Hebrews 1

— by whom also he made the worlds;] The heaven and the earth. Dr. Hammond. Those very worlds, no doubt, which this epistle mentions by the same expression, and reckons it as the first instance of faith for us to “understand, that they were framed by the word of God: so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear,” chap. xi. 3. Consequently the creation, attributed here to the Son, is not any spiritual or figurative, but a proper and material one. Compare Col. i. 16. Dean Stanhope. That Christ made this world, and consequently had a real being at the beginning of it, the Scriptures manifestly and plentifully assure us. For the same “Son, by whom in these last days God spake unto us,” is He, “by whom also He made the worlds.” So that as “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,” chap. xi. 3; so we must also believe that they were made by the Son of God. Bp. Pearson. See ver. 10 of this chapter, where the creation of all things visible is ascribed to the Son of God. The primitive Fathers believed the worlds were made by Christ, and contended that this shewed His divinity. Drs. Macknight and Whitby.

— and upholding all things by the word of his power.] Giving support, maintenance, preservation to all things which He hath made, by that almighty power of His. Bp. Hall.

Surely no being, less than that which made the world, is capable of sustaining and continuing the order of the world. And therefore, though this be now done by the Son, who is man as well as God; yet is it truly and properly the work of that Divine Nature, which was from all eternity at the right hand of the Father: not of that human nature, which, being united to, and from thenceforth inseparable from, the Divine, is now together with it exalted thither. And this exaltation is here spoken of as a reward of those sufferings, and of that expiatory sacrifice for the sins of mankind, which that union with the Divine rendered of merit as invaluable, as the condescension of it is inexpressible. Dean Stanhope.

Great as these expressions are, they are the same in substance with what the Old Testament had declared before concerning the Son of God: who, being called the glory of God, has that relation to Him which the light that comes down from heaven has to the sun, from whence it proceeds; who, being truly the Son, is consequently the heir of God; who now sustains that world, of which He at first laid the foundations; who purged the sins of man by Himself, who was the Creator of man; and, when He sat down at the right hand of God, returned to that Majesty which was essential to His character before the world was made. Jones of Nayland.

Thou art my Son, &c.] The Apostle here affirms the superiority of Christ over the angels, on the ground of the appellations that are bestowed on Him: As that of the Son, in the second Psalm, which, though in some sense it belong to David, yet is by the Jews themselves acknowledged in a more sublime sense to belong to the Messiah; so likewise that in 2 Sam. vii. 14, delivered to Solomon, as he was a type of the Messiah, which is in some degree true of him, but was in a much more eminent manner to be understood of Christ. Dr. Hammond. Though the angels be sometimes in Scripture called “the sons of God,” Job i. 6; ii. 1; xxxviii. 7; God never said to any one of them, “I will be to him a Father,” to protect him in his kingdom; much less, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee” to a kingdom; and so these passages in the true and full extent of them cannot agree to any of the angels. Dr. Whitby. Noble and excellent as these beings are, they are yet but the attendants on the Divine throne, and the ministers that execute God’s pleasure. They sit not at His right hand; they are not invested with supreme power and authority: but are in other places of Scripture represented as covering their faces before him. But our blessed Lord, “the brightness of His Father’s glory,” and the sharer of His power, receives the homage and adoration of these excellent beings. They are His subjects and ministers. They think themselves honoured by the commands He gives them, and happy in the obedience which they pay Him. Bp. Conybear. 6. And again, when He bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world,] Namely, in the morning of the resurrection, when He was in a glorious manner begotten from the dead. Burkitt. The words may be better rendered, ‘And when he bringeth again the firstbegotten’ (from the dead, Col. i. 18.) “into the world.” Dr. Whitby. The word, rendered “again,” here properly signifies the second time. The Son of God was brought into our world the first time by His incarnation. But the angels were not commanded then to worship Him. That command was given after His resurrection, which being, as it were, a second incarnation, is fitly called a bringing Him a second time into the world: when, as the reward of His having suffered death during His first residence in the world, He was made in the human nature the object of the worship, not only of men, but of angels. So St. Paul told the Philippians, chap. ii. 9-11. Dr. Macknight. —And let all the angels of God worship him.] It is generally thought that these words are cited from the 97th Psalm, 7th verse; where in the Septuagint we have words very like them, ‘Worship Him all His angels.’ Dr. Whitby. What invention could contrive a more positive and incontrovertible manner of calling the Son “God,” than Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Ver. 1.—lest at any time we should let them slip.] See the marginal translation. The original expression is an allusion to such vessels as are not able to retain liquids. Dr. Hammond.

