HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  Hebrews 1

  God Has Spoken by His Son

  1Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,a whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustainsb all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

  The Son Is Superior to Angels

  5For to which of the angels did God ever say,

  “You are my Son;

  today I have begotten you”?

  Or again,

  “I will be his Father,

  and he will be my Son”?

  6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

  “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

  7Of the angels he says,

  “He makes his angels winds,

  and his servants flames of fire.”

  8But of the Son he says,

  “Your throne, O God, isc forever and ever,

  and the righteous scepter is the scepter of yourd kingdom.

  9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

  therefore God, your God, has anointed you

  with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

  10And,

  “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,

  and the heavens are the work of your hands;

  11they will perish, but you remain;

  they will all wear out like clothing;

  12like a cloak you will roll them up,

  and like clothinge they will be changed.

  But you are the same,

  and your years will never end.”

  13But to which of the angels has he ever said,

  “Sit at my right hand

  until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

  14Are not all angelsf spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

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  a Or the Son

  b Or bears along

  c Or God is your throne

  d Other ancient authorities read his

  e Other ancient authorities lack like clothing

  f Gk all of them

  1.1–4 An introduction, with elaborate rhetorical devices of assonance and alliteration, celebrates the Christian confession that the exalted Jesus is God’s eternal Son.

  1.1 Ancestors includes all the faithful men and women in biblical history, many of whom appear in ch. 11.

  1.2 For the widespread Christian belief that the faithful were living in the last days, see Mt 24.32–35; Mk 13.28–31; 1 Thess 4.13–18. Christ’s status as heir gives assurance to his followers and fellow heirs (1.14; 6.12, 17); see also Rom 8.17. That God created through Christ is affirmed in Jn 1.3; 1 Cor 8.6; Col 1.16. Worlds (see also 11.3), either this world and the world to come (2.5) or the multiplicity of heavenly realms through which Christ has ascended (4.14; 9.11).

  1.3 Divine Wisdom is also described as the reflection and image of God; see Wis 7.26. Purification from sin is the effect of Christ’s sacrificial death; see 9.14. The image of Christ seated at the right hand, from Ps 110.1, appears throughout Hebrews (1.13; 8.1; 10.12; 12.2) and in other references to Christ’s exaltation (Mt 22.44; Acts 2.34–35; Eph 1.20; 1 Pet 3.22). Majesty, a reverent way of referring to God; see 8.1.

  1.4 Christ’s special name, received at his exaltation, is mentioned in Phil 2.9–10. Here the name is probably “Son.”

  1.5–14 A series of scriptural verses, mostly from royal psalms, illustrate Christ’s lofty status; see also Eph 1.21; Col 1.16; 1 Pet 3.22. The verses may have been traditionally linked.

  1.5 Ps 2.7. Today, in the psalm the day of the king’s enthronement, when he was adopted, hence “begotten,” as God’s son; here either the day of Christ’s exaltation or God’s heavenly generation of the Son. The verse is cited again in 5.5. For God’s promise to be a Father to the son of David, see 2 Sam 7.14.

  1.6 Firstborn, here perhaps a messianic title; cf. Rom 8.29; Col 1.15, 18; Rev 1.5. The verse appears in Deut 32.43 in the Septuagint. Him, here the Son.

  1.7 Ps 104.4. The psalm portrays God as using natural elements, winds and flames, as messengers (Greek angelos). The author of Hebrews uses the verse to emphasize the transitoriness of the angels in contrast to the eternal Son (v. 8).

  1.8–9 Ps 45.6–7. As the alternative reading (text note a) suggests, the psalm may have assured the Israelite king that his reign was secure because God was his throne. The author of Hebrews understands the psalm to address the Son as God. The eternal throne, then, is where the anointed Son sits; see 4.16.

  1.10–12 Ps 102.25–27.

  1.13 Ps 110.1. V. 4 of this psalm, cited in 5.6, will form the basis for ch. 7.

  1.14 Salvation will occur when Christ comes again; see 9.28.

  Hebrews 2

  Warning to Pay Attention

  1Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, 4while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.

  Exaltation through Abasement

  5Now Goda did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6But someone has testified somewhere,

  “What are human beings that you are mindful of them,b

  or mortals, that you care for them?c

  7You have made them for a little while lowerd than the angels;

  you have crowned them with glory and honor,e

  8subjecting all things under their feet.”

  Now in subjecting all things to them, Godf left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lowerg than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of Godh he might taste death for everyone.

  10It was fitting that God,i for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.j For this reason Jesusk is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,l 12saying,

  “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,m

  in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

  13And again,

  “I will put my trust in him.”

  And again,

  “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

  14Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sistersn in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

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  a Gk he

  b Gk What is man that you are mindful of him?

  c Gk or the son of man that you care for him? In the Hebrew of Psalm 8.4-6 both man and son of man refer to all humankind

  d Or them only a little lower

  e Other ancient author
ities add and set them over the works of your hands

  f Gk he

  g Or who was made a little lower

  h Other ancient authorities read apart from God

  i Gk he

  j Gk are all of one

  k Gk he

  l Gk brothers

  m Gk brothers

  n Gk brothers

  2.1–4 The author interrupts the exposition of scripture to warn against neglecting the Son’s message; see also 3.12; 4.11; 6.4–8; 10.26–31; 12.16–17.

  2.4 For some spiritual gifts, see 1 Cor 12.4–11.

  2.5–18 The exposition continues with a new focus on the Son’s solidarity with all humanity.

  2.6a Someone. Similar vague allusions are found in first-century writers such as Philo; see also 4.4.

  2.6b–8 Ps 8.4–6 celebrates the lofty status of all human beings. The author of Hebrews reads the text as a prophetic account of the Son; see also 1 Cor 15.27. The preferred text is found in text notes f and g. All the plural pronouns here (them, their) are actually masculine singular (“him,” “his”) in the Greek; this facilitates a christological reading of the psalm.

  2.10 The title pioneer reappears in 12.2. On Jesus made perfect by suffering, see vv. 17–18; 5.8–10; 7.28; see also 10.14; 11.40; 12.2, 23.

  2.12 Ps 22.22.

  2.13 Isa 8.17–18.

  2.17 Later (4.15) the author excludes sin from the ways in which Christ became like human beings. High priest, a special title for Christ appearing here for the first time; see 3.1; 4.14–15; 5.5, 10; 6.20; 7.26–28; 8.1, 3; 9.11, 25.

  2.18 That Christ himself was tested makes him qualified to be a sympathetic intercessor and advocate for his people. Cf. 5.7–10; 6.19; 7.25.

  Hebrews 3

  Moses a Servant, Christ a Son

  1Therefore, brothers and sisters,a holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in allb God’sc house.” 3Yet Jesusd is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5Now Moses was faithful in all God’se house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. 6Christ, however, was faithful over God’sf house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firmg the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.

  Warning against Unbelief

  7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

  “Today, if you hear his voice,

  8do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

  as on the day of testing in the wilderness,

  9where your ancestors put me to the test,

  though they had seen my works 10for forty years.

  Therefore I was angry with that generation,

  and I said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts,

  and they have not known my ways.’

  11As in my anger I swore,

  ‘They will not enter my rest.’”

  12Take care, brothers and sisters,h that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said,

  “Today, if you hear his voice,

  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

  16Now who were they who heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses? 17But with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

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  a Gk brothers

  b Other ancient authorities lack all

  c Gk his

  d Gk this one

  e Gk his

  f Gk his

  g Other ancient authorities add to the end

  h Gk brothers

  3.1–6 A comparison between Jesus and Moses introduces the theme of fidelity, which continues to 4.13. It will reappear in ch. 11.

  3.1 Only here in the NT is the title apostle given to Jesus. It conveys the notion, prominent in John (4.34; 5.24, 30, 37; 6.38, 44; 7.16, 28; 8.16, 29; 12.44, 49), that Jesus was sent by the Father. Confession, the faith in God and Christ professed by the author and the audience; see 4.14; 10.23.

  3.2 That Moses was faithful derives from Num 12.7, cited again in v. 5.

  3.3 The description of Jesus as builder of God’s house alludes to Christ’s role in either creation (1.2) or redemption (2.12–13).

  3.5 Moses’ designation as servant derives from Num 12.7, where it served to exalt him; here it makes Moses inferior to the Son. For similar contrasts, see Jn 8.35; Gal 4.7. For Moses as an example of faith, see 11.23–28.

  3.6 We are his house. See also 1 Cor 3.16–17; 1 Tim 3.15; Heb 10.21; 1 Pet 2.5; 4.17. Confidence, elsewhere rendered boldness in confessing and living the faith; see 4.16; 10.19–24, 35. For appeals to retain hope, see 6.11, 18; 7.19; 10.23.

  3.7–4.11 A little sermon, interpreting elements of Ps 95, urges fidelity by pointing to the dire consequences of faithlessness.

  3.7–11 Ps 95.7–11.

  3.7 For the Holy Spirit speaking in scripture, see 9.8; 10.15.

  3.8 Rebellion, the Greek translation of the Hebrew place-name Meribah. Of testing translates the Hebrew place-name Massah. The author of Hebrews would thus have found the Septuagint particularly useful for his homiletic point. For both places, see Ex 17.7; Num 20.1–13; Deut 33.8.

  3.10 Forty years, in the original psalm, associated with the period of wrath mentioned in the following verse. Its association here with the period of testing of God by the Israelites of the desert generation highlights their rebelliousness.

  3.11 Rest, in the psalm the land of Canaan as Israel’s resting place. The author will find a deeper sense in the word in 4.1–11.

  3.12 The admonition to take care (see also 12.25) is common in the NT. For the danger of turning away, or apostasizing, see Num 14.9, which treats the desert generation, and Mt 24.10–12. A Greek wordplay links turning away (apostenai) and the unbelieving (apistias) heart. The traditional phrase living God (see, e.g., Deut 5.26) reappears in 9.14; 10.31; 12.22.

  3.14 Partners. See 3.1. The term translated confidence (hypostasis) is the same as that used in 1.3 for the very being of God. The author may be playing on different senses of the word, here calling the audience to hold on to the “reality” that Christ provides. Cf. the use of the same word in 11.1.

  3.16 See Num 14.22.

  3.17 See Num 14.33.

  3.18 See Num 14.43.

  Hebrews 4

  The Rest That God Promised

  1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.a 3For we who have believed enter that rest, just as Godb has said,

  “As in my anger I swore,

  ‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

  though his works were finished at the foundation of the world. 4For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he sets a certain day—“today”—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,

  “Today, if you hear his voice,

  do not harden your hearts.”

  8For if Joshua had given them
rest, Godc would not speak later about another day. 9So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; 10for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. 11Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.

  12Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

  Jesus the Great High Priest

  14Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been testedd as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.