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113 lines
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<p id="Chapter2" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 2
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<p id="Heb2_1"><a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,'1-18');">Hbr 2:1-18</a>. DANGER OF NEGLECTING SO GREAT SALVATION, FIRST SPOKEN BY CHRIST; TO WHOM, NOT TO ANGELS, THE NEW DISPENSATION WAS SUBJECTED; THOUGH HE WAS FOR A TIME HUMBLED BELOW THE ANGELS: THIS HUMILIATION TOOK PLACE BY DIVINE NECESSITY FOR OUR SALVATION.
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<p><b>1. Therefore</b>—Because Christ the Mediator of the new covenant is so far (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,'5-14');">Hbr 1:5-14</a>) above all angels, the mediators of the old covenant.
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<br><br><b>the more earnest</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "the more abundantly."
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<br><br><b>heard</b>—spoken by God (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,1);">Hbr 1:1</a>); and by the Lord (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,3);">Hbr 2:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>let them slip</b>—literally "flow past them" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,1);">Hbr 4:1</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_2"><b>2.</b> (Compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,3);">Hbr 2:3</a>) Argument <i>a fortiori.</i>
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<br><br><b>spoken by angels</b>—the Mosaic law spoken by the ministration of angels (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',33,2);">Deu 33:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',68,17);">Psa 68:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',7,53);">Act 7:53</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,19);">Gal 3:19</a>). When it is said, <a onclick="return mV('Exd',20,1);">Exd 20:1</a>, "God spake," it is meant He spake by angels as His mouthpiece, or at least angels repeating in unison with His voice the words of the Decalogue; whereas the Gospel was first spoken by the Lord alone.
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<br><br><b>was steadfast</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>was made</i> steadfast," or "confirmed": was enforced by penalties on those violating it.
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<br><br><b>transgression</b>—by doing evil; literally, <i>overstepping</i> its bounds: a positive violation of it.
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<br><br><b>disobedience</b>—by neglecting to do good: a negative violation of it.
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<br><br><b>recompense</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',32,35);">Deu 32:35</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_3"><b>3. we</b>—who have received the message of salvation so clearly delivered to us (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,25);">Hbr 12:25</a>).
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<br><br><b>so great salvation</b>—embodied in Jesus, whose very name means "salvation," including not only deliverance from foes and from death, and the grant of temporal blessings (which the law promised to the obedient), but also grace of the Spirit, forgiveness of sins, and the promise of heaven, glory, and eternal life (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>which</b>—"<i>inasmuch as it is a</i> salvation <i>which</i> began," etc.
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<br><br><b>spoken by the Lord</b>—as the instrument of proclaiming it. Not as the law, spoken by the instrumentality of angels (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,2);">Hbr 2:2</a>). Both law and Gospel came from God; the difference here referred to lay in <i>the instrumentality</i> by which each respectively was promulgated (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,5);">Hbr 2:5</a>). Angels recognize Him as "the Lord" (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',28,6);">Mat 28:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',2,11);">Luk 2:11</a>).
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<br><br><b>confirmed unto us</b>—not by penalties, as the law was <i>confirmed,</i> but by spiritual gifts (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,4);">Hbr 2:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>by them that heard <i>him</i></b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('Luk',1,2);">Luk 1:2</a>). Though Paul had a special and independent revelation of Christ (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,16,17,19);">Gal 1:16-17, 19</a>), yet he classes himself with those Jews whom he addresses, "unto us"; for like them in many particulars (for example, the agony in Gethsemane, <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,7);">Hbr 5:7</a>), he was dependent for autoptic information on the twelve apostles. So the <i>discourses</i> of Jesus, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, and the first proclamation of the Gospel kingdom by the Lord (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',4,17);">Mat 4:17</a>), he could only know by the report of the Twelve: so the saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (<a onclick="return mV('Act',20,35);">Act 20:35</a>). Paul mentions what they had <i>heard,</i> rather than what they had <i>seen,</i> conformably with what he began with, <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,1,2);">Hbr 1:1-2</a>, "spake...spoken." Appropriately also in his Epistles to Gentiles, he dwells on his independent call to the apostleship of the Gentiles; in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he appeals to the apostles who had been long with the Lord (compare <a onclick="return mV('Act',1,21);">Act 1:21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',10,41);">10:41</a>): so in his sermon to the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia (<a onclick="return mV('Act',13,31);">Act 13:31</a>); and "he only appeals to the testimony of these apostles in a general way, in order that he may bring the Hebrews to the Lord alone" [BENGEL], not to become partisans of particular apostles, as Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, and James, the bishop of Jerusalem. This verse implies that the Hebrews of the <i>churches of Palestine and Syria</i> (or those of them dispersed in Asia Minor [BENGEL], <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',1,1);">1Pe 1:1</a>, or in Alexandria) were primarily addressed in this Epistle; for of none so well could it be said, the Gospel was confirmed to them by the immediate hearers of the Lord: the past tense, "was confirmed," implies some little time had elapsed since this testification by eye-witnesses.
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<p id="Heb2_4"><b>4. them</b>—rather, "God also [as well as Christ, <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,3);">Hbr 2:3</a>] bearing witness to it," etc., joining in attestation of <i>it.</i>"
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<br><br><b>signs and wonders</b>—performed by Christ and His apostles. "Signs" and miracles, or other facts regarded as <i>proofs</i> of a divine mission; "wonders" are miracles viewed as prodigies, causing <i>astonishment</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Act',2,22,33);">Act 2:22, 33</a>); "powers" are miracles viewed as evidences of superhuman <i>power.</i>
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<br><br><b>divers miracles</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "varied (miraculous) <i>powers</i>" (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',12,12);">2Cr 12:12</a>) granted to the apostles after the ascension.
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<br><br><b>gifts,</b> etc.—<i>Greek,</i> "distributions." The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Christ without measure (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,34);">Jhn 3:34</a>), but to us it is distributed in various measures and operations (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',12,3,6);">Rom 12:3, 6</a>, etc. <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',12,'4-11');">1Cr 12:4-11</a>).
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<br><br><b>according to his own will</b>—God's free and sovereign will, assigning one gift of the Spirit to one, another to another (<a onclick="return mV('Act',5,32);">Act 5:32</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,5);">Eph 1:5</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_5"><b>5. For</b>—confirming the assertion, <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,2,3);">Hbr 2:2-3</a>, that the new covenant was spoken by One higher than the mediators of the old covenant, namely, angels. Translate in the <i>Greek</i> order, to bring out the proper emphasis, "Not the angels hath He," etc.
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<br><br><b>the world to come</b>—implying, He <i>has</i> subjected to angels <i>the existing world,</i> the Old Testament dispensation (then still partly existing as to its framework), <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,2);">Hbr 2:2</a>, the political kingdom of the earth (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',4,13);">Dan 4:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',4,13,20,21);">10:13, 20-21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,1);">12:1</a>), and the natural elements (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',9,11);">Rev 9:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',16,4);">16:4</a>). and even individuals (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',18,10);">Mat 18:10</a>). "The world to come" is the new dispensation brought in by Christ, beginning in grace here, to be completed in glory hereafter. It is called "to come," or "about to be," as at the time of its being subjected to Christ by the divine decree, it was as yet a thing of the future, and is still so to us, in respect to its full consummation. In respect to the <i>subjecting</i> of all things to Christ in fulfilment of <a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,'1-9');">Psa 8:1-9</a>, the realization is still "to come." Regarded from the Old Testament standpoint, which looks prophetically forward to the New Testament (and the Jewish priesthood and Old Testament ritual were in force then when Paul wrote, and continued till their forcible abrogation by the destruction of Jerusalem), it is "the world to come"; Paul, as addressing Jews, appropriately calls it so, according to their conventional way of viewing it. We, like them, still pray, "Thy kingdom come"; for its <i>manifestation</i> in glory is yet future. "This world" is used in contrast to express the present fallen condition of the world (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',2,2);">Eph 2:2</a>). Believers belong not to this present world course, but by faith rise in spirit to "the world to come," making it a present, though internal. reality. Still, in the present world, natural and social, angels are mediately rulers under God in some sense: not so in the coming world: man in it, and the Son of man, man's Head, are to be supreme. Hence greater reverence was paid to angels by men in the Old Testament than is permitted in the New Testament. For man's nature is exalted in Christ now, so that angels are our "fellow servants" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,9);">Rev 22:9</a>). In their ministrations they stand on a different footing from that on which they stood towards us in the Old Testament. We are "brethren" of Christ in a nearness not enjoyed even by angels (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,'10-12', 16);">Hbr 2:10-12, 16</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_6"><b>6. But</b>—It is not to angels the Gospel kingdom is subject, BUT...
