HEBREWS
CHAPTER II.
ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.
THE main object of this chapter is to show that we should attend
diligently to the things which were spoken by the Lord Jesus, and not
suffer them to glide away from us. The apostle seems to have supposed,
that some might be inclined to disregard what was spoken by one of so
humble appearance as the Lord Jesus; and that they would urge that the
Old Testament had been given by the interposition of angels, and was
therefore more worthy of attention. To meet this, he shows that
important objects were accomplished by his becoming a man; and that,
even as a man, power and dignity shall been conferred on him, superior
to that of the angels. In illustration of these points, the chapter
contains the following subjects:--
(1.) An exhortation not to suffer the things which had been spoken to slip
from the mind--or, in other words, to attend to them diligently and
carefully. The argument is, that if what was spoken by the angels under
the old dispensation claimed attention, much more should that be regarded
which was spoken by the Son of God, Hebrews 2:1-4.
(2.) Jesus had been honoured, as incarnate, in such a way as to show that
he had a right to be heard, and that what he said should receive the
profound attention of men, Hebrews 2:5-9. The World to come had not been
put under the angels, as it had been under him, (Hebrews 2:5;) the general
principle had been stated in the Scriptures, that all things were put
under man (Hebrews 2:6,7,) but this was fulfilled only in the Lord Jesus,
who had been made a little lower than the angels, and, when so made,
crowned with glory and honour, Hebrews 2:9. His appearance as a man,
therefore, was in no way inconsistent with what had been said of his
dignity, or his claim to be heard.
(3.) The apostle then proceeds to show why he became a man, and why, though
he was so exalted, he was subjected to so severe sufferings; and with this
the chapter closes, Hebrews 2:10-18. It was because this was proper,
from the relation which he sustained to man., The argument is, that the
Redeemer and his people were identified; that he did not come to save
angels, and that, therefore, there was a propriety in his assuming the
nature of man, and being subjected to trials like those whom he came to
save. In all things it behoved him to be made like his brethren, in order
to redeem them, and in order to set them an example, and show them how to
suffer. The humiliation, therefore, of the Redeemer--the fact that he
appeared as a man, and that he was a sufferer--so far from being a reason
why he should not be heard, was rather an additional reason why we
should attend to what he said. He had a claim to the right of being heard,
not only from his original dignity, but from the friendship which he has
evinced for us in taking upon himself our nature, and suffering in our
behalf.
Verse 1. Therefore. Gr. "On account of this" \~dia touto\~ that is, on
account of the exalted dignity and rank of the Messiah, as stated
in the previous chapter. The sense is, "Since Christ, the Author
of the new dispensation, is so far exalted above the prophets, and
even the angels, we ought to give the more earnest attention to
all that has been Spoken."
We ought. It is fit or proper that we should attend to those
things. When the Son of God speaks to men, every consideration makes it
appropriate that we should attend to what is spoken.
To give the more earnest heed. To give the more strict attention.
To the things which we have heard. Whether directly from the Lord
Jesus, or from his apostles. It is possible, that some of those to whom the
apostle was writing had heard the Lord Jesus himself preach the gospel;
others had heard the same truths declared by the apostles.
Lest at any time. We ought to attend to those things at all times. We
ought never to forget them; never to be indifferent to them. We are
sometimes interested in them, and then we feel indifferent to them;
sometimes at leisure to attend to them, and then the cares of the worlds,
or a heaviness and dulness of mind, or a cold and languid state of the
affections, renders us indifferent to them and they are suffered to pass
out of the mind without concern. Paul says, that this ought never to be
done! At no time should we be indifferent to those things. They are always
important to us, and we should never be in a state of mind when they would
be uninteresting. At all times; in all places; and in every situation
of life, we should feel that the truths of religion are of more importance
to us than all other truths, and nothing should be suffered to efface their
image from the heart.
We should let them slip. Marg, Run out as leaking vessels. Tindal
renders this, "lest we be split." The expression here has given rise to
much discussion as to its meaning; and has been very differently
translated. Doddridge renders it, "lest we let them flow out of our minds."
Prof. Stuart, "lest at any time we should slight them." Whitby, "that they
may not entirely slip out of our memories." The word here used \~pararrew\~
--occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The Septuagint translators have
used the word but once. Proverbs 3:21, "Son, do not pass by, \~mh pararruhv\~
but keep my counsel;" that is, do not pass by my advice by neglect, or suffer
it to be disregarded. The word means, according to Passow, to flow by, to
flow over; and then, to go by, to fall, to flow away. It is used to mean,
to flow near, to flow by--as of a river; to glide away, to escape--as from
the mind, i.e. to forget; and to glide along--as a thief does by stealth.
See Robinson's Lex. The Syriac and Arabic translators have rendered it,
that we may not fall. After all that has been said on the meaning of the
word here, (compare Stuart, in loc.,) it seems to me, that the true sense
of the expression is that of flowing or gliding by--as a river; and that
the meaning here is, that we should be very cautious that the important
truths spoken by the Redeemer and his apostles should not be suffered to
glide by us without attention, or without profit. We should not allow
them to be like a stream that glides on by us without benefiting us; that
is, we should endeavour to secure and retain them as our own. The
truth taught is, that there is great danger, now that the true system
of religion has been revealed, that it will not profit us, but that
we shall lose all the benefit of it. This danger may arise from
many sources--some of which are the following:--
(1.) We may not feel that the truths revealed are important; and before
their importance is felt, they may be beyond our reach. So we are often
deceived in regard to the importance of objects; and before we perceive
their value, they are irrecoverably gone. So it is often with time, and
with the opportunities of obtaining an education, or of accomplishing any
object which is of value. The opportunity is gone before we perceive its
importance. So the young suffer the most important period of life to glide
away before they perceive its value; and the opportunity of making much of
their talents is lost, because they did not embrace the suitable
opportunities.
(2.) By being engrossed in business. We feel that that is now the most
important thing. That claims all our attention. We have no time
to pray, to read the Bible, to think of religion, for the cares of the
world engross all the time--and the opportunities of salvation
glide insensibly away, until it is too late.
(3.) By being attracted by the pleasures of life. We attend to them now,
and are drawn along from one to another, until religion is suffered to
glide away with all its hopes and consolations; and we perceive, too late,
that we have let the opportunity of salvation slip for ever. Allured by
those pleasures, the young neglect it; and new pleasures, starting
up in future life, carry on the delusion, until every favourable
opportunity for salvation has passed away;
(4.) We suffer favourable opportunities to pass by without improving
them. Youth is by far the best time, as it is the most appropriate time, to
become a Christian--and yet how easy is it to allow that period to slip
away, without becoming interested in the Saviour! One day glides on after
another, and one week, one month, one year passes away after another--like
a gently-flowing stream--until all the precious time of youth has gone, and
we are not Christians. So a revival of religion is a favourable time--and
yet many suffer this to pass by without becoming interested in it. Others
are converted, and the heavenly influences descend all around us, but we
are unaffected; and the season, so full of happy and heavenly influences,
is gone, to return no more.
(5.) We let the favourable season slip, because we design to attend to it
at some future period of life. So youth defers it to manhood--manhood to
old age--old age to a death-bed, and then neglects it--until the whole of
life has glided away, and the soul is not saved. Paul knew man. He knew how
prone he was to let the things of religion slip out of the mind; and hence
the earnestness of his caution that we should give heed to the subject now,
lest the opportunity of salvation should soon glide away. When once passed,
it can never be recalled. Learn hence,
(1.) The truths of religion will not benefit us, unless we give heed to
them. It will not save us that the Lord Jesus has come and spoken to
men, unless we are disposed to listen. It will not benefit us that
the sun shines, unless we open our eyes. Books will not benefit
us, unless we read them; medicine, unless we take it; nor will
the fruits of the earth sustain our lives, however rich and abundant,
they may be, if we disregard and neglect them. So with the truths
of religion. There is truth enough to save the world--but the
world disregards and despises it.
(2.) It needs not great sins to destroy the soul. Simple neglect will
do it as certainly as atrocious crimes. Every man has a sinful heart that
will destroy him, unless he makes an effort to be saved. And it is not
merely the great sinner, therefore, who is in danger. It is the man who
neglects his soul--whether a moral or an immoral man, a daughter of
amiableness, or a daughter of vanity and vice.
{1} "let them slip" "run out, as leaking vessels"
Verse 2. For if the word spoken by angels. The revelation in the Old
Testament. It was indeed given by Jehovah; but it was the common
opinion of the Hebrews, that it was by the ministry of angels.
See Barnes "Acts 7:38"; See Barnes "Acts 7:53", and
See Barnes "Galatians 3:19", where this point is fully considered. As Paul
was discoursing here of the superiority of the Redeemer to the angels, it
was to the point to refer to the fact that the law had been given by the
ministry of angels.
Was steadfast. Was firm-- \~bebaiov\~--settled, established. It was
not vacillating and fluctuating. It determined what crime was, and it
was firm in its punishment. It did not yield to circumstances; but, if not
obeyed in all respects, it denounced punishment. The idea here is not that
everything was fulfilled, but it is, that the law so given could not be
violated with impunity. It was not safe to violate it, but it took
notice of the slightest failure to yield perfect obedience to its demands.
And every transgression. Literally, going beyond, passing by. It
means every instance of disregarding the law.
And disobedience. Every instance of not hearing the law
\~parakoh\~ and hence every instance of disobeying it. The word
here stands opposite to hearing it, or attending to it--and the sense
of the whole is, that the slightest infraction of the law was sure to
be punished. It made no provision for indulgence in sin; it
demanded prompt, implicit, and entire Obedience.
Received a Just recompense of reward. Was strictly punished. Subjected
to equal retribution. This was the character of the law. It threatened
punishment for each and every offence, and made no allowance for
transgression in any form. Comp. Numbers 15:30,31.
{*} "reward" "A just retribution"
Verse 3. How shall we escape. How shall we escape the just recompense
due to transgressors? What way is there of being saved from punishment,
if we suffer the great salvation to be neglected, and do not embrace its
offers ? The sense is, that there is no other way of salvation, and the
neglect of this will be followed by certain destruction. Why it
will, the apostle proceeds to show, by stating that this plan of
salvation was proclaimed first by the Lord himself, and had been
confirmed by the most decided and amazing miracles.
If we neglect. It is not merely if we commit great sins; not if
we are murderers, adulterers, thieves, infidels, atheists, scoffers. It
is, if we merely neglect this salvation--if we do not embrace it--if we
suffer it to pass unimproved. Neglect is enough to ruin a man. A
man who is in business need not commit forgery or robbery to ruin
himself; he has only to neglect his business, and his ruin is certain. A
man who is lying on a bed of sickness need not cut his throat to destroy
himself; he has only to neglect the means of restoration, and he will
be ruined. A man floating in a skiff above Niagara, need not move an oar
or make an effort to destroy himself; he has only to neglect
using the oar at the proper time, and he will certainly be carried over
the cataract. Most of the calamities of life are caused by
simple neglect. By neglect of education, children grow up in
ignorance; by neglect, a farm grows up to weeds and briars ; by neglect,
a house goes to decay; by neglect of sowing, a man will have ho harvest;
by neglect of reaping, the harvest would rot in the fields. No worldly
interest can prosper where there is neglect; and why may it not be so in
religion? There is nothing in earthly affairs, that is valuable, that
will not be ruined if it is not attended to; and why may it not be so
with the concerns of the soul? Let no one infer, therefore, that because
he is not a drunkard, or an adulterer, or a murderer, that
therefore he will be saved. Such an inference would be as
irrational as it would be for a man to infer, that because he is not a
murderer his farm will produce a harvest, or that because he is not an
adulterer, therefore his merchandise will take care of itself. Salvation
would be worth nothing if it cost no effort; and there will be no
salvation where no effort is put forth.
So great salvation. Salvation from sin and from hell. It is called
great, because (1) its Author is great. This is perhaps the main idea
in this passage. It "began to be spoken by the Lord;" it had for its
author
the Son of God, who is so much superior to the angels; whom the angels
were
required to worship, (Hebrews 1:6;) who is expressly called God,
(Hebrews 1:8;) who made all things, and who is eternal,
(Hebrews 1:10-12.)
A system of salvation promulgated by him must be of infinite importance,
and have a claim to the attention of man.
(2.) It is great, because it saves from great sins. It is adapted to
deliver from all sins, no matter how aggravated. No one is saved who one
feels that his sins are small, or that they are of no consequence. Each
sees his sins to be black and aggravated; and each one who enters
heaven, will go there feeling and confessing that it is a great
salvation which has brought such a sinner there. Besides, this salvation
delivers from all sin--no matter how gross and aggravated. The
adulterer, the murderer, the blasphemer, may come and be saved; and the
salvation which redeems such sinners from eternal ruin is great.
(3.) It is great, because it saves from great dangers.
The danger of an eternal hell besets the path of each one. All do not
see it; and all will not believe it when told of it. But this danger
hovers over the path of every mortal. The danger of an eternal hell!
Salvation from everlasting burnings! Deliverance from unending ruin!
Surely that salvation must be great which shall save from such a doom!
If that salvation is neglected, that danger still hangs over each and
every man. The gospel did not create that danger it came to
deliver from it. Whether the gospel be true or false, each man is by
nature exposed to eternal death--just as each one is exposed to temporal
death, whether the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the
resurrection be true or false. The gospel comes to provide a remedy for
dangers and woes--it does not create them; it comes to deliver men from
great dangers--not to plunge them into them. Lacking the gospel,
and before it was preached at all, men were in danger of everlasting
punishment; and that system which came to proclaim deliverance from such
a danger is great.
(4.) The salvation itself is great in heaven. It exalts men to infinite
honours, and places on their heads an eternal crown. Heaven, with all its
glories, is offered to us; and such a deliverance, and such an
elevation to eternal honours, deserves to be called GREAT. If that is
neglected, there is no other salvation; and man must be inevitably
destroyed.
(5.) It is great, because it was effected by infinite displays of power,
and wisdom, and love. It was procured by the incarnation and humiliation
of
the Son of God. It was accomplished amidst great sufferings and
self-denials. It was attended with great miracles. The tempest was
stilled,
and the deaf were made to hear and the blind to see, and the dead
were raised, and the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent.
The whole series of wonders connected with the incarnation and death of
the
Lord Jesus, was such as the world had not elsewhere seen, and such as was
fitted to hold the race in mute admiration and astonishment. If this be
so,
then religion is no trifle. It is not a matter of little importance,
whether we embrace it or not. It is the most momentous of all the
concerns
that pertain to man; and has a claim on his attention which nothing else
can have. Yet the mass of men live in the neglect of it. It is not that
they are professedly Atheists, or Deists, or that they are immoral or
profane; it is not that they oppose it, and ridicule it, and despise it;
it
is that they simply neglect it. They pass it by, They attend to other
things. They are busy with their pleasures, or in their
counting-houses-in
their workshops, or on their farms; they are engaged in politics or in
book-making; and they neglect religion NOW as a thing of small
importance--proposing to attend to it hereafter, as if they acted on the
principle, that everything else was to be attended to before
religion.
Which at the first. Gr. Which received the beginning of being
spoken. The meaning is correctly expressed in our translation. Christ
began to preach the gospel; the apostles followed him. John prepared
the way, but the Saviour was properly the first preacher of the gospel.
By the Lord. By the Lord Jesus. See Barnes "Acts 1:24".
And was confirmed unto us, etc. They who heard him preach--that is,
the
apostles--were witnesses of what he said, and certified us of its truth.
When the apostle here says "us," he means the church at large.
Christians were assured of the truth of what the Lord Jesus spake, by the
testimony of the apostles; or the apostles communicated it to those
who had not heard him in such a manner, as left no room for doubt.
{a} "How shall" Hebrews 4:1,11
{b} "which at the first" Mark 1:14
Verse 4. God also bearing them witness. By miracles. Giving them
the sanction of his authority, or showing that they were sent by him. No
man can work a miracle by his own power. When the dead are raised, the deaf
made to hear, and the blind to see, by a word, it is the power of God alone
that does it. He thus becomes a witness to the Divine appointment of
him by whose instrumentality the miracle is wrought; or furnishes an
attestation that what he says is true. See Barnes "Acts 14:3".
With signs and wonders. These words are usually connected in the New
Testament. The word rendered signs \~shmeion\~-- means any miraculous
event that is fitted to show that what had been predicted by a prophet
would certainly take place. See Matthew 12:38. Compare
See Barnes "Isaiah 7:1". A wonder -\~terav\~-- denotes a portent,
or prodigy--something that is fitted to excite wonder or amazement-and
hence a miracle. The words together refer to the various miracles which
were performed by the Lord Jesus and his apostles, designed to confirm the
truth of the Christian religion.
And with divers miracles. Various miracles--such as healing the
sick, raising the dead, etc. The miracles were not of one class
merely, but were various, so that all pretence of deception should
be taken away.
And gifts of the Holy Ghost. Marg. Distributions, The various
influences of the Holy Spirit enabling them to speak different languages,
and to perform works beyond the power of man. See Barnes "1 Corinthians 12:4-11".
According to his own will. As he chose. He acted as a sovereign in
this. He gave them where he pleased, and imparted them in such measure as
he chose. The sense of this whole passage is--"The gospel has been
promulgated to man in a solemn manner. It was first published by the Lord
of glory himself. It was confirmed by the most impressive and solemn
miracles. It is undoubtedly a revelation from heaven; was given in more
solemn circumstances than the law of Moses, and its threatenings are more
to be dreaded than those of the law. Beware, therefore, how you trifle with
it, or disregard it. It cannot be neglected with safety; its neglect or
rejection must be attended with condemnation."
