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The Layman S Bible Commentary
The Layman S Bible Commentary
The Layman S Bible Commentary
Genesis
Ch a rles T Fri ts ch . VOLUM E 11 F loy d V Fi ls on .
Isai ah VOLUM E 2 0
VO LUM E 3 G E rn es t Wrigh t
.
Acts of the Apos tles
Exodus A lb ert C Winn
B D a v i e Nap ier VOLUM E 1 2
.
Jeremi ah VOLUM E 2 1
V OLUM E 4
,
Ja m es L .
Ken n e th J Forema n .
VO LUM E 1 3
V OLUM E 5 VO LUM E 22
Ezekiel D an i el ,
Deuteronomy ,
C a rl G Ho w ie G al atians ,
Jos hua
.
Ephes i ans ,
E dw ard P Bla ir
.
VOLUM E 1 4 Philippi ans ,
E ri c C R u s t I an d II Th es s al oni
VO LUM E 1 5
.
an s I an d II Timo
VOLUM E 7 Mic ah Nahum
,
I an d II Ki ngs
H ab akkuk ,
, ,
Zeph
,
ani ah H agg ai
mon
I an d 11 Chronicles , ,
Holmes Rols ton
R o b e rt C D e n ta n Zech ari ah M al achi ,
Ja mes H G a i ley Jr
.
.
, .
VOLUM E 2 4
VOLUM E 8 Hebrews James
VOLUM E 1 6
, ,
Ezra Nehemi ah
, , I an d II Peter
Es ther J ob ,
M atthew Joh n Wic k Bo wman
Ba lmer H K e lly
.
S u zan ne de D ie trich
VOLUME 2 5
VOLUM E 9 VO LUM E 1 7 I II and III Joh n
, , ,
B IB L E C O MME N TA R Y
Donal d G Mill er
. A s s ocia te Edi tors Arnold B . Rh odes
M Chal mers
.
,
Edi tor, Joh n Knox Press
VOLU ME 24
HEBRE W S
JA ME S
FIRST A ND S ECOND LETTERS OF
PE TE R
j ohn Wi ck Bowman
J O HN KN OX P RES S
Unles s oth erwise i ndicated, S cripture q uota tions are from the
R ev is ed S ta n da rd Vers i on of Th e Holy Bi b le, c opyrigh t 1 946
a nd 1 95 2 by D i v is ion of Ch ris t ia n E duca ti on of t h e Na ti onal
M E Bratcher
. . 1 96 2
All ri ghts reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in
.
S econd printing 1 96 6
Th e B ible is not the prope rty of a s peci al group It i s not even the .
Church for its ow n lif e but als o to bring God s Offer of li fe to all ’
the c as e with the B ible it s elf But al s o as with the Bible there is a
.
Bible Th e refore no biblic al text is prin ted al ong with the com
.
,
ment upon it This commentary w ill h ave done its work preci se ly
.
thi s trans l ation Where thi s i s the c as e they h ave given their
.
s ame time there are s igns th at m any people are longing for help
HE BRE W S
IN T R O D UC T I ON
Au th orship
Th e Letter to the Hebrews w as early known employed an d
the thi rd ce ntury held tha t the s tyle w as non P auline though the -
ideas were cons idered to be P aul s One of the Chu rch Fathers of
’
.
wrote the epistle An ear ly p apyrus manu script of the thi rd cen
.
From the period of the Reform ation to modern times there has
been great divers ity Of Opinion on the m atter of authors hi p C al .
of s upp orters .
Readers
From the early fourth cent ury there have been thos e who have b e
8 HEB REWS : INTRODUCTION
li ev ed th at the letter w as addres s ed t o the church in Jerus al em or ,
ges t a Helleni s tic Jewis h group within the Rom an church ( Hel
“
-
.
”
l eni s ti c refers t o t h e influence of Gre ek ide as an d culture upon
t h e J ewi s h religion ) O t hers hold th at the letter w as address ed to
.
Date
Tw o ets of fact s h ave generally been emph as ized as det ermin
s
“
Clement refers to Jes u s as the high prie st of our off erings the ,
lowing have be en sugges ted as pos s ibilitie s— the one under Cl aud
iu s in A D 49 ( Acts
. . the well known pers ecution under -
Sugges ted d ates for the w riting of the epistle are as foll ows
between 5 8 and 95 8 5 1 1 0 7 5 8 0 7 0 95 about 95 65 or 6 6
,
-
,
-
,
-
, , ,
A New S olution
From the above sta tement of the his tory of the problem it wi ll ,
During the p as t dec ade certain s i gni ficant facts h ave come to
our attention whi ch would appea r to s uggest the poss ibility of a
new s olution The s e d at a are prin cip ally of tw o kind s —firs t the
.
,
redis covery of or re emphas is upon the fact th at the Jud ais m Of the
-
e arnes t des ire to s timulate gre ater z eal for the di sti nctive ele
ments in the Christi an gos pel among Chris ti ans who becaus e ,
“ ”
of the ir liberal b ackground were intri gued with that gos pel s
’
s imil ar ities to the bes t in Jud ais m ; an d ( 4 ) the epi s tle w as w rit
e rall y s ymp athetic with hi s doctrin al pos ition while at the same ,
in Rome .
“
Helleni stic Judai s m ( see Acts
”
P aul hims elf employs thi s
t erminology an d cl ai ms to h ave belonged to the Hebr ai c s ide
( Phil. II Cor . Th e term s employed to de s ign ate the
two bran ches of Jud ais m h ave a reference which i s far wi der th an
the respective l angu ages s poken by the two p artie s though the ,
“
u s e of diff erent l angu age s i s not excluded Hebraic an d Hel
.
”
l eni s ti c refer rather to the tot al cultural p atterns adopted : on
t h e on e h an d adherence to s tri ct J ewi s h p atterns of life an d on
, ,
the other accommod ation to Greek cul tural p attern s Nor doe s
, .
the factor of pla ce neces s ari ly h ave an y bearing upon the problem .
a —
We h ve little enough to go on here merely the ac count of the
HEB REw s z INTR ODU CTION 11
even of the people of the Law ( the Jews ) for Stephen m akes it ,
cle ar that it w as char acteri s tic of Isr ael that they rejected the
revelation which God gave throu gh s elected in dividu al s called
“ ”
prophets ( v s s 2 5 2 6 3 5-3 6 5 1
.
-
, ,
”
death for every on e ( v s Th e same point i s m ade in connec
.
“
tion with our author s choice of Melchizedek king of S alem
’
, ,
as on e who though he w as
”
pries t of the Mos t High God ( 7 : 1
in no s ens e a Jew yet w as a bless ing both to Abrah am an d to all
hi s des cend an ts including the Levitic al pries thood
,
“ ”
Th e unworthi nes s of rebelli ous Is rael is al s o portr ayed with
telling eff ect ( 3 : 7 1 9 ) in contras t wi th fai thful prophetic s pirits
-
“
like Abrah am and hi s des cend ants Joseph an d Mos es the prOph, ,
”
et s
, an d othe rs of the ir typ e w h o s uffered pers ecution at the
’
Th e writer m ai ntai ns that the true house i n whi ch God s
worshi p is to be c arried on is a s pirit ual or et ern al one ( 9 : 1 1
That i s it is a house m ade up of living person alitie s
,
a -
s ort Of which but one may be mentioned here n amely the medi , ,
Heb .
It s eems clear from the above comp ari son th at the author an d
his re aders who as we h ave s aid belonged t o a s ingle group of
,
s econd generation
-
Chris ti ans ( Heb 4) must have been
.
-
perhaps appear not unlikely that they should h ave drawn together
"
at some central point And wh at better pl ace could be imagined
.
than a s pot near the an cient c apital city of S am ari a poss ibly at ,
Wehar
Thi s pos s ib ili ty moves into the re al m of prob abili ty when the
incident recount ed in J ohn 4 i s recalled ( s ee e speci ally v s s 5 and .
the Chri sti an Church an d it is strik ing that the city of S am ari a
,
more strikin g that Jes u s s hould decl are to the woman of Sychar
that th e hour i s comin g when neither on thi s mount ain n or in Jeru
“
( J ohn
” “
s alem wil l y ou wors hip the F ather an d th at the true
”
wors hipers will worshi p the Father in s pirit an d truth ( v s .
“
while the author of Hebrews in like vein argues that the s anct u
”
ary an d the true tent in which Chris ti an wors hip i s to be m ai n
HEB REWS : INTRODU CTION 13
“ ”
tai ned is one not m ade with hands that i s not of this creation , ,
“
( Heb . Similarly Mount city of the living
,
“ ”
worshi p is the he avenly Jerus alem ( Heb
, for as he .
says ,
“
Here we h ave no l as ting city but we seek the city which is ,
”
to come
Th e D iscovery of t he Dead Sea Scrolls
Th e bove di stinction between Hebraic an d Hellenis tic Jewis h
a -
the s ect yet the s crolls ar e witnes s es to the fact that cell s or
,
“ ”
c amp s were m aintai ne d th roughout al l Pale s tine a fact to whi ch ,
Jos ephus app ar ently is referring when he spe aks Of the Es s enes
as thos e who
“
have no certain city but m any of them dwell in
every city ”
.
Helleni s tic J ewis h Chr is tian community in Pales tine coming into
-
is m ade for its elf by the Qumr an community B oth the Qumran .
”
low s hi p of the s aints including thos e on e arth an d thos e in he aven .
t i ani ty— s im il arit ies wh ich ar e more or les s p aral lel wit h other
g roup s wi thin J ud ai s m an d Chri s ti anit y due to t h e f act th at
,
all
draw upon the comm on s ource of the O ld Tes t ament Scriptures
— th e di s s imil arit ies in te aching be tween the two group s ar e even
more striking Thi s is p articul ar ly true of their concepts Of high
.
enon more than an y other points to the conclu s ion th at the Letter
to the Hebrews w as writt en in th e context of an d cont emporary
wit h the exi s tence of th e Qumran communi ty at Khir bet Qumran .
“
s iah Th e author of Hebrews however s hows th at
.
,
our Lord w as
,
i s concerned to deny out right the Qum ran cl aim that the Mes
s i ah w as to be of the tribe of Le vi Hi s point i s ex ac t ly th at Je s us
.
Thi s i s te a ching derived quite clearly from p ass ages like Hos ea
an d Mic ah 8 Nothing in the s croll s however s ugge sts
-
.
, ,
Pries t of hi s people who entered once f or all into the Holy Place ,
pri es t cons trai ned by l aw to sa crifice at all But for that d ay all
.
2 4; -
1 6 ; an d I C or 5 : 6
-
. It s eems deeply s ignifi
cant therefore that i n the Qumr an Scrolls no reference to the
, ,
“ ” “ ” “
community an d for whom accordingly temple l an d s ac
, , ,
” “ ”
rifi c e, an d holy city were of as little concern as f or the Qum
ran commun i ty In the me antim e too we know th at the cent er
"
.
, ,
of Chri sti an evangel is tic eff ort h ad p ass ed from J erus alem t o
Syri an Antioch byp ass ing S am ari a an d it s Helleni stic J ewish
,
-
tive act ivity on be hal f of all men everywhere and with a zeal for
c arrying t hat gos pel to the ends of the e arth though the cre ative ,
eff ect of the pe rse cution ou t of which the commu nity h ad s pru ng
s urely g ave early promi se of s uch ze al an d Chris ti an s t at es m an
“ ”
becoming fai nthe ar ted ( Heb an d they fretted under the
.
“
a d angerous attitude expos in g s uch fainthearted Christi an s to
the attract ions of the ne arest second b es t religious interes t So far
-
.
high i n the early 6 0 s in the Holy Land— fi res whi ch burst into
’
cre ative s ugges tion that Jes us hi gh p ries thood is sim ilar to tha t
’
though sons Of men are in their e s s ent i al being f ar bene ath the
“
S on of G od yet t here i s a certain kins hip involved which
,
’
does not exist between the l atter an d any other of God s cre a
t ur e s— not even angels Thi s uni que kins hip m ake s poss ible not
.
al one the Son s identific ation with the s ons of men in their l ow
’
"
"
“ ”
fai thful over God s house as a son’
so t hey ar e c alled to
“
consti t ut e h is hous e ( 3 an d as he w as cal led to be t h e high
”
pries tly Mediator on behalf of men in rel ation to God ( 5 : 1
“
“
s o the dem and is l aid upo n them to be te ac hers of the word
”
of right eous ne ss (5 : 1 1 Moreover as the res pons ibili ty
,
which he s acri ficed him self that men might draw ni gh to God
through him even s o it i s incu mbent upon the
“ “ ”
s ons as les se r pries ts who n ow have ac ce ss to t h e
, s anctu ary
“
in G od s et ernal t abern acle to draw ne ar with a true heart in full
’
s ons ar e cal led to endure to accept wi t hout prote s t the dis cipline
,
so it i s i n cum
“ ”
s utf e r outs ide t h e g at e of the Holy City
“
bent upo n the s ons that t hey al so go forth to him outs ide the
HEB REWS : INTRODUCTION 19
m
,
the Older Judai s m B oth fai ths accepted the O ld Te s tam ent as
.
Script ure but the incarnate l ife an d work of Jes us Chri s t g ave
,
OUTLINE
The Redempt ive Power an d Lords h ip of God s Son Hebrew s ’
.
m
Redemptive Im i cat i on s for the Sons of Men -
18 )
1 18)
-
Son Hebrews m u g
.
COMM E N TA RY
Hebrew s
Th ere is no saluta tion or ind ic ation Of any kind rel ating to the
identity of the re aders ( se e Introduction ) Tw o points s tan d ou t .
in thes e firs t four verses : ( 1 ) the author s des ire to indic ate gen ’
n ine conti nuity between the revel ations given during the Old an d
new periods an d ( 2 ) the s upe ri or char acter of the revealin g
,
Th e God who reve al s hims elf an d his will Of old i s the s ame
”
“ ”
the vehi cle of the Old revelation are called prophets A prophet .
direct line with the prophets ; in hi s ess enti al nat ure or being ,
“ ”
of the glory of G od —
a phr as e which in both Hebrew an d
“ ”
creation an d so i s at the beginn ing of hi story ; he i s als o the heir
and s o i s at i t s end ( v s And as he i s at the b eginn ing and at
.
“
th e end of hi s tory so al s o he i s in it s middle providenti al ly up
, ,
holding the univers e But thi s Son h as a rel ation not only to the
”
.
,
.
which the author will dwell at gre at lengt h throughout the letter .
“
In saying that the Son h as sat down at the righ t hand Of the
M aj es ty on hi gh the author quotes from P s al m 1 1 0 : 1 a Psalm
”
, ,
”
already living in thes e l as t days ( v s that i s in the period .
,
in whi ch the Son s erve s as the Medi ator of God s word to man
’
.
“ ”
in eterni ty at the right hand of th e M ajes ty on hi gh Th e n ame .
“ ” “ ”
Son i s accordingly the greates t to be Obtained by any being
“ ”
— gre ater than angels a word which in both the Hebrew an d the
,
”
Greek s imply me ans mes s engers an d whi ch may be applied to
“
’
ever he does conce ive of the Psalm as giving us the Father s
,
“
royal P sal m in which the rei gni ng king or contemporary
”
at the beginni ng of hi s mi nis try or even at the Inc arn ation ( note
“
in verse 6 : when he brings the fi rs t born into the -
mini s ters Every created thi ng then may s erve as a mini s ter Of
”
.
, ,
God s cre ated mess engers Angels together with all Of h is ser
’
.
,
vants are t rans ient by na t ure as are winds an d flam es of fire All
, , .
“ ” “ ”
8 9 In the P s alm the reigning m es s i ah or anointed on e is
-
.
’
ad dres s ed i n l angua ge th at s tres s e s the ex alted function of God s
”
Of th e king s fu nction as me ss i ah is s tres s ed a function cor
’
,
verse Hebrews unhes itati ngly applies them to Christ the eternal
.
,
Son Thi s i s in accord with the author s previous rem ark that the
.
’
“
sen gers are de s cribed as mini s tering s pirits s ent forth to s erve ,
”
for the sake of those who ar e to obt ain s alvation ( v s 1 4 ) .
