---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"
author: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 843 of 927
url: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/843/
cite: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, section 843. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/843/"
---

# Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

*Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown*

The Victorian standard commentary, critical and practical, from Genesis to Revelation.

## 843. Hebrews · 18 of 27

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/843/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/843/#p-N

[¶0] 10. By--Greek, "In." So "in," and "through," occur in the same sentence, [1Pe 1:22], "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." Also, [1Pe 1:5], in the Greek. The "in (fulfilment of) which will" (compare the use of in, [Ep 1:6], "wherein [in which grace] He hath made us accepted, in the Beloved"), expresses the originating cause; "THROUGH the offering ... of Christ," the instrumental or mediatory cause. The whole work of redemption flows from "the will" of God the Father, as the First Cause, who decreed redemption from before the foundation of the world. The "will" here (boulema) is His absolute sovereign will. His "good will" (eudokia) is a particular aspect of it.

[¶1] are sanctified--once for all, and as our permanent state (so the Greek). It is the finished work of Christ in having sanctified us (that is, having translated us from a state of unholy alienation into a state of consecration to God, having "no more conscience of sin," [He 10:2]) once for all and permanently, not the process of gradual sanctification, which is here referred to.

[¶2] the body--"prepared" for Him by the Father ([He 10:5]). As the atonement, or reconciliation, is by the blood of Christ ([Le 17:11]), so our sanctification (consecration to God, holiness and eternal bliss) is by the body of Christ ([Col 1:22]). Alford quotes the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service, "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood."

[¶3] once for all--([He 7:27]; , 26, 28; , ).

[¶4] 11. And--a new point of contrast; the frequent repetition of the sacrifices.

[¶5] priest--The oldest manuscripts read, "high priest." Though he did not in person stand "daily" offering sacrifices, he did so by the subordinate priests of whom, as well as of all Israel, he was the representative head. So "daily" is applied to the high priests ([He 7:27]).

[¶6] standeth--the attitude of one ministering; in contrast to "sat down on the right hand of God," [He 10:12], said of Christ; the posture of one being ministered to as a king.

[¶7] which--Greek, "the which," that is, of such a kind as.

[¶8] take away--utterly; literally, "strip off all round." Legal sacrifices might, in part, produce the sense of forgiveness, yet scarcely even that (see on [He 10:4]); but entirely to strip off one's guilt they never could.

[¶9] 12. this man--emphatic ([He 3:3]).

[¶10] for ever--joined in English Version with "offered one sacrifice"; offered one sacrifice, the efficacy of which endures for ever; literally. "continuously," (compare [He 10:14]). "The offering of Christ, once for all made, will continue the one and only oblation for ever; no other will supersede it" [Bengel]. The mass, which professes to be the frequent repetition of one and the same sacrifice of Christ's body, is hence disproved. For not only is Christ's body one, but also His offering is one, and that inseparable from His suffering ([He 9:26]). The mass would be much the same as the Jewish sacrifices which Paul sets aside as abrogated, for they were anticipations of the one sacrifice, just as Rome makes masses continuations of it, in opposition to Paul's argument. A repetition would imply that the former once-for-all offering of the one sacrifice was imperfect, and so would be dishonoring to it ([He 10:2], ). [He 10:14], on the contrary, says, "He hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified." If Christ offered Himself at the last supper, then He offered Himself again on the cross, and there would be two offerings; but Paul says there was only one, once for all. Compare Note, see on [He 9:26]. English Version is favored by the usage in this Epistle, of putting the Greek "for ever" after that which it qualifies. Also, "one sacrifice for ever," stands in contrast to "the same sacrifices oftentimes" ([He 10:11]). Also, [1Co 15:25], , agrees with [He 10:12], , taken as English Version, not joining, as Alford does, "for ever" with "sat down," for Jesus is to give up the mediatorial throne "when all things shall be subdued unto Him," and not to sit on it for ever.

[¶11] 13. expecting--"waiting." Awaiting the execution of His Father's will, that all His foes should be subjected to Him. The Son waits till the Father shall "send Him forth to triumph over all His foes." He is now sitting at rest ([He 10:12]), invisibly reigning, and having His foes virtually, by right of His death, subject to Him. His present sitting on the unseen throne is a necessary preliminary to His coming forth to subject His foes openly. He shall then come forth to a visibly manifested kingdom and conquest over His foes. Thus He fulfils [Psa 110:1]. This agrees with [1Co 15:23-28]. He is, by His Spirit and His providence, now subjecting His foes to Him in part ([Psa 110:1-7]). The subjection of His foes fully shall be at His second advent, and from that time to the general judgment ([Re 19:1-20:15]); then comes the subjection of Himself as Head of the Church to the Father (the mediatorial economy ceasing when its end shall have been accomplished), that God may be all in all. Eastern conquerors used to tread on the necks of the vanquished, as Joshua did to the five kings. So Christ's total and absolute conquest at His coming is symbolized.

[¶12] be made his footstool--literally, "be placed (rendered) footstool of His feet."

[¶13] his enemies--Satan and Death, whose strength consists in "sin"; this being taken away ([He 10:12]), the power of the foes is taken away, and their destruction necessarily follows.

[¶14] 14. For--The sacrifice being "for ever" in its efficacy ([He 10:12]) needs no renewal.

[¶15] them that are sanctified--rather as Greek, "them that are being sanctified." The sanctification (consecration to God) of the elect ([1Pe 1:2]) believers is perfect in Christ once for all (see on [He 10:10]). (Contrast the law, [He 7:19]; ; ). The development of that sanctification is progressive.

[¶16] 15. The Greek, has "moreover," or "now."

[¶17] is a witness--of the truth which I am setting forth. The Father's witness is given [He 5:10]. The Son's, [He 10:5]. Now is added that of the Holy Spirit, called accordingly "the Spirit of grace," [He 10:29]. The testimony of all Three leads to the same conclusion ([He 10:18]).

[¶18] for after that he had said before--The conclusion to the sentence is in [He 10:17], "After He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them (with the house of Israel, [He 8:10]; here extended to the spiritual Israel) ... saith the Lord; I will put (literally, 'giving,' referring to the giving of the law; not now as then, giving into the hands, but giving) My laws into their hearts ('mind,' [He 8:10]) and in their minds ('hearts,' [He 8:10]); I will inscribe (so the Greek) them (here He omits the addition quoted in [He 8:10], , I will be to them a God ... and they shall not teach every man his neighbor ...), and (that is, after He had said the foregoing, He then adds) their sins ... will I remember no more." The great object of the quotation here is to prove that, there being in the Gospel covenant, "REMISSION of sins" ([He 10:17]), there is no more need of a sacrifice for sins. The object of the same quotation in [He 8:8-13] is to show that, there being a "NEW covenant," the old is antiquated.

[¶19] 18. where remission of these is--as there is under the Gospel covenant ([He 10:17]). "Here ends the finale ([He 10:1-18]) of the great tripartite arrangement (He 7:1-25; 7:26-9:12; 9:13-10:18) of the middle portion of the Epistle. Its great theme was Christ a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. What it is to be a high priest after the order of Melchisedec is set forth, [He 7:1-25], as contrasted with the Aaronic order. That Christ, however, as High Priest, is Aaron's antitype in the true holy place, by virtue of His self-sacrifice here on earth, and Mediator of a better covenant, whose essential character the old only typified, we learn, He 7:26-9:12. And that Christ's self-sacrifice, offered through the Eternal Spirit, is of everlasting power, as contrasted with the unavailing cycle of legal offerings, is established in the third part, [He 9:13-10:18]; the first half of this last portion [He 9:13-28], showing that both our present possession of salvation, and our future completion of it, are as certain to us as that He is with God, ruling as a Priest and reigning as a King, once more to appear, no more as a bearer of our sins, but in glory as a Judge. The second half, [He 10:1-18], reiterating the main position of the whole, the High Priesthood of Christ, grounded on His offering of Himself--its kingly character its eternal accomplishment of its end, confirmed by Psalms 40 and 110 and Jeremiah 31" [Delitzsch in Alford].

[¶20] 19. Here begins the third and last division of the Epistle; our duty now while waiting for the Lord's second advent. Resumption and expansion of the exhortation ([He 4:14-16]; compare [He 10:22], here) wherewith he closed the first part of the Epistle, preparatory to his great doctrinal argument, beginning at [He 7:1].

[¶21] boldness--"free confidence," grounded on the consciousness that our sins have been forgiven.

[¶22] to enter--literally, "as regards the entering."

[¶23] by--Greek, "in"; it is in the blood of Jesus that our boldness to enter is grounded. Compare [Ep 3:12], "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence." It is His having once for all entered as our Forerunner ([He 6:20]) and High Priest ([He 10:21]), making atonement for us with His blood, which is continually there ([He 12:24]) before God, that gives us confident access. No priestly caste now mediates between the sinner and his Judge. We may come boldly with loving confidence, not with slavish fear, directly through Christ, the only mediating Priest. The minister is not officially nearer God than the layman; nor can the latter serve God at a distance or by deputy, as the natural man would like. Each must come for himself, and all are accepted when they come by the new and living way opened by Christ. Thus all Christians are, in respect to access directly to God, virtually high priests ([Re 1:6]). They draw nigh in and through Christ, the only proper High Priest ([He 7:25]).

[¶24] 20. which, &c.--The antecedent in the Greek is "the entering"; not as English Version, "way." Translate, "which (entering) He has consecrated (not as though it were already existing, but has been the first to open, INAUGURATED as a new thing; see on [He 9:18], where the Greek is the same) for us (as) a new (Greek, 'recent'; recently opened, [Ro 16:25], ) and living way" (not like the lifeless way through the law offering of the blood of dead victims, but real, vital, and of perpetual efficacy, because the living and life-giving Saviour is that way. It is a living hope that we have, producing not dead, but living, works). Christ, the first-fruits of our nature, has ascended, and the rest is sanctified thereby. "Christ's ascension is our promotion; and whither the glory of the Head hath preceded, thither the hope of the body, too, is called" [Leo].

[¶25] the veil--As the veil had to be passed through in order to enter the holiest place, so the weak, human suffering flesh ([He 5:7]) of Christ's humanity (which veiled His God head) had to be passed through by Him in entering the heavenly holiest place for us; in putting off His rent flesh, the temple veil, its type, was simultaneously rent from top to bottom ([Mt 27:51]). Not His body, but His weak suffering flesh, was the veil; His body was the temple ([Joh 2:19]).

[¶26] 21. high priest--As a different Greek term (archiereus) is used always elsewhere in this Epistle for "high priest," translate as Greek here, "A Great Priest"; one who is at once King and "Priest on His throne" ([Zec 6:13]); a royal Priest, and a priestly King.

[¶27] house of God--the spiritual house, the Church, made up of believers, whose home is heaven, where Jesus now is ([He 12:22], ). Thus, by "the house of God," over which Jesus is, heaven is included in meaning, as well as the Church, whose home it is.

[¶28] 22. ([He 4:16]; .)

[¶29] with a true heart--without hypocrisy; "in truth, and with a perfect heart"; a heart thoroughly imbued with "the truth" ([He 10:26]).

[¶30] full assurance--([He 6:11]); with no doubt as to our acceptance when coming to God by the blood of Christ. As "faith" occurs here, so "hope," and "love," [He 10:23], .

[¶31] sprinkled from--that is, sprinkled so as to be cleansed from.

[¶32] evil conscience--a consciousness of guilt unatoned for, and uncleansed away ([He 10:2]; [He 9:9]). Both the hearts and the bodies are cleansed. The legal purifications were with blood of animal victims and with water, and could only cleanse the flesh ([He 9:13], ). Christ's blood purifies the heart and conscience. The Aaronic priest, in entering the holy place, washed with water ([He 9:19]) in the brazen laver. Believers, as priests to God, are once for all washed in BODY (as distinguished from "hearts") at baptism. As we have an immaterial, and a material nature, the cleansing of both is expressed by "hearts" and "body," the inner and the outer man; so the whole man, material and immaterial. The baptism of the body, however, is not the mere putting away of material filth, nor an act operating by intrinsic efficacy, but the sacramental seal, applied to the outer man, of a spiritual washing ([1Pe 3:21]). "Body" (not merely "flesh," the carnal part, as [2Co 7:1]) includes the whole material man, which needs cleansing, as being redeemed, as well as the soul. The body, once polluted with sin, is washed, so as to be fitted like Christ's holy body, and by His body, to be spiritually a pure and living offering. On the "pure water," the symbol of consecration and sanctification, compare [Joh 19:34]; [1Co 6:11]; [1Jo 5:6]; [Eze 36:25]. The perfects "having ... hearts sprinkled ... body (the Greek is singular) washed," imply a continuing state produced by a once-for-all accomplished act, namely, our justification by faith through Christ's blood, and consecration to God, sealed sacramentally by the baptism of our body.

[¶33] 23. ([He 3:6], ; .)

[¶34] profession--Greek, "confession."

[¶35] our faith--rather as Greek, "our hope"; which is indeed faith exercised as to the future inheritance. Hope rests on faith, and at the same time quickens faith, and is the ground of our bold confession ([1Pe 3:15]). Hope is similarly ([He 10:22]) connected with purification ([1Jo 3:3]).

[¶36] without wavering--without declension ([He 3:14]), "steadfast unto the end."

[¶37] he--God is faithful to His promises ([He 6:17], ; ; , ; [1Co 1:9]; ; [1Th 5:24]; [2Th 3:3]; see also Christ's promise, [Joh 12:26]); but man is too often unfaithful to his duties.

[¶38] 24. Here, as elsewhere, hope and love follow faith; the Pauline triad of Christian graces.

[¶39] consider--with the mind attentively fixed on "one another" (see on [He 3:1]), contemplating with continual consideration the characters and wants of our brethren, so as to render mutual help and counsel. Compare "consider," [Psa 41:1], and [He 12:15], "(All) looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God."

[¶40] to provoke--Greek, "with a view to provoking unto love," instead of provoking to hatred, as is too often the case.

[¶41] 25. assembling of ourselves together--The Greek, "episunagoge," is only found here and [2Th 2:1] (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His coming, [Mt 24:31]). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for Christian communion in private and public, is an earnest of our being gathered together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength; continual assemblings together beget and foster love, and give good opportunities for "provoking to good works," by "exhorting one another" ([He 3:13]). Ignatius says, "When ye frequently, and in numbers meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief is neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith." To neglect such assemblings together might end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term "sunagoge," as suggesting the Jewish synagogue meetings (compare [Re 2:9]).

[¶42] as the manner of some is--"manner," that is, habit, custom. This gentle expression proves he is not here as yet speaking of apostasy.

[¶43] the day approaching--This, the shortest designation of the day of the Lord's coming, occurs elsewhere only in [1Co 3:13]; a confirmation of the Pauline authorship of this Epistle. The Church being in all ages kept uncertain how soon Christ is coming, the day is, and has been, in each age, practically always near; whence, believers have been called on always to be watching for it as nigh at hand. The Hebrews were now living close upon One of those great types and foretastes of it, the destruction of Jerusalem ([Mt 24:1], 2), "the bloody and fiery dawn of the great day; that day is the day of days, the ending day of all days, the settling day of all days, the day of the promotion of time into eternity, the day which, for the Church, breaks through and breaks off the night of the present world" [Delitzsch in Alford].

[¶44] 26. Compare on this and following verses, [He 6:4], &c. There the warning was that if there be not diligence in progressing, a falling off will take place, and apostasy may ensue: here it is, that if there be lukewarmness in Christian communion, apostasy may ensue.