{c} "God also" Acts 14:2
{1} "gifts" "distributions"
Verse 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection. In this
verse the apostle returns to the subject which he had been discussing in
Chapter 1--the superiority of the Messiah to the angels. From that
subject he had been diverted, (Hebrews 2:1-4,) by showing them what
must be the consequences of defection from Christianity, and the danger
of neglecting it. Having shown that, he now proceeds with the
discussion, and shows that an honour had been conferred on the Lord
Jesus which had never been bestowed on the angels--to
wit, the supremacy over this world. This he does by proving,
from the Old Testament, that such a dominion was given to
man, (Hebrews 2:6-8,) and that this dominion was in fact
exercised by the Lord Jesus, Hebrews 2:9. At the same time, he
meets an objection which a Jew would be likely to make. It is, that
Jesus appeared to be far inferior to the angels. He was a man of a
humble condition. He was poor, and despised. He had none of the external
honour which was shown to Moses--the founder of the Jewish economy; none
of the apparent honour which belonged to angelic beings. This implied
objection he removes, by showing the reason why he became so. It was
proper, since he came to redeem man, that he should be a man, and not
take on himself the nature of angels; and, for the same reason, it was
proper that he should be subjected to sufferings, and be made a man of
sorrows, Hebrews 2:10-17. The remark of the apostle in the verse
before us is, that God had never put the world in subjection to the
angels, as he had to the Lord Jesus. They had no jurisdiction over it;
they were mere ministering spirits; but the world had been put under the
dominion of the Lord Jesus. The world to come. The word here
rendered world \~oikoumenh\~ means, properly,
the inhabited or inhabitable world. See Matthew 24:14;
Luke 2:1; 4:5; 21:27, (Gr. ;)
Acts 11:28; 17:6; 31; 19:27; 24:5; Romans 10:18;
Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 3:10; 12:9; 16:14 -in all which places, but one, it is
rendered world. It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The
proper meaning is, the world or earth considered as inhabitable--and
here the jurisdiction refers to the control over man, or the dwellers on
the earth. The phrase, "the world to come," occurs not
unfrequently in the New Testament. Comp. Ephesians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 6:5.
The same phrase, "the world to come, \^HEBREW\^ --occurs often in the
Jewish writings. According to Buxtorf (Lex. Ch. Talm. Rub.) it means, as
some suppose, "the world which is to exist after this world is
destroyed, and after the resurrection of the dead, when souls shall be
again united to their bodies." By others it is supposed to mean "the
days of the Messiah, when he shall reign on the earth." To me it seems
to be clear that the phrase here means,
the world under the Messiah-- the world, age, or dispensation
which was to succeed the Jewish, and which was familiarly known to them
as "the world to come;" and the idea is, that that world, or age, was
placed under the jurisdiction of the Christ, and not of the angels. This
point the apostle proceeds to make out. See Barnes "Isaiah 2:2".
Whereof we speak. "Of which I am writing;" that is, of the Christian
religion, or the reign of the Messiah.
Verse 6. But one in a certain place testified. The apostle was writing
to those who were supposed to be familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, and
where it would be necessary only to makes reference in general, without
mentioning the name. The place which is quoted here is Psalms 8:4-6. The
argument of the apostle is this--that there stood in the sacred
Scriptures a declaration, that "all things were placed under the control
and jurisdiction of MAN," but that that had not yet been accomplished. It
was not true (Hebrews 2:8) that all things were subject to him; and the
complete truth of that declaration would be found only in the jurisdiction
conferred on the Messiah--THE MAN, by way of eminence--the incarnate Son of
God. It would not occur to any one probably in reading the Psalm, that the
verse here quoted had any reference to the Messiah. It seems to relate to
the dominion which God had given man over his works in this lower world, or
to the fact that he was made lord over all things. That dominion is
apparent, to a considerable extent, everywhere, and is a standing proof of
the truth of what is recorded in Genesis 1:26, that God originally gave
dominion to man over the creatures on earth--since it is only by
this supposition that it can be accounted for, that the horse, and
the elephant, and the ox, and even the panther and the lion, are
subject to the control of man. The argument of Paul seems to be
this:-- "Originally this control was given to man. It was absolute and
entire. All things were subject to him, and all obeyed. Man was made a
little lower than the angels, and was the undisputed lord of this lower
world. He was in a state of innocence. But he rebelled, and this dominion
has been in some measure lost. It is found complete only in the second
man, the Lord from heaven, (1 Corinthians 15:47,) the Lord Jesus, to whom
this control is absolutely given. He comes up to the complete idea of
man--man as he was in innocence, and man as he was described by the
Psalmist, as having been made a little lower than the angels, and having
entire dominion over the world." Much difficulty has been felt by
commentators in regard to this passage, and to the principle on which
it is quoted. The above seems to me to be that which is most probably true.
There are two other methods by which an attempt has been made to explain
it. One is, that Paul uses the words here by way of allusion, or
accommodation, (Doddridge;) as words that will express his meaning,
without designing to say that the Psalm originally had any reference to the
Messiah. Most of the later commentators accord with this opinion. The other
opinion is, that David originally referred to the Messiah--that he was
deeply and gratefully affected in view of the honour that God had conferred
on him; and that in looking down by faith on the posterity that God had
promised him, (see 2 Samuel 7:14,) he saw one among his own descendants to
whom God would give this wide dominion, and expresses himself in the
elevated language of praise. This opinion is defended by Prof. Stuart. See
his Com. On the Hebrews, Excursus IX.
What is man, etc. What is there in man that entitles him to so much
notice? Why has God conferred on him so signal honours? Why has he placed
him over the works of his hands? He seems so insignificant; his life is so
much like a vapour; he so soon disappears, that the question may well
be asked why this extraordinary dominion is given him? He is so sinful,
also, and so unworthy; so much unlike God, and so passionate and
revengeful; is so prone to abuse his dominion, that it may be well
asked why God has given it to him? Who would suppose that God would give
such a dominion over his creatures to one who was so prone to abuse it, as
man has shown himself to be? He is so feeble, also, compared with other
creatures--even of those which are made subject to him-that the question
may well be asked why God has conceded it to him? Such questions may
be asked when we contemplate man as he is. But similar questions may be
asked, if, as was probably the case, the Psalm here be supposed to have had
reference to man as he was created. Why was one so feeble, and so
comparatively without strength, placed over this lower world, and the earth
made subject to his control? Why is it that, when the heavens are so vast
and glorious, (Psalms 8:3,) God has taken such notice of man? Of what
consequence can he be amidst works so wonderful? "When I look on the
heavens, and survey their greatness and their glory," is the sentiment of
David, "why is it that man has attracted so much notice, and that he has
not been wholly overlooked in the vastness of the works of the Almighty?
Why is it, that instead of this he has been exalted to so much dignity and
honour?" This question, thus considered, strikes us with more force now,
than it could have struck David. Let any one sit down, and contemplate the
heavens as they are disclosed by the discoveries of modern astronomy, and
he may well ask the question, "What is man that he should have attracted
the attention of God, and been the object of so much care?" The same
question would not have been inappropriate to David, if the Psalm be
supposed to have had reference originally to the Messiah, and if he was
speaking of himself particularly as the ancestor of the Messiah. "What is
man; what am I; what can any of my descendants be, who must be of mortal
frame, that this dominion should be given him? Why should any of a race
so feeble, so ignorant, so imperfect, be exalted to such honour?"
We may ask the question here, and it may be asked in heaven with
pertinency and with power, "Why was man so honoured, as to be united to
the Godhead? Why did the Deity appear in the human form? What was there in
man that should entitle him to this honour of being united to the Divinity,
and of being thus exalted above the angels?" The wonder is not yet solved;
and we may well suppose that the angelic ranks look with amazement --but
without envy--on the fact, that man, by his union with the Deity in the
person of the Lord Jesus, has been raised above them in rank and in glory.
Or the son of man. This phrase means the same as man, and is used
merely to give variety to the mode of expression. Such a change or variety
in words and phrases, when the same thing is intended, occurs constantly in
Hebrew poetry. The name "son of man" is often given to Christ, to denote
his intimate connexion with our race, and the interest which he felt in us,
and is the common term which the Saviour uses when speaking of himself.
Here it means man, and may be applied to human nature everywhere--and
therefore to human nature in the person of the Messiah.
That thou visitest him. That thou shouldst regard him, or treat him
with so much honour. Why is he the object of so much interest to the Divine
Mind?
{a} "What is man" Psalms 8:4
Verse 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Marg.
A little while inferior to. The Greek may here mean, a little inferior
in rank, or inferior for a little time. But the probable meaning is,
that it refers to inferiority of rank. Such is its obvious sense in
Psalms 8, from which this is quoted. The meaning is, that God had
made man but little inferior to the angels in rank. He was inferior,
but still God had exalted him almost to their rank. Feeble, and weak, and
dying as he was, God had exalted him, and had given him a dominion and a
rank almost like that of the angels. The wonder of the Psalmist is, that
God had given to human nature so much honour--a wonder that is not at all
diminished, when we think of the honour done to man by his connexion with
the Divine nature in the person of the Lord Jesus. If, in contemplating the
face as it appears; if, when we look at the dominion of man over the lower
world, we are amazed that God has bestowed so much honour on our nature,
how much more should we wonder that he has honoured man by his connexion
with the Divinity. Paul applies this to the Lord Jesus. His object is to
show that he is superior to the angels. In doing this, he shows that he had
a nature given him in itself but little inferior to the angels, and then
that that had been exalted to a rank and dominion far above theirs. That
such honour should be put on man is what is fitted to excite amazement,
and well may one continue to ask why it has been done? When we survey the
heavens, and contemplate their glories, and think of the exalted rank of
other beings, we may well inquire why has such honour been conferred on
man? Thou crownedst him with glory and honour. That is, with exalted
honour. Glory and honour here are nearly synonymous. The meaning is, that
elevated honour had been conferred on human nature. A most exalted and
extended dominion had been given to man, which showed that God had greatly
honoured him. This appeared eminently in the person of the Lord Jesus, "the
exalted Man," to whom this dominion was given in the widest extent.
And didst set him over, etc. Man has been placed over the other works
of God
(1.) by the original appointment, (Genesis 1:26;)
(2.) man at large--though fallen, sinful, feeble, dying;
(3.) man, eminently in the person of the Lord Jesus, in whom human nature
has received its chief exaltation. This is what is particularly in the eye
of the apostle--and the language of the Psalm will accurately express this
exaltation.
{1} "a little" "a little while inferior to"
Verse 8. Thou hast put all things in subjection, etc.
Psalms 8:6. That is, all things are put under the control of man, or,
thou hast given him dominion over all things.
For in that he put all in subjection. The meaning of this is, that
"the fair interpretation of the passage in the Psalm is, that the
dominion of man, or of human nature over the earth, was to be absolute
and total. Nothing was to be excepted. But this is not now the fact in
regard to man in general, and can be true only of human nature in the
person of the Lord Jesus. There the dominion is absolute and universal."
The point of the argument of the apostle may be this:--"It was the
original appointment (Genesis 1:26) that man should have dominion over
this lower world, and be its absolute lord and sovereign. Had he
continued in innocence, this dominion would have been entire and
perpetual. But he fell, and we do not now see him exerting this
dominion. What is said of the dominion of man can be true only
of human nature in the person of the Lord Jesus, and there it
is completely fulfilled."
But now we see not yet all things put under him. That is, "It is not
now true that all things are subject to the control of man. There is
indeed a general dominion over the works of God, and over the inferior
creation. But the control is not universal. A large part of the animal
creation rebels, and is brought into subjection only with difficulty.
The elements are not entirely under his control; the tempest and the
ocean rage; the pestilence conveys death through city and hamlet; the
dominion of man is a broken dominion. His government is an imperfect
government. The world is not yet put wholly under his dominion,
but enough has been done to constitute a pledge that it will yet be
done. It will be fully accomplished only in him who sustains our
nature, and to whom dominion is given over the worlds."
{a} "now we see" 1 Corinthians 15:24
Verse 9. But we see Jesus. "We do not see that man elsewhere has
the extended dominion of which the Psalmist speaks. But we see
the fulfillment of it in Jesus, who was crowned with glory and
honour, and who has received a dominion that is superior to that
of the angels." The point of this is, not that he suffered, and not
that he tasted death for every man; but that on account of this, or
as a reward for thus suffering, he was crowned with glory and
honour, and that he thus fulfilled all that David (Psalms 8) had said
of the dignity and honour of man. The object of the apostle is to
show that he was exalted, and in order to this he shows why it was--.
to wit, because he had suffered death to redeem man. Comp.
Philippians 2:8,9.
Who was made a little lower than the angels. That is, as a man,
or when on earth. His assumed rank was inferior to that of the
angels. He took upon himself, not the nature of angels, Hebrews 2:16,
but the nature of man. The apostle is probably here answering some
implied objections to the rank which it was claimed that the Lord
Jesus had, or which might be urged to the views which he was defending.
Those objections were mainly two: first, that Jesus was a man; and,
secondly, that he suffered and died. If that was the fact, it was natural
to ask how he could be superior to the angels? How could he have had the
rank which was claimed for him? This he answers by showing, first, that
his condition as a man was voluntarily assumed--" he was made lower
than the angels;" and, secondly, by showing that, as a consequence of his
sufferings and death, he was immediately crowned with glory and honour.
This state of humiliation became him in the great work which he had
undertaken, and he was immediately exalted to universal dominion--and, as
Mediator, was raised to a rank far above the angels.
For the suffering of death. Marg. By. The meaning of the
preposition here rendered "for," (\~dia\~, here governing the
accusative,) is, "on account of; "that is, Jesus, on account of the
sufferings of death, or in virtue of that, was crowned with glory and
honour. His crowning was the result of his condescension and sufferings.
See Barnes "Philippians 2:8,9". It does not here mean as our translation
would seem to imply, that he was made a little lower than the angels
in order to suffer death, but that as a reward for having suffered
death be was raised up to the right hand of God.
Crowned with glory and honour. That is, at the right hand of God. He
was raised up to heaven, Acts 2:33; Mark 16:19. The meaning is, that
he was crowned with the highest honour on account of his sufferings.
Comp. Philippians 2:8,9; Hebrews 12:2; 5:7-9; Ephesians 1:20-23.
That he. Or rather, "since he by the grace of God tasted death
for every man." The sense is, that after he had thus tasted death,
and as a consequence of it, he was thus exalted. The word here
rendered "that" \~opwv\~ --means usually and properly,
that, so that, in order that, to the end that, etc. But it may
also mean, when, after that, after. See Barnes "Acts 3:19".
This is the interpretation which is given by Prof. Stuart, (in loc,)
and this interpretation seems to be demanded by the connexion. The
general interpretation of the passage has been different. According to
that, the sense is, "We see Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour, so as that, by the grace of God, he might taste
of death for every man." See Robinson's Lex. on the word \~opwv\~,
and Doddridge on the place. But it is natural to ask when Jesus was
thus crowned with glory and honour? It was not before the crucifixion
--for he was then poor and despised. The connexion seems to require us
to understand this of the glory to which he was exalted in heaven, and
this was after his death, and could not be in order that he might
taste of death. I am disposed, therefore, to regard this as teaching that
the Lord Jesus was exalted to heaven in virtue of the atonement which he
had made--and this accords with Philippians 2:8,9; Hebrews 12:2. It accords both
with the fact in the case, and with the design of the apostle in the
argument before us.
By the grace of God. By the favour of God, or by his benevolent
purpose towards men. It was not by any claim which man had, but was by
his special favour.
Should taste death. Should die; or, should experience death. See
Matthew 16:28. Death seems to be represented as something bitter and
unpalatable--something unpleasant--as an object may be to the taste. Or
the language may be taken from a cup--since to experience calamity
and sorrow is often represented as drinking a cup of woes,
Psalms 11:6; 73:10; 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Matthew 20:22; 26:39.
For every man. For all \~uper pantov\~-- for each and all --whether Jew or
Gentile, bond or free, high or low, elect or non-elect. How could words
affirm more clearly, that the atonement made by the Lord Jesus was
unlimited in its nature and design? How can we express that idea in more
clear or intelligible language? That this refers to the atonement is
evident--for it says that he "tasted death" for them. The friends of the
doctrine of general atonement do not desire any other than Scripture
language in which to express their belief. It expresses it exactly--
without any need of modification or explanation. The advocates of the
doctrine of limited atonement cannot thus use Scripture language to
express their belief. They cannot incorporate it with their creeds, that
the Lord Jesus "tasted death for EVERY MAN." They are compelled to
modify it, to limit it, to explain it, in order to prevent error and
misconception. But that system cannot be true which requires men to
shape and modify the plain language of the Bible, in order to keep men
from error. See Barnes "2 Corinthians 5:14", where this point is considered at
length. Learn hence, (Hebrews 2:6-9,) from the incarnation of the Son
of God, and his exaltation to heaven, what an honour has been conferred
on human nature. When we look on the weakness and sinfulness of our race,
we may well ask, What is man, that God should honour him or regard him?
He is the creature of a day. He is feeble and dying. He is lost and
degraded. Compared with the universe at large, he is a speck, an atom.
He has done nothing to deserve the Divine favour or notice; and when we
look at the race at large, we can do it only with sentiments of the
deepest humiliation and mortification. But when we look at human
nature in the person of the Lord Jesus, we see it honoured there
to a degree that is commensurate with all our desires, and that
fills us with wonder. We feel that it is an honour to human nature; that
it has done much to elevate man--when we look on such a man as Howard or
Washington. But how much more has that nature been honoured in the person
of the Lord Jesus!
(1.) What an honour to us it was, that he should take our nature into
intimate union with himself--passing by the angelic hosts, and becoming
a man!
(2.) What an honour it was, that human nature there was so pure
and holy; that man--everywhere else so degraded and vile--could
be seen to be noble, and pure, and god-like!
(3.) What an honour it was, that the Divinity should speak to men in
connexion with human nature, and perform such wonderful works; that the
pure precepts of religion should come forth from human lips--the great
doctrines of eternal life be uttered by a man; and that from human hands
should go forth power to heal the sick, and to raise the dead!
(4.) What an honour to man it was, that the atonement for sin should be
made in his own nature, and that the universe should be attracted to that
scene where one in our form, and with flesh and blood like our own,
should perform that great work.
(5) What an honour it is to man, that his own nature is exalted
far above all heavens! That one in our form sits on the throne of the
universe! That adoring angels fall prostrate before him! That to him
is entrusted all power in heaven and on earth!
(6.) What an honour to man, that one in his nature should be appointed to
judge the worlds! That one in our own form, and with a nature like ours,
shall sit on the throne of judgment, and pronounce the final doom on
angels and men! That assembled millions shall be constrained to bow
before him, and receive their eternal doom from his hands! That prince
and potentate, the illustrious dead of all past times, and the mighty
men who are yet to live, shall all appear before him, and all receive
from him there the sentence of their final destiny! I see, therefore,
the most honour done to my nature as a man-- not in the deeds of proud
conquerors; not in the lives of sages and philanthropists; not in those
who have carried their investigations farthest into the obscurities of
matter and of mind; not in the splendid orators, poets, and historians of
other times, or that; now live--much as I may admire them, or feel it
an honour to belong to a race which has produced such illustrious
men--but in the fact, that the Son of God has chosen a Body like my own
in which to dwell; in the expressible loveliness evinced in his pure
morals, his benevolence, his blameless life; in the great deeds
that he performed on earth; in the fact, that it was this form that
was chosen in which to make atonement for sin; in the honours
that now cluster around him in heaven, and the glories that shall
attend him when he shall come to judge the world.
"Princes to his imperial name
Bend their bright sceptres down;
Dominions, thrones, and powers rejoice
To see him wear the crown.
"Archangels sound his lofty praise
Through every heavenly street;
And lay their highest honours down,
Submissive at his feet.
"Those Soft, those blessed feet of his,
That once rude iron tore,
High on a throne of light they stand,
And all the saints adore.
"His head, the dear, majestic head,
That cruel thorns did wound;
See--what immortal glories shine,
And circle it around !
"This is the Man, the exalted Man,
Whom we, unseen, adore;
But when our eyes behold his face,
Our hearts shall love him more."
{b} "who was made" Philippians 2:8,9
{2} "for" or "by"
{c} "crowned" Acts 2:33
Verse 10. For it became him. There was a fitness or propriety in it.
It was such an arrangement as became God to make, in redeeming
many, that the great agent by whom it was accomplished, should
be made complete in all respects by sufferings. The apostle
evidently means by this to meet an objection that might be offered
by a Jew to the doctrine which he had been stating--an objection
drawn from the fact, that Jesus was a man of sorrows, and that his
life was a life of affliction. This he meets by stating that there
was a fitness and propriety in that fact. There was a reason for
it --a reason drawn from the plan and character of God. It was fit,
in the nature of the case, that he should be qualified to be a
complete or perfect Saviour--a Saviour just adapted to the purpose
undertaken, by sufferings. The reasons of this fitness the apostle
does not state. The amount of it probably was, that it became
him, as a Being of infinite benevolence--as one who wished to
provide a perfect system of redemption--to subject his Son to such
sufferings as should completely qualify him to be a Saviour for all
men. This subjection to his humble condition, and to his many
woes, made him such a Saviour as man needed, and qualified him
fully for his work. There was a propriety that he who should
redeem the suffering and the lost should partake of their nature;
identify himself with them; and share their woes, and the consequences of
their sins.
For whom are all things. With respect to whose glory the whole
universe was made; and with respect to whom the whole arrangement for
salvation has been formed. The phrase is synonymous with "the Supreme
Ruler;" and the idea is, that it became the Sovereign of the universe to
provide a perfect scheme of salvation--even though it involved the
humiliation and death of his own Son.
And by whom are all things. By whose agency everything is made. As it
was by his agency, therefore, that the plan of salvation was entered into,
there was a fitness that it should be perfect. It was not the work of fate
or chance, and there was a propriety that the whole plan should bear the
mark of the infinite wisdom of its Author.
In bringing many sons unto glory. To heaven. This was the plan--it was
to bring many to heaven who should be regarded and treated as his
sons. It was not a plan to save a few--but to save many. Learn
hence,
(1.) that the plan was full of benevolence.
(2.) No representation of the gospel should ever be made which will leave
the impression that a few only, or a small part of the whole race, will be
saved. There is no such representation in the Bible, and it should not be
made. God intends, taking the whole race together, to save a large part of
the human family. Few in ages that are past, it is true, may have been
saved, few now are his friends and are travelling to heaven; but there are
to be brighter days on earth. The period is to arrive when the gospel
shall spread over all lands; and during that long period of the
millennium, innumerable millions will be brought under its saving power,
and be admitted to heaven. All exhibitions of the gospel are wrong which
represent it as narrow in its design, narrow in its offer, and narrow in
its result.
To make the captain of their salvation. The Lord Jesus, who is
represented as the leader or commander of the army of the redeemed--
"the sacramental host of God's elect." The word "captain" we apply now to
an inferior officer--the commander of a "company" of soldiers. The Greek
word --\~archgov\~--is a more general term, and denotes, properly, the
author or source of any thing; then a leader, chief, prince. In
Acts 3:15, it is rendered prince--" and killed the prince of
life." So in Acts 5:31--"Him hath God exalted to be a prince and a
Saviour." In Hebrews 12:2, it is rendered author: "Jesus the author
and finisher of our faith." Comp. See Barnes "Hebrews 12:2".
Perfect through sufferings. Complete by means of sufferings; that is,
to render him wholly qualified for his work, so that he should be a
Saviour just adapted to redeem man. This does not mean that he was
sinful before, and was made holy by his sufferings; nor that he
was not in all respects a perfect man before;--but it means, that by his
sufferings he was made wholly fitted to be a Saviour of men; and that
therefore the fact of his being a suffering man was no evidence, as a Jew
might have urged, that he was not the Son of God. There was a
completeness, a filling up, of all which was necessary to his
character as a Saviour, by the sufferings which he endured. We are made
morally better by afflictions, if we receive them in a right
manner--for we are sinful, and need to be purified in the furnace of
affliction; Christ was not made better, for he was before perfectly
holy, but he was completely endowed for the work which he came to do, by
his sorrows. Nor does this mean here precisely that he was exalted
to heaven as a reward for his sufferings, or that he was raised up
to glory as a consequence of them--which was true in itself--but
that he was rendered complete, or fully qualified to be a Saviour
by his sorrows, he was rendered thus complete,
(1.) because his suffering in all the forms that flesh is liable to, made
him an example to all his people who shall pass through trials. They
have before them a perfect model to show them how to bear afflictions. Had
this not occurred, he could not have been regarded as a complete or
perfect Saviour--that is, such a Saviour as we need.
(2.) He is able to sympathize with them, and to succour them in their
temptations, Hebrews 2:18.
(3.) By his sufferings an atonement was made for sin. He would have been
an imperfect Saviour--if the name Saviour could have been given to
him at all--if he had not died to make an atonement for transgression. To
render him complete as a Saviour, it was necessary that he should suffer
and die; and when he hung on the cross in the agonies of death, he
could appropriately say, "It is finished." The work is complete,
All has been done that could be required to be done; and man may now have
the assurance that he has a perfect Saviour--perfect not only in moral
character, but perfect in his work, and in his adaptedness to the
condition of men." Comp. Hebrews 5:8,9; See Barnes " :".
{b} "became him" Luke 24:26,46
{c} "for whom" Romans 11:36
{a} "captain" Isaiah 45:4
{b} "Perfect" Luke 13:22
Verse 11. For both he that sanctifieth. This refers evidently to the
Lord Jesus. The object is to show that there was such a union between
him and those for whom he died, as to make it necessary that he
should partake of the same nature, or that he should be a suffering
man, Hebrews 2:14. He undertook to redeem and sanctify them. He called
them brethren, he identified them with himself. There was, in the great
work of redemption, a oneness between him and them, and hence it was
necessary that he should assume their nature--and the fact, therefore,
that he appeared as a suffering man, does not at all militate with the
doctrine that he had a more exalted nature, and was even above the angels.
Prof. Stuart endeavours to prove that the word sanctify here is used
in the sense of, to make expiation or atonement, and that the meaning
is, "he who maketh expiation, and they for whom expiation is made."
Bloomfield gives the same sense to the word, as also does Rosenmuller.
That the word may have such a signification it would be presumptuous
in any one to doubt, after the view which such men have taken of it; but
it may be doubted whether this idea is necessary here. The word sanctify
is a general term, meaning, to make holy or pure; to consecrate, set
apart, devote to God; to regard as holy, or to hallow. Applied to the
Saviour here, it may be used in this general sense--that he consecrated,
or devoted himself to God--as eminently the consecrated or holy one
--the Messiah, (See Barnes "John 17:19":) applied to his people, it
may mean that they, in like manner, were the consecrated, the holy,
the pure on earth. There is a richness and fairness in the word
when so understood, which there is not when it is limited to the
idea of expiation; and it seems to me that it is to be taken in its
richest and fullest sense, and that the meaning is, "the great
consecrated Messiah--the Holy One of God--and his consecrated and
holy followers, are all of one."
All of one. Of one family; spirit; Father; nature. Father of these
significations will suit the connexion, and some such idea must be
understood; The meaning is, that they were united, or partook of
something in common, so as to constitute a oneness, or a
brotherhood; and that since this was the case, there was a propriety in
his taking their nature. It does not mean that they were originally of one
nature or family; but that it was understood in the writings of the
prophets that the Messiah should partake of the nature of his people, and
that therefore, though he was more exalted than the angels, there was
a propriety that he should appear in the human form. Comp. John 17:21.
For which cause. That is, because he is thus united with them, or has
undertaken their redemption.
He is not ashamed. As it might be supposed that one so exalted and
pure would be. It might have been anticipated that the Son of God
would refuse to give the name brethren to those who were so humble, and
sunken, and degraded, as those whom he came to redeem. But he is willing
to be ranked with them, and to be regarded as one of their family.
To call them brethren. To acknowledge himself as of the same family,
and to speak of them as his brothers. That is, he is so represented as
speaking of them in the prophecies respecting the Messiah--for this
interpretation the argument of the apostle demands. It was material for
him to show that he was so represented in the Old Testament. This he does
in the following verses.
{c} "all of one" John 17:21
Verse 12. Saying. This passage is found in Psalms 22:22. The whole
of that Psalm has been commonly referred to the Messiah; and in
regard to such a reference there is less difficulty than attends most
of the other portions of the Old Testament that are usually supposed
to relate to him. The following verses of the Psalm are applied to
him, or to transactions connected with him, in the New Testament,
Psalms 22:1,8,18; and the whole Psalm is so strikingly descriptive
of his condition and sufferings, that there can be no reasonable
doubt that it had an original reference to him. There is much in
the Psalm that cannot be well applied to David; there is nothing
which cannot be applied to the Messiah; and the proof seems to
be clear, that Paul quoted this passage in accordance with the
original sense of the Psalm. The point of the quotation here is
not that he would "declare the name" of God, but that he gave
the name brethren to those whom he addressed.
I will declare thy name. I will make thee known. The word "name" is
used, as it often is, to denote God himself. The meaning is, that it
would be a part of the Messiah's work to make known to his disciples the
character and perfections of God--or to make them acquainted with God. He
performed this. In his parting prayer (John 17:6) he says, "I have
manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world."
And again, John 17:26, "And I have declared unto them thy name, and
will declare it."
Unto my brethren. The point of the quotation is in this. He spoke of
them as brethren. Paul is showing that he was not ashamed to call them
such. As he was reasoning with those who had been Jews, and as it was
necessary, as a part of his argument, to show that what he maintained
respecting the Messiah was found in the Old Testament, he makes his appeal
to that, and shows that the Redeemer is represented as addressing his
people as brethren. It would have been easy to appeal to facts,
and to have shown that the Redeemer used that term familiarly in
addressing his disciples, (comp. Matthew 12:48,49; 25:40; 28:10; Luke 8:21;
John 20:17,) but that would not have been pertinent to his
object. It is full proof to us, however, that the prediction in the
Psalm was literally fulfilled.
In the midst of the church. That is, in the assembly of my brethren.
The point of the proof urged by the apostle lies in the first part of the
quotation. This latter part seems to have been adduced, because it might
assist their memory to have the whole verse quoted; or because it
contained an interesting truth respecting the Redeemer--though not
precisely a proof of what he was urging; or because it implied
substantially the same truth as the former member. It shows that he was
united with his church; that he was one of them; and that he
mingled with them as among brethren.
Will I sing praise. That the Redeemer united with his disciples in
singing praise, we may suppose to have been in the highest degree
probable--though, I believe, but a single case is mentioned--that at the
close of the Supper which he instituted to commemorate his death,
Matthew 26:30. This, therefore, proves what the apostle intended--that the
Messiah was among them as his brethren, that he spoke to them
as such, and mingled in their devotions as one of their number.
{d} "Saying" Psalms 22:22
Verse 13. And again. That is, it is said in another place, or language
is used of the Messiah in another place, indicating the confidence
which he put in God, and showing that he partook of the feelings
of the children of God, and regarded himself as one of them.
I will put my trust in him. I will confide in God; implying
(1.) a sense of dependence on God, and
(2.) confidence in him. It is with reference to the former idea that the
apostle seems to use it here--as denoting a condition where there was felt
to be need of Divine aid. His object is to show that he took part with his
people, and regarded them as brethren; and the purpose of this quotation
seems to be, to show that he was in such a situation as to make an
expression of dependence proper. He was one with his people, and shared
their dependence and their piety--using language which showed that he was
identified with them, and could mingle with the tenderest sympathy in all
their feelings. It is not certain from what place this passage is quoted.
In Psalms 18:3, and the corresponding passage in 2 Samuel 22:3, the
Hebrew is \^HEBREW\^ --"I will trust in him;" but this Psalm has never
been regarded as having any reference to the Messiah, even by the Jews--
and it is difficult to see how it could be considered as having any
relation to him. Most critics therefore, as Rosenmuller, Calvin,
Koppe, Bloomfield, Stuart, etc., regard the passage as taken from
Isaiah 8:17. The reasons for this are,
(1.) that the words are the same in the Septuagint as in the epistle to
the Hebrews;
(2.) the apostle quotes the next verse immediately as applicable to the
Messiah;
(3.) no other place occurs where the same expression is found.
Isaiah 8:17, is \^HEBREW\^ "I will wait for him," or I will trust in him
-- rendered by the Septuagint \~pepoiywv esomai ep autw\~-- the same phrase
precisely as is used by Paul--and here can be no doubt that he meant to quote
it here. The sense in Isaiah is, that he had closed his message to the
people; he had been directed to seal up the testimony; he had exhorted the
nation to repent, but he had done it in vain; and he had now nothing to do
but to put his trust in the Lord, and commit the whole cause to
him. His only hope was in God; and he calmly and confidently committed his
cause to him. Paul evidently designs to refer this to the Messiah; and the
sense as applied to him is--"The Messiah in using this language expresses
himself as a man. It is men who exercise dependence on God; and by
the use of this language he speaks as one who had the nature of man, and
who expressed the feelings of the pious, and showed that he was one of
them, and that he regarded them as brethren." There is not much difficulty
in the argument of the passage; nor it is seen that in such language
he must speak as a man, or as one having human nature; but the main
difficulty is on the question how this and the verse following
can be applied to the Messiah? In the prophecy they seem to refer solely
to Isaiah, and to be expressive of his feelings alone-- the feelings of a
man who saw little encouragement in his work, and who having done all that
he could do, at last put his sole trust in God. In regard to this
difficult and yet unsettled question, the reader may consult my
introduction to Isaiah, & 7. The following remarks may serve in part to
remove the difficulty.
(1.) The passage in Isaiah (Isaiah 8:17,18) occurs in the midst of a
number of predictions relating to the Messiah--preceded and followed by
passages that had an ultimate reference undoubtedly to him. See
Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-7 and Notes on those passages.
(2.) The language, if used of Isaiah, would as accurately and fitly
express the feelings and the condition of the Redeemer. There was such a
remarkable similarity in the circumstances, that the same language
would express the condition of both. Both had delivered a solemn
message to men; both had come to exhort them to turn to God,
and to put their trust in him, and both with the same result. The
nation had disregarded them alike; and now their only hope was
to confide in God; and the language here used would express the
feelings of both--" I will trust in God. I will put confidence in
him, and look to him."
(3.) There can be little doubt that, in the time of Paul, this passage was
regarded by the Jews as applicable to the Messiah. This is evident,
because
(a.) Paul would not have so quoted it as a proof-text, unless it would
be admitted to have such a reference by those to whom he wrote; and
(b.) because, in Romans 9:32,33, it is evident that the passage in
Isaiah 8:14, is regarded as having reference to the Messiah, and as
being so admitted by the Jews. It is true that this may be considered
merely as an argument ad hominem--or an argument from what was admitted by
those with whom he was reasoning, without vouching for the precise
accuracy of the manner in which the passage was applied--but that method
of argument is admitted elsewhere, and why should we not expect to find
the sacred writers reasoning as other men do, and especially as was common
in their own times? The apostle is showing them, that according to
their own Scripture, and in accordance with principles which they
themselves admitted, it was necessary that the Messiah should be a man and
a sufferer; that he should be identified with his people, and be able to
use language which would express that condition. In doing this, it
is not remarkable that he should apply to him language which they
admitted to belong to him, and which would accurately describe his
condition.
(4.) It is not necessary to suppose that the passage in Isaiah had an
original and primary reference to the Messiah. It is evident from
the whole passage that it had not. There was a primary reference to
Isaiah himself, and to his children as being emblems of certain truths.
But still there was a strong resemblance, in certain respects, between his
feelings and condition and those of the Messiah. There was such a
resemblance, that the one would not unaptly symbolize the other. There was
such a resemblance that the mind--probably of the prophet himself, and of
the people--would look forward to the more remote, but similar event--the
coming and the circumstances of the Messiah. So strong was this
resemblance, and so much did the expressions of the prophet here accord
with his declarations elsewhere pertaining to the Messiah, that in the
course of time they came to be regarded as relating to him in a very
important sense, and as destined to have their complete fulfillment when he
should come. As such they seem to have been used in the time
of Paul; and no one can PROVE that the application was improper.
Who can demonstrate that God did not intend that those transactions
referred to by Isaiah should be designed as symbols of what would occur in
the time of the Redeemer? They were certainly symbolical actions--for they
are expressly so said to have been by Isaiah himself, (Isaiah 8:18;) and
none can demonstrate that they might not have had an ultimate reference to
the Redeemer.
And again. In another verse, or in another declaration; to wit,
Isaiah 7:18.
Behold I and the children which God hath given me. This is only a part
of the passage in Isaiah, and seems to have been partially quoted, because
the point of the quotation consisted in the fact, that he sustained to
them somewhat of the relation of a parent towards his children--as having
the same nature, and being identified with them in interest and
feeling. As it is used by Isaiah, it means that he and his children were
"for signs and emblems" to the people of his time--to communicate and
confirm the will of God, and to be pledges of the Divine favour and
protection. See Barnes "Isaiah 7:18". As applied to the Messiah,
it means that he sustained to his people a relation so intimate, that
they could be addressed and regarded as his children. They were
of one family; one nature. He became one of them, and had in them all the
interest which a father has in his sons, He had, therefore, a nature like
ours; and though he was exalted above the angels, yet his relation to man
was like the most tender and intimate earthly connexions, showing that he
took part in the same nature with them. The point is that he was a
man; that since those who were to be redeemed partook of flesh and blood,
he also took part of the same, (Hebrews 2:14,) and thus
identified himself with them.
{a} "I will put my trust" Psalms 18:2
{b} "again" Isaiah 8:18
{c} "God hath given me" John 17:6-12
Verse 14. Forasmuch then. Since; or because.
As the children. Those who were to become the adopted children of God;
or who were to sustain that relation to him.
Are partakers of flesh and blood. Have a human and not an angelic
nature. Since they are men, he became a man. There was a fitness or
propriety that he should partake of their nature.
See Barnes " :"; See Barnes "Matthew 16:17".
He also himself, etc. He also became a man, or partook of the same
nature with them. See Barnes "John 1:14".
That through death. By dying. It is implied here,
(1.) that the work which he undertook of destroying him that had the power
of death was to be accomplished by his own dying; and
(2.) that, in order to this, it was necessary that he should be a man. An
angel does not die, and therefore he did not take on him the nature of
angels; and the Son of God, in his Divine nature, could not die, and
therefore he assumed a form in which he could die--that of a man. In
that nature the Son of God could taste of death; and thus he could destroy
him that had the power of death.
He might destroy. That he might subdue, or that he might overcome
him, and destroy his dominion. The word destroy here is not used in
the sense of closing life, or of killing, but in the sense of
bringing into subjection, or crushing his power. This is the work
which the Lord Jesus came to perform--to destroy the kingdom of Satan in
the world, and to set up another kingdom in its place. This was
understood by Satan to be his object. See Barnes "Matthew 8:29";
See Barnes "Mark 1:24".
That had the power of death. I understand this as meaning that the
devil was the cause of death in this world, he was the means of its
introduction, and of its long and melancholy reign. This does not
affirm anything of his power of inflicting death in particular
instances--whatever may be true on that point--but that death was a
part of his dominion; that he introduced it; that he seduced man from God,
and led on the train of woes which result in death. He also made it
terrible. Instead of being regarded as falling asleep, or being looked on
without alarm, it becomes, under him, the means of terror and distress.
What power Satan may have in inflicting death in particular:
instances no one can tell. The Jewish Rabbins speak much of Samuel,
"the angel of death"-- \^HEBREW\^--who they supposed had the control of
life, and was the great messenger employed in closing it. The Scriptures,
it is believed, are silent on that point. But that Satan was the means of
introducing "death into the world, and all our woe," no one can doubt; and
over the whole subject, therefore, he may be said to have had power.
To destroy that dominion; to rescue man; to restore him to life; to
place him in a world where death is unknown; to introduce a state of
things where not another one would ever die, was the great purpose for
which the Redeemer came. What a noble object! What enterprise in the
universe has been so grand and noble as this! Surely an undertaking that
contemplates the annihilation of DEATH; that designs to bring this dark
dominion to an end, is full of benevolence, and commends itself to every
man as worthy of his profound attention and gratitude. What woes are
caused by death in this world! They are seen everywhere. The earth is
"arched with graves." In almost every dwelling death has been doing his
work of misery. The palace cannot exclude him; and he comes unbidden into
the cottage. He finds his way to the dwelling of ice in which the
Esquimaux and the Greenlander live; to the tent of the Bedouin Arab, and
the wandering Tartar; to the wigwam of the Indian, and to the harem of the
Turk; to the splendid mansion of the rich, as well as to the abode of the
poor. That reign of death has now extended near six thousand years, and
will travel on to future times--meeting each generation, and consigning
the young, the vigorous, the lovely, and the pure, to dust. Shall that
gloomy reign continue forever? Is there no way to arrest it? Is there no
place where death can be excluded? Yes: heaven --and the object of the
Redeemer is to bring us there.
{a} "he himself also" John 1:14
{b} "through death" 1 Corinthians 15:54
Verse 15. And deliver them. Not all of them in fact, though the
way is open for all. This deliverance relates
(1.) to the dread of death. He came to free them from that.
(2.) From death itself--that is, ultimately to bring them to a world
where death shall be unknown. The dread of death may be removed by
the work of Christ, and they who had been subject to constant alarms on
account of it may be brought to look on it with calmness and peace; and
ultimately they will be brought to a world where it will be wholly
unknown. The dread of death is taken away, or they are delivered from
that, because
(a.) the cause of that dread--to wit, sin--is removed.
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 15:54", See Barnes "1 Corinthians 15:55".
(b.) Because they are enabled to look to the world beyond with triumphant
joy. Death conducts them to heaven. A Christian has nothing to fear in
death; nothing beyond the grave. In no part of the universe has he any
thing to dread, for God is his friend, and he will be his protector
everywhere. On the dying bed; in the grave; on the way up to the judgment;
at the solemn tribunal; and in the eternal world, he is under the
eye and the protection of his Saviour--and of what should he be
afraid?
Who through fear of death. From the dread of dying --that is,
whenever they think of it, and they think of it so often as to make
them slaves of that fear. This obviously means the natural dread of
dying, and not particularly the fear of punishment beyond. It is
that indeed which often gives its principal terror to the dread of
death; but still the apostle refers here evidently to natural death--as
an object which men fear. All men have, by nature, this dread of dying--
and perhaps some of the inferior creation have it also. It is certain
that it exists in the heart of every man, and that God has implanted it
there for some wise purpose. There is the dread
(1.) of the dying pang, or pain.
(2.) Of the darkness and gloom of mind that attends it.
(3.) Of the unknown world beyond--the "evil that we know not of."
(4.) Of the chilliness, and loneliness, and darkness of the grave.
(5.) Of the solemn trial at the bar of God.
(6.) Of the condemnation which awaits the guilty--the apprehension of
future woe. There is no other evil that we fear so much as we do DEATH,
and there is nothing more clear than that God intended that we should
have a dread of dying. The REASONS why he designed this are equally
clear.
(1.) One may have been to lead men to prepare for it-- which otherwise
they would neglect.
(2.) Another, to deter them from committing self-murder where nothing
else would deter them. Facts have shown that it was necessary that there
should be some strong principle in the human bosom to prevent this
crime, and even the dread of death does not always do it. So sick do
men become of the life that God gave them; so weary of the world; so
overwhelmed with calamity; so oppressed with disappointment and
cares, that they lay violent hands on themselves, and rush unbidden into
the awful presence of their Creator. This would occur more frequently by
far than it now does, if it were not for the salutary fear of death which
God has implanted in every bosom. The feelings of the human heart on
this subject were never more accurately or graphically drawn than in the
celebrated Soliloquy of Hamlet--
"to die ;--to sleep--.
No more;--and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,--'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die--to sleep--
To sleep.--perchance to dream ;--ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause :--there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long a life:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,.
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin. Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life;
But that the dread of something after death--
The undiscovered country from whose bourne
No traveller returns--puzzles the will;
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of ?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale east of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."
God designed that man should be deterred from rushing uncalled
into his awful presence, by this salutary dread of death, and his
implanting this feeling in the human heart is one of the most striking
and conclusive proofs of a moral government over the world.
This instinctive dread of death can be overcome only by religion
--and then man does not NEED it to reconcile him to life. He
becomes submissive to trials, he is willing to bear all that is laid
on him. He resigns himself to the dispensations of Providence,
and feels that life, even in affliction, is the gift of God, and is a
valuable endowment. He now dreads self-murder as a crime of
deep dye, and religion restrains him and keeps him by a more mild
and salutary restraint than the dread of death. The man who has
true religion is willing to live or to die; he feels that life is the
gift of God, and that he will take it away in the best time and
manner; and feeling this, he is willing to leave all in his hands,
We may remark,
(1.) how much do we owe to religion! It is the only thing that will
effectually take away the dread of death, and yet secure this point--to
make man willing to live in all the circumstances where God may place
him. It is possible that philosophy or stoicism may remove, to a
great extent, the dread of death--but then it will be likely to make a
man willing to take his life if he is placed in trying circumstances.
Such an effect it had on Cato in Utica; and such an effect it had on
Hume, who maintained that suicide was lawful, and that to turn a
current of blood from its accustomed channel was of no more consequence
than to change the course of any other fluid!
(2.) In what a sad condition is the sinner! Thousands there are who never
think of death with composure, and who, all their life long, are subject
to bondage through the fear of it. They never think of it if they can
avoid it; and when it is forced upon them, it fills them with alarm.
They attempt to drive the thought away. They travel; they plunge into
business; they occupy the mind with trifles; they drown their fears in
the intoxicating bowl: but all this tends only to make death more
terrific and awful when the reality comes. If man were wise, he would
seek an interest in that religion which, if it did nothing else, would
deliver him from the dread of death; and the influence of the gospel in
this respect, if it exerted no other, is worth to a man all the
sacrifices and self-denials which it would ever require.
All their life-time subject to bondage. Slaves of fear; in a
depressed and miserable condition, like slaves under a master. They have
no freedom; no comfort; no peace. From this miserable state Christ
comes to deliver man. Religion enables him to look calmly on death and
the judgment, and to feel that all will be well.
{c} "through fear" Luke 1:74
Verse 16. For verily. Truly. He took not on him the nature of
angels. Marg., He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of
Abraham he taketh hold. The word here used--\~epilambanetai\~; means,
to take hold upon; to seize; to surprise; to take hold with a view
to detain for one's self. Robinson. Then it means to take hold of
one as by the hand--with a view to aid, conduct, or succour,
Mark 8:23; Acts 23:19. It is rendered took, Mark 8:23; Luke 9:47;
Luke 14:4; Acts 9:27; 17:19; 18:17; 21:30,33; 23:19; Hebrews 8:9;
caught, Matthew 14:31; Acts 16:19; take hold, Luke 20:20,26;
lay hold, and laid hold, Luke 23:26; 1 Timothy 6:12. The general
idea is that of seizing upon, or laying hold of any one--no matter what
the object is--whether to aid, or to drag to punishment, or simply to
conduct. Here it means to lay hold with reference to aid, or
help;
and the meaning is, that he did not seize the nature of angels, or take
it to himself, with reference to rendering them aid, but he assumed
the nature of man in order to aid him. He undertook the work of human
redemption, and consequently it was necessary for him to be a man.
But he took on him the seed of Abraham. He came to help the
descendants of Abraham, and consequently, as they were men, he
became a man. Writing to Jews, it was not unnatural for the
apostle to refer particularly to them as the descendants of Abraham,
though this does not exclude the idea that he died for the whole
human race. It was true that he came to render aid to the descendants of
Abraham, but it was also true that he died for all. The fact that I
love one of my children, and that I make provision for his education,
and tell him so, does not exclude the idea that I love the others also,
and that I may make to them a similar appeal when it shall be proper.
{1} "verily" "he taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham
he taketh hold.
17. Wherefore in all things. In respect to his body; his soul;
his rank and character. There was a propriety that he should be
like them, and should partake of their nature. The meaning is,
that there was a fitness that nothing should be wanting in him in
reference to the innocent propensities and sympathies of human
nature.
It behoved him. It became him; or there was a fitness and propriety in
it. The reason why it was proper, the apostle proceeds to state.
Like unto his brethren. Like unto those who sustained to him the
relation of brethren; particularly as he undertook to redeem the
descendants of Abraham, and as he was a descendant of Abraham himself,
there was a propriety that he should be like them. He calls them brethren;
and it was proper that, he should show that he regarded them as such by
assuming their nature.
That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.
(1.) That he might be merciful; that is, compassionate. That he
might know how to pity us in our infirmities and trials, by having
a nature like our own.
(2.) That he might be faithful; that is, perform with fidelity all the
functions pertaining to the office of high priest. The idea is, that it
was needful that he should become a man; that he should experience, as we
do, the infirmities and trials of life; and that, by being a man, and
partaking of all that pertained to man except his sins, he might feel how
necessary it was that there should be fidelity in the office of high
priest. Here were a race of sinners and sufferers. They were exposed to
the wrath of God. They were liable to everlasting punishment. The
judgment impended over the race, and the day of vengeance hastened on.
All now depended on the Great High Priest. All their hope was in his
fidelity to the great office which he had undertaken. If he were faithful,
all would be safe; if he were unfaithful, all would be lost. Hence the
necessity that he should enter fully into the feelings, fears, and dangers
of man; that he should become one of the race, and be identified with
them, so that he might be qualified to perform with faithfulness the great
trust committed to him.
High priest. The Jewish high priest was the successor of Aaron, and
was at the head of the ministers of religion among the Jews. He was set
apart with solemn ceremonies--clad in his sacred vestments--and anointed
with oil, Exodus 29:6-9; Leviticus 8:2. He was by his office the general judge of
all that pertained to religion, and even of the judicial affairs of the
Jewish nation, Deuteronomy 17:8-12; 19:17; 21:5; 33:9,10. He only had
the privilege of entering the most holy place once a year, on the
great day of expiation, to make atonement for the sins of the whole
people, Leviticus 16:2, etc. He was the oracle of truth--so that,
when clothed in his proper vestments, and having on the Urim and Thummim,
he made known the will of God in regard to future events. The Lord Jesus
became, in the Christian dispensation, what the Jewish high priest was in
the old; and an important object of this epistle is to show that he far
surpassed the Jewish high priest, and in what respects the Jewish high
priest was designed to typify the Redeemer. Paul, therefore, early
introduces the subject, and shows that the Lord Jesus came to perform the
functions of that sacred office, and that he was eminently endowed
for it.
In things pertaining to God. In offering sacrifice; or in services of
a religious nature. The great purpose was to offer sacrifice, and make
intercession; and the idea is, that Jesus took on himself our nature that
he might sympathize with us; that thus he might be faithful to the great
trust committed to him--the redemption of the world. Had he been
unfaithful, all would have been lost, and the world would have sunk down
to woe.
To make reconciliation. By his death as a sacrifice. The word here
used-- \~ilaskomai\~--occurs but in one other place in the New Testament,
(Luke 18:13,) where it is rendered, "God be merciful to me a
sinner;" that is, reconciled to me. The noun \~ilasmov\~--
propitiation) is used in 1 John 2:2; 4:10. The word here means,
properly, to appease, to reconcile, to conciliate; and hence to
propitiate AS TO SINS; that is, to propitiate God in reference to
sins, or to render him propitious. The Son of God became a man, that he
might so fully enter into the feelings of the people as to be faithful,
and that he might be qualified, as a high priest, to perform the great
work of rendering God propitious in regard to sins. How he did this is
fully shown in the subsequent parts of the epistle.
{a} "merciful" Genesis 19:15,16
Verse 18. For in that he himself, etc. Because he has suffered,
he is able to sympathize with sufferers.
Being tempted. Or, being tried. The Greek word here used is more
general in its meaning than the English word tempted. It means to put
to the proof; to try the nature or character of; and this may be done
either
(1.) by subjecting a person to afflictions or sufferings, that his
true character may be tried--that it may be seen whether he has sincere
piety and love to God; or
(2.) by allowing one to fall into temptation--properly so called--where
some strong inducement to evil is presented to the mind, and where it
becomes thus a trial of virtue. The Saviour was subjected to both
these in as severe a form as was ever presented to men. His sufferings
surpassed all others; and the temptations of Satan (Matthew 4) were
presented in the most alluring form in which he could exhibit them. Being
proved or tried in both these respects, he showed that he had a
strength of virtue which could bear all that could ever occur to seduce
him from attachment to God; and at the same time to make him a perfect
model for those who should be tried in the same manner.
He is able to succour, etc. This does not mean that he would not
have had power to assist others if he had not gone through these
sufferings, but that he is now qualified to sympathize with them
from the fact that he has endured like trials.
"He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same."
The idea is that one who has himself been called to suffer, is able
to sympathize with those who suffer; one who has been tempted,
is able to sympathize with those who are tempted in like manner;
one who has been sick is qualified to sympathize with the sick;
one who has lost a child, can sympathize with him who follows his
beloved son or daughter to the grave; one who has had some
strong temptation to sin urged upon himself, can sympathize with
those who are now tempted; one who has never been sick, or who
has never buried a friend, or been tempted, is poorly qualified to
impart consolations in such scenes. Hence it is, that ministers of
the gospel are often--like their Master--much persecuted and
afflicted, that they may be able to assist others, Hence they are
called to part with the children of their love; or to endure long
and painful sicknesses; or to pass through scenes of poverty and
want, that they may sympathize with the most humble and afflicted
of their flock. And they should be willing to endure all this; for
(1.) thus they are like their Master, (comp. Colossians 1:24; Philippians 3:10;) and
(2.) they are thus enabled to be far more extensively useful. Many a
minister owes a large part of his usefulness to the fact that he has been
much afflicted; and for those afflictions, therefore, he should
unfeignedly thank God. The idea which is here expressed by the apostle;
that one is enabled to sympathize with others from having himself
suffered, was long since beautifully expressed by Virgil:--
"Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores.
Jactatam, hac demum voluit consistere terra.
Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco."
AEn. I. 628.
"For I myself, like you, have been distressed,
Till heaven afforded me this place of rest:
Like you, an alien in a land unknown,
I learn to pity Woes so like my own."
Dryden.
Jesus is thus able to alleviate the sufferer. In all our temptations
and trials let us remember
(1.) that he suffered more--infinitely more--than we can do, and that in
all our sorrows we shall never reach what he endured. We enter no region
of trial where he has not gone beyond us; we tread no dark and gloomy way
where he has not gone before us.
(2.) Let us remember that he is to us a brother, for he "is not
ashamed to call us brethren." He had a nature like ours; he condescended
to appear as one of our race, with all the innocent propensities and
passions of a man. What matchless condescension! And what an honour for us
to be permitted to address him as an "elder brother," and to know that he
feels a deep sympathy in our woes!
(3.) Let us then, in all times of affliction, look to him. Go not,
suffering Christian, to philosophy; attempt not to deaden your feelings by
the art of the Stoic; but go at once to the Saviour--the great,
sympathizing High Priest, who is able to succour you--and rest your
burdens on him.
"His heart is made of tenderness,
His soul is fill'd with love.
"Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same.
"Then let our humble faith address
His mercy and his power;
We shall obtain delivering grace,
In every trying hour."
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