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<br><br><b>one...testified</b>—the usual way of quoting Scripture to readers familiar with it. <a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,'5-7');">Psa 8:5-7</a> praises Jehovah for exalting MAN, so as to subject all the works of God on earth to him: this dignity having been lost by the first Adam, is realized only in Christ the Son of man, the Representative Man and Head of our redeemed race. Thus Paul proves that it is to MAN, not to <i>angels,</i> that God has subjected the "world to come." In <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,'6-8');">Hbr 2:6-8</a>, MAN is spoken of <i>in general</i> ("him...him...his); then at <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,9);">Hbr 2:9</a>, first JESUS is introduced as fulfilling, as man, all the conditions of the prophecy, and passing through death Himself; and so consequently bringing us men, His "brethren," to "glory and honor."
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<br><br><b>What,</b> etc.—How insignificant in himself, yet how exalted by God's grace! (Compare <a onclick="return mV('Psa',144,3);">Psa 144:3</a>). The <i>Hebrew,</i> "<i>Enosh</i>" and "<i>Ben-Adam,</i>" express "man" and "Son of man" in his weakness: "Son of man" is here used of <i>any</i> and <i>every child of man:</i> unlike, seemingly, the lord of creation, such as he was originally (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',1,'1-');">Gen 1:1 - 2:25</a>), and such as he is designed to be (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,'1-9');">Psa 8:1-9</a>), and such as he actually is by title and shall hereafter more fully be in the person of, and in union with, Jesus, pre-eminently the Son of man (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,9);">Hbr 2:9</a>).
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<br><br><b>art mindful</b>—as of one absent.
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<br><br><b>visitest</b>—<i>lookest after</i> him, as one present.
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<p id="Heb2_7"><b>7. a little</b>—not as BENGEL, "a little <i>time.</i>"
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<br><br><b>than the angels</b>—<i>Hebrew,</i> "than God," "<i>Elohim,</i>" that is, the abstract qualities of God, such as <i>angels</i> possess in an inferior form; namely, heavenly, spiritual, incorporeal natures. Man, in his original creation, was set next beneath them. So the man Jesus, though Lord of angels, when He emptied Himself of the externals of His Divinity (see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Phl/Phl002.html#Php2_6">Php 2:6</a>, <a href="./Comm/jfb/Phl/Phl002.html#Php2_7">Php 2:7</a>), was in His human nature "a little lower than the angels"; though this is not the primary reference here, but <i>man</i> in general.
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<br><br><b>crownedst him with glory and honour</b>—as the appointed kingly vicegerent of God over this earth (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',1,'1-');">Gen 1:1 - 2:25</a>).
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<br><br><b>and didst set him over the works of thy hands</b>—omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts; but read by others and by oldest versions: so <a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,6);">Psa 8:6</a>, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands."
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<p id="Heb2_8"><b>8.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,27);">1Cr 15:27</a>.)
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<br><br><b>For in that</b>—that is, "For in that" <i>God saith in the eighth Psalm,</i> "He put the all things (so the <i>Greek, the</i> all things just mentioned) in subjection under him (man), He left nothing...As no limitation occurs in the sacred writing, the "all things" must include heavenly, as well as earthly things (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,21,22);">1Cr 3:21-22</a>).
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<br><br><b>But now</b>—As things now are, we see not yet <i>the</i> all things put under man.
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<p id="Heb2_9"><b>9. But</b>—We see not <i>man</i> as yet exercising lordship over all things, "<i>but rather,</i> Him who was made a little lower than the angels (compare <a onclick="return mV('Luk',22,43);">Luk 22:43</a>), we behold (<i>by faith:</i> a different <i>Greek</i> verb from that for 'we <i>see,</i>' <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,8);">Hbr 2:8</a>, which expresses the impression which our eyes <i>passively</i> receive from objects around us; whereas, 'we behold,' or 'look at,' implies the <i>direction</i> and <i>intention</i> of one <i>deliberately</i> regarding something which he tries to see: so <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',3,19);">Hbr 3:19</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,25);">10:25</a>, <i>Greek</i>), namely, Jesus, on account of His suffering of death, crowned," etc. He is already crowned, though unseen by us, save by faith; hereafter all things shall be subjected to Him visibly and fully. The ground of His exaltation is "on accoumt of His having suffered death" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',2,8,9);">Phl 2:8-9</a>).
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<br><br><b>that he by the grace of God</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Tts',2,11);">Tts 2:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Tts',3,4);">3:4</a>). The reading of ORIGEN, "That He <i>without God</i>" (<i>laying aside His Divinity;</i> or, for every being <i>save God:</i> or perhaps alluding to His having been temporarily "forsaken," as the Sin-bearer, by the Father on the cross), is not supported by the manuscripts. The "that," etc., is connected with "crowned with glory," etc., thus: His exaltation after sufferings is the <i>perfecting</i> or consummation of His work (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>) for us: without it His death would have been ineffectual; with it, and from it, flows the result <i>that His tasting of death is available for</i> (in behalf of, for the good of) <i>every man.</i> He is crowned as the Head in heaven of our common humanity, presenting His blood as the all-prevailing plea for us. This coronation above makes His death applicable for <i>every</i> individual <i>man</i> (observe the singular; not merely "for all men"), <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,14);">Hbr 4:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,24);">9:24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Jo',2,2);">1Jo 2:2</a>. "Taste death" implies His personal experimental undergoing of death: death of the body, and death (spiritually) of the soul, in His being forsaken of the Father. "As a physician first tastes his medicines to encourage his sick patient to take them, so Christ, when all men feared death, in order to persuade them to be bold in meeting it, tasted it Himself, though He had no need" [CHRYSOSTOM]. (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,14,15);">Hbr 2:14-15</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_10"><b>10. For</b>—giving a reason why "the grace of God" required that Jesus "should taste death."
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<br><br><b>it became him</b>—The whole plan was (not only not derogatory to, but) highly <i>becoming</i> God, though unbelief considers it a <i>disgrace</i> [BENGEL]. An answer to the Jews, and Hebrew Christians, whosoever, through impatience at the delay in the promised advent of Christ's glory, were in danger of apostasy, stumbling at Christ <i>crucified.</i> The Jerusalem Christians especially were liable to this danger. This scheme of redemption was altogether such a one as harmonizes with the love, justice, and wisdom of God.
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<br><br><b>for whom</b>—God the Father (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',11,36);">Rom 11:36</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',8,6);">1Cr 8:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',4,11);">Rev 4:11</a>). In <a onclick="return mV('Col',1,16);">Col 1:16</a> the same is said of Christ.
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<br><br><b>all things</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>the</i> universe of things," "<i>the</i> all things." He uses for "God," the periphrasis, "Him for whom...by whom are all things," to mark the becomingness of Christ's suffering as the way to His being "perfected" as "Captain of our salvation," seeing that His is the way that pleased Him whose will and whose glory are <i>the end</i> of all things, and by whose <i>operation</i> all things exist.
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<br><br><b>in bringing</b>—The <i>Greek</i> is past, "having brought as He did," namely, <i>in His electing purpose</i> (compare "ye <i>are</i> sons," namely, in His purpose, <a onclick="return mV('Gal',4,6);">Gal 4:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,4);">Eph 1:4</a>), a purpose which is accomplished in Jesus being "perfected through sufferings."
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<br><br><b>many</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',20,28);">Mat 20:28</a>). "The Church" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,12);">Hbr 2:12</a>), "the general assembly" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,23);">Hbr 12:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>sons</b>—no longer <i>children</i> as under the Old Testament law, but <i>sons</i> by adoption.
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<br><br><b>unto glory</b>—to share Christ's "glory" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,9);">Hbr 2:9</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,7);">Hbr 2:7</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,10,22,24);">Jhn 17:10, 22, 24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,21);">Rom 8:21</a>). Sonship, holiness (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,11);">Hbr 2:11</a>), and glory, are inseparably joined. "Suffering," "salvation," and "glory," in Paul's writings, often go together (<a onclick="return mV('2Ti',2,10);">2Ti 2:10</a>). <i>Salvation</i> presupposes <i>destruction,</i> deliverance from which for us required Christ's "sufferings."
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<br><br><b>to make...perfect</b>—"to consummate"; to bring to consummated glory through sufferings, as the appointed avenue to it. "He who suffers for another, not only benefits him, but becomes himself the brighter and more perfect" [CHRYSOSTOM]. Bringing to the end of troubles, and to the <i>goal</i> full of glory: a metaphor from the contests in the public games. Compare "It is finished," <a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,26);">Luk 24:26</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',19,30);">Jhn 19:30</a>. I prefer, with CALVIN, understanding, "to make perfect as a completed <i>sacrifice</i>": <i>legal</i> and <i>official,</i> not moral, <i>perfection</i> is meant: "to <i>consecrate</i>" (so the same <i>Greek</i> is translated <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,28);">Hbr 7:28</a>; compare <i>Margin</i>) by the finished expiation of His death, as our perfect High Priest, and so our "Captain of salvation" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',13,32);">Luk 13:32</a>). This agrees with <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,11);">Hbr 2:11</a>, "He that sanctifieth," that is, consecrates them by Himself being made a consecrated offering for them. So <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,14,29);">Hbr 10:14, 29</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,19);">Jhn 17:19</a>: by the perfecting of His consecration for them in His death, He perfects their consecration, and so throws open access to glory (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,'19-21');">Hbr 10:19-21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,9);">Hbr 5:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,9);">9:9</a> accord with this sense).
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<br><br><b>captain of,</b> etc.—literally, <i>Prince-leader:</i> as Joshua, not Moses, led the people into the Holy Land, so will our Joshua, or Jesus, lead us into the heavenly inheritance (<a onclick="return mV('Act',13,39);">Act 13:39</a>). The same <i>Greek</i> is in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,2);">Hbr 12:2</a>, "<i>Author</i> of our faith." <a onclick="return mV('Act',3,15);">Act 3:15</a>, "<i>Prince</i> of life" (<a onclick="return mV('Act',5,31);">Act 5:31</a>). Preceding others by His example, as well as the originator of our salvation.
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<p id="Heb2_11"><b>11. he that sanctifieth</b>—Christ who once for all consecrates His people to God (<a onclick="return mV('Jud',1,1);">Jude 1:1</a>, bringing them nigh to Him as the consequence) and everlasting glory, by having consecrated Himself for them in His being made "perfect (as their expiatory sacrifice) through sufferings" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,10,14,29);">Hbr 10:10, 14, 29</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,17,19);">Jhn 17:17, 19</a>). God in His electing love, by Christ's finished work, <i>perfectly</i> sanctifies them to God's service and to heaven <i>once for all:</i> then they are <i>progressively</i> sanctified by the transforming Spirit "Sanctification is glory working in embryo; glory is sanctification come to the birth, and manifested" [ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>they who are sanctified</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "they that are being sanctified" (compare the use of "sanctified," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,14);">1Cr 7:14</a>).
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<br><br><b>of one</b>—Father, God: not in the sense wherein He is Father of <i>all</i> beings, as angels; for these are excluded by the argument (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,16);">Hbr 2:16</a>); but as He is Father of His <i>spiritual human</i> sons, Christ the Head and elder Brother, and His believing people, the members of the body and family. Thus, this and the following verses are meant to justify his having said, "many <i>sons</i>" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>). "Of one" is not "of one father <i>Adam,</i>" or "Abraham," as BENGEL and others suppose. For the Saviour's participation in the <i>lowness</i> of our humanity is not mentioned till <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,14);">Hbr 2:14</a>, and then as a consequence of what precedes. Moreover, "Sons <i>of God</i>" is, in Scripture usage, the dignity obtained by our union with Christ; and our <i>brotherhood</i> with Him flows from <i>God</i> being <i>His</i> and <i>our</i> Father. Christ's Sonship (by generation) in relation to God is reflected in the sonship (by adoption) of His brethren.
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<br><br><b>he is not ashamed</b>—though being the Son <i>of God,</i> since they have now by adoption obtained a like dignity, so that His majesty is not compromised by brotherhood with them (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,16);">Hbr 11:16</a>). It is a striking feature in Christianity that it unites such amazing contrasts as "our brother and our God" [THOLUCK]. "God makes of sons of men sons of God, because God hath made of the Son of God the Son of man" [ST. AUGUSTINE on Psalm 2].
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<p id="Heb2_12"><b>12.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',22,22);">Psa 22:22</a>.) Messiah declares the name of the Father, not known fully as Christ's Father, and therefore <i>their</i> Father, till after His crucifixion (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',20,17);">Jhn 20:17</a>), among His brethren ("the Church," that is, the congregation), that they in turn may praise Him (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',22,23);">Psa 22:23</a>). At <a onclick="return mV('Psa',22,22);">Psa 22:22</a>, which begins with Christ's cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and details minutely His sorrows, passes from Christ's sufferings to His triumph, prefigured by the same in the experience of David.
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<br><br><b>will I sing</b>—as leader of the choir (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,2);">Psa 8:2</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_13"><b>13. I will put my trust in him</b>—from the <i>Septuagint,</i> <a onclick="return mV('Isa',8,17);">Isa 8:17</a>, which immediately precedes the next quotation, "Behold, I and the children," etc. The only objection is the following words, "and again," usually introduce a <i>new</i> quotation, whereas these two are parts of one and the same passage. However, this objection is not valid, as the two clauses express distinct ideas; "I will put my trust in Him" expresses His <i>filial</i> confidence in God as His Father, to whom He flees from His sufferings, and is not disappointed; which His believing brethren imitate, <i>trusting</i> solely in the Father through Christ, and not in their own merits. "Christ exhibited this "trust," not for Himself, for He and the Father are one, but for His own people" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,16);">Hbr 2:16</a>). Each fresh aid given Him assured Him, as it does them, of aid for the future, until the complete victory was obtained over death and hell <a onclick="return mV('Phl',1,16);">Phl 1:16</a> [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>Behold I and the children,</b> etc.— (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',8,18);">Isa 8:18</a>). "Sons" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>), "brethren" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,12);">Hbr 2:12</a>), and "children," imply His right and property in them from everlasting. He speaks of them as "children" of God, though not yet in being, yet considered as such in His <i>purpose,</i> and presents them before God the Father, who has given Him them, to be glorified with Himself. Isaiah (meaning "salvation of Jehovah") typically represented Messiah, who is at once Father and Son, Isaiah and Immanuel (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',9,6);">Isa 9:6</a>). He expresses his resolve to rely, he and his children, not like Ahaz and the Jews on the Assyrian king, against the confederacy of Pekah of Israel, and Rezin of Syria, but on Jehovah; and then foretells the deliverance of Judah by God, in language which finds its antitypical full realization only in the far greater deliverance wrought by Messiah. Christ, the antitypical Prophet, similarly, instead of the human confidences of His age, Himself, and with Him GOD THE FATHER'S <i>children</i> (who are therefore <i>His</i> children, and so antitypical to <i>Isaiah's</i> children, though here regarded as His "brethren," compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',9,6);">Isa 9:6</a>; "Father" and "His <i>seed,</i>" <a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,10);">Isa 53:10</a>) led by Him, trust wholly in God for salvation. The official words and acts of all the prophets find their antitype in the Great Prophet (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,10);">Rev 19:10</a>), just as His kingly office is antitypical to that of the theocratic kings; and His priestly office to the types and rites of the Aaronic priesthood.
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<p id="Heb2_14"><b>14.</b> He who has thus been shown to be the "Captain (<i>Greek,</i> 'Leader') of salvation" to the "many sons," by <i>trusting</i> and <i>suffering</i> like them, must therefore become <i>man</i> like them, in order that His death may be efficacious for them [ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>the children</b>—before mentioned (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,13);">Hbr 2:13</a>); those existing in His eternal purpose, though not in actual being.
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<br><br><b>are partakers of</b>—literally, "have (in His purpose) been partakers" all in common.
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<br><br><b>flesh and blood</b>—<i>Greek</i> oldest manuscripts have "blood and flesh." The inner and more important element, the <i>blood,</i> as the more immediate vehicle of the soul, stands before the more palpable element, the flesh; also, with reference to <i>Christ's blood-shedding</i> with a view to which He entered into community with our <i>corporeal</i> life. "The life of the <i>flesh</i> is in the <i>blood;</i> it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (<a onclick="return mV('Lev',17,11,14);">Lev 17:11 , 14</a>).
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<br><br><b>also</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in a <i>somewhat</i> similar manner"; not <i>altogether</i> in a like manner. For He, unlike them, was conceived and born not in sin (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,15);">Hbr 4:15</a>). But mainly "in like manner"; not in mere <i>semblance</i> of a body, as the Docetae heretics taught.
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<br><br><b>took part of</b>—participated in. The forfeited inheritance (according to Jewish law) was ransomed by the nearest of kin; so Jesus became our nearest of kin by His assumed humanity, in order to be our Redeemer.
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<br><br><b>that through death</b>—which He could not have undergone as God but only by becoming man. Not by Almighty power but <i>by His death</i> (so the <i>Greek</i>) He overcame death. "Jesus suffering death overcame; Satan wielding death succumbed" [BENGEL]. As David cut off the head of Goliath with the giant's own sword wherewith the latter was wont to win his victories. Coming to redeem mankind, Christ made Himself a sort of hook to destroy the devil; for in Him there was His humanity to attract the devourer to Him, His divinity to pierce him, apparent weakness to provoke, hidden power to transfix the hungry ravisher. The <i>Latin</i> epigram says, <i>Mors mortis morti mortem nisi morte tu lisset, AEternae</i> <i>vitae janua clausa foret.</i> "Had not death by death borne to death the death of Death, the gate of eternal life would have been closed".
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<br><br><b>destroy</b>—literally, "render powerless"; deprive of all power to hurt His people. "That thou mightest still the enemy and avenger" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,2);">Psa 8:2</a>). The same <i>Greek</i> verb is used in <a onclick="return mV('2Ti',1,10);">2Ti 1:10</a>, "abolished death." There is no more death for believers. Christ plants in them an undying seed, the germ of heavenly immortality, though believers have to pass through natural death.
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<br><br><b>power</b>—Satan is "strong" (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',12,29);">Mat 12:29</a>).
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<br><br><b>of death</b>—implying that <i>death</i> itself is a <i>power</i> which, though originally foreign to human nature, now reigns over it (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,12);">Rom 5:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,9);">6:9</a>). The power which death has Satan wields. The author of sin is the author of its consequences. Compare "power of the enemy" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',10,19);">Luk 10:19</a>). Satan has acquired over man (by God's law, <a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,17);">Gen 2:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,23);">Rom 6:23</a>) the power of death by man's sin, death being the executioner of sin, and man being Satan's "<i>lawful</i> captive." Jesus, by dying, has made the dying His own (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',14,9);">Rom 14:9</a>), and has taken the prey from the mighty. Death's power was manifest; he who wielded that power, lurking beneath it, is here expressed, namely, Satan. Wisdom 2:24, "By the envy of the devil, death entered into the world."
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<p id="Heb2_15"><b>15. fear of death</b>—even before they had experienced its actual <i>power.</i>
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<br><br><b>all their lifetime</b>—Such a life can hardly be called life.
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<br><br><b>subject to bondage</b>—literally, "subjects <i>of</i> bondage"; not merely <i>liable to</i> it, but <i>enthralled in</i> it (compare <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Rom',8,15);">Rom 8:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,1);">Gal 5:1</a>). Contrast with this <i>bondage,</i> the <i>glory</i> of the "sons" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>). "Bondage" is defined by Aristotle, "The living not as one chooses"; "liberty," "the living as one chooses." Christ by delivering us from the curse of God against our sin, has taken from death all that made it formidable. Death, viewed apart from Christ, can only fill with horror, if the sinner dares to think.
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<p id="Heb2_16"><b>16. For verily</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "For <i>as we all know</i>"; "For as you will doubtless grant." Paul probably alludes to <a onclick="return mV('Isa',41,8);">Isa 41:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',31,32);">Jer 31:32</a>, <i>Septuagint,</i> from which all <i>Jews</i> would know well that the fact here stated as to Messiah was what the prophets had led them to expect.
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<br><br><b>took not on <i>him</i>,</b> etc.—rather, "It is not angels that He is <i>helping</i> (the present tense implies <i>duration</i>); but it is the seed of Abraham that He is <i>helping.</i>" The verb is literally, <i>to help by taking one by the hand,</i> as in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',8,9);">Hbr 8:9</a>, "When I took them by the hand," etc. Thus it answers to "succor," <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,18);">Hbr 2:18</a>, and "deliver," <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,15);">Hbr 2:15</a>. "Not angels," who have no flesh and blood, but "the children," who have "flesh and blood," He takes hold of to help by "Himself taking part of the same" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,14);">Hbr 2:14</a>). Whatever effect Christ's work may have on angels, He is not taking hold to help them by suffering in their nature to deliver them from death, as in our case.
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<br><br><b>the seed of Abraham</b>—He views Christ's redemption (in compliment to the Hebrews whom he is addressing, and as enough for his present purpose) with reference to Abraham's seed, <i>the Jewish nation,</i> primarily; not that he excludes the Gentiles (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,9);">Hbr 2:9</a>, "for every man"), who, when believers, are the seed of Abraham spiritually (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,12);">Hbr 2:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',22,22,25,27);">Psa 22:22, 25, 27</a>), but direct reference to them (such as is in <a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,11,12,16);">Rom 4:11-12, 16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,7,14,28,29);">Gal 3:7, 14, 28-29</a>) would be out of place in his present argument. It is the same argument for Jesus being the Christ which Matthew, writing his Gospel for the Hebrews, uses, tracing the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham, the father of the Jews, and the one to whom the promises were given, on which the Jews especially prided themselves (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',9,4,5);">Rom 9:4-5</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_17"><b>17. Wherefore</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "Whence." Found in <i>Paul's</i> speech, <a onclick="return mV('Act',26,19);">Act 26:19</a>.
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<br><br><b>in all things</b>—which are incidental to manhood, the being born, nourished, growing up, suffering. <i>Sin</i> is not, in the original constitution of man, a necessary attendant of manhood, so He had no sin.
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<br><br><b>it behooved him</b>—by moral necessity, considering what the justice and love of God required of Him as Mediator (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,3);">Hbr 5:3</a>), the office which He had voluntarily undertaken in order to "help" man (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,16);">Hbr 2:16</a>).
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<br><br><b>his brethren</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,11);">Hbr 2:11</a>); "the seed of Abraham" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,16);">Hbr 2:16</a>), and so also the spiritual seed, His elect out of all mankind.
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<br><br><b>be,</b> etc.—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "that He might <i>become</i> High Priest"; He was <i>called</i> so, when He was "made perfect by the things which He suffered" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,10);">Hbr 2:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,'8-10');">Hbr 5:8-10</a>). He was actually <i>made</i> so, when He entered within the veil, from which last flows His ever continuing intercession as Priest for us. The death, as man, must first be, in order that the bringing in of the blood into the heavenly Holy Place might follow, in which consisted the expiation as High Priest.
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<br><br><b>merciful</b>—to "the <i>people</i>" deserving wrath by "sins." <i>Mercy</i> is a prime requisite in a priest, since his office is to help the wretched and raise the fallen: such <i>mercy</i> is most likely to be found in one who has a fellow-feeling with the afflicted, having been so once Himself (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,15);">Hbr 4:15</a>); not that the Son of God needed to be taught by suffering to be merciful, but that in order to save us He needed to take our manhood with all its sorrows, thereby qualifying Himself, by experimental suffering with us, to be our sympathizing High Priest, and assuring us of His entire fellow-feeling with us in every sorrow. So in the main CALVIN remarks here.
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<br><br><b>faithful</b>—true to God (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',3,5,6);">Hbr 3:5-6</a>) and to man (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,23);">Hbr 10:23</a>) in the mediatorial office which He has undertaken.
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<br><br><b>high priest</b>—which Moses was not, though "faithful" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,'1-18');">Hbr 2:1-18</a>). Nowhere, except in <a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,4);">Psa 110:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',6,13);">Zec 6:13</a>, and in this Epistle, is Christ expressly called a <i>priest.</i> In this Epistle alone His priesthood is professedly discussed; whence it is evident how necessary is this book of the New Testament. In <a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,'1-7');">Psa 110:1-7</a>, and <a onclick="return mV('Zec',6,13);">Zec 6:13</a>, there is added mention of the <i>kingdom</i> of Christ, which elsewhere is spoken of without the <i>priesthood,</i> and that frequently. On the cross, whereon as Priest He offered the sacrifice, He had the title "King" inscribed over Him [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>to make reconciliation for the sins</b>—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "to propitiate (in respect to) the sins"; "to expiate the sins." Strictly divine <i>justice</i> is "propitiated"; but God's <i>love</i> is as much from everlasting as His justice; therefore, lest Christ's sacrifice, or its typical forerunners, the legal sacrifices, should be thought to be antecedent to God's grace and love, neither are said in the Old or New Testament to have <i>propitiated God;</i> otherwise Christ's sacrifices might have been thought to have first induced God to love and pity man, instead of (as the fact really is) His love having <i>originated</i> Christ's sacrifice, whereby divine justice and divine love are harmonized. The sinner is brought by that sacrifice into God's favor, which by sin he had forfeited; hence his right prayer is, "God <i>be propitiated</i> (so the <i>Greek</i>) to me who am a sinner" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',18,13);">Luk 18:13</a>). Sins bring death and "the fear of death" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,15);">Hbr 2:15</a>). He had no sin Himself, and "made reconciliation for the iniquity" of all others (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,24);">Dan 9:24</a>).
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<br><br><b>of the people</b>—"the seed of Abraham" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,16);">Hbr 2:16</a>); the literal Israel first, and then (in the design of God), through Israel, the believing Gentiles, the spiritual Israel (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,10);">1Pe 2:10</a>).
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<p id="Heb2_18"><b>18. For</b>—explanation of how His being <i>made like His brethren in all things</i> has made Him <i>a merciful and faithful High Priest</i> for us (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,17);">Hbr 2:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>in that</b>—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "wherein He suffered Himself; having been tempted, He is able to succor them <i>that are being tempted</i>" in the same temptation; and as "He was tempted (tried and afflicted) in all points," He is able (by the power of <i>sympathy</i>) to succor us in all possible temptations and trials incidental to man (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,16);">Hbr 4:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,2);">5:2</a>). He is the antitypical Solomon, having for every grain of Abraham's seed (which were to be as the sand for number), "largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the seashore" (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',4,29);">1Ki 4:29</a>). "Not only as God He knows our trials, but also as man He knows them by experimental feeling."
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