So that we may boldly say (éa7e Oappodvras judas Aéyetv). Lit. so that, being of good courage, we say. Oappeiv to be con- _ fident or bold, only herein Hebrews. Elsewhere only in Paul. The kindred form @apceiv is used in N. T. only in the im- perative Odpoe or Oapceire take courage. See Matt. ix. 2; Mk. vi. 50; J. xvi. 88; Acts xxiii. 11.
The Lord is my helper, etc. From LXX, Ps. cxvili. 6, with slight alteration. Here, what shall man do unto me is an independent clause. LXX inserts and: “my helper and I will not fear,” and connects the last clause with “ fear”: “TJ will not fear what man will do.”
564 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. XIII.
7-15. The following passage presents many difficulties of detail, but its general sense is clear. It sums up in a striking way the main topics of the epistle, bringing them all to bear upon the conclusion that Judaism and Christian- ity are mutually exclusive, and thus enforcing the warning against a relapse into Judaism. It goes to show, in connec- tion with other features of the epistle, the absurdity of the hypothesis that the epistle was intended as a warning to Gentile Christians against a relapse into Paganism. *
7. Remember them which have the rule over you (yv7- poveveTe TOY HYyounévwvy bu@v). Remember, with a view to observing their admonitions. For trav jyoupdver those who lead or rule, see on 1 Th. vy. 18. Used of both civil and ecclesiastical rulers. Clement of Rome, among a great vari- ety of names for church functionaries, has both syotpevos and mponyovpevor (see Ad Corinth. i, xxi). Comp. Acts xv. 22. In LXX frequently, of various forms of authority, and in later Greek of bishops and abbots. For “which have the rule,” rend. “which had,” ete.
Who have spoken (oitives édddnoav). Rend. “spake,” and comp. ch. ii. 3, 4.
Follow (ucueioGe). Rend. “imitate.” See on ch. vi. 12.
Considering (avaQewpotvres). Only here and Acts xvii. 23, see note. ‘The compound verb means to observe attentively. The simple verb Oewpety implies a spiritual or mental interest in the object. See on J. i. 18. NE RO SON DS
* The hypothesis that the letter was called out by ‘‘an amateur attach- ment to Levitical institutions’? on the part of Gentile Christians, leading to the adoption of an eclectic system in which Jewish elements figured, is too shadowy to call for serious refutation. That Judaism became a ‘‘ fad”? for a time in certain circles, is a well-known fact, which has its analogy in the affectation of Buddhism by certain individuals in modern times. But there is no historical evidence that in the Gentile church this affectation of J udaism ever assumed the proportions of a movement, or afforded a menace to Gentile
Christianity sufficiently serious to call out such a production as the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Cu. XL] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 565
The end of their conversation (rv éxBacw ths avaorpo- dis). “ExBaous only here and 1 Cor. x. 13 (note). It means outcome or issue. See Wisd. viii. 8. In 1 Cor. x. 18, way out. Comp. Wisd. ii. 17. ’Avactpody is life in intercourse with men. See on 1 Pet.i. 15. Conversation, in the older sense of that word, is a good rendering, as it is also a nearly literal rendering of the Greek word. The reference is to the end of their life; what kind of an end they made; possibly, but not necessarily, with an allusion to cases of martyrdom. What, now, was the subject of these teachers’ faith which is commended to imitation? It is stated in the next verse.
8. Jesus Christ the same (Incots Xpicrds 6 avrds). The A.V. is slipshod, leaving the sentence without connection, or in apparent apposition with the end of their conversation. In translation this is commonly corrected by inserting is: *“ Jesus Christ 7s the same,” etc. But even thus the real point of the statement is missed. No doubt the old teachers believed in the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ; but that fact is not represented as the subject of their faith, which would be irrelevant and somewhat flat. The emphatic point of the statement is Christ. They lived and died in the faith that Jesus is THE Curist—the Messiah. The readers were tempted to surrender this faith and to return to Judaism which denied Jesus’s messiahship (comp. ch. x. 29). Hence the writer says, “hold fast and imitate their faith in Jesus as the Christ. He is ever the same. He must be to you, to-day, what he was to them, yesterday, and will be forever