on the one occasion only. The two, or possibly more, entrances on that one day were regarded as parts of the one whole.

not without blood--(He 8:3).

offered--Greek, "offers."

errors--Greek, "ignorances": "inadvertent errors." They might have known, as the law was clearly promulged, and they were bound to study it; so that their ignorance was culpable (compare Ac 3:17; Ep 4:18; 1Pe 1:14). Though one's ignorance may mitigate one's punishment (Lu 12:48), it does not wholly exempt from punishment.

8. The Holy Ghost--Moses himself did not comprehend the typical meaning (1Pe 1:11, 12).

signifying--by the typical exclusion of all from the holiest, save the high priest once a year.

the holiest of all--heaven, the antitype.

the first tabernacle--the anterior tabernacle, representative of the whole Levitical system. While it (the first tabernacle, and that which represents the Levitical system) as yet "has a standing" (so the Greek, that is, "has continuance": "lasts"), the way to heaven (the antitypical "holiest place") is not yet made manifest (compare He 10:19, 20). The Old Testament economy is represented by the holy place, the New Testament economy by the Holy of Holies. Redemption, by Christ, has opened the Holy of Holies (access to heaven by faith now, He 4:16; 7:19, 25; 10:19, 22; by sight hereafter, Is 33:24; Re 11:19; 21:2, 3) to all mankind. The Greek for "not yet" (me po) refers to the mind of the Spirit: the Spirit intimating that men should not think the way was yet opened [Tittmann]. The Greek negative, "ou po," would deny the fact objectively; "me po" denies the thing subjectively.

9. Which--"The which," namely, anterior tabernacle: "as being that which was" [Alford].

figure--Greek, "parable": a parabolic setting forth of the character of the Old Testament.

for--"in reference to the existing time." The time of the temple-worship really belonged to the Old Testament, but continued still in Paul's time and that of his Hebrew readers. "The time of reformation" (He 9:10) stands in contrast to this, "the existing time"; though, in reality, "the time of reformation," the New Testament time, was now present and existing. So "the age to come," is the phrase applied to the Gospel, because it was present only to believers, and its fulness even to them is still to come. Compare He 9:11, "good things to come."

in which--tabernacle, not time, according to the reading of the oldest manuscripts. Or translate, "according to which" parabolic representation, or figure.

were--Greek, "are."

gifts--unbloody oblations.

could not--Greek, "cannot": are not able.

him that did the service--any worshipper. The Greek is "latreuein," serve God, which is all men's duty; not "leitourgein," to serve in a ministerial office.

make ... perfect--perfectly remove the sense of guilt, and sanctify inwardly through love.

as pertaining to the conscience--"in respect to the (moral-religious) consciousness." They can only reach as far as the outward flesh (compare "carnal ordinances," He 9:10, 13, 14).

10. Which--sacrifices.

stood--consisted in [Alford]; or, "have attached to them" only things which appertain to the use of foods, &c. The rites of meats, &c., go side by side with the sacrifices [Tholuck and Wahl]; compare Col 2:16.

drinks--(Le 10:9; 11:4). Usage subsequently to the law added many observances as to meats and drinks.

washings--(Ex 29:4).

and carnal ordinances--One oldest manuscript, Syriac and Coptic, omit "and." "Carnal ordinances" stand in apposition to "sacrifices" (He 9:9). Carnal (outward, affecting only the flesh) is opposed to spiritual. Contrast "flesh" with "conscience" (He 9:13, 14).

imposed--as a burden (Ac 15:10, 28) continually pressing heavy.

until the time of reformation--Greek, "the season of rectification," when the reality should supersede the type (He 8:8-12). Compare "better," He 9:23.

11. But--in contrast to "could not make ... perfect" (He 9:9).

Christ--The Messiah, of whom all the prophets foretold; not "Jesus" here. From whom the "reformation" (He 9:10), or rectification, emanates, which frees from the yoke of carnal ordinances, and which is being realized gradually now, and shall be perfectly in the consummation of "the age (world) to come." "Christ ... High Priest," exactly answers to Le 4:5, "the priest that is anointed."

being come an, &c.--rather, "having come forward (compare He 10:7, a different Greek word, picturesquely presenting Him before us) as High Priest." The Levitical priests must therefore retire. Just as on the day of atonement, no work was done, no sacrifice was offered, or priest was allowed to be in the tabernacle while the high priest went into the holiest place to make atonement (Le 16:17, 29). So not our righteousness, nor any other priest's sacrifice, but Christ alone atones; and as the high priest before offering incense had on common garments of a priest, but after it wore his holy garments of "glory and beauty" (Ex 28:2, 40) in entering the holiest, so Christ entered the heavenly holiest in His glorified body.

good things to come--Greek, "the good things to come," He 10:1; "better promises," (He 8:6; the "eternal inheritance," He 9:15; 1Pe 1:4; the "things hoped for," He 11:1).

by a ... tabernacle--joined with "He entered." Translate, "Through the ... tabernacle" (of which we know) [Alford]. As the Jewish high priest passed through the anterior tabernacle into the holiest place, so Christ passed through heaven into the inner abode of the unseen and unapproachable God. Thus, "the tabernacle" here is the heavens through which He passed (see on He 4:14). But "the tabernacle" is also the glorified body of Christ (see on He 8:2), "not of this building" (not of the mere natural "creation, but of the spiritual and heavenly, the new creation"), the Head of the mystical body, the Church. Through this glorified body He passes into the heavenly holiest place (He 9:24), the immaterial, unapproachable presence of God, where He intercedes for us. His glorified body, as the meeting place of God and all Christ's redeemed, and the angels, answers to the heavens through which He passed, and passes. His body is opposed to the tabernacle, as His blood to the blood of goats, &c.

greater--as contrasted with the small dimensions of the earthly anterior tabernacle.

more perfect--effective in giving pardon, peace, sanctification, and access to closest communion with God (compare He 9:9; He 10:1).

not made with hands--but by the Lord Himself (He 8:2).

12. Neither--"Nor yet."

by--"through"; as the means of His approach.

goats ... calves--not a bullock, such as the Levitical high priest offered for himself, and a goat for the people, on the day of atonement (Le 16:6, 15), year by year, whence the plural is used, goats ... calves. Besides the goat offered for the people the blood of which was sprinkled before the mercy seat, the high priest led forth a second goat, namely, the scapegoat; over it he confessed the people's sins, putting them on the head of the goat, which was sent as the sin-bearer into the wilderness out of sight, implying that the atonement effected by the goat sin offering (of which the ceremony of the scapegoat is a part, and not distinct from the sin offering) consisted in the transfer of the people's sins on the goat, and their consequent removal out of sight. The translation of sins on the victim usual in other expiatory sacrifices being omitted in the case of the slain goat, but employed in the case of the goat sent away, proved the two goats were regarded as one offering [Archbishop Magee]. Christ's death is symbolized by the slain goat; His resurrection to life by the living goat sent away. Modern Jews substitute in some places a cock for the goat as an expiation, the sins of the offerers being transferred to the entrails, and exposed on the housetop for the birds to carry out of sight, as the scapegoat did; the Hebrew for "man" and "cock" being similar, gebher [Buxtorf].

by--"through," as the means of His entrance; the key unlocking the heavenly Holy of Holies to Him. The Greek is forcible, "through THE blood of His own" (compare He 9:23).

once--"once for all."

having obtained--having thereby obtained; literally, "found for Himself," as a thing of insuperable difficulty to all save Divine Omnipotence, self-devoting zeal, and love, to find. The access of Christ to the Father was arduous (He 5:7). None before had trodden the path.

eternal--The entrance of our Redeemer, once for all, into the heavenly holiest place, secures eternal redemption to us; whereas the Jewish high priest's entrance was repeated year by year, and the effect temporary and partial, "On redemption," compare Mt 20:28; Ep 1:7; Col 1:14; 1Ti 2:5; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 1:19.

He 9:13-28. Proof of and Enlargement on, the "Eternal Redemption" Mentioned in He 9:12.

For His blood, offered by Himself, purifies not only outwardly, as the Levitical sacrifices on the day of atonement, but inwardly unto the service of the living God (He 9:13, 14). His death is the inaugurating act of the new covenant, and of the heavenly sanctuary (He 9:15-23). His entrance into the true Holy of Holies is the consummation of His once-for-all-offered sacrifice of atonement (He 9:24, 26); henceforth, His reappearance alone remains to complete our redemption (He 9:27, 28).

13. if--as we know is the case; so the Greek indicative means. Argument from the less to the greater. If the blood of mere brutes could purify in any, however small a degree, how much more shall inward purification, and complete and eternal salvation, be wrought by the blood of Christ, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead?

ashes of an heifer--(Nu 19:16-18). The type is full of comfort for us. The water of separation, made of the ashes of the red heifer, was the provision for removing ceremonial defilement whenever incurred by contact with the dead. As she was slain without the camp, so Christ (compare He 13:11; Nu 19:3, 4). The ashes were laid by for constant use; so the continually cleansing effects of Christ's blood, once for all shed. In our wilderness journey we are continually contracting defilement by contact with the spiritually dead, and with dead works, and need therefore continual application to the antitypical life-giving cleansing blood of Christ, whereby we are afresh restored to peace and living communion with God in the heavenly holy place.

the unclean--Greek, "those defiled" on any particular occasion.

purifying--Greek, "purity."

the flesh--Their effect in themselves extended no further. The law had a carnal and a spiritual aspect; carnal, as an instrument of the Hebrew polity, God, their King, accepting, in minor offenses, expiatory victims instead of the sinner, otherwise doomed to death; spiritual, as the shadow of good things to come (He 10:1). The spiritual Israelite derived, in partaking of these legal rights, spiritual blessings not flowing from them, but from the great antitype. Ceremonial sacrifices released from temporal penalties and ceremonial disqualifications; Christ's sacrifice releases from everlasting penalties (He 9:12), and moral impurities on the conscience disqualifying from access to God (He 9:14). The purification of the flesh (the mere outward man) was by "sprinkling"; the washing followed by inseparable connection (Nu 19:19). So justification is followed by renewing.

14. offered himself--The voluntary nature of the offering gives it especial efficacy. He "through the eternal Spirit," that is, His divine Spirit (Ro 1:4, in contrast to His "flesh," He 9:3; His Godhead, 1Ti 3:16; 1Pe 3:18), "His inner personality" [Alford], which gave a free consent to the act, offered Himself. The animals offered had no spirit or will to consent in the act of sacrifice; they were offered according to the law; they had a life neither enduring, nor of any intrinsic efficacy. But He from eternity, with His divine and everlasting Spirit, concurred with the Father's will of redemption by Him. His offering began on the altar of the cross, and was completed in His entering the holiest place with His blood. The eternity and infinitude of His divine Spirit (compare He 7:16) gives eternal ("eternal redemption," He 9:12, also compare He 9:15) and infinite merit to His offering, so that not even the infinite justice of God has any exception to take against it. It was "through His most burning love, flowing from His eternal Spirit," that He offered Himself [Oecolampadius].

without spot--The animal victims had to be without outward blemish; Christ on the cross was a victim inwardly and essentially stainless (1Pe 1:19).

purge--purify from fear, guilt, alienation from Him, and selfishness, the source of dead works (He 9:22, 23).

your--The oldest manuscripts read "our." The Vulgate, however, supports English Version reading.

conscience--moral religious consciousness.

dead works--All works done in the natural state, which is a state of sin, are dead; for they come not from living faith in, and love to, "the living God" (He 11:6). As contact with a dead body defiled ceremonially (compare the allusion, "ashes of an heifer," He 9:13), so dead works defile the inner consciousness spiritually.

to serve--so as to serve. The ceremonially unclean could not serve God in the outward communion of His people; so the unrenewed cannot serve God in spiritual communion. Man's works before justification, however lifelike they look, are dead, and cannot therefore be accepted before the living God. To have offered a dead animal to God would have been an insult (compare Mal 1:8); much more for a man not justified by Christ's blood to offer dead works. But those purified by Christ's blood in living faith do serve (Ro 12:1), and shall more fully serve God (Re 22:3).

living God--therefore requiring living spiritual service (Joh 4:24).

15. for this cause--Because of the all-cleansing power of His blood, this fits Him to be Mediator (He 8:6, ensuring to both parties, God and us, the ratification) of the new covenant, which secures both forgiveness for the sins not covered by the former imperfect covenant or testament, and also an eternal inheritance to the called.

by means of death--rather, as Greek, "death having taken place." At the moment that His death took place, the necessary effect is, "the called receive the (fulfilment of the) promise" (so Lu 24:49 uses "promise"; He 6:15; Ac 1:4); that moment divides the Old from the New Testament. The "called" are the elect "heirs," "partakers of the heavenly calling" (He 3:1).

redemption of ... transgressions ... under ... first testament--the transgressions of all men from Adam to Christ, first against the primitive revelation, then against the revelations to the patriarchs, then against the law given to Israel, the representative people of the world. The "first testament" thus includes the whole period from Adam to Christ, and not merely that of the covenant with Israel, which was a concentrated representation of the covenant made with (or the first testament given to) mankind by sacrifice, down from the fall to redemption. Before the inheritance by the New Testament (for here the idea of the "INHERITANCE," following as the result of Christ's "death," being introduced, requires the Greek to be translated "testament," as it was before covenant) could come in, there must be redemption of (that is, deliverance from the penalties incurred by) the transgressions committed under the first testament, for the propitiatory sacrifices under the first testament reached only as far as removing outward ceremonial defilement. But in order to obtain the inheritance which is a reality, there must be a real propitiation, since God could not enter into covenant relation with us so long as past sins were unexpiated; Ro 3:24, 25, "a propitiation ... His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past."

might--Greek, "may receive," which previously they could not (He 11:39, 40).

the promise--to Abraham.

