God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
KJV
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Commentary
Commentary
In this chapter we have a twofold comparison stated:
I. Between the evangelical and legal dispensation; and the excellency
of the gospel above that of the law is asserted and proved, ver. 1-3 .
II. Between the glory of Christ and that of the highest creatures, the
angels; where the pre-eminence is justly given to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and clearly demonstrated to belong to him, ver. 4, to the end .
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high;
Here the apostle begins with a general declaration of the excellency of
the gospel dispensation above that of the law, which he demonstrates
from the different way and manner of God's communicating himself and
his mind and will to men in the one and in the other: both these
dispensations were of God, and both of them very good, but there is a
great difference in the way of their coming from God. Observe,
I. The way wherein God communicated himself and his will to men under
the Old Testament. We have here an account,
1. Of the persons by whom God delivered his mind under the Old
Testament; they were the prophets, that is, persons chosen of
God, and qualified by him, for that office of revealing the will of God
to men. No man takes this honour to himself, unless called; and whoever
are called of God are qualified by him.
2. The persons to whom God spoke by the prophets: To the
fathers, to all the Old-Testament saints who were under that
dispensation. God favoured and honoured them with much clearer light
than that of nature, under which the rest of the world were left.
3. The order in which God spoke to men in those times that went before
the gospel, those past times: he spoke to his ancient people at
sundry times and in divers manners. (1.) At sundry times, or by several parts, as the word
signifies, which may refer either to the several ages of the
Old-Testament dispensation--the patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the
prophetic; or to the several gradual openings of his mind concerning
the Redeemer: to Adam, that the Messiah should come of the seed of the
woman,--to Abraham, that he should spring from his loins,--to Jacob,
that he should be of the tribe of Judah,--to David, that he should be
of his house,--to Micah, that he should be born at Bethlehem,--to
Isaiah, that he should be born of a virgin.
(2.) In divers manners, according to the different ways in which
God though fit to communicate his mind to his prophets; sometimes by
the illapses of his Spirit, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by an audible voice, sometimes by
legible characters under his own hand, as when he wrote the ten
commandments on tables of stone. Of some of these different ways God
himself gave an account in Num. xii. 6-8 , If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known
to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my
servant Moses: with him I will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently,
and not in dark speeches.
II. God's method of communicating his mind and will under the
New-Testament dispensation, these last days as they are called, that
is, either towards the end of the world, or the end of the Jewish
state. The times of the gospel are the last times, the gospel
revelation is the last we are to expect from God. There was first the
natural revelation; then the patriarchal, by dreams, visions, and
voices; then the Mosaic, in the law given forth and written down; then
the prophetic, in explaining the law, and giving clearer discoveries of
Christ: but now we must expect no new revelation, but only more of the
Spirit of Christ to help us better to understand what is already
revealed. Now the excellency of the gospel revelation above the former
consists in two things:--
1. It is the final, the finishing revelation, given forth in the last
days of divine revelation, to which nothing is to be added, but the
canon of scripture is to be settled and sealed: so that now the minds
of men are no longer kept in suspense by the expectation of new
discoveries, but they rejoice in a complete revelation of the will of
God, both preceptive and providential, so far as is necessary for them
to know in order to their direction and comfort. For the gospel
includes a discovery of the great events that shall befal the church of
God to the end of the world.
2. It is a revelation which God has made by his Son, the most excellent
messenger that was ever sent into the world, far superior to all the
ancient patriarchs and prophets, by whom God communicated his will to
his people in former times. And here we have an excellent account of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1.) The glory of his office, and that in three respects:--
[1.] God hath appointed him to be heir of all things. As God, he was
equal to the Father; but, as God-man and Mediator, he was appointed by
the Father to be the heir of all things, the sovereign Lord of all, the
absolute disposer, director, and governor of all persons and of all
things, Ps. ii. 6, 7 . All power in heaven and earth is given to him; all judgment is
committed to him, Matt. xxviii. 18; John v. 22 .
[2.] By him God made the worlds, both visible and invisible, the
heavens and the earth; not as an instrumental cause, but as his
essential word and wisdom. By him he made the old creation, by him he
makes the new creature, and by him he rules and governs both.
[3.] He upholds all things by the word of his power: he keeps the world
from dissolving. By him all things consist. The weight of the
whole creation is laid upon Christ: he supports the whole and all the
parts. When, upon the apostasy, the world was breaking to pieces under
the wrath and curse of God, the Son of God, undertaking the work of
redemption, bound it up again, and established it by his almighty power
and goodness. None of the ancient prophets sustained such an office as
this, none was sufficient for it.
(2.) Hence the apostle passes to the glory of the person of Christ, who
was able to execute such an office: He was the brightness of his
Father's glory, and the express image of his person, v. 3 .
This is a high and lofty description of the glorious Redeemer, this is
an account of his personal excellency.
[1.] He is, in person, the Son of God, the only-begotten Son of God,
and as such he must have the same nature. This personal distinction
always supposes one and the same nature. Every son of man is man; were
not the nature the same, the generation would be monstrous.
[2.] The person of the Son is the glory of the Father, shining forth
with a truly divine splendour. As the beams are effulgent emanations of
the sun, the father and fountain of light, Jesus Christ in his person
is God manifest in the flesh, he is light of light, the true Shechinah.
[3.] The person of the Son is the true image and character of the
person of the Father; being of the same nature, he must bear the same
image and likeness. In beholding the power, wisdom, and goodness, of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we behold the power, wisdom, and goodness, of
the Father; for he hath the nature and perfections of God in him. He
that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father; that is, he hath seen
the same Being. He that hath known the Son hath known the Father, John xiv. 7-9 .
For the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son; the personal
distinction is no other than will consist with essential union. This is
the glory of the person of Christ; the fulness of the Godhead dwells,
not typically, but really, in him.
(3.) From the glory of the person of Christ he proceeds to mention the
glory of his grace; his condescension itself was truly glorious. The
sufferings of Christ had this great honour in them, to be a full
satisfaction for the sins of his people: By himself he purged away
our sins, that is, by the proper innate merit of his death and
bloodshed, by their infinite intrinsic value; as they were the
sufferings of himself, he has made atonement for sin. Himself, the
glory of his person and nature, gave to his sufferings such merit as
was a sufficient reparation of honour to God, who had suffered an
infinite injury and affront by the sins of men.
(4.) From the glory of his sufferings we are at length led to consider
the glory of his exaltation: When by himself he had purged away our
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, at his
Father's right hand. As Mediator and Redeemer, he is invested with the
highest honour, authority, and activity, for the good of his people;
the Father now does all things by him, and receives all the services of
his people from him. Having assumed our nature, and suffered in it on
earth, he has taken it up with him to heaven, and there it has the high
honour to be next to God, and this was the reward of his
humiliation.
Now it was by no less a person than this that God in these last days
spoke to men; and, since the dignity of the messenger gives authority
and excellency to the message, the dispensations of the gospel must
therefore exceed, very far exceed, the dispensation of the law.
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my
Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the
world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation
of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall
wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be
changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
The apostle, having proved the pre-eminence of the gospel above the law
from the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ above the prophets, now
proceeds to show that he is much superior not only to the prophets, but
to the angels themselves. In this he obviates an objection that the
Jewish zealots would be ready to make, that the law was not only
delivered by men, but ordained by angels ( Gal. iii. 19 ),
who attended at the giving forth of the law, the hosts of heaven being
drawn forth to attend the Lord Jehovah on that awful occasion. Now the
angels are very glorious beings, far more glorious and excellent than
men; the scripture always represents them as the most excellent of all
creatures, and we know of no being but God himself that is higher than
the angels; and therefore that law that was ordained by angels ought to
be held in great esteem. To take off the force of this argument, the
penman of this epistle proceeds to state the comparison between Jesus
Christ and the holy angels, both in nature and office, and to prove
that Christ is vastly superior to the angels themselves: Being made
so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they. Here observe,
I. The superior nature of Christ is proved from his superior name. The
scripture does not give high and glorious titles without a real
foundation and reason in nature; nor would such great things have been
said of our Lord Jesus Christ if he had not been as great and excellent
as those words import. When it is said that Christ was made so much
better than the angels, we are not to imagine that he was a mere
creature, as the angels are; the word genomenos, when
joined with an adjective, is nowhere to be rendered created, and
here may very well be read, being more excellent, as the Syriac version hath it. We read ginesthe ho Theos
alethes -- let God be true, not made so, but acknowledged
to be so.
II. The superiority of the name and nature of Christ above the angels
is declared in the holy scriptures, and to be deduced thence. We should
have known little or nothing either of Christ or of the angels, without
the scriptures; and we must therefore be determined by them in our
conceptions of the one and the other. Now here are several passages of
scripture cited, in which those things are said of Christ that were
never said of the angels.
1. It was said of Christ, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee ( Ps. ii. 7 ),
which may refer to his eternal generation, or to his resurrection, or
to his solemn inauguration into his glorious kingdom at his ascension
and session at the right hand of the Father. Now this was never said
concerning the angels, and therefore by inheritance he has a more
excellent nature and name than they.
2. It was said concerning Christ, but never concerning the angels, I
will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son; taken from 2 Sam. vii. 14 .
Not only, "I am his Father, and he is my Son, by nature and eternal
promanation;" but, "I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son, by
wonderful conception, and this his son-ship shall be the fountain and
foundation of every gracious relation between me and fallen man."
3. It is said of Christ, When God bringeth his First-begotten into
the world, let all the angels of God worship him; that is, when he
is brought into this lower world, at his nativity, let the angels
attend and honour him; or when he is brought into the world above, at
his ascension, to enter upon his mediatorial kingdom, or when he shall
bring him again into the world, to judge the world, then let the
highest creatures worship him. God will not suffer an angel to continue
in heaven who will not be in subjection to Christ, and pay adoration to
him; and he will at last make the fallen angels and wicked men to
confess his divine power and authority and to fall before him. Those
who would not have him to reign must then be brought forth and slain
before him. The proof of this is taken out of Ps. xcvii. 7 , Worship him, all you gods, that is, "All you that are superior
to men, own yourselves to be inferior to Christ in nature and
power."
4. God has said concerning Christ, Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever, &c., v. 8-12 .
But of the angels he has only said that he hath made them spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire, v. 7 .
Now, upon comparing what he here says of the angels with what he says
to Christ, the vast inferiority of the angels to Christ will plainly
appear.
(1.) What does God say here of the angels? He maketh his angels
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. This we have in Ps. civ. 4 ,
where it seems to be more immediately spoken of the winds and
lightning, but is here applied to the angels, whose agency the divine
Providences makes use of in the winds, and in thunder and lightnings.
Observe,
[1.] The office of the angels: they are God's ministers, or servants, to do his pleasure. It is the glory of God that he has
such servants; it is yet more so that he does not need them.
[2.] How the angels are qualified for this service; he makes them
spirits and a flame of fire, that is, he endows them with light and
zeal, with activity and ability, readiness and resolution to do his
pleasure: they are no more than what God has made them to be, and they
are servants to the Son as well as to the Father. But observe,
(2.) How much greater things are said of Christ by the Father. Here two
passages of scripture are quoted.
First, In creating the world
( v. 10 ): And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. The Lord Christ
had the original right to govern the world, because he made the world
in the beginning. His right, as Mediator, was by commission from the
Father. His right, as God with the Father, was absolute, resulting from
his creating power. This power he had before the beginning of the
world, and he exerted it in giving a beginning and being to the world.
He must therefore be no part of the world himself, for then he must
give himself a beginning. He was pro panton -- before
all things, and by him all things consist, Col. i. 17 .
He was not only above all things in condition, but before all things in
existence; and therefore must be God, and self-existent. He laid the
foundations of the earth, did not only introduce new forms into
pre-existent matter, but made out of nothing the foundations of the
earth, the primordia rerum--the first principles of things; he
not only founded the earth, but the heavens too are the work of his
hands, both the habitation and the inhabitants, the hosts of heaven,
the angels themselves; and therefore he must needs be infinitely
superior to them.
Secondly, In changing the world that he has made; and here the
mutability of this world is brought in to illustrate the immutability
of Christ. Observe,
1. This world is mutable, all created nature is so; this world has
passed through many changes, and shall pass through more; all these
changes are by the permission and under the direction of Christ, who
made the world
( v. 11, 12 ): They shall perish, they shall all wax old as doth a garment; as a
vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. This
our visible world (both the earth and visible heavens) is growing old.
Not only men and beasts and trees grow old, but this world itself grows
old, and is hastening to its dissolution; it changes like a garment,
has lost much of its beauty and strength; it grew old betimes on the
first apostasy, and it has been waxing older and growing weaker ever
since; it bears the symptoms of a dying world. But then its dissolution
will not be its utter destruction, but its change. Christ will fold up
this world as a garment not to be abused any longer, not to be any
longer so used as it has been. Let us not then set our hearts upon that
which is not what we take it to be, and will not be what it now is. Sin
has made a great change in the world for the worse, and Christ will
make a great change in it for the better. We look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Let the
consideration of this wean us from the present world, and make us
watchful, diligent, and desirous of that better world, and let us wait
on Christ to change us into a meetness for that new world that is
approaching; we cannot enter into it till we be new creatures.
2. Christ is immutable. Thus the Father testifies of him, Thou
remainest, thy years shall not fail. Christ is the same in himself,
the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, and the same to his
people in all the changes of time. This may well support all who have
an interest in Christ under all the changes they meet with in the
world, and under all they feel in themselves. Christ is immutable and
immortal: his years shall not fail. This may comfort us under all
decays of nature that we may observe in ourselves or in our friends,
though our flesh and heart fail and our days are hastening to an end.
Christ lives to take care of us while we live, and of ours when we are
gone, and this should quicken us all to make our interest in him clear
and sure, that our spiritual and eternal life may be hid with Christ in
God.
III. The superiority of Christ to the angels appears in this that God
never said to the angels what he has said to Christ, v. 13, 14 .
1. What has God said to Christ? He has said, " Sit thou at my right
hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool, Ps. cx. 1 .
Receive thou glory, dominion, and rest; and remain in the
administration of thy mediatorial kingdom until all thy enemies shall
either be made thy friends by conversion or thy footstool." Note,
(1.) Christ Jesus has his enemies (would one think it?), enemies even
among men--enemies to his sovereignty, to his cause, to his people;
such as will not have him to reign over them. Let us not think it
strange then if we have our enemies. Christ never did any thing to make
men his enemies; he has done a great deal to make them all his friends
and his Father's friends, and yet he has his enemies.
(2.) All the enemies of Christ shall be made his footstool, either by
humble submission and entire subjection to his will casting themselves
down at his feet, or by utter destruction; he shall trample upon those
who continue obstinate, and shall trample over them.
(3.) God the Father has undertaken for this, and he will see it done,
yea, he will himself do it; and, though it be not done presently, it
shall certainly be done, and Christ waits for it,; and so must
Christians wait till God has wrought all their works in them, for them,
and by them.
(4.) Christ shall go on to rule and reign till this be done; he shall
not leave any of his great designs unfinished, he shall go on
conquering and to conquer. And it becomes his people to go on in their
duty, being what he would have them to be, doing what he would have
them to do, avoiding what he would have them to avoid, bearing what he
would have them to bear, till he make them conquerors and more than
conquerors over all their spiritual enemies.
2. What has God said to the angels? He never said to them, as he said
to Christ, Sit you at my right hand; but he has said of them
here that they are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
those who shall be heirs of salvation. Note,
(1.) What the angels are as to their nature: they are spirits, without
bodies or inclination to bodies, and yet they can assume bodies, and
appear in them, when God pleases. They are spirits, incorporeal,
intelligent, active, substances; they excel in wisdom and strength.
(2.) What the angels are as to their office: they are ministering
spirits. Christ, as Mediator, is the great minister of God in the great
work of redemption. The Holy Spirit is the great minister of God and
Christ in the application of this redemption. Angels are ministering
spirits under the blessed Trinity, to execute the divine will and
pleasure; they are the ministers of divine Providence.
(3.) The angels are sent forth for this end--to minister to those who
shall be the heirs of salvation. Here observe,
[1.] The description given of the saints--they are heirs of
salvation; at present they are under age, heirs, not inheritors.
They are heirs because they are children of God; if children, then
heirs. Let us make sure that we are children by adoption and
regeneration, having made a covenant-resignation of ourselves to God,
and walking before him in a gospel-conversation, and then we are heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
[2.] The dignity and privilege of the saints--the angels are sent forth
to minister for them. Thus they have done in attending and acting at
the giving forth of the law, in fighting the battles of the saints, in
destroying their enemies. They still minister for them in opposing the
malice and power of evil spirits, in protecting and keeping their
bodies, pitching their tents about theirs, instructing, quickening, and
comforting their souls under Christ and the Holy Ghost; and thus they
shall do in gathering all the saints together at the last day. Bless
God for the ministration of angels, keep in God's way, and take the
comfort of this promise, that he will give his angels charge over
you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their
hands, lest you dash your feet against a stone, Ps. xci. 11, 12 .
INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS
That this epistle was written very early appears from hence, that it was imitated by Clement of Rome, in his epistle to the Corinthians, who took whole sentences out of it; and therefore it could not be a new work, as Eusebius {a} observes: it has been denied to be authentic by some heretics, as the Marcionites and Arians, but has been generally received as such by the orthodox: some indeed doubted of it, because it was not received by the Roman church, as an epistle of the Apostle Paul {b}; though others, who have thought it was not his, as Origen, yet looked upon it as genuine {c}. It has been ascribed to different persons, as to Barnabas, to Apollos, to Luke the Evangelist, and to Clement of Rome, but without any just reason. Clement of Alexandria, a very ancient writer, asserts it to be the Apostle Paul's {d}; and his name stands in the title of it, in all R. Stephens's exemplars, and in all Beza's copies, excepting one, and so it does in the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions; and that it is his, is highly probable from the agreement there is between this, and other epistles of his; compare Heb 1:2 with Col 1:15 and Heb 5:12 with 1Co 3:1 and Heb 12:1 with 1Co 9:24 and Heb 13:7 with 1Th 5:11, and
Heb 13:9 with Eph 4:14 and Heb 13:18 with 2Co 1:12 and Heb 13:20 with Ro 15:13 and many other places; and also from the order and method of it, first treating of doctrines, and then proceeding to practical exhortations, which is the common form of Paul's epistles: to which may be added various circumstances; as that it was written from Italy, where Paul was a prisoner; and the mention the author of it makes of his bonds, and of Timothy, as well known unto him, who was Paul's companion; besides, the token of his epistles appears in this, namely, his usual salutation to the churches; see Heb 13:23. But above all, the testimony of the Apostle Peter is greatly in favour of its being his, 2Pe 3:15 from whence it clearly appears, that the Apostle Paul did write an epistle to the Hebrews; for to them Peter wrote; see 1Pe 1:1 and what epistle could it be but this? and what Peter refers to is to be found in it; see
Heb 10:25 and which is written with great wisdom; in none of Paul's epistles is there a greater discovery of his knowledge of divine mysteries than in this; and in it also are things hard to be understood, Heb 5:11. The common objections to its being his are, its not bearing his name, the diversity of its style, and the author of it seeming to be not an apostle, but a disciple of the apostle's: as to his not setting his name to it, the reasons might be, because he was the apostle of the Gentiles, and not so much of the Jews; and because of the prejudice of the Jews against him, both believers, and unbelievers; wherefore had his name been to it, it might have prevented the usefulness of it to the one, and have stirred up the rage of the other: as to the difference of style, different subjects require a different style; and yet in many things there is a likeness, as before observed: and as to the author's not being an apostle, which is concluded from Heb 2:3 the word "us" there is to be understood of the believing Hebrews, the disciples of the apostle, and not inclusive of the author, by a figurative way of speaking often used by Paul; and besides, the apostle received a confirmation of the Gospel from Ananias, who might have been an hearer of Christ, though he was at first taught it by Christ himself; add to this, that whoever was the writer of it, it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and when several of the apostles were living, and therefore he could never design by those words to put himself in a succeeding generation. The persons to whom this epistle was written were Hebrews, or Jews; so called, as some think, from the name of Abraham, the father of them; or, as others, from his passing over the river Euphrates, when he came out of Chaldea into Palestine. So Abram the Hebrew, in Ge 14:13 is by the Septuagint rendered, perathv, "one that passes over", taking it to come from the word rbe, which signifies to "pass over"; with this compare Jos 24:3 and this is the opinion of some of the Jewish Rabbins {e}; though it seems rather that they were called so from Heber, who lived at the time of the confusion of languages; see
Ge 10:21. And this is the sense of many Jewish writers, ancient and modern, of Josephus {f}, of Jonathan ben Uzziel {g}, of R. Nehemiah {h}, of Aben Ezra {i}, and Kimchi {k}, and others;
See Gill on "2Co 11:22". And these were the Hebrews that dwelt in the land of Judea, and particularly at Jerusalem; nor were they the unbelieving inhabitants of those parts, but believers in Christ, who were embodied in a Gospel church state, It was a tradition of the ancients {l}, that this epistle was written originally in Hebrew, and was translated into Greek, either by Luke the Evangelist, or by Clement of Rome. But for this there is no foundation; no Hebrew copy can be produced; Munster's edition of it in Hebrew is a translation from the Greek, in which it was, no doubt, originally written, that being the common language, and well known to the Jews; and which appears from the citations in it out of the Old Testament, which are made, not from the Hebrew text, but from the Greek version; and besides, had it been written in Hebrew, the writer would not have interpreted the Hebrew words, Melchizedek and Salem, as he does, in Heb 7:1. The time of its writing was before the destruction of Jerusalem, which in this book is signified by the coming of the Lord, and the day approaching; and after Timothy was released from prison, and some time within the two years of his own imprisonment at Rome; when he hoped for a release, as his epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon show. Dr. Lightfoot places it in the year 62, and in the eighth of Nero. And the occasion and design of it is, to set forth the superior excellency of Christ to angels and men, to Moses, to Joshua, to Aaron, and his sons, and the preferableness of his priesthood and sacrifice to the Levitical priesthood and its sacrifices; to teach the Hebrews the true knowledge of the mysteries of their law; to point out to them the design, use, and abrogation of its ceremonies; and to prepare them for what afflictions and persecutions they would be called to endure for Christ; and to exhort them to perseverance, and to strengthen them against apostasy, as well as to instruct them in the various duties of religion.
{a} Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 38. {b} lb. c. 3. & l. 6. c. 20. {c} Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 25. {d} Ib. c. 14. {e} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 42. fol. 37. 3. Jarchi in Gen. x. 21. & xiv. 13. {f} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4. {g} Targum in Gen. x. 21. {h} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 42. fol. 37. 3. {i} In Gen. x. 21. & in Jonam, 1. 9. {k} Sepher Shorashim, rad. rbe {l} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 14. Hieronymi Catalog. Script. Eccl. sect. 15. fol. 91. Tom. 1.
INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 1
The intention of this epistle being to demonstrate the superior excellency of the Gospel revelation to the legal one, the apostle begins with the divine author of it, in which they both agree, and observes that in other things they differ. The revelation under the law was made in times past, the Gospel revelation in these last days; the former was made to the Jewish fathers that were of old, the latter to the then present apostles; the one was made at sundry times, and in divers manners, the other was made at once, and in one way; the one was made by the prophets of the Lord, the other by his own son, Heb 1:1 and therefore the latter must be the more excellent; in proof of which the author enlarges on the character of the Son of God, with respect to his person, office, and glory; showing that he is heir of all things, the Maker of the worlds, of the same nature and glory with his Father; is omnipotent, and upholds all things by the word of his power; is the High Priest of his people, who has made satisfaction for their sins, and purged them from them, and is now at the right hand of God, Heb 1:2 He goes on to prove that he is more excellent than the angels, by a variety of arguments, and these supported by testimonies from the Scriptures; as that he has a more excellent name than any of them, being called the Son of God, Heb 1:4 which is proved from Ps 2:7 that he is the object of the worship of angels, Heb 1:6 which is required of them,
Ps 97:7 that he is their Maker and Creator, Heb 1:7 which appears from Ps 104:4 that he has an everlasting kingdom, is a righteous King, and is richly anointed above his fellows, Heb 1:8 which is the sense of some passages in Ps 45:6 and that he is the founder and former of the heavens, and of the earth, and will endure when they shall not, Heb 1:10 which is confirmed by testimonies out of Ps 102:25 that he sits at the right hand of God, where none of the angels were ever admitted, Heb 1:13 as is clear from Ps 110:1 and besides, the angels, as they are ministers made by him, they are sent out from him to wait on his people, the heirs of salvation, and minister to them, and therefore he must be greater than they, Heb 1:14.
Ver. 1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners,.... The apostle begins the epistle with an account of the revelation God has made of his mind and will in former times: the author of this revelation is God, not essentially, but personally considered, even God the Father, as distinguished from his Son in the next verse; for the revelation under the Old Testament is divine, as well as that under the New; in this they both agree, in whatsoever else they differ: and this revelation was made at several times, at different seasons, and to different persons; and consisted of a variety of things relating to doctrine and worship, and concerning the Messiah, his person and office; of whom, at different times, there were gradual discoveries made, both before and after the giving of the law, from the beginning of the world, or the giving forth of the first promise, and in the times of the patriarchs, of: Moses, David, Isaiah, and other prophets: and this was delivered in various manners; sometimes by angels; sometimes in a dream; at other times by a vision; and sometimes by Urim and Thummim: and this he
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets; by Moses, and other succeeding prophets, as David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi, and others; who were sent to the Jewish fathers, the ancestors of the people of the Jews, to whom they prophesied and declared the will of God, as they were moved and inspired by the Holy Ghost: and the apostle suggests, by this way of speaking, that it was a long time since God spake to this people; for prophecy had ceased ever since the times of Malachi, for the space of three hundred years; and this time past includes the whole Old Testament dispensation, from the beginning to the end of it, or of prophecy in it.
Hebrews 1:2
Ver. 2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,.... This is the Gospel revelation, or the revelation in the Gospel dispensation; which though it comes from the same author the other does, yet in many things differs from it, and is preferable to it; and indeed the general design of this epistle is to show the superior excellency of the one to the other; the former was delivered out in time past, but this "in these last days"; the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, and several other copies, read, "in the last of these days": perfectly agreeable to the phrase Mymyh tyrxab, used in Ge 49:1 to which the apostle refers, and in which places the days of the Messiah are intended; and it is a rule with the Jews {m}, that wherever the phrase, "the last days", is mentioned, the days of the Messiah are designed: and they are to be understood not of the last days of the natural world, but of, the Jewish world and state; indeed the times of the Messiah, or Gospel dispensation, may be called the last days of the natural world, according to the tradition of the house of Elias; which teaches, that the duration of the world will be six thousand years, and divides it into three parts, the last of which is assigned to the Messiah, thus; two thousand years void, (or without the law,) two thousand years the law, and two thousand years the days of the Messiah {n}: but it is best to understand this of the last days of the Mosaic economy, or Jewish dispensation; for the Messiah was to come before the Jewish civil and church states were dissolved; before the sceptre departed from Judah, and before the second temple was destroyed; and he was to come at the end, or toward the close of both these states; and which is called the end, or ends of the world, Hab 2:3 and quickly after Jesus, the true Messiah was come, an end was put to both these: from whence it may be observed, that the Messiah must be come; that the Mosaic economy, and Jewish worship, will never be restored again; that the Gospel revelation being made in the last days, ought to be regarded the more, it being the last revelation God will ever make. Moreover, this differs from the former in this respect, that was made to the fathers, this "to us"; meaning either the apostles in particular, or the Jews in general, to whom the apostle is writing: this shows that the Gospel revelation was first made to the Jews; and it being made to them personally, they were under great obligation to regard it; and that God had not cast off his people; and that though he had greatly indulged their fathers, he had showed greater favour to them, having provided some better thing for them: and there is a difference between these two revelations in the manner in which they were made; the former was at sundry times, and in divers manners, the latter was made at once, and in one way; that was delivered out in parts, and by piece meal, this the whole together; the whole mind and will of God, all his counsel, all that Christ heard of the Father; it is the faith that was once, and at once, delivered to the saints; and it has been given out in one way, by the preaching of the word: to which may be added, that formerly God spoke by many persons, by the prophets, but now by one only, "by his Son"; who is so not by creation, nor by adoption, nor by office, but by nature; being his own Son, his proper Son, begotten of him, of the same nature with him, and equal to him; and so infinitely preferable to the prophets: he is a Son, and not a servant, in whom the Father is, and he in the Father, and in whom the Spirit is without measure; and God is said to speak by him, or in him, because he was now incarnate; and what he says from God should be attended to, both on account of the dignity of his person, as the Son of God, and because of the authority he came with as Mediator: whom he hath appointed heir of all things; which must be understood of him not as God, and Creator; for as such he has a right to all things; all that the Father has are his; the kingdom of nature and providence belongs to him, he being the Former and Maker of all things; but as Mediator, who has all things committed to him, to subserve the ends of his office; and has a kingdom appointed him, and which he will deliver up again the word all may refer either to persons or things; to persons, not angels, good or bad, though both are subject to him, yet neither are called his inheritance; but elect men, who are his portion, and the lot of his inheritance; and to things relating to these persons, and for their use and service, in time, and to all eternity; as all temporal things, and all spiritual ones, the blessings and promises of the covenant of grace, the gifts and graces of the Spirit, and eternal glory and happiness, the saints' inheritance, who are joint heirs with Christ.
By whom also he made the worlds; this is said in agreement with the notions of the Jews, and their way of speaking, who make mention of three worlds, which they call, the upper world (the habitation of God), the middle world (the air), and the lower world {o} (the earth); and sometimes they call them the world of angels (where they dwell), the world of orbs (where the sun, moon, and stars are), and the world below {p} (on which we live); and it is frequent in their writings, and prayer books {q}, to call God Mymlweh lk Nwbr, "Lord of all worlds"; See Gill on "Heb 11:3", these God made by his Son, not as an instrument, but as an efficient cause with him; for by him were all things made, whether visible or invisible; and the preposition "by" does not always denote instrumentality, but sometimes efficiency; and is used of God the Father himself, and in this epistle, Heb 2:10.
{m} Kimchi & Aben Ezra in Isa. ii. 2. {n} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 1. {o} Tzeror Hammor, fol. 1. 4. & 3. 2, 3. Caphtor, fol. 79. 1. {p} Tzeror Hammor, fol. 83. 2. Caphtor, fol. 90. 1. {q} Seder Tephillot, fol. 5. 2. & 40. 2. Ed. Amstelod.
Hebrews 1:3
Ver. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory,.... Or "of glory"; of God the Father, the God of glory, and who is glory itself; so called on account of his glorious nature and perfections and because of the glorious manifestations of them in his works of creation and providence, and in the various dispensations of his grace, and especially in his Son; and because he is the author of all glory, in the creatures, in the whole world, in Christ as man and Mediator, and in his own people. Now Christ is the "brightness" of this, as he is God; he has the same glorious nature and perfections, and the same glorious names, as Jehovah, the Lord of glory, &c. and the same glory, homage, and worship given him: the allusion is to the sun, and its beam or ray: so some render it "the ray of his glory"; and may lead us to observe, that the Father and the Son are of the same nature, as the sun and its ray; and that the one is not before the other, and yet distinct from each other, and cannot be divided or separated one from another: so the phrase hyrqy Nyz, "the brightness of his glory", is used of the divine Being, in the Chaldee paraphrases {r}; see the Apocrypha.
"For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.'' (Wisdom 7:26)
And the express image of his person; this intends much the same as the other phrase; namely, equality and sameness of nature, and distinction of persons; for if the Father is God, Christ must be so too; and if he is a person, his Son must be so likewise, or he cannot be the express image and character of him;
See Gill on "Col 1:15".
And upholding all things by the word of his power; the Syriac version renders it, "by the power of his word", to the same sense, only inverting the words. The Targumist on 2Ch 2:6 uses a phrase very much like this, of God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain; because, adds he, hytrwbg erdb alk lybo, "he bears", or "sustains all things by the arm of his power"; and the words are to be understood not of the Father, upholding all things by his essential and powerful Word, his Son; but of the Son himself, who upholds all creatures he has made; bears up the pillars of the universe; preserves every creature in its being, and supports it, and supplies it with the necessaries of life; rules and governs all, and providentially orders and disposes of all things in the world, and that by his all powerful will; which makes it manifest, that he is truly and properly God, and a very fit person to be a priest, as follows:
when he had by himself purged our sins; the Arabic and Ethiopic versions seem to refer this to God the Father, as if he, by Christ, made the expiation of sin, and then caused him to sit down at his right hand; but it belongs to the Son himself, who of himself, and by himself alone, and by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement for the sins of his people; which is meant by the purgation of them: he took their sins upon himself, and bore them, and removed them far away, and utterly abolished them, which the priests under the law could not do: and when he had so done,
he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; by "Majesty" is meant God the Father, to whom majesty belongs; who is clothed with it, and which is before him: and his "right hand" designs his power, greatness, and glory, and is expressive of the high honour Christ, as man, is possessed of; for his sitting here denotes the glorious exaltation of him in human nature, after his sufferings, and death, and resurrection from the dead; and shows that he had done his work, and was accepted, and was now enjoying rest and ease, honour and glory, in which he will continue; and the place of his session, as well as of the habitation of God, at whose right hand he sits, is on high, in the highest heavens.
{r} Targum in 2 Sam xxii. 13. & in Cant. v. 10.
Hebrews 1:4
Ver. 4. Being made so much better than the angels,.... Christ is so much better than the angels, as the Creator, than the creature; as an independent being, than a dependent one; as he that blesses, than he that is blessed; as he that is worshipped, than he that worships: as a king, than his subjects; as a master, than his servants; and as he that sends, than he that is sent: and Christ may be said to be "made so", when he was manifested and declared to be so; and he was actually preferred to them, and exalted above them in human nature, after he had expiated the sins of his people, and when he was set down at the right hand of God, as in the latter part of the preceding verse, with which these words stand connected; for in his state of humiliation, and through his sufferings and death, he was made lower than they; but when he was risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven, he was placed at the right hand of God, where none of them ever was, or ever will be: besides, the phrase, "being made", signifies no more than that "he was"; and so the Syriac version renders it, "and he was so much better than the angels"; and so the Ethiopic version, "he is so much better": and this is observed, to prove him to be more excellent than any creature, since he is preferred to the most excellent of creatures; and to show, that the Gospel dispensation is superior to the legal dispensation, which was introduced by the ministration of angels; and to take off the Jews from the worship of angels, to which they were prone: and this doctrine of his could not be well denied by them, since it was the faith of the Jewish church, that the Messiah should be preferred to the angels: for in their ancient writings they say of him, he shall be exalted above Abraham, he shall be lifted up above Moses, and be higher than the ministering angels {s}; and that he is above them, appears from what follows,
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they; which is that of the Son of God, a name peculiar to him; and which belongs to him in such a sense as it does not to angels, as is evident from the following verse: and though this name is not founded on his office, as Mediator, but arises from his nature and relation to God; yet he was declared to be the Son of God, and it was made manifest, that this name of right belonged to him, upon the discharge of his office, at his resurrection and ascension to heaven; and therefore he is said to obtain it by inheritance; or he appeared to inherit it of right, and that it was his possession for evermore.
{s} Tanchuma spud Huls. p. 321.
Hebrews 1:5
Ver. 5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time,.... That is, he never said to any of the angels what he has said to Christ; namely, what follows,
thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee for though angels are called the sons of God, Job 1:6 yet are never said to be begotten by him; or, with this clause annexed to it, "this day have I begotten thee"; nor are they ever so called in a proper sense, or in such sense as Christ is: this is said to Christ, and of him, in Ps 2:7 and that agreeably to the sense of the Jewish church at this time, or the apostle would never have produced it to the Hebrews in such a manner; and not only the whole psalm in general, but this verse in particular, is owned by Jewish writers {t}, both ancient and modern, to belong to the Messiah. Christ is the Son of God, not by Creation, nor by adoption, nor by office, but by nature; he is the true, proper, natural, and eternal Son of God; and as such is owned and declared by Jehovah the Father, in these words; the foundation of which relation lies in the begetting of him; which refers not to his nature, either divine or human: not to his divine nature, which is common with the Father and Spirit; wherefore if his was begotten, theirs must be also, being the same undivided nature, common to all three; much less to his human nature, in which he is never said to be begotten, but always to be made, and with respect to which he is without Father; nor to his office, as Mediator, in which he is not a Son, but a servant; besides, he was a Son, previous to his being a prophet, priest, and King; and his office is not the foundation of his sonship, but his sonship is the foundation of his office; or by which that is supported, and which fits him for the performance of it: but it has respect to his divine person; for as, in human generation, person begets person, and like begets like, so it is in divine generation; though care must be taken to remove all imperfection from it, as divisibility and multiplication of essence, priority and posteriority, dependence, and the like; nor can the modus, or manner of it, be conceived, or explained by us: the date of it, today, designs eternity, as in Isa 43:13, which is one continued day, an everlasting now; and this may be applied to any time and case, in which Christ is declared to be the Son of God; as at his incarnation, his baptism, his transfiguration on the Mount, and his resurrection from the dead, as in Ac 13:33 and at his ascension to heaven, when he was made Lord and Christ, and his divine sonship more manifestly appeared; which seems to be the time, and case, more especially referred to here. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a Son: which words are taken from 2Sa 7:14 and the sense is, not that he should be his son by adoption; or that he would be instead of a father to him; or that he should be as dear to him as a son is to a father; but that he was really and properly so; and he would make it manifest, and own him as such, as he did at Jordan's river, upon the Mount, and at his resurrection and ascension; though the words are spoken of Solomon, as a type of Christ, they properly belong to the antitype, who is greater than Solomon.
{t} Zohar in Numb. fol. 82. 2. Maimon. in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. 1. & Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 37. 4. & 38. 1.
Hebrews 1:6
Ver. 6. And again, when he bringeth the first begotten into the world;.... By "the first begotten" is meant Christ. This is a name given him in the Old Testament, and is what the Hebrews were acquainted with, and therefore the apostle uses it; it is in
Ps 89:27 from whence it seems to be taken here, and which the ancient Jews {u} acknowledge is to be understood of the Messiah; who, as the Son of God, is the only begotten of the Father, and was begotten from eternity, as before declared, and before any creature had a being, and therefore called the firstborn of every creature, Col 1:15 and is sometimes styled the first begotten from the dead; he rose the first in time, and is the first in causality and dignity: and he may be called the firstborn, with respect to the saints, who are of the same nature with him, and are partakers of the divine nature, and are adopted into the family of God, though they are not in the same class of sonship with him; and the bringing of him into the world may refer to his second coming, for this seems agreeable from the natural order of the words, which may be rendered, "when he shall bring again", &c. that is, a second time, and from Ps 97:1 from whence the following words are cited; and from the glory he shall then have from the angels, who will come with him, and minister to him; and not to his resurrection from the dead, when he was exalted above angels, principalities, and powers; though, as we read the words, they seem to regard his first coming in to this habitable world, at his incarnation and birth, when he was attended with angels, and worshipped by them, according to the order of God the Father, as follows:
he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him; these words are cited from Ps 97:7 where the angels are called Elohim, gods. So Aben Ezra on the place observes, that there are some (meaning their doctors) who say, that "all the gods are the angels"; and Kimchi says, that the words are not imperative, but are in the past tense, instead of the future,
all the angels have worshipped him; that is, they shall worship him; as they have done, so they will do. According to our version, they are called upon to worship God's firstborn, his only begotten Son, with a religious worship and adoration, even all of them, not one excepted; which shows, that Christ, as the first begotten, is the Lord God, for he only is to be served and worshipped; and that if angels are to worship him, men ought; and that angels are not to be worshipped, and that Christ is preferable to them; and the whole sets forth the excellency and dignity of his person. Philo the Jew {w} often calls the Logos, or Word of God, his first begotten.
{u} Shemot Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 104. 4. {w} De Agricultura, p. 195. De Confus. Ling. p. 329, 341. Somniis, p. 597.
Hebrews 1:7
Ver. 7 And of the angels he saith,.... Or "to the angels", as in the following verse, "to the Son", which stands opposed to this; and the words said to them, or of them, are found in Ps 104:4
who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire: this cannot be understood of the wind and lightning, and of God's making these his messengers and ministers to do his will; for such a sense is not suitable to the scope of the psalm, from whence they are taken, nor to the order of the words in which they stand; for it is not said he makes spirits, or winds, his angels, and flaming fire his ministers, but the reverse; and is contrary to the design of the apostle in citing them, which is to show the superiority of Christ to angels, of whom it is said, that they are made spirits: they are "spirits", created ones, and so differ from God the Creator: they are incorporeal ones, and so differ from men; they are immaterial, and so die not; they are spiritual substances subsisting in themselves: and they are "made" such by God the Father, and by the Son the Lord Jesus Christ, within the six days of the creation, and all at once; for it is not to be supposed that the Lord is daily making them; and this proves the Son to be God, as well as more excellent than the angels; unless this is to be understood of the daily disposal of them in providence, in causing winds, thunder, lightning, and the like. Some choose to supply the word with "as", and read, who maketh his angels as winds; for invisibility, velocity, power, and penetration: "and his ministers as a flame of fire"; and these are the same with the angels, for they are ministers to God; they attend his presence; are ready to perform any service for him; they sing his praise, and are his chariots in which he rides: and they are ministers to Christ; they attended at his incarnation: were solicitous for his preservation, ministered to him in distress, assisted at his resurrection, and accompanied him in his ascension, and will be with him at his second coming: and they are as a flame of fire, so called from their great power, force, and swiftness; and from their burning love, and flaming zeal, hence named seraphim; and because they are sometimes the executioners of God's wrath, and will descend in flaming fire, when Christ shall be revealed from heaven: angels sometimes appear in fiery forms; the chariots and horses of fire, by which Elijah was carried up to heaven, were no other than angels, in such forms: so the Jews {x} say of the angels,
"all the angels, their horses are horses of fire, and their chariots fire, and their bows fire, and their spears fire, and all their instruments of war fire.''
And they have a notion, that an angel is half water, and half fire {y}.
{x} Sepher Jetzirah, p. 16. Ed. Rittangel. {y} T. Hieros. Roshhashana, fol. 58. 1.
Hebrews 1:8
Ver. 8. But unto the Son, he saith,.... What he does not to angels, and which sets him infinitely above them; which shows him to be a Prince and King, and not a servant, or minister; and which even ascribes deity to him:
thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: this, with what follows in this verse, and the next, is taken out of Ps 45:6 which psalm is not spoken of Solomon, to whom many things in it will not agree; he was not fairer than other men; nor was he a warrior; nor was his throne for ever and ever; and much less a divine person, and the object of worship; but the Messiah, and so the ancient Jews understand it: the Targum applies it to him, and mentions him by name in Heb 1:2 and some of their modern writers {z} affirm it is said of the Messiah; though Aben Ezra seems doubtful about it, saying, it is spoken concerning David, or Messiah his Son, whose name is so, Eze 37:25. Deity is here ascribed to the Son of God; he is expressly called God; for the words will not bear to be rendered, "thy throne is the throne of God, or thy throne is God"; or be supplied thus, "God shall establish thy throne": nor are the words an apostrophe to the father, but are spoken to the king, the subject of the psalm, who is distinguished from God the Father, being blessed and anointed by him; and this is put out of all doubt by the apostle, who says they are addressed "to the Son", who is not a created God, nor God by office, but by nature; for though the word "Elohim" is sometimes used of those who are not gods by nature; yet being here used absolutely, and the attributes of eternity, and most perfect righteousness, being ascribed to the person so called, prove him to be the true God; and this is the reason why his throne is everlasting, and his sceptre righteous, and why he should be worshipped, served, and obeyed. Dominion and duration of it are given to him; his throne denotes his kingly power, and government; which is general, over angels, good and bad; over men, righteous and wicked, even the greatest among them, the kings and princes of the earth: and special, over his church and people; and which is administered by his Spirit and grace in the hearts of his saints; and by his word and ordinances in his churches; and by his powerful protection of them from their enemies; and will be in a glorious manner in the latter day, and in heaven to all eternity; for his throne is for ever, and on it he will sit for ever: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; he will have no successor in it, nor can his government be subverted; and though he will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, it will not cease.
A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom; the sceptre is an ensign of royalty; and a sceptre of righteousness, or rightness, is expressive of the justice of government; the Syriac version renders it, "a sceptre stretched out"; which is a sceptre of mercy, as the instance of Ahasuerus stretching out his sceptre to Esther shows; and such is the Gospel of Christ, which holds forth and declares the mercy, grace, and love of God to men through Christ; and which may be called a sceptre of righteousness, since it reveals and directs to the righteousness of Christ, and encourages to works of righteousness; but here it designs the righteous administration of Christ's kingly office; for just and true are, have been, and ever will be his ways, as King of saints.
{z} Kimchi & R. Sol. ben Melech in loc. & R. Abraham Seba, Tzeror Hammor, fol. 49. 2.
Hebrews 1:9
Ver. 9. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity,.... Christ loves righteous persons and righteous works, faithfulness and integrity, and a just administration of government, everything that is holy, just, and good; which has appeared in the whole course of his life on earth, in working out a righteousness for his people, and in encouraging righteousness in them, which he leads them in the way of; and his love of justice will still more appear at the last day, when he will judge the world in righteousness, and give the crown of righteousness to proper persons: and he hates iniquity; or "unrighteousness", as the Alexandrian copy and another read; as being contrary to his nature, both as God and man, and to the righteous law of God; which has appeared by his inveighing against it, and dehorting from it; by his severity exercised towards delinquents; by his suffering for it, and abolishing of it; and by chastising his own people on account of it; and his abhorrence of it will still more appear at the day of judgment, when all workers of iniquity, professors and profane, will be bid to depart from him:
therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows: the anointer is the God of Christ; that is, God the Father, who is the God of Christ, as man; and is so called, because he prepared and formed the human nature of Christ, and supported it under all its sufferings, and has glorified it; and as such Christ prayed unto him, believed in him, loved him, and obeyed him: the anointed is the Son of God, the Son spoken to, and is called God in the preceding verse; though he is not anointed as God, but as Mediator, to be prophet, and priest, and King: what he is anointed with is not material oil, but spiritual, the Holy Ghost, as it is explained in Ac 10:38 called the oil of gladness, in allusion to the use of oil at feasts and weddings, for the delight and refreshment of the guests; and because of the spiritual effects of joy and gladness, both on Christ, as man, and on his people. Now Christ was anointed as Mediator from all eternity; that is, he was invested with his office as such; and at his conception and birth he was filled with the Holy Ghost; who also descended on him at his baptism, after which he went about doing good, and healing diseases; but here it seems to refer to the time of his ascension, when he was declared to be Lord and Christ, the anointed one; and received gifts for men, the fulness of the Spirit without measure, and with which he was anointed above his "fellows"; by whom are meant, not the angels, nor the kings and princes of the earth; but the saints, who are so called, because they are of the same nature, and are of the same family, and are partakers of the same spirit, and grace; and having received the unction from him, are also kings, priests, and prophets, and will be companions with him to all eternity. Now the reason of his being anointed, or exalted, and made Lord and Christ, is, because he loves righteousness; see Php 2:7 or rather, because he is anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure, therefore he loves righteousness; for the words may be rendered, "thou lovest righteousness--because God, thy God, hath anointed thee".
Hebrews 1:10
Ver. 10. And thou Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth,.... The person here addressed, as the Lord or Jehovah, and as the Maker of the heavens and the earth, is the same with the Son spoken to, and of, before; for the words are a continuation of the speech to him, though they are taken from another psalm, from
Ps 102:25. The phrase, "thou, Lord" is taken from Ps 102:12 and is the same with, "O my God", Ps 102:24 and whereas it is there said, "of old", and here, in the beginning, the sense is the same; and agreeably to the Septuagint, and the apostle, Jarchi interprets it by hlyxtm, "at", or "from the beginning"; and so the Targum paraphrases it, zywrv Nm, "from the beginning", that the creatures were created, &c. that in the beginning of the creation, which is the apostle's meaning; and shows the eternity of Christ, the Lord, the Creator of the earth, who must exist before the foundation of the world; and confutes the notion of the eternity of the world: and the rounding of it shows that the earth is the lower part of the creation; and denotes the stability of it; and points out the wisdom of the Creator in laying such a foundation; and proves the deity of Christ, by whom that, and all things in it, were made:
the heavens are the works of thine hands: there are more heavens than one; there are the airy heaven, and the starry heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the third heaven; and they were created the beginning, as the earth was, Ge 1:1 and are the immediate work of Christ; they were made by himself, not by the means of angels, who were not in being till these were made; nor by any intermediate help, which he could not have, and which he did not need: the phrase is expressive of the power of Christ in making the upper parts of the creation, and of his wisdom in garnishing them, in which there is a wonderful display of his glory; and the whole serves to set forth the dignity and excellency of his person.
Hebrews 1:11
Ver. 11. They shall perish,.... That is, the heavens and the earth; not as to the substance of them, but as to the quality of them; the present form and fashion of them shall pass away; the curse will be removed from them, and they will be renewed and purified, but the substance of them will continue; otherwise there would be no place, either for the righteous or the wicked,
But thou remainest; without any change or alteration, neither in his natures, divine or human, as God or man, nor in his office as Mediator; as a priest, he has an unchangeable priesthood, and ever lives to make intercession; as a King, his kingdom is an everlasting one, and of it there will be no end; and as a prophet, he will be the everlasting light, of his people.
They all shall wax old as doth a garment; garments in time wax old, and lose their beauty and usefulness, unless when a miracle is wrought, as in the case of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Now the heavens, and the light thereof, are as a garment and a curtain, Ps 104:2 and these, together with the earth, will in time come to their end of usefulness, in the present form of them; see
Isa 51:6.
Hebrews 1:12
Ver. 12. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,.... In order to lay them aside, and make no use of them in the manner they now are; just as clothes, when they are grown old, or out of fashion, are folded up, and laid aside from use at present, or are put into another form. In the Hebrew text it is, "as a vesture shalt thou change them"; but the sense is the same, for a garment is changed by folding it, or turning it; agreeably to which Jarchi interprets the Hebrew phrase thus,
"as a man turns his garment to put it off;''
the Vulgate Latin version reads as the Hebrew does, and one of the manuscripts of New College, Oxford.
And they shall be changed; as to their form and use, not as to their being; for a change, and an annihilation, are two things:
but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail; which is expressive of the immutability of Christ, in his nature and perfections, in his person, and offices, in the virtue of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; and of his duration or continuance, in opposition to the fading and transitory nature of the heavens and earth, and of all outward enjoyments: and this may serve to take off the heart from the one, and set it upon the other; and to strengthen our faith in Christ, and encourage us to expect a continuance of blessings from him; all supplies of grace now, and eternal glory hereafter.
Hebrews 1:13
Ver. 13. But to which of the angels said he at any time,.... That is, he never said to any of them in his council, or covenant; he never designed to give them any such honour, as hereafter expressed; he never promised it to them, or bestowed it on them; he never called up any of them to so high a place, or to such a dignity:
sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool; yet this he said to his Son, Ps 110:1 for to him, the Messiah, are they spoken, and have had their fulfilment in him: See Gill on "Mt 22:44"; and therefore he must be greater than the angels.
Hebrews 1:14
Ver. 14. Are they not all ministering spirits,.... Servants to God, to Christ, and to his people, and therefore must be inferior to the Son of God. The phrase is Rabbinical; frequent mention is made in Jewish writings {a} of trvh ykalm, "the angels of ministry", or "the ministering angels"; this is their common appellation with the Jews; and the apostle writing to such, uses a like phrase, well known to them, and appeals to them, if the angels were not such spirits.
Sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation? the persons they minister to, and for, are those, who shall be the heirs of salvation; that is, of eternal glory, which will be possessed by the saints, as an inheritance: hence it belongs to children, being bequeathed to them by their Father, and comes to them through the death of Christ, of which the Spirit is the earnest; and this shows that it is not of works, and that it is of an eternal duration, and takes in all kind of happiness: and of this the saints are heirs now; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "who are heirs of salvation"; nor should it be rendered, "who shall be heirs", but rather, "who shall inherit salvation"; for this character respects not their heirship, but their actual inheriting of salvation: and the ministry of angels to, and for them, lies in things temporal and spiritual, or what concern both their bodies and their souls; in things temporal, in which they have often been assisting, as in providing food for their bodies, in curing their diseases, in directing and preserving them in journeys, in saving and delivering them from outward calamities, in restraining things hurtful from hurting them, and in destroying their enemies; in things spiritual, as in making known the mind and will of God to them, in comforting them, and suggesting good things to them, and in helping and assisting them against Satan's temptations; and they are present with their departing souls at death, and carry them to heaven, and will gather the elect together at the last day. And they are "sent forth" to minister to them in such a way; they are sent forth by Christ, the Lord and Creator of them, who therefore must be superior to them; they do not take this office upon themselves, though, being put into they faithfully and diligently execute it, according to the will of Christ: and this shows the care of Christ over his people, and his kindness to them, and the great honour he puts upon them, to appoint such to minister to them; and since they are of so much use and service, they ought to be respected and esteemed, though not worshipped.
{a} T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 12. 2. & 14. 1, 2. & 16. 1. Taanith, fol. 11. 1. & Megilia, fol. 15. 2. & in Zohar passim.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
God spake to his ancient people at sundry times,
through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he
thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by
dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on
the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above
the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son.
In beholding the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we behold the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Father,
John 14:7; the fulness of the Godhead dwells, not typically, or in a
figure, but really, in him. When, on the fall of man, the world was
breaking to pieces under the wrath and curse of God, the Son of
God, undertaking the work of redemption, sustained it by his
almighty power and goodness. From the glory of the person and
office of Christ, we proceed to the glory of his grace. The glory of
His person and nature, gave to his sufferings such merit as was a
full satisfaction to the honour of God, who suffered an infinite injury
and affront by the sins of men. We never can be thankful enough
that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness,
spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by
himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our
utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.WHBC 1735.2
God spake to his ancient people at sundry times,
through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he
thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by
dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on
the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above
the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son.
We never can be thankful enough
that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness,
spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by
himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our
utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.WHBC 1735.2
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary