Lange Commentary - Hebrews 10:19 - 10:25

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Lange Commentary - Hebrews 10:19 - 10:25


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SECOND SECTION

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EXHORTATIONS, WARNINGS AND PROMISES, SUGGESTED BY THE PRECEDING DISCUSSION

I

A decided, steadfast and livingly attested adherence to the Christian faith in Christian fellowship is urgently enforced by a reference to the second coming

Heb_10:19-25

19Having therefore, brethren, boldness [confidence] to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath [om. hath] consecrated [initiated 21 ἐíåêáßíéóåí ] for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest [a great priest] over the house of God; 22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having [had] our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; and [having had] our bodies washed with pure water, 23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised; 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

[Heb_10:19.— ἔ÷ïíôåò ïὖí , having therefore, emphatic in position.— ðáῤῤçóßáí , confidence, boldness.— åἰò ôὴí åἴóïäïí ôῶí ἁãßùí , for our entrance into (lit., the entrance of) the sanctuary; E. Ver. “the holiest,” right as to the substantial idea, though incorrect as to expression.

Heb_10:20.— ἣí ἐíåêáßíéóåí ἠìῖí ὁäüí , which entrance he initiated for us, as away, etc.

Heb_10:21.— ὶåñÝá ìÝãáí not a high-priest, but a great, exalted priest.

Heb_10:22.— ñåñáíôéóìÝíïé , having been sprinkled, ëåëõìÝíïé , having been washed. These not parts of the exhortation, but conditions of it. The first clause to be connected with what precedes, the second with what follows.

Heb_10:23.— êáôÝ÷ùìåí , let us hold our confession of faith unwavering; ἀêëéíÞ without article attached predicatively to ὁìïëïãßáí .

Heb_10:25.— ôὴí ἐðéóõíáãùãὴí ἑáõôῶí , our own (synagogal) assemblage; the term being transferred from the synagogue to the Christian assemblies.— âëÝðåôå , ye behold.—K.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Heb_10:19.—Confidence to enter in, etc.—The ðáῤῥçóßá , of which Christians as such find themselves in possession, is in this passage also not freedom, or a rightful claim (Erasm., Grot., etc.), but the joyful and confident spirit, which is conscious and avails itself of its right, and of its freedom in its assertion. The words ἐí ôῷ áἵìáôé are not with Bl., Stier, etc., to be referred barely to åἵóïäïí , but to the whole clause; for the reference is not here, as Heb_9:25, to the high-priestly entrance of Jesus (Heinrichs), nor to our entrance made through the blood of Jesus, but to our ðáῤῥçóßá in respect to the entrance, which ðáῤῥçóßá has its ground and origin in the blood of Jesus, Eph_3:12. This entrance, which forms the gate-way to the holiest of all, is, in its nature, an ὁäὸò ðñüóöáôïò êáὶ æῶóá , and, as such, has been consecrated for our use by Jesus our ðñüäñïìïò , Heb_6:20, and our ἀñ÷çãüò , Heb_2:10. Ἤí is erroneously referred by Seb. Schmidt, Hammond, etc., to ðáῤῥçóßá . The epithet ðñüòöáôïò —newly slaughtered, now points to the fact that, previously non-existent, it has been originated by the sacrificial death of Jesus (Theodoret with the most), and not to its perpetual freshness (Ebr.). The term æῶóá , living, emphasizes its vital power and internal efficacy, (Hofm. Del.); not its end, as producing life, (De Wette), nor its imperishableness (Bl.), nor the character of those who walk upon it (Stier, Ebr., etc.). The author is speaking not of a subjective relation of Christians, but of an objective medium, which is figuratively designated, on the one hand, as an åἴéóïäïò , on the other as a ὁäüò , but by the added qualifying term is immediately withdrawn front the limitations of the imagery contained in the names to the sphere of the moral truths which the imagery represents. To this imagery belongs also the designation of the flesh of Jesus as a veil through which the new and living way leads into the holiest of all. The connection of äéὰ ôïῦ êáôáðåô . with ἐíåêáßíéóåí (Schlicht., Böhm., Hofm., Del.), would require äéÜ to be taken instrumentally; but the veil cannot be the means of consecration, or of the possibility of treading the way into the holiest of all; but requires to be done away, or rent asunder, in order to open an entrance for the church. We must, therefore, take äéÜ locally, and connect it with ὁäüí , understanding ïὖóáí or ἄãïõóáí . [So also Alford. And yet the immediate addition of óÜñî , flesh, to êáôáðÝôáóìá would seem to render it probable that the author had his mind quite as much on the instrumental use of äéÜ as the local. We enter through the veil locally, and through the flesh, i.e., Christ’s crucified body, instrumentally.—K.].

Heb_10:21.—A great priest over the house of God.—Klee, Klein and others, take the words ἱåñÝá ìÝãáí together as = high-priest. But the priest whom we Christians have, is, as He who sits enthroned at the right hand of God as rex sacerdotalis, styled a great priest, exalted above every other priesthood, Heb_4:14. By ïἶêïò ôïῦ èåïῦ Theophyl., Bl., De W., Lün., Riehm and others understand heaven, or the heavenly sanctuary; Theodoret, Œc., Calov, Este, Thol., Ebr. and others, the household of believers, the family of the children of God; while Del. would unite both conceptions. The former reference has in its favor the above-mentioned åἴóïäïò ôῶí ἁãßùí and the designation of Christ as ëåéôïõñãüò (Heb_8:2) of the heavenly sanctuary, (com. Heb_9:11) to whose permanent priestly function the writer makes frequent reference. [In favor of the other explanation is the writer’s use of ïἶêïò , Heb_3:2 ff., which is applied to the church founded by Moses, and to the New Testament church founded by Christ, but which is nowhere in the Epistle (unless here) applied to the Sanctuary. The latter meaning, too, is equally in harmony with the connection, and in fact more directly calculated to inspire the hope and confidence which the writer is now striving to awaken. The import of the phrase may be doubtful, but I incline to prefer the latter.—K.].

Heb_10:22.—Having had our hearts sprinkled, etc.—The writer has previously stated clearly the two great prerogatives enjoyed by Christians, which furnish not merely an objective possibility, but also the practical inducement and motive for approaching and drawing near to God. He now mentions first the subjective condition in which the ðñïóÝñ÷åóèáé can and must take place viz: that of a true heart åð ’ ἀëçèéíῆò êáñäßáò ( áְּìֵá ùָׁëֵí ) (Isa_38:3) ἐí ðëçñïöïñßᾳ ðßóôåùò , and then in a participial clause, their actual fitness for this. The sprinkling which reaches the heart, and the consequence of which is styled the doing away in us of an evil conscience —purification from guilt is, evidently sprinkling with the blood of Christ, Heb_9:14; Heb_12:24; 1Pe_1:2, whereby the expiatory offering up of His life is appropriated to the person, and He, as freed from the stain of sins, is enabled to appear in priestly service before God; as also the priests of the Old Covenant received, at their consecration, a like sprinkling with blood (Exo_29:21; Lev_8:30); nay, in the making of the Old Covenant, the whole people were sprinkled with the blood of the covenant sacrifice (Exo_24:8). We thus refer the language, not to sanctification (Beng., Menk., Stier), but to justification on the ground of a propitiation.

Heb_10:23.—And having had our bodies washed, etc.—Another form of Levitical cleansing and sanctifying was washing with pure water, which Aaron and his sons likewise had to submit to at their consecration (Exo_29:4): to which also the priests, as often as they went into the Sanctuary, submitted their hands and feet, from the brazen vessel or laver, before the entrance into the holy place (Exo_30:20 ff; Exo_40:20 ff.); but to which the high-priest, on the annual day of atonement, submitted his whole body, Lev_16:4. To this rite allusion is evidently made, and as shown by the word óῶìá , we are not, with Calv. and others to take the water according to Eze_36:25, as a symbol of the outpouring of the Spirit, or as indicating washing away of sins generally (Limb. Ebr., etc.), and least of all with direct reference to the blood of Christ, (Reuss). We must recognize expressly a reference to baptism, Eph_5:26 : Tit_3:5. For baptism forms the transition point from the objective system of salvation to its subjective appropriation through the grace which by virtue of the Divine arrangement it sacramentally imparts, and contains in itself the obligation to holiness on the part of the reconciled and justified, Rom_6:3 ff.; 1Pe_3:21; and also actually works the washing away of sin, Act_22:18; 1Co_6:11. Grammatically this clause forms the transition from the first to the second part of the exhortation, which would utterly lack connection, if the two participial clauses, were both of them referred either to the preceding ðñïóåñ÷þìåèá (Pesh., Primas., Luth., Bl., De W., Del., etc.), or to the following êáôÝ÷ùìåí , (Hofm.). In favor too of this connection of êáὶ ëåëïõ . with êáôÝ÷ùìåí (as held by Thol., Lün., etc.) is the fact that with baptism stands connected the ὁìïëïãßá , which may signify just as well the active confessing of the hope, as the passive profession, whose object is the Christian hope. The clause assigning the reasons for steadfastness reminds us of 1Co_1:19; 1Co_10:13; 1Th_5:24; 2Th_3:3.

Heb_10:24.—And let us give heed to one another, etc.—The third part of the exhortation, similarly adjoined by êáὶ , refers to the duty of love toward the members of the church, in special reference to their position at the time, while the first has to do with faith and the second with hope. The purpose of their mutual and watchful regard is a ðáñïîõóìüò , which, (while elsewhere in the New Testament, denoting stirring up and irritation in a bad sense Act_15:39; 1Co_13:5) here as sometimes in the classics, the following Gen. shows to be employed in a good sense.

Heb_10:25.—Not forsaking, etc.—The words apply neither to a neglect of duty toward the church (Bl.), nor to the forsaking of her when involved in peril, distress and need (Böhm!). For ἐðéóõíáãùãÞ never signifies the Christian body (Calv., Just., Bl., etc.) but only assembly, congregation (2Ma_2:7; 2Th_2:1), and it is only the ἑáõôῶí that restricts this to the readers, as a Christian and worshipping assembly (Chrys. and the most). The incidental clause ὡò ἔèïò ôéóßí shows that the withdrawal from the religious assemblages had with some already begun, yet that no “formal apostasy is meant, but only a neglect, marking an abatement of zeal at no wide remove from apostasy,” (Del.). The day of Christ’s re-appearing is called here as 1Co_3:13 simply “the day” ( ἡ ἡìÝñá ). The ὅóῳ is to be constructed not with ἐããßæïõóáí , but with âëÝðåôå = ὅóῳ ìᾶëëïí .

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Christians find themselves in possession of two important advantages, which not merely establish the possibility, but furnish a practical living inducement to draw near to God. These advantages are: 1, the joyful and confident boldness to make use of the entrance to the formerly closed, but now opened heavenly sanctuary; 2, the Priest over the house of God, exalted above every priesthood, Jesus Christ.

2. This boldness is found only within the sphere of the influence, and in the power of the blood, of Jesus Christ. For during the life of Jesus Christ on earth, His flesh had the same influence as the veil between the outer and inner sanctuary of the Temple. Full and unobstructed communion with God had in this a barrier which must first be overcome, but which was completely removed in the sacrificial death of Christ. Thus it becomes apparent also here that it is not the doctrine and example of Jesus that render possible our communion with God, but the death of the God-man, which, in its connection with atonement and propitiation, as indicated by the train of thought through the entire Epistle, can neither be the mere figurative representation of an idea, nor have a simply moral significance. Our way to God leads always through this rent veil of the flesh of Jesus Christ, which is the henceforth unveiled and ever open gateway to heaven.

3. Since Christ has gone into heaven, in order therein to remain, and there, as in the true sanctuary, on the ground of His completed work of redemption, to appear in the presence of God for us, the exercise of His Priestly office in mediation, intercession and blessing, takes place in the most perfect manner, and without interruption. It only remains now that we, as His ransomed Church, gather ourselves thither unto Him.

4. Before we are called to appear before God in eternity, we should so avail ourselves in time of the means of access to the heavenly sanctuary, that the characteristic marks of Christians, in faith, hope and love, shall be found in us. Faith gains its fulness from the sprinkling of the heart with the blood of Jesus Christ, whereby are produced the certainty of our reconciliation with God, and the experience of our justification. Hope, which expresses itself in holding fast our confession of specifically Christian faith, finds its warrant in the appropriation of the grace of baptism, and draws its nourishment from the promises of the one only reliable and faithful God. Love, whose rights and obligations lie in the needs and blessings of communion and fellowship, finds occasion, stimulus and strength for its exercise in participation in Christian worship, and has its living connection with faith and love in awaiting and preparing for the approaching day of the Lord’s return.

5. Since the ascension of Jesus Christ, the day which ends the circling round of days and merges time into eternity, is not merely apprehended by itself as in a sort of standing and perpetual proximity, but is expected by the disciples as approaching, with the conviction that every new morning may possibly be the last; and with the feeling that those who are called and are qualified to judge the signs of the times (Matthew 24) may by no means overlook the premonitory signs, occurring in history, of the coming of this decisive day of judgment and salvation.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The wishes, thoughts and ways of the Christian tend not merely into the earthly, but into the heavenly sanctuary.—Our drawing near to God: 1, in its basis and foundation; 2, in its means; 3, in its blessings.—The right use of the means of grace: 1, in their quality; 2, in their effects.—How we have to dispense the gifts of grace imparted to us beneficially to ourselves and to others.—Whereby we make every day a day of blessing.—We need not fear the final judgment, if we rightly improve the present time.—We must not merely expect the day of the Lord, but prepare ourselves for it.—How we overcome the perils of society by the blessings of Christian fellowship.—How we must recompense fidelity with fidelity.—The character of those who would come to God.—The connection of faith, hope and love in the life of the true Christian.—To the nature of the way opened to us into the heavenly sanctuary, should our walk in it correspond.

Starke:—A Christian must conduct with great thoroughness and gentleness his admonitions to his neighbor.—Faith in Christ is the way to God.—Christ is the great High-priest in respect: 1, to His person; 2, to His office; 3, to believers, of whom He is the Head.—Whoever would be great, and have what is great, must make choice of Jesus.—If the heart has rightly apprehended the grace of God, and believes that Christ is a living, gracious, kind and sweet Saviour, it also so uses that grace, and so feels the attraction of the love of the Lord Jesus, that it penetrates even to His gracious seat.—The way to heaven can be entered by him only who has a living faith in his Saviour, holds constantly to his confession of hope, and has a zeal that provokes to love and good works.—Neither doubter nor despairer can enter into the kingdom of God.—The faithfulness of God is above all faithfulness. God is faithful to fulfil what He has promised, and to guard what He has given. Should not this furnish to our faith and hope a double basis for a joyful confession?—One Christian must be guardian of another, and rebuke with words whatever runs counter to God and virtue.—Every one must look first to himself, and seek in all respects to make a certain advancement, and keep and increase what he has: but this same well regulated self-love he must also evince for his neighbor, on the ground of a common membership in the spiritual body of Jesus Christ.—Mere external contact with the worship of God fails indeed to secure salvation; but wilful contempt of it is the way to ruin and damnation.—The diligent contemplation of the displays of God’s punitive justice in death and the final judgment, may and should serve us as a perpetual discipline in godliness.

Rieger:—The pure water of baptism has drawn our body and its members into the service of the Lord, and also raised it to the dignity of a future resurrection. It is, therefore, a capital point in the hope that has been bestowed on us, and to which we must adhere, that even in our body which has wrung from us many sighs over sin and death, we shall yet be penetrated and pervaded by the salvation of God.—Love draws great quickening from hope; but by the exercise of love, hope again gains ever wider scope.—Without fervent zeal in ourselves, mutual admonition is of no account.

Hahn:—He in whom is the life of Christ, has also the entrance into the sanctuary.—By faith our spirit has, even in the present life, an entrance into the sanctuary; but God has, in baptism, also appropriated to himself our body as that in which the life of Christ is to be made manifest.

Heubner:—God ever vouchsafes to the believer the privilege of approach; is ever accessible, ever to be addressed.—Our hope itself, and more than this, our confession of hope also, we should ever hold fast.—How deeply have Christians to reflect on what has been bestowed on them with Christ and His death.

Tholuck:—How, in our own time, are we to consider the forsaking of the Christian assemblies? a, in its causes; b, in its consequences.

Menken:—That the way has been consecrated for us, indicates our right to walk in it; and also an obligation resting on us not to decline walking in it.—Not in the Spirit, not in His higher nature and dignity, not in so far as He was in the form and essential likeness of God, has the Son of God consecrated for men the living way into the holiest of all; but rather in so far as He has humbled himself to the form of a servant in our sinful flesh, and in the flesh has suffered and conquered.—From the signs of the times, from the rent veil, from the opened sanctuary, we see that the first grand division of our world’s history has past by, and in a sense and measure, such as never before, the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ draws near.

Gerok:—Of our sacred priestly obligations: 1, Priestly approach to the mercy seat; 2, the priestly sprinkling of our hearts; 3, the priestly holding fast to our confession of hope; 4, the priestly receiving of one another in love.

Footnotes:

Heb_10:22.—Cod. Sin. A. C. D*. write ñåñáíôéóìÝíïé .