16. A general axiomatic truth; it is "a testament"; not the testament. The testator must die before his testament takes effect (He 9:17). This is a common meaning of the Greek noun diathece. So in Lu 22:29, "I appoint (by testamentary disposition; the cognate Greek verb diatithemai) unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." The need of death before the testamentary appointment takes effect, holds good in Christ's relation as MAN to us; Of course not in God's relation to Christ.

be--literally, be borne": "be involved in the case"; be inferred; or else, "be brought forward in court," so as to give effect to the will. This sense (testament) of the Greek "diathece" here does not exclude its other secondary senses in the other passages of the New Testament: (1) a covenant between two parties; (2) an arrangement, or disposition, made by God alone in relation to us. Thus, Mt 26:28 may be translated, "Blood of the covenant"; for a testament does not require blood shedding. Compare Ex 24:8 (covenant), which Christ quotes, though it is probable He included in a sense "testament" also under the Greek word diathece (comprehending both meanings, "covenant" and "testament"), as this designation strictly and properly applies to the new dispensation, and is rightly applicable to the old also, not in itself, but when viewed as typifying the new, which is properly a testament. Moses (Ex 24:8) speaks of the same thing as [Christ and] Paul. Moses, by the term "covenant," does not mean aught save one concerning giving the heavenly inheritance typified by Canaan after the death of the Testator, which he represented by the sprinkling of blood. And Paul, by the term "testament," does not mean aught save one having conditions attached to it, one which is at the same time a covenant [Poli, Synopsis]; the conditions are fulfilled by Christ, not by us, except that we must believe, but even this God works in His people. Tholuck explains, as elsewhere, "covenant ... covenant ... mediating victim"; the masculine is used of the victim personified, and regarded as mediator of the covenant; especially as in the new covenant a MAN (Christ) took the place of the victim. The covenanting parties used to pass between the divided parts of the sacrificed animals; but, without reference to this rite, the need of a sacrifice for establishing a covenant sufficiently explains this verse. Others, also, explaining the Greek as "covenant," consider that the death of the sacrificial victim represented in all covenants the death of both parties as unalterably bound to the covenant. So in the redemption-covenant, the death of Jesus symbolized the death of God (?) in the person of the mediating victim, and the death of man in the same. But the expression is not "there must be the death of both parties making the covenant," but singular, "of Him who made (aorist, past time; not 'of Him making') the testament." Also, it is "death," not "sacrifice" or "slaying." Plainly, the death is supposed to be past (aorist, "made"); and the fact of the death is brought (Greek) before court to give effect to the will. These requisites of a will, or testament, concur here: (1) a testator; (2) heirs; (3) goods; (4) the death of the testator; (5) the fact of the death brought forward in court. In Mt 26:28 two other requisites appear: witnesses, the disciples; and a seal, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the sign of His blood wherewith the testament is primarily sealed. It is true the heir is ordinarily the successor of him who dies and so ceases to have the possession. But in this case Christ comes to life again, and is Himself (including all that He hath), in the power of His now endless life, His people's inheritance; in His being Heir (He 1:2), they are heirs.

17. after--literally, "over," as we say "upon the death of the testators"; not as Tholuck, "on the condition that slain sacrifices be there," which the Greek hardly sanctions.

otherwise--"seeing that it is never availing" [Alford]. Bengel and Lachmann read with an interrogation, "Since, is it ever in force (surely not) while the testator liveth?"

18. Whereupon--rather, "Whence."

dedicated--"inaugurated." The Old Testament strictly and formally began on that day of inauguration. "Where the disposition, or arrangement, is ratified by the blood of another, namely, of animals, which cannot make a covenant, much less make a testament, it is not strictly a testament, where it is ratified by the death of him that makes the arrangement, it is strictly, Greek 'diathece,' Hebrew 'berith,' taken in a wider sense, a testament" [Bengel]; thus, in He 9:18, referring to the old dispensation, we may translate, "the first (covenant)": or better, retain "the first (testament)," not that the old dispensation, regarded by itself, is a testament, but it is so when regarded as the typical representative of the new, which is strictly a Testament.

19. For--confirming the general truth, He 9:16.

spoken ... according to the law--strictly adhering to every direction of "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Ep 2:15). Compare Ex 24:3, "Moses told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice," &c.

the blood of calves--Greek, "the calves," namely, those sacrificed by the "young men" whom he sent to do so (Ex 24:5). The "peace offerings" there mentioned were "of oxen" (Septuagint, "little calves"), and the "burnt offerings" were probably (though this is not specified), as on the day of atonement, goats. The law in Exodus sanctioned formally many sacrificial practices in use by tradition, from the primitive revelation long before.

with water--prescribed, though not in the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus, yet in other purifications; for example, of the leper, and the water of separation which contained the ashes of the red heifer.

scarlet wool, and hyssop--ordinarily used for purification. Scarlet or crimson, resembling blood: it was thought to be a peculiarly deep, fast dye, whence it typified sin (see on Is 1:18). So Jesus wore a scarlet robe, the emblem of the deep-dyed sins He bore on Him, though He had none in Him. Wool was used as imbibing and retaining water; the hyssop, as a bushy, tufty plant (wrapt round with the scarlet wool), was used for sprinkling it. The wool was also a symbol of purity (Is 1:18). The Hyssopus officinalis grows on walls, with small lancet-formed woolly leaves, an inch long, with blue and white flowers, and a knotty stalk about a foot high.

sprinkled ... the book--namely, out of which he had read "every precept": the book of the testament or covenant. This sprinkling of the book is not mentioned in the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus. Hence Bengel translates, "And (having taken) the book itself (so Ex 24:7), he both sprinkled all the people, and (He 9:21) moreover sprinkled the tabernacle." But the Greek supports English Version. Paul, by inspiration, supplies the particular specified here, not in Ex 24:7. The sprinkling of the roll (so the Greek for "book") of the covenant, or testament, as well as of the people, implies that neither can the law be fulfilled, nor the people be purged from their sins, save by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ (1Pe 1:2). Compare He 9:23, which shows that there is something antitypical to the Bible in heaven itself (compare Re 20:12). The Greek, "itself," distinguishes the book itself from the "precepts" in it which he "spake."

20. Ex 24:8, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words." The change is here made to accord with Christ's inauguration of the new testament, or covenant, as recorded in Lu 22:20, "This cup (is) the new Testament in My blood, which is shed for you": the only Gospel in which the "is" has to be supplied. Luke was Paul's companion, which accounts for the correspondence, as here too "is" has to be supplied.

testament--(See on He 9:16, 17). The Greek "diathece" means both "testament" and "covenant": the term "covenant" better suits the old dispensation, though the idea testament is included, for the old was one in its typical relation to the new dispensation, to which the term "testament" is better suited. Christ has sealed the testament with His blood, of which the Lord's Supper is the sacramental sign. The testator was represented by the animals slain in the old dispensation. In both dispensations the inheritance was bequeathed: in the new by One who has come in person and died; in the old by the same one, only typically and ceremonially present. See Alford's excellent Note.

enjoined unto you--commissioned me to ratify in relation to you. In the old dispensation the condition to be fulfilled on the people's part is implied in the words, Ex 24:8, "(Lord made with you) concerning all these words." But here Paul omits this clause, as he includes the fulfilment of this condition of obedience to "all these words" in the new covenant, as part of God's promise, in He 8:8, 10, 12, whereby Christ fulfils all for our justification, and will enable us by putting His Spirit in us to fulfil all in our now progressive, and finally complete, sanctification.

21. Greek, "And, moreover, in like manner." The sprinkling of the tabernacle with blood is added by inspiration here to the account in Ex 30:25-30; 40:9, 10, which mentions only Moses' anointing the tabernacle and its vessels. In Le 8:10, 15, 30, the sprinkling of blood upon Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the altar, is mentioned as well as the anointing, so that we might naturally infer, as Josephus has distinctly stated, that the tabernacle and its vessels were sprinkled with blood as well as being anointed: Le 16:16, 20, 33, virtually sanctions this inference. The tabernacle and its contents needed purification (2Ch 29:21).

22. almost--to be joined with "all things," namely almost all things under the old dispensation. The exceptions to all things being purified by blood are, Ex 19:10; Le 15:5, &c.; 16:26, 28; 22:6; Nu 31:22-24.

without--Greek, "apart from."

shedding of blood--shed in the slaughter of the victim, and poured out at the altar subsequently. The pouring out of the blood on the altar is the main part of the sacrifice (Le 17:11), and it could not have place apart from the previous shedding of the blood in the slaying. Paul has, perhaps, in mind here, Lu 22:20, "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

is--Greek, "takes place": comes to pass.

remission--of sins: a favorite expression of Luke, Paul's companion. Properly used of remitting a debt (Mt 6:12; 18:27, 32); our sins are debts. On the truth here, compare Le 5:11-13, an exception because of poverty, confirming the general rule.

23. patterns--"the suggestive representations"; the typical copies (see on He 8:5).

things in the heavens--the heavenly tabernacle and the things therein.

purified with these--with the blood of bulls and goats.

heavenly things themselves--the archetypes. Man's sin had introduced an element of disorder into the relations of God and His holy angels in respect to man. The purification removes this element of disorder and changes God's wrath against man in heaven (designed to be the place of God's revealing His grace to men and angels) into a smile of reconciliation. Compare "peace in heaven" (Lu 19:38). "The uncreated heaven of God, though in itself untroubled light, yet needed a purification in so far as the light of love was obscured by the fire of wrath against sinful man" [Delitzsch in Alford]. Contrast Re 12:7-10. Christ's atonement had the effect also of casting Satan out of heaven (Lu 10:18; Joh 12:31, compare He 2:14). Christ's body, the true tabernacle (see on He 8:2; He 9:11), as bearing our imputed sin (2Co 5:21), was consecrated (Joh 17:17, 19) and purified by the shedding of His blood to be the meeting place of God and man.

sacrifices--The plural is used in expressing the general proposition, though strictly referring to the one sacrifice of Christ once for all. Paul implies that His one sacrifice, by its matchless excellency, is equivalent to the Levitical many sacrifices. It, though but one, is manifold in its effects and applicability to many.

24. Resumption more fully of the thought, "He entered in once into the holy place," He 9:12. He has in He 9:13, 14, expanded the words "by his own blood," He 9:12; and in He 9:15-23, he has enlarged on "an High Priest of good things to come."

not ... into ... holy places made with hands--as was the Holy of Holies in the earthly tabernacle (see on He 9:11).

figures--copies "of the true" holiest place, heaven, the original archetype (He 8:5).

into heaven itself--the immediate presence of the invisible God beyond all the created heavens, through which latter Jesus passed (see on He 4:14; 1Ti 6:16).

now--ever since His ascension in the present economy (compare He 9:26).

to appear--To PRESENT Himself; Greek, "to be made to appear." Mere man may have a vision through a medium, or veil, as Moses had (Ex 33:18, 20-23). Christ alone beholds the Father without a veil, and is His perfect image. Through seeing Him only can we see the Father.

in the presence of God--Greek, "to the face of God." The saints shall hereafter see God's face in Christ (Re 22:4): the earnest of which is now given (2Co 3:18). Aaron, the Levitical high priest for the people, stood before the ark and only saw the cloud, the symbol of God's glory (Ex 28:30).

for us--in our behalf as our Advocate and Intercessor (He 7:25; Ro 8:34; 1Jo 2:1). "It is enough that Jesus should show Himself for us to the Father: the sight of Jesus satisfied God in our behalf. He brings before the face of God no offering which has exhausted itself, and, as only sufficing for a time, needs renewal; but He himself is in person, by virtue of the eternal Spirit, that is, the imperishable life of His person, now and for ever freed from death, our eternally present offering before God" [Delitzsch in Alford].

25. As in He 9:24, Paul said, it was not into the typical, but the true sanctuary, that Christ is entered; so now he says, that His sacrifice needs not, as the Levitical sacrifices did, to be repeated. Construe, "Nor yet did He enter for this purpose that He may offer Himself often," that is, "present Himself in the presence of God, as the high priest does (Paul uses the present tense, as the legal service was then existing), year by year, on the day of atonement, entering the Holy of Holies.

with--literally, "in."

blood of others--not his own, as Christ did.

26. then--in that case.

must ... have suffered--rather as Greek, "It would have been necessary for Him often to suffer." In order to "offer" (He 9:25), or present Himself often before God in the heavenly holiest place, like the legal high priests making fresh renewals of this high priestly function. He would have had, and would have often to suffer. His oblation of Himself before God was once for all (that is, the bringing in of His blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies), and therefore the preliminary suffering was once for all.

since the foundation of the world--The continued sins of men, from their first creation, would entail a continual suffering on earth, and consequent oblation of His blood in the heavenly holiest place, since the foundation of the world, if the one oblation "in the fulness of time" were not sufficient. Philo [The Creation of the World, p. 637], shows that the high priest of the Hebrews offered sacrifices for the whole human race. "If there had been greater efficacy in the repetition of the oblation, Christ necessarily would not have been so long promised, but would have been sent immediately after the foundation of the world to suffer, and offer Himself at successive periods" [Grotius].

now--as the case is,

once--for all; without need of renewal. Rome's fiction of an UNBLOODY sacrifice in the mass, contradicts her assertion that the blood of Christ is present in the wine; and also confutes her assertion that the mass is propitiatory; for, if unbloody, it cannot be propitiatory; for without shedding of blood there is no remission (He 9:22). Moreover, the expression "once" for all here, and in He 9:28, and He 10:10, 12, proves the falsity of her view that there is a continually repeated offering of Christ in the Eucharist or mass. The offering of Christ was a thing once done that it might be thought of for ever (compare Note, see on He 10:12).

in the end of the world--Greek, "at the consummation of the ages"; the winding up of all the previous ages from the foundation of the world; to be followed by a new age (He 1:1, 2). The last age, beyond which no further age is to be expected before Christ's speedy second coming, which is the complement of the first coming; literally, "the ends of the ages"; Mt 28:20 is literally, "the consummation of the age," or world (singular; not as here, plural, ages). Compare "the fulness of times," Ep 1:10.

appeared--Greek, "been manifested" on earth (1Ti 3:16; 1Pe 1:20). English Version has confounded three distinct Greek verbs, by translating all alike, He 9:24, 26, 28, "appear." But, in He 9:24, it is "to present Himself," namely, before God in the heavenly sanctuary; in He 9:26, "been manifested" on earth: in He 9:28, "shall be seen" by all, and especially believers.

put away--abolish; doing away sin's power as well by delivering men from its guilt and penalty, so that it should be powerless to condemn men, as also from its yoke, so that they shall at last sin no more.

sin--singular number; all the sins of men of every age are regarded as one mass laid on Christ. He hath not only droned for all actual sins, but destroyed sin itself. Joh 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin (not merely the sins: singular, not plural) of the world."

by the sacrifice of himself--Greek, "by (through) His own sacrifice"; not by "blood of others" (He 9:25). Alford loses this contrast in translating, "by His sacrifice."

27. as--inasmuch as.

it is appointed--Greek, "it is laid up (as our appointed lot)," Col 1:5. The word "appointed" (so Hebrew "seth" means) in the case of man, answers to "anointed" in the case of Jesus; therefore "the Christ," that is, the anointed, is the title here given designedly. He is the representative man; and there is a strict correspondence between the history of man and that of the Son of man. The two most solemn facts of our being are here connected with the two most gracious truths of our dispensation, our death and judgment answering in parallelism to Christ's first coming to die for us, and His second coming to consummate our salvation.

once--and no more.

after this the judgment--namely, at Christ's appearing, to which, in He 9:28, "judgment" in this verse is parallel. Not, "after this comes the heavenly glory." The intermediate state is a state of joyous, or else agonizing and fearful, expectation of "judgment"; after the judgment comes the full and final state of joy, or else woe.

28. Christ--Greek, "THE Christ"; the representative Man; representing all men, as the first Adam did.

once offered--not "often," He 9:25; just as "men," of whom He is the representative Head, are appointed by God once to die. He did not need to die again and again for each individual, or each successive generation of men, for He represents all men of every age, and therefore needed to die but once for all, so as to exhaust the penalty of death incurred by all. He was offered by the Father, His own "eternal Spirit" (He 9:14) concurring; as Abraham spared not Isaac, but offered him, the son himself unresistingly submitting to the father's will (Ge 22:1-24).

to bear the sins--referring to Is 53:12, "He bare the sins of many," namely, on Himself; so "bear" means, Le 24:15; Nu 5:31; 14:34. The Greek is literally "to bear up" (1Pe 2:24). "Our sins were laid on Him. When, therefore, He was lifted up on the cross, He bare up our sins along with Him" [Bengel].

many--not opposed to all, but to few. He, the One, was offered for many; and that once for all (compare Mt 20:28).

look for him--with waiting expectation even unto the end (so the Greek). It is translated "wait for" in Ro 8:19, 23; 1Co 1:7, which see.

appear--rather, as Greek, "be seen." No longer in the alien "form of a servant," but in His own proper glory.

without sin--apart from, separate from, sin. Not bearing the sin of many on Him as at His first coming (even then there was no sin in Him). That sin has been at His first coming once for all taken away, so as to need no repetition of His sin offering of Himself (He 9:26). At His second coming He shall have no more to do with sin.

unto salvation--to bring in completed salvation; redeeming then the body which is as yet subject to the bondage of corruption. Hence, in Php 3:20 he says, "we look for THE Saviour." Note, Christ's prophetical office, as the divine Teacher, was especially exercised during His earthly ministry; His priestly is now from His first to His second coming; His kingly office shall be fully manifested at, and after, His second coming.

‏ Hebrews 10

CHAPTER 10

He 10:1-39. Conclusion of the Foregoing Argument. The Yearly Recurring Law Sacrifices Cannot Perfect the Worshipper, but Christ's Once-for-all Offering Can.

Instead of the daily ministry of the Levitical priests, Christ's service is perfected by the one sacrifice, whence He now sits on the right hand of God as a Priest-King, until all His foes shall be subdued unto Him. Thus the new covenant (He 8:8-12) is inaugurated, whereby the law is written on the heart, so that an offering for sin is needed no more. Wherefore we ought to draw near the Holiest in firm faith and love; fearful of the awful results of apostasy; looking for the recompense to be given at Christ's coming.

1. Previously the oneness of Christ's offering was shown; now is shown its perfection as contrasted with the law sacrifices.

having--inasmuch as it has but "the shadow, not the very image," that is, not the exact likeness, reality, and full revelation, such as the Gospel has. The "image" here means the archetype (compare He 9:24), the original, solid image [Bengel] realizing to us those heavenly verities, of which the law furnished but a shadowy outline before. Compare 2Co 3:13, 14, 18; the Gospel is the very setting forth by the Word and Spirit of the heavenly realities themselves, out of which it (the Gospel) is constructed. So Alford. As Christ is "the express image (Greek, 'impress') of the Father's person" (He 1:3), so the Gospel is the heavenly verities themselves manifested by revelation--the heavenly very archetype, of which the law was drawn as a sketch, or outline copy (He 8:5). The law was a continual process of acted prophecy, proving the divine design that its counterparts should come; and proving the truth of those counterparts when they came. Thus the imperfect and continued expiatory sacrifices before Christ foretend, and now prove, the reality of, Christ's one perfect antitypical expiation.

good things to come--(He 9:11); belonging to "the world (age) to come." Good things in part made present by faith to the believer, and to be fully realized hereafter in actual and perfect enjoyment. Lessing says, "As Christ's Church on earth is a prediction of the economy of the future life, so the Old Testament economy is a prediction of the Christian Church." In relation to the temporal good things of the law, the spiritual and eternal good things of the Gospel are "good things to come." Col 2:17 calls legal ordinances "the shadow," and Christ "the body."

never--at any time (He 10:11).

with those sacrifices--rather, "with the same sacrifices.

year by year--This clause in the Greek refers to the whole sentence, not merely to the words "which they the priests offered" (Greek, "offer"). Thus the sense is, not as English Version, but, the law year by year, by the repetition of the same sacrifices, testifies its inability to perfect the worshippers; namely, on the YEARLY day of atonement. The "daily" sacrifices are referred to, He 10:11.

continually--Greek, "continuously," implying that they offer a toilsome and ineffectual "continuous" round of the "same" atonement-sacrifices recurring "year by year."

comers thereunto--those so coming unto God, namely, the worshippers (the whole people) coming to God in the person of their representative, the high priest.

perfect--fully meet man's needs as to justification and sanctification (see on He 9:9).

2. For--if the law could, by its sacrifices, have perfected the worshippers.

they--the sacrifices.

once purged--IF they were once for all cleansed (He 7:27).

conscience--"consciousness of sin" (He 9:9).

3. But--so far from those sacrifices ceasing to be offered (He 10:2).

in, &c.--in the fact of their being offered, and in the course of their being offered on the day of atonement. Contrast He 10:17.

a remembrance--a recalling to mind by the high priest's confession, on the day of atonement, of the sins both of each past year and of all former years, proving that the expiatory sacrifices of former years were not felt by men's consciences to have fully atoned for former sins; in fact, the expiation and remission were only legal and typical (He 10:4, 11). The Gospel remission, on the contrary, is so complete, that sins are "remembered no more" (He 10:17) by God. It is unbelief to "forget" this once-for-all purgation, and to fear on account of "former sins" (2Pe 1:9). The believer, once for all bathed, needs only to "wash" his hands and "feet" of soils, according as he daily contracts them, in Christ's blood (Joh 13:10).

4. For, &c.--reason why, necessarily, there is a continually recurring "remembrance of sins" in the legal sacrifices (He 10:3). Typically, "the blood of bulls," &c., sacrificed, had power; but it was only in virtue of the power of the one real antitypical sacrifice of Christ; they had no power in themselves; they were not the instrument of perfect vicarious atonement, but an exhibition of the need of it, suggesting to the faithful Israelite the sure hope of coming redemption, according to God's promise.

take away--"take off." The Greek, He 10:11, is stronger, explaining the weaker word here, "take away utterly." The blood of beasts could not take away the sin of man. A MAN must do that (see on He 9:12-14).

5. Christ's voluntary self offering, in contrast to those inefficient sacrifices, is shown to fulfill perfectly "the will of God" as to our redemption, by completely atoning "for (our) sins."

Wherefore--seeing that a nobler than animal sacrifices was needed to "take away sins."

when he cometh--Greek, "coming." The time referred to is the period before His entrance into the world, when the inefficiency of animal sacrifices for expiation had been proved [Tholuck]. Or, the time is that between Jesus' first dawning of reason as a child, and the beginning of His public ministry, during which, being ripened in human resolution, He was intently devoting Himself to the doing of His Father's will [Alford]. But the time of "coming" is present; not "when He had come," but "when coming into the world"; so, in order to accord with Alford's view, "the world" must mean His PUBLIC ministry: when coming, or about to come, into public. The Greek verbs are in the past: "sacrifice ... Thou didst not wish, but a body Thou didst prepare for Me"; and, "Lo, I am come." Therefore, in order to harmonize these times, the present coming, or about to come, with the past, "A body Thou didst prepare for Me," we must either explain as Alford, or else, if we take the period to be before His actual arrival in the world (the earth) or incarnation, we must explain the past tenses to refer to God's purpose, which speaks of what He designed from eternity as though it were already fulfilled. "A body Thou didst prepare in Thy eternal counsel." This seems to me more likely than explaining "coming into the world," "coming into public," or entering on His public ministry. David, in the fortieth Psalm (here quoted), reviews his past troubles and God's having delivered him from them, and his consequent desire to render willing obedience to God as more acceptable than sacrifices; but the Spirit puts into his mouth language finding its partial application to David, and its full realization only in the divine Son of David. "The more any son of man approaches the incarnate Son of God in position, or office, or individual spiritual experience, the more directly may his holy breathings in the power of Christ's Spirit be taken as utterances of Christ Himself. Of all men, the prophet-king of Israel resembled and foreshadowed Him the most" [Alford].

a body hast thou prepared me--Greek, "Thou didst fit for Me a body." "In Thy counsels Thou didst determine to make for Me a body, to be given up to death as a sacrificial victim" [Wahl]. In the Hebrew, Psa 40:6, it is "mine ears hast thou opened," or "dug." Perhaps this alludes to the custom of boring the ear of a slave who volunteers to remain under his master when he might be free. Christ's assuming a human body, in obedience to the Father's will, in order to die the death of a slave (He 2:14), was virtually the same act of voluntary submission to service as that of a slave suffering his ear to be bored by his master. His willing obedience to the Father's will is what is dwelt on as giving especial virtue to His sacrifice (He 10:7, 9, 10). The preparing, or fitting of a body for Him, is not with a view to His mere incarnation, but to His expiatory sacrifice (He 10:10), as the contrast to "sacrifice and offering" requires; compare also Ro 7:4; Ep 2:16; Col 1:22. More probably "opened mine ears" means opened mine inward ear, so as to be attentively obedient to what God wills me to do, namely, to assume the body He has prepared for me for my sacrifice, so Job 33:16, Margin; Job 36:10 (doubtless the boring of a slave's "ear" was the symbol of such willing obedience); Is 50:5, "The Lord God hath opened mine ear," that is, made me obediently attentive as a slave to his master. Others somewhat similarly explain, "Mine ears hast thou digged," or "fashioned," not with allusion to Ex 21:6, but to the true office of the ear--a willing, submissive attention to the voice of God (Is 50:4, 5). The forming of the ear implies the preparation of the body, that is, the incarnation; this secondary idea, really in the Hebrew, though less prominent, is the one which Paul uses for his argument. In either explanation the idea of Christ taking on Him the form, and becoming obedient as a servant, is implied. As He assumed a body in which to make His self-sacrifice, so ought we present our bodies a living sacrifice (Ro 12:1).

6. burnt offerings--Greek, "whole burnt offerings."

thou hast had no pleasure--as if these could in themselves atone for sin: God had pleasure in (Greek, "approved," or "was well pleased with") them, in so far as they were an act of obedience to His positive command under the Old Testament, but not as having an intrinsic efficacy such as Christ's sacrifice had. Contrast Mt 3:17.

7. I come--rather, "I am come" (see on He 10:5). "Here we have the creed, as it were, of Jesus: 'I am come to fulfil the law,' Mt 5:17; to preach, Mr 1:38; to call sinners to repentance, Lu 5:32; to send a sword and to set men at variance, Mt 10:34, 35; I came down from heaven to do the will of Him that sent me, Joh 6:38, 39 (so here, Psa 40:7, 8); I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mt 15:24; I am come into this world for judgment, Joh 9:39; I am come that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly, Joh 10:10; to save what had been lost, Mt 18:11; to seek and to save that which was lost, Lu 19:10; compare 1Ti 1:15; to save men's lives, Lu 9:56; to send fire on the earth, Lu 12:49; to minister, Mt 20:28; as "the Light," Joh 12:46; to bear witness unto the truth, Joh 18:37. See, reader, that thy Saviour obtain what He aimed at in thy case. Moreover, do thou for thy part say, why thou art come here? Dost thou, then, also, do the will of God? From what time? and in what way?" [Bengel]. When the two goats on the day of atonement were presented before the Lord, that goat on which the lot of the Lord should fall was to be offered as a sin offering; and that lot was lifted up on high in the hand of the high priest, and then laid upon the head of the goat which was to die; so the hand of God determined all that was done to Christ. Besides the covenant of God with man through Christ's blood, there was another covenant made by the Father with the Son from eternity. The condition was, "If He shall make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed," &c. (Is 53:10). The Son accepted the condition, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God" [Bishop Pearson]. Oblation, intercession, and benediction, are His three priestly offices.

in the volume, &c.--literally, "the roll": the parchment manuscript being wrapped around a cylinder headed with knobs. Here, the Scripture "volume" meant is the fortieth Psalm. "By this very passage 'written of Me,' I undertake to do Thy will [namely, that I should die for the sins of the world, in order that all who believe may be saved, not by animal sacrifices, He 10:6, but by My death]." This is the written contract of Messiah (compare Ne 9:38), whereby He engaged to be our surety. So complete is the inspiration of all that is written, so great the authority of the Psalms, that what David says is really what Christ then and there said.

8. he--Christ.

Sacrifice, &c.--The oldest manuscripts read, "Sacrifices and offerings" (plural). This verse combines the two clauses previously quoted distinctly, He 10:5, 6, in contrast to the sacrifice of Christ with which God was well pleased.

9. Then said he--"At that time (namely, when speaking by David's mouth in the fortieth Psalm) He hath said." The rejection of the legal sacrifices involves, as its concomitant, the voluntary offer of Jesus to make the self-sacrifice with which God is well pleased (for, indeed, it was God's own "will" that He came to do in offering it: so that this sacrifice could not but be well pleasing to God).

I come--"I am come."

taketh away--"sets aside the first," namely, "the legal system of sacrifices" which God wills not.

the second--"the will of God" (He 10:7, 9) that Christ should redeem us by His self-sacrifice.

10. By--Greek, "In." So "in," and "through," occur in the same sentence, 1Pe 1:22, "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." Also, 1Pe 1:5, in the Greek. The "in (fulfilment of) which will" (compare the use of in, Ep 1:6, "wherein [in which grace] He hath made us accepted, in the Beloved"), expresses the originating cause; "THROUGH the offering ... of Christ," the instrumental or mediatory cause. The whole work of redemption flows from "the will" of God the Father, as the First Cause, who decreed redemption from before the foundation of the world. The "will" here (boulema) is His absolute sovereign will. His "good will" (eudokia) is a particular aspect of it.

are sanctified--once for all, and as our permanent state (so the Greek). It is the finished work of Christ in having sanctified us (that is, having translated us from a state of unholy alienation into a state of consecration to God, having "no more conscience of sin," He 10:2) once for all and permanently, not the process of gradual sanctification, which is here referred to.

the body--"prepared" for Him by the Father (He 10:5). As the atonement, or reconciliation, is by the blood of Christ (Le 17:11), so our sanctification (consecration to God, holiness and eternal bliss) is by the body of Christ (Col 1:22). Alford quotes the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service, "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood."

once for all--(He 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:12, 14).

11. And--a new point of contrast; the frequent repetition of the sacrifices.

priest--The oldest manuscripts read, "high priest." Though he did not in person stand "daily" offering sacrifices, he did so by the subordinate priests of whom, as well as of all Israel, he was the representative head. So "daily" is applied to the high priests (He 7:27).

standeth--the attitude of one ministering; in contrast to "sat down on the right hand of God," He 10:12, said of Christ; the posture of one being ministered to as a king.

which--Greek, "the which," that is, of such a kind as.

take away--utterly; literally, "strip off all round." Legal sacrifices might, in part, produce the sense of forgiveness, yet scarcely even that (see on He 10:4); but entirely to strip off one's guilt they never could.

12. this man--emphatic (He 3:3).

for ever--joined in English Version with "offered one sacrifice"; offered one sacrifice, the efficacy of which endures for ever; literally. "continuously," (compare He 10:14). "The offering of Christ, once for all made, will continue the one and only oblation for ever; no other will supersede it" [Bengel]. The mass, which professes to be the frequent repetition of one and the same sacrifice of Christ's body, is hence disproved. For not only is Christ's body one, but also His offering is one, and that inseparable from His suffering (He 9:26). The mass would be much the same as the Jewish sacrifices which Paul sets aside as abrogated, for they were anticipations of the one sacrifice, just as Rome makes masses continuations of it, in opposition to Paul's argument. A repetition would imply that the former once-for-all offering of the one sacrifice was imperfect, and so would be dishonoring to it (He 10:2, 18). He 10:14, on the contrary, says, "He hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified." If Christ offered Himself at the last supper, then He offered Himself again on the cross, and there would be two offerings; but Paul says there was only one, once for all. Compare Note, see on He 9:26. English Version is favored by the usage in this Epistle, of putting the Greek "for ever" after that which it qualifies. Also, "one sacrifice for ever," stands in contrast to "the same sacrifices oftentimes" (He 10:11). Also, 1Co 15:25, 28, agrees with He 10:12, 13, taken as English Version, not joining, as Alford does, "for ever" with "sat down," for Jesus is to give up the mediatorial throne "when all things shall be subdued unto Him," and not to sit on it for ever.

13. expecting--"waiting." Awaiting the execution of His Father's will, that all His foes should be subjected to Him. The Son waits till the Father shall "send Him forth to triumph over all His foes." He is now sitting at rest (He 10:12), invisibly reigning, and having His foes virtually, by right of His death, subject to Him. His present sitting on the unseen throne is a necessary preliminary to His coming forth to subject His foes openly. He shall then come forth to a visibly manifested kingdom and conquest over His foes. Thus He fulfils Psa 110:1. This agrees with 1Co 15:23-28. He is, by His Spirit and His providence, now subjecting His foes to Him in part (Psa 110:1-7). The subjection of His foes fully shall be at His second advent, and from that time to the general judgment (Re 19:1-20:15); then comes the subjection of Himself as Head of the Church to the Father (the mediatorial economy ceasing when its end shall have been accomplished), that God may be all in all. Eastern conquerors used to tread on the necks of the vanquished, as Joshua did to the five kings. So Christ's total and absolute conquest at His coming is symbolized.

be made his footstool--literally, "be placed (rendered) footstool of His feet."

his enemies--Satan and Death, whose strength consists in "sin"; this being taken away (He 10:12), the power of the foes is taken away, and their destruction necessarily follows.

14. For--The sacrifice being "for ever" in its efficacy (He 10:12) needs no renewal.

them that are sanctified--rather as Greek, "them that are being sanctified." The sanctification (consecration to God) of the elect (1Pe 1:2) believers is perfect in Christ once for all (see on He 10:10). (Contrast the law, He 7:19; 9:9; 10:1). The development of that sanctification is progressive.

15. The Greek, has "moreover," or "now."

is a witness--of the truth which I am setting forth. The Father's witness is given He 5:10. The Son's, He 10:5. Now is added that of the Holy Spirit, called accordingly "the Spirit of grace," He 10:29. The testimony of all Three leads to the same conclusion (He 10:18).

for after that he had said before--The conclusion to the sentence is in He 10:17, "After He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them (with the house of Israel, He 8:10; here extended to the spiritual Israel) ... saith the Lord; I will put (literally, 'giving,' referring to the giving of the law; not now as then, giving into the hands, but giving) My laws into their hearts ('mind,' He 8:10) and in their minds ('hearts,' He 8:10); I will inscribe (so the Greek) them (here He omits the addition quoted in He 8:10, 11, I will be to them a God ... and they shall not teach every man his neighbor ...), and (that is, after He had said the foregoing, He then adds) their sins ... will I remember no more." The great object of the quotation here is to prove that, there being in the Gospel covenant, "REMISSION of sins" (He 10:17), there is no more need of a sacrifice for sins. The object of the same quotation in He 8:8-13 is to show that, there being a "NEW covenant," the old is antiquated.

18. where remission of these is--as there is under the Gospel covenant (He 10:17). "Here ends the finale (He 10:1-18) of the great tripartite arrangement (He 7:1-25; 7:26-9:12; 9:13-10:18) of the middle portion of the Epistle. Its great theme was Christ a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. What it is to be a high priest after the order of Melchisedec is set forth, He 7:1-25, as contrasted with the Aaronic order. That Christ, however, as High Priest, is Aaron's antitype in the true holy place, by virtue of His self-sacrifice here on earth, and Mediator of a better covenant, whose essential character the old only typified, we learn, He 7:26-9:12. And that Christ's self-sacrifice, offered through the Eternal Spirit, is of everlasting power, as contrasted with the unavailing cycle of legal offerings, is established in the third part, He 9:13-10:18; the first half of this last portion [He 9:13-28], showing that both our present possession of salvation, and our future completion of it, are as certain to us as that He is with God, ruling as a Priest and reigning as a King, once more to appear, no more as a bearer of our sins, but in glory as a Judge. The second half, He 10:1-18, reiterating the main position of the whole, the High Priesthood of Christ, grounded on His offering of Himself--its kingly character its eternal accomplishment of its end, confirmed by Psalms 40 and 110 and Jeremiah 31" [Delitzsch in Alford].

19. Here begins the third and last division of the Epistle; our duty now while waiting for the Lord's second advent. Resumption and expansion of the exhortation (He 4:14-16; compare He 10:22, 23 here) wherewith he closed the first part of the Epistle, preparatory to his great doctrinal argument, beginning at He 7:1.

boldness--"free confidence," grounded on the consciousness that our sins have been forgiven.

to enter--literally, "as regards the entering."

by--Greek, "in"; it is in the blood of Jesus that our boldness to enter is grounded. Compare Ep 3:12, "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence." It is His having once for all entered as our Forerunner (He 6:20) and High Priest (He 10:21), making atonement for us with His blood, which is continually there (He 12:24) before God, that gives us confident access. No priestly caste now mediates between the sinner and his Judge. We may come boldly with loving confidence, not with slavish fear, directly through Christ, the only mediating Priest. The minister is not officially nearer God than the layman; nor can the latter serve God at a distance or by deputy, as the natural man would like. Each must come for himself, and all are accepted when they come by the new and living way opened by Christ. Thus all Christians are, in respect to access directly to God, virtually high priests (Re 1:6). They draw nigh in and through Christ, the only proper High Priest (He 7:25).

20. which, &c.--The antecedent in the Greek is "the entering"; not as English Version, "way." Translate, "which (entering) He has consecrated (not as though it were already existing, but has been the first to open, INAUGURATED as a new thing; see on He 9:18, where the Greek is the same) for us (as) a new (Greek, 'recent'; recently opened, Ro 16:25, 26) and living way" (not like the lifeless way through the law offering of the blood of dead victims, but real, vital, and of perpetual efficacy, because the living and life-giving Saviour is that way. It is a living hope that we have, producing not dead, but living, works). Christ, the first-fruits of our nature, has ascended, and the rest is sanctified thereby. "Christ's ascension is our promotion; and whither the glory of the Head hath preceded, thither the hope of the body, too, is called" [Leo].

the veil--As the veil had to be passed through in order to enter the holiest place, so the weak, human suffering flesh (He 5:7) of Christ's humanity (which veiled His God head) had to be passed through by Him in entering the heavenly holiest place for us; in putting off His rent flesh, the temple veil, its type, was simultaneously rent from top to bottom (Mt 27:51). Not His body, but His weak suffering flesh, was the veil; His body was the temple (Joh 2:19).

21. high priest--As a different Greek term (archiereus) is used always elsewhere in this Epistle for "high priest," translate as Greek here, "A Great Priest"; one who is at once King and "Priest on His throne" (Zec 6:13); a royal Priest, and a priestly King.

house of God--the spiritual house, the Church, made up of believers, whose home is heaven, where Jesus now is (He 12:22, 23). Thus, by "the house of God," over which Jesus is, heaven is included in meaning, as well as the Church, whose home it is.

22. (He 4:16; 7:19.)

with a true heart--without hypocrisy; "in truth, and with a perfect heart"; a heart thoroughly imbued with "the truth" (He 10:26).

full assurance--(He 6:11); with no doubt as to our acceptance when coming to God by the blood of Christ. As "faith" occurs here, so "hope," and "love," He 10:23, 24.

sprinkled from--that is, sprinkled so as to be cleansed from.

evil conscience--a consciousness of guilt unatoned for, and uncleansed away (He 10:2; He 9:9). Both the hearts and the bodies are cleansed. The legal purifications were with blood of animal victims and with water, and could only cleanse the flesh (He 9:13, 21). Christ's blood purifies the heart and conscience. The Aaronic priest, in entering the holy place, washed with water (He 9:19) in the brazen laver. Believers, as priests to God, are once for all washed in BODY (as distinguished from "hearts") at baptism. As we have an immaterial, and a material nature, the cleansing of both is expressed by "hearts" and "body," the inner and the outer man; so the whole man, material and immaterial. The baptism of the body, however, is not the mere putting away of material filth, nor an act operating by intrinsic efficacy, but the sacramental seal, applied to the outer man, of a spiritual washing (1Pe 3:21). "Body" (not merely "flesh," the carnal part, as 2Co 7:1) includes the whole material man, which needs cleansing, as being redeemed, as well as the soul. The body, once polluted with sin, is washed, so as to be fitted like Christ's holy body, and by His body, to be spiritually a pure and living offering. On the "pure water," the symbol of consecration and sanctification, compare Joh 19:34; 1Co 6:11; 1Jo 5:6; Eze 36:25. The perfects "having ... hearts sprinkled ... body (the Greek is singular) washed," imply a continuing state produced by a once-for-all accomplished act, namely, our justification by faith through Christ's blood, and consecration to God, sealed sacramentally by the baptism of our body.

23. (He 3:6, 14; 4:14.)

profession--Greek, "confession."

our faith--rather as Greek, "our hope"; which is indeed faith exercised as to the future inheritance. Hope rests on faith, and at the same time quickens faith, and is the ground of our bold confession (1Pe 3:15). Hope is similarly (He 10:22) connected with purification (1Jo 3:3).

without wavering--without declension (He 3:14), "steadfast unto the end."

he--God is faithful to His promises (He 6:17, 18; 11:11; 12:26, 28; 1Co 1:9; 10:13; 1Th 5:24; 2Th 3:3; see also Christ's promise, Joh 12:26); but man is too often unfaithful to his duties.

24. Here, as elsewhere, hope and love follow faith; the Pauline triad of Christian graces.

consider--with the mind attentively fixed on "one another" (see on He 3:1), contemplating with continual consideration the characters and wants of our brethren, so as to render mutual help and counsel. Compare "consider," Psa 41:1, and He 12:15, "(All) looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God."

to provoke--Greek, "with a view to provoking unto love," instead of provoking to hatred, as is too often the case.

25. assembling of ourselves together--The Greek, "episunagoge," is only found here and 2Th 2:1 (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His coming, Mt 24:31). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for Christian communion in private and public, is an earnest of our being gathered together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength; continual assemblings together beget and foster love, and give good opportunities for "provoking to good works," by "exhorting one another" (He 3:13). Ignatius says, "When ye frequently, and in numbers meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief is neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith." To neglect such assemblings together might end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term "sunagoge," as suggesting the Jewish synagogue meetings (compare Re 2:9).

as the manner of some is--"manner," that is, habit, custom. This gentle expression proves he is not here as yet speaking of apostasy.

the day approaching--This, the shortest designation of the day of the Lord's coming, occurs elsewhere only in 1Co 3:13; a confirmation of the Pauline authorship of this Epistle. The Church being in all ages kept uncertain how soon Christ is coming, the day is, and has been, in each age, practically always near; whence, believers have been called on always to be watching for it as nigh at hand. The Hebrews were now living close upon One of those great types and foretastes of it, the destruction of Jerusalem (Mt 24:1, 2), "the bloody and fiery dawn of the great day; that day is the day of days, the ending day of all days, the settling day of all days, the day of the promotion of time into eternity, the day which, for the Church, breaks through and breaks off the night of the present world" [Delitzsch in Alford].

26. Compare on this and following verses, He 6:4, &c. There the warning was that if there be not diligence in progressing, a falling off will take place, and apostasy may ensue: here it is, that if there be lukewarmness in Christian communion, apostasy may ensue.

if we sin--Greek present participle: if we be found sinning, that is, not isolated acts, but a state of sin [Alford]. A violation not only of the law, but of the whole economy of the New Testament (He 10:28, 29).

wilfully--presumptuously, Greek "willingly." After receiving "full knowledge (so the Greek, compare 1Ti 2:4) of the truth," by having been "enlightened," and by having "tasted" a certain measure even of grace of "the Holy Ghost" (the Spirit of truth, Joh 14:17; and "the Spirit of grace," He 10:29): to fall away (as "sin" here means, He 3:12, 17; compare He 6:6) and apostatize (He 3:12) to Judaism or infidelity, is not a sin of ignorance, or error ("out of the way," the result) of infirmity, but a deliberate sinning against the Spirit (He 10:29; He 5:2): such sinning, where a consciousness of Gospel obligations not only was, but is present: a sinning presumptuously and preseveringly against Christ's redemption for us, and the Spirit of grace in us. "He only who stands high can fall low. A lively reference in the soul to what is good is necessary in order to be thoroughly wicked; hence, man can be more reprobate than the beasts, and the apostate angels than apostate man" [Tholuck].

remaineth no more sacrifice--For there is but ONE Sacrifice that can atone for sin; they, after having fully known that sacrifice, deliberately reject it.

27. a certain--an extraordinary and indescribable. The indefiniteness, as of something peculiar of its kind, makes the description the more terrible (compare Greek, Jas 1:18).

looking for--"expectation": a later sense of the Greek. Alford strangely translates, as the Greek usually means elsewhere, "reception." The transition is easy from "giving a reception to" something or someone, to "looking for." Contrast the "expecting" (the very same Greek as here), He 10:13, which refutes Alford.

fiery indignation--literally, "zeal of fire." Fire is personified: glow or ardor of fire, that is, of Him who is "a consuming fire."

devour--continually.

28. Compare He 2:2, 3; 12:25.

despised--"set at naught" [Alford]: utterly and heinously violated, not merely some minor detail, but the whole law and covenant; for example, by idolatry (De 17:2-7). So here apostasy answers to such an utter violation of the old covenant.

died--Greek, "dies": the normal punishment of such transgression, then still in force.

without mercy--literally, "mercies": removal out of the pale of mitigation, or a respite of his doom.

under--on the evidence of.

29. sorer--Greek, "worse," namely, "punishment" (literally, "vengeance") than any mere temporal punishment of the body.

suppose ye--an appeal to the Hebrews' reason and conscience.

thought worthy--by God at the judgment.

trodden under foot the Son of God--by "wilful" apostasy. So he treads under foot God Himself who "glorified His Son as an high priest" (He 5:5; 6:6).

an unholy thing--literally, "common," as opposed to "sanctified." No better than the blood of a common man, thus involving the consequence that Christ, in claiming to be God, was guilty of blasphemy, and so deserved to die!

wherewith he was sanctified--for Christ died even for him. "Sanctified," in the fullest sense, belongs only to the saved elect. But in some sense it belongs also to those who have gone a far way in Christian experience, and yet fall away at last. The higher such a one's past Christian experiences, the deeper his fall.

done despite unto--by repelling in fact: as "blasphemy" is despite in words (Mr 3:29). "Of the Jews who became Christians and relapsed to Judaism, we find from the history of Uriel Acosta, that they required a blasphemy against Christ. 'They applied to Him epithets used against Molech the adulterous branch,' &c." [Tholuck].

the Spirit of grace--the Spirit that confers grace. "He who does not accept the benefit, insults Him who confers it. He hath made thee a son: wilt thou become a slave? He has come to take up His abode with thee; but thou art introducing evil into thyself" [Chrysostom]. "It is the curse of evil eternally to propagate evil: so, for him who profanes the Christ without him, and blasphemes the Christ within him, there is subjectively no renewal of a change of mind (He 6:6), and objectively no new sacrifice for sins" (He 10:26) [Tholuck].

30. him--God, who enters no empty threats.

Vengeance belongeth unto me--Greek, "To Me belongeth vengeance": exactly according with Paul's quotation, Ro 12:19, of the same text.

Lord shall judge his people--in grace, or else anger, according as each deserves: here, "judge," so as to punish the reprobate apostate; there, "judge," so as to interpose in behalf of, and save His people (De 32:36).

31. fearful ... to fall into the hands--It is good like David to fall into the hands of God, rather than man, when one does so with filial faith in his father's love, though God chastises him. "It is fearful" to fall into His hands as a reprobate and presumptuous sinner doomed to His just vengeance as Judge (He 10:27).

living God--therefore able to punish for ever (Mt 10:28).

32. As previously he has warned them by the awful end of apostates, so here he stirs them up by the remembrance of their own former faith, patience, and self-sacrificing love. So Re 2:3, 4.

call to remembrance--habitually: so the present tense means.

illuminated--"enlightened": come to "the knowledge of the truth" (He 10:26) in connection with baptism (see on He 6:4). In spiritual baptism, Christ, who is "the Light," is put on. "On the one hand, we are not to sever the sign and the grace signified where the sacrifice truly answers its designs; on the other, the glass is not to be mistaken for the liquor, nor the sheath for the sword" [Bengel].

fight of--that is, consisting of afflictions.

33. The persecutions here referred to seem to have been endured by the Hebrew Christians at their first conversion, not only in Palestine, but also in Rome and elsewhere, the Jews in every city inciting the populace and the Roman authorities against Christians.

gazing-stock--as in a theater (so the Greek): often used as the place of punishment in the presence of the assembled multitudes. Ac 19:29; 1Co 4:9, "Made a theatrical spectacle to the world."

ye became--of your own accord: attesting your Christian sympathy with your suffering brethren.

companions of--sharers in affliction with.

34. ye had compassion on me in my bonds--The oldest manuscripts and versions omit "me," and read, "Ye both sympathized with those in bonds (answering to the last clause of He 10:33; compare He 13:3, 23; 6:10), and accepted (so the Greek is translated in He 11:35) with joy (Jas 1:2; joy in tribulations, as exercising faith and other graces, Ro 5:3; and the pledge of the coming glory, Mt 5:12) the plundering of your (own) goods (answering to the first clause of He 10:33)."

in yourselves--The oldest manuscripts omit "in": translate, "knowing that ye have for (or 'to') yourselves."

better--a heavenly (He 11:16).

enduring--not liable to spoiling.

substance--possession: peculiarly our own, if we will not cast away our birthright.

35-37. Consequent exhortation to confidence and endurance, as Christ is soon coming.

Cast not away--implying that they now have "confidence," and that it will not withdraw of itself, unless they "cast it away" wilfully (compare He 3:14).

which--Greek, "the which": inasmuch as being such as.

hath--present tense: it is as certain as if you had it in your hand (He 10:37). It hath in reversion.

recompense of reward--of grace not of debt: a reward of a kind which no mercenary self-seeker would seek: holiness will be its own reward; self-devoting unselfishness for Christ's sake will be its own rich recompense (see on He 2:2; He 11:26).

39. A Pauline elegant turning-off from denunciatory warnings to charitable hopes of his readers (Ro 8:12).

saving of the soul--literally, "acquisition (or obtaining) of the soul." The kindred Greek verb is applied to Christ's acquiring the Church as the purchase of His blood (Ac 20:28). If we acquire or obtain our soul's salvation, it is through Him who has obtained it for us by His bloodshedding. "The unbelieving man loses his soul: for not being God's, neither is he his own [compare Mt 16:26, with Lu 9:25]: faith saves the soul by linking it to God" [Delitzsch in Alford].

‏ Hebrews 11

CHAPTER 11

He 11:1-40. Definition of the Faith Just Spoken of (He 10:39):

Examples from the Old Covenant for Our Perseverance in Faith.

1. Description of the great things which faith (in its widest sense: not here restricted to faith in the Gospel sense) does for us. Not a full definition of faith in its whole nature, but a description of its great characteristics in relation to the subject of Paul's exhortation here, namely, to perseverance.

substance, &c.--It substantiates promises of God which we hope for, as future in fulfilment, making them present realities to us. However, the Greek is translated in He 3:14, "confidence"; and it also here may mean "sure confidence." So Alford translates. Thomas Magister supports English Version, "The whole thing that follows is virtually contained in the first principle; now the first commencement of the things hoped for is in us through the assent of faith, which virtually contains all the things hoped for." Compare Note, see on He 6:5, "tasted ... powers of the world to come." Through faith, the future object of Christian hope, in its beginning, is already present. True faith infers the reality of the objects believed in and honed for (He 11:6). Hugo de St. Victor distinguished faith from hope. By faith alone we are sure of eternal things that they ARE: but by hope we are confident that WE SHALL HAVE them. All hope presupposes faith (Ro 8:25).

evidence--"demonstration": convincing proof to the believer: the soul thereby seeing what the eye cannot see.

things not seen--the whole invisible and spiritual world: not things future and things pleasant, as the "things hoped for," but also the past and present, and those the reverse of pleasant. "Eternal life is promised to us, but it is when we are dead: we are told of a blessed resurrection, but meanwhile we moulder in the dust; we are declared to be justified, and sin dwells in us; we hear that we are blessed, meantime we are overwhelmed in endless miseries: we are promised abundance of all goods, but we still endure hunger and thirst; God declares He will immediately come to our help, but He seems deaf to our cries. What should we do if we had not faith and hope to lean on, and if our mind did not emerge amidst the darkness above the world by the shining of the Word and Spirit of God?" [Calvin]. Faith is an assent unto truths credible upon the testimony of God (not on the reasonableness of the thing revealed, though by this we may judge as to whether it be what it professes, a genuine revelation), delivered unto us in the writings of the apostles and prophets. Thus Christ's ascension is the cause, and His absence the crown, of our faith: because He ascended, we the more believe, and because we believe in Him who hath ascended, our faith is the more accepted [Bishop Pearson]. Faith believes what it sees not; for if thou seest there is no faith; the Lord has gone away so as not to be seen: He is hidden that He may be believed; the yearning desire by faith after Him who is unseen is the preparation of a heavenly mansion for us; when He shall be seen it shall be given to us as the reward of faith [Augustine]. As Revelation deals with spiritual and invisible things exclusively, faith is the faculty needed by us, since it is the evidence of things not seen. By faith we venture our eternal interests on the bare word of God, and this is altogether reasonable.

