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Exhortation to Christians to hold fast to the promise which has been in such a manner assured to them
Heb_6:16-20
[Heb_6:16.— ÌÝí rendered as often in our Ep. in Eng. ver., verily; but always improperly. It is never a particle of emphasis but of concession, or simply where the two members are equally balanced, of contrast; to be sure, it is true, indeed.— ðÜóçò áὐôïῖò ἀíôéëïãßáò , of all gainsaying to them=of all their gainsaying; here not, strife as between equals or rivals, but contradiction, gainsaying, as of one who questions the assertion, or doubts the promise of another.— Åἰò âåâáßùóéí belongs apparently to ðÝñáò , not to ὃñêïò =a limit for confirmation, a limit or end designed for and producing confirmation.— Ὁ ὃñêïò , the oath—the article generic, that thing called oath.
Heb_6:17.— Ἐí ᾧ , In which matter=in which state of the case, viz., the confirmatory power of the oath; ᾦ neuter (with Bl., De W., Thol., Ebr., Lün., Del., etc.), not masc, agreeing with ὃñêῳ — âïõëüìåíïò , wishing, èÝëùí might be more properly rendered willing.— ἐðéäåῖîáé more than simply show ( äçëüù , öáíåñüù ) or even point out ( äåῖîáé ); rather exhibit, make an exhibition of. display; ἐðßäåéîéò , Greek rhetorical term for display, exhibition. The term thus carries with it an idea of more formality than is implied in the simple show.— ἐìåóßôåõóåí , hardly confirmed; rather, came between, to wit, Himself and His promise, interposed.
Heb_6:18.— ðáñÜêëçóéí , not here consolation (which the context disfavors), but encouragement, incitement, exhortation (so Del., Moll, Ermunterung, Alf., etc.).— êñáôῆóáé , to seize upon, to lay hold of, (Eng. ver., De W., Thol., Del., Alf., etc.), or with Moll, hold fast. If we render hold fast, it would seem more natural to connect it with ðáñÜêë . ἔ÷ùìåí (though Moll constructs it with êáôáöõãüíôåò ). If lay hold of it is more naturally, with most, constructed with êáôáöõã . fled for refuge to lay hold. In favor of lay hold is, as mentioned by Alf., the Aor. tense; to hold on to would seem to require the Pres. êñáôῖí . On the other hand the construction ðáñÜêë . ἔ÷ùìåí êñáô ., may have strong incitement to hold on to, would make a sentiment eminently in harmony with the context. But as êáôáöõã . is rather harshly left absolute, and êñáôῆóáé , Aor. can hardly be rendered hold fast, I think the rendering of the Eng. ver. preferable to any other, agreeing with Moll in the construction, but not in rendering êñáôῆóáé .
Heb_6:19.— Åßóåñ÷ïìÝíçí , ἀóöáëῆí ôå êáὶ âåâáßáí . I am strongly inclined to regard all these words as agreeing with ἣí , scil., ἐëðßäá , and not with ἄãêõñáí . The construction is perfectly easy and natural, and avoids the figure of the anchor entering, etc., which though we may, when it is once admitted, defend and even find beautiful, yet must be conceded to be at first view harsh and unnatural.— Åἰò ôὸ ἐóþôåñïí , into the part within=within.
Heb_6:20.— ὅðïõ , where, with åἰóῆëèåí , used pregnantly for ὃðïé , whither=whither He entered and where He remained.— ðñüäñïíïò , forerunner, placed emphatically at the beginning of the clause, Ἰçóïῦò , emphatically at its close— ὑðὲñ ἡìῶí , on behalf of us.— åἰóῆëèåí , entered, historical, not (as Eng. ver.), is entered.— ãåíüìåíïò , becoming, when He entered, not being made.—K.].
