The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 278

terrible oe well oe o gracious si,le of the rightly apprehended) is round at Inst a true revclntion of the God of Israel, and es- satisfaction of this spiritual need. But, peoinlly (as intimated by the second quota- ~an's co~c?rrence being still reqnirerl, the tion) that his own people may be the objects idea. of D1vme wrath remains notwithstand- of his veng0lrnce. For we know him that ing, as operative o.gainst such as, in de- said, Vengee.noe belongeth unto me, I will liberate perversity of free-will, after full reoompense, se.ith the Lord. And age.in, knowledge, refuse to be thus reconciled. The Lord shall judge his people. Both Hence the awful anticipations of future citations are from lJeut. xxxii. 35, 36, the judgment on some, contained in this Epistle. second being introduced also into Ps. The no.ture and duration of the doom to cuxv. 14. The first is reme.rkable os e. come, on such e.s remain subject to it, are ,ombination of the texts of the Hebrew e.nd in these passages left in obscurity. They the. LXX., neither being exactly followed. speak only of ,pof3epd. -ri. ,1<6ox11, an unde- The Hebrew has (A.V.). "To me belongetl, fined expectation of something terrible. It vengeance e.nd recompense;" the LXX., 'Ev may be observed, however, that, whatever .;,µ/pa, /,c611c,/<Tew• d.VTa.1ro6d,,r"'· And in the be the force of other Scriptures in which the eame form o.s in the text the passage is fire of that day is describied as eternal and cited Rom. xii. 19. It may be, in this and unquenchable, here at least the figure of a some other cases of variation from the zeal of fire to devour the adversaries seems LXX., the.t e. text different from ours was in itself to suggest rather utter destruction used by the New Testament writers. The than perpetual pain. difference here is quite immaterial with Vera. 32-39.-As at r.h. vi. 9, the tones regard to the drift of the quotation. of solemn warning, founded on a real sense Ver. 31.-It is e. fearful thing to fe.11 into of the possibility of apostasy in some, are the hands of the living God. David, when now relieved by a better hope. In eh. vi. 9, the option was given him, preferred falling· et seq., the writer ex.pressed his own con• into the hand of the LORD to falling into fidence in his readers on the ground of the hand of man (2 Sam. xxiv. 14), trusting their conduct in the past ; here he remin~ in the greatneHs of his mercies. But the them of their conduct by way of confirming case contemplated here is that of its being their own steadfastness, and this with judg- "too late to cry for mercy, when it is ment as well e.s delicacy; for, e.s Theodoret the time of justice." Fearful (the writer remarks on this passage," nothing so excites would say) is the thought of ·being ex- to zeal as the remembrance of one's own posed, without possibility of escape or right doings." of atonement, to the wrath of the Eternal Ver. 32.-:But call to mind the former days, Righteousness. The inspired author of this in which, after ye were enlightened, ye en- Epistle had evidently an awful sense of the dured a great fight of aflliotions; rather, Divine wrath against sin, and of man's c011fliet of sufferings. On ,pom,r8eVTH (" en- liability to it without atonement. He felt lightened"), cf. eh. vi. 4, and what was deeply the contra.diction between humanity ea.id there e.s to the meaning of the word. as it is and its ideal of perfection; and Here certainly the context seems naturally hence the wrath attributed to God in Holy to suggest e. definite reference to baptism, Writ would appear to him ns inseparable as marking the date of the commencement from e. just conception of Divine holiness. of exposure to persecution. But if so, not, For the more ardent the love in the human of course, so as to exclude the idea of in- heart of moral good, by so much the keener ward spiritual enlightenment. "Hie prim us is the indignation ago.inst moral evil, and erat ingressusad Christie.nismum; be.ptismus the Hense of the righteousness of retribution. apud idoneos salutare medium. E.x.istiwo The existence of such evil at all in the good h10c instituta. divina etiam in theorie. non God's universe is indeed e. mystery; but, e.s te.nti mstime.ri qoe.nti decebe.t. Apud ipsmu long e.s it is there, we cannot but conceive baptismum Christi sancta ejus humanitwi the face of the holy God a.a set utterly mugnifice illuminata fuit" (Bengel). age.inst it; and so any revelation to us of Ver. 33.-Pe.rtly, being made a gazing- the Divine nature would be imperfect did stook both by reproaohes and e.flliction.s ; and it not include the idea. which is huml\nly ex- pe.rtly, having beoome partakers with them pressed by such terms e.s "zeal," "jealousy," that were so used. On 8eg,-rp,(oµ.Jvo, (ti-ans- "wrath,"" vengeance." Hence came the long- lated "me.de e. gazing-stock"), cf. I Cor. felt need of some atonement, to reconcile iv. 9, eia.-rpov f"'t<vfifh/µev -rrj ,c&,rµ.cp ."a.l "1'1'•· sinful man to the eternal holiness. This Ao" ,ca.l &.v8pd,1ro,s. 'fhe figure 18 drawn need was expressed of old by the institution from the Rowan amphitheatres, where per- of so.orifice, which, however-as is so clearly sons doomed to death were exposed to the perceived in this Epistle-could never itself gaze and the contumely of cro,wds; ~d the be really efficacious in the spiritual sphere expressiou way not be wholly tigumt1ve, l,ut Df things. In the atonement of Christ (if denote the actual treatment of Christians, us  2i0 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [OH, X, 1-89,