Additional Note on ii. 8. Man's destiny and position.
The view which is given in the quotation from Ps. viii. of the splendour of man's destiny according to the divine idea is necessary for the argument of the Epistle. It suggests the thought of 'the Gospel of Creation,' and indicates an essential relation between the Son of God and men. At the same time it prepares the way for the full acceptance of the great mystery of a redemption through suffering. The promise of dominion given in the first chapter of Genesis is renewed and raised to a higher form. Even as man was destined to rule 'the present world,' so is it the pleasure of God that be should rule 'the world to come.' His dominion may be delayed, misinterpreted, obscured, but the divine counsel goes forward to accomplishment through the sorrows which seem to mar it.
For man, as we have seen (Addit. Note on i. 3), has missed his true end. He is involved in sin and in an inheritance of the fruit of sins. Born for God he has no right of access to God (c. ix. 8). For him, till the Incarnation, God was represented by the darkness of a veiled sanctuary. The highest acts of worship served only to remind him of his position and not to ameliorate it (x. 4, 11). He was held by fear (ii. 15). Yet the primal promise was not recalled. He stood therefore in the face of a destiny unattained and unrevoked: a destiny which experience had shewn that he could not himself reach, and which yet he could not abandon as beyond hope.
For man, as he is, still retains the lineaments of the divine image in which he was made. He is still able to pronounce an authoritative moral judgment: he is still able to recognise that which corresponds with the Nature of God (ii. 10 eprepen auto), and with the needs of humanity (vii. 26 eprepen hemin). And in the face of every sorrow and every disappointment he sees a continuity in the divine action, and guards a sure confidence in the divine righteousness (vi. 10).
It follows therefore that there is still in humanity a capacity for receiving that for which it was first created. The Son could become true man without change in His Divine Person, and without any violation of the completeness of the Nature which he assumed. The prospect is opened of 'consummation through suffering.'
*Additional Note on the reading of* ii. 9.
Additional Note on the reading of ii. 9.
The reading of the text chareti theou (by the grace of God) is given with two exceptions by all Greek mss., including 'ABCD?, by all Latin mss., by Syr hl and me. For these words M? and 67** (which has remarkable coincidences with M?, e.g. i. 3; iii. 6) give chopis theou (apart from God) with later mss. of Syr vg.
The mss. of the Syriac Vulgate (Peshito) present a remarkable variety of readings. The text of Widmanstadt, followed by Schaaf, gives: for God Himself (literally for He God) in His goodness tasted death for every man, (So B. M. Rich 7160 a.d. 1203; Rich 7162 saec. xiv.) The important ms. of Buchanan in the University Library, Cambridge, reads: for He in His goodness, God, tasted death for every man; and this was evidently the original reading of B. M. Rich 7157 (finished a.d. 768). The mss. in the Brit. Mus. Rich 7158 (saec. xi) and Rich 7159 (saec. xii) both give: for He, apart from God, for every man tasted death; and this is the reading of the very late corrector of Rich 7157.
Tremellius gives from a Heidelberg ms.: for He, apart from God, in His goodness tasted death for every man, which combines both readings.
It appears therefore that, as far as known, no text of Syr vg exactly corresponds with either Greek reading. The connecting particle presupposes gar for hopos, which has no other authority; and on the whole it is likely that the rendering of choris was introduced after that of chariti, and that the earliest reading, which represents chariti theos, is due to a primitive corruption of the Greek or Syrian text which was corrected in two directions1.
Both readings were known to Origen; and the treatment of the variants by the writers who were acquainted with them offers remarkable illustrations of the indifference of the early Fathers to important points of textual criticism, and of their unhistorical method of dealing with them.
Origen refers to the two readings several times, but he makes no attempt to decide between them. The ms. which he used when he was writing the first part of his commentary on St John appears to have read choris theou. He notices chariti theou as read in some copies: choris gar theou huper pantos egeusato thanatou, huper (H. and R. by conj. he huper wrongly) en tisi keitai tpes pros Ebraious antigraphois 'chariti theou' (In Joh. Tom. i. § 40); and in a passage written at a later time he uses the phrase choris theou in a connexion which seems to indicate that he took it from the text of this passage: monou Iesou to panton tes hamartias phortion en to huper ton holon choris theou stauro analabein eis heauton kai bastasai te megale autou ischui dedunemenou (In Joh. Tom. xxviii. § 41; he has said just before: sunchresetai to 'hoper chariti' he choris theou'...kai epistesei to 'huper pantos' kai to 'choris theou huper pantos'). Both readings seemed to him to give good sense, and he was unwilling to sacrifice either2.
Eusebius, Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria read chariti theou, and do not notice the variation choris theou.
Ambrose twice quotes sine Deo without any notice of another reading: de Fide ii. § 63; id. v. § 106; and explains the phrase in the latter place: id est, quod creatura omnis, sine passione aliqua divinitatis, dominici sanguinis redimenda sit pretio (Rom. viii. 21).
The same reading is given by Fulgentius ad Tras. iii. 20 with the comment: sine Deo igitur homo ille gustavit mortem quantum ad conditionem attinet carnis, non autem sine Deo quantum ad susceptionem pertinet deitatis, quia impassibilis atque immortalis illa divinitas...; and by Vigilius Taps. c. Eut. ii. § 5 (p. 17).
Jerome mentions both readings (In Ep. ad Gal. c. iii. 10) Christus gratia Dei, sive, ut in quibusdam exemplaribus legitur, absque Deo pro omnibus mortuus est. Perhaps the use of absque for sine indicates that his reference is to Greek and not to Latin copies, and it may have been derived from Origen.
Theodore of Mopsuestia (ad loc.) condemns severely chariti theou as foreign to the argument: geloiotaton de ti paschousin entautha to 'chopis theou' enallattontes kai poiountes 'chariti theou' ou prosechontes te akolouthia tes graphes: while he maintains that it was necessary to insist on the impassibility of the Godhead (choris theou).
Chrytostom explains chariti theou without any notice of the variety of reading: hopos, phesi, chariti theou, kakeinos men gar dia ten charin tou theou ten eis hemas tauta peponthen (Rom. viii. 32).
Theodoret, on the other hand, explains choris theou and takes no notice of any variation: mone, phesin, e theia phusis anendees, talla de panta tou tes enanthropeseos hedeito pharmakou.
Theophylact (ad loc.) ascribes the reading choris theou to the Nestorians: (ohi de Nestorianoi parapoiountes ten graphen phasi 'choris theou huper pantos geusetai,' hina sustesosin hoti estauromeno to Xpesto ou sunen he theotes, hate me kath' hupostasin auto henomene alla kata schesin), but quotes an orthodox writer as answering their arguments for it by giving the interpretation 'for all beings except God, even for the angels themselves.'
Oecumenius (ad loc.) writes to the same effect (isteon hoti oi Nestorianoi parapoiousi ten graphen...).
From a review of the evidence it may be fairly concluded that the original reading was chariti, but that choris found a place in some Greek copies early in the third century, if not before, which had however only a limited circulation, and mainly in Syria. The influence of Theodore and the Nestorian controversy gave a greater importance to the variant, and the common Syriac text was modified in two directions, in accordance with Eutychian and Nestorian views. The appearance of choris in a group of Latin quotations is a noteworthy phenomenon.
The variant may be due to simple error of transcription, but it seems to be more reasonably explained by the supposition that choris theou was added as a gloss to huper pantos or ouden apheken auto anupotakton from 1 Cor. xv. 27 ektos tou upotaxantos auto ta panta, and then substituted for chariti theou. choris Christou is found Eph. ii. 12. It is scarcely possible that chariti theou can have been substituted for choris theou, though it is really required to lead on to the fuller development of the thought in v. 10.
*Additional Note on* ii. 10. *The idea of teleiosis*.
Additional Note on ii. 10. The idea of teleiosis.
The idea of teleiosis — consummation, bringing to perfection — is characteristic of the Epistle. The whole family of words connected with teleios is found in it: teleios (v. 14; ix. 11), teleiotes vi. 1 (elsewhere only Col. iii. 14), teleioun both of Christ (ii. 10; v. 9; vii. 28) and of men (x. 14; xi. 40; xii. 23; elsewhere in the N. T. of the Lord only in Luke xiii. 32 (te trite teleoumai) in His own declaration of the course of His work), teleiotes (xii. 2 unique), teleiosis (vii. 11, elsewhere only Lk. i. 45).
(1). The words were already in use in the lxx. The adj. teleios is there applied to that which is perfect and complete, possessing all that belongs to the 'idea' of the object, as victims (Ex. xii. 5), men (Gen. vi. 2); the heart (1 K. viii. 61 &c.). Compare Jer. xiii. 19 apoikian teleian (a complete removal); Ps. cxxxix. (cxxxviii.) 22 teleion misos. Hence the word is used of mature Israelites, teachers: 1 Chron. xxv. 8 teleion (mvyn) kai manthanonton (v. 7 kl-hmvyn pas sunion).
The noun teleiotes has corresponding senses. Jud. ix. 16, 19; Prov. xi. 3 (A); Wisd. vi. 15; xii. 17.
The verb teleioun is employed to render several Hebrew words: Ezek. xxvii. 11 (to kallos kll); Chron. viii. 16 (ton oikon slm); K. vii. 22 (to ergon ttm); Neh. vi. 16 (sh). Comp. Ecclus. 1. 19 (ten leitourgian). And in the later books the word is used for men who have reached their full development: Wisd. iv. 13 teleiotheis en oligo eplerose chronous makroous. Ecclus. xxxiv. (xxxi.) 10 tis edokimasthe kai eteleiothe;
One peculiar use requires special attention. It is employed several times in the rendering of ml' yn, teleioun tas cheiras, 'filling the hands,' which describes the installation of the priests in the actual exercise of their office (the making their hands perfect by the material of their work), and not simply their consecration to it: Ex. xxix. 9 (10) teleoseis Aaron tas cheiras autou; id. v. 29 teleiosai (A. plerosai, S. teleiothenai), 33; 35. Lev. viii. 33 teleioseos; xvi. 32 hon an teleiososi tas cheiras autou hierateuein (allos. ou eplerothe ho topos hierateuein); Num. iii. 3: and it is found absolutely in this connexion in Lev. xxi. 10 (some add tas cheiras autou). The Hebrew phrase is elsewhere rendered by emplesai (pleroun) tas cheiras (ten cheira): Ex. xxviii. 37 (41); Jud. xvii. 5 (S. eteleiosan t. ch.). The installation (teleiosis) of the priest was a type of that which Christ attained to absolutely. The priest required to be furnished in symbol with all that was required for the fulfilment of his office. Christ perfectly gained all in Himself.
The usage of the verbal teleiosis corresponds with that of the verb: Judith x. 9; Ecclus. xxxi. (xxxiv.) 8. It is applied to 'Thummim' (Neh. vii. 65 some copies; comp. Aqu. and Theodot. on Lev. viii. 8 and Field ad loc.); espousals (Jer. ii. 2); the inauguration of the temple (2 Macc. ii. 9; comp. Athanas. Ep. ad Const. § 14); and specially to 'the ram of installation' ('yl hml'ym krios teleioseos): Ex. xxix. 22, 26, 27, 31, 34; Lev. vii. 37 (27); viii. 21, 27, 28, 31, 33.
Comp. Philo, Vit. Mos. iii. § 17 (ii. 157 M.), hon (krion) etumos teleioseos* ekalesen epeide tas harmottousas therapeutais kaki leitourgois theou teletas emellon hierophanteisthai.
The noun teleiotes is not found in the lxx.
The noun teleiotes is found in Col. iii. 14, where love is said to be sundesmos tes teleiotetos, a bond by which the many elements contributing to Christian perfectness are held together in harmonious unity.
The verb teleioun is not unfrequent in the Gospel and first Epistle of St John. It is used in the discourses of the Lord of the work (works) which had been given to Him to do (iv. 34; v. 36; xvii. 4), and of the consummation of believers in one fellowship (xvii. 23 teteleiomenoi eis en).
The Evangelist himself uses it of the last 'accomplishment' of Scripture (xix. 28); and in his Epistle of love in (with) the believer (ii. 5; iv. 12; 17 meth' hemon), and of the believer in love (iv. 18). Elsewhere it is used of an appointed space of time (Luke ii. 43), of the course of life (Acts xx. 24), of faith crowned by works (James ii. 22), of the consummation of the Christian (Phil. iii. 12). Once it is used by the Lord of Himself: Luke xiii. 32 Behold I cast out devils and perform (apotelo) cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I am perfected (teleioumai).
The verbal teleiosis is once used (Luke i. 45) of the accomplishment of the message brought to the Mother of the Lord.
(3). In ecclesiastical writers the baptized believer, admitted to the full privileges of the Christian life, was spoken of as teleios (comp. Clem. Al. Strom. vi. § 60). Hence teleioun (and perficere) was used of the administration of Baptism (Athan. c. Ar. i. 34 houto gar teleioumenoi kai hemeis...) and teleiosis of the Baptism itself (Athan. c. Ar. ii. 42 ei gar eis to honoma patros kai huiou didotai he teleiosis, c. 41 en te teleiosei tou baptismatos. Comp. Caesar. Dial. i. 12 en te sphragidi tes mustikes teleiotetos). So too the person who administered the Sacrament was called teleiotes (Greg. Naz. Orat. xl. In bapt. § 44 anastomen epi to baprisma. sphuzei to pneuma, prothumos ho teleiotes. to dporon hetoimon, comp. § 18). This usage is very well illustrated by a passage in writing falsely attributed to Athanasius: ei me eisi teleioi christianoi hoi katechoumenoi prin he baptisthosi, baptisthentes de teeopuntai, to baptisma ara meizon esti tes proskuneseos ho ten teleioteta parechei (Ps.-Ath. Dial. i. c. Maced. 6). Comp. Clem. Al. Paed. i. 6.
In a more general sense teleiousthai and teleiosis were used of the death of the Christian, and specially of the death by martyrdom, in which the effort of life was completed (Euseb. E. E. iii. 35; vii. 15 apachtheis ten epi thanato teleioutai, and Heinichen's note).
The word teleios came naturally to be used of themselves by those who claimed to possess the highest knowledge of the truth, as initiated into its mysteries (Iren. i. 6 teleious heautous anagoreuousi, comp. c. 3 hoi teleiotatoi. Valent ap. Epiph. Haer. xxxi., § 5); and at the same time the associations of teleisthai ('to be initiated') were transferred to teleios and teleiousthai (comp. Dion. Ar. de cael. hier. vi. § 3; Method. de Sim. et Anna 5 [ho theos] ho ton teloumenon teleiotes; and 2 Cor. xii. 9 v. l.).
Throughout these various applications of the word one general thought is preserved. He who is teleios has reached the end which is in each case set before him, maturity of growth, complete development of powers, full enjoyment of privileges, perfect possession of knowledge.
The sense of the word in the Epistle to the Hebrews exactly conforms to this usage. The teleios—the matured Christian—is contrasted with the nepios the undeveloped babe (v. 14): the provisional and transitory tabcrnado with that which was 'more perfect' (ix. 11). The ripe perfectness (teleiotes) of Christian knowledge is set against the first elementary teaching of the Gospel (vi. 1). Christ, as He leads faith, so to speak, to the conflict, carries it to its absolute triumph (xii. 2 teleiotes). The aim of a religious system is teleiosis (vii. 11), to bring men to their true end, when all the fulness of humanity in power and development is brought into fellowship with God. And in this sense God was pleased to 'make' the Incarnate Son 'perfect through suffering' (ii. 10; v. 9; vii. 28), and the Son, by His one offering, to 'make perfect them that are sanctified' (x. 14; xi. 40; xii. 23).
*Additional Note on* ii. 10. *The teleiosis of Christ.*
Additional Note on ii. 10. The teleiosis of Christ.
In connexion with the Person and Work of Christ the idea of teleiosis finds three distinct applications.
(a) He is Himself 'made perfect': ii. 10 ff.; v. 7 ff.; vii. 28.
(b) He 'perfects' others through fellowship with Himself: x. 14; xi. 39 f.; xii. 23.
(c) His 'perfection through suffering' is the ground of absolute sympathy with men in their weakness, and failure, and efforts: ii. 17 f.; iv. 15; xii. 2.
A general view of the distinctive thoughts in these passages will illustrate the breadth and fulness of the teaching of the Epistle. The notes on the several passages will suggest in detail thoughts for further study.
(a) The personal consummation of Christ in His humanity: ii. 10 f.; v. 7 ff.; vii. 28.
These three passages present the fact under three different aspects.
(a) The first passage (ii. 10 ff.) declares the general method by which the consummation was reached in regard to the divine counsel: God perfected His Incarnate Son through sufferings; and Man is able to recognise the fitness (eprepen) of this method from the consideration of his own position and needs (pollous thhious eis doxan agagonta).
(b) In tho second passage (v. 7 ff.) we are allowed to see the action of the divine discipline upon the Son of man during His earthly life, in its course and in its end (hemathen aph' hon epathen ten hupakoen). He realised to the uttermost the absolute dependence of humanity upon God in the fulness of personal communion with Him, even through the last issues of sin in death.
(g) In the third passage (vii. 28) there is a revelation of the abiding work of the Son for men as their eternal High Priest (huion eis ton aiova teteleiomenon)
In studying this teleiosis of Christ, account must be taken both (1) of His life as man (John viii. 40; 1 Tim. ii. 5 (anthropos); Acts ii. 22; xvii. 31 aner), so far as He fulfilled in a true human life the destiny of man personally; and (2) of His life as the Son of man, so far as He fulfilled in His life, as Head of the race, the destiny of humanity by redemption and consummation. The two lives indeed are only separable in thought, but the effort to give clearness to them reveals a little more of the meaning of the Gospel.
And yet again: these three passages are of great importance as emphasising the reality of the Lord's human life from step to step. It is at each moment perfect with the ideal of human perfection according to the circumstances.
It is unscriptural, though the practice is supported by strong patristic authority, to regard the Lord during His historic life as acting now by His human and now by His Divine Nature only. The two Natures were inseparably combined in the unity of His Person. In all things He acts Personally; and, as far as it is revealed to us, His greatest works during His earthly life are wrought by the help of the Father through the energy of a humanity enabled to do all things in fellowship with God (comp. John xi. 41 f.).
(b) From the revelation of the teleiosis of the Lord we pass to the second group of passages (x. 14; xi. 39 f.; xii. 23) in which men are shewn to receive from Him the virtue of that perfection which He has reached. Those who are 'in Christ,' according to the phrase of St Paul (which is not found in this Epistle; yet see x. 10, 19), share the privileges of their Head. These three passages also present the truth which they express in different lights.
(a) The first passage (x. 14) gives the one sufficient and abiding ground of man's attainment to perfection in the fact of Christ's work. Man has simply to take to himself what Christ has already done for him (teteleioken eis to dienekes).
(b) The second passage (xi. 39 f.) enables us to understand the unexpected slowness of the fulfilment of our hopes. There is a great counsel of Providence which we can trust (kreitton ti problepsamenou).
(g) And in the third passage a glimpse is opened of the righteous who have obtained the abiding possession of that which Christ has won (teteleiomenon).
(c) In the third group of passages which deal with Christ's 'perfection' in His humanity (ii. 17 f.; iv. 15; xii. 2) we are led to observe how His 'perfection through sufferings' becomes the ground and pledge of His unfailing sympathy with men. The experience of His earthly life (as we speak) remains in His glory.
Thus we see in succession (a) that Christ's assumption of true and perfect humanity (kata panta tois adelphois homoiothenai) becomes the spring of His High-priestly work in making propitiation for sins and rendering help to men answering to the universality (en ho peponthen) of His own suffering and temptation (ii. 17 f.).
And next (b) that the Assurance of sympathy based on the fellowship of Nature and experience (pepeirasmenon kata panta kath' homoioteta) brings confidence to men in their approach to God for pardon and strength (iv. 14—16).
And yet again (y) that Christ Himself in the fulfilment of His work proved from first to last (archegon kai teleioten) the power of that faith by which we also walk (xii. 11).
No one can regard even summarily these nine passages without feeling their far-reaching significance. And it is of especial importance to dwell on the view which is given to us in the Epistle of the teleiosis of Christ from its direct practical importance.
(1). It gives a vivid and natural distinctness to our historic conception of the Lord's life on earth.
(2). It enables us to apprehend, according to our power, the complete harmony of the Divine and Human Natures in One Person, each finding fulfilment, as we speak, according to its proper law in the fulness of One Life.
(3). It reveals the completeness of the work of the Incarnation which brings to each human power and each part of human life its true perfection.
(4). It brings the universal truth home to each man individually in his little life, a fragment of human life, and presents to us at each moment the necessity of effort, and assures us of corresponding help.
(5). It teaches us to see the perfect correspondence between the completeness of tho divine work (chariti este sesosmenoi), and the progressive realisation of it by man (di' ou kai sozesthe).
*Additional Note on* ii. 13. *Quotations from the Old Testament in cc*. i., ii.
Additional Note on ii. 13. Quotations from the Old Testament in cc. i., ii.
The passages of the O.T. which are quoted in the first two chapters of the Epistle offer a representative study of the interpretation of Scripture. The main principles which they suggest will appear from the simple recital of the points which they are used to illustrate.
(1). The Divine Son.
My Son art Thou;
I have to-day begotten Thee.
The words are quoted also Acts xiii. 33 (of the Resurrection). Compare also the various readings of D in Luke iii. 22; and the reading of the Ebionite Gospel in Matt. iii. 17.
For the unique force of the address see note on the passage.
The thought implied is that the universal dominion of the Divine King is founded on His Divine Nature. The outward conquests of Israel can therefore only be earnests and types of something immeasurably higher.
If account be taken of the second reference to the passage (v. 5), it will appear that the foundation and assurance of Christ's work for men, His sovereignty and His priesthood, are laid in His divine character declared by the Father.
(b) His work for God. 2 Sam. vii. 14 (i. 5).
I will be to Him a Father;
And He shall be to Me a Son.
The words are taken from the answer of Nathan to David's desire to build a Temple for the Lord. The whole passage ('iniquity') can only refer to an earthly king; yet no earthly king could satisfy the hope which the promise created. The kingdom was destroyed, and the vision of a new stock of Jesse was opened (Is. xi. 1; Jer. xxiii. 5; Zech. vi. 11 f.; Luke i. 32 f.). The Temple was destroyed and the vision of a new Temple was opened, a Temple raised by the Resurrection (John ii. 19).
In both these passages it will be observed that the Lord is the speaker, the God of the Covenant, the God of Revelation (Ps. ii. 7 The Lord hath said...; 2 Sam. vii. 4 the word of the Lord came to Nathan...; v. 8 thus saith the Lord...).
(g) His final conquest.
Deut. xxxii. 43 (lxx.)(i. 6).
Comp. Ps. xcvii. (xcvi.) 7; Rom. xv. 10.
The sovereignty of the Son is at last recognised by all created beings.
(2). The Davidic King. Ps. xlv. 6 f. (i. 8 f.).
The Psalm is the Marriage Song of the Sovereign of the theocratic kingdom. The King, the royal Bride, the children, offer a living picture of the permanence of the Divine Son with His Church, in contrast with the transitory ministry of Angels.
(3). The Creator; the manifestation of God (the Lord). Ps. cii. 25 ff. (i. 10 ff.).
The Psalm is an appeal of an exile. The idea of the God of Israel is enlarged. He who enters into fellowship with man, takes man to Himself. The Covenant leads up to the Incarnation. The Creator is the Saviour. See Additional Note c. iii. 7.
(4). The King-Priest.
Ps. cx. 1 (i. 13; comp. x. 12 f.).
Sit Thou at My right hand,
Till I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet.
The Psalm, which probably describes the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem by David, the new Melchizedek, king at once and fulfiller of priestly offices, describes the Divine King under three aspects as King (1—3), Priest (4), Conqueror (5—7). The opening words of the Psalm necessarily called up the whole portraiture; and one part of it (Ps. cx. 4) is afterwards dwelt upon at length (v. 6, 10; vi. 20; vii. 11 ff.).
(5). The Son of man, as true man fulfilling the destiny of man, and the destiny of fallen man through suffering ('the servant of the Lord').
(a) Man's destiny.
Ps. viii. 5 ff. (ii. 6 ff.).
The Psalm, which was never reckoned as Messianic, presents the ideal of man (Gen. i. 27—30), a destiny unfulfilled and unrepealed.
(b) The suffering King.
Ps. xxii. 22 (ii. 11 f.).
The Psalm, which is frequently quoted in the Gospels to illustrate the desertion, the mockery, the spoiling of Christ, gives the description of the progress of the innocent, suffering King, who identifies himself with his people, to the throne. After uttermost trials sorrow is turned into joy, and the deliverance of the sufferer is the ground of national joy. Comp. Prof. Cheyne On the Christian element in Isaiah, § 2.
(g) The representative prophet
Is. viii. 17 f. (li. 13).
The prophecy belongs to a crisis in the national history. In a period of the deepest distress the prophet teaches in his own person two lessons. He declares unshaken faith in God in the midst of judgments. He shews in himself and his children the remnant which shall preserve the chosen people.
To these passages one other must be added, Ps. xl. 6 ff. (x. 5 ff.), in order to complete the portraiture of the Christ. By perfect obedience the Son of man fulfils for men the will of God.
Several reflections at once offer themselves to the student who considers those quotations as a whole. (1) It is assumed that a divine counsel was wrought out in the course of the life of Israel. We are allowed to see in 'the people of God' signs of the purpose of God for humanity. The whole history is prophetic. It is not enough to recognise that the O. T. contains prophecies: the O. T. is one vast prophecy.
(2) The application of prophetic words in each case has regard to the ideal indicated by them, and is not limited by the historical fact with which they are connected. But the history is not set aside. The history forces the reader to look beyond.
(3) The passages are not merely isolated phrases. They represent ruling ideas. They answer to broad conceptions of the methods of the divine discipline for the nation, the King, the prophet, man.
(4) The words had a perfect meaning when they were first used. This meaning is at once the germ and the vehicle of the later and fuller meaning. As we determine the relations, intellectual, social, spiritual, between the time of the prophecy and our own time, we have the key to its present interpretation. In Christ we have the ideal fulfilment.
So it is that when we look at the succession of passages, just as they stand, we can see how they connect the Gospel with the central teaching of the O. T. The theocratic Sovereign addressed as 'Son' failed to subdue the nations and rear an eternal Temple, but none the less he gave definite form to a faith which still in one sense wants its satisfaction. The Marriage Song of the Jewish monarch laid open thoughts which could only be realised in the relation of the Divine King to His Church. The confidence with which the exile looked for the deliverance of Zion by the personal intervention of Jehovah, who had entered into covenant with man, led believers to see the Saviour in the Creator. The promise of the Session of Him who is King and Priest and Conqueror at the right hand of God, is still sufficient to bring strength to all who are charged to gather the fruits of the victory of the Son.
In this way the Majesty of the Christ, the Son of God, can be read in the O.T.; and no less the Christian can perceive there the sufferings of 'Jesus,' the Son of man, who won His promised dominion for man through death. The path of sorrow which He hallowed had been marked in old time by David, who proclaimed to his 'brethren' the 'Name' of his Deliverer, when he saw in the retrospect of the vicissitudes of his own life that which transcended them; and by Isaiah, who at the crisis of trial identified his 'children'— types of a spiritual remnant— with himself in absolute trust on God.
On the one side we see how the majestic description of the Mediator of the New Covenant given in the opening verses of the Epistle, is justified by a series of passages in which He is pointed to in the records of the Old Covenant as Son and Lord and Creator and Sharer of the throne of God; and on the other side even we can discern, as we look back, how it was 'becoming' that He should fulfil the destiny of fallen men by taking to Himself, like King and Prophet, the sorrows of those whom He relieved. The greatest words of God come, as we speak, naturally and intelligibly through the occasions of life. In the history of Israel, of the Christ, and of the Church, disappointment is made the door of hope, and suffering is the condition of glory.
*Additional Note to* ii. 17. *Passages on the High-priesthood of Christ*.
Additional Note to ii. 17. Passages on the High-priesthood of Christ.
The student will find it a most instructive inquiry to trace the development of tho thought of Christ's High-priesthood, which is the ruling thought of the Epistle, through tho successive passages in which the writer specially deals with it
The thought is indicated in the opening verses. The crowning trait of the Son is that, when He had made purification of sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (i. 3). So the priestly and royal works of Christ are placed together in the closest connexion.
The remaining passages prepare for, expound, and apply the doctrine.
(1) Preparatory.
ii. 17, 18. The Incarnation the foundation of Christ's High-priesthood.
iii. 1, 2. The subject such as to require careful consideration.
iv. 14—16. Recapitulation of points already marked at a transition to the detailed treatment of the truth. Christ is a High-priest who has fulfilled the conditions of His office, who can feel with men, and who is alike able and ready to succour them.
(2) The characteristics of Christ's High-priesthood.
v. 1-10. The characteristics of the Levitical High-priesthood realised by Christ.
vi. 20; vii. 14—19. The priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek.
vii. 26—28. The characteristics of Christ as absolute and eternal High-priest.
(3) The work of Christ as High-priest.
viii. 1—6. The scene of Christ's work a heavenly and not an earthly sanctuary.
ix. 11—28. Christ's atoning work contrasted with that of the Levitical High-priest on the Day of Atonement.
x. 1—18. The abiding efficacy of Christ's One Sacrifice.
(4) Application of the fruits of Christ's High-priesthood to believers.
x. 19—25. Personal use.
xiii. 10—16. Privileges and duties of the Christian Society.
These passages should be studied in their broad features, especially in regard to the new traits which they successively introduce. The following out of the inquiry is more than an exercise in Biblical Theology. Nothing conveys a more vivid impression of the power of the Apostolic writings than to watch the unfolding of a special idea in the course of an Epistle without any trace of conscious design on the part of the writer, as of a single part in some great harmony.