Heb_6:17. In which matter, etc.— Åí ῷ refers not to the oath (Vulg., Primas.), nor to the transaction between Abraham and God (Bez., etc.), but introduces the deduction drawn from Heb_6:16, and is=in accordance with which relation or circumstance, viz., that the oath is the highest means of confirmation, or, on account of which. Heb_6:18 shows that the “heirs of the promise” cannot be merely the pious of the Old Testament (Calv., Thol., etc.), while neither are we authorized (with Lün.) to restrict the language entirely to Christians. This latter restriction would annihilate the historical basis of the entire passage; while, in fact, the historical illustration forms the starting-point for a more expanded statement. Beza and others erroneously take ðåñéóóüôåñïí as = “over and above,” ex abundanti. For the point of the statement is not to affirm that God’s truthful word needs in itself no confirmation by an oath, but that God, in a condescending regard to the relations and usages of men, has given His promise in a more emphatic manner than by the mere assurance.
Heb_6:18. A strong incitement, etc.—The nature of the connection forbids our taking ðáñÜêëçóéò (with Luth. and most others, after the Vulg.) as = consolation. Êñáôῆóáé , as Inf. Aor. marks purpose, and is not = lay hold of, seize upon (De W., Thol., etc.), but hold fast. The readers have hope; what they lack is ðëçñïöïñßá . But this Infin. is not dependent on ðáñÜêëçóéí ἔ÷ùìåí , under which construction ïἱ êáôáöõãüíôåò , they that have fled for refuge, denotes the fugitives or secured ones, and is taken absolutely (Œc., Theoph., Grot., Bl., Lün.) as an independent idea, whether åἰò èåüí , be understood or not. The: ðñïêåéìÝíç ἐëðßò , is in that case the hope, lying, as it were, in readiness in the soul. If, on the contrary (with Primas., Erasm., Bez., Grot., De W., Ebr., Del., etc.), we make êñáôῆóáé dependent on êáôáöõã ., then êáôáöõãåῖí receives the undoubtedly legitimate meaning of profugere, and the ðñïêåéì . ἐëðßò , is the hope, objectively regarded, which belongs to and lies before Christians. If author and readers have already, as Christians, taken their refuge in the holding fast to this hope, they must receive a strong encouragement to this holding on from the sworn promises of God. In harmony also with the objective meaning of ἐëðßò , is the following clause, in which the author by uniting the two images of sea and temple, glides gracefully back to his main theme. The anchor, elsewhere unmentioned in Scripture, appears often in the classics and on ancient coins, as a symbol of hope. The several predicates—particularly the last one, “entering, etc.,”—intimate that the anchor is found not merely in the soul, but at the same time in heaven, and this too, not, as is commonly maintained, by the fact of the soul’s having thrown in thither its anchor of hope, but by the fact that Christ, as our high-priest, has preceded us thither; and the soul, although it as yet sees Him not, withdrawn as He is into the inner sanctuary, and His life hidden in God, yet in faith stands connected with Him, and by this connection attains, on the one hand, like the ship riding at anchor, to rest in this restless world, and on the other, to the possibility and the assurance of being itself drawn thither, where, holding it securely, its anchor already lies. For assuming a blending of the subjective and objective signification of ἐëðßò , there is no adequate reason; nor is ðñïêåéì . ἐëðßò = ἐëð . ôῶí ðñïêåéìÝíùí (Bl., De W., Thol.). Only we must guard against taking the objective ἐëðßò , in the sense of the res sperata (the thing hoped for); but take it in the same way in which we speak specifically of Christian faith.— Ὅðïõ , where, instead of ὀðïé , whither, implies the remaining at the attained goal, and ὑðὲñ ἡìῶí , is not to be connected with ðñüäñïìïò (as Heinr., Böhm., Thol., Ebr.), but with åἰóῆëèåí .
2. That which holds of the word of promise made to Abraham and confirmed by the oath of God, holds also of that word of promise in regard to the everlasting high-priesthood of Christ (Psa_110:4) which in like manner was accompanied by an oath, and which to us as Christians is specially important.
3. The admissibleness of the oath of promise, as well as that of asseveration, within the Christian world, is by this passage of Scripture assured beyond doubt, which in fact derives the strength of the exhortation from the two-fold assurance of the promise by God’s word and oath, and regards the latter as the authorized form of mediatorial interposition, which by appealing to God puts an end to gainsaying with regard to the matter in question, and is followed by a consequent âåâáßùóéò . “And the case stands thus; that our intention is accredited by the oath, but the oath itself is accredited by God; since so far from God’s being worthy of credit on account of His oath, the oath rather derives its credit from God.” (Philo). The idea that God may make Himself surety for man appears also in Job_17:3; Isa_38:14.
4. The substance of Christian hope is the inheritance of the promise; its goal is union with the exalted Christ; its foundation the word of God; its root is living faith. It forms thus, not merely an indispensable, but powerfully efficacious means for the maintenance of our connection with the unseen world, and for the attainment of the heavenly blessings which are promised to us.
5. “As the Aaronic high-priest, after he had, in the outer court, slain the heifer as a sin-offering for himself and his house, and then slain the goat as a sin-offering for the congregation, entered with the blood of the slaughtered victim into the typical holiest of all, so Jesus, after offering up Himself in sacrifice upon earth, and shedding on earth His own blood, has entered into the Heavenly holiest of all, in order thereby to accomplish, once for all, an expiation on our behalf, and there perpetually to represent us; but at the same time (Heb_10:19-21), in order to break the path, and to open the way, for us, who are eternally to be where He is. That He thus, in His entrance on our behalf, is at the same time our precursor, this it is which distinguishes Him from the legal high-priests of a community that was absolutely excluded from the inner sanctuary. And not only this: He is not merely high-priest, but also king; and He is a high-priest not merely for a season, but forever.” (Del.).
6. “What a firm anchoring-ground for hope is God’s eternal heaven, by which our Jesus is encompassed. Since after having suffered for us, He has also, on our behalf, been so highly exalted. We see Him not, since the place of God to which He has gone is hidden from our carnal eyes, and in so far, there is still a veil between us and Him. But the anchor of our hope, unrestrained by this limitation, reaches into those silent deeps of the spirit world into which He has withdrawn from our senses, and amidst the wild waves of life keeps our souls firm and tranquil.” (Del.).
Starke:—Believers can, with steadfast faith, be certain of eternal life.—The purposes of God are in part without condition, and are thus surely executed; but those which belong to the economy of salvation are under a certain condition established and bound to this economy.—The first attribute of faith, is, in the feeling of our deficiency in every good, and of our extreme need, to look around after Jesus, in order to seek from Him help and counsel. Its next attribute, is to lay hold of the blessedness that has been obtained through Christ, and to hold fast with manly strength and power to the blessedness once obtained, and on account of no threat or danger, come they as they may, timidly, to cast it away.—God deals with us as with a father’s spirit, since while He knows our weakness, to wit, that as with the aged Moses, both our arms speedily sink down, and become faint and weary, so He sustains with these two strong pillars, His unchangeable truth, and His priceless oath.—Word, faith and hope must stand together; the word lays the foundation; Faith builds thereon; and Hope expectantly stretches herself forth from time into eternity.
Rieger:—By keeping in view the oath of God in regard to His gracious promise, we are incited to follow on in faith and patience.—The Christian hope is a sure anchor, with which we cannot receive harm, and a firm one, as consisting entirely of God’s counsel at once firm and confirmed by an oath.
Heubner:—The hope of the Christian has a limitless reach. It reaches outwardly into eternity, inwardly into the sanctuary of God.—The surety of our hope is Christ. His entrance into the sanctuary is the pledge of our own future entrance into it.
Ahlfeld:—The ascension of Christ is the final pledge of our entrance into glory. 1. There is a hidden kingdom of glory. 2. Into this our hope casts its anchor. 3. Christ’s entrance therein renders this hope a certainty.
Footnotes:
Heb_6:16.— ÌÝí is wanting; in Sin. A. B. D*. 47, 53, [and is expunged by Lach., Bl., Lün.; but retained by Tisch., Del., Alf., but of course before they had the testimony of Sin. It seems on the whole not unnatural, and yet as the following clause is not added with a contrasted èåὸò äÝ , but rather as if filling out the thought, ( ἐí ᾦ ), I should prefer to follow the authorities that omit it.—K.].