It i s cle ar from thi s chapter that the author kn ows onl y two
c ategori es Of existence —G od ( with whom an d in whom he in
“
eludes hi s etern al Son ) an d cre at ure s ( all cre ated beings
,
an ,
”
gels , prophets m ankind generally an d all Of nature ) One
, , .
“ ”
among thos e w h o heard the Lord but were numbered among
those who h ad received the tradi tion from that earliest group .
However the e ss ay cannot h ave b een written very late in the firs t
,
“ ”
(vs . a n d it h ad been atte s ted to them ( v s They were a .
”
contras ting the angels with men In vers e 6 man an d s on of .
”
man are in Semitic p ar allelis m both terms mean i ng s irn ply ,
“ ”
pl aced everyt hing in s ubjection un der h is feet For the author .
of Hebrews the dividing line between the two ages his tory an d ,
“
eterni ty i s the Inc arn at ion Chri stians are al re ady li vin g in
, .
” “ ” ”
thes e l as t days the age of the S on not in th e age of old the
, , ,
“
age of the prophets ( 1 1 Accordingly th e world to come of , ,
h as al rea dy arrived for Chris ti ans They h ave already tas ted of the
.
“
powers of the age to come Th e s igns an d wonders and
gi fts Of t h e Holy Spiri t referred to in vers e 4 ar e without doubt
a p art of thes e powers It i s clear then both from the t es timony
.
, ,
“ ”
Nevertheles s we do not yet se e everything in s ubjection to
,
man ( v s Man h as not yet fully come into h is herit age How
. .
ever there i s one man who h as alr e ady attained the highes t e state
,
“ ”
that by the the grace of God he might taste de ath for every one
— th at i s tho roughl y to identify h m elf with
, i s m an even in the ex
( v s 9 ) B ec aus e Jesus accept ed thi s humble
”
t remi ty Of de ath
“
.
on e with it in experience .
“
It i s in the light Of this prin ciple that the author decl ares it fi t
ting th at God the Creator for whom and by whom all t hings
”
,
“
,
“
ferin g S al vation here i s s poken of as m an s being brought to
’
.
”
glory ( v s 1 0 ) Th e word is us ed because of i ts appe ar an ce in th e
.
”
Condition in which m an as the im age Of G od ( Gen
“
re .
”
neer of their s alvation Sometimes the Greek word employed
.
“ “ ”
here i s tran s l ated c apt ai n or leader In any cas e the picture i s .
,
norm ally applied to the work Of the high priest B oth the s an cti fy .
ing High Pries t an d the people whom he prep ares for th e worship
“ ”
of God are s aid to have all one origin ; that i s to s ay they h ave ,
”
“
Servant Ps alm This i s a Psalm in whi ch i s pictured the Suff er
.
“
”
ing Servan t of the Lord in much the s ame fashion as that re
deeming figur e i s des cri bed in Se cond Is ai ah Th e P salm i s one .
there after by the various New Tes t ament writers in appropri ate \
“ ”
decl ared to be the s igns an d portents of the working of G od in
Is rael a prefi guri ng of God s saving activity on beh alf Of man
,
’
ever the ultim ate purpos e of thi s identific ation with m an k ind
,
“ ”
from fear Of death Death i s general ly conceived in Scripture as
.
lel to the s erie s of ideas with which our author i s working at this
point ( fles h an d blood de ath the Devil lifelong bond age ) i s to be
, , ,
”
i s concerned but wi th the des cend ants of Abrah am ( v s 1 6 ) Be .
,
”
Abrah am Second in vers e 1 6 the thought i s express ed in the
.
,
however for the firs t time he s tates that end in term s of the hi gh
,
”
1 0 His faithful
“
Priest will find expre ss ion in 4 : 1 4- 1 6 and -
.
To m ake expi ation for sin i s not again mentioned in the letter
“ ” ‘
“ ”
say it h as a divine ori gin ( v s
, heaven often appearing in the
.
God .
Th e author wis hes to s tress the faithful char acter of Jesu s Chris t ,
thr ough whom the call comes to man to become God s hous e Th e ’
"
.
latter p art of vers e 1 mi ght well be trans lated : Will you give
“
ployed onl y of a Speci al mes s enger who c arries with hi m the ful l
authority of the on e s ending J es us accordingly as High Pri es t
.
, ,
thi s authority ( v s 2 ) .
“ ”
one as is s hown by th e word s erv ant ( v s 5 employed in Num
, .
s ince it w as through Mose s as lea der t hat God cons t it uted I s rael
"
"
Chri st But he re the comp arison ends for where as Mos es w as
.
,
Th e contr as t between the two figures runs thr oughout this sec
tion B oth are pronounced fai thf ul in their s everal s pheres of s erv
.
“ ” “ ”
fai thf ul in God s hous e ; Chri s t i s fai thful over God s hous e
’ ’
.
Thi s contras t between Mos es a n d Jesus Chris t i s cle arly in dic ative
of the tempt ation to which the re aders of this letter are expos ed .
the rit ual s ide B ut this i s prob ably bec aus e of the p articul ar na
.
”
He be gins with the ass ur ance th at Chri s tians are God s hous e ’
Mos es an d Chris t h ad been said above to have been fai thful with
“ ”
reference to God s hous e ( v ss 5
’
It i s startling immedi ately
.
,
followin g that dis cuss ion to read th at Christi ans are this house
, ,
whether Jews or Chri stians ; that the required res pons e to the
c all i s on e of faith or faithf ulness ; an d th at the res ultant people
re sponding to thi s cal l are one In the s ections which follow the
.
,
“ ”
Th e h Ope ( v s 6b ) in whi ch Chri s ti ans are to fi n d confi
.
” “
dence an d pri de i s of an eschatological nat ure ( 6 : 1 8
which i s to say th at e ss entially it refers to the completion and ac
‘
“ ”
the s ubject of res t an d the poss ibility Of God s people enteri ng ’
“ ” “ ”
inasmuch as sabb ath or res t w as on e of the term s employed
“ ”
by the Jews for s alvation Moreover the Ps alm w ith its refer
.
,
2 3 24;
-
Num . Th e Psalm als o illus trates the note
Of urgency that i s s truck whenever God s voice i s hear d in view ’
,
tions the res pons ibility of man for respons e to th e divine c all is
34 HEB REWS 4 : 1 -1 0
i s es
Th e generation t o which the author writes repres ents a third
o cc as ion on whi ch th e promi s e i s Opened to man There are thus .
t hree s t ages in the pre s ent ation Of the promi s e as follows : firs t t o , ,
”
i z ed ) h as a long hi s tory be hind it in both Hebrew an d Greek ,
Hebrews that the promi se remai ns Open re quires that the good “
”
news announced on e ach occ as ion s h all be es s enti all y the same .
For much the s ame reas on perh aps we should a cce pt the al ,
ternate re adin g given i n the m argin for the s econd hal f of vers e 2 ,
“
rather than th at found in th e text : the mess age which they hear d
did not benefit them becaus e th ey w e re n ot u n i ted i n fa i th w i th
,
”
th os e w h o h e ar d Th e p ass age i s as diffi cult to unders t and in the
.
Greek as in the Englis h but the margin seem s to have the bes t
,
to the fa ct that fai th i s the required norm ative res pons e to the gos
pel promi s e an d th at s uch faith uni tes in a great fell owshi p down
,
th e centurie s tho s e who receive the s al vation offered in the gos pel .
”
have believed enter into that fellowship an d enjoy the common
“ ”
re st beca us e we are un ited in faith with thos e who hear d an d
of als o as that s a lv ation into whi ch God ca lls men to enter wit h
hi ms elf ( v ss 4-5 ; see al so Ps
. A word of warn ing s hould
.
"
”
l abors as God did from hi s ( v s 1 0 ) s hould be s o interpreted as .
th e works of cre ation on the p art of both God an d man For the .
Jew the S abb ath h as always been a day of j oyful experie nce of all
36 HEB REWS -
16
”
Exh ortat ion t o Respons e Third “
at t h e Call -1 6)
Again exhortation an d doctrine ar e mingled together Th e sec .
tion Opens with exhortation : the need for the hum an respon se of
“ ”
the sons to the di vine call is a cons tant emphasi s in thi s book .
Chri s t ( v s .
“ ”
an d in does the phr as e the word Of G od appe ar in thi s let
”
ter B ut it s e quivalent i s found in such phrase s as the promis e
.
“
” “ ”
good news the mess age whi ch they hear d
“ ”
the element ary doctrines of Chr ist an d pos s ibly others .
’
Servant s des cription Of himself in Is ai ah He m ade my
”
mouth lik e a s harp s word In Revelation the exalted Chri st
.
“
i s also said to h ave a s harp two edged s wor proceeding from
-
“
the word i s pict ure squely indic ated by saying th at all are laid
”
bar e before God an expre ss ion which refers to the twis ting of
,
“ ”
ened Th e Greek re ads without s in an d i s to be equ ated with
.
,
“
the p ar allel p ass age at — sep arated from s inn ers exalted ,
man i s except for those ways in which s in its elf determines the
,
Hebrews
Q lifi
ua cations of a Hi gh Pri est -1 0 )
Appointment an d Hum ani ty 4)
-
pries thood and with hi s work Th e se two subj ects will occupy five
.
“
s elf a si nner an d i s bo und to off er s acrifice for hi s own si ns as
”
Well as for thos e of the peo ple (v s .
“
Some of the blood Of the bull he took and s prinkled on the
mercy s e at in the Holy of Holies (Lev O nly thereafter w as
.
“
he qualified to kill the goat of the sin off ering which i s for the
people an d to take i ts blood within the veil s prin klin g it upon
” “ ”
,
the gifts and sa crifices of vers e 1 are prob ably the cere al Offer “
” “ ”
ing an d fles h s acrifices s pecifi ed under the Law (Lev 4; .
th at is those who voluntar ily dis obeyed the Law alth ough it w as
,
s ti t uti n g for the s econd p art of the vers e a cl aus e from the Greek
choos e these high Ofli ces for him self B ut equ ally he w as not u n .
”
who w as able to s ave him from de ath (v s Undoubtedly the .
”
for h i s godly fe ar (v s 7) on thi s occ as ion a reference to the n a
.
,
“ ”
m an s will t o G od i s a fund amental characteri stic of godly fe ar
’
. .
“ ”
Th at Je s us learn ed Obedience through hi s s uff erings i s a charac
t eri s ti c te achi ng also of t h e Apos tle P aul ( Phil .
”
Th e phr ase m ade perfect (v s 9) h as the s ens e in the Greek.
of
“
having attained a previou s ly determined go al Th e me aning
”
.
’
ence to h is Father regardle ss of cost w as ou r Lord s m aturing to
“
the point where he became worthy Of being the s ource of etern al
”
s alv ation to all who obe y hi m ( v s 9 ) There i s no indic ation in
.
“
vers e 1 0 of the point of time at which Je su s w as de signated by
G od a hi gh prie s t after the order of Melchizedek but the logic ,
Of the author s argum ent would sugge s t that s uch des ignation w as
’
the re sult Of the obedience and the cons equent m aturing proces s
w hi ch h as ju s t been de s crib ed It h as been su gges ted th at God s
’
.
42 HEB REWS 6 : 1 -8
“ ”
of the righteous ne ss whi ch comes by faith (1 More
over th e m ature who are re ady to receive s uch a word ar e thos e
,
“
who a ccording t o the author h ave their fa culties trai n ed by
, ,
e n ces Of whi ch the re a ders are aware In this s eries al s o perh aps
.
HEB REWS 20
-
43
“ ”
find in the pas sage proof of the doctrine of b acks liding whereas ,
On the one h and it may be s ugges ted that the apos tasy re
,
“ ”
“ ”
livi ng in the age to come an d experiencing i ts powers ( v s 5 ) .
whil e the works Of which they h ave repented are thos e pert aining
to the s phere of de ath ( v s particul arly tho se of a ritu alis tic
.
nat ure atta chi ng to the old cult It i s this conta ct with the
coming age an d the powers which pertai n to it that arous es th e
expectancy Of the author that his Chris ti an rea ders may indeed
ady an ce t o m at urity Th i s idea is explicitly brou ght out in th e
.
next s ection .
”
It w as noted above that the apostas y agai ns t which our au
t hor warned hi s readers w as Of a hypothetical nature ( v s 4
s .
s uch a pos ition of jeop ardy while in the world of hum an aff airs .
Lik e the father at the foot of the Mount of Trans figuration they
”
are cons train ed to cry ou t I believe an d then in the next h al f
, ,
mood of comm and or entre aty Paul give s ample expres s ion to
.
In the pres ent ins tance the tw o factors referred to ar e cle arly
evidenced in our author s argument Firs t corres ponding to the
’
.
,
“
I believe or indic ative s tatement of the cas e for the Chri sti an ,
“
our author call s attention t o your work an d the love which you
”
s howed for hi s s ake in serving the s aints as you s till do (vs 1 0), .
“ ” “
Th e work referred to here i s not to be conf us ed with good
”
works under the L aw A s we h ave s een ou r author refers t o
.
,
“ ”
thos e as de ad works that i s works which are n ot characteriz ed
, ,
“
Thi s wor i s rather the product Of the Chri stian s ex
’
“ ”
wh ich he h as alre ady mentioned ( vss 4 an d Th e love to.
brotherly love mus t have been a p articul arly s trong ch aracteri s tic
of the community ad dre s s ed in thi s letter as the author refers to ,
it ag ain
But the second factor the need for an imperative— is al s o
—
“ ”
applicable to the readers condition For t here i s a hope which
’
.
“
( v s 1 2 ) Accordingly e arnes tnes s in realizing the ful l as s urance
.
,
of h Ope
”
an d in becoming
- “
imitators Of those who through fai th
”
an d p atience inherit the promi s es is c alled for .
s tre s s the fa ct that in the las t analys i s s alvation lie s with God an d
his tori cal an d eternal as pects In th e pres ent s ecti on the author is
.
concerned to str es s p articul arly the future focus Of the Chris tian
life ( v ss 1 8 .
“ ”
fai r R ather i t is a veritable anchor of the s oul It i s an Object ive
. .
reality not merely a s ubj ective whim It i s the very work of Chris t
, .
1 1 - 14 .
emph as is i s cle arly upon God s p art in the tran s action Th e author
’
.
l ays great s tre ss upon the fact that the promise came from God to
“ ”
begin with an d re sted upon his employing an oath to s eal the
“
pr omi se Thes e two promis e an d oath are unchangeable things
.
, , ,
”
in whi ch it is i mposs ible that God s hould prove fals e ( v s .
God h ad originall y m ade thr ough Moses an d Jos hua to the people
of Is r ael mus t rem ain open for s ome fut ure gener ation t o receive
, ,
the readers have not yet att ai ned t o the maturity required of s ons ,
ahead into the pres ence Of God on our beh alf He i s ac cordingly .
“ ”
the pionee r of the Chri s ti an fai th an d as he h as planted the ,
46 HEB REWS 7 : 1 -1 0
” “
a nchor of our
hope within the eternal san ct uary he is the per ,
promi s ed s al vation .
The Son s ’
Melchiz edekian High Priesth ood -2 8)
Supremacy of t he Melchiz edekian High Pri esthood -1 0 )
Th e uthor now comes to de al In a conclus ive fas hion with the
a
s uprem acy Of the Mel chi z e deki an hi gh pries thood over that of the
“
other dir ection for in vers e 3 he spe aks of Melchizedek as re
,
that the high pries tly or s acrifici al work of Chri st h as s upers eded
-
”
tion wi th God s s aving purpos e for man For
“
’
righteous ness .
”
an d pe ace were two of the words com
’
mouly employed by the Hebrew prophets to refer to G od s re
dempt iv e activity ( v s 2 ) Melchized ek therefore as a redemptive
.
, ,
“
in the Genes i s record Melchizedek i s app arently without father
or mother or genealogy an d h as neither begi nn ing of d ays n or,
”
end of lif e ( v s It i s true that i n Gene si s Melchizedek i s not
.
,
gument upo n the well kn own fa ct that it w as cus tomary for the
-
ou t fanf are Of any s ort And having done the work which God
.
gave him to do he flas hes off into the ni gh t again Th e author sees
, .
hi m in this res pect as like Jes us Chri s t who came out of eterni ty,
Mos aic L aw decl ared that only tho s e belonging to the tri be of
Levi were to receive tithe s ( Num B ut it would appear
.
"
,
“
to the Le vitical order is found in the fact th at Melchizedek
met Abrah am and ble s s ed him
”
(v s But it i s a m atter of
.
ble ss ing the gre ates t man of God in h is d ay Thi s right to bles s is .
Man can neither add to nor s ubtr act from the val idity of such a
him s elf as having been given prie stly prerog atives ( M ark
Th e ps almi st i n Ps al m i s doubtless drawing upon thi s tradi
tion in decl aring the king of I srael t o b e at once me ss i ah an d hi gh
pries t of God An d the author of Hebrews in t aking over an d
.
,
Obtained under the Levitic al priesthood and the Mos aic Law ( v s .
”
Thi s proves their general we akness an d us eles s ness ( v s .
“ ”
Th e l aw m ade nothing perfect ( v s .
”
Perfection in this context an d in s ucceeding ones ( see
woul d s eem to h ave reference to the prep ara
tion of the spiri t of m an for fellows hip with an d wors hip of G od .
“
ance to the re aders th at their High Pries t i s able real ly to s ave
”
thos e who draw ne ar to God through him ( v s Thi s ass ur .
trast the Levi tic al pri es ts were many in number bec au s e de ath
intervened t o disrupt their pries thood ; thus no assur ance cou ld be
given that they would s ee matters through to a definitive end .
,
“ ”
cons ists in interce s s ion for hi s people ( v s 2 5 ) .
“
de s cri bed in term s int ended to s et him ap art from thos e high
”
prie sts who ofli ci at e under th e Levitic al system Th e author h as .
alr e ady c alled attention to the fact th at in h is hum ani ty the Leviti
the cultic wors hip might have its s late wi ped cle an an d be enabled
t o s tart anew .
HEB REWS 28
-
51
( v s 2 7 ) For the Christian fai th , then , the work of its High Pri es t,
.
Of the high -prie s tly act is required y ear b y year , an d thi s es senti ally
“ ”
be caus e of Je su s eternal char acter as a Son This Son it is tr ue,
’
.
,
“ ”
h ad to be m ade perfect for ever ( vs an d thi s he became ,
.
” “
s uffered for being thus made perfect he bec ame the
,
eff ect th at the Atonement on the cross withi n his tory i s an act of
,
the etern al High Pries t a ccompli s hed in the outer pries tly cou rt
of the eternal ta berna cle Th is ta berna cle h as s o to s pea k an
.
, ,
outer court whi ch cross es the line dividing hi s tory from eterni ty ,
and it is in thi s outer court in his t ory that the Cro s s or altar Of ,
p ass es into the ete rnal tabern acle never agai n being requi red to,
say that he did thi s once f or all when he Off ered up hims elf But .
as
“
holy blam eless uns tai ned sep arated from s in ners exalted
, , , ,
”
above the he avens (v s And els ewhere in the letter he will
.
the Church s belief in the sin les s character of its Lord (M att
’
.
John II Cor .
52 HEB REWS 8: 1 -6
W ORK
Hebrews
”
Th e Greek word trans lated the point m ay mean either prin
” “ ” “ ”
cipal point , s umm ary, or even crown ; an d si mil ar ly the
”
phrase trans lated in what we are s aying m ay be taken to me an
“
s aid Inas much as in thes e six vers es the author introduce s a refer
.
ence s ucces s ively t o the s acri fice tabe rn acle an d covenant as they
, ,
s ignific ance th at where as the theme of our Lord s high prie s thood
’
,
a ble to c all into a ction the whole divine power to s ave For thi s is .
“
wh at it me ans to be s eated at the right hand of the throne of the
”
M ajes ty in heaven .
” “
s acrifi ce s Offered under the two orders (v s . an d (3 ) the cove
nant whi ch i s declared to be better than the first covena nt of
”
"
"
Quoting from the Greek tran slation of Exodus the author
points ou t th at the origin al tabern acle employed by Mo s e s in th e
“
wilderness h ad been m ade according to the p attern which w as
”
s hown him on the mou ntain ( v s 5 ) an d that in cons equence.
contras t therefore our author s ees the he avenly t abern acle s erved
, ,
by our Lord as the true one or in other words the ori gin al or
“ ”
, , ,
“ ”
pattern of th at s erved by Mo se s .
”
ge s tion th at it is nece s s ary th at Jes u s Christ as High Pries t al so
“
have s omethi ng to off er An d then he curiou s ly ins erts at this
”
.
“
Hebrews the High Pries t i s al s o Mess i ah ( that i s on e who is ,
And for the moment ou r author contents hims elf with the s tatement
“ ”
that the New Covenant is ena cted on better promi s es than the
O ld In p ass ing it s hould be obs erved that reference is made here
.
,
“ ”
to only on e Old Covenant This i s in accord with the Jewis h
.
that Old Hebrew Jewi s h view there w as but one Covenan t which
-
nant w as one whatever the imm edi ate promi ses involved mi ght be
, .
What the better promis es are which atta ch to the New Cove
“ ”
fully developed in the letter We are left merely with such a pas
.
54 HEBREWS -
13
final anal ys i s there i s no diff erence between the promi ses att ach
ing to Old an d New Covenants Th is the author hi ms elf makes clear
.
cours e gave room for the coming of a new coven ant the one
, ,
“ ”
In proof of the inferior an d Ob s olete nature of the first
Coven ant the author turns to the prOph eti c Scriptu res J eremi ah .
s criptural l angu ages denote s omethin g qui te diff erent from the
ni zes that thi s i s the c as e an d who m akes hi s pl ans for the es tab
lis h ment of a New Coven ant Third it is not a m atter of concern
.
,
“
Ju dah ) to whi ch the prophet refers In thi s re spect as in others
”
.
,
we s ee that there is s imil arity an d yet dis s imil arity between the
teachi ng of Hebrews an d that of the Qumran s ect For th at se ct .
“ ”
al s o held th at it w as the people of the new covenant It i s as .
Th e Old Tabernacl e 5)
-
cons truction and furni ture of the earthly sanctu ary which tradi
“ ”
56 HEB REWS 9 : 1 -5
,
’
,
’
.
For i ts des cription of the sanct uary Hebrews depends upon Exo
dus 2 5 an d 2 6 acco rding to which it w as divided into two t aber
,
“ ”
n acles or tents in the firs t ( outer one ) Of whi ch were to be
,
“ ”
fou nd the l amps tand an d the table an d the bread Of the Presence .
alt ar of i ncen s e although as the aut hor s ugge s t s thi s golden al tar
, ,
“ ”
a ctu ally pert ai ned to the Holy of Holies or inner tent ( v ss 3 —5 ) .
“ ”
s pre ad their wing s over the mercy s e at or repres ent ation of
God s throne whi ch formed the cover of the Ark ( s ee Exod
’
.
2 5 : 1 0 22 )-
”
th at th e firs t covenan t h ad regul ation s for worship whi ch were
a d apted to i t s funct ion ( v s It i s onl y as we p ass on into the
.
“ ”
ment h as reference to the pre s ence of the s econd cur tain ( v s 3 ) .
point i s that as long as this divi sion existed between the two tents
or t ab em acles there could be no re al fellows hip between God an d
,
man .
s alem but r at her ch ooses for purpo s e of comp ari so n between the
,
the end in view yet it i s ob vious that s uch s ingle conta ct woul d
,
h ave done little for the cau se Of tru e religion It i s with this lit tle .
,
reached their climax an d were sub s umed in thos e Off ered by the
high prie st on the D ay of Atonement Th e author cons iders th e .
“ ” “
existence of the s econd curtain as symbolic for the pres ent
”
age (v s . Putting together all the s acrifice s an d Off erings under
the O ld Covenant he hold s th at neither s ingly nor collectively do
,
”
ou s ablutions regul ations for the body
, ( v s 1 0 ) They s erve to .
a cult religi on Looked at from thi s point of view even the work
.
,
neces s ary cultic acts pres cribed for a given year w ith a View to ,
s prinkle s the blood of the appo inted s acrifice s upon all the furni
ture of worship the Tabe rnacle its elf in its various p arts an d even
, ,
worshi per s acceptance into fell ows hip with God i s on diff erent
’
,
HEB REW S 9 : 1 1 -14 59
the pres ent s ection therefore is t o s how that where as the s acri
, , ,
fi ces whi ch the Jewis h hi gh pries t pres ented on th at occ as ion were
in adequ ate t o s erve s piri tual ends b y contr as t the s acrifi ce of ,
J esus Chri s t as eternal High Prie st did accompli sh thes e very ends .
f orward Here the high pri es thood i s de fined as rel ating to the
“
.
“
Second Chri s t s high pri es tly work include s his travers ing th e
,
’
-
”
t h e heavens Jes us the Son of God Th at is to say our Lord has
, , .
,
“
Thi rd the Off eri ng which he h as to make i s not the blood of
,
”
goats an d c alves but hi s own blood ( v s an d therefore it is .
Holy of Holi es to m ake at onemen t for the s ins of all the p eople ;
( 2 ) the next p as sa ge where the blood is explained as
“ ”
be ing the blood of the covenan t ( vs an d ( 3 ) thos e pas .
“ “ ”
b ims e 2 5 ) or hi s body -1 2 s ee
; From
a st udy of all thes e p assa ges it becomes cle ar th at blood
“
when ,
J ewi sh sacrificial system avail only for the purific ation of the
“
”
fles h ( v s that i s only for the purpos es of the cultic system
.
,
“ ”
Here he mentions s pe cifically the blood of goats an d bulls b e
c au s e it w as such blood as thi s that th e h igh pries t off ered on the
D ay of At onement ( Lev A s alre ady said above the
.
,
Chri st as etern al High Pries t with the high pries t under the Leviti
cal s ys tem but al s o bec au se the s acrifices performed by the high
,
with the work of the hi gh pries t nor with the s acrifices of the D ay
of Atonement They were employed in connection wi th the puri
.
“ ”
the eternal Spiri t ( v s 1 4 ) Th at i s to say the gu arantor of
.
,
, ,
Th e New Covenant -2
3)
Th e uthor now returns to a comp aris on of the covenants per
a
takes the form of a s eries of ill us trations des igned to prove that
no covenant i s properly ratified without the s hedding of blood .
“ ”
Th e fi rst of the s e i s t ak en from the cus tom of drafting a l ast will
HEB REWS 23
- 61
""
an d tes tament ( v s 1 6 ) In the Greek the s ame term is employed
.
“ ” “ ”
for a cove nant an d f or a will Pl aying upon thi s double usage .
“
Of the word in Greek the author can remark th at the death Of
,
the on e who m ade it the will must be e st abli shed For a will .
t ake s eff ect onl y at de ath s ince it i s not in force as long as the one
,
( s ee m argin ) .
St atement i s correct and the various puri fi cat ion s by blood on the
,
“
Th e author now concludes that s ince the copies are cle ans e d
“ ”
with blood the he avenl y thi ngs themselves require to be clean se d
,
“ ”
with better s acrifices ( v s Th e argument is of course an
.
, ,
“
vers e 1 5 to what he h as al ready s aid wi th regard to those wh o
” “ ”
are c alled t o receive the promi s ed etern al inheritance which ,
Th e New Tabernacle -2 8)
In dividing ch apters 8 an d 9 into various s ections we mu st ,
avoid every tendency to li mit the author s di s cus s ion in any s ection
’
In line with thi s unity it should be noted that the present s ection
,
the pres ent s ection Th is concerns the implic ations for wors hip
.
“
the following : Firs t inasmuch as the true sanct uary is in he aven
,
”
our Lord may b e s aid to have appeared in the
“
its elf ( v s .
”
presence of God in a w ay that w as denied to even the high priest
as he entered into the inner Holy of Holi es of the e arthly Taber
n acle Th is will be s een t o h ave s ignific ance for thos e who follow
.
of the s acrifi ces thus pres ented ( vss 8 This is becaus e s uch .
”
s acrifices ar e as s oci ated onl y with the thin gs of
“
thi s creation
“ ”
( v s 1 1 ) rather than with thos e of heaven itself ( v s
. An d .
he avenl y as s oci ations which were denied to the sacrifi ces of the
”
Levitic al pries ts ; it w as the sacri fice of hi ms elf th at is of th e
“
, ,
“ ”
eternal Son an d thr ough the etern al Spiri t ( v s Th is per .
,
“ ”
all others whi ch preceded it Th e now in vers e 24 is intended to
.
make cle ar thi s s ubtle rel ation between the his tori cal an d th e
eternal n at ure of Chr is t s s acrifice a rel ation whi ch is wholly
’
uni que Th e e arthly an d the heavenl y are once for all unite d in
.
“ ”
“ ”
the n ow of Je s us Chri s t s s acrifice ’
.
att a ch ing to death Man then can look forw ard to nothi ng inter
“ ”
thought with a quot ation ( to bear the s ins of m any ) tak en from
I s ai ah an d the de s cripti on of the work Of the Sufi eri ng
Servant of the Lord Although the author employs throu ghout the
.
-1 8)
Th e uth or
a n ow s e s ou t to t just ify what he terms the once for “
64 HEB REWS 18
-
“
D ay of Atonement Offered by the Jewis h high pries t s erved as a
” “
remi nder of s in ( v s cre ating in the worshiper a cons cious
.
”
ness Of s in ( v s 2 ) an d therefore a conviction that he h ad not
.
“
p art of hi s di s cus s ion wi th the s tatement of h is conviction that it
is impos s ible th at the blood of bull s an d go ats s hould t ake away
( v s 4 ) Es s enti ally this argument amounts to what he h as
”
s ins .
’
Christ s s acrifice us ing as a n ew approach a quotation from
,
”
s ervant Ps alm Th e quot ation however i s relevant to the ne eds
.
, ,
ness Of the s acrifi ces pres cribed under the Law In the Hebrew .
Fin ally the author ag ai n draws upon the p as s age from J ere
,
“
17 There i s therefore as he remarks
, , no longer an y Off er
,
“
group h ad rejected the s acrifices of th e Temple an d held that the
”
off eri ng of the lip s — pre sumably of prayer an d prai se— w as
more acceptable in the s ight of God than all off erings an d s acri
fi ces Hebrews al s o knows Of the s acrifice which prayer entails
.
,
Hebrew s m u g
Su mmary Statemen t -
3 1 )
We come now to the las t major section Of the letter . There is a
cert ain co- ordin ation between thi s section an d the second major
HEBREWS 1 0 : 1 9 -3 1 67
“
God s hous e Th at call w as i ss ued in View Of the general tes ti
’ ”
.
‘
the natur e of the Son s high pries thood an d the efli cacy of hi s
’
hi gh prie stl y work Appropri ately therefore he iss ue s the gos pel
-
.
, ,
c all again an d thi s time on the found ation lai d in the interveni ng
s ections from
enter the sanct uary and s o enj oy eternal fellows hip with God
”
.
“ ” “ ”
ing of hi mse l f or of hi s body
Th e method of s alvation i s n ow des cribed as the new and li v
“
“
new applied to thi s w ay actually means fre s h as oppos ed to
” “ ”
”
h ere is t o be taken with w ay or wi t h curtain
“ ”
But the cur
“
.
”
t ain which ou r aut hor h as i n min d i s th at s ep ar ati ng the Holy
P l ace from the Holy of Holies an d des igned to indic ate that
“
the w ay into the s an ct uary i s not yet Opened as long as the outer
”
tent i s still s tanding It i s impos s ible that in the mind of ,
“
for him t o behold God s truth an d th at only t hr ough Chris t i s it
’
”
t aken away ( II Cor . Indeed in th e pres ent vers e the
,
“ ”
p re po s ition through before t h e word s h is fle sh i s not found
in the Greek an d if the author s intention h ad be en th at we s hould
,
’
“ ” “
re ad t hrough the cur tain of hi s fles h Obviou s ly the phras e that ,
hi s fles -
that is through the Inc arn ation an d the re sulting
,
”
t h e curtain which s ep ar at es man from God .
n ature of the Chr i s t ian life P aul t here comp are s the Chri s ti an
.
“
lif e to a continuous P ass over fe stival from whi ch th e le aven of
”
m alice an d evil h as been removed so that Chris ti an s m ay live
“ ”
t heir lives upon the unleavened bre ad of s incerity an d truth .
continuous D ay of Atonement .
“ ”
a nce i s b as ed upon the cle ans ing from an evil cons cience which ,
which the Early Church cons idered the mark of savin g witnes s
( see Rom 6 : 1 . an d to which the author h as alre ady referred
“
Second as before he s ugges ts that we must hold fas t the
, ,
awar eness of the dem ands of him who is the Judge of all men .
“ ”
guarantee s th at there i s n o longer any offering for sin ( v s 1 8 ) .
"
, ,
“ ”
rifi ce i s s purned there no longer rem ains a s acri fice for si ns ( v s
, .
of the uni que sa crifice of Jes us Chri s t i s ess enti ally to deny the
Chris tian faith Thi s is the final apos tas y
. .
70 HEB REWS 1 0 : 3 2 -3 9
in comp aring the Older revelation with the new so here he argu e s
,
“ ”
for a much wors e puni shment for Chri sti an s who have denied
t h e light they rec eived in J e s us Chri s t th an for thos e who have
”
merely viol ated the l aw of Mos es ( v ss 28 .
thing inc ap able Of san ctifying that i s of rendering the wors hiper
, ,
the p art of people with whom one is couns elin g ; s econd the hi s ,
logical views .
It i s cle ar from the pass age that s hortly after the re aders h ad
“
been b aptized ( enlightened that is awakened to s piri t ual appre, ,
“
s ubjected to pers ecuti on involving h ard s truggle with s uff erings ,
“ ”
public abus e the impri s onment Of s ome th e plundering of
, ,
“ ”
property an d the courageous s haring of s ufferings generally
,
“
s t atement at 1 2 : 4 you h ave n ot yet re s isted to the point of
,
at - 1 2 s o now the readers are ass ured that they are not Of
,
“
72 HEBREW S 40
-
thos e who shrink b ack an d are des troyed but of thos e w h o have ,
”
fai th an d keep their souls (v s Th e p sychological val ue of thi s
.
( v ss . 1 -3 )
Th i s would seem to be the proper point in the s tudy of thi s
letter to s umm arize Hebrews te achi ng on the s ubject Of fai th
’
.
“
res ults prim arily in m an s receivi ng the promise s Of God to h is
’
”
people 39 ( 4 ) it s t imul ate s ass urance of
one s acceptance among God s people at the throne Of grace
’ ’
ceptan ce of them 7; -
a des cript ion of h ow faith Ope rates along the lines ju st s ugges ted
more acceptable one than that of Cain as the l ater Levitical sacri ,
fi ces appe ared to sub s tanti ate Th e comm on Semi tic practice of
.
“ ”
that he w as attes ted as h aving ple ased God (v s From the .
”
s ible to ple ase him (v s from which it may be deduced th at
.
of faith s hown by a man quite outs ide the bound aries of the
Chos en People of God No doubt these ear ly examples are cho se n
.
“ ”
s aved through w ater Chris ti an ar t of the period of the cata
.
“
ass ured therefore th at No ah ha d become
, , an heir of the right
“ ” “
obedience an d i ts Oppos ite in het
” “ ”
i tance promi s e 10:
an d even the thought involved i n the phr as e to go ou t
“ ”
23 ,
“ ”
or exodus
All this me ans th at for the author as well as for the Jewi s h ,
“ ”
a call i s by no me ans an ab s tra ction It does not appe ar out of .
“ ”
the void or without an author Rather the c all of Scripture al .
,
” “
God the c all came to go out t o a pl ace which he w as to receive
”
as an inheritan ce (v s Th at is to s ay Abrah am w as c alled
.
,
76 HEB REWS 40
-
the l and of promi s e a point of vant age from whi ch to View lif e
”
a s G od views it .
”
l and as a foreign l and in which he an d h is des cend ants merely
“
s ojour ned ( v s 9 ) Th e trans itory nature of their abode i s shown
.
“ ”
al s o in t h e fact th at they were continu all y living i n t ents God .
“
h ad directed their eyes to a more perm an ent abod e in fact to , ,
”
the city which h as found ations whose builder an d m aker rs God ,
“ ”
(v s . Th e perm anence of city life with i t s found ations as , ,
“ ”
over against a c as u al exi st ence in tents lends itse lf admirably ,
“
u se of the ide a in Philippi an s with the remark that our
"
”
commonwealth is in heaven an express ion whi ch s ugges ts that,
“ ”
cont ains in true pers pective Th e phr as e by faith occurs again
.
“ ”
an d ag ain like a refrain For it i s only by faith th at God s people
’
.
HEBREWS -
40 77
“
n ot received wh at w as promis ed but h aving s een an d greeted it ,
”
from afar they live their live s in the pers pective of G od ( v s 1 3 ) .
along with Abrah am p ass ed the age when chil dren are expected in
,
alre ady
“
as good as de ad
”
God s fai thf uln es s in fulfilli ng hi s
.
’
that from thi s old couple were born de s cend an ts as m any as the
“
”
s tars Of he aven Hebrews s pecifically st ate s as we have ob served
.
, ,
life from the de ad whi ch is of the very ess ence of the s alvation
,
which God hold s out for man An d it is not unlik e the gift of th e .
“
Holy Spirit which as P aul Obs erves is the guarantee of our in
, , ,
”
“
cons i de red that God w as able to rai se men even from the de ad ,
ever the trans itory e vidence of e arthl y exi stence might appe ar to
s ugges t to the contrary .
be yond the i mmwi ate horizons to the fulfill ment of God s prom ’
upon thi s faith the author i s true to the s pirit of the O ld Tes ta
ment at the points involved ( Gen 40 ; 25 ; .
- -
M ark 5 ; John-
Acts Revelation
There w as however from the beginning thi s m arked diff erence
, ,
nant s chool of though t in the Jud ais m of the firs t century Mos es ,
in the light of the revel ation which came to Abraham P aul s poke .
“ ”
of thi s revel ation as the gos pel ( G al an d averred that the .
”
before he w as cir cumci sed ( Rom .
to s hare ill tre atment with the people of God th an to enjoy the
-
”
fleeting ple as ures of s in ( v s 2 5 ) our author s ugge sts th at he w as .
”
prep ar ed to sufi er for the Chris t ( v s Th e New Tes tament .
c ordin gly it i s the author s viewp oint that Mose s s uffe ri ng s can be
’ ’
,
, ,
“
receive the promi s e in the sens e that he s ojourned in the l an d of
”
promis e ( v s but in a l arger s ens e he w as numbered among
.
“
all thos e w h o died in faith n ot having received what w as prom ,
”
is ed but having s een it an d greeted it from afar ( v s 1 3 ) In lik e
, .
m anner for the author Mos es w as rewarded thr ough a long period
,
”
l ions ( D an . Perhap s he an d his as s oci at es in B abylon
are al so in min d as thos e who
“
quenched raging fire ( D an 3 :
”
.
“ ”
A number Of the prophets were tortured ( see M att .
“
ryph al bo ok I s ai ah th e prophet w as among thos e who were s awn
,
”
in two ( As cension of Is ai ah 5 : 1 1 Vers es 3 5b 3 8 indeed -
, ,
s ound very much like a s umm ary of the tre atment whi ch I s rael an d
the p agan world gave to the Hebrew prophets Elij ah for example .
, ,
”
des erts an d mountains an d in dens and cave s of the e arth ( 1
,
Kin gs ch s 1 8
, .
, _
.
,
author indic ated in the openi ng p ar agr aph of the ch apter faith ,
pl aces on e outs ide the bound aries of time an d s p ace whence one
may view the di s t ant s cene but whil e on e lives within thos e ,
boun d ari e s onl y proxim ate re al ization of the promi s es of God may
ever be experienced Second faith always h as in view as does the
.
, ,
“ ”
t o s how that th e New Tes tament wri ters cons idered perseverance
“ ” “ ”
ste adfas tnes s p atience ) to be one of the pri
,
“ ”
m ary fruits of th e Spirit obs ervable in the Christ ian life And .
inas much as s uch endur ance rel ates to every express ion Of the
Chr i sti an fai th it would s carcely be too much to s ay that it i s the
,
“ ”
where els e in the New Tes tament i s the term perfecter employed
w ith reg ard to our Lord an d only the B ook of Acts al s o s pe aks Of
,
“ ”
him as pioneer In Acts 3 : 1 5 the Greek word i s trans lated
.
“ ”
Act s however the s ame word i s trans l ated Le ader an d
, ,
“ ”
Th e expres s ion Le ader an d S avior rather clos ely approxim ates
th at in the pre sent p as sage And it i s notable that in
. the
author combines all three ideas of le aders hip s alvation an d per , ,
~
“
f ecti on in one phr as e rel ating to Jes us ( the pioneer of their s al
vation perfect throu gh Certainly in the pres ent im ,
ners in the Chri sti an w ay may look for guid an ce for le aders hip , ,
tirely difi erent figure in the words until we all att ain
,
“
, to
m ature m anh ood to the meas ure of the stature of the fullness of
,
”
Christ .
”
This is not to say that as pioneer an d perfecter of ou r fai th
Jes us is merely another runner in the Chri sti an race To be the .
who come af ter an d who follow his p attern O f no other than the .
des pi sing the shame an d i s s e ated at the ri ght h and of the throne
,
“ ”
Fin ally in thi s p assage the race that i s set before u s is p aral
,
leled with the joy that w as set before hi m Th e express ions are
“ ”
.
HEB REWS - 11 83
x
e actl y parallel in the Greek cons tru ction
in the Engl ish an d as ,
“
-
1 8 There the point is m ade th at it i s fitt ing that G od
. in ,
“
t h e author to remind hi s re aders that they h ave n ot yet res i sted
to the point of s hedding ”
blood ( v s Jes us h as endured .
”
gre at ho s tili ty agains t hims elf no doubt of the type whi ch the ,
the hos tili t y now bein g directed agains t the re aders i s the direct
“ ”
work of G od R ather it i s clearly the work of s inners ( v s 3 ) in
.
, .
“ ”
the cas e of Jes us ; an d it is the sin of the race agains t whi ch
“ ”
the re aders have to s truggle ( v s Ul tim ately the s in in b oth .
O ne an d God s people
,
’
.
“ ”
of the s ons (v ss 5 1 1 ) mus t be thought of as somehow withi n the
.
-
that none of them h as as yet died for the faith It i s difli cul t if .
,
“ ”
point with regard to God s dis ciplini n g of the s ons Th i s pas
’
.
” “ ”
h is holines s ( v s 1 0 ) or to the pe ace f ul fruit of righteous ne ss
.
author with hi s s tre ss upon the high pri e s tly a ctivity of ou r Lord
,
-
,
s ection ( v ss 18.
for pe ace with all men an d for the holi nes s without whi ch no on e
,
”
will s ee the Lord ( v s 1 4 ) Th e idea th at peace between God an d
.
“ ”
Is a . Th e reference to hol ine ss recal l s wha t h as
been said above in vers e 1 0 But it i s likely that the b ackground
.
Mount
Th e
"
a
ion an d t he Christ ian W ay -2
uthor now gives the ultim ate reas on why the Chris ti an s
4)
’
” “ ”
always be made
“
s tra ight in order tha t the l am e who aecom
p an y hi m might find it e as y to wa lk in ( v s Thi s att it ude as
.
,
“ ”
we have s een i s contras ted with th e bitternes s which ch aracter
,
actua lly employs m any of the very words of the Greek trans
b ack to I s ai ah
B ehold I am l aying in Zion for a foundation
,
”
I Peteri z6 ; an d Rev Th e adjective he avenly which i s
.
guage ( see
Th e Mount Zion an d the city of the living God the he avenly ,
”
Jerus alem at whi ch Chris ti ans h ave arrived i s none other than
“ ”
the city which h as foundations who s e builder an d m aker i s God ,
“ ”
li ving God an d their comp anions are t h e innumerable angel s
“ ”
an d the as s embly Of the fi rs t born that i s all thos e w h o th rough
-
, ,
“ ”
vants ( v ss 2 2 . As s embly i s the ordin ary Greek word for
“ ” ”
chu rch It mi gh t very well be tran sl at ed congregation for the
.
,
”
transl ated fi rs t b om i s one which t h e New Te st ament employs
“
-
Christ .
“
-
”
Chri sti ans are fi rs t b om in the s ens e that reflecting the ,
ch ar acter Of their Lord they oc cupy a pos ition of emi nence among
,
“ ”
men ; they ar e jus t men made perfect a really m at ure ass em ,
“
blage Thi s is the communion of the s aint
. s
”
— the real people of
God w h o know fellowshi p among thems elves regardles s of the
b arri ers of time an d place an d rank of color an d race which , ,
”
i s spe akin g to the Chri s tian community ( v s 2 5 Th e ar gument .
,
“ ”
if they did not e s cape much le ss s hall we es c ape ( v s 2 5 .
”
Th e reference in him who warned them on e arth i s obvious ly to
“ ”
Mos e s whi le as s urely he who warns from he aven i s
“ ”
Jes us Chri st Th e l atter is not a pries t on e arth as Mos es an d the
.
“
de s cend ants of Aaron hi s brother were but is rather from
”
he aven s ince it is there that hi s mi nis try i s a ccompli shed
Th e quota tion in vers e 2 6 i s from H aggai and i s
evidently intended as a comprehens ive s tatement i ndic ative of the ,
firs t p art Of thi s verse is striking for two reas ons : first bec aus e ,
“ ”
this is onl y the s econd reference to the kingdom to be found in
the letter as a whole Th e other appears at
. in t h e quotation
from Psalm 45 : 6-7 A s we have s een the m aj or ar gu ment of
.
,
Hebrews rel at es to the high pries thood of J esus Chri s t The pres .
indic ates that our Lord s kings hip is never far from the author s
’ ’
“ ”
condition to m an s Off ering to God a cceptable worshi p
’
.
medi at ely preceding sections an d the one which here lie s before
u s From
. th rough th e aut hor conceive s of the Chri s
ti an lif e in terms of movement Th e comm unity i s on the m arch .
,
“ ”
an d the s tre ss i s upon the fai th that undergirds progre ss and the
”
h Ope which fastens upon t h e go al at the end of the ro ad In .
t h e pres ent s ection on the other hand our author views the Chri s
, ,
“ ” “ ”
communal exi stence i s love an d it is now love which i s the ,
( 2 ) the .
”
t erin g with Je s us Chri s t outs ide the g ate .
“ ”
s ets of s uch leaders are in view the first consisting of the e arly
,
“ ”
an d the s econd of more perm anent leaders to whom s u b
mis sion w as to be gr anted in View of the fact that they were
“ ”
keeping watch over your s ouls ( v s 1 7 ) .
“ ”
evangelized w ith the word of God le ads th e author again to
pon der u pon the central mess age of the letter an d he repe at s th at ,
Je sus .
Chri st who i s the center of the gospel mes s age i s the etern al sac
, ,
“
rifi ce for s i n Offered up as we h ave s een , t o s anctify the people ,
”
through hi s own blood ( v s 1 2 ; see 1 4;. 14 -
,
“ ” ”
Th e al tar on which he w as s acri ficed provides food for grace “
”
t h e tent vs ,1 0 ) Such food an d s uch grace are s u fli ci ent f or
.
“
Chri sti ans who are therefore to put as ide all divers e an d strange
, , ,
”
t e achings wit h reference to food s which were sup pos ed to bene
fit their adherents ( v s 9 ) W h at thes e te achings were we h ave n o
.
the s ort al s o in the peculi arly gnos tic te achi ngs to which P aul
mak es reference in Colossi ans 2 : 1 6 2 3 -
.
cons equent nece s sity that Chri s ti ans s hould go forth to him ou t
“
”
s ide the c amp be ar ing abu s e for him
, ( v ss 1 2 1 3 ) appear s to re .
-
flect a time when the Chri sti an community w as faced with the
nece s s ity of breaking away from the older Judai sm with its center
in the holy city of Jeru s al em Chris ti ans h ave no l as ting city
“
.
”
but like t heir spiritu al father Abraham s eek the city whi ch i s
, ,
m artyred Stephen the Helleni stic Jewish Chris tians were s c attere d
,
-
as a direct res ult of pers ecution aris ing in the mother city Jeru ,
cle avage being drawn between the Chr i sti an Church and contem
p o r ary J ud ai s m which, w as the n at ur al res ult Of the exclu s ive
high prie s thood of the Son of God Jewis h Chri sti ans are not t o .
”
s a crifice of prai s e to G od prai s e which consi sts in witness ing to
,
“ ”
hi s name in the world ( v s 1 5 .
EPISTOLA RY CONCLUSION
Hebrews 25 -
Th e epis tolary conclus ion conta ins a benediction perh aps the ,
”
Th e term God of pe ace whi ch i s a P aulin e phras e ( Rom 1 5
“
.
,
“
33; II Cor Ph il
. I Thes s . me ans the .
“
God who brings pe ace or salvation pe a ce in Hebrew i s one
of the words which ar e the e quiv alent of
“ ”
s al vation (Is a .
”
Chris t .
”
exhortation an d a letter writt en to his readers Th i s would s eem .
“ ”
s pe aks of thos e who come from Italy poss ibly a reference to
,
you In common with m any of the New Tes t ament letters the
.
”
JAME S
IN T R O D UC T I ON
His t orical an d Li t erary Problems
"
here w as the brother Of Jes us ( M ark He w as for m any year s
the he ad of the church at Jerus alem ( Acts 1 5 : 1 3 and s hould
”
Jes us Chris t Th is h as led to specul ation th at the work i s
either p seudonymous ( that i s written in th e n ame of the Lord s
’
"
his authority— an unl ikely theory s ince in s uch c as e the real
,
author would certai nly h ave been at p ains to indic ate more s pe
When certa in characte ristics of the book its elf are exami ne d ,
Tes tament save in the form it ass umes in the Greek trans l ation
( Sept ua gi )
nt — a fact not too da maging in its elf s in ce he w as,
9- 1 3 ; -
1 0; 1 0; -
1 2; -
6; sugge s t that
-
e arly ass umed be fore the Gos pels were wri tt en ; indeed
, ,
prob ably repre s ents an accurat e k nowledge of the Aram aic idiom
us ed by Je su s as M atthew
, doe s n ot ; ( 4 ) the s tres s on the
ethical implicati ons of the gos pel an d the fact th at it i s termed
“ ”
the pe rfect l aw of liberty are in a ccord with wh at
h ave m ade it pos sible for him to eli min ate Semiti s ms from hi s
“ ”
m anus cript as the like authorship on a joint b asi s by native an d
,
“ ”
foreigner in modern l anguage s se rve s to demonstrate .
Readers
If as i s sugges ted in the comment on
, 8 thi s piece Of litera -
,
Thus while the letter i s wri tten in excellent vern acu l ar Greek
,
“ ” “ ”
their ass embly the Greek word syn agogue i s employed
a term us ed of Chri sti an s nowhere el se in the New Te st ament ;
J ames -7
) Cert ain cult ural fe at ures too sugges t th at a Jewi s h , ,
t ures of the tea ching als o s ugge s t cont a ct with the Qumran com
muni ty Th i s would of cours e be the n at ural lot of the Jewi s h
.
, ,
church in Jerus al em
On the other han d the st”atement that it is the ri ch who blas
.
“
,
Date
Th e letter h as been as s igned a very l ate d ate by interpreters wh o
do not b elieve it to be the work of J ames the Lord s brother By ’
.
ing that year It could however be cogently argued that both let
.
, ,
ters draw upon the comm on stock Of Chr is ti an phras eology em
ployed by t h e Early Church in Jeru s alem an d might accordingly , ,
2 : 1 4—2 6 )
Th e e arly center of the Chri s ti an fai t h h ad b een Jerus al em (Act s
1 - 1 2 ) an d the he ad Of the church there would continue t o thi nk
"
of it as the hub o f all thin gs Chri sti an with every other pa rt of
,
”
pers ion to h is mind Peter, following in P aul s s tep s to Rome ,
’
19
C on ten ts
Th e theme of the letter despit e much wri ting to the contrar y
, ,
s alvation from the tri als an d tempt ation s pres ent ed by life to the
believer in Jes us Chri st th e ethic al implic ations for Chri sti an liv
,
ing which s uch s alvat ion ent ail s an d the eternal as pects of s al va
,
COMM E N T A R Y
S ALUTATION
James
Th e s al utation ofthe Letter of J am es more closely follows the
“
us u al form at of a Greek letter of the day ( So—an d s o to S O an d s o - - -
,
”
greetings ) than any other of the New Testa ment lett ers Th e .
word for s erv ant really means s lave O ther New Tes tament
” “ ”
.
writers employ thi s s trong word about thems elves an d their atti
tude toward Chri s t ( see Rom II Peter
. Jude 1 ; Rev .
Acts I Cor .
“
Th e addre s s , To the twelve tribe s in the di s pers ion coul d ,
termi nology outmoded long before hi s day s ince the twelve tribes ,
Covenant to des cribe the Chris tian community under the New .
“ ”
Gree t ing h as been the common Greek s alut ation for centur
“ ”
i es It comes from the s tem of a verb me aning to rejoice an d i s
.
“ ”
cheer up cont ai ns the s ame stem an d gives a fairly accurate ide a
of the greeting s original me an ing
’
.
TEMPTATIONS
James -2
7
“ ”
Th e noun sal vation doe s n ot occu r in the letter though t h e ,
”
verb to save is fairly common
“
”
J ames thinks of s al vation in t erms of life or the crown of life
“
”
world full of various tri als ( v s 2 ; the Greek word may b e
“
.
“ ” “
trans lated temptations ) and thes e co ns titute a genuine tes t
”
ing of one s faith ( v s 3 ) Th e rea der i s reminded of Jes us ex
’
.
’
M at t .
-1 1
; Heb B oth Paul an d Hebrews think of
.
“ ”
fai th iss ues in ste adfas tness or s tick-to-it-iv eness if it is endured ,
” “ ”
an d c omplete ( v s 4 ; the words mean m ature in ou r mod ern
.
the goal that God s ets for a m an s life Th at Chris ti ans s houl d ’
.
“
count it all joy when they are s ubjec ted to experiences whi ch s o
”
“ ”
At the heart o f Chri sti an experience i s a wi s dom from above
(v s 5 ;
. whi ch m ak es it pos s ible for the beli ever both to u n
derst an d the n ature of the gospel an d to act in accordance with it s
demand s James i s l ater to el aborate thi s theme (3 : 1 3
. Here it is
his purpos e merely to as s ure hi s re aders that it is God s gift an d
’
J AMES 11
-
p r o achi n g.
”
T hi s i s in a cco rd with J e s us te a ching (
’
see M a tt 7 : .
7 - 1 1 an d Luk e
Th e on e condition on m an s p ar t upon which this gift of God
’
“ ”
transl ated double mind ed ( v s 7 ) i s a n atural description of a
-
.
Sa lv o
at i n (
t he C ow n of
r Lf )
i e — God s Gift ’
-1 8)
e arly h ad much to say rel ative to a proper s cale of val ues an d the ,
’
Church followed i ts M as ter in an earnest ende avor to set men s
minds right at this point Treasures on e arth were set over
“
.
”
“ ”
ag ai ns t tre as ur es in heaven ( M att 6 : 1 9 . the carnal oppo
s ite the s piri t u al ( I Cor .
-4
; s ee al s o Luke Th e
” ”
“
rich man would find it diffi cult to enter the kingdom of G od
“
that the rich man would b e condemned for h i s riches or the poor
man accepted for hi s poverty It w as a mere m atter of fact that
.
“
not m an y wi s e according to worldly st and ards not m an y ,
“ ”
t hi s crown to thos e who love him i s al s o a new thought in the
letter Its equivalent els ewhere i s to be found only in Revelation
.
( v ss 2
. In deed God does bring men into a sit uati on of tes ting
,
t o s ugges t that the tes t or tri al rs in its elf the e ui val ent of the
q
temptation whi ch may emerge from it Jam es i s here arguing .
’
Like P au l ( Rom 7 : 7 James s ees the s ource of a man s
”
t empt ations to li e in hi s own de sire (v s 1 4 or .
,
“ ” “ ”
w hich given the te stin g s ituation h as lured an d then enticed
, ,
“ ” “ ” “ ”
Th e s equence following in vers e 1 5 of de s ire death , s in ,
i s al s o clos ely related to P aul s thought i n Rom ans - 1 0 In bot h
’
.
“ ”
w riters death i s intended to cover every form of di sintegrati on
an d fin al coll aps e to which man i s heir Death w as , indeed , the .
"
t ati on s J ames now turn s to the contr ary afli rm ati on that God i s
,
“
In the difi i cu lt claus e with whom there is no vari ation or
,
God s W o d ’
r — the Pow er ( 1 31 9 7)
-2
"
impl anted word which i s able to s ave your s o
, (v s Bu t .
cei v ed peop le (thos e who practice false humili ty) are comp are d
with the man who take s a quick look at a mi rror and goes away ,
forget ful of the kind of man he is (the point be ing he s hould have ,
2 5; s ee 11 Cor .
" "
Summary of Its Message: Social and Personal Ethi cs -
2
7)
B utwh t action
a i s to be tak en by the well intentioned Ch ri s -
a te a chi ng e s peci ally important as the Church went out into the
p rofli g y
ac of the Grec o —Rom an s ociety of it s da
y (G al Eph .
.
I o
n c n sist en c y of F ai t h w i t h Partiality 3)
-1
"
great deference while pervers ely ignoring the other or treating him
,
"
.
“ ”
A s the Chri s ti an s Lord Je s us i s here identified wi th the glory
’
,
Is a
. John
Argum ent Agains t Su ch Pract ice -1
3)
firs t point in a detailed argument agains t parti al ity is that
Th e
“
God if he dis crimin ates at all doe s so in favor of the poor in
, ,
1 06 JAMES 2: 1 4-2 6
’
as it w as begun with a reference to God s attitude (v s
,
’
. God s
“ ”
e xample of mercy which , triumphs over judgment i s , in this as ,
p loy the example of Abrah am app arently to prove oppos ite points ,
(v s 2 1 ; Rom
. B ut on clos er examination it i s clear that
.
,
t hey are employing the s ame term s with diff erent meanings .
“ ”
Faith with P aul i s s aving faith intim ate att achment to Chri s t ,
“ ” “ ” \
G al . with with J ame s faith i s faith by itself
“
(v s . that i s s hallow belief in a propos ition such as demons
, ,
”
m ay h ave ( v s 1 9 ) Simil arly when P aul s pe aks of works in thi s
.
“
,
“ ”
c onnection he me ans works of the l aw leg al righteous ness per
, ,
“ ”
formed to s ecure s alvation (G al but J ames by work s mean s .
the natural product of true faith— wh at P aul c alls the fruit of the
“
”
S pirit (G al In cons e quence there can be no real conflict
.
,
“ ”
f aith i s de ad or futile an d therefore c annot be true Chri sti an
faith Christi an faith i s a working faith on e th at follows through
.
,
“ ”
a one Go in pe ace be warmed an d fil led (v s
, , i s s heer .
that the two faiths may well a gree to disa gree at thi s point In any .
cas e the reply i s to the eff ect that though hi s opponent may accept
,
”
the nam e of fai th to the Chri s tian s mind can never exist
“
,
’
,
”
work s Tak e by w ay of example the propos ition
“
apart from
"
.
“ ”
that God i s on e (v s Here is s omethi ng that might con ceiv
"
~
.
s ep arated Indeed
.
“
I by my works will Show you my faith ( vs
,
”
.
,
“
willi ngne ss to offer up Is aa c Here cle arly faith w as active al on g
.
In conclu s ion J ame s c alls upon the well known Hebrew Chris
,
- -
Man s Need
’
of Cont rollin g His Word -2
)
Th e Chris tian s works mus t measure up at every point There is
’
.
“ ”
to pl ay in the activity of the whole body namely hi s tong ue , , .
“
SO f ar is thi s tru e that if any one m akes no mis takes in wh at he
”
says he i s a pe rfect m an able to b ridl e the whole body als o
, Con .
“
become teachers for th e te acher is on e who i s judged with
,
”
greater s trictnes s regarding what he says .
JAMES -
12
“ ”
(v s
. In e ach cas e the whole bodies of the hors es an d th e
,
”
Simil ar ly the tongue i s a little member an d if the analogy
, ,
does not here employ the term i s s i n Man c an t ain e everythin g else
, .
ni ght .
the comm and to love one s fellow men i s pl aced on a par with’
h ave h ad avail able the teachi ng of Jes u s in s ome oral tra dition -
cal Go s pel s .
”
Th e phr ase the Lord an d Father in vers e 9 h as no ex act
equivalent in Scripture Th e ne ares t to it is perhap s P aul s favor
.
’
ite phr as e the God an d Father of our Lord Jes us Chri st ( Rom
“
,
”
.
II Cor Eph . .
J AMES 4 : 1 -1 0
“ ”
ap art from God— what he ca ll s the world (v s 4) — indulges ar e .
""
man s own pass ions Thes e are the natural impuls es which ari s e
’ “ ”
.
“ ”
in m an s members (that i s within the s truct ure of h is pers on)
’
, ,
m aul w h o Speak s
“ ”
and which are a ct ually at w ar with in h i Like P .
,
” “ ”
an d of the con s equent conflict between fle s h an d mind
th at ensue s (Rom . James believes th at the n atur al man or
“ ”
the world ap art from God s grace i s in an am bivalent condition
’
’
James des cription of thi s hopele ss s tate of the world i s ex
ceedingly graphi c— you des ire an d do not h ave
“ ” “ ”
you kill ; ,
“ ” “ ” “
y o u covet an d ca n not obta i n y o u fight an,d w a ge w ar ; y o u
” ’
ask an d do not receive (a c as u al refere n ce perh a p s to Je s u s
“ ”
te achi ng as in M att but in revers e) b ecau se you as k wrongly
. .
“ “ ”
Unf aithful cre atures in the Greek i s adulteress es a descrip -
”
tion of thos e who practice friendship with the world an d on e
fi r s t given them by t h e Hebrew prophets (H os e a 3 : And as with
those prophet s J ames s ee s no compromi se at thi s point : friend
,
“
”
s hi p with the world i s enmity with God (s ee M att .
real joy an d peace to the hum an heart the attitude of the man ,
"" ""
who does not ins ist on hi s own des ires but rather s ubmits to God ,
draws ne ar to God humble s him self before the Lord This too i s
, .
, ,
“
akin to P aul s te a chi ng to the effect that men mu s t
’
yield
thems elves to God and their members to God as in
s trumen ts of ri ghteousness
”
( Rom an d both tea chings are
.
se e Luke
verse hi s concis e formula for achieving thi s feHow shi p with God
,
”
Much of thi s p ass age has the ring of Jes us te aching an d like the ’
, ,
s peak
“
judges the law s etting hi ms elf above it B ut God al one i s
”
, .
”
both lawgiver an d j ud ge
“
.
Boast ing -1
7)
In this an d the following se ct ions James ret urns to th e arrogant
rich (see fi rs t to condemn their arrogance an d then to pro
claim their evil end Th e actions of the ri ch are de scribed in much
.
the sam e manner adopted by Jes u s in the p arable of the Rich Foo l
( Luke In b oth the rich man is m ade to appear totally
,
on indefini tely ins tead of being a mi s t that appe ars for a little
,
“
t ude of the pra ctica l m ateri ali s t wh atever his prote s tations of reli
,
poses dis regard s the exis tence of th e Lord of life in whos e ha nds
are all i ts iss ue s (v s .
b oth pious Jews and Mos lem s to this day Its u s e repres ents the .
’
s pe aker s wis h t o indic ate at every pos s ible opportuni ty hi s s en s e
W orldly Ri ch es
”
Th e s tatement that th e rich have killed the righteous man (v s .
”
in th e Mos aic Law that the wage s of a hi red s ervant s houl d be
p aid him at the end of e ach day s labor (Le v Th is w as of
’
.
“
no little practical neces s ity in a day when s uch laborers lived
”
from hand to mouth ; if a m an s wage s were kept b ack at the end ’
pleas ure sugges ts th at they are practical m ateri alis ts who have n ot
,
” “ ”
e arth an d treas ur es in he aven ( M att 6 : 1 9 Th e references .
“ ”
eat the rich m an s fles h (that i s hi s pers on) as well as h is s ilver
’
I Peter I John
1 14 JAMES -
18
All t his ,
g in is to be s een in the light
a a , of et ernity , of
th e final Judgment of God s condemn ation
’
.
,
Prayer an d Healing -1
8)
Th ere w as to J ame s mi nd as to th at of the Ear ly Church gen
’
erally a very thin line of dem arc at ion b etween his tory and eter
,
where i s thi s s een more cle arly than in the m atter of s ick nes s an d
he alth ; both are to be taken before God— the one in petition th e ,
"
othe r in prais e Verse 1 3 s ou nds like an intentional couplet in
.
"
bl ank vers e thus :,
cal led in that they may do two things : pray over the s ick on e an d
, ,
”
anoint him with oil
“
in the n ame of the Lord It w as s tand ard .
” “ ” “ ”
Lord , the prayer of faith an d the Lo rd will rai s e him up )
,
”
ri ghteous man whos e prayer h as gre at power in i ts eff ects
i s the man committed to God s wi ll who prays f or what hi s Lord
’
M ark 2 5 ; Rom
-
.
JAMES 20
-
1 15
“ ” “ ”
Hebrai s m me anin g overlook , forgive (PS . First Peter
’
conta ins much the same thought J ames interes t here an d in
.
the prece ding s ection centers at all times in the s inner or the u n
he althy pe rson in volved Hi s inten se de sire is to further personal
.
IN T R ODUCTION
His torical an d Li terary Problems
Au thorshi p
u
q a l ity , even cl ass ic al rn i ts ex
pre ion
s s" at ti es I
u
ts s tyle s yntax ,
. w “ g
.
,
and extens ive voc abul ar y ( 6 3 Greek words not found els ewhere
.
in the New Tes t ament ) are those of a wri ter who us ed th e Greek
langu age with fluency an d e as e Accordingly the ques tion ari s es
.
,
“
of Chri sti an w as pos s ible at leas t as e arly as Acts it b e
c ame the actual experience of P aul an d his ass oci ates It i s by no .
'
means cle ar th at the readers of Firs t Peter were s ufl eri n g from an
oflfi ci al pers ecution conducted b y the s tate r ather than from the ,
“ ”
s ort of occa s ion al hos tility s uch as w as often s tirred up ag ainst
Chri sti ans by both J ewis h and Gentile enemi es ( se e Acts
Ph il .
what he wis hed to write an d then allowed him cons iderable free
dom both in the m atter of p ar ticular ide as to be included an d t he
general s tructu re of th e lette r would perhap s account for s everal
,
1 7 (Silvan us an d Paul as
“ ”
the honoring of the emperor in
Rom an citizens would n at urally be s ens itive on thi s poin t in a w ay
that the G alilean di s ciple s would n ot); third Silvanus wide famil ,
’
i ari ty with both the Jewis h and Greek cul tur es which prompted
the Jeru s alem church to appoint him as one of its two delegate s
to handle the delic ate s ituation whi ch h ad arisen in the chur ch at
Syri an Antioch (Acts 2 7 3 2 3 3 ) an d which would admit
,
-
ployed .
sur ance that Peter him self h ad pre ached to any gre at extent
among the churche s address ed (see I Peter Th e Rom an
provinces named include practically the whole of As ia Minor in ,
any cas e the whole of the region lying north an d wes t of the Tau
the provinces to the north and eas t and th en worked aroun d clock ,
an d politic ally Into this m aelstrom of cultu ral elements came the
.
“
Chris ti an Church br ought there by those who preac hed the good
,
”
news to all an d s undry ( 1 It is quite lik ely that as in other ,
e stablis hed n ot long before appe ars from the fact th at the authors
”
s peak of them as
“
like newborn b abes and comm end to them the “
” “ ”
pure s piri tual milk which will le ad them to grow up t o sal vation .
Th ey were however al rea dy suff ering pers ecution for their faith
, ,
1 7;
-
M any Chri sti ans in the e arly period were
a ct uall y s l aves an d it i s quite lik ely t hat the tri al s indic ated were
,
ja n in A D 1.1 1.
-1 1 2 If however we ac cept t h e Peter Silvanus au
.
, ,
-
other of the P auline lett ers the d ate is brought within the na rrow
,
6 5 or 66 ) then the extr eme limits for the d a te of the letter are
res tricted between A D 66 an d 7 0 Th e year A D 67 meets all the
. . . . .
the Chris tian comm un ity approved as good conduct am ong the
“
”
Gentiles It is li kely that it incorporates a m an ual of
c atechetical ins truction for s uch new converts ( 1 : 3 — 4:11 either
prep ared by the Church an d adopted by the coauthors of t h e letter
or els e prepared by them an d others for this purpos e Th e ele .
ges ted that two hymns h ave been incorporated into thi s cate
ch eti cal m anual on e at
,
-1 0
an d the other at 3 : 1 8 22 ( s ee als o -
I Tim .
holy life to which s uch s an ctifi cation naturally leads is one pat
terned after the n ature of God -1
7 ) an d i s generated in the
Christi an by the living and abiding word of God
“ ”
ferin gs an d glory — 4 zl 9
) .
S ALUTATI ON
I Peter -2
terati ons the us ual form of a Greek letter of the day Th e us ual .
“ ”
form w as S o an d s o to S o an d—so greetings Paul h ad adopted
,
- - -
, .
-3
; G al It h ad become P aul s habit to include par ’
.
,
“ ”
exp anded the us ual term Greetings into a bened iction thereby
, , ,
ployed by P aul .
Chris t Th ere can b e no doubt that the origi nal di s ciple of Jes us
”
.
s pea king world to employ his Greek nam e Th e des ign ation of
, .
whi ch he writes .
“ ” “ ”
elect or chose n i s a New Test ament des cription of Chri s
ti an s generally ( Titus see Eph Th e term w as applied .
Is a .
“
Exiles ( or s ojourners ) i s a term whi ch lays s tress
” “ ”
i sten ce inas much as Abrah am looked for the eternal city which
,
FIRS T P ETER - 2 123
participle des tined give s the s ens e of the Semitic idiom lying b e
“ ”
”
hind the Greek ; for in the Hebrew to forek now often meant
“ ” “ ” “ ”
to determine to decide or to predes tine ( Amos
, ,
an d
“ ” “ ”
obedience to Jes us Ch ri s t an d their sprinklin g with hi s blood .
“
1 4 obedience i s se t in contr as t to the p ass ions of your former
ignorance an d in vers e 2 2 thi s ob edience i s further related to the
”
,
“
s ubject of puri fica tion or s an ctifi cati on an d i s define d as obedi
”
ence to the truth Sprinkling with blood i s a phras e s ugges tive of
.
the worshi p in Tab ern acle and Temple Like the Lett er to the .
22 , 2 9 ;
At thi s point in the us ual sal utation of a Greek letter it w as
cus tom ary merely to express greetings ( s ee Jam es
“
Paul
h ad b aptize d thi s u s u al s alutation by employi ng another form of
“
the s ame Greek word stem the noun grace referring to the
-
, ,
unmerited love of God con ferred upon the sinner in the work of
Jes us Chris t With this noun P aul h ad als o h abitu ally j oined the
.
“ ”
Greek term for pe ace — the trans lation of the Hebrew word
1 24 FIRST P ETER 5
-
i ty on m an s beh alf ( Is a
’
Eph
. Peter w as ob
.
formula .
At thi s point in hi s letters it w as cus tom ary for P aul to ins ert
a prayer of th ank s giving ( see Rom I Cor . However .
,
“
s tyle i s that known in Greek literat ure as a pe ri — th at i s a ,
( v s 4 ) O r agai n
”
u n de fil ed an d unf ading kept in he aven for you
, , .
,
“
it i s the good news of a living h Ope thr ough the re surrection of
”
Jes us Chris t from the de ad ( v s Fin al ly it may be defined as
.
,
tent of th e gos pel are oriented toward the f uture even toward the ,
“ ”
real an d are calcul ated to t es t the genuinenes s of faith even ,
”
as gold i s tes ted by fire ( v s 7 ) Th ere i s no indic ation th at
.
“
the t ri als i ntended are of any s peci al s everity ; indeed Peter ,
s ugge s t s in vers e 6 that they are only a pos s ibility with which the
“ ”
Chris ti an h as to reckon In an y c ase various tri al s ar e a com
.
,
“
the mid s t of tri al an d tribul ation Christi ans may rejoice .
“ ”
s alvation which he h as alrea dy b egun to experience an d to
whose consumm ation he looks forwar d ( v s s 3 5 ) Jes us h ad long .
-
“
s ee al so Rom 5 : 3 -5 ; H Cor
. Moreover the little
.
,
”
while ( v s 6 ) reminds us of the s imil ar teachi ng in Hebrews 1 0
.
3 2 -39 an d -1
1 .
the pres ent ins tance thi s goal i s s tated to be both proxim ate and
“
more remote Th e proxim ate or near goal is the tes ting of the
.
” “ ”
genuineness of the faith of Peter s readers ( v s the remote
’
.
obje ct of this tes ting i s that these Chris ti ans faith may redound ’
an d yet they
”
They have never s een him
“
i n Chris t ( v ss 8 .
,
“
love him an d though they do not now see him they b e
”
,
“ ” “
,
times For they are called upon t o live in a world of nature which
.
“ ”
an d their privilege to employ the s ixth s ens e of faith in appre
hendi ng him who i s invis ible ( see J ohn I Cor Heb . .
(vs .
p s s n o a n
“ ”
witnes s to the Chri s ti an s salvation Th ey inquired he s ays with
’
.
, ,
follow them In thes e two vers es— p acked as they are in every
.
’
word an d phr as e with deep doctrinal content— w e can feel Peter s
ass urance perhaps reflecting the knowledge th at he w as s imply
,
2 : 1 5 -3 6 )
Th e contin uity between the O ld Coven an t an d the New i s
“
further el aborated in vers e 1 2 Here it i s explicitly s t ated tha t the
.
” “
things with which the prophe t s dealt formed the content of the
good news which w as pre a ched l ater on to the Chri s tians of
’ “
Peter s generation Moreover jus t as th es e things were indicate d
"
.
,
”
heaven to Peter s readers ’
Tw o points s tand out with unmis tak able clarity in this p ass age
Firs t the fact that it owes much to the des cription of the Suffering
,
FIRS T PETER 1 : 1 3 -1 7
“ ”
h ad been decl ar ed by angels ( Heb se e als o Acts
.
Gal 3 : .
with which thi s s ection opens refers to the d octrinal p as sage whi ch
precedes Exhortation to holy living i s b as ed upon the theology
.
to lay stres s upon the nece ss ity of the holy life for the Chri sti an .
“ ” “
that he h as set forth the h Ope of the grace that i s comin g to
you at the revel ation of J es us Christ ( v s 1 3 ) as a principal
”
.
Peter d oes not work ou t in det ail for u s the method whereby
the Chri sti an s salvation to a holy life i s achieved thr ough the
’
the s lave m arket on the one hand an d the wors hip of the al t ar ,
“ ” “ ”
u s for G od ( v ss 18 Th e word rans om ed or redeemed
.
"
"
I Cor . an d to the Jew alway s b rought to mind the
“
s t ated in sacrifici al te rm s as h aving been con sti t uted by the
preciou s blood of Chri st like that of a l am b wi thout blemi sh or
,
( v s 1 9 ; s ee Exod
”
s pot . Lev Peter s ees thi s work of
. .
“
Chri st in the pers pe ctive of eterni ty from which he w as des ,
God as the cre ative agent in the res urrection of Christ ; for it w as
“ ”
God who rai sed him from the de ad an d g ave him glory ( v s .
2 1 ; see I Cor .
”
end of the tim es for your s ake ( v s 2 0 ) i s indicative of the ch ro .
Inc arn ation i s e qually before the mind of the writer Accord .
“ ”
in gly it i s clear th at for him the end i nclude s the period of
,
Heb I J oh n
.
or in h is
“
gre at mercy ( v s 3 ) or gr ace ( v ss 1 0
” “
Peter
. .
,
FIRS T P ETER — 2 z3 131
h as prese nted to hi s rea ders the ultim ate s ource of their salv a
tion He n ow indicat es the me ans or ins trument which God h as
.
“ ” “
i s the living an d abiding word of God ( v s 23 ) or the good .
” “ ”
news ( v s 2 5 ) th at is to say the gos pel which w as preached to
.
,
als o
-
25 ; 5 ; Eph -
Col 25 ;
. and Hebrews .
1 2;
“ ”
Th e res pons e to this word of G od or good news is that
“ ”
Obedience to the trut h which res ults in purifi c ation ( v s 22 ) .
Peter nowhere else in the letter uses the word truth but in
“ ”
,
“ ”
he s pe aks o f obedience to Jes us Chri s t and in of thos e who
“
disobey the word We may put together th e three p assages
”
.
“ ” “ ” “ ” “ “ ”
s ay word gos pel
, good news ,truth or Jes us Chris t it , , ,
the truth of the gos pel message And there i s cons iderable ev i
,
""
.
same as
“
having purified your s ouls which Peter here says i s
”
,
“
the res ult of obedience to the tru
Th e re s ult of this rebirth an d obedience or purific ation is S in
“
m ali ce and all guile an d ins incerity and envy and all Sl ander
”
I Cor . Heb .
FIRS T PETER —1 0
Is ai ah -2 1 in t h e same vers e
; an d Hose a 9 an d in
vers e 1 0 Numerou s phras es in the p as s age al s o link it to certain
.
to the Hebrews an d the B ook of Revel ation Whet her Peter con
, .
Th e m ain te aching of the p ass age i s to the eff ect th at the Chris
ti an Church i s a Spiritu al house ( v s 5 ; se e Heb
“ ”
that i s . .
,
“ ”
a hou s e of wors hip who s e corners tone i s the living s tone Jes us ,
Three further points rem ain to be noted Firs t the idea that .
,
“ ”
Jesus w as rejected by men but in God s s ight chos en an d preciou s ’
“
Pentecost in Acts 2 : 22 3 6 an d likewi se the reference to the won
-
,
”
derful deed s of him who c alled you ( v s 9 ) i s akin in me aning .
""
“ ”
t o the mighty works and wonders an d s ign s whi ch G od did
thr ough Jes us of N azareth a man att ested to you by God in
“ ”
,
'
Acts Second th at the Christi an readers of the letter h ave
,
“ ”
been c alled ou t of d arknes s into hi s G od s m arv elous light ’
who are converted from p agani s m to the true faith ( see Acts
Col . Th e idea n o doubt deri ve s from such pas
s age s as I s ai ah 7 an d 1 6 in wh i ch the work of the Servant
“
they h ad at one time not received mercy but now have received
“ ” “
”
mercy ( v s . enshri nes the very hear t of the Christi an go spel
as th at i s prefi gu red in the emblem atic prophecy uttered by H os e a
“ ”
here translated Gentile s both in the Greek an d in the Hebrew
lying behind it actually me ans n ations
“
an d Peter in employing ,
exil es ( v s 1 1 ; see
”
. to descri be the Chri s tian community a ,
"
"
mode of expres s ion f oun d als o in Hebrews
“ ”
Th e good conduct which Chri s ti ans are to practice includes
“
abs tai ning from the p assions of the fles h that w age w ar agains t
the so (v s Th e ex act Greek of this phras e i s n ot
.
“ ”
that m an s fles h in this sens e is domin ated by evil p ass ions or
’
-
25; I Th ess J ames —1 5 ; Jude 1 6 an d
. Th e
""
old enemy of th e fles hly pass ions rem ains alive to the very en d
an d in cons equence the Chris ti an mus t never s lee p .
“
Th e s ugges tion in vers e 1 2 that Gentiles through the good con
” “
du ct of Peter s readers s houl d be led to s ee
’
their good deeds
an d glorify G od
”
is remi ni scent of Jes us saying in M at thew
’
I Tim - 5
1 ; .
-2
; Titus — 3 z2) Some mention of it .
“
ment in vers e 1 3 that the Christian is to be subject f or the Lord s ’
”
sake to every hum an ins ti tution h as no exa ct p arall el for breadth
Chri s ti ans then are in a very real s ense to know two m asters
— God an d man Th e ori in of s uch teachi ng m a
g .
y well b e the
Chur ch s Lo rd him self For when confronted with the problem of
’
.
“
the Chris ti an s attitude toward the s tate he remarked Render to
’
,
Cae sar the things that are Caes ar s an d to G od the thi ngs that ’
“
Peter w as writing the s t ate w as repres ented by the emperor as
”
s upreme (v s and by th e
“
governors of the various im
.
”
”
prai se thos e who do right And in this judgment he w as undoubt .
duty the Chri sti an may Show hims elf an exemplar y citizen of the
s t ate ( Rom 2 5 Peter s at titude in thi s m atter s eems to ’
-
.
,
s ugge s t an early d ate f or the letter approxim ating that of Rom ans ,
.
“
G al ati an s p ass age jus t cited— Live as free men yet without us ing ,
“
licens e or with anarchy f or as P aul els ewhere s ays G od is not , ,
FIRS T P ETER 2 : 1 8 -25
“ ”
the authority of another or of an y hum an ins titution including ,
” “ “ ” ’
of God ( v s . mindful of God ( v s God s approval .
“
(v s. be c aus e Chri st al s o s uff ered for you leaving you an ,
” “
example that you should follow in h is s teps ( v s
,
s o that .
“
of whom it m ay b e sai d th at though Chri stian s ervants do right
, ,
“ ”
they nonetheless are c alled upon to Suffer for it ( v s 2 0 ) Agai n . ,
"
.
,
Christ ians in the earlies t period of the Chri sti an movement were
s l aves an d their m as ters by an d l arge were p ag ans Philemon ( of
, .
rule ( Philemon 1 6
At thi s point Peter adds a s eri es of vers es ( v ss 2 1 2 5 ) whi ch .
-
s erve to m ark ou t the pos ition of the Chri s ti an s l ave in the whole
“ ” “ ”
s l ave i s c alled by following the example of Chri s t in whos e
,
“ ”
s tep s he walks to set forth the ch aracteristic of humility which
,
”
w as hi s M aster s In c al ling to mind Chri st s em pl e Peter em
’ “ ’
.
,
ploys the l anguage rel ating to the Suffering Servant of the Lord
in Is ai ah 5 3 as for exam ple in verse 2 2— h e committed no s in ;
,
“
” “
no guile w as found on hi s lip s ( Is a in vers e 24 — h e him
.
” “
s elf bore ou r s i ns ( Isa . again in vers e 2 4 — b y his
” “
wound s you have been healed (Is a an d in vers e 2 5—
.
you
”
were s traying like sheep ( Is a In addition it h as be en
.
,
thus literally carried away the people s s ins Peter m ay s imil arly ’
.
tree ( or cross ) an d thus di smi ss ing them as they were dismi sse d ,
"
"
“
in the wilderne ss by the s capegoat .
Fin ally in s ugges ting that Ch ris ti an Sl ave s were s traying like
,
“
” “
s heep (v s . but h ave now ret urned to the Shepherd an d
”
Gu ardian of their s ouls Peter i s c alling upon a tradition al
,
“ ”
ment i s the Greek word whi ch i s here trans lated Gu ardi an ap
plied t o our Lord Th e word generally refers to an overs eer of the
.
here with reference t o the Chri sti an s lave emphas ize s the fact of
the direct approach of the Chri sti an however humble to the Lord , ,
“
In as king that the wife b e s ubmi ss ive ( v s Peter i s as king .
“ ”
And as in the c as e of all good conduct expected of the
Christi an generally the moti vation sugges ted i s an evan
g e li s ti c on e— s o th at s ome may b e won without a word b y
the beh avior of their wives Th e s ort of adornment to which
.
mind the allur ements pra cticed by profli gate women in Jewi sh an d
p agan s ociety .
, ,
” “ ”
s ecret (M att 6 1 8 ) accounts very preciou s
.
, .
Verse 6 alone in the New Test ament carries the impli cation
, ,
“ ” “ ”
that the wife i s to obey as well as be submi s s ive to her h u s
b and It i s to be noticed however th at here the p oint refers to the
.
, ,
'
“
fact that S arah obeyed Abrah am c alling him lord It i s note ,
.
“ ”
worthy that Peter proceed s And you are now her children not , ,
if you also obey but rather if you do right an d let nothi ng terrify
,
a gre at wei ght of re s pons ibility There i s nothing quite like it el se.
”
none of thes e p assa ge s are hus b ands enjoined to be submi s s ive
to their wive s as is the c as e in revers e Th is i s no doubt due to the
, .
hus band i s the head of the wife as Chri st is the head of the
”
church h i s body an d i s hi ms elf it s S avior Therefore as he con
, , .
,
ti nu es ( Eph
“
husb ands are to love their wives as Chri st
.
”
loved the church an d gave him se lf up for her Indeed th e b u s .
,
“ ”
b and s head shi p i s limi ted to hi s being the gre at lover in the
’
”
Th i s P s alm as a whole serves as a definition of the poor man
“
”
Rom
“
4 4; Luke . rather he i s to bles s that he
“
may obtain a bless ing hims elf ( v s 9 ) Literally the Greek here
”
.
re ads Bless
“
that you may inh erit a bles s ing whi ch i s much ,
” “ ” ”
which the mee k man i s defined ) and th at poor an d meek ,
“
i n Hebrew are e ss enti ally the same word It i s says Peter to such .
, ,
“ ”
humble mind or to s uch meekness that the Chri s ti an is
’
a
“ ”
called Such humble-mindedness iss ues in bless edne ss both for
.
Sake (ga g
actu ally facing at the momen t This it i s s aid expl ains the fact
.
, ,
It would appear rather that as indic ated in the outline the thought
, ,
“ ” “
of pers ecution for righteou s ness s ake or of s anctifi cati on under
’
”
fir e is a m ajor theme which Peter h as h ad in mi nd from the b e
gin ning of the letter It is b ecaus e the Chri sti an s holy life like
.
“ ” ’
,
l etter, in which this clim actic note of s uffering for righteous nes s ’
“ ”
(v s. an d in your hea rts reverence Chris t as Lord ( v s 1 5 .
Holy Spiri t .
gether repre sent the holy life which all along Peter h as be en s et
ting forth as the Chri sti an ideal Th e Chri sti an is not to allow any
.
”
s ecul ar phenomenon to terrify ( v s 6 ) hi m or to fe ar les t it m ay
“
.
“
h arm ( v s 1 3 ) hi m Thos e who are terrified an d fe ar the h ar m
”
. .
“ “
n or the outw ard expre s s ion of returni ng evil f or e an d rev il
”
ing for reviling are to be the Chri sti an s attit ude ’
.
“
s age — for hi s reference t o a s tone th at will m ake men s t umble a ,
"
,
"
nor b e troubled but in your hearts reverence Chris t as Lord (v s s
,
”
.
1 4- 1 5 )
“
Th e Chri s ti an then i s always to be prep ared to m ake a defense
to an y one who c alls hi m to acc ount for the hope that i s i n
"
" h im
“
(v s As
we have already obs erved
”
.
“
element of the Chris ti an faith ; rather it i s a s ure an d s te adfas t ,
""
s ince it res ts upon the saving activity of t h e
”
anchor of the s oul ,
4 : 1 8 2 2 ) Th e Chri sti an s
-
“
defense however i s al ways to be
’
, ,
“ ”
with gentlenes s meekness an d reverence n ot with arrogant s elf ,
Short of thi s whi ch will make it possible for the Christi an to keep
hi s consc ience clear ( literally
” “ ”
a good cons cience ; s ee Acts ,
2 3 : 1 ; I Tim 1 9 ; H Tim
. Heb an d I Peter . .
“ ’
A s before at behind the Chri sti an s cons cience stand s God s ’
” “
will ( v s That will s tand s as the Lord of the cons cience ;
.
“ ” “ ”
it al one is the s tandard for what i s the good or righteous ness .
Example of Chri s t s ’
Su fferi ng an d Resu rrection -2 2
)
Th i s ection contain s what is probably the most difli cu lt prob
s
“
s ins Peter s s ugge stion that Chri st died tha t he might
’
Eph . 18; -
an d t hat of the author of Hebrews
FIRST PETER 3 : 1 8 22 -
the Spirit but rather to the work of the p atri arch Enoch ( see Gen
, .
( ch
.
( 3 ) the alternative poss ibility i s s ugge sted th at these
“ ”
word s should re ad in which Noah on the b asi s of the fact th at
“ ”
the incident referred to occurred in the d ays of No ah ( v s .
“ ”
tion ; namely that after h is de ath in the flesh but while s till
, ,
“ ”
alive in the spirit (v s he took oc c as ion to des cend as the
.
,
“ “ ”
Creed s ugge s ts into he or alternatively into H ades or Sheol
, ,
“
th at is into the abo de of the de ad an d th at he there pre ached
, ,
”
to the s pirits in pri s on ( v s finally ( 5 ) the sugge stion i s made
.
“
th at it is the pre exi stent Chri st to whom Peter refers as alive in
-
”
s pirit s through hi s servant Noah— spirits who were incar nate or
“
living men in No ah s day but who h ad since become spirits in
’
pris on that is in hell or Sheol bec aus e they did not respond to
”
, , ,
to comm end them and all equ ally have others whi ch may be cited
,
ag ains t them It i s thi s whi ch m ake s the p as s age so very diffi cult
.
s age i n the New Te st ament quite l ike thi s one ; thos e mos t nearly
s piri ts in pri s on
”
by mech an ical me an s m an ipulated by an al
mighty church can remotely be sub s tanti ated b y the p as s age
,
.
Second Peter introduced thi s diffi cult p ass age to indic ate h ow
,
”
God s p atience extend s not only to the living b u t al s o to the
’
“
dead spirits in pri s on a view which although diff erently ex
, ,
5 : 1 5 2 1 I Cor
- °
I Tim
. Third Peter mus t have h ad
.
,
may s eem far fetched but p arallels for s uch an al ogies may be
-
,
” “
food an d supern atural drink during the pe riod of the wilder
ne ss wandering ( I C or However we may interpret thi s
.
Chris ti an truth .
m
the exam e of s uff ering whi ch thi s Lord h as undergone for s ins “ ”
re aders to emul ate the s ufferings and Sinl es s ness of their Lord In .
s cious of the Gentile world surrounding the Chri sti an comm unity
"
"
as an oce an of evil might s urround an i sl and of puri ty ( v s .
what the Gentile s like to do Th eir actions are not to be aff ected .
“
i n an y w ay when the s e Gentile s are s urpri sed th at they do
n ot now join t hem in the s ame wild profli gacy
”
in which they in
i s likely to re s ult
“ ”
du lge them s elve s ( v s although abu s e
. .
”
an d the de a d (v s .
”
fered in the fle s h m ay be s aid to have ce as ed from s in
“
or per ,
“ ”
hap s better to h ave done with sin Th e form of the verb in the
, .
by the following verse which decl ares that the purpos e of the
,
“
Chri sti an to h ave done with s in i s so as t o live f or the res t of the
time in the fles h no longer by hum an p ass ions but by the will of
”
G od ( v s . Peter i s not saying then as s ome of the J ewi sh , ,
( s ee Rom
“
l ivi ng hi s lif e henceforward by the will of G od .
6 : 15
There are a number of p arall el s in the New Tes t ament to th e
G entile Sins of which Peter gives a c at alogue in vers e 3 ( s ee Rom .
-
32 ; G al .
-
21; E ph .
-
5; Col -
9; I T. im -1 1
; .
It need not startle us that Peter s ugges ts that the Gentil es were
“ ” “
s urpris ed at Chri s ti ans for their unwill ingne ss to join them in
t h e s am e wild profli gacy ( v s
”
Th e high ethic al s t and ard s s et
.
forth in the Scrip t ures h ad const antly to b attle agai ns t the profli
gacy of the su rrounding p agani sm , in whi ch it w as by no me an s
o bviou s th at religion an d mor al s have any nece ss ary rel ation the
one to the other And Peter as be fore
. as s erts th at it w as
“
b ec aus e p agans did not see thi s conn ection that th e gospel w as
”
pre ached even to the dead that they might s o to s pe ak be given
, , ,
“ ”
a chance to accept the truth Th e same difli cu lty ari se s in con
.
m ent accordi ng to st and ards which are current on e art h with the
e tern al life which i s lived in the pres ence of G od An d in the con .
“ ”
in the s piri t whose onl y poss ible norm or st and ard i s th e li fe of
G od .
”
fore keep s ane an d s ober for your prayers ( v s 7 ) S uch s t at e .
t hat they need me an i s that from the Inc arnation forw ard the
”
Chri sti an Church i s living in the l as t time ( see
“
Th e cer
t ainty of judgment however i s s ugges ted as a motive for righ t
, ,
FIRS T PETER 4 : 1 2-1 9
”
th at he i s s uff ering as a Chri stian ( v s All three points are .
the reader the pictur e of Chri st between the two thieves The s e .
nationali stic mes s iah but rather is God s Mes s iah an d to s uff er for ’
,
“ ” “ ’
him i s to glorify God ( v s 1 6 ) be c aus e his gloryf i s God s
.
’
“
Glory in both Hebrew an d Greek s tands for the mani
”
, ,
both langu ages the term w as us ed for the lumi nou s cloud which
appe ar ed between the cherubim on the Ark of the Coven ant ( Lev .
the very time one is repro ached for th e name of Ch ris t the
“
,
“ ”
bles s ing of th e s pirit of glory an d of God i s a pres ent expe ri ence
an d
“
res ts upon the Chri stian in the very mids t of hi s reproach
”
(vs.
“
fiery ordeal the reproach an d the s uff ering for the name of
, ,
”
Chri st Peter now returns to the thought of the coming Judg
,
B ut Chris tians are cons cious of the fact that even now they are
“ ” “
living in the l as t times as we h ave already s een ; the end of all
,
” “
things i s at hand ( v s 7 above ) an d the time h as come for judg
.
”
ment to begin ( v s Al s o from the time of Amos forward
.
, ,
” “ ”
Cre ator ( v s ’
God s absolute dem and that men do right
.
regardle ss of cons e quences i s jus tified bec ause God i s the faithf ul “
,
”
Cre ator who fulfil l s hi s promi s es to hi s people and therefore ,
”
they may without res erve entr us t their s oul s to him
“
.
“
Th e warning to thos e who do not obey the gos pel of God
( v s 1 7 ) may be t ak en as the equivalent of the previous warning
.
of God s red empt ive love but also of hi s wr ath agains t the dis
’
which men are los t Acc ordingly in the quotation from Proverb s
.
,
” ”
( v s 1 8 ) the righteous man who is s aved is the one who
“ “
.
“ ”
accepts the gos pel in faith wh ile the impious an d s inner will be
,
the one who rejects it and ref uses to li ve out its implications for
FIRS T PETER -
11
vari ous groups in the Chri sti an comm unity p articular ly thos e ,
” “ ”
w hom he c all s elders ( v s 1 ) an d the younger people ( v s
. .
At leas t the first of the se group s repres ents persons holding s ome
o ffi ci al s ta tus in the loc al communitie s as Peter s des cription of
’
,
“ ” “
hi ms elf as a fellow elder an d h i s charge to them— Ten d the
flock of God that i s your charge ( v s 2 ) s erve to indic ate In
—
. .
It would certai nl y h ave been uns eemly for Peter to l ack the very
h umility whi ch he w as about to enjoin upon h i s re aders ( v ss 5 -6 ) .
C hrist whi ch m ade him an amb as s ador with full power of dis
“
pe ns in g the gos pel or as he prefers
, , a witne s s
,
to the great facts
of th at gos pel It i s to be noted th at in thi s p as s age the twofold
.
“ ” “ ”
t h eme of s ufferings an d glory i s carried through al ong the
same line s as els ewhere in the letter -1 5 1 8 22 ; ,
-
“ ” “
Th e elders al s o are to s hare in the s e s ufferings of
” “ ”
Chri st as they tend the flock of God in the expectation th at
t hey wil l obtain the unfading crown of glory al ong with him
“ ”
(vs 4)
.
“
Th eir work is to be carri ed on u nder the s upervi sion of the
”
c hief Shepherd , a term nowhere el s e found in the New Tes t a
ment though th e idea for whi ch it s tands is of cours e prominent in
,
, . selves as
FIRST P ETER -
14
”
s uff ering of which he h as been spe aking throughout th e letter
( v s 9 ; s ee
. Thi s s uff ering i s occas ioned of cours e by
“
men an d it w ould s eem therefore th at Peter use s the term th e
,
”
devil i n a metaphori cal s ens e to refer to the general and cor
porat e evil of hum ani ty with whi ch the Chris ti an brotherhoo d
“
”
throughout the world h as to deal .
period rem ai ning until the God of all grace who h as c all ed you
“
,
s trengthen you
”
. il ar t o th at i n I
Thess aloni ans -1 1 an d II The s s al oni ans 2 : 1 1 2 the two letters -
,
tion of the epi stle now end s with a s uitable doxology in verse 1 1 .
C L O SING GREETING S
I Pet er —1
4
Latin form of hi s name may h ave s ome connection with the fact
that B abylon is pos s ibly a p seudonym employed by Peter for
“ ”
“ ” “ ”
Rome ( v s 1 3 ; s ee Rev . Th e M ark referred to i s the
.
ass oci ates him al s o with the work of Peter an d identifies him as
,
’
the latt er 8 interpreter .
”
yo u ( see
THE S ECOND LETT ER OF
IN T R ODUCTION
C ompositi on an d St yle of th e Letter
As a l iterary form Se cond Peter appro aches Hebrews an d Eph e
s i ans more nearly th an an y ot her of the writing s of the New
“ ” “
Te s tament All are e s s en ti ally e ss ays or s ermons
. If it were .
wri tten in the artifici al s tilted m anner of one who is ende avoring
,
are not found el sewhere in the New Tes t am ent O n the whole the .
,
Thi s w as bec aus e the Gnos tic s b elieved that only s oul or s piri t
was m ade Up of fi n e elements which could be s aved while m atter,
Spirit s s al vation
’
see Jude
Unlike the fal s e te achers of Jude s time however thos e di s
’
, ,
s ucce ed it
Message
Th e mes s age of Second Peter i s b ase d upon the prophetic
word ( 1 : 1 9 ) an d the pred ictions of the holy prophets
” “ ”
” “
Lord which enables Chris ti ans to e sc ape from the cor
”
ruption th at is in the w orld bec au se of p ass ion an d to become
“ ”
p artakers of the divine nature an d which flowers in a
type of genuine ethic al living quite other th an the 1i cen ti oirs ness
which characterized the current Gnos tici sm
Thi s uni que Chris ti an k nowledge of God gives the author a
“ ”
”
s t and ard by which he may condemn the fal s e te acher s
living
Dat e
Th e d ate of writing of Second Peter i s by no means e asy to
determine A s i s shown in the comment the author s eems to h ave
.
,
period s ucceeding the p ass ing away of at leas t the firs t generation
of Chri s ti ans Then t oo there i s little if any evi dence of
, ,
q u en c e it
, i s les s cert ai n th an appe ared to be th e c ase s ome ye ars
ago that we need ass ign to thi s letter a d ate after A D 7 0
, . . .
Peter w ith Second Peter s hows abundantly the Greek s tyle nature
, ,
of compo sition of the two lett ers an d their res pective me s s age s
,
about the contempor ary Gnos tic tea ching an d it s hould n ot sur
,
SECOND PETER : OUTLINE
pris e u s that in an s wering s uch teaching he s hould le an upon
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others as the author appar ently doe s Furthermore the author s
.
,
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Again expressions like the knowledge of God an d of
,
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1 1 ) for knowi ng wh at t h e e arlie st di s ciples m ay have thought
on the s ubject of t h e Second Coming And inas much as at thi s
.
t h e pos s ibility of its early d ate For the s e re as ons it i s bes t to leave
.
OUTLIN E
Salutati on H Pet er
.
-2
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God and Je s us our Lord a phenomenon which i s duplic ated
,
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expres sion ou r G od an d S avior Jes u s Chri st in vers e 1 how ,
as al s o referring to
“
Jesus Christ as is done in the Revis ed
”
,
Stand ard Vers ion Th e only other New Tes tament p as s age in
.
the s ame stem are transl ated in this w ay in the Revised Stand ard
,
Vers ion Th e more simple of the two the word which gives u s
.
,
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Gnos tici sm i s found in
, 6 and it s verb form ( to
”
underst and ) appears in an d Th e rel ated word al so ,
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transl ated knowledge i s found in , 3 8 an d an d its , ,
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verb al form appears twice in where it is transl ated known
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and knowing None of the s e forms with the exception of the
.
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Peter the knowledge in ques tion con cerns in the firs t ins tance , ,
an intim ate acqu aint ance an d fellows hip with God or altern a , ,
”
In vers es 3 4 Peter s thes i s is th at thi s intim ate knowledge of
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’
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God i s the me ans whereby men are led to s h are hi s glory and
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excellence thu s receiving th e fulfi llment of his precious an d
,
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nature Th e cre ative c au se says our author which lies behind
.
, ,
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this redemptive proc ess i s God s divin e power Th e expres sions ’
.
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divine power an d divine nat ure which repres ent at once th e ,
p arallel in the New Test ament but the ide as involved are biblic al
,
.
It need s no proof tha t throughout the Script ures the po wer of God
lie s behi nd the redemptive process And it i s cle ar th at for Second .
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God h as c alled u s to hi s own glory an d excell ence — a wholly
biblical idea ( s ee Rom . I Cor II Cor 3 : . .
ide a In Isai ah
. an d 1 2 the Greek tr an s l ation of the Hebrew
” ”
cellence therefore should be t aken to me an the s ame as glory
, , ,
man i s t o be raised t o the stature of the m anife sted nat ure of God
in all of hi s moral excellence ( see E ph 4 : 1 3 ) Th e st atement th at .
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God gives hi s people all thi ngs th at pertain to life an d godline ss
s ound s very much like the te aching of Je s us as for ex ample in , ,
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from corruption an d the effects of m an s p ass ion ( see al so ’
18;
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Th e title of thi s section mi ght equ al ly have been confirm ation
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of fa i t h by ethi c al living inasmuch as it opens with the sug
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ges tion that the re aders should make every eflort to supplement
“
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their faith with virtue ( v s Th e thes is whi ch is devel .
by ethical livi ng appropri ate to it And in thi s res pect the t e ach .
ing i s lik e that of P aul in Rom an s and Ephes ians For in thes e .
an d Eph
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voted to theology an d as the therefore ( Rom
, . .
upon the sound theology whi ch preced es Second Peter s for thi s “
.
’
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very re as on in the pres ent s ection h as the s ame eff ect as Paul s
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therefore .
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that hi s knowledge of our Lord Je sus Chri s t ( v s 8 ) mi ght n ot
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.
firm ”
h is cal l an d election ( v s 1 0 ) Th e ultim ate end or goal .
“ ” “ ”
of thi s confirm ation of the Chri s ti an s faith an d election s ays
’
,
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dom of our Lord an d S avior Jesus Christ ( v s .
even s ome remote relation to Paul s tea ching in I Cori nthi ans ’
28 .
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Somewhat s imil ar li sts of the ethical implications of faith
( v ss 5 7 ) are to be found in Romans 5 : 1 5 ; G al atians
.
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23 ; - -
Ephesians I Timothy “
P aul term s all of the s e the fruit
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of the Spirit ( G al an d Second Peter h as already express ed
.
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Self control w as a virtue much admired by the
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t o hi s faith -
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SE COND PETER 21
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To demonstrate the validity of hi s witne s s as a s ource of the
knowledge of God the author s elects out of numerous pos sible
,
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( vs. Here Peter an d hi s as s oci ate s h ad been eyewitne ss es of
”
hi s m ajes ty ( v s a
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majes ty the lik e of whi ch J es us in his
.
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incarn ate life h ad not hitherto as sumed And he would not again .
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as s ume s uch maj es ty until the s econd coming ( v s 1 6 ) when .
h ave alre ady come to poss es s Such identific ation of th e apo st olic .
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witnes s or gos pel with the truth i s a common phenomenon in
the New Test ament ( s ee J ohn G al Eph . .
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In II Timothy an d Tit us t hi s truth of the gos pel i s
contras ted as in vers e 1 6 with cleverly devis ed myths B oth
,
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,
”
.
R ather like the prOph etic faith taught in all of Scri pture it i s
, ,
,
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prOph etic word i s of an es chatologic al n ature an d h as as i ts
content the coming of Jes us Chris t ( s ee v s
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Th e Trans .
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figuration h as m ade more s ur e through i ts revelation of the ,
“ ”
glory of Jes us Chri s t the fact of hi s coming ; it i s a s ort of fore
,
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Th e author w arns hi s re aders that they will do well to pay
attention
”
to this prophecy regarding J es u s coming again mas ’
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21 R ather the prophets were men moved by the Holy Spiri t
,
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t ure i s a m att er of one s own in t erpretation ( v s 2 0 ) i s quite
’
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an d 2 1 taken together are intended t o s ay t hat only the Holy
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Spiri t through whom the prophetic word comes is c ap able of in
, ,
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In vers e 1 9 the day which i s about to dawn i s the day of
cons umm ation of judgment of the coming of J es us Chris t ( see
, ,
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trans l ated the morni ng s tar occurs nowhere els e in the New
”
Tes t am ent ;
“ “
the morni ng s tar in Revelation an d th e
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bright morni ng s tar in Revelati on repres ent other Greek
expre ss ions However the l atter gives u s the key to the author s
’
.
,
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coming in one s own life ) This combination need n ot s eem
’
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comp aris on of the two letters But the s tudent s houl d notice that .
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in general the fals e te achers are des crib ed as denying the
SECOND PETER 2 : 1 -2 2
3 17;
, see Jude 1 3 2 2 2 3 ) It s hould be noted too th at m any
,
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whom the nether gloom of d arknes s h as been res erved ( v s 1 7 ; .
“
fal se te achers s ince th at de scription suits his purpos e
, .
were found along with thos e who h ad the prophetic word in their
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mouth s so now there are fals e te achers to be di s tingui shed
,
fals e te achers it s eems cle ar tha t they were of the type loo sely de
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s cribed as
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Gnos tic Such te achers aros e within both Judai s m an d
”
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Like the modern theos ophi sts they were eclectics that is the y
,
—
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thinking They were generally arrog ant holding that they alone
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,
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were in pos s ess ion of the w ay of tru (v s an d their arro .
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their condemn ation h as not b ee n idle an d their des tructi on h as ,
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n ot been as leep He selects three outs t anding examples from t h e
.
SEC OND PETER 2 : 1 -2 2
from reviling the l atter Ins tead the arch an gel merely s aid Th e
.
,
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citing here an inci dent recorded in the los t apoc ryph al book Th e ,
the arrogance of the fal se te achers upon whi ch stres s i s l aid They .
,
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will be de stroyed s uff eri ng wrong for their wrongdoing
( v ss 1 2
.
an d
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greed ( v ss 1 3 1 8 ; Jude 1 1
”
.
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Jude actually sugge sts that
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this reveling w as can i e d on at the love feasts of the Ch ri sti ans
( Jude
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An d s ome of our bes t m anus cripts read their love
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fe as ts ins te ad of their di s s ip ation ( v s 1 3 ; s ee m argin ) Th e . .
ment were not far removed from their former m anner of living
,
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_
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w h o in both letters i s t aken as an example of on e who loved g ai n
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from wrongdoing i s s triking Thi s i s p articul arly s o bec aus e in
, .
"
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whom he bore Like Jude the author sugges ts that s uch te achers
,
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are merely
“
waterle ss springs ” “
mis ts driven by a s torm an d
, ,
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th at for them the s ame nether gloom of d arkn es s h as bee n re
1 7 1 8 ; see v s 4 an d Jude
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s erved as for the fallen angel s ( v s s .
- .
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characterized by bein g tos s ed to an d fro an d carried about with
every wi nd of doctrine ( Eph 4 :
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an d of the s ins of the Gen
.
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tas ted s omewh at of the freedom of the Chri sti an faith but t hey
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h ave u sed th at freedom to become s l aves of corrup tion ( v s .
Gos pel Jes us h ad s ai d very much the sam e thi ng ( see John
,
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freedom of the Chri sti an thr ough the knowledge of our Lord an d
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S avior Jes u s Chri s t an d then t urn b ack t o the defil ements of the
world ar e wors e off th an they were before ; the l as t s t ate h as b e
” “
”
come wors e for them th an the firs t (v s Th is te aching al so h as
.
”
delivered to them whi ch clearly refer to the Chris ti an gos pe l
,
terms with ess entially the same me aning are found els ewhere ( see
M att . 1 4 ; John
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comp are Rom In .
“
vers e 2 2 the firs t p art of the proverb ( Th e dog turns b ack to hi s
own vomi t ) i s prob ably t aken from Proverb s
”
but the
combin ation of the dog and the sow s ounds very much like
“ ” “ ”
M atthew
But if there i s nothing new in the pres ent s ection it is at leas t ,
the Apo stle P aul s aw cle arly the dire need Of warning h i s rea ders
,
that the Chri s ti an ethic follows natu ral ly from the Chri s ti an the
ology Y ou shall be holy for I am holy exp re s se s this rel ation
“
.
,
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as a pretext for e
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In addition to denying the M aster who bought them an d
so
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the knowledge of our Lord an d S avior Jes us Chris t ”
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the fal s e te achers al so are found to be s coflers at the thought of
the final coming of J es us Christ as the Judge an d S avior of men
“
( ) h
’
v s
. s 3 4-
It is thi s hos tile a ttitude tow ard the Church s e sc at o
logic al te achi ng with which the author de als in the clos ing chapter
o f hi s letter He ope ns hi s dis cus s ion of t hi s problem with refer
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rem arks th at h i s ow n t as k i s merely to arous e your Sincere mi nd
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prophets an d the comm andment Of the Lord an d S avior thr ough
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their apos tles ( v s .
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at a d ay when it could be sa id th at the fathers h ad fal len
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as leep ; th at i s to s ay the firs t generation h ad al l died Th e w ay
, .
water , an d on
the other wi th fire reflects thi s typ e of pro
, ,
3: 1
O n the b asis ofthes e two prOph et ic postu lates then Second , ,
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Second Peter s se cond ar gument ag ainst the s coff ers an d their
’
pears in either the Hebrew or the Greek In both thos e l angu age s .
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thous and ye ars in th e Lord s s ight It i s however not h in ds igh t
’
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, ,
with which S econd Peter i s de aling but rather fores igh t Con s e .
the most general s ort in line with the prophetic te aching regard
,
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ing the day of the Lord which began s o far as our information
, ,
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le ad s u s to believe with Amos ( se e Amos 5
, Thi s day ,
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omed with any yardstick known to man It i s God s day an d is t o .
’
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Consequentl y it i s fallacious to argue that inasmuch as the
, ,
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fathers h ave fallen asleep the promi s e h as failed This could
, .
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fact that the Lord i s forbeari ng and not wi shing th at any
( v s 9 ) We
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s houl d pe ri s h but th at al l s hould re ach repent ance
, .
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s hould rather count the forbearan ce of ou r Lord as s al vation
( v s
. 1 5 ; comp are Luke Rom -2 6 Heb
; . 8 ; I Peter .
-
Rev .
-1 1
;
Th e author now conclude s hi s s econd argumen t adding to hi s ,
11
But the end of God s pu rpos e for m ankind i s n ot des truction
’
.
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day of God wil l mean for m ankind for hi s promi se includes
,
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nes s dwells ( v s And it is b ec aus e Chri stians look for thi s
.
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holi ness an d godlines s ( v s .
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This te aching with regard to new heavens an d a n ew e arth
goes b ack to I sai ah And it i s a m aj or theme in the
Revelation to J ohn ( se e ch s 2 1 an d 22 ) as of other ap ocal yptic
.
Second Peter does not explain h ow Chri sti an s may further the
“ ” “
has teni ng of the coming of the day of God ( v s ”
But in .
,
”
of holine ss an d godline ss are the in s trument s whi ch God h as
is not sugges ted Nor is there anything morbid about the motive
.
thr oughout the Scrip t ures Of the O ld and New Te staments : that
God i s both Judge and S avior of m anki nd an d that man i s al
,
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He decl ares th at there are s ome things in P aul s letters whi ch are ’
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hard t o unders tand ( v s 1 6 ) — pre sum ably in the present con
.
,
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text a doctrine lik e P aul s glorious liberty Of the children Of
,
’
G od ( Rom
“
. Such a doctrin e s ays the author the i g
, ,
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n oran t an d unst able twis t to their own des tr uction ( converting
liberty into licentiousness ) an d it i s cle ar from P aul s own ’
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“
glory s tands alone as in Rom an s
”
an d Hebrews a