COMMENTARIES AND SPECIAL STUDIES OF HEBREWS Archer, Gleason L., Jr. The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Study Manual. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1957. Barrett, C. K “The Eschatology of the Epistle to the Hebrews,” The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology (Hon. C. H. Dodd), edited by W. D. Davies and D. Daube. Cambridge: The University Press, 1956. Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Hebrews The New International Commentary. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964. Clark, Adam. Commentary and Notes. Volume 6. Nashville: Abingdon Press, no … [Read more...]

The following account of the Jewish observance of the Day of Atonement is that of Moses ben Maimon., a Jewish philosopher and codifier of the 12th century A.D. Maimonides (as he is often called) was born in Cordova, Spain on March 30, 1135, and he died in Cairo, Egypt, December 13, 1204. Maimonides set out to compile all the Jewish traditions of past centuries in an orderly form. His great work which emerged is known as the Mishneh Torah {Repetition of the Law) or the Yad Hahazakah (Strong Hand). “For systematic structure and logical presentation” the work “has no equal in Jewish … [Read more...]

We know that God will judge the world because He has raised Christ from the dead, and therefore all men should now repent. This is the teaching of Acts 17:30-31. But why does it follow from the resurrection of Christ that God will judge the world? Life and death go together, as do resurrection and judgment. If a man lives we expect him to die and if a man is raised his judgment is imminent. The pair resurrection/judgment is so intertwined that we may conceive of the time for resurrection and the time for judgment as a single brief period at the consummation of the age. This is also the … [Read more...]

. . . In connection with the term “sacrifice” we are inclined to think too narrowly of the slaying of the victim. To do so leaves out of account an act of co-equal if not of greater importance in the ritual. For this reason it is better to avail ourselves, as the author throughout does, of the verb (“to offer”) which, owing to the peculiar point of view from which it regards the transaction, is precisely adapted to call to mind that which follows the death of the sacrifice. Where the author refers to the offering of Christ, he by no means restricts the range of this act to what happened on … [Read more...]

It is a curious fact, but sadly significant, that modern Judaism should declare neither sacrifices nor a Levitical priesthood to belong to the essence of the Old Testament; that, in fact, they had been foreign elements imported into it — tolerated, indeed, by Moses, but against which the prophets earnestly protested and incessantly laboured. The only arguments by which this strange statement is supported are that the Book of Deuteronomy contains merely a brief summary, not a detailed repetition, of sacrificial ordinances, and that such passages as Isaiah 1:11ff; Micah 6:6ff inveigh against … [Read more...]

It need scarcely be said that everything connected with the priesthood was intended) to be symbolical and typical — the office itself, its functions, even its dress and outward support. The fundamental design of Israel itself was to be unto Jehovah “a kingdom of priests and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). This, however, could only be realized in “the fullness of time.” At the very outset there was the barrier of sin; and in order to gain admittance to the ranks of Israel, when “the sum of the children of Israel was taken after their number,” every man had to give the half-shekel, which in … [Read more...]

Our author has developed his case in twelve chapters. He has broken into his discussion periodically with urgent exhortations or earnest warnings. Now he has come to the end of his literary task, and he closes with specific words of practical import. Throughout the epistle he has spoken of God’s new-covenant people who have come into a relationship with Him based on the saving work of the Son. The admonitions of chapter thirteen are addressed to Christians as faith-pilgrims. Because they share the benefits of Christ’s work, they must encourage and tolerate and forgive each other. Some … [Read more...]

12:1. Wherefore here translates a compound Greek word composed of three lesser particles, each meaning “therefore” or “wherefore.” This very strong combination word occurs only one other time in the New Testament (I Thessalonians 4:8). Here the emphasis is in view of the great cloud of witnesses to whom our author has called attention in the last chapter and whose presence he now puts forward as strong inducement for the faithfulness of his readers. Cloud frequently stood for a great host in both secular Greek literature and in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 38:9, 16). The Greek word … [Read more...]

11:1. In this chapter our author will illustrate that faith which saves the soul by pointing to men and women from Jewish history who possessed it. He begins, however, with a statement concerning this saving faith, which some have called its definition. Faith is, on the one hand, the substance or confidence or courageous assurance (see the same word at 3:14) of things hoped for. This term expresses the sense well of the Hebrew word for faith used throughout the Old Testament. It is that confident and assured trust in God which enables one to endure with patience while moving toward the … [Read more...]

10:1. The law, standing here for the entire Old Testament economy, offered only a shadow of the good things which were to come in the Messianic era of fulfillment, an era which, with Christ, has already begun (see note at 9:11). It did not minister the very image of heavenly realities but mere types and shadows. The thought here is the same as at 8:2, 5; 9:1, although the words used are different. Since perfection belongs to the new order and not to the former, it is not surprising that worshippers under the old were not made perfect. That they were not is evident in the offering of the … [Read more...]