— if we neglect so great salvation;] So great a means of our salvation, as the Gospel is. Bp. Fell.

The fear of greater punishment to those who reject greater grace; and the sure confidence of more abundant glory to those who have more abundant grace vouchsafed them here; should make us earnest to obtain the largest measures of it that we can, and diligent to improve what we do retain. Dr. Gloucester Ridley.

The Apostle, having described the dignity of the Son of God, thus argues: that if He was so great, how important must that way of salvation be, which He preached to the world! how necessary must it be for us to attend to it! and how dreadful will the consequences be, if we do not! If the law of Moses, published by inferior ministers, was so strictly enforced, and every offence against the honour of it so severely punished; “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great

salvation” published by Jesus Christ? This is the purport of his reasoning: and now let us consider the weight of it. If God descends from heaven to teach, there must be some great reason for His coming, which will render those exceedingly guilty who do not hear Him. Therefore it must be our duty to listen to His words, and study His doctrine, that we may understand it and receive the benefit of it for the salvation of our souls. We may put off this as a matter of no consequence, and escape for the present. The man, who tells us these things out of a pulpit, has no power to punish us; but nevertheless God will not be neglected: He, who vindicated His law, shall vindicate His Gospel; and then what will become of us? What shall we say for ourselves in that dreadful day, when the reasonings and reserves of every heart shall be exposed and confused? Jones of Nayland.

— was confirmed unto us] To us Jews. It is usual for St. Paul to say “us” and “we,” when not he himself is to be understood, but those only, to whom or of whom he speaks. Drs. Whitby and Wells.

Hebrews 1:2

2. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, &c.] If the law given by the ministry of angels was firm and inviolable, and all the transgressors of it were justly and severely punished. Burkitt. See Acts vii. 53; Gal. iii. 19.

Hebrews 1:3

3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.] Who being the means of reflecting to us the sight of Him who is otherwise invisible, John i. 18. Dr. Hammond. Of the same Divine majesty and substance, a Beam of the same Light, an exact resemblance of His original perfections. For whatever excellencies are in the Father, the same are in the Son, and by Him they are reflected down upon mankind. The former of these characters, “the brightness of His glory,” alluding to a luminous body, and comparing the Father to the original fountain of light, and the Son to the effulgence or ray streaming from it, seems intended to teach us, that the essence of both is the same; that the one is inseparable from, and not to be conceived without, the other; consequently, that neither of them ever was, or could be, alone. So that the Son is hereby declared to be of the same nature and eternity with the Father, and from hence, more particularly, the church seems to have taken the occasion of confessing, in opposition to the Arian heresy, as we find it done in one of our creeds, that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, was begotten of His Father before all the worlds, that He is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Dean Stanhope.

The latter of these characters, namely, “the express image of His person,” resembles Him to an image or impress of His Father’s excellencies. Having already established the unity of nature in the similitude of original and derived light, the Apostle employs another similitude, significative of the distinction of Persons. And thus he hath likewise obviated the heresy of Sardinus: by affirming the Father and the Son to have the same godhead, glory, and majesty; but at the same time intimating that they have not the same personality: in a word, that though the Father and the Son be one God, and in that respect there be no difference in nature, or time, or degree; yet the Father is not the

3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;] When God in His wisdom had projected a scheme for the salvation of mankind before the ages, when He had prosecuted that scheme by many successive revelations of Himself, by many notices and preparatory indications of His good pleasure, when He had separated a chosen family from the rest of the world to serve as a repository of His counsels, and to minister to Himself in the execution of them, when He had sent forth His angels to assist in this great work, and had inspired many Prophets and holy men to sig-

We ought to be obedient to Christ Jesus, and that Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Hebrews 1:4

4. Being made so much better than the angels, &c.] Being in His very human nature advanced so much higher than the greatest angels of heaven, by how much He hath obtained a more excellent and glorious name than they, namely, to be called and to be the Son of God; not by grace or adoption as we are, but by nature and eternal communication of essence. Bp. Hall. Preferred as far above the most glorious spirits, the angels, as His divine Original had set Him

Christ is preferred above the angels, Anno DOMINI 64. And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

4. God also bearing them witness, &c.] The importance of the salvation spoken of before is farther shown by the manner in which it was recommended to the world. It was attested by “signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost;” all intended to raise the attention of mankind, and convince them that they must be lost, if they neglected to hear what was so powerfully recommended. Jones of Nayland.

Hebrews 1:5

5. — the world to come,] This phrase seems to denote the state of the world under the Messiah, or the kingdom of the Messiah, which began at his first advent, and shall be completed at His second and glorious coming. The Jews in like manner call the kingdoms of the Messiah, “the world to come,” probably from that prophecy of Isaiah, chap. lxv. 17, where it is represented by “new heavens and a new earth.” It is observable, that St. Paul uses this phrase only in this passage of his Epistle to the Hebrews, or converted Jews, as being probably a manner of expression familiar to them, but not so intelligible to the Gentile Christians. Compare chap. vi. 5. Parkhurst. The Apostle means, that the world of believers, gathered out of all nations by the preaching of the Gospel, is put under Christ’s immediate power, and subject, not to angels, but to Christ Himself. Burkitt.

Hebrews 1:6

6—8. But one in a certain place testified, &c.] This regal power was given to Christ only. And accordingly of Him are these words to be understood in the diviner sense, which the author of the 8th Psalm hath delivered; namely, That He is a mean and vile man in outward appearance, not worthy to be considered or regarded by God; who for the space of thirty-three years was subjected to a condition inferior to that of angels; but then, after His suffering in our flesh, He was by God most honourably advanced to the highest dignities, made the supreme Ruler and King of heaven and earth: and all His enemies, and the persecutors of His church, were

Hebrews 1:7

7.—Who maketh his angels spirits,] Or rather ‘winds;’ as both the general context, and the subsequent clause of this verse, appear to require. The comparing of the angels to “a flame of fire” in the last clause naturally leads us to apprehend them as compared to ‘winds’ in the first. Dr. Wells. The meaning of the passage is, that no higher title is given to the angels than those of God’s messengers and ministers; and that the efficacy of their ministry, as well as the activity of their nature, is described by comparing them to other creatures, such as winds and fire. Dr. Whitby, Dean Stanhope.

Hebrews 1:8

8. But unto the Son he saith, &c.] Thus He speaks ever of the angels, as servants; but of the Son He speaks as of the God and Lord of the angels, “Thy throne, O God,” &c. Thy kingdom and government is most just and righteous. Bp. Hall. The throne of God, whether we understand it of God’s natural dominion over the whole creation, or more particularly of His providential government of the moral world, or, in a still more restricted sense, of Christ’s mediatorial kingdom, is everlasting: and the government, both in the will of the governor and in the execution, is invariably good and just. But the kingdom of the God-Man is in this place intended. This is evident from what is said in the next verse: “God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows:” that is, God hath advanced Thee to a state of bliss and glory above all those whom Thou hast vouchsafed to call Thy fellows. It is said too, that the love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness is the cause that God hath so anointed Him, who yet in the previous verse is Himself addressed as God. It is manifest that these things can be said only of that Person, in whom the Godhead and the manhood are united; in whom the human nature is the subject of the unction, and the elevation to the Mediatorial both in person and office. CHAP. I, II. We ought to be obedient to Christ Jesus.

And hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Hebrews 1:14

14. Are they not all ministering spirits,] The word “all” here is emphatical; denoting that even the highest orders of angels, dominions, thrones, principalities, and powers, (Phil. ii. 10; Eph. i. 21; 1 Pet. iii. 22,) bow the knee and are subject to Jesus, ministering in the affairs of the world according to His direction. Dr. Macknight.

Throughout this passage the Apostle dwells on the manifest precedence, given to Christ in the Old Testament, above the most glorious of all created beings, the blessed angels. The proof hereof consists in sundry passages, acknowledged by Jewish authors themselves to belong to the Messiah; who is, in a sense and manner peculiar to Himself, entitled the Son of God, ver. 5, whilst the angels are allowed no higher denomination than that of ministers and servants of God. Nay, and to shew the mighty distance and disparity between them, those very angels are, all of them, commanded to worship this Son, a homage, to which nothing less could give Him right, than His being their Creator, and they His creatures. At other times we find Him represented as a righteous King, possessed of an everlasting dominion, and invested with such distinguishing honours, as none, even the highest and most peculiar favourites of Heaven, were, or may ever hope to be, dignified with. And once more, not only the creation of the world, but the dissolution of it also, is expressly declared to be His doing. Meanwhile, the utmost attributed to the angels amounts to no more than their being instruments in the hand of God; performers of such good offices, to those who love and serve Him, as He, who hath constituted the services of all His creatures in a wonderful order, hath thought fit to assign them, in the