Tov xpardroxov, “the first-begotten,” “the first-born,” he before whom none is born, nor necessarily after whom any is so. Under the law there was a sac- rifice for the zparéroxos, “ first-begotten;” so called when as yet none were he- gotten after him, and very uncertain whether ever any should be so of the same womb or no; and doubtless it often fell out that none were so.
Eis ray oinovpevany; ban ; “the habitable world,” or 7S ban, Proy. viii., the
150 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. I.
public place of habitation, where the creatures of God do dwell. The word is nowhere used absolutely in Scripture in any sense but for this habitable world. Only, sometimes it hath a restrained sense, denoting the Roman empire, as Luke ii, 1, according to the usual language of those days, wherein the people of Rome, or their emperors, were styled “rerum,” and “orbis terrarum domini;” and it some- times indefinitely denotes any part of the world as habitable, Luke ii. 1, iv. 5, xxi. 26; and therefore oftentimes hath day.“ the whole,” joined with it, when it is extended universally to the habitable earth. ;
IIpooxvyyceraoav. Heb, “MM, imperative in Hithpael, from "7Y, “to in- cline, “to bow down.” The LXX. constantly render that word by xpooxvvéw- And xposxvyéw is probably derived from xdo, and thence xvvéw, “ oseulor,” “ to kiss;” which also is sometimes used for “ to adore,” or “worship,” as Tlaévree youu merrynares tol xuvéovre dearer». That is, says Eustathius, [I[pooxvvovos me, as dsowornv,—“They worship me as their lord;” for being joined with TETTHKOTESs, “bowing,” or “falling down,” it expresseth the whole use and signification of xpooxvyia, Tow kissing was of old a sign, token, and pledge of worship, especially to bow down and kiss the ground, I have elsewhere declared, And this deriva- tion of the word I prefer far before that which makes it primitively signify “more canum adulari,” as if taken from the crouching of dogs.
In the New Testament it is nowhere used but for that religious worship which is due to God alone. And when it is remembered of any that they did xpooxvveiv, or perform the duty and homage denoted by this word unto any but God, it is remembered as their idolatry, Rev. xiii, 12, 15. And unto this sense was it restrained of old by the Spartans, who denied that it was év vow, lawful for them dydoarov xpooxuvéesv,—that is, to fall down to or to adore a man, Herodot. in Polym.
And in this sense it is exceedingly restrained from the use and importance of mh, yea, and from that of MYT in Hithpael, though that always signifies a bow- ing down with respect and reverence; for it is employed to denote civil as well as religious worship. But for several sorts of religious worship, diversified by its objects, the Scripture knows nothing. The word properly denotes to bow down, and when it is referred unto God, it respects the inward reverence and subjec- tion of our minds by a metonymy of the adjunct. See it for civil respect, Gen. Xxvil. 29, xxxiii. 6.
"Ayysaot, Diy, “elohim,” is rendered “ angels” by the LXX., Gen. xxxi. 24° [according to some ss. only]; Job xxxviii. 7; Ps. viii. 5, xevii. 7, exxxviii. 1; of which interpretation of the word we shall treat in the ensuing exposition,*
1 Kal wpoox.—* Koi here exhibited does not appear in Ps. xevii. 7. I regard it as an intensive particle here. ..... One might render the phrase thus: ‘Let all the angels of God indeed worship him,’ or ‘even pay him obeisance or adora- tion.’” It must be spiritual worship, from the nature of the beings commanded to render it. Civil homage can hardly be predicated of angels. —MJoses Stwart.
Bleek, Tholuck, and Ebrard hold the quotation to be from Deut. xxxii. 43. * With respect to the absence of the words from the Masoretic text, we must, with all our deference to this text, as resting on ancient and strong tradition, never for- get that we have in the LXX., particularly in the Pentateuch, an equally ancient recension of the Hebrew text.”—Kbrard. ‘The difficulty in receiving the words as a quotation from Ps, xcvii. 7, lies in the fact that the word is Elohim, “ God” or “gods;” it is employed also to denote angels. “It may be sufficient to adduce one striking passage from Ps. viii. 5, ‘Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels ;’ literally, than God or gods. But such a literal translation is en- tirely out of the question, and there can be no reasonable doubt that angels is the true meaning.” The Syriac and Vulgate agree with the L:XX, in the use of angels [in Ps. xcvii. ]}.—Zwrner.—Ep.
VER. 6.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 151
Ver, 6.—And again, when he bringeth in the first-begot- ten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
This is the second argument used by the apostle to confirm his assertion of the preference of the Son above angels, and is taken from the command of God given unto them to worship him; for without controversy, he who is to be worshipped is greater than they whose duty it is to worship him,
In the words we must consider,—l. The apostle’s preface ; 2. His proof. And in the latter we must weigh,—(1.) The sense of it; (2.) The suctableness of it to his present purpose.