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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Heb_13:7-16
7Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefitted. 10We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. 15Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Heb_13:7 "Remember" This is a present active imperative. The implication is to pray for the leaders and honor them! This is a different, but similar, word from Heb_13:3. Believers need to be conscious of the need for praying for and honoring their leaders' loving service to the body of Christ (cf. Heb_13:3) and her leaders (cf. Heb_13:7; Heb_13:17; Heb_13:24; 1Th_5:12-13).
▣ "those who led you" Heb_13:17; Heb_13:24 deal with current leaders, so Heb_13:7 must refer to those leaders who first preached the gospel, but are now dead.
▣ "who spoke the word of God to you" This is the task of Christian leaders. They do not teach or preach their discoveries or personal/cultural preferences, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this we honor them, respect them, and pray for them.
▣ "considering the result of their conduct" This is a present active participle used as an imperative. These leaders, like those in the roll call of the faithful in chapter 11, remained faithful during life and until death. Their lives witnessed to the validity of their messages.
▣ "imitate their faith" This is a present middle (deponent) imperative. Our author is calling on his readers to mimic the faith of their leaders. Paul often encourages believers to imitate his faith (cf. 1Co_4:16; 1Co_11:1-2; Php_3:17; Php_4:9; 1Th_1:6; 2Th_3:7; 2Th_3:9).
Heb_13:8 "Jesus. . .same" The OT characters of chapter 11 were good examples; the former and current leaders were good examples; Christ is our supreme example. His character and faithfulness never change (cf. Psa_102:26-27, quoted in Heb_1:12). This same theological statement is made concerning YHWH in Mal_3:6. God's character and mercy are constant and, so too, are Jesus Christ's.
Heb_13:9 "Do not be carried away" This is a present passive imperative with a negative particle which usually means to stop an act already in process. Some of the hearers were contemplating "shrinking back" (cf. Heb_2:1; Heb_10:38). The passive voice implies the activity of Satan or the demonic.
▣ "by varied and strange teachings" Exactly what this involved is uncertain, but a similar combination of Jewish and pagan practices is condemned in Col_2:16-23.
It almost seems to me that parts of chapter 13 are a Pauline close added to a letter to a synagogue. Parts of this chapter (i.e., Heb_13:4-5) fit a mixed-church setting, not a synagogue.
NASB "for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace"
NKJV "For it is good that the heart be established by grace"
NRSV "for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace"
TEV "It is good to receive inner strength from God's grace"
NJB "it is better to rely on grace for inner strength"
This is a present passive infinitive. These hearers need to be firmly established, not on ritual, animal sacrifice or food laws, but on the undeserved, unmerited grace of God in Jesus Christ (i.e., the gospel, cf. Heb_13:7). They were vacillating between Moses and Jesus. Jesus, the unchanging Word of the Father, is far superior to the procedures and words of the first covenant.
Understanding God's unchanging character and love, so clearly expressed in the life, teaching, and death of Jesus (the gospel), is what gives believers encouragement. Believers' hearts and minds are strengthened through a knowledge of the gospel and a personal relationship with the Great Shepherd, not through external rituals and procedures (the old Mosaic covenant).
This author often addresses the spiritual issue of the "heart" (see Special Topic at Heb_3:8). He quotes several OT texts.
1. Heb_3:8; Heb_3:15; Heb_4:7, "do not harden your hearts" (Psa_95:8)
2. Heb_3:10, "go astray in their hearts" (Psa_95:10)
3. Heb_8:10, "write them upon their hearts" (Jer_31:33)
He then summarizes these truths in Heb_3:12; Heb_4:12; Heb_10:22. The heart represents the mental, emotional, and volitional aspects of mankind. Christianity deals with the internal needs of fallen humanity, whereas Judaism could not.
▣ "heart" See Special Topic at Heb_3:8.
▣ "not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefitted" This is an obvious reference to Leviticus 11. The food laws had passed away in Christ (cf. Mat_15:11; Mar_7:18-23; Acts 10; Col_2:16-23). They were no longer binding on believers for salvation (cf. Galatians 3; Acts 15), but in a church setting, believers were still to be conscious of "weaker brothers" (cf. Act_15:19-20; Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:6; 1 Corinthians 8; 1Co_10:23-33) and to try not to offend their weak consciences.
Heb_13:10 "We have an altar" The analogy seems to be a spiritual (heavenly) tabernacle, not a physical altar and, therefore, it refers to Jesus' sacrificial work on behalf of believers. It is a powerful metaphor of our access to God through Christ.
▣ "no right to eat" This is another allusion to Leviticus 16.
Heb_13:11 "as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp" This is another allusion to the procedures of Lev_16:27 — the Day of Atonement.
Heb_13:12 "Jesus. . .suffered outside the gate" This is a rabbinic word play as the OT sacrifices were taken outside of the camp, Jesus was taken outside the city of Jerusalem to be crucified.
Heb_13:13 "So, let us go out to Him" This is a key verse in the book. It is a present middle (deponent) subjunctive, which speaks of continuous action and adds an element of contingency (this is the final admonition and warning against "shrinking back"). Believers need to publicly identify with Him and bear His reproach regardless of the consequences. This is the clear call for these "sheltered" synagogue believers to move into the full light of Great Commission Christianity (cf. Mat_28:19-20; Act_1:8).
Heb_13:14 "the city" This is a metaphor for heaven using the Israelite capital of the Promised Land (cf. Heb_11:10; Heb_11:16; Heb_12:22; Joh_14:2). This same type of metaphor is seen in Heb_11:14, "a country."
Heb_13:15 "through Him" This refers to Jesus, mentioned by name in Heb_13:12, who sanctified His people by the sacrifice of His own blood outside the gate of Jerusalem. All spiritual benefits come through Him!
▣ "let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise" This is a present active subjunctive. The sacrificial system, given to Israel to promote fellowship with God by dealing with the sin problem, involved five types of sacrifices.
A. Two were mandatory
1. the "sin offering"
2. the "trespass or guilt" offering
B. Three were voluntary
1. wholly burnt offering
2. grain/meal offering
3. fellowship, or peace, offering
It is in connection with these last three that the concept of thanksgiving and praise are mentioned (cf. Lev_7:12). These sacrifices are described in detail in Leviticus 1-7. The Psalms mention this aspect of adoration often (cf. Psa_27:6; Psa_50:14; Psa_69:30; Psa_107:22; Psa_116:17). The phrase "sacrifice of praise" comes from the Septuagint (cf. Lev_7:2-3; Lev_7:5; 2Ch_29:31; 2Ch_33:16; Ps. 49:14,23; Psa_106:22).
▣ "the fruit of lips" This phrase reflects Isa_57:19 and Hos_14:3 from the Septuagint. Passages like this were used by the Israelites in exile to substitute verbal praise in place of animal sacrifices because the Temple had been totally destroyed in 586 b.c. by Nebuchadnezzar II, the neo-Babylonian king. It was destroyed again by Rome in a.d. 70. The date of the writing of this book is uncertain.
NASB "that give thanks to His name"
NKJV "giving thanks to His name"
NRSV "that confess his name"
TEV "that confess him as Lord"
NJB "those who acknowledge his name"
For believers our praise to God is our confession (homologço) of Jesus (using His name as in Mat_28:19-20 or Rom_10:9-13) as Lord (cf. TEV, which reflects Php_2:6-11).
Heb_13:16 "and do not neglect doing good" This is a present middle imperative with a negative particle, which usually means to stop an act in progress. God is pleased when His children love and help each other (cf. Php_4:18).
In a Jewish context this "good things" (koinônia) probably refers to almsgiving (cf. Mat_6:1), a weekly gift of money given by members of the synagogue to purchase food for the needy. The Jews considered this an act of righteousness.
▣ "sharing"
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▣ "for with such sacrifices God is pleased" Notice in Heb_13:15 the acceptable sacrifice was professed faith in Christ; now it is Christlike living. The gospel is surely both!