13 But to which of the

angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, un

til I make thine enemies thy footstool?

14 Are they not all mi

13 Προς τινα δε των αγ γελων ειρηκε ποτε Καπου εκ δεξιων μου, έως αν δω τους εχθρους σου ποδων σου;

ὑποποδιον των

14 Ουχι παντες εισι λει

nistring spirits, sent forth τουργικα πνευματα, εις δια

to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

κονιαν αποςελλόμενα δια τους μελλοντας κληρονομείν σωτηρίαν ;

2. But thou dost remain. Diμevus, dost remain continually. This word may be either the present of the Indicative, or the future, according as it is written with, or without the circumflex. In the common Greek copies it is written without the circumflex; for which reason our translators have rendered it, Thou remainest. But Peirce contends that it should be rendered, Thou shalt remain, because the other verbs in the verse are in the future tense.

Ver. 12.-1. And as an upper garment, or cloak. Beza thinks the word #epoxy signifies the covering of a tent, which, when the tent is to be moved to another place, is taken down and folded up.

2. And they shall be changed. The word αλλαγήσονται, signifies both to change and to exchange. Here the meaning is, that the present earth and its atmosphere, are to be exchanged for the new heavens and earth, of which St. Peter speaks, 2 Ep. iii. 10.

Ver. 13.-1. Sit thou at my right hand. Our Lord, Matth. xxii. 43. spake of it to the Pharisees as a thing certain, and allowed by all the Jewish doctors, that David wrote the CX. Psalm by inspiration of the Spirit concerning Christ. This passage therefore is rightly applied to Christ, by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews. See chap. v. 10. note.

2. Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. The eastern Princes used to tread on the necks of their vanquished enemies, in token of their utter subjection, Josh. x. 24. And some of the more haughty ones, in mounting their horses, used them as a footstool. This passage, there

THE

CHAPTER II,

View and Illustration.

HE foregoing display of the greatness of the Son of God being designed, not only to give the objections of the Jews their full force, but to make mankind sensible of the obligation they are under to obey Jesus, and to hearken to his apostles, the writer of this epistle very properly begins his second chapter with an exhortation to the Hebrews, to pay the utmost attention to the things which they had heard from Jesus and his apostles,

13 (At, 104.) Moreover, to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit thou at my right hand1 till I make thine enemies the footstool2 of thy feet?

14 Are they not all ministring spirits,1 sent forth to minister for them who shall inherit salvation?

13 Moreover, none of the angels have any proper dominion over the world. For, to which of the angels did God at any time say, as he said to his Son in the human nature, Ps. cx. 1. Sit thou at my right hand; reign thou over the universe; till I utterly subject all thine enemies to thee?

14 Instead of exercising sovereign dominion, Are not all the angels called, Ps. civ. 4. ministring spirits, subject to the Son, (ver. 6.) and by him sitting at God's right hand, (ver. 13.) sent forth to minister for them, who shall inherit immortality as the sons of God?

fore, is a prediction of the entire conquest of evil angels and wicked men, Christ's enemies.

Ver. 14.—1. Are they not all ministring spirits? This is said, perhaps in allusion to the Hebrew name of angels, which properly signifies, Messengers.—The word all here is emphatical, denoting that even the highest orders of angels, Dominions, Thrones, Principalities, and Powers, (Philip. ii. 10. Eph. i. 2k 1 Pet. iii. 22.) bow the knee, and are subject to Jesus; ministring in the affairs of the world according to his direction. But, although the scriptures speak of all the angels as thus ministring, the word all, does not imply, that every individual angel is actually employed in ministring for the heirs of salvation, but that every one of them is subject to be so employed.

2. Sent forth to minister (dia) for them who shall inherit salvation. The apostle does not say minister to, but for them, &c. The angels are ministers who belong to Christ, not to men, though employed by him for the benefit of men. Wherefore, this passage affords no ground for believing that every heir of salvation has a guardian angel assigned to him.-Of the ministry of angels for the benefit of the heirs of salvation, we have many ex. amples, both in the Old and in the New Testament.

ver. 1.—For, says he, if our fathers, who disobeyed the command to enter into Canaan which God spake to them by angels, were justly punished with death, ver. 2.-how can we hope to escape eternal death, if we neglect the great salvation from sin and misery, together with the possession of heaven? which was first preached to us by the Lord himself, and which was afterwards confirmed to us by his apostles and ministers, who heard him preach and promise that salvation, ver. 3.—and whose testimony ought to be credited, since God bare witness with them, by the miracles which he enabled them to perform, and by the gifts of

the Holy Ghost which he distributed to them, ver. 4.-But lest the Hebrews might despise the gospel, because it was not preached to them by angels, the apostle told them, that God had not employed angels to lead believers into the future heavenly world, the possession of which is the great salvation whereof he spake. By this observation he insinuated, that the tidings of the great salvation, were not to be disregarded because they were preached to them by men, and not by angels, since these men were commissioned by Christ and attested by God, ver. 5.

The Hebrews being thus prepared for listening with attention to the apostle, he proceeded to answer the different objections urged by the doctors against our Lord's pretensions to be the Son of God. These objections, it is true, he hath not formally stated, because they were in every one's mouth; but from the nature of the things which he hath written, it is easy to see what they were. The first objection was taken from our Lord's being a man. This, in the opinion of the Jews, was sufficient to overthrow his claim altogether; because for a man to call himself the Son of God, was so contrary to every idea they had formed of the Son of God, that even the common people thought it a blasphemy, which deserved to be punished with death. John x. 33. For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because thou being a man, makest thyself God. See also John v. 18. and 1 John v. 5. note. In this prejudice the people were confirmed, by the sentence of the chief priest, elders, and scribes, who after a solemn trial, pronounced Jesus guilty of blasphemy, and condemned him to death, because he called himself the Christ, the Son of the blessed God; Mark xiv. 61. A sentence for which there was no foundation, since in their own scriptures it was expressly and repeatedly declared, that the Christ, was to be the Son, both of Abraham and of David. But the doctors, it seems, understood this in a metaphorical sense. For, when Jesus asked the scribes, how the Christ could be both David's Son and David's Lord, they were not able to answer him a word: being ignorant that the Christ was really to become man, by descending from Abraham and David, according to the flesh.

A second objection raised against our Lord's being the Son of God and King of Israel, was taken from his mean condition; from his never having possessed any temporal dominion; and from his having been put to death. These things they thought incompatible with the greatness of the Son of God, and with his glory as the Christ, or king universal, described in their sacred writings. And therefore, when Jesus mentioned his being lifted up, the people objected John xii. 34. We have heard out of the

law, that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? Their notions concerning the temporal dominion of the Christ, and his abiding on earth for ever, the doctors founded on Dan. ii. 44. where the empire of the Christ was foretold, under the idea of a kingdom which the God of heaven was to set up, and which was never to be destroyed ;—but which should break in pieces and consume all kingdoms. Also on Dan. vii. 13, 14. Where one like the Son of man, is represented as coming in the clouds of heaven, and receiving dominion, and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. Likewise in other passages, the kingdom and victories of the Christ, are described by ideas and expressions taken from the kings and kingdoms of this world: And, the Christ himself is called God's king, whom he would set on his holy hill of Zion: And, Messiah, or Christ, the Prince. These things led the Jews to fancy, that the Christ was to be a great temporal prince, who would set the Jews free from foreign tyranny, and subject all nations to their dominion; that Jerusalem was to be the seat of this universal empire: and that every individual Jew would have some share in the administration of it.

and disclaimed all temporal dominion, and lived in the greatest privacy, subject to poverty, persecution and death, they derided his pretensions to be the Christ, Mark xv. 31. The chief priests mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save. 32. Let Christ the king of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. These learned men were ignorant that the kingdom of the Christ is not of this world; that it is established, not by force, but by the power of persuasion, Ps. cx. 3. that it has for its object, the destruction of sin and of all its abettors, and the establishment of righteousness in the earth; that the victories by which these grand events are brought to pass, are all of a spiritual kind; and that the greatness of the Christ consists in ruling, not the bodies but the spirits of men, by drawing their affections and influencing their wills. And, as the Jews had no conception of these things, so neither did they know that the felicity which the subjects of the Christ are to enjoy, is not of this world, but of the heavenly country which was promised to Abraham and to his seed by faith.

The ideas which the Jews had formed of the Christ, and of his kingdom, being founded in ignorance of their own scriptures, though pretended to be derived from that source, it became necessary by clear testimonies out of these very scriptures, to prove, That, from the beginning, God determined to

send his Son into the world clothed with flesh, so as to be the Son of man as well as the Son of God; That he was to possess no worldly dominion while on earth, but to be subject to all the evils incident to men, and at length to be killed; after which he was to arise from the dead, and in the human nature to be invested with the government of the world, for the purpose of destroying all the enemies of God, and of putting the righteous in possession of the kingdom promised to the saints of the Most High: I say it was necessary to prove all these things by clear testimonies from the Jewish scriptures; because no other proofs would be regarded by the unbelieving Hebrews.

With this view therefore, the apostle quoted Ps. viii. 4. where it is foretold, that God would make his Son for a little while less than angels, by sending him into our world made flesh, and subject to death; after which he would crown him with glory and honour, by raising him from the dead, and placing him in the human nature over the works of his hands, ver. 6, 7.—and by subjecting all things under his feet. On this the apostle remarks, that we do not yet see all things subdued by him, and put under him, ver. 8.-But we have seen Jesus for a little while made less than angels, that by the grace of God he might taste death for every man; and for the suffering of death, be crowned with glory and honour, by his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, his sitting at the right hand of God, and his sending down the gifts of his Spirit upon men. This certainly is evidence sufficient, that all enemies shall at length be put under his feet. No just objection therefore lies against Jesus as the Christ, for his having had no temporal kingdom, ver. 9.-Next, by informing us, that the Son was made flesh that he might die for every man, the apostle hath removed the offence occasioned by the death of the Son of God. His death was necessary for procuring pardon to them who believe: And this appointment, the apostle tells us, is to be resolved into the sovereign will of God, because it belonged to him who is offended by the sins of men, to prescribe the terms on which he will pardon them. And therefore, when he determined in bringing many sons into glory, to make the Captain of their salvation a perfect, or effectual Captain, through suffering death, he only exercised the right which belonged to him, ver. 10.—Then to shew more fully, that God determined to send his Son into the world made flesh, the apostle subjoins more quotations from the scriptures, in which the Christ is spoken of as a man, ver. 11.-13.

A third objection to our Lord's claim, was taken from his /being born of a woman in the weak helpless state of an infant.