Hebrews

2:10-18

The Arguments, 2:10-12:29

1. Christ is a faithful and merciful high priest, 2:10-5:10

i] The Son of Man, saviour and high priest

The writer to the Hebrews opens his letter with a profound truth: Jesus Christ is the final revelation of God to mankind, 1:1-2:18. In the passage before us, 2:10-18, we read of Jesus, the Son of Man, the Saviour and High Priest of his people. Jesus is the perfect man who has made atonement for us, finally and completely.

Having stated his proposition, namely that Christ, our Great High Priest, was glorified through suffering and in him we are glorified, 2:5-9. the writer to the Hebrews sets out to establish the proposition in three major arguments. The first, Christ is a faithful and merciful high priest, 2:10-5:10, "explores the meaning of Christ's suffering", Koester. In the first point of this first argument, 2:10-18, our writer "announces that God brings people to glory through the work of the heroic Pioneer of their Salvation." It is he who "liberates them from fear and death and through the merciful and faithful high priest, makes atonement on their behalf", Koester.

gar "-" - for. Here explanatory, setting out to explain the proposition, v5-9. Probably best left untranslated, as NIV.

agagonta (agw) aor. part. "in bringing" - having brought, led. The participle forms a noun clause, "having led many sons to glory", which serves as the subject of the verb "is fitting." In the Gk. "it was fitting for him", the "him" is taken by the NIV etc. to refer to God, but it could refer to "the author of their salvation", namely Christ, "the one who has begun to show many sons the way to glory."

eprepen (erepw) imperf. "it was fitting" - "[having led many sons to glory] was right [for him]. What God did was "appropriate", not what was necessary, as if bound to do it. The NIV treats Christ's suffering as that which is appropriate, "seemly", but it well may be that what is "fitting" is "bringing many sons to glory", which of course is "right"; "God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering", CEV; "God did what he needed to do", NCV.

dia + acc. / gen. "for [whom and] through [whom]" - because of, on account of [whom all things (exist)] through, by means of [whom all things (exist)]. The double pronged use of this preposition serves to state two truths: first, expressing the cause/reason for the existence of creation, namely the sovereign act of God/Christ, so NIV "for", and second, the means of its creation, possibly "by", in the sense of "means by which", namely a divine act of God. There is an overlap in meaning so the writer may just be emphasizing the idea that the creation has a divine purpose, that purpose being the perfecting (in the sense of completing) of Christ through suffering. "Who created all things for his own purpose(s)", TNT.

ton archgon (oV) "the author [of their salvation]" - founder. "Pioneer", NRSV; "Pathfinder", Bruce.

teleiwsai (teleiow) aor. inf. "should make ...... perfect" - to complete, perfect, qualify. Possibly forming a purpose clause, "in order to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering." Christ was made fully adequate for his eternal reign, and this through suffering; "crown with suffering", Knox.

oJ ... aJgiazwn (aJagiazw) pres. part. "the one who makes men holy" - the one who sactifies. As with the passive participle "those who are made holy", the participle here functions as a substantive. "Sanctify", in the sense of set apart for divine use and thus make holy. Hebrews views humanity as defiled by sin and in need of cleansing / purification, which cleansing is effected by the sacrificial blood of Christ, thus enabling the person to be set aside for divine use.

ex enoV panteV "are of the same family" - from one all. Either: "have the same Father (God)", TEV, or the same origin in Adam (possibly Abraham), "are all one stock", NEB.

di hJn aitian "so" - because of, on account of this reason/cause. "Because of which", Caudill.

ouk epaiscunetai (epaiscunomai) pres. "is not ashamed" - Jesus does not take the view that his authority and status is lessoned by classing believers as brothers.

kalein (kalew) pres. inf. "to call [them brothers]" - The infinitive forms an object clause / dependent statement, expressing what Jesus was not ashamed of.

A quotation from Psalm 22:22. The first of three quotes from the Old Testament supporting the contention that believers are Christ's brothers.

legwn pres. part. "he says" - saying. The participle is adverbial, eg. "he is not ashamed to call them brothers when he says / because the scripture/psalmist/the Lord says: ..."

en mesw/ ekklhsiaV "in the presence of the congregation" - in midst of congregation. "Assembly" is used of a local congregation, or the heavenly assemply of believers, past, present and future; "when the believers gather for worship I will praise you", TH.

egw "I" - The position is emphatic.

pepoiqwV (peiqw) perf. part. + fut. verb to-be "I will put [my trust in him]" - I will put [my confidence upon him]. A periphrastic future, ie. a simple verb expressed in a roundabout way, possibly serving to emphasize durative aspect - ongoing belief.

epi "on" - upon. "I will lean my weight upon God", TH.

ta paidia "the children" - Meaning, the remnant children of Israel, therefore "believers".

epei oun "since" - because therefore. Drawing a logical conclusion.

kekoinwnhken (koinwnew) perf. part. "have [flesh and blood]" - had a share in. The perfect expresses a condition with ongoing consequences.

paraplhsiwV adv. "[he] too" - likewise, in like manner. "In exactly the same way", Barclay.

metescen (metecw) aor. "he [too] shared" - had a part in. Aorist may indicate an allusion to the incarnation, "he himself participated in their nature", Moffatt.

twn autwn gen. pro. "in their humanity" - the same things. The genitive is adjectival, possessive; "he too shared ours (ie. our humanity)", NEB.

iJna + subj. "so that ..... [he might destroy]" - Forming a final clause expressing purpose, so NIV etc.

dia + gen. "by [his death]" - through, by means of [death]. Instrumental. "His" is assumed, "through death", NEB, NRSV...

tout estin "that is" - "That is to say", Zerwick.

apallaxh/ (apallassw) aor. subj. "free [those]" - he might set free, liberate [these ones]. Possibly forming a second part to the purpose clause introduced in v14, "so that by his death ..... and also (so that) he might free those ....", "and might also set free", Phillips. Yet, the verb here may serve to form a consecutive clause expressing result; "and in this way set free those ...", TEV.

oJsoi pro. "who" - as many as.

dia + gen. "-" - though, by means of.

tou zhn (zaw) pres. inf. "their lives" - the living. The articular infinitive here functions as a substantive, the article serving to identify the intended case of the infinitive and so define the instrumental function of the preposition dia; "through / by means of all [their sinful] living were subject to slavery." The interesting feature is that the attributive adjective pantoV, "all", agrees with the substantive infinitive, a syntactical rarity, cf. BDF#398.

enocoi hsan douleiaV "held in slavery" - were being subjected to slavery. Probably best handled in a figurative way, "lived their whole lives a prey to the fear of death", Phillips. Interestingly, slavery is used of slaves to the law, sin/guilt, ignorance/self and death/Hades, but our writer identifies the slavery to fear and promises freedom from it. If, in the victory of Christ, we are liberated from annihilation, separation from God, then we have nothing to fear in death.

fobw/ (oV) dat. "by their fear [of death]" - by fear [of death]. The dative is instrumental, as NIV, and the genitive "of death" is adjectival, limiting "fear".

gar "for" - Expressing cause/reason, here reason / explanatory.

dhpou adv. "surely" - of course, certainly, surely. It goes without saying, "after all", Knox.

epilambanetai (epilambanomai) pres. "he helps" - he takes hold of / he takes interest in, assists, helps, cares for. This verb takes a genitive of direct object, so aggelwn, "angels" is genitive, "he does not take an interest in angels". So also "seed of Abraham." The sense "takes hold", "takes to himself", NEB, is the traditional translation, a translation that rests on the idea that Jesus took on human nature when he become a man; "it is plain that for this purpose he did not become an angel; he became a man, in actual fact a descendent of Abraham", Phillips. The sense "helps", TEV, is more widely accepted today. Jesus did not "make himself the angel's champion", Knox.

oJqen "for this reason" - therefore, for which reason, hence, this being so. "Wherefore", AV.

wfeilen (ofeilw) imperf. "he had" - he/it must, was obligated = it was necessary.

oJmoiwqhnai (oJmoiow) aor. pas. inf. "to be made like" - to become like. The infinitive probably forms a substantival phrase, subject of the verb "it was necessary"; "to be make like his brothers in every way was necessary."

kata panta "in every way" - in every respect.

iJna + subj. "in order that [he might become]" - that [he might become]. This construction serves to form a final (purpose) clause. "In order to be their merciful and faithful (to God) high priest", TEV.

ta proV ton qeon "in service to God" - the things to God. "The things toward God", "matters pertaining to God", Attridge, is the literal sense, but is somewhat unclear. Jesus is a high priest whose service to God reflects the divine, particularly in his mercy and faithfulness; he is a "merciful and faithful high priest in all things divine", Moffatt.

eiV to iJlaskesqai (iJleskomai) inf. "that he might make atonement" - to make atonement for. The preposition with the articular infinitive serves to form a purpose clause; Christ's priestly service, in the offering of his own self, is performed "so that" he might........" The meaning of this verb is open to some debate. It can be taken to mean "to be merciful", and thus used here of "sins forgiven, wiped away, blotted out"; "so that the people's sin would be forgiven", TEV. The debate tends to focus on the verb meaning either, "expiation" (make amends for sin) or "propitiation" (turn aside the righteous judgment of God with respect to sin, ie. from the sinner to the sacrifice, namely from the sinner to Christ). Christ's high priestly service either served to "expiate the sins of the people", NEB, "so as to atone for the sins of the people", Caudill, or "make propitiation for the sins of the people", Bruce.

gar "because" - for. Expressing cause/reason.

en w|/ "because" - The preposition here, followed by a dative pronoun (usually the article tw/), would properly form an adverbial clause of time (temporal), but here more likely circumstiantial, "given that / whereas", or even better, causal "because", as NIV.

peponqen (pascw) perf. "he [himself] suffered" - he has suffered. The perfect tense serves to convey the thought of a past act with an ongoing effect.

peirasqeiV (peirazw) perf. pas. part. "when he was tempted" - having been tested, tried, tempted (put to the test by Satan). The participle is obviously adverbial. the NIV takes it as forming a temporal clause, but there are other possibilities, eg. means (instrumental), "it is as he suffered by his temptations", Moffatt, even possibly attendant circumstance identifying action accompanying the verb "suffered", "he himself felt the pain of temptation and suffering", Weymouth. The "test" is not the wilderness temptation, but rather the "test" of the cross. When seemingly abandoned by God, would Jesus curse God? "For since he himself has passed through the test of suffering", NEB.

bohqhsai (bohqew) aor. inf. "[he is able] to help" - The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "he is able."

toiV peirazomenoiV (peirazw) pres. pas. part. "those who are being tempted" - the ones being tempted, tested, tried. The participle functions as a substantive.

Hebrews Introduction

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