The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 121

searching and resietless now. True, it is e.s expressing, by recurrence to the figure of through the Hypostatic Word that the God- a sword, the thoroughness of the division of head has ever operated, of old as well as so~ nnd spirit. Further, the division spoken now, being God's etemal utterance of him- of IS surely not of the soul from the spirit, self: the only question ie whether this truth as some have taken it. Delitzscb, e.g., ex- is here intended to be expressed, or, in plnins to this effect-that in fallen man other words, whether l\.&.,,os has here the his 1rv,uµ,a, which proceeded from God 1md personal sense in which St. John uses the carries in itself the Divine ima"e, has term. It ie possible tha.t the writer passes become," as it were, extinguished ;c;, that in thought to a personal sense in the "through the operation of grace man re- ,v,fnr,ov avTou of ver. 13, where auTou may calls to mind bis OIVIl true nature, though refer to .S l\.o-yos preceding, rather than to shattered by sin ; '' "that heavenly nature Tou 0,ou. Bnt certainly at the beginning of of man reappears when Christ is formed the passage this specific sense do05 not seem in him;" and thns the Word of God to be suggested either by the context or "marks out and separates" the ..-v,iiµ" in the language used. . him from the 1/,ux¾ in which it had been. Ver. 12.-l!'or living is the Word of God, "ae it were, extinguished." Then, taking and powerful (or, effectual; cf. Phil em. 6; the clause, &pµ,ii>v -r• ,cal µu<"-oiv, to express a 1 Cor. xvi. 9), and sharper than any two- further process of dissection, he explains by edged sword, and pieroing even to the di- saying that the Word of God "exhibits to viding of soul and spirit, of both joints and man the foct that ungodly powers are work- marrow, and a disoemer of the thoughts and ing o.lso in his bodily frame, which has intents of the heart. Observe how the pre- now in every joint o.nd chord and marrow dicates form a climax. The Word of God become the seat of sin and death, and so is, first, living, instinct with the life of the "goes on to scrutinize'' his bodily as well living God who utters it, itself a living as his spiritual part," and "lays he.re before power (cf. l\.o-yirz (oiVTa, Acts vii. 38); then, the eyes of God nnd before his own tho not only so, but also ope,-ative, effective of whole man thus described," But the idea its purpose; then, in this its operation, of the sepe.ration, in tho above sense, of the more keenly cutti711J than any sword ; 11:v,iiµ,a from the 1/,ux¾, even if tenable, is cutting so ae to penetrate through nnd certainly fe.r-fetched, nod that of the cor- through-through the whole inner being of poreal dissection supposecl is ho.rclly intel- man to its inmost depths; then, in doing ligible. ]!'urther, the "dividing" of the so, disce,-ning and opening to judgment all bodily parts spoken of in the text (whether the secrets of hie consciousness. This de- an illustration or a further process) does not scription of the power of the Word of God is suggest the separo.tion of one part from given ae a reason for the warning, o-,roulic£- another, since o. sword does not divide the awµ,•v, etc., " Let us give diligence," etc. ; joints or the limbs (whichever be me11Dt by fOT, if we sliglit the Word of God, \VB can o.pµ,oiv) from the marrow, though it may bnve no esonpe from its irresistible opern- penetrate both. We mo.y explo.in thus: It tion; we shall be thoroughly exposed and is well known that St. Po.ul divides mnn's inevitably judged. The view of the Word complex nature into body, soul, and spirit- of God having a she.rply ct1tting operation o-oiµ,a, ,j,ux¾, 1rv,iiµa (1 Thess. v. 23). His is found in Philo, from whom Bleek cites a bodily organizntion (aoiµa) is notuppo.rcntly series of pnssages cogno.te to this in the here under considero.tion, except in regcm.l Epistle. Cf. especially one in the treatise, to the figure of the sword; tho 1/,ux¾ is his • Quis Rerum Di viuorum Hwres. : ' Tri .-o,,.. i o.nimo.l life or soul, the seat(so to speo.k)of his -roiv avµ,,rc£VTwv av-rou l\.d-y'f'· ii s, Eis -r¾v sensations, and of his no.turnl n ffections nn< 1 of,u1'c£1'7/V ll/tOV716El1 a.1tµ,t,v, ~,e&lpwv ovlit,roTE desires; his ,rv•uµ,a is the more Divine part of "-11'Y" ,-a, alalnJ,-i). ,,&.,,,.,., /,r,.liav Ii~ µ,lxp, -rii>v his nature, in virtue of which he ho.s n con- l,.,-c/µwv KIU A<-yoµ,lvwv a./J-<poiv li1<c<"8!7, etc. science, aspires nfter holiness, apprehends And for the comparison to o. sword, cf. (as spil"itual mysteries, holds com~u~ion '"'.i~h above referred to) Eph. vi. 17; Rev. i. 16; God, and is influenced by the D1vme Spmt. xix. 15 ; and Isa. xi. 4. The true reading The idea, then, is that, o.s o. very keen sword of the po.rt of the sentence, " of soul and not only cuts through tho joints dividing spirit," eto., ie ,j,uxijs Kai 1n1,6µ,aTor l,.pµ,oiv ,., bone from bone but o.lso through the bones Kal µ,u,l\.ii>v, the -r• of the Textus Receptus themselves intd the me.rrow within them, so after ,j,uxijs being ill supported. The the Word of God penetrates o.nd discloses second .-., nfter l,.pµoiv, is therefore most not only the ,i,ux¾ but the. :'v•uµ,a t'.,o, naturolly taken, and so as to give the best "piercing through soul and spmt, yea [with sense, in the sense of " both," not " and; " reference to the illustro.tion used] through i.e. the second clause is not to be taken ae both joints ·[or, 'limbs'] nnd mo.rrow." denoting e. further dividing-of the bodily Ebrard, taking b.pµ.oiv in the s~nse or" liwbs" parts 11,11 well Ill! of th11 soul nnd spirit, but (a sense in which tho word l8 used, though 112 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [oH, IV, 1-16,