Hebrews 2

Hebrews 2:1

Wherefore, Christ being a prophet so much superior to all before him, ch. i. 2, and now elevated above angels to his regal office in heaven, whereby he is certainly able to perform what he foretold, we ought in all reason to heed his predictions, which have been delivered to us from him, (see ver. 3,) and to make use of them as means to fortify us, that we

[a] should let them slip] Παραρρυώμεν is a phrase used from the water, which, when it is not kept within limits, falls away, runs about.

Hebrews 2:2

For if the law were given only by the mediation or ministry of angels, and yet the threats on the breaking of that did come to pass, (see note [d] 2 Pet. i,) and all the sins committed by the Israelites against that were severely punished in the wilder- ness, and they that had provoked were not permitted to enter into the promised land of Canaan;

3, 4. How shall we avoid that punishment, or the like, being involved with the crucifiers in their de- struction, if we do not now by constancy and perse- verance make ourselves capable of that deliverance, which Christ first at his being on earth, and the apostles that heard it from him, have assured us of, and which God himself hath testified, both by many prodigies and ominous presages of it, and by giving them that have foretold this, power to do miracles, and other extraordinary abilities of his Spirit, as he hath thought fit to dispense them, to one man one ability, to another another, by this means giving authority to their predictions?

Hebrews 2:3

[b] salvation] It may here be matter of some question, what is the meaning of the word σωτηρία, salvation or deliverance. Three notions of the verb σώζεσθαι have been oft mentioned: one for escaping out of the vicious customs of the world, repentance and conversion to Christ, receiving the faith, (see note [b] on Luke xiii.) the other for deliverance out of calamities, (from whence comes a third notion, for eternal bliss in heaven, as an eternal deliverance from all evil, whether of sin or punishment:) and accordingly σωτηρία is oft taken for that eminent deliverance from persecutions which was to befall the faithful at the time of the utter destruction of the Jews, (see note [c] on Rom. xiii.) If the word be here used in the first notion, then it must signify the preaching of the gospel, the means of converting and bringing men to good life. And so it may possibly be, comparing the gospel here delivered by Christ with the law delivered by angels. The second notion also having two parts, one to signify a signal deliverance here, another to signify eternal salvation, it is not impossible that both here and ch. i. 14, it should belong to the latter of these, expecially there where there is mention of inheriting it. But yet the former of these two latter notions, that for the signal deliverance of the faithful, long promised, and at the writing of this now approaching, and 1 Pet. i. 5, called the deliverance ready to be revealed in the last season, may very probably be it that is here meant in both places. In the former, ch. i. 14, where the angels are said to be sent εἰς διακονίαν, for ministry, διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας, for them that are ready to inherit this deliverance, that is very agreeable to the manner of expressing it elsewhere, by his coming with his angels or holy myriads to punish the Jews and rescue the faithful Christians: and accordingly in the seventh of the Revelation the angel is sent to seal the faithful, when the rest are to be destroyed by the four angels. And this deliverance being a fatherly act of mercy in God, made over by promise to all that should persevere, may well be said to be inherited by such; and the nearness of it at that time, every where spoken of, may be denoted by the μέλλοντας, their readiness to receive it, as in Peter it was ready to be revealed. And so for the τηλικαύτη σωτηρία here, if we will judge by the context, it must most probably signify this. For first, this will by the consequents appear to be the design of the whole Epistle, (see note [a] on the title,) to fortify the believing Jews by the approach of this deliverance: 2dly, the Epistle beginning with God’s speaking in these last times by Christ, as he had formerly by ordinary prophets, ch. i. 1, and the rest of that chapter being spent in the setting out the dignity of this Prophet above all, even angels themselves, he applies it to this very matter, ch. ii. 1, that they give heed to what hath been thus foretold by Christ, lest they should fall away, and this enforced by the danger of so falling, vv. 2, 3, and by the greatness of this deliverance, such as was thought fit

Hebrews 2:4

[b] better than the angels] When we read, Isa. lii. 13, Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high, the Chaldee reads, my servant the Messiah. And Abrabanel a Jew confesses, that the ancient wise men of the Jews did interpret that place of the Messiah after this manner, that the Messiah should be exalted above Abraham, above Moses, and that he should be higher than the angels themselves. And agreeably to this known doctrine of theirs it is that the apostle here writing to them thus speaks, signifying Christ to be indeed the Messiah, and so superior to the angels themselves.

Hebrews 2:5

And that ye may know that what Christ hath thus foretold he is able to perform, ye are to know that all power is given to him in heaven and earth, which is a dignity far above that of the angels; for God gave not them any regal power to exercise now under the gospel: (see note [a] ch. vi.)

Hebrews 2:6

But this was given to Christ only. And accord- ingly of him are those words to be understood in the diviner sense, which the author of psalm viii. hath, that he is a mean and vile man in outward appear- ance, not worthy to be considered or regarded by God;

Hebrews 2:7

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,

[c] a little lower] The Hebrew מעט hath a double notion, in respect of quantity or of time, psalm viii. 5, whence this verse is taken, as the comparison is set betwixt Enoch or Ben Adam, the lowest man on earth, and the heaven and angels; so the words will bear the first sense, that man is little lower than the angels: but as those words were a prophecy, and the application of them here an enunciation concerning Christ, so מעט is an adverb of time, and signifies a little while.

Hebrews 2:8

And all his enemies and the persecutors of his church subjected to him, and he advanced above all created beings. This prophecy of the Messias cannot

Hebrews 2:9

All thy doctrine and practice, thy words and thy example, have been designed for the advancing of all kind of virtue; and by way of reward for that God hath entertained or treated thee more liberally than any other, (see note [c] Matt. xxvi. and note [c] Acts x.) preferred and dignified thee before all angels and men.

Only this we see already, that the Messias that was humbled for a while, even to the death of the cross, for the benefit of all mankind and every man in the world, is now, after and for that humiliation of his, rewarded and crowned with glory and honour, and a throne erected for him in heaven; of which this is but consequent, that his enemies shall be made his footstool.

Hebrews 2:10

Another place, psalm cii. 25, applies that which is said of God Gen. i. 1, about the creation of the world, to the Messias, calling him Lord and Creator of heaven and earth, (which is a proof of what is added in the end of ver. 2,) and adding, 11, 12. They shall at last be destroyed, and in the meantime decay daily, be put off like clothes, and worn no more. But the Messias shall continue immutable and immortal.

For God, the universal designer of all, in his wisdom foreseeing the oppositions and sufferings that would befall his people, believers, in this world, thought it fit that Christ his own Son, the author of their deliverance, should through sufferings come to his reward and crown, (see note on Phil. iii. 13,) that so he might after his own example deliver those that suffer constantly and patiently.

Hebrews 2:11

For as among the Jews both the first-fruits and the whole harvest are of the same nature; and as the priest that wrought expiation and the people for whom it was wrought were of one beginning; so are Christ and all mankind of one making, and Christ and the Jews from one original, (to wit, of Abraham, ver. 16, who is called one, Matt. ii. 15;) and therefore we must expect in our way to exaltation or deliverance, to pass through the like condition of afflictions: in which respects Christ and we are brethren, and we so owned by him,

Hebrews 2:12

According to that of the psalmist, saying, I will declare—

[c] fold them up] That this whole text is cited out of psalm cii. 25-27, it is evident. In that place of the Psalmist, the Septuagint, or Greek translation in the ordinary copies, read, ἰλίξεις, thou shalt fold; and from that it is still continued here, at least our copies read it so. But there is little doubt but that the reading of the Greek there was not ἰλίξεις, thou shalt fold, but ἀλλάξεις, thou shalt change; for so the καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται, and they shall be changed, that follows, doth manifest; and so also the Hebrew תחליפם clearly signifies: for חֶלֶף, mutavit, is thus ordinarily applied to changing of garments, 2 Sam. xii. 20, ויחלף, שמלח, and he changed his clothes; and Gen. xxxv. 2, change your garments, the same word is again used. By which it is clear, that either the copy here is by transcribers corrupted, (as it is easy to suppose, when we remember that the copies of the Greek Psaltery reading ἰλίξεις might very easily occasion their conforming that which here they found to what was before them in the place from whence it was manifestly cited,) or else that the author himself, following the Septuagint, transcribed this testimony verbatim as the words then lay in the copies of the Greek Bible, and did not reform it by the original, the sense indeed, though a little changed, being not much disturbed by this other reading; it being the manner, when a man shifts or changes his suits, to fold and lay up that which is put off. If in the time of writing this Epistle the Septuagint were thus corrupted in the copies, then this is likely to be the truth of it, it being ordinary for the apostles to cite scriptures as they were found then in the Greek Bibles, though they varied from the Hebrew, because those Greek Bibles, and not the Hebrew, were in use among those to whom they wrote. But if the corruption in the psalms were of a later date, then it is probable that the transcriber of the Epistle corrupted it from ἀλλάξεις to ἰλίξεις. That one of these is the truth, there will be little ground of doubting, though which it is, it be not certain. Meanwhile the meaning of the place is clear, that the heavens shall be changed, after the manner of men’s changing their clothes, putting off the old and putting on new, that is, that there shall be new heavens, a new sort of world. The heavens having no more service to do to the earth, by enlightening and shining on it, shall be changed into a form which shall be most agreeable to the present employment or use of them.

Hebrews 2:13

And accordingly those words spoken of him psalm cx. 1. to this plain sense, that he should reign till all his enemies were subdued and brought to the acknowledgment of him, that he should act a signal revenge upon his crucifiers, were never delivered or applied unto any the most dignified archangel, but only to this eternal Son of God.

Another proof also of the same (viz. that both Christ and we are brethren in this, both to pass by sufferings, ver. 10) is that of Isa. viii. 17, 18, where first he speaks of waiting on the Lord that hideth his face, and withal trusting in him, being confident of his uncovering his face, giving deliverance, in whatsoever adversity relying and depending on him; thereby noting that he is to pass through such, and after specifying and instancing in himself and his children, given him by God, that is, (in the antitype

⁸ a little while lessened below, ver. 7. ⁹ were all things, τὰ πάντα. ¹⁰ were. ¹¹ to consummate, τελειώσω. ¹² from, &.

Hebrews 2:14

The highest dignity that is bestowed on them is, that they are servants under God for the use of men or Christians, those especially who are now under persecution, and shall shortly be rescued out of it by a signal deliverance, and upon their constancy and perseverance secured of eternal salvation: (see note

Seeing therefore that Christians or believers, those that are to be brought to heaven by Christ, are here in human flesh and sufferings; and seeing that brethren or fellow-children are of like natures; Christ, therefore, who is called our brother, is to be supposed to have part with us in flesh and sufferings, and so to suffer also: and by so doing he was to frustrate and make void the devil’s design, (which was to keep men for ever under the power of death,) to rob death of its sting, and to rescue men from the bands or power of death, by a resurrection from death to life;

[d] destroy] That καταργεῖν signifies to frustrate, evacuate, invalidate, take away all force or power from any, hath been formerly said, note [a] on Rom. vii. And so it must be taken here: and καταργεῖν διόβολον will be to evacuate or frustrate the devil’s design, and cancel that deed by which, upon sins coming into the world, men were bound over to death. For by Christ, though death temporal be not quite taken away, yet it is robbed of the sting and victory, or reigning power over man, who by Christ is rescued from death, that is, from the κράτος or power of it here, (as of Christ it is said, Acts ii. 24, that it was not possible κρατεισθαι αὐτόν ὑπὸ θανάτου, for him to be held under death,) and raised to eternal life; and meanwhile, while the body lies in the grave, it is but as in a still quiet sleep, a freedom from the pressures of this life, and so hath nothing of evil or formidable in it. This notion of the phrase doth fitly belong to it here, where it is laid as the founda-

Hebrews 2:15

And so take away all that fear of persecutions and death itself, which makes men so cowardly, and keeps them in such awe; that is, in a most unchristian and servile condition, whilst they see no hope of deliverance.

Hebrews 2:16

For it is not said any where that he catches hold of angels as they are falling, or running, or carried captive from him, to save or rescue them from ruin, or to bring them out of captivity; but only to men doth he this favour peculiarly.

Hebrews 2:17

And therefore he was not to come in an angelical glorious guise, but in a humble suffering condition; whereby he is the better qualified to have compassion on those that are in any sad estate, and we thereby secured that he will discharge his priestly office faithfully, and negotiate for us in all affairs between God and us, (see note [i] Acts xiii;) but especially, by suffering, obtain pardon for us.

Hebrews 2:18

For by the sorrows which himself suffered, it is very proper and agreeable that he should become compassionate, and willing to relieve those that fall into the same or the like evils, that are under the sharpest persecutions in this life.

CHAP. III.

WHEREFORE, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High ¹. Upon these grounds I may most reasonably exhort you, my Christian brethren, who are called and admitted to the same common faith, disciples of this crucified Saviour, to consider and imitate Jesus Christ, who was sent with commission by his Father to preach

¹³ evacuate, frustrate. ¹⁴ For he doth not any where lay hold on angels, but he layeth hold on the seed of Abraham. ¹³ to expiate, I do not see.