I do judge, therefore, that it is the eternal Word of God, or the person of Christ, which is the subject here spoken of, and that upon the ensuing reasons: —
First, 6 Aéyos, and 6 Adyog rod @cod, “the Word,” and “the Word of God,” is the proper name of Christ in respect of his divine nature, as the eternal Son of God. So is he called expressly, John i. 1, 2; Rey. xix. 13, Kadsiras +d bvowa adrod, 6 Adyos rod Ocod, “ His name is called” (or, “ this is his name,”) “the Word of God.” This, there- fore, being the name of Christ, where ail things that are spoken of it do agree unto him, and there be no cogent reasons in the context to the contrary, he is presumed to be spoken of, nor will any rule of interpretation give countenance to the embracing of another sense.
_ It is, as we heard before, excepted against this first reason, that Christ is called 6 Aéyos, “the Word,” only in the writings of John the evangelist, and nowhere else in the New Testament, particu- larly not by our apostle in any of his epistles,
_ Ans. 1. This observation can scarcely be made good; I am sure not convincingly. Luke the evangelist tells us that some were aa’ apis wbrowras nal banpiros rod Abyou, chap. 1. 2,—“ from the begin- ning eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word:” that is, of the per- son of Christ; for these words are expounded, 1 John i. 1, “ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life.” They were airérras rod Aéyot,—* eye-witnesses of the Word.” How they could be said to be eye-witnesses of the word preached is not evident. Jerome ren- ders the words, “Sicut tradiderunt nobis, qui ab initio viderunt
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354 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. IV.
Sermonem et ministraverunt ei,” Praefat. in Evangel.;—“ As they delivered unto us, who from the beginning themselves saw the Word, and ministered unto him.” And ia7péra: must respect a person to whom those so called do minister, and not the word that is admi- nistered. In the same sense the word is used again most probably, Acts xx. 32: Tlaparilewas twits, &deApol, rH Och, nad rH Adyw. rhs xapiros adrod, rH Ouvawivy eroinodomroas nal dotvas dui xAnpovowsiay— “T commend you, brethren, to God, and to the Word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance.” To be able to build us up, and give us an inheritance, is the property of @ person; nor can they be ascribed to the word preached, without a forced prosopopeeia, and such as is unusual in Scripture. Therefore this Aéyog rig ydpiros rot cod is the Son of God. And he is called “the Word of his grace,” either because he was given unto us of his mere grace, as he is elsewhere called “the Son of his love;” or ré xdpirog may be “ genitivus effecti,” the Word that is the author and cause of grace; as God himself is called “the God of peace and love,” 2 Cor. xiii. 11. To him, therefore, are believers committed and commended by the apostle, as a recommendation is made of one man unto another in or by an epistle. See its sense in Acts xiv. 23; 1 Tim. i. 18; 1 Pet. iv. 19. Now, the word of the gospel is said to be committed or commended unto us, 2 Tim. ii. 2; so as we cannot, unless it be exceeding abusively,’ be said to be committed and commended thereunto. And if any will not admit the person of Christ to be here intended by “the Word of God’s grace,” I would supply an ellipsis, and read the text, “I commend you to God, and the Word of his grace, even to him that is able;” which I acknowledge the manner of the expression by the article r@ duveévy will bear.
2. But whatever may be spoken concerning this phraseology in other places and in other epistles of this apostle, there is peculiar reason for the use of it here. I have observed often before, that in writing this epistle to the Hebrews, our apostle accommodates himself to the apprehensions and expressions that were then in use among the Hebrews, so far as they were agreeable unto the truth, rectifying them when under mistakes, and arguing with them from their own concessions and persuasions. Now at this time there was nothing more common or usual, among the Hebrews, than to denote the second subsistence in the Deity by the name of “The Word of God.” They were now divided into two great parts; first, the in- habitants of Canaan, with the regions adjoining, and many old rem- nants in the east, who used the Syro-chaldean language, being but one dialect of the Hebrew; and, secondly, the dispersions under the
’ That is, in a sense remote from the proper use of the word.—Eb,
VER. 12, 13.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 855
Greek empire, who are commonly called Hellenists, who used the Greek tongue. And both these sorts at that time did usually, in their several languages, describe the second person in the Trinity by the name of “ The Word of God.” For the former sort, or those who used the Syro-chaldean dialect, we have an eminent proof of it in the translation of the Scripture which, at least some part of it, was made about this time amongst them, commonly called the Chaldee Paraphrase; in the whole whereof the second person is mentioned under the name of "1 N71, “ Memra da-Iova,” or the “Word of God.” Hereunto are all personal properties and all divine works assigned in that translation; which is an illustrious testi- mony to the faith of the old church concerning the distinct subsist- ence of a plurality of persons in the divine nature. And for the Hellenists, who wrote and expressed themselves in the Greek tongue, they used the name of 6 Aéyos rod @cot, the “ Word of God,” to the same purpose; as I have elsewhere manifested out of the writings of Philo, who lived about this time, between the death of our Saviour and the destruction of Jerusalem. And this one consideration is to me absolutely satisfactory as to the intention of the apostle in the using of this expression, especially seeing that all the things men- tioned may far more properly and regularly be ascribed unto the person of the Son than unto the word as written or preached. And whosoever will take the pains to consider what occurs in the Tar- gums concerning their "7 sD, the “ Word of God,” and com- pare it with what the apostle here speaks, and the manner of its introduction, will, if I greatly mistake not, be of the same mind with myself. But I shall add yet some further considerations.