Ver. 14.— Ody) révres ciod Azirovpyind wvetwara, cig Ssaxoviay aaoa- TEAAGWEVH OI TOS WEAAOITUS HANpOVOLEIY CUTNpIayY ;
There is no difference in the reading, nor much about the trans- lation of these words.
Ver. 14.—Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to minister to [unto a ministry Jor| them that shall inherit salvation?
1 TRANSLATION.—Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to execute His service, for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation ?—Conybeare and How- son.—ED.
238 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [ CHAP. I.
This was the common received doctrine of the church concerning angels, suitable unto the Scripture and to the purpose of the apostle, as manifesting their disinterest in the glory before ascribed unto the Son. ;
Sundry things are here expressed concerning angels, which we must briefly pass through the consideration of; as,—
1. Their nature. They are webwara, nin, “ruchoth,” “ spirits,’—spiritual subsistences; not qualities, or natu- ral faculties, as the Sadducees imagined, and which, by a homo- nymy of the name, Maimonides, More Nebuch. part. ii. cap. iii,” admits also to be angels, but falsely, and without authority from Scripture or reason. This is their nature, this the Hebrews acknow- ledged so to be; they are created spirits, not to be compared with or equalled unto Him that made and created all things.
2. Their office. They are wesjuwarw Aciroupyixc, “minis- tering spirits.” So are they termed, Ps. ciii. 21, “Praise the Lorp, all his hosts,” YY; LXX., rsroupyoi adrot, “ his ministers doing his will”’ Hence in general the Jews call them on», “ ministers;’ and among other titles assign this unto God, that he is pnw» ayy, “the Creator of ministering spirits or angels.” And expressly in the Talmud they are called xnyws ‘Nb; and more frequently by the rabbins in the Hebrew dialect, nwn ‘2N5p, “angels of ministry;” above whom that the Messiah was to be, we have for- merly showed from themselves.
Now, what kind of office or ministry it is that is ascribed unto them, the word itself doth in part declare. MW is to minister prin- cipally about holy things; nor is it above once applied unto any other ministry. And such a ministry it signifies as is performed with honour and ease; and is opposed unto 722, which is to minister with labouf and burden. So the ministry of the Levites in bearing the burden of the tabernacle is called TWay “a ministry with labour;” while the more easy and honourable employment, which was attended to by them who, by reason of their age, were exempted from bearing of burdens, is called MY, Num. viii. 11, Deut. xviii. 7. Such is the ministry of angels. It is in and about holy things, and unto themselves honourable and easy. And this MW, is rendered Asiroupyia, Which expresseth sometimes such a general ministry as compriseth the whole service and worship of the church: Acts xiii. 2, Asiroupyovvrav atraéy r% Kupiv,—As they ministered unto the Lord . that is, attended unto the performance of all the duties of the church.
This, then, in general is the office of the angels: they are ‘sxbp Men, or NM, seimara Aesroupyimcé,— ministering spirits,” that wait on God in and about his holy services for the good of the church; which also in the like manner ministereth unto God in its own state
Tveduare.
Asiroupyind.
a sm,
VER. 14.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 239
and condition. And hence it is that the church and they do make up one family, Eph. ii. 15; and they are all fellow-servants in the same family with them that keep the testimony of Jesus, Rev. xix. 10.
And this some of the later Jews have retained the tradition of; whence is that of Maimonides, More Nebuch. part. ii. cap. vi, which he citeth out of the Talmud: Sy snp. abnsw sy 325 Ay npn ps nbyis ;—“ The holy, blessed God doth nothing unless he consult with his superior family.” Only, not knowing the rise of the word snp, nor what it should ‘signify, he tells us, py pwS2 nnn sin wpe, “that in the Greek tongue it signifies a host;” whereas it is purely the Latin “ familia,’ without the least alteration. And the de- scription of this superior part of the family of God is given us, Dan. vii. 10, “Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thou- sand times ten thousand stood before him.” In which words Pseudo- Dionysius, Gregory, and Aquinas, with sundry of the schoolmen, have coined a distinction of angels, into “ ministrantes,” those that minister unto God, and “ assistentes,” those that stand before him; whereas the whole intendment of the expression is, that all the angels stood ministering before him, as John declares the matter, Rey. v. 11. And therefore the apostle expressly here affirms that they are “ all ministering spirits,” cutting off one member of their distinction. Neither is there more intended in the ministry of that upper part of the family of God than is expressed concerning the lower part of it of old: Deut. xviii. 5, God chose the priests and the Levites NY; “ind ”_« to stand and to minister in the name of the Lorp.” The same persons were both “assistentes” and “ minis-
- trantes;” they stood to minister before the Lord.
Now, because of this standing and ministering of angels,—that is, their waiting on God in a readiness to do his will,—they may be said in some sense to be the throne of God, from whence he exe- cuteth justice and judgment: for as he is called 0.21720 1Y*, Ps, Ixxx. 2, “He that dwelleth between the cherubim,” as also Ps. xcix. 1; so the Jews say that the thrones mentioned Dan. vii. were pioyn ow, “the higher princes” or “angels,” as Abarbanel on the place. This, then, is their office,—they are “all ministering spirits.” t