2. For--So high a description of faith is not undeserved; for ... [Alford].

by it--Greek, "in it": in respect to ... in the matter of," it, "or, as Greek more emphatically, "this."

the elders--as though still living and giving their powerful testimony to the reasonableness and excellence of faith (He 12:1). Not merely the ancients, as though they were people solely of the past; nay, they belong to the one and the same blessed family as ourselves (He 11:39, 40). "The elders," whom we all revere so highly. "Paul shows how we ought to seek in all its fulness, under the veil of history, the essential substance of the doctrine sometimes briefly indicated" [Bengel]. "The elders," as "the fathers," is a title of honor given on the ground of their bright faith and practice.

obtained a good report--Greek, "were testified of," namely, favorably (compare He 7:8). It is a phrase of Luke, Paul's companion. Not only men, but God, gave testimony to their faith (He 11:4, 5, 39). Thus they being testified of themselves have become "witnesses" to all others (He 12:1). The earlier elders had their patience exercised for a long period of life: those later, in sharper afflictions. Many things which they hoped for and did not see, subsequently came to pass and were conspicuously seen, the event confirming faith [Bengel].

3. we understand--We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact of the world's creation by God, though we see neither Him nor the act of creation as described in Ge 1:1-31. The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when apprehended by faith (Ro 1:20). Adam is passed over in silence here as to his faith, perhaps as being the first who fell and brought sin on us all; though it does not follow that he did not repent and believe the promise.

worlds--literally, "ages"; all that exists in time and space, visible and invisible, present and eternal.

framed--"fitly formed and consolidated"; including the creation of the single parts and the harmonious organization of the whole, and the continual providence which maintains the whole throughout all ages. As creation is the foundation and a specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in creation is the foundation and a specimen of all faith [Bengel].

by the word of God--not here, the personal word (Greek, "logos," Joh 1:1) but the spoken word (Greek, "rhema"); though by the instrumentality of the personal word (He 1:2).

not made, &c.--Translate as Greek, "so that not out of things which appear hath that which is seen been made"; not as in the case of all things which we see reproduced from previously existing and visible materials, as, for instance, the plant from the seed, the animal from the parent, &c., has the visible world sprung into being from apparent materials. So also it is implied in the first clause of the verse that the invisible spiritual worlds were framed not from previously existing materials. Bengel explains it by distinguishing "appear," that is, begin to be seen (namely, at creation), from that which is seen as already in existence, not merely beginning to be seen; so that the things seen were not made of the things which appear," that is, which begin to be seen by us in the act of creation. We were not spectators of creation; it is by faith we perceive it.

4. more excellent sacrifice--because offered in faith. Now faith must have some revelation of God on which it fastens. The revelation in this case was doubtless God's command to sacrifice animals ("the firstlings of the flock") in token of the forfeiture of men's life by sin, and as a type of the promised bruiser of the serpent's head (Ge 3:15), the one coming sacrifice: this command is implied in God's having made coats of skin for Adam and Eve (Ge 3:21): for these skins must have been taken from animals slain in sacrifice: inasmuch as it was not for food they were slain, animal food not being permitted till after the flood; nor for mere clothing, as, were it so, clothes might have been made of the fleeces without the needless cruelty of killing the animal; but a coat of skin put on Adam from a sacrificed animal typified the covering or atonement (the Hebrew for atone means to cover) resulting from Christ's sacrifice. The Greek is more literally rendered [Kennicott] by Wycliffe, "a much more sacrifice"; and by Queen Elizabeth's version "a greater sacrifice." A fuller, more ample sacrifice, that which partook more largely and essentially of the true nature and virtue of sacrifice [Archbishop Magee]. It was not any intrinsic merit in "the firstling of the flock" above "the fruit of the ground." It was God's appointment that gave it all its excellency as a sacrifice; if it had not been so, it would have been a presumptuous act of will-worship (Col 2:23), and taking of a life which man had no right over before the flood (Ge 9:1-6). The sacrifice seems to have been a holocaust, and the sign of the divine acceptance of it was probably the consumption of it by fire from heaven (Ge 15:17). Hence, "to accept" a burnt sacrifice is in Hebrew "to turn it to ashes" (Psa 20:3, Margin). A flame seems to have issued from the Shekinah, or flaming cherubim, east of Eden ("the presence of the Lord," Ge 4:16), where the first sacrifices were offered. Cain, in unbelieving self-righteousness, presented merely a thank offering, not like Abel feeling his need of the propitiatory sacrifice appointed on account of sin. God "had respect (first) unto Abel, and (then) to his offering" (Ge 4:4). Faith causes the believer's person to be accepted, and then his offering. Even an animal sacrifice, though of God's appointment, would not have been accepted, had it not been offered in faith.

he obtained witness--God by fire attesting His acceptance of him as "righteous by faith."

his gifts--the common term for sacrifices, implying that they must be freely given.

by it--by faith exhibited in his animal sacrifice.

dead, yet speaketh--His blood crying front the ground to God, shows how precious, because of his "faith," he was still in God's sight, even when dead. So he becomes a witness to us of the blessed effects of faith.

5. Faith was the ground of his pleasing God; and his pleasing God was the ground of his translation.

translated--(Ge 5:22, 24). Implying a sudden removal (the same Greek as in Ga 1:6) from mortality without death to immortality: such a CHANGE as shall pass over the living at Christ's coming (1Co 15:51, 52).

had this testimony--namely of Scripture; the Greek perfect implies that this testimony continues still: "he has been testified of."

pleased God--The Scripture testimony virtually expresses that he pleased God, namely, "Enoch walked with God." The Septuagint translates the Hebrew for "walked with God," Ge 6:9, pleased God.

6. without--Greek, "apart from faith": if one be destitute of faith (compare Ro 14:23).

to please--Translate, as Alford does, the Greek aorist, "It is impossible to please God at all" (Ro 8:8). Natural amiabilities and "works done before the grace of Christ are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ; yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin" [Article XIII, Book of Common Prayer]. Works not rooted in God are splendid sins [Augustine].

he that cometh to God--as a worshipper (He 7:19).

must believe--once for all: Greek aorist tense.

that God is--is the true self-existing Jehovah (as contrasted with all so-called gods, not gods, Ga 4:8), the source of all being, though he sees Him not (He 11:1) as being "invisible" (He 11:27). So Enoch; this passage implies that he had not been favored with visible appearances of God, yet he believed in God's being, and in God's moral government, as the Rewarder of His diligent worshippers, in opposition to antediluvian skepticism. Also Moses was not so favored before he left Egypt the first time (He 11:27); still he believed.

and ... is--a different Greek verb from the former "is." Translate, "is eventually"; proves to be; literally, "becomes."

rewarder--renderer of reward [Alford]. So God proved to be to Enoch. The reward is God Himself diligently "sought" and "walked with" in partial communion here, and to be fully enjoyed hereafter. Compare Ge 15:1, "I am thy exceeding great reward."

of them--and them only.

diligently seek--Greek, "seek out" God. Compare "seek early," Pr 8:17. Not only "ask" and "seek," but "knock," Mt 7:7; compare He 11:12; Lu 13:24, "Strive" as in an agony of contest.

7. warned of God--The same Greek, He 8:5, "admonished of God."

moved with fear--not mere slavish fear, but as in He 5:7; see on He 5:7; Greek, "reverential fear": opposed to the world's sneering disbelief of the revelation, and self-deceiving security. Join "by faith" with "prepared an ark" (1Pe 3:20).

by the which--faith.

condemned the world--For since he believed and was saved, so might they have believed and been saved, so that their condemnation by God is by his case shown to be just.

righteousness which is by faith--Greek, "according to faith." A Pauline thought. Noah is first called "righteous" in Ge 6:9. Christ calls Abel so, Mt 23:35. Compare as to Noah's righteousness, Eze 14:14, 20; 2Pe 2:5, "a preacher of righteousness." Paul here makes faith the principle and ground of his righteousness.

heir--the consequence of sonship which flows from faith.

8. From the antediluvian saints he passes to the patriarchs of Israel, to whom "the promises" belonged.

called--by God (Ge 12:1). The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "He that was called Abraham," his name being changed from Abram to Abraham, on the occasion of God's making with him and his seed a covenant sealed by circumcision, many years after his call out of Ur. "By faith, he who was (afterwards) called Abraham (father of nations, Ge 17:5, in order to become which was the design of God's bringing him out of Ur) obeyed (the command of God: to be understood in this reading), so as to go out," &c.

which he should after receive--He had not fully received even this promise when he went out, for it was not explicitly given him till he had reached Canaan (Ge 12:1, 6, 7). When the promise of the land was given him the Canaanite was still in the land, and himself a stranger; it is in the new heaven and new earth that he shall receive his personal inheritance promised him; so believers sojourn on earth as strangers, while the ungodly and Satan lord it over the earth; but at Christ's coming that same earth which was the scene of the believer's conflict shall be the inheritance of Christ and His saints.

9. sojourned--as a "stranger and pilgrim."

in--Greek, "into," that is, he went into it and sojourned there.

as in a strange country--a country not belonging to him, but to others (so the Greek), Ac 7:5, 6.

dwelling in tabernacles--tents: as strangers and sojourners do: moving from place to place, as having no fixed possession of their own. In contrast to the abiding "city" (He 11:10).

with--Their kind of dwelling being the same is a proof that their faith was the same. They all alike were content to wait for their good things hereafter (Lu 16:25). Jacob was fifteen years old at the death of Abraham.

heirs with him of the same promise--Isaac did not inherit it from Abraham, nor Jacob from Isaac, but they all inherited it from God directly as "fellow heirs." In He 6:12, 15, 17, "the promise" means the thing promised as a thing in part already attained; but in this chapter "the promise" is of something still future. However, see on He 6:12.

10. looked for--Greek, "he was expecting"; waiting for with eager expectation (Ro 8:19).

a city--Greek, "the city," already alluded to. Worldly Enoch, son of the murderer Cain, was the first to build his city here: the godly patriarchs waited for their city hereafter (He 11:16; 12:22; 13:14).

foundations--Greek, "the foundations" which the tents had not, nor even men's present cities have.

whose builder and maker--Greek, "designer [Ep 1:4, 11] and master-builder," or executor of the design. The city is worthy of its Framer and Builder (compare He 11:16; He 8:2). Compare Note, see on He 9:12, on "found."

11. also Sara herself--though being the weaker vessel, and though at first she doubted.

was delivered of a child--omitted in the oldest manuscripts: then translate, "and that when she was past age" (Ro 4:19).

she judged him faithful who had promised--after she had ceased to doubt, being instructed by the angel that it was no jest, but a matter in serious earnest.

12. as good as dead--literally, "deadened"; no longer having, as in youth, energetic vital powers.

stars ... sand--(Ge 22:17).

13-16. Summary of the characteristic excellencies of the patriarchs' faith

died in faith--died as believers, waiting for, not actually seeing as yet their good things promised to them. They were true to this principle of faith even unto, and especially in, their dying hour (compare He 11:20).

These all--beginning with "Abraham" (He 11:8), to whom the promises were made (Ga 3:16), and who is alluded to in the end of He 11:13 and in He 11:15 [Bengel and Alford]. But the "ALL" can hardly but include Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Now as these did not receive the promise of entering literal Canaan, some other promise made in the first ages, and often repeated, must be that meant, namely, the promise of a coming Redeemer made to Adam, namely, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." Thus the promises cannot have been merely temporal, for Abel and Enoch mentioned here received no temporal promise [Archbishop Magee]. This promise of eternal redemption is the inner essence of the promises made to Abraham (Ga 3:16).

not having received--It was this that constituted their "faith." If they had "received" THE THING PROMISED (so "the promises" here mean: the plural is used because of the frequent renewal of the promise to the patriarchs: He 11:17 says he did receive the promises, but not the thing promised), it would have been sight, not faith.

seen them afar off--(Joh 8:56). Christ, as the Word, was preached to the Old Testament believers, and so became the seed of life to their souls, as He is to ours.

and were persuaded of them--The oldest manuscripts omit this clause.

embraced them--as though they were not "afar off," but within reach, so as to draw them to themselves and clasp them in their embrace. Trench denies that the Old Testament believers embraced them, for they only saw them afar off: he translates, "saluted them," as the homeward-bound mariner, recognizing from afar the well-known promontories of his native land. Alford translates, "greeted them." Jacob's exclamation, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord" (Ge 49:18) is such a greeting of salvation from afar [Delitzsch].

confessed ... were strangers--so Abraham to the children of Heth (Ge 23:4); and Jacob to Pharaoh (Ge 47:9; Psa 119:19). Worldly men hold fast the world; believers sit loose to it. Citizens of the world do not confess themselves "strangers on the earth."

pilgrims--Greek, "temporary (literally, 'by the way') sojourners."

on the earth--contrasted with "an heavenly" (He 11:16): "our citizenship is in heaven" (Greek: He 10:34; Psa 119:54; Php 3:20). "Whosoever professes that he has a Father in heaven, confesses himself a stranger on earth; hence there is in the heart an ardent longing, like that of a child living among strangers, in want and grief, far from his fatherland" [Luther]. "Like ships in seas while in, above the world."

17. offered up--literally, "hath offered up," as if the work and its praise were yet enduring [Alford]. As far as His intention was concerned, he did sacrifice Isaac; and in actual fact "he offered him," as far as the presentation of him on the altar as an offering to God is concerned.

tried--Greek, "tempted," as in Ge 22:1. Put to the proof of his faith. Not that God "tempts" to sin, but God "tempts" in the sense of proving or trying (Jas 1:13-15).

and--and so.

he that had received--rather as Greek, "accepted," that is, welcomed and embraced by faith, not merely "had the promises," as in He 7:6. This added to the difficulty in the way of his faith, that it was in Isaac's posterity the promises were to be fulfilled; how then could they be fulfilled if Isaac were sacrificed?

offered up--rather as Greek, "was offering up"; he was in the act of offering.

his only-begotten son--Compare Ge 22:2, "Take now thy son, thine only son." Eusebius [The Preparation of the Gospel, 1.10, and 4.16], has preserved a fragment of a Greek translation of Sanchoniatho, which mentions a mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians, wherein a prince in royal robes was the offerer, and his only son was to be the victim: this evidently was a tradition derived from Abraham's offering, and handed down through Esau or Edom, Isaac's son. Isaac was Abraham's "only-begotten son" in respect of Sarah and the promises: he sent away his other sons, by other wives (Ge 25:6). Abraham is a type of the Father not sparing His only-begotten Son to fulfil the divine purpose of love. God nowhere in the Mosaic law allowed human sacrifices, though He claimed the first-born of Israel as His.

18. Of whom--rather as Greek "He (Abraham, not Isaac) TO whom it was said" [Alford]. Bengel supports English Version. So He 1:7 uses the same Greek preposition, "unto," for "in respect to," or "of." This verse gives a definition of the "only-begotten Son" (He 11:17).

in Isaac shall thy seed be called--(Ge 21:12). The posterity of Isaac alone shall be accounted as the seed of Abraham, which is the heir of the promises (Ro 9:7).

19. Faith answered the objections which reason brought against God's command to Abraham to offer Isaac, by suggesting that what God had promised He both could and would perform, however impossible the performance might seem (Ro 4:20, 21).

able to raise him--rather, in general, "able to raise from the dead." Compare Ro 4:17, "God who quickeneth the dead." The quickening of Sarah's dead womb suggested the thought of God's power to raise even the dead, though no instance of it had as yet occurred.

he received him--"received him back" [Alford].

in a figure--Greek, "in a parable." Alford explains, "Received him back, risen from that death which he had undergone in, under, the figure of the ram." I prefer with Bishop Pearson, Estius, and Gregory of Nyssa, understanding the figure to be the representation which the whole scene gave to Abraham of Christ in His death (typified by Isaac's offering in intention, and the ram's actual substitution answering to Christ's vicarious death), and in His resurrection (typified by Abraham's receiving him back alive from the jaws of death, compare 2Co 1:9, 10); just as on the day of atonement the slain goat and the scapegoat together formed one joint rite representing Christ's death and resurrection. It was then that Abraham saw Christ's day (Joh 8:56): accounting God was able to raise even from the dead: from which state of the dead he received him back as a type of the resurrection in Christ.

20. Jacob is put before Esau, as heir of the chief, namely, the spiritual blessing.

concerning things to come--Greek, "even concerning things to come": not only concerning things present. Isaac, by faith, assigned to his sons things future, as if they were present.

21. both the sons--Greek, "each of the sons" (Ge 47:29; 48:8-20). He knew not Joseph's sons, and could not distinguish them by sight, yet he did distinguish them by faith, transposing his hands intentionally, so as to lay his right hand on the younger, Ephraim, whose posterity was to be greater than that of Manasseh: he also adopted these grandchildren as his own sons, after having transferred the right of primogeniture to Joseph (Ge 48:22).

and worshipped--This did not take place in immediate connection with the foregoing, but before it, when Jacob made Joseph swear that he would bury him with his fathers in Canaan, not in Egypt. The assurance that Joseph would do so filled him with pious gratitude to God, which he expressed by raising himself on his bed to an attitude of worship. His faith, as Joseph's (He 11:22), consisted in his so confidentially anticipating the fulfilment of God's promise of Canaan to his descendants, as to desire to be buried there as his proper possession.

leaning upon the top of his staff--Ge 47:31, Hebrew and English Version, "upon the bed's head." The Septuagint translates as Paul here. Jerome justly reprobates the notion of modern Rome, that Jacob worshipped the top of Joseph's staff, having on it an image of Joseph's power, to which Jacob bowed in recognition of the future sovereignty of his son's tribe, the father bowing to the son! The Hebrew, as translated in English Version, sets it aside: the bed is alluded to afterwards (Ge 48:2; 49:33), and it is likely that Jacob turned himself in his bed so as to have his face toward the pillow, Is 38:2 (there were no bedsteads in the East). Paul by adopting the Septuagint version, brings out, under the Spirit, an additional fact, namely, that the aged patriarch used his own (not Joseph's) staff to lean on in worshipping on his bed. The staff, too, was the emblem of his pilgrim state here on his way to his heavenly city (He 11:13, 14), wherein God had so wonderfully supported him. Ge 32:10, "With my staff I passed over Jordan, and now I am become," &c. (compare Ex 12:11; Mr 6:8). In 1Ki 1:47, the same thing is said of David's "bowing on his bed," an act of adoring thanksgiving to God for God's favor to his son before death. He omits the more leading blessing of the twelve sons of Jacob; because "he plucks only the flowers which stand by his way, and leaves the whole meadow full to his readers" [Delitzsch in Alford].

22. when he died--"when dying."

the departing--"the exodus" (Ge 50:24, 25). Joseph's eminent position in Egypt did not make him regard it as his home: in faith he looked to God's promise of Canaan being fulfilled and desired that his bones should rest there: testifying thus: (1) that he had no doubt of his posterity obtaining the promised land: and (2) that he believed in the resurrection of the body, and the enjoyment in it of the heavenly Canaan. His wish was fulfilled (Jos 24:32; Ac 4:16).

23. parents--So the Septuagint has the plural, namely, Amram and Jochebed (Nu 26:59); but in Ex 2:2, the mother alone is mentioned; but doubtless Amram sanctioned all she did, and secrecy. being their object, he did not appear prominent in what was done.

a proper child--Greek, "a comely child." Ac 7:20, "exceeding fair," Greek, "fair to God." The "faith" of his parents in saving the child must have had some divine revelation to rest on (probably at the time of his birth), which marked their "exceeding fair" babe as one whom God designed to do a great work by. His beauty was probably "the sign" appointed by God to assure their faith.

the king's commandment--to slay all the males (Ex 1:22).

24. So far from faith being opposed to Moses, he was an eminent example of it [Bengel].

refused--in believing self-denial, when he might possibly have succeeded at last to the throne of Egypt. Thermutis, Pharaoh's daughter, according to the tradition which Paul under the Spirit sanctions, adopted him, as Josephus says, with the consent of the king. Josephus states that when a child, he threw on the ground the diadem put on him in jest, a presage of his subsequent formal rejection of Thermutis' adoption of him. Faith made him to prefer the adoption of the King of kings, unseen, and so to choose (He 11:25, 26) things, the very last which flesh and blood relish.

25. He balanced the best of the world with the worst of religion, and decidedly chose the latter. "Choosing" implies a deliberate resolution, not a hasty impulse. He was forty years old, a time when the judgment is matured.

for a season--If the world has "pleasure" (Greek, "enjoyment") to offer, it is but "for a season." If religion bring with it "affliction," it too is but for a season; whereas its "pleasures are for evermore."

26. Esteeming--Inasmuch as he esteemed.

the reproach of Christ--that is, the reproach which falls on the Church, and which Christ regards as His own reproach, He being the Head, and the Church (both of the Old and New Testament) His body. Israel typified Christ; Israel's sufferings were Christ's sufferings (compare 2Co 1:5; Col 1:24). As uncircumcision was Egypt's reproach, so circumcision was the badge of Israel's expectation of Christ, which Moses especially cherished, and which the Gentiles reproached Israel on account of. Christ's people's reproach will ere long be their great glory.

had respect unto, &c.--Greek, "turning his eyes away from other considerations, he fixed them on the (eternal) recompense" (He 11:39, 40).

27. not fearing the wrath of the king--But in Ex 2:14 it is said, "Moses feared, and fled from the face of Pharaoh." He was afraid, and fled from the danger where no duty called him to stay (to have stayed without call of duty would have been to tempt Providence, and to sacrifice his hope of being Israel's future deliverer according to the divine intimations; his great aim, see on He 11:23). He did not fear the king so as to neglect his duty and not return when God called him. It was in spite of the king's prohibition he left Egypt, not fearing the consequences which were likely to overtake him if he should be caught, after having, in defiance of the king, left Egypt. If he had stayed and resumed his position as adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, his slaughter of the Egyptian would doubtless have been connived at; but his resolution to take his portion with oppressed Israel, which he could not have done had he stayed, was the motive of his flight, and constituted the "faith" of this act, according to the express statement here. The exodus of Moses with Israel cannot be meant here, for it was made, not in defiance, but by the desire, of the king. Besides, the chronological order would be broken thus, the next particular specified here, namely, the institution of the Passover, having taken place before the exodus. Besides, it is Moses' personal history and faith which are here described. The faith of the people ("THEY passed") is not introduced till He 11:29.

endured--steadfast in faith amidst trials. He had fled, not so much from fear of Pharaoh, as from a revulsion of feeling in finding God's people insensible to their high destiny, and from disappointment at not having been able to inspire them with those hopes for which he had sacrificed all his earthly prospects. This accounts for his strange reluctance and despondency when commissioned by God to go and arouse the people (Ex 3:15; 4:1, 10-12).

seeing him ... invisible--as though he had not to do with men, but only with God, ever before his eyes by faith, though invisible to the bodily eye (Ro 1:20; 1Ti 1:17; 6:16). Hence he feared not the wrath of visible man; the characteristic of faith (He 11:1; Lu 12:4, 5).

28. kept--Greek, "hath kept," the Passover being, in Paul's day, still observed. His faith here was his belief in the invisible God's promise that the destroying angel should pass over, and not touch the inmates of the blood-sprinkled houses (Ex 12:23). "He acquiesced in the bare word of God where the thing itself was not apparent" [Calvin].

the first-born--Greek neuter; both of man and beast.

29. they--Moses and Israel.

Red Sea--called so from its red seaweed, or rather from Edom (meaning "red"), whose country adjoined it.

which ... assaying to do--Greek, "of which (Red Sea) the Egyptians having made experiment." Rashness and presumption mistaken by many for faith; with similar rash presumption many rush into eternity. The same thing when done by the believer, and when done by the unbeliever, is not the same thing [Bengel]. What was faith in Israel, was presumption in the Egyptians.

were drowned--Greek, "were swallowed up," or "engulfed." They sank in the sands as much as in the waves of the Red Sea. Compare Ex 15:12, "the earth swallowed them."

30. The soundings of trumpets, though one were to sound for ten thousand years, cannot throw down walls, but faith can do all things [Chrysostom].

seven days--whereas sieges often lasted for years.

31. Rahab showed her "faith" in her confession, Jos 2:9, 11, "I know that Jehovah hath given you the land; Jehovah your God, is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."

the harlot--Her former life adds to the marvel of her repentance, faith, and preservation (Mt 21:31, 32).

believed not--Greek, "were disobedient," namely, to the will of God manifested by the miracles wrought in behalf of Israel (Jos 2:8-11).

received--in her house (Jos 2:1, 4, 6).

with peace--peaceably; so that they had nothing to fear in her house. Thus Paul, quoting the same examples (He 11:17, 31) for the power of faith, as James (Jas 2:21, 25; see on Jas 2:21; Jas 2:25) does for justification by works evidentially, shows that in maintaining justification by faith alone, he means not a dead faith, but "faith which worketh by love" (Ga 5:6).

32. the time--suitable for the length of an Epistle. He accumulates collectively some out of many examples of faith.

Gideon--put before Barak, not chronologically, but as being more celebrated. Just as Samson for the same reason is put before Jephthæ. The mention of Jephthæ as an example of "faith," makes it unlikely he sacrificed the life of his daughter for a rash vow. David, the warrior king and prophet, forms the transition from warrior chiefs to the "prophets," of whom "Samuel" is mentioned as the first.

33. subdued kingdoms--as David did (2Sa 8:1, &c.); so also Gideon subdued Midian (Jud 7:1-25).

wrought righteousness--as Samuel did (1Sa 8:9; 12:3-23; 15:33); and David (2Sa 8:15).

obtained promises--as "the prophets" (He 11:32) did; for through them the promises were given (compare Da 9:21) [Bengel]. Rather, "obtained the fulfilment of promises," which had been previously the object of their faith (Jos 21:45; 1Ki 8:56). Indeed, Gideon, Barak, &c., also obtained the things which God promised. Not "the promises," which are still future (He 11:13, 39).

stopped the mouths of lions--Note the words, "because he believed in his God." Also Samson (Jud 14:6), David (1Sa 17:34-37), Benaiah (2Sa 23:20).

34. Quenched the violence of fire--(Da 3:27). Not merely "quenched the fire," but "quenched the power (so the Greek) of the fire." Da 3:19-30 and 6:12-23 record the last miracles of the Old Testament. So the martyrs of the Reformation, though not escaping the fire, were delivered from its having power really or lastingly to hurt them.

escaped ... sword--So Jephthah (Jud 12:3); and so David escaped Saul's sword (1Sa 18:11; 19:10, 12); Elijah (1Ki 19:1, &c.; 2Ki 6:14).

out of weakness ... made strong--Samson (Jud 16:28; 15:19). Hezekiah (Is 37:1-38:22). Milton says of the martyrs, "They shook the powers of darkness with the irresistible power of weakness."

valiant in fight--Barak (Jud 4:14, 15). And the Maccabees, the sons of Matthias, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, who delivered the Jews from their cruel oppressor, Antiochus of Syria.

armies--literally, "camps" referring to Jud 7:21. But the reference may be to the Maccabees having put to flight the Syrians and other foes.

35. Women received their dead raised--as the widow of Zarephath (1Ki 17:17-24). The Shunammite (2Ki 4:17-35). The two oldest manuscripts read. "They received women of aliens by raising their dead." 1Ki 17:24 shows that the raising of the widow's son by Elijah led her to the faith, so that he thus took her into fellowship, an alien though she was. Christ, in Lu 4:26, makes especial mention of the fact that Elijah was sent to an alien from Israel, a woman of Sarepta. Thus Paul may quote this as an instance of Elijah's faith, that at God's command he went to a Gentile city of Sidonia (contrary to Jewish prejudices), and there, as the fruit of faith, not only raised her dead son, but received her as a convert into the family of God, as Vulgate reads. Still, English Version may be the right reading.

and--Greek, "but"; in contrast to those raised again to life.

tortured--"broken on the wheel." Eleazar (2 Maccabees 6:18, end; 2 Maccabees 19:20,30). The sufferer was stretched on an instrument like a drumhead and scourged to death.

not accepting deliverance--when offered to them. So the seven brothers, 2 Maccabees 7:9, 11, 14, 29, 36; and Eleazar, 2 Maccabees 6:21, 28, 30, "Though I might have been delivered from death, I endure these severe pains, being beaten."

a better resurrection--than that of the women's children "raised to life again"; or, than the resurrection which their foes could give them by delivering them from death (Da 12:2; Lu 20:35; Php 3:11). The fourth of the brethren (referring to Da 12:2) said to King Antiochus, "To be put to death by men, is to be chosen to look onward for the hopes which are of God, to be raised up again by Him; but for thee there is no resurrection to life." The writer of Second Maccabees expressly disclaims inspiration, which prevents our mistaking Paul's allusion here to it as if it sanctioned the Apocrypha as inspired. In quoting Daniel, he quotes a book claiming inspiration, and so tacitly sanctions that claim.

36. others--of a different class of confessors for the truth (the Greek is different from that for "others," He 11:35, alloi, heteroi).

trial--testing their faith.

imprisonment--as Hanani (2Ch 16:10), imprisoned by Asa. Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by Ahab (1Ki 22:26, 27).

37. stoned--as Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2Ch 24:20-22; Mt 23:35).

sawn asunder--as Isaiah was said to have been by Manasseh; but see my Introduction to Isaiah.

tempted--by their foes, in the midst of their tortures, to renounce their faith; the most bitter aggravation of them. Or else, by those of their own household, as Job was [Estius]; or by the fiery darts of Satan, as Jesus was in His last trials [Glassius]. Probably it included all three; they were tempted in every possible way, by friends and foes, by human and satanic agents, by caresses and afflictions, by words and deeds, to forsake God, but in vain, through the power of faith.

sword--literally, "they died in the murder of the sword." In He 11:34 the contrary is given as an effect of faith, "they escaped the edge of the sword." Both alike are marvellous effects of faith. In both accomplishes great things and suffers great things, without counting it suffering [Chrysostom]. Urijah was so slain by Jehoiakim (Jr 26:23); and the prophets in Israel (1Ki 19:10).

in sheepskins--as Elijah (1Ki 19:13, Septuagint). They were white; as the "goat-skins" were black (compare Zec 13:4).

tormented--Greek, "in evil state."

38. Of whom the world was not worthy--So far from their being unworthy of living in the world, as their exile in deserts, &c., might seem to imply, "the world was not worthy of them." The world, in shutting them out, shut out from itself a source of blessing; such as Joseph proved to Potiphar (Ge 39:5), and Jacob to Laban (Ge 30:27). In condemning them, the world condemned itself.

caves--literally, "chinks." Palestine, from its hilly character, abounds in fissures and caves, affording shelter to the persecuted, as the fifty hid by Obadiah (1Ki 18:4, 13) and Elijah (1Ki 19:8, 13); and Mattathias and his sons (1 Maccabees 2:28, 29); and Judas Maccabeus (2 Maccabees 5:27).

39. having obtained a good report--Greek, "being borne witness of." Though they were so, yet "they received not the promise," that is, the final completion of "salvation" promised at Christ's coming again (He 9:28); "the eternal inheritance" (He 9:15). Abraham did obtain the very thing promised (He 6:15) in part, namely, blessedness in soul after death, by virtue of faith in Christ about to come. The full blessedness of body and soul shall not be till the full number of the elect shall be accomplished, and all together, no one preceding the other, shall enter on the full glory and bliss. Moreover, in another point of view, "It is probable that some accumulation of blessedness was added to holy souls, when Christ came and fulfilled all things even as at His burial many rose from the dead, who doubtless ascended to heaven with Him" [Flacius in Bengel]. (Compare Note, see on Ep 4:8). The perfecting of believers in title, and in respect to conscience, took place once for all, at the death of Christ, by virtue of His being made by death perfect as Saviour. Their perfecting in soul at, and ever after Christ's death, took place, and takes place at their death. But the universal and final perfecting will not take place till Christ's coming.

40. provided--with divine forethought from eternity (compare Ge 22:8, 14).

some better thing for us--(He 7:19); than they had here. They had not in this world, "apart from us" (so the Greek is for "without us," that is, they had to wait for us for), the clear revelation of the promised salvation actually accomplished, as we now have it in Christ; in their state, beyond the grave their souls also seem to have attained an increase of heavenly bliss on the death and ascension of Christ; and they shall not attain the full and final glory in body and soul (the regeneration of the creature), until the full number of the elect (including us with them) is completed. The Fathers, Chrysostom, &c., restricted the meaning of He 11:39, 40 to this last truth, and I incline to this view. "The connection is, You, Hebrews, may far more easily exercise patience than Old Testament believers; for they had much longer to wait, and are still waiting until the elect are all gathered in; you, on the contrary, have not to wait for them" [Estius]. I think his object in these verses (He 11:39, 40) is to warn Hebrew Christians against their tendency to relapse into Judaism. "Though the Old Testament worthies attained such eminence by faith, they are not above us in privileges, but the reverse." It is not we who are perfected with them, but rather they with us. They waited for His coming; we enjoy Him as having come (He 1:1; 2:3). Christ's death, the means of perfecting what the Jewish law could not perfect, was reserved for our time. Compare He 12:2, "perfecter (Greek) of our faith." Now that Christ is come, they in soul share our blessedness, being "the spirits of the just made perfect" (He 12:23); so Alford; however, see on He 12:23. He 9:12 shows that the blood of Christ, brought into the heavenly holy place by Him, first opened an entrance into heaven (compare Joh 3:13). Still, the fathers were in blessedness by faith in the Saviour to come, at death (He 6:15; Lu 16:22).

‏ Hebrews 12:1-5

CHAPTER 12

He 12:1-29. Exhortation to Follow the Witnesses of Faith Just Mentioned: Not to Faint in Trials: To Remove All Bitter Roots of Sin:

For We Are under, Not a Law of Terror, but the Gospel of Grace, to Despise Which Will Bring the Heavier Penalties, in Proportion to Our Greater Privileges.

1. we also--as well as those recounted in He 12:11.

are compassed about--Greek, "have so great a cloud (a numberless multitude above us, like a cloud, 'holy and pellucid,' [Clement of Alexandria]) of witnesses surrounding us." The image is from a "race," an image common even in Palestine from the time of the Greco-Macedonian empire, which introduced such Greek usages as national games. The "witnesses" answer to the spectators pressing round to see the competitors in their contest for the prize (Php 3:14). Those "witnessed of" (Greek, He 11:5, 39) become in their turn "witnesses" in a twofold way: (1) attesting by their own case the faithfulness of God to His people [Alford] (He 6:12), some of them martyrs in the modern sense; (2) witnessing our struggle of faith; however, this second sense of "witnesses," though agreeing with the image here if it is to be pressed, is not positively, unequivocally, and directly sustained by Scripture. It gives vividness to the image; as the crowd of spectators gave additional spirit to the combatants, so the cloud of witnesses who have themselves been in the same contest, ought to increase our earnestness, testifying, as they do, to God's faithfulness.

weight--As corporeal unwieldiness was, through a disciplinary diet, laid aside by candidates for the prize in racing; so carnal and worldly lusts, and all, whether from without or within, that would impede the heavenly runner, are the spiritual weight to be laid aside. "Encumbrance," all superfluous weight; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and even harmless and otherwise useful things which would positively retard us (Mr 10:50, the blind man casting away his garment to come to Jesus; Mr 9:42-48; compare Ep 4:22; Col 3:9, 10).

the sin which doth so easily beset us--Greek, "sin which easily stands around us"; so Luther, "which always so clings to us": "sinful propensity always surrounding us, ever present and ready" [Wahl]. It is not primarily "the sin," &c., but sin in general, with, however, special reference to "apostasy," against which he had already warned them, as one to which they might gradually be seduced; the besetting sin of the Hebrews, UNBELIEF.

with patience--Greek, "in persevering endurance" (He 10:36). On "run" compare 1Co 9:24, 25.

2. Looking unto--literally, "Looking from afar" (see on He 11:26); fixing the eyes upon Jesus seated on the throne of God.

author--"Prince-leader." The same Greek is translated, "Captain (of salvation)," He 2:10; "Prince (of life)," Ac 3:15. Going before us as the Originator of our faith, and the Leader whose matchless example we are to follow always. In this He is distinguished from all those examples of faith in He 11:2-40. (Compare 1Co 11:1). On His "faith" compare He 2:13; 3:12. Believers have ever looked to Him (He 11:26; 13:8).

finisher--Greek, "Perfecter," referring to He 11:40.

of our faith--rather as Greek, "of the faith," including both His faith (as exhibited in what follows) and our faith. He fulfilled the ideal of faith Himself, and so, both as a vicarious offering and an example, He is the object of our faith.

for the joy ... set before him--namely, of presently after sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God; including besides His own personal joy, the joy of sitting there as a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins. The coming joy disarmed of its sting the present pain.

cross ... shame--the great stumbling-block to the Hebrews. "Despised," that is, disregarded.

3. For--justifying his exhortation, "Looking unto Jesus."

consider--by way of comparison with yourselves, so the Greek.

contradiction--unbelief, and every kind of opposition (Ac 28:19).

sinners--Sin assails us. Not sin, but sinners, contradicted Christ [Bengel].

be wearied and faint--Greek, "lest ye weary fainting." Compare Is 49:4, 5, as a specimen of Jesus not being wearied out by the contradiction and strange unbelief of those among whom He labored, preaching as never man did, and exhibiting miracles wrought by His inherent power, as none else could do.

4. not yet resisted unto blood--image from pugilism, as he previously had the image of a race, both being taken from the great national Greek games. Ye have suffered the loss of goods, and been a gazing-stock by reproaches and afflictions; ye have not shed your blood (see on He 13:7). "The athlete who hath seen his own blood, and who, though cast down by his opponent, does not let his spirits be cast down, who as often as he hath fallen hath risen the more determined, goes down to the encounter with great hope" [Seneca].

against sin--Sin is personified as an adversary; sin, whether within you, leading you to spare your blood, or in our adversaries, leading them to shed it, if they cannot through your faithfulness even unto blood, induce you to apostatize.

5. forgotten--"utterly," so the Greek. Compare He 12:15-17, in which he implies how utterly some of them had forgotten God's word. His exhortation ought to have more effect on you than the cheers and exhortations of the spectators have on the competitors striving in the games.

which--Greek, "the which," of which the following is a specimen [Alford].

speaketh unto you--as in a dialogue or discourse, so the Greek, implying God's loving condescension (compare Is 1:18).

despise not--literally, "Do not hold of little account." Betraying a contumacious spirit of unbelief (He 3:12), as "faint" implies a broken-down, weak, and desponding spirit. "Chastening" is to be borne with "subjection" (He 12:9); "rebuke" (more severe than chastening) is to be borne with endurance (He 12:7). "Some in adversity kick against God's will, others despond; neither is to be done by the Christian, who is peculiarly the child of God. To him such adverse things occur only by the decree of God, and that designed in kindness, namely, to remove the defilements adhering to the believer, and to exercise his patience" [Grotius].