Nielsen’s Nook

Commentary

[a] Βλέπετε literally “to look” ; however, in this context we get the connotation of looking out for something, to beware of something (BAGD, 143).

[b] ἀποστῆναι is from where we have the English cognate apostasy or apostatize. It resonates with the passage quoted from Psalm 97. Those who fall away will never enter God’s rest.

[c] καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν literally, “according to every day.” In colloquial English we would conceptually just say “daily” or “every day.”

[d] ἄχρις is Hellenistic Greek in form (BAGD, 128).

[e] μὴ σκληρυνθῇ τις ἐξ ὑμῶν literally “not be hardened some from among you”.

[f] τοῦ Χριστοῦ γεγόναμεν in the NA27 reads γεγόναμεν τοῦ χριστοῦ in the Byzantine text.

[g] ὑποστάσεως (ὑπόστασις) is translated realization here (c.f., BAGD, 847 and the use in Hebrews 11:1).  Jesus is the realization of both utter condemnation and the reconciliation of all who have participated in the great rebellion. We must hold fast to Christ as he is manifest to us now, the beginning of realization of the Cosmic Salvation of the World, that we may persevere to the final restoration of all things when Jesus returns in glory and splendor.

Commentary

[1] σκληρύνητε (σκληρύνω) in the LXX this is used to describe the disposition of indifferent self-absorption that results in further alienation from the Lord. 1 Clement 51:3a alluding to Psalm 95:7-11 reads, “For it is good for a man to make confession of his trespasses rather than to harden (σκληρῦναι) his heart, as the heart of those was hardened (ἐσκληρύνθη) who made sedition against Moses the servant of God” (Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers). In light of the Love that the Lord had shown to Israel’s fathers, God’s people were commanded: καὶ περιτεμεῖσθε τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν καὶ τὸν τράχηλον ὑμῶν οὐ σκληρυνεῖτε ἔτι (Deuteronomy 10:16 LXX). Circumcise your hardheartedness and do not let your necks remain stiff (author’s translation).

[2] πειρασμοῦ the testing of God by people (BAGD, 641).

[3] ἐπείρασαν … ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ tested me with trials. BAGD suggests “put to the test” and follows the NRSV and ESV. The NIV renders “tested and tried me”. The KJV is significantly different because it follows the Byzantine Text at which has variations from the NA27.

Hebrews 3:9 in the Byzantine Text reads, οὗ ἐπείρασαν με  οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, ἐδοκιμασάν με, καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη. The variations between the two texts are as follows:

1. The word με is supplied where in the NA27 it is assumed.
2. ἐδοκιμασάν με (Byz) “they tested me” instead of ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ “with testing” (NA27).
3. Verse 9 ends with καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in the NA27; however, in the Byzantine Text it continues through the first two words (τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη) of NA27 verse 10.
4. Lastly, the last two words of Byzantine verse 9 are τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη where the corresponding first two words of verse 10 in the NA27 read τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη. Both are rendered “forty.”

[4] τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ “with this generation” in the NA27 meets τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ “with that generation” in the Byzantine Text. We chose to render the text as “with that generation” because conceptually the generation reading these words in Psalm 95 was altogether different than the one about which the Psalm speaks.

[5] Technically there is no negative particle in this sentence. It is a conditional ellipses which begins with the ὡς at the beginning of verse 11 (BAGD, 897). Literally, the Greek renders “As I swore in my wrath, if they will enter into my rest…” Parents speak to their disobedient children like this, “Son I’ve already told you a thousand times and if you do that one more time …” The force of the ellipses is that in abrupt ending, the silence of the incomplete thought looms ominously. Conceptually, the result of that generation coming into the Lord’s rest would be catastrophic because of the oath that God swore in his wrath. Thus, the verse is rendered “They will never enter into my rest.”

[6] κατάπαυσίν (κατάπαυσις) rest. 2 Maccabees 15:1 uses this word to refer to Sabbath rest.

Commentary

[a] ἁγιάζων “of pers. consecrate, dedicate, sanctify, i.e., include in the inner circle of what is holy, in both relig. and moral uses of the word” (BAGD, 8).

[b] See above note on ἁγιάζων.

[c] c.f., Hebrews 11:16. Here Christ is not ashamed to proclaim the Father to the Church. He does that proclamation in its midst as the incarnate God. In Hebrews 11:16 echoing Christ not being ashamed to call his people brothers, now God is not ashamed to be called their God.

[d] c.f. Psalm 22:22.

[e] ὑμνήσω σε I will sing praise to thee (KJV).

For those who enjoy context, our scripture readings this morning at St. John’s were Acts 1:1-14; Psalm 47; 1 Peter 4:12-19; and John 17:1-11. ]

I walked away from worshiping the Resurrected and Ascended Christ this morning with a profound impression that I want to encapsulate here. The Gospel promises eternal life for all who believe in Jesus Christ. Many of us, for manifold reasons, have come to believe that eternal life is something we hope to participate in after we die. It’s out there somewhere beyond time. In a sense that’s true. Eternal Life is beyond time; however, that’s because eternal life is God himself, who is alone alive by no other cause than himself.

It is this God, revealed to us in Scripture, that has not been content to keep eternal life all to himself, to remain a hermit of divine proportions. Rather, God came down, stooping, as it were, to bind himself to us in the person of His Son, Jesus the Christ. This Christ is our life, our eternal life, for he has trampled down sin, death and hell for us by his own death. Now being raised from the dead, Christians celebrate this life now in their lives. It is not something that we will only one day have, but Christ gives himself fully to us now.

This is celebrated in the liturgy every Sunday. Eternal Life, himself, calls us to worship, speaks to us in His Scriptures, hears our confession, forgives us our sins, and bids us to eat his flesh and drink his blood - to partake of Him, who is alone the life of the world. Such is the bond of love that Christ has made to his people. The cold shackles of sin, death and hell have been burst opened by Life, who has said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:29-30 ESV)

Such is the union we see as Life, himself, prays for his Church. We see his longing for unity with us as we demonstrate that bond in love to each other.

__________
HT: Fr. David Houk, Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, preached the sermon that spawned this meditation.

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Commentary

[a] Compare Τίνι γὰρ εἶπέν ποτε τῶν ἀγγέλων in v 5 with πρὸς τίνα δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἴρηκέν ποτε here in v 13. This seems to be a sort of formula for appeal. That is, what God said about or to Jesus was never spoken to or about the angels. Alternate translation here in v 13: “To which of the angels has he said.”

[b] Quoting Psalm 109:1 LXX, Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (author’s translation). It is paramount to notice the way that the writer of Hebrews is employing this quotation in the epistle. Here King David’s Lord is Jesus Christ, who is greater than the angels.

[c] ἕως ἂν θῶ Here, because of the subjunctive θῶ, ἕως requires ἂν. As such it denotes “that the commencement of an event is dependent on circumstances.” (BAGD, 334)

[d] Compare with what is written 9 chapters later, “¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” (Heb 10:12-13 ESV) This passage references the same concepts but with different Greek syntax, ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκδεχόμενος ἕως τεθῶσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ. [Christ] sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet (author’s translation). Hebrews 10:13 emphasizes the passive nature of the “enemies” passing into footstool status. Grammatically, and especially when compared with Hebrews 1:13, we see that 10:13 contains a divine passive. As such it is God who will set the world to rights while Christ actively waits (interceding on our behalf) at the right hand of the Father.

[e] λειτουργικὰ Here, “the angels are λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν. They are ordained to ministry, i.e., the διακονία of believers. Hence the use is not cultic, and is independent of the LXX.” (TDNT, 4:231)

[f] διὰ τοὺς here the use of διὰ + accusative gives a sense of “for the sake of” or “on behalf of.”

[g] μέλλοντας (μέλλω) When used with an infinitive, and most frequently an active infinitive as here, it may be rendered “about to” speaking of the immanent future. However, here it is likely “serves simply as a periphrasis for the future.” (BAGD, 501)

Commentary

[1] ἑλίξεις (ἑλίσσω) to roll up. Metzger notes two manuscripts (א* D*) read ἀλλάξεις, while all other text times read εἱλίζεις. ἀλλάξεις is what is present in Psalm 101:27 LXX which means to change in the sense of alter.

[2] ὡς ἱμάτιον is not present in Psalm 101:27 LXX and is inserted here to give clarity to the argument the author of Hebrews is making, alerting the reader that the metaphor is the same. Metzger comments, “The absence of the words from most witnesses is the result of conformation to the text of the Septuagint.”

Commentary

[1] σου ὁ θεὸς See note in Metzger’s Textual Commentary. To summarize, there is early and good support for αὐτοῦ instead of σου (P⁴⁶ א B). However, the great external witness to σου and the internal difficulty that αὐτοῦ presents both syntactically and grammatically left Metzger’s committee and most scholars to believe that σου ὁ θεὸς was the more likely original.

[2] διὰ τοῦτο would seem to indicate that on account of Christ’s love for righteousness and hatred of lawlessness he was exalted in the way that is being discussed by the writer of Hebrews. Righteousness the likeness of God and that likeness is described in the Law of God, namely the Decalogue. Lawlessness (ἀνομία) would then be the antithesis, the unlikeness of God. Human beings, created as the image of God to be the likeness of God, walking in fellowship with him, chose a course that was unlike God and consequently destroyed fellowship with him. The Son has been exalted because he has as the image of God (i.e., a human being) loved the likeness/righteousness of God and hated the willful unlikeness of God and in his exaltation his people are restored to fellowship with God (c.f., Colossians 1:15-21).

[3] παρὰ when used with the accusative of person may be employed in a comparative sense (BAGD, 611). Luke 13:2 gives another scriptural example of this use of παρὰ. καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· δοκεῖτε ὅτι οἱ Γαλιλαῖοι οὗτοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Γαλιλαίους ἐγένοντο, ὅτι ταῦτα πεπόνθασιν; And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were sinners more than all Galileans because they have suffered these things?” (author’s translation)

[4] This is a direct quotation from Psalm 44:7-8 LXX.

Commentary

[1] Directly quoted from Psalm 2:7 LXX.

[2] Directly quoted from 2 Samuel 7:14 LXX.

Translation

2 For the fire (which made the appearance of a vaulted ceiling, [1] like a ship’s sail being filled by wind) completely enclosed [2] the body of the martyr. It was there in the midst of the flames, not as burning flesh, [3] but as gold and silver being smelted in a furnace. For we also noticed such a fragrance like incense rising [4] from a thurible [5] or some other precious perfume.

[1] καμάρας vault, vaulted ceiling, arch. This word appears only once in all of scripture and does not seem to appear frequently in general. Psalm 40:22b (LXX) reads ὁ στήσας ὡς καμάραν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν, … [It is the Lord] who erected the heavens as a vaulted ceiling and stretched it out as a tent to indwell (author’s translation).

[2] BAGD renders κύκλῳ περιετείχισεν as completely surrounded. καμάρας is imagined in a three dimensional way (i.e. as a vaulted ceiling with supporting walls and floor), so we render κύκλῳ περιετείχισεν as completely enclose (or perhaps envelope).

[3] ἄρτος ὀπτώμενος, ἢ ὡς (”a loaf in the oven or like”) is noted by Lightfoot as being questionable, perhaps “nothing more than Irenæus’ own comments.” (Lightfoot, Joseph Barber, and J. R. Harmer. The Apostolic Fathers. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1891) 195). Consequently, we are opting for the shorter reading as preferred and omitted this phrase from our translation.

[4] πνέοντος breathing out, giving forth (BAGD, 679).

[5] λιβανωτοῦ (λιβανωτός) incense or censer. Here we break with previous translations. Lightfoot renders λιβανωτοῦ πνέοντος as “wafted odour of frankincense,” which is to us aesthetically less pleasing. While Lake and Holmes do a much better job aesthetically rendering the phrase as “the scent of incense,” we feel translating λιβανωτός as thurible (i.e., censer used in religious worship), more specifically connects with the worship tropes running throughout the work (e.g., §14.2) and, perhaps, more explicitly the eschatological worship of Revelation 8:3-5.

Psalm 98:1-3 (NRSV)

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
² The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.

God’s salvation is not simply a thing announced, but a ‘wrought’ reality. In saving us, God truly does certain deeds, ‘wondrous things,’ by which we are redeemed. God saves man by the forceful intrusion of His holiness into man’s history. God’s arm is a metaphor of this irrupting redemptive holiness. In the ‘wondrous things’ of the Incarnation, the Atonement, the Resurrection, God’s arm invades the process of human destiny with the outpouring of His own life. Man’s life is thereby given access to the incorruptible life of God.¹

Reardon, Fr. Patrick Henry. Christ in the Psalms. (Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 2000), 193.