To lay hold upon the hope set before us (xpatfcat tijs mpoxemevns €rmioos). Kor xpathoat to lay fast hold, see on Mk. vii. 3; Acts iii, 11; Col. ii.19. Tpoxespeévns lying before or set before; destined or appointed. Mostly in Hebrews. Comp. 2 Cor. viii. 12; Jude 7.*
19. An anchor of the soul (dyxupay tis yuyjs). The same figure is implied 1 Tim. i. 19.
Sure and steadfast (acgadh te wai BeBaiav). The dis- tinction between the two adjectives expresses the relation of the same object to different tests applied from without. "Achar, a not, oparrewv to make totter, and so to baffle or foil. Hence, secure against all attempts to break the hold. BeBaiav sustaining one’s steps in going (Batvev to go): not breaking down under what steps upon it.
Which entereth into that within the veil (eicepyouevny els TO €owTEpov TOD KaTareTdcpatos). Const. the participle
* Liinemann takes xaragvyévres absolutely, and makes xparfioat rs mpok. éh. depend on rapdk. éx. that we who have jled for refuge might have strong consolation to lay hold, etc. ,
Cu. VI} THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 453
elcepxopuevny entering with anchor. ’*Eowrepov only here and Acts xvi. 24. Comparative, of something farther within. So écatépav dudraxny “the inner prison,” Acts xvi. 24. Karta- mwétacpa veil, °Class. Commonly in N. T. of the veil of the temple or tabernacle. See Matt. xxvii. 51; Heb. ix. 38. That within the veil is the unseen, eternal reality of the heay- enly world.* Two figures are combined: (a) the world a sea; the soul a ship; the hidden bottom of the deep the hidden reality of the heavenly world. (6) The present life the forecourt of the temple ; the future blessedness the shrine within the veil. The soul, as a tempest-tossed ship, is held by the anchor: the soul in the outer court of the temple is fastened by faith to the blessed reality within the shrine.
20. Whither the forerunner is for us entered (é7rou zpo- Spomos wrrép nuav eionrAGev). “Orrov, strictly where, instead of d7rot whither (not in N. T.), but more significant as indicating an abiding there. IIpddpouos forerunner, N. T.°. It expresses an entirely new idea, lying completely outside of the Leviti- cal system. The Levitical high priest did not enter the sanctuary as a forerunner, but only as the people’s representa- tive. He entered a place into which none might follow him ; in the people’s stead, and not as their pioneer. The peculiar- ity of the new economy is that Christ as high priest goes nowhere where his people cannot follow him. He introduces man into full fellowship with God. The A. V. entirely misses this point by rendering “the forerunner,” as if the idea of a high priest being a forerunner were perfectly famil- iar. Rend. whither as a forerunner Jesus entered. Comp. ch. x19.
Made a high priest (dapysepeds yevouevos). Rend. having become a high priest, etc. Become, because his office must be inaugurated by his suffering human life and his death.
* Two other arrangements are proposed: (a) dopadf, BeBalav, elcepxope- ynv with édrlda understood : hope, sure, steadfast, entering, etc. (b) dopadh and BeBalav with dyxvpay, and elcepx. with édr. a hope which enters, etc. (and which is) an anchor sure and steadfast.
454 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. VII.