Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 19 Apr. 2019
In the last sermon we looked at what God does:
1. The God of peace shares His peace with us,
2. God raises the dead to life imperishable,
3. Jesus is our great Shepherd,
4. God uses the means of the eternal covenant in His blood to save us,
5. God fixes up/equips us for good works, and
6. God accomplishes in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus.
Now I want to look at the surrounding verses that tell us six things that Christians do: they give thanks, they give charity, they bear with one another, they visit one another, they greet one another, and extend grace to one another. Let’s look at each of these characteristic actions of Christians in turn:
Let it be through Him, therefore that we offer up a thanks-offering always to God, which is fruit of lips confessing His name,
This word for “praise/thanks” (αἰνέσεως) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but it is used in the Greek translation of Leviticus 7 (and other places in the Old Testament) to refer to the thanks-offering1, which basically was extra bread brought to the fellowship meal to go with the barbecued meat from the sacrifice. Symbolically, it packaged or rounded-out what was already sacrificed, as a way of thanking God for a special act of deliverance.
Now we are exhorted to offer a New Testament thanks-offering consisting of our lips ὁμολογούντων/confessing/acknowledging/giving thanks to God’s name out of love for Him.
"[T]he word signifies a ‘speaking together;’ and may design not only the conjunction of the heart and tongue together in praise, but a social giving thanks to God by the saints, as a body together" ~John Gill
John Calvin commented that “[I]t was the Apostle’s design to teach us what is the legitimate way of worshipping God under the New Testament... he reminds us that God cannot be really invoked by us and his name glorified, except through Christ the mediator; for it is he alone who sanctifies our lips, which otherwise are unclean, to sing the praises of God; and it is he who opens a way for our prayers, who in short performs the office of a priest, presenting himself before God in our name… [If the animal] the sacrifices have ceased... the question arises, whether any sacrifices remained for Christians... The Apostle, therefore... meets this objection, and says that another kind of sacrifice remains for us, which no less pleases God, even the offering of the calves of our lips, as the Prophet Hosea says2. Now that the sacrifice of praise is not only equally pleasing to God, but of more account than all those external sacrifices under the Law, appears evident from Psalm 50:1-23; for God there repudiates all these as things of naught, and bids the sacrifice of praise to be offered to him. We hence see that it is the highest worship of God, justly preferred to all other exercises, when we acknowledge God’s goodness by thanksgiving; yea, this is the ceremony of sacrificing which God commends to us now.”
The phrase “through Him” is placed first in the Greek sentence, giving it emphasis. We should use Jesus as our intermediary between us and God rather than any other priest.
When we pray, it should be “in Jesus’ name.”
Instead of thanking our “lucky stars” or saying “thank goodness” we should say, “Thank the Lord!”
So what is the fruit of your lips? It would be a worthy exercise to log everything you say for the next seven days and analyze what percentage of the fruit of your lips is thanks and praise to God and confession of faith in Christ and His word, for this is what Christians do.
And note that it is not just once-in-a-while that Christians offer this thanks and praise but continually/always! You’re not going to achieve such perfection the first week you log your speech; it will be a lifelong process to mature the fruit of your lips towards the goal of it being “always.”
So the first thing in this list that Christians do is related to the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all….” The second in this list follows the second great commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Augustine, City of God, X.6, Hughes)
and never forget good works and sharing [κοινωνίας], for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.
"We must, according to our power, communicate to the necessities of the souls and bodies of men; not contenting ourselves to offer the sacrifice of our lips, mere words, but the sacrifice of good deeds; and these we must lay down upon this altar, not depending upon the merit of our good deeds, but of our great high priest." ~Matthew Henry
Remember from our last study that the phrase “good works” is used in the Bible to mean:
Trusting Jesus (Rom. 2:7, Eph. 2:8, 2 Cor. 5:7-9)
Giving financially to help the needy (2Cor. 9:7-8, Phil. 1:6 & 4:18, Mt. 25)
Obeying authority (Rom. 13:1-6, Titus 3:1, Col. 3:20)
Bearing Children (1 Tim. 2:10 & 15, Gen. 1:28, 1 Tim. 5:10)
Making disciples (spiritual fruitfulness - 2 Tim. 2:21ff & 3:17ff )
One way that Christians historically have done this koinwnia-sharing has been through distributing leftovers from the Lord’s Supper or from church fellowship meals to poor people in need of food3. We are blessed to live in a time and place where it is hard to find anybody that desperately in need of food, but we have often used the tithe money of our church to help those with financial needs.
"[A]lms should be given, or beneficence be exercised to all men in need, even to our enemies, as well as to our friends and relations; and especially to poor saints, and ministers of the Gospel… [W]hen it is done in faith, springs from love, and is directed to the glory of God, [it] is well pleasing to him...4” ~John Gill
And, if God is “pleased” by these things, then it stands to reason that "When... love does not prevail among us, we not only rob men... but God himself…" of pleasure. ~J. Calvin
So, Christians give thanks in Jesus’ name, and Christians sacrificially share with the needy. Now there is a third thing Christians do, and that has to do with the community of the church:
Now, brothers, I exhort you, bear with the matter of this exhortation, for I have indeed written to y’all with brevity.
The Greek word translated “bear with” is ἀνέχεσθε, a compound of the Greek preposition for “up” and the Greek verb for “hold.” It also appears in Paul’s epistles5 on the church:
Colossians 3:12-14 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with [ἀνεχόμενοι] one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (NKJV)
Ephesians 4:1-3 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with [ἀνεχόμενοι] one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (NKJV)
There is debate among Bible scholars as to whether the apostle here is asking the saints to bear with him
because the book of Hebrews is so long (of the 21 epistles, it is one of the four longest, almost three times as long as the average of the New Testament Epistles) - nevertheless this author says he was trying to be considerate and keep this epistle down in size, and we can bear with him in that.
Others think he was asking the saints to “bear with” him because of the briefness or shortness of this letter6, for it fairly skims over vast depths of theology. It’s taken me about 700 pages of commentary to unpack the book of Hebrews, it is so dense, and that’s pretty average for commentaries on this book7.
I suspect rather that the “bearing with” refers to the challenging exhortations in this book:
“since… every transgression and disobedience received a just payback, how would we ourselves escape after showing apathy for such a great salvation? … don’t start hardening your hearts like [they did]... at the time of the testing in the desert... Keep watch, brothers, otherwise there will be in some of y’all an evil heart of unbelief in the act of apostatizing from the Living God… lest, someone among y’all... come up empty, the promise of entering into His rest being left behind... y’all have become lazy about listening. For, though y’all ought to be teachers by this time, y’all… need milk rather than solid food… inexperienced with the word of righteousness... If we keep sinning willingly after receiving the full-knowledge of the truth, a sacrifice for sins is no longer left [available]; instead there is a certain fearsome receiving of judgment and an intensity of fire about to devour those in opposition. If someone who has upset the law of Moses dies without mercy on the basis of two or three witnesses, how much worse punishment do y’all suppose will be deserved by the one who has trampled down the Son of God and who has decided that the blood of the covenant... is profane, and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?… The Lord will judge His people... Therefore, don’t y’all throw away your confidence... y’all must start thinking logically about the One who persevered through such antagonism under the agency of sinners toward Himself... Y’all have not yet stood up against this sin to the extent of bloodshed... and y’all have completely missed the exhortation which lectures to you as though to sons, ‘My son, don’t keep belittling the Lord’s training, and don’t keep coming undone when you are being reproved by Him’... Keep watch so that y’all don’t defer the One who is speaking, for, if those guys did not escape on earth after they deferred the [Divine] Informant, much more will we be those who are turned away [by] Him from the heavens... for indeed, our God is a consuming fire... Stop getting sidetracked with divergent and strange teachings...”
These warnings are pretty strong and pointed; it would be easy to get offended!
“there are some things often in exhortations and reproofs which are not so agreeable to the flesh, and yet ought to be taken kindly, and patiently endured” ~John Gill
When a brother or sister is long-winded, are you willing to bear with them? Or when they are so uncommunicative that you have to ask questions to draw it out of them, are you willing to bear with them? When fellow Christians offend your pride by criticizing you and calling your integrity into question, do you bristle and launch a counter-attack to defend yourself, or do you welcome the sanctifying power of a brothers’ or sister’s exhortation and thank God that you have accountability?
Billie MacLaurine was my piano teacher when I was a teenager. She was a no-nonsense, straight-forward sort of person. Once I came to a piano lesson at her house, and she thought my fingernails were too long. Before I knew what was happening, she had produced a pair of fingernail clippers from inside one of her grand pianos and was chopping my fingernails off! Another time, after I was married and in the ministry, she accosted me in the hallway after a church service. “Nate, I’m ashamed of you!” she ranted. “You invited me and my friends to a missionary fund-raising meeting, and I expected you to make a good impression on all of us, but you didn’t even bother to iron your shirt! It was the most wrinkled shirt I ever did see. Next time you hold a meeting like that, young man, you’d better iron your shirt!” People like that are kinda hard on your pride, but we need them, don’t we? Bear with one another in brotherly love. I know Mrs. Mac loved me and wanted me to look my best for God’s glory.
After thanksgiving and charity and bearing with one another, we next have the more positive side to Christian fellowship:
Our brother8 Timothy, you know, has been released; I will see y’all with him if he happens to come soon!
Here is another passage over which Bible scholars debate, because the Bible doesn’t give us enough information to fill in the whole picture.
Old King James Bibles add a note at the end about this epistle being “by Timothy,” but that was a note added hundreds of years later by a scribe. Verse 23 makes it obvious that the author is not Timothy, although the letter could have been carried “by Timothy” to the Hebrews.9
The word for “released” is used elsewhere in Scripture to describe being set free from prison10, so it seems to be a reasonable deduction that Timothy has been jailed – perhaps in a government crackdown against Christian leaders, but had been released.
The point I want to make is that mediated communication was not considered sufficient by the Apostle for Christian fellowship. In his day, letter-writing was about the only media there was, and that wasn’t enough. He wanted to see his fellow-Christians face-to-face, so he says, “I will see y’all...”
By the same token, he wasn’t content to text Timothy and say, “Congrats for getting out of the slammer, bro! And as Calvin would say, ‘Good luck!’” No, he said, “Brother Timothy, come stay with me, and let’s go preaching together again!”
Christians spend real time together in person; they host one another in their homes, and they go out and visit other Christians. This has always been the Christian way, even from the first converts in Jerusalem at the beginning of the book of Acts: "...who... were together... breaking bread from house to house..." (Acts 2:44&46, NKJV)
With the exception of some desert monks, Christians don’t hole themselves up in ivory towers and avoid seeing other people. When Jesus returns, He "...will say to those off to His right, 'Come here, you who have been blessed by my father! Start inheriting the kingdom prepared for y'all from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry, and y'all gave me [something] to eat... I was a stranger, and y'all gathered me in... I was sick, and y'all watched over me; I was in prison, and y'all came to me!" (Matthew 25:34-36, NAW) Those kind of things don’t happen over social media.
Now, obviously we all have limits to how much visitation and hospitality we can practice - some of us have health concerns, some have small residences, some have time constraints, but we can all find ways to visit other Christians and reciprocate with inviting them over to our places. That’s what Christians do. And another part of the Christian culture of fellowship is that...
Y’all greet all of your leaders and all of the saints. Those from Italy greet y’all.
The Greek word for “greet” here (᾿Ασπάσασθε) is also translated: Send greetings, Salute, Welcome, Cherish, Be fond of, Hug, Hail, or Pay respects to. (A&G)
But it’s what Christians do; they greet one another.
Nobody seems to know for sure who the saints from Italy were who greeted the Hebrews in this letter.
There were Christians in Italy that welcomed Paul when he showed up in Acts 28. Perhaps they were saved through the earlier preaching of Barnabas or Apollinarius in Italy11.
Perhaps the Italians giving greetings to the Hebrews were folks like Priscilla and Aquila who had lived in Rome but were kicked out in the year 49AD when the Emperor Claudius ran all the Jews out of Rome.
Or perhaps, since this is probably over a dozen years later, this is speaking of Jews who had moved back into Italy after Claudius died.
Then there’s the question of why this author would convey greetings from Italians, but since the identity of the author himself is not certain, we don’t really know. He had apparently visited or resided with them either in Italy or wherever they had resettled. It does seem likely that, whoever and wherever these folks were, they were probably Jews with extended family ties back to the Jewish believers in Palestine.
Greetings are commanded to be given both to the leaders and to all the saints.
The Greek word for “leaders” is the same one used in verses 7 & 17, the decision-makers “who uttered to y'all the word of God" and “who keep vigil over your souls.”
The “saints” are everybody in the church. The Apostle called all his readers “holy brothers” who “acknowledge... the Messiah Jesus is our High Priest.” (Hebrews 3:1)
This pays special honor to leaders, but it also leaves no one out.
Is there anyone that you leave out of your greetings when you are at church?
You might do that on purpose because you don’t like someone,
or it might feel more accidental due to circumstances: perhaps they sit on the opposite side of the church from you and they make a beeline for the door as soon as the service is over. We can all work on expanding who we greet and we can all work on improving the kindness and sincerity of our greetings.
This might take the form of budgeting more time before or after the church service to visit.
It might also take the form of expanding greetings to others outside of our local church,
whether that’s face-timing an old friend across the country,
taking on a prison pen pal,
or sending a care package to a persecuted pastor in a foreign country.
We are part of a worldwide brotherhood, and whenever you visit another local church on a mission trip or a vacation, pass on greetings from our local church.
Note also the vocative “Brothers” two verses previous, as well as the moniker “our brother” in the previous verse. Calling one another “brother” (or “sister”) is part of the Biblical culture of greetings.
It is a word that connotes family closeness. Christians extend trust and loyalty to one another in a way that the world cannot fathom.
If you have difficulty calling other Christians by such a familiar name, maybe you need to spend more time greeting them and developing your friendship with them!
The 6th and final thing that we do is...
May grace be with all of you. Amen.
This is a closing blessing found at the end of almost12 every epistle in the New Testament, from Romans to Revelation
The Greek definite article here indicates that the author has a definite grace in mind, and we may reasonably deduce from the 10 other epistles which define this grace as being “from the Lord Jesus Christ,” that this is the particular kind of grace the author of Hebrews had in mind.13
But what exactly does “grace” mean?
Arndt & Gingrich defined this Greek word xaris as “...favor... gracious care or help, goodwill... gift, benefaction”
Danker explained in his Greek-English Lexicon that χαρις is “1. a disposition marked by inclination to generosity... 2. ‘a benefit conferred freely as expression of good will.”
The root meaning of this word is “something you get for free, an unearned gift.”
What is it that we get for free from Jesus Christ? Romans 3:24 says that “sinners” who “believe” are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood...” (NKJV)
This is exactly what the book of Hebrews is all about. Jesus’ service as the ultimate high priest to offer his blood as a sacrifice for our sins and make us right with God is that free, unearned gift.14
“By ‘grace,’ he intends the whole goodwill of God by Jesus Christ, with all the blessed effects of it,” wrote John Owen in his commentary.
And it is that status of being right with God, as we keep trusting Jesus to keep us in God’s favor, that the apostle prays will be the case with all who read his book.
That is an example for us to follow. We should be praying for everyone we know to be saved.
I’ve been convicted of that in my prayerwalks recently. I like to take time each day to walk around and pray. Since I am an introvert, my preference has been to walk in lonely places where I won’t see any neighbors and have to talk with them. But now with all the offices and schools closed, there are a lot more people out walking around too. At first I resented that I couldn’t get away from people as much, but then I realized God was giving me an opportunity to pray for them as I saw them. Everyone you see around you when you’re driving or at work or at home is someone you can be praying for God to shed grace on!
Matthew Henry pointed out in his commentary on this verse that this is not just for non-Christians, “When the people of God have been conversing together by word or writing, it is good to part with prayer, desiring for each other the continuance of the gracious presence of God, that they may meet together again in the world of praise… Let the favour of God be towards you, and his grace continually working in you, and with you, bringing forth the fruits of holiness, as the first-fruits of glory.”15
Now, there actually is no verb in the Greek wording of this last verse, so we supply a verb of being, but it could just as well be the word “is” as the word “be.” In other words, not only can this be a prayer that God show kindness and save others, it could also be an encouragement to the believers addressed in this letter that the unmerited favor of God really does rest upon them.
Brothers and sisters, you who know Jesus as the Son of God who created the world and became a man and offered Himself on the cross as a sacrifice to make you right with God and then rose to sit at the right hand of God above every authority and interceed for us, have no doubt, His grace is indeed with you!
1. Christians give thanks in Jesus’ name. (v.15)
2. Christians sacrificially share with the needy (v.16)
3. Christians bear with one another in love (v.22)
4. Christians visit one another (v.23)
5. Christians greet one another (v.24)
6. Christians extend grace to one another (v.25)
This is not a list of rules to follow to prove that you are a Christian. Don’t take this out of context; this is a description of the result of believing the first 12 chapters of Hebrews. In light of all that Jesus is, this is what we do.
Greek NT |
NAW |
KJV |
15 δι᾿ αὐτοῦ οὖν ἀναφέρωμεν θυσίαν αἰνέσεως διὰ παντὸς τῷ Θεῷ, τοῦτ᾿ ἔστι καρπὸν χειλέων ὁμολογούντων τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ. |
15 Let it be through Him, therