Hebrews 13:7-17

BSpecial admonitions regarding their inclination to apostasy

Hebrews 13:7-17

7Remember them which have the rule over you [your leaders], who [as those who] have spoken [spoke] unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the 8end of their conversation [contemplating the issue of their walk]. Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, to-day, and foreHebrews Hebrews 13:9 Be not carried about [aside, παραφέρεσθε]2 with divers [various] and strange doctrines [teachings]; for it is a good thing [is good] that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied3 therein. 10We have an altar, whereof [wherefrom] they have no right to eat which [who] serve the tabernacle. 11For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin,4 are burned without the camp. 12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without 14the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city [have not here 15an abiding city], but we seek one to come [are seeking that which is to come]. By [Through] him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our [om. our] lips giving thanks [making acknowledgment] to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17Obey them that have the rule over you [them that lead you, Hebrews 13:7], and submit yourselves: for they watch for [are watching on behalf of] your souls,5 as they that must give [render] account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief [sighing, στενάζοντες]; for that is unprofitable for [unto] you.

[Hebrews 13:7.—τῶν ἡγουμένων, those who are (or in this case, were) leading you, who, it appears from what follows, were now dead, and are to be remembered and followed in their Christian example. “Them that have the rule over you,” of the E. V., therefore, is not strictly warrantable.—οἵτινες, characteristic, of the kind who (the which, Alf.).—ἐλὰλησαν, not have spoken, but, spoke, historically—it is now over.—ἀναθεωροῦντες, surveying back, going backward in your contemplations over the entire series. Difficult to express by one word in English. “Considering,” however, which does duty here as for so many other words, is needlessly inadequate. Better with Alf, “surveying.” “Considering” which, marks a purely intellectual act, loses entirely the external imagery of ἀναθεωροῦντες. This is retained in “surveying,” partially also in “contemplating.” Moll, “hinschauend.”—πῆς , their conduct, walk (E. V., conversation).

Hebrews 13:8.—Ἰησοῦς χριστὸς, “not common with our writer; only elsewhere at Hebrews 13:21,” (Alf.).—understand εστὶν, is—εἰςτοὺς αἰῶνας, stands emphatic, “is yesterday and to-day the same—and forever.”

Hebrews 13:9.—μὴ παραφέρεσθε, be not carried aside, not περιφ., “carried about”—the παραφ., much more forcible and pertinent to the author’s purpose, as not referring to Christian instability in general, but to being borne away from Christianity itself.

Hebrews 13:9.—ἐν οἵς, “in which they who walked, were not profited.”

Hebrews 13:10.—ἐξ οὔ, from, which, wherefrom.—ἐξουσίαν, right, authority, privilege—rarely well rendered by power, as by E. V., as at John 1:13—τῆ σκηνῆ, Beng. (cited by Alf.), “est aculeus quod dicil, τῆ σκηνῆ non ἐν τῆ σκηνῆ.”

Hebrews 13:11.—ω̇͂ν ζώων, of what animals=of those animals of which.—περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτἰας, for sin; Moll, though marking it doubtful in his critical note, retains it in his version. Alford rejects it.—διὰ τοῦ , through, by means of the high, priest, regarded as acting for the people, or for God.—κατακαίεται, are burned up, consumed; E. V., are burned, not quite adequately.—τῆς παρεμβολῆς, the encampment in the wilderness; the old tabernacle imagery carried through to the last.

Hebrews 13:14.—μένουσαν πόλιν, an abiding city.—τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπιζητοῦμεν, we are seeking after (ἐπί, direction toward hence implies yearning after, Hebrews 9:14), that which is to be—the future abiding city.

Hebrews 13:15.—ἀναφέρωμεν, let us be offering up.—καρπὸν χειλ., the fruit of lips (fruit or offering rendered by lips) making acknowledgment to his name.

Hebrews 13:17.—τοῖς ἡγουμ., them that lead you, your leaders.—αὐτοὶ γάρ, for themselves they in turn, or on their part.—ἀγρυπνοῦσι, are sleepless, keep vigilant watch, the meaning stronger than is suggested by the simple English term watch.—ὑπὲρ, on behalf of.—ὡς ἐπιδωσ., having, being destined, to render an account.—ἵνα τοῦτο ποιῶσιν, that they may be doing this, viz., watching.—στενάζοντες, sighing, groaning. Moll, seufzend; Alf., lamenting, viz., “over your disobedience.”—K.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Hebrews 13:7. Your leaders.—The term ἡγούμενος which is found Acts 15:22, with the Rom. Clem. (ad Cor. 1 and 37), and in the martyr St. Ignat. § 4 points to no other than the ordinary form of church government (Dav. Schultz). Chrys. explains the word, although at this time, it already had the special signification of abbot, by ἐπίσκοποι. Of kindred nature is the designation of the heads of the Church, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, by προιστάμενοι.

Issue of their walk.—Ἔκβασις τῆς expresses not the development, (Œc., De Dieu), and not the result of the walk, in respect to others, (Braun, Cramer) or, in respect to the perfected ones themselves, in heaven (Storr, etc.), but, in the connection, their death by martyrdom.

Hebrews 13:8. Jesus Christ, yesterday.—Inasmuch as the subject is the God-man, we need not extend the ἐχθές. (so read in Sin. A. C*. D*.) to the time before the appearance of Christ (Beng., etc.), and thus neither to the entire time of the Old Covenant, (Calv., etc.), nor at all to the preëxistence of Christ, (Ambrose, Seb. Schmidt, etc.). Luther, following the Vulg. And Œc., falsely puts a stop after σήμερον. It is not the eternity (Ambrose, Cyrill. Alex., Calov., etc.), but the eternal unchangeableness of Christ on which emphasis is laid. Hence, ὁ αὐτός is the predicate applicable to all the three divisions of time. The sentence thus abruptly introduced, (without the usual connection) serves undoubtedly to assign a reason for the following warning, yet nothing authorizes the supposition that it stands in an intended antithesis to the Jewish expectation of a still future Messiah (Œc.). It is possible that it, at the same time, furnishes the ground for the preceding exhortation, (Bl. Ebr., etc.), or encourages to its fullfilment (Theoph., Grot., etc.). Nothing in the passage requires us to take it as explaining the substance of the faith of the ἡγούμενοι (Calov., Carpz.).

Hebrews 13:9. By various and strange teachings.—The ordinances of the Old Testament itself (Wieseler, Lün., etc.), the author would hardly have thus designated, for they are regarded by him as divinely ordained shadows and types of essential and eternal objects and relations. We must refer the term to human doctrines, which attach themselves to these ordinances, and, as shown by the connecting particle γάρ, to such as referred specially to βρώματα. These are not sacrificial meals, as after Schlichting, Bl., Lün., and others suppose; but food, meats, (the old interpp., Böhme, Thol., Ebr., Del., Riehm, Alf.) in which were sought ritual means of justification, Hebrews 9:10. [For the reasons (1) “that βρώματα is a word not found in the law when offerings are spoken of, but in the distinction of clean and unclean, Leviticus 11:34; 1Ma 1:63; (2) that in all New Testament places where βρω̈μα is used in a similar connection, it applies to clean and unclean meats: (3) that διδαχαῖς ποικίλαις—παραφερ., must refer not to meats eaten after sacrifice, but to such doctrines in which there was variety and perplexity, as to those concerning clean and unclean.”—(Alf.)]. In the classics, also, ξένος does not always indicate something foreign, but sometimes, something strange and surprising. The antithesis in the two clauses is overlooked by Böhme, who, following Castalio, understands χάρις of gratitude to God, and by Bisping, who refers it to the Lord’s Supper, as the Christian sacrificial meal [a “monstrous interpretation,” Alf.].

Hebrews 13:10. We have an altar, etc. θυμιαστήριον is not Christ Himself, (Bugenhagen, Biesenthal, etc.) nor the table of the Lord’s Supper (Böhm., Ebr. Bisp., etc.), nor an expiatory arrangement in general, (Michael., Stier, Thol., Hofm., etc.), but the cross upon Golgotha (Thom. Aquin., Este, Beng., Bl., De W., Lün., etc.), of which Christians eat, in that the atoning victim that was offered upon it, is the food of their souls (Riehm), comp. John 6:51 ff. The question is not merely of the enjoyment of the spiritual blessings resulting to believers from the sacrificial death of Christ (Bl., Lün.), but communion with the personal Christ crucified on our behalf. The τῇ σκηνῇ λατρεύοντες are not Christians (Schlicht., Schultz, Hofm., etc.), but either as Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 10:2 the Israelites (Lün., Kluge), or, as Hebrews 8:5, the Jewish priests (Bl., De W., Del., Riehm), who, above others, had access to the typical dwelling-place of God, and had a right to partake of the food that had been consecrated to God.

Hebrews 13:11. For the bodies of those animals whose blood, etc.—Of many sacrifices, the priests obtained either the entire flesh, Leviticus 5:9; Leviticus 23:20; or the breast, and shoulder, Numbers 7:34; or the whole with the exception of the fat pieces, Numbers 4:26 ff.; comp. Numbers 6:19; Numbers 6:22; Numbers 7:7. But of the sin-offerings whose blood was brought into the inner tabernacle, Leviticus 4:5-7; Leviticus 4:16-18; Leviticus 4:16. the fat pieces were brought to the altar, and all the rest was consumed by fire without the camp. This burning was only a means of getting rid of the things burned, and was called שָׂרַף, a word never used to denote burning on the altar. The emphasis lies, therefore, not upon the burning, but on the fact that this mode of dealing with the flesh of the victims, from which the priests derived no enjoyment, took place without the camp. This is regarded by the author as typical. Lün., following Bähr, (Stud, und Krit., 1849, i 13:936, ff.) regards the capital point of the argument of Hebrews 13:10 as appearing in Hebrews 13:12, and regards Hebrews 13:11 as containing a preliminary idea that is merely auxiliary to the proof. But it is more natural to take Hebrews 13:11 as containing the proof of Hebrews 13:10, while again, the idea of Hebrews 13:12 is suggested by Hebrews 13:11, and corresponds, therefore, in substance to Hebrews 13:10 (Riehm). [The typical image is simple and forcible. Christ as a sin-offering, suffered without the gate whither the bodies of the animals that were slain as sin-offerings under the Old Covenant were carried to be burnt. As then the priests of the Old Covenant, and also the people, had no right to partake of that sacrifice, so they who now adhere to that Covenant, who minister to that tabernacle, have no right to partake of that great victim that is slain and disposed of outside of the encampment, and which is the antitype of the Old Testament sin-offering. In order to eat of this sacrifice, as Christ Himself requires, they must break away from their adherence to the system which forbade them to eat of the type, and can, therefore, of itself, give no authority to eat the antitype.—K.].

Hebrews 13:13. Wherefore let us go forth to Him, etc.—This is an exhortation based on the preceding passage. It is not, however, an exhortation to refrain from sacrificial meats (Retschl.), or from worldly pleasures (Chrys., Primas., etc.); nor to a voluntary following into the sufferings of Christ (Œc., Limb., etc.);nor to a withdrawal from Jerusalem on account of its impending destruction (Clericus); but to a complete separation from Judaism, (Theod., Beng., Bl., Thol., Lün., etc.). To a willing endurance of exclusion from the Jewish Theocracy (Schlicht., Grot., etc., and recently, Thiersch), there is not the slightest allusion; and the passage contradicts in the most decisive manner Schwegler’s position, that to our Author Christianity is still in a transition state from Judaism.—It is only, [or rarely,] except in later writers and sometimes in the Sept., that τοίνυν stands, as here, at the beginning of the sentence. Does ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς involve a reference to the speedily following destruction of Jerusalem? At all events, the following verse could not but suggest to the mind of the readers, the city whose foundations are not moved, Hebrews 11:10.

[It seems, by no means, improbable that this passage does have a double reference; that while its external and obvious import is to warn its readers to a complete withdrawal from the entanglements and bondage of Judaism, another import may have lain beneath its guarded language, viz., a record by the Holy Spirit, through the inspired writer, of the warning and injunction formerly given by him to the Christians of Palestine, and especially of Jerusalem through the lips of the Lord. So interpreted, the terms have special significance. The τῆς παρεμβολῆς persistently kept up, still harmonizes with the primary and figurative import of the passage, while the οὐ μένουσαν πόλιν, in contrast with the τὴν ἐπιμέλλουσαν shows that the writer has clearly in mind the earthly Jerusalem.—K.].

Hebrews 13:15. The sacrifice of praise.—θυσια αἰνέσεως means, in the Old Testament, the voluntary, whether promised or freely undertaken offering of praise (thank-offering), זֶבַח תּוֹדָה Numbers 7:12-15, which, however, even at Psalms 50:14; Psalms 50:23; Psalms 116:17, is a symbol of the thanksgiving of the heart and mouth, and is here explained according to Hosea 14:3; yet after the LXX., that, instead of פָּרִים reads פְּרִי. Wetstein adduces the Rabbinical saying: “In the future all sufferings will cease; but the thank-offering ceases not;” and Philo (ed. Mangey, II. 253) styles this the best offering. According to a favorite Old Testament representation, thoughts are branches, and the words blossoms and fruits, which, taking root in the Spirit, and by him impelled through mouth and lips, sprout forth and ripen (Del., Bibl. Psychologie, p. 142). The last αὐτοῦ is not to be referred to Christ (Sykes), but to God.

Hebrews 13:16. But to do good and to communicate, etc.—The Subst. εὐποιΐα is found in the New Testament only here. The verb, Mark 14:7. Κοινωνία in the same sense as here, Rom 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:13; Philippians 1:5, of evincing our fellowship in communicating of our temporal possessions. Εὐαρεστοῦμαί=to be satisfied with any thing, is entirely classical. Theophyl., Schlicht., Beng., etc., erroneously refer ταιαύταις γάρ to Hebrews 13:15, also.

Hebrews 13:17. Unprofitable.—Either as hindering the influence of the readers (Bl.), or as rendering them dispirited and inactive (Calv., Grot.), or best, per μείωσιν (Gerh., Thol., Lün.). The leaders must have been esteemed by the author as reliable men, and been known by him in their most favorable aspects. The first τοῦτο in Hebrews 13:17 refers to ἀγρυπνεῖν, the second to στενάζειν.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Examples worthy of imitation are furnished specially by those leaders in the churches, and publishers of the Gospel, who, by the grace of God in Christ, were able to give such an expression to the faith which they have professed and taught, that their dying corresponded with their life, and their death proved a living voucher of their faith. The memory of these should be held in honor, and exercises a blessed influence on all who behold it.

2. Exalted above all change in fortune and in feeling, as above all personal vicissitudes, is Jesus Christ, the unchangeable and abiding Head of the Church, whether its members are already in heaven, or are still living upon the earth; and by virtue of His relation to God, He intercedes for, protects, blesses, and rules it eternally.

3. With the pure word, and the all-sufficient grace of God is given to us all that we need. To this there need, and should be added nothing drawn from other religions. Instead of producing steadfastness and satisfaction of heart, such a mixture of foreign elements, would rather disturb and weaken the purity, certainty, joy, and power of faith, and would bring with it the danger of a turning away, to unfruitful and perplexing ordinances, usages, and strifes.

4. Inasmuch as we have the only valid and efficient expiatory offering in Christ, who outside of the city of legal worship, was crucified for us, and have in him at the same time, the true Passover (1 Corinthians 6:3), we are enabled to partake of an atoning banquet which to the Levitical priests was made legally impossible. It becomes therefore the duty of Christian churches that are still entangled in Judaism, entirely to abandon the Jewish camp.

6. On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which admits no repetition, and sets aside the whole system of sacrificial worship, we are alike laid under the obligation, and endowed with the capacity of offering acceptable and permanent sacrifices of thanksgiving and of well doing, with which we praise God, who, rich in grace, glorifies himself in sinners, and we serve one another according to the will of God as good stewards of the manifold gifts of God.

7. The prosperity of the church is best promoted when its leaders, mindful of their great responsibility before God, watch on behalf of souls, and the members of the church facilitate the fulfilment of this duty by docility and obedience, and render it fruitful of benefit to themselves.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The blessing of faithful teachers before and after their departure.—We owe to pious ancestors a grateful remembrance and faithful imitation.—How our departure from the world becomes an entrance into heaven, and a precedent for a following and imitation that is acceptable to God.—A firm heart is a precious thing and a rare treasure; but it is a work of grace and an abiding good.—What comfort lies in the fact that Jesus Christ is always the same; and in like manner, what warning and what encouragement! How the cross which separates us from the world, unites us with God and with one another.—The offerings of Christians are, 1. prayer; 2. well doing; 3. obedience.—What we have to bring to the altar, and what we have to take from it.

Starke:—The teachers of the church, are leaders, conductors, guides; they must therefore so point the way to blessedness, as themselves to lead the way therein, and conduct their hearers to blessedness, not only with their doctrine, but also by their life and example (Philippians 3:17; 1 Peter 5:3).—It is one of the hidden ways of God that upright teachers of whom there are so few, and to whose preparation so much belongs, are removed by an early death. Disciples who have such teachers should follow them faithfully be times, and hold them as all the dearer and more worthy (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Isaiah 57:1-2).—Righteous, faithful teachers shine in life and in death. Happy they who dwell in memory, upon their holy walk, and edifying death, and thus secure their own preparation for a future blessed departure (Matthew 5:14 ff.). The world frequently forms erroneous judgments of this or that man; but his death testifies of his faith and life; so that many are obliged to wonder and acknowledge that he was a pious man (Luke 23:4; Luke 23:7).—Doctrine and grace belong together; pure doctrine, and the grace, causing by means of it, that the heart become established.—We eat Christ spiritually in faith (John 6:35), and sacramentally in the Holy Supper (Matthew 26:26).—Would we have part in Christ and be sanctified by Him, we must renounce this world and bear His reproach.—The confession and the Reproach of Christ are fellow-travellers.—Reproach is a proof whereby God tests the softness and humility of the heart.—For the sake of the truth of the gospel, we must give up land, city, house, goods, and all (Matthew 19:29).—If thy praise is to please God He must Himself produce it within thee (Philippians 1:11).—Christians also are under obligations to sacrifice, yet not a Mass, but a sacrifice of praise, and themselves (Romans 12:1). With this God in His grace, allows Himself to be well pleased.—No hour of the morning is too early, no noon too high, no evening too late, no day too hot, no night too dark, no place too solitary—thou canst always praise God (Psalms 4:2, 9; Psalms 119:55). The praise of God belongs properly to the heart; yet must at certain times, also employ the body with its members, particularly the mouth (Psalms 34:2).—Faith makes us willingly and readily serve and suffer, for the love and praise of God.—It is the mark of a righteous teacher, when he best satisfies himself in reaping the fruits of his office in the heart of his hearers.

Rieger:—Jesus Christ has an honor and glory which He can share with no other. The Cross of Jesus ever frees us more and more from all that is upon earth, from all that would establish itself in the love of our hearts, and would weigh down the upward tendency of our spirit; and draws us with our love, regard and hope, away thither where Jesus has entered on our behalf.—Let no hour pass without praise and love.—One of the two things must weigh upon us, either duty now, or conscience hereafter.

Heubner:—If the world were our eternal dwelling-place, and to remain among the people of the world were our everlasting destiny, it would be hard to bear reproach; but we have here but a brief sojourn.—God, Himself, must work in us, through Christ, the fruits which shall please Him.—To load ourselves with the sighs of the pious, robs us of bliss.

Ahlfeld:—Confirmation is a sacred act, by which the child is to be established in its baptismal covenant. The obligations which it imposes 1. on the servants of the church, 2. on those to be confirmed, 3. on the church, in particular, the parents and god-parents of the child.

Molenaar:—(New-Year’s Sermon, Ohly, 1863, III. 1). Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today, and the same also forever. We ponder this, 1, for our consolation, and for our quiet, since also in this year Jesus is the same, a. in His Word, as our Teacher and Prophet; b. in His grace, as our Mediator and High-Priest; c. in His power, as our King and Lord; 2. for instruction and warning; a. for unbelievers; b. for believers.

Hedinger;—Grace must confirm the wavering reed.—To waver is already to have half fallen; but to fall from grace is worse than never to have been therein.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 13:9; Hebrews 13:9.—Instead of περιφέρεσθε read παραφέρεσθε, after Sin. A. C. D., and the majority of minusc.

Hebrews 13:9; Hebrews 13:9.—Instead of περιπατήσαντες, Sin. A. D*., read περιπατοῦντες. The former has been introduced into Sin. by a later hand.

Hebrews 13:11; Hebrews 13:11.—The words περὶ ἁμαρτίας, are wanting in A.; they stand in Sin. D. K., before εἰς τὰ ἅγια.; in C*., after these words; and in 14, 47, they become περὶ ἁμαρτιων, for which reason they are regarded by some as an interpolated gloss.

Hebrews 13:17; Hebrews 13:17.—The authority of A. and Vulg., is not sufficient to warrant the removal of the words ὑτὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, and placing them after ἀποδώσοντες, where D*. again adds ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν.