ΠΡΟΣ ΕΒΡΑΙΟΥΣ. Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ Θεὸς Ι. 1 The I. I. Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως] The opening of the Epistle is characteristic of the whole. (1) It is a homily rather than a letter. Only in the closing verses does it adopt the epistolary style. (2) It is an anonymous composition; thus leaving entirely open the question of its authorship. It is no forgery, whoever be the writer. question is altogether different from that of the genuineness (for example) of the 2nd Epistle of St Peter, where the name is incorporated in the composition. (3) Yet the author was known as such to the readers. This, implied throughout, is asserted at the close. (4) The style is oratorical, marked by artistic inversion and antithesis. Πολυμερώς] In many parts or portions (Rev. xvi. 19, τρία μέρη. John xix. 23, τέσσαρα μέρη. Neh. xi. I, ἐννέα μέρη). Wisdom vii. 22, ἔστι γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ πνεύμα ... μονογενές, πολυμερές, κ.τ.λ., where the English Version renders it manifold. The prophetic revelations were made in V. Η. portions, like the λόγιον Κυρίου of Isai. xxviii. 13, ἔτι μικρόν, ἔτι μικρόν. The Gospel is one and indivisible, like the χιτών ἄῤῥαφος, ὑφαντὸς δι' ὅλου (John xix. 23), because it is the revelation of God in a Person. πολυτρόπως] Ιn many ways or modes. 4 Macc. iii. 21, πολυτρόποις (Α, πολυτρόπως Β) ἐχρή σαντο συμφοραῖς. It is the opposite of μονότροπος, uniform, sim ple; and is found in combination with such words as ποικίλος and περιττός, in the sense of versatile, multifarious, &c. The revelations of God to the prophet were various in the manner of their communication (r) to him, as well as (2) by him. (r) Num. xii. 68: ἐὰν γένηται προφήτης ὑμῶν Κυρίῳ, ἐν δράματι αὐτῷ γνωσθήσομαι, καὶ ἐν ὕπνῳ λαλήσω αὐτῷ, οὐχ οὕτως ὁ θεράπων μου Μωυσῆς...στόμα κατὰ στόμα λαλήσω αὐτῷ ἐν εἴδει καὶ οὐ δι' αἰνιγμάτων, καὶ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου εἶδε κ.τ.λ. (2) Compare the typical acts of Ezekiel or Hosea with the visions of Zechariah and the evangelical predictions of Isaiah. The Gospel is of one B 2 λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις ἐπ ̓ mode and form, because in it God reveals Himself ἐν υἱῷ. πάλαι] A somewhat rare word in Scripture. The only appropriate reference is Jude 4, where, as here, it is applied to Scripture utterances. In 2 Cor. iii. 14 we have τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης, and in connexion with its ἀνάγνωσις. λαλήσας] Παving spoken. The aorist sums up the whole series of patriarchal, Mosaic, and prophetic revelations in a single past act. The word λαλεῖν is used (as here) of God's utterances in Luke i. 55, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν. John ix. 29, ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι Μωυσεί λελάληκεν ὁ Θεός. Acts iii. 21, ὧν ἐλάλησεν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ στόματος τῶν προφητῶν. vii. 44, καθὼς διετάξατο ὁ λαλῶν τῷ Μωυσῇ. I Cor. xiv. 21 (varied from Isai. xxviii. II, 12, Septuagint) λαλήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ...λέγει Κύριος. Heb. v. 5, ὁ λαλήσας πρὸς αὐτόν, Υἱός εἶ σύ. xii. 25. μου τοῖς πατράσιν] In its wider sense ; the ancestors of this generation ; them of old time. Thus 2 Pet. iii. 4, ἀφ ̓ ἧς γὰρ οἱ πατέρες ἐκοιμήθησαν κ.τ.λ. More often with ἡμῶν, ὑμῶν, οι αὐτῶν, as iii. 9. Matt. xxiii. 30, 32, ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ...τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν. Luke vi. 23, 26. John vi. 49. Acts vii. 45, 51, 52, τίνα τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἐδίωξαν οἱ πα τέρες ὑμῶν; xv. 1ο, ὃν οὔτε οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν οὔτε ἡμεῖς ἰσχύσαμεν βαστάσαι. xxviii. 25. I Cor. X. I. Elsewhere in the more restricted meaning of the patriarchs ; (1) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as in Deut. i. 8, τὴν γῆν ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν, τῷ ̓Αβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ κ.τ.λ.; or (2) the twelve sons of Jacob; as in Acts vii. 12, 15, Ἰακώβ...ἐξαπέστειλεν τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν. καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν. ἐν τοῖς] The contrast with ἐν υἱῷ suggests the sense of in the persons of rather than in the writings of. The latter might be supported by Mark i. 2, καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἠσαίᾳ τῷ προφήτη. John vi. 45, ἔστιν γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις. Acts xiii. 40, τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις. xxiv. 14, πᾶσιν τοῖς κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς προφήταις γεγραμμένοις. Elsewhere the phrase is διά (Matt. i. 22. ii. 5, 15. viii. 17. &c., &c.), διὰ στόμα τος (Luke i. 7o. Acts i. 16. iii. 18, 21. iv. 25), or ἐν βίβλω (Acts vii. 42). Here the idea of speaking in seems more suitable than that of speaking by. τοῖς προφήταις] Not in the more technical sense in which οἱ προφῆται form one division of the Old Testament(as Luke xxiv. 44, πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷνόμῳ Μωυσέως καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ψαλμοῖς. John i. 45, ὃν ἔγραψεν ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν Μωυσῆς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ οἱ προpra), but in the wider use, including all God's utterers prior to the Gospel, whether writers of Books of Scripture, or representatives of Him to their generation. In Luke xiii. 28 ( ̓Αβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ πάντας τοὺς προφήτας) it might seem to include even the Patriarchs themselves. At all events the title is expressly given in the New Testament to Moses (Acts vii. 37), to Samuel (Acts xiii. 20. &c.), to David (Acts ii. 30), to Elisha (Luke iv. 27), to Isaiah (Matt. iii. 3. &c.), to Jeremiah (Matt. ii. 17. &c.), to Daniel (Matt. xxiv. 15), to Joel (Acts ii. 16), to Jonah (Matt. xii. 39. &c.), to John the Baptist (Matt. xi. 9. &c.). Compare Matt. v. 12, TOÙS πρоÓÝταя τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν. xiii. 17, πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε. Luke i. 70, τῶν ἁγίων ἀπ' αἰῶνος προφητῶν αὐτοῦ. ix. 8, 19, προφήτης τις τῶν ἀρχαίων. John viii. 52, ̓Αβραὰμ ἀπέθανεν καὶ οἱ προφῆται. James V. IO. I Pet. i. 10. &c. &c. 2. n'éσxúτov] The received text has oxárov. And so in ἐσχάτων. 1 Pet. i. 20, paveρwbévтos dè èπ' φανερωθέντος ἐπ ̓ ἐσχάτου τῶν χρόνων δι' ὑμᾶς. In a third passage, 2 Pet. iii. 3, the received text had coɣárov, where we now read ἐλεύσονται ἐπ ̓ ἐστ χάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν. The difference is scarcely appreciable. The one (ἐσχάτου) is at a latest point of these days; the other (éoxάTwv) is at (in the time of) the latest (days) of these days. The one suggests an epoch, the other an era. Compare Matt. xxiv. 31 (ἀπ ̓ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως ἄκρων αὐτῶν, where however an alternative reading inserts TV before the second aκpwv) with Mark xiii. 27 (ἀπ ̓ ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανοῦ). τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων] These days, as contrasted with those days. The pre-Messianic in contrast with the Messianic period. In such phrases the interval between the two Advents is left out of view (as generally in the prophecies of the Old Testament), and the days of the Messiah begin with the first Epiphany, regarded as a single manifestation, though including the several stages of the Incarnation, Ministry, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, &c. When the fact of the long interval between the first and the second Advent began to reveal itself, the phrase modified its meaning accordingly. Even in this Epistle we shall find recognitions of the postponement of that world, those days, into a period still future though the Messiah is come. The exact expression, αἱ ἡμέραι avraι, does not occur elsewhere; but it is implied in the opposite phrase, μépa pxovrai, of Jer. υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι ̓ οὗ καὶ xxxi. 31, Septuagint, quoted in Heb. viii. 8, &c. The common form is that of ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος, ὁ νῦν αἰών, &c. contrasted with ὁ αἰὼν ἐκεῖνος, ὁ αἰὼν ὁ μέλλων, &c., to which the above remark is equally applicable. See Matt. xii. 32, οὔτε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Mark x. 12. 30, ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ. ἐλάλησεν] Spake. As in λαλήσας above, the whole utterance is gathered into one moment of past time, though the reference is not to one discourse, or one action, or one event, but to the entire revelation of God in the Incarnate Son. For the thought compare Mark xii. 6, ἔτι ἕνα εἶχεν υἱὸν ἀγαπητόν· ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ἔσχατον πρὸς αὐτούς, λέγων ὅτι ἐντραπήσονται τὸν υἱόν μου. ἐν υἱῷ] In One who is (not Prophet, but Son. The absence of the article lays stress upon the quality of the Person. It says not, one of many sons; but it says, One whose characteristic it is to be, in an emphatic and distinctive sense, Son of God. Matt. xiv. 33, ̓Αληθῶς Θεοῦ υἱὸς εἶ. xxii. 45, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστίν ; xxvii. 43, 54, εἶπεν γὰρ ὅτι Θεοῦ εἰμὶ υἱός. Αληθῶς υἱὸς Θεοῦ ἦν Luke i. 32, 35· Acts xiii. Υιός μου 33, εἶ σύ. Rom. i. 4, τοῦ ὁρισθέντος υἱοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει. Heb. v. 8, καίπερ ὢν υἱός. οὗτος. ἔθηκεν] Set, appointed, constituted. John xv. 16, ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς ἵνα κ.τ.λ. The reference is, not to the original glory, but to the εὐδοκία ἣν προέθετο ἐν αὐτῷ (Eph. i. g) as the Christ. κληρονόμον πάντων] Rom. iv. I 3, τὸ κληρονόμον αὐτὸν (Abra ham or his seed) εἶναι κόσμου. The figure appears in the Parable of Matt. xxi., Mark xii., Luke xx. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κληρονό μος. It is involved in the Sonship: Rom. vii. 17, εἰ δὲ τέκνα, dè καὶ κληρονόμοι. Gal. iv. 7, εἰ δὲ υἱός, καὶ κληρονόμος. But the υἱοὶ are κληρονόμοι only in the υἱός. They are κληρονόμοι μὲν ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας· ὃς ὢν απαύγασμα τῆς 3 Θεοῦ, συνκληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ. The fulfilment of the heirship is in the consummation of the great day: Rev. xi. 15, ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ. δι ̓ οὗ καί] John i. 3, 10, πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν... ὁ κόσμος δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο. 1 Cor. viii. 6, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα. Col. i. 16, τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἔκτισται. ἐποίησεν] Acts iv. 24, Δέ σποτα, σὺ ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς. xiv. 15. xvii. 24, 26, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον. ἐποίησέν τε ἐξ ἑνὸς πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων κ.τ.λ. The commoner word in this sense is κτίζειν. The two are combined in Matt. xix. 4, ὁ κτίσας ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. τοὺς αἰῶνας] The thought of duration is never wholly lost in the Scripture use of αἰών, though in this place, and in xi. 3 (πίστει νοοῦμεν κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας ῥήματι Θεοῦ), it is all but effaced. The world as material is κόσμος, the world as temporal is αἰών. Once the two are combined in one phrase: Eph. ii. 2, κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου (the timestate of this matter-world). The plural, peculiar (in this sense) to these two passages of this Epistle, seems to suggest the idea not of continuous but of aggregate duration; the world as marked by successive periods of existence. 3. ὃς ὤν] Six points may be distinguished in this grand summary of the doctrine of the Divine Son: (r) the original glory (ὢν ἀπαύγασμα κ.τ.λ.); (2) the destined empire (ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων); (3) the creative action (δι' οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν κ.τ.λ.); (4) the sustaining operation (φέρων τε κ.τ.λ.); (5) the redemptive work (καθα ρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν κ.τ.λ.); (6) the mediatorial exaltation (ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ κ.τ.λ.). The parallel passages are John i. I, &c., where we have the first, third, and fifth of the above points enlarged upon; Phil. ii. 6, &c., dwelling upon the first, fifth, and sixth; and Col. i. 15, &c., embracing all the particulars of the above enumeration. ὤν] The place of ὢν gives it emphasis. This is what the Son is essentially. John i. I, ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν. Phil. ii. 6, èv μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων. Col. i. 15, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ. ἀπαύγασμα] Wisdom vii. 26, απαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι φωτὸς ἀϊδίου. From απαυγάζειν, to beam or flash forth (light), comes the passive noun ἀπαύγασμα, a thing beamed forth, a substance formed by the emission of splendour; differing just so far from ἀπαυγασμός that it expresses the result, not the act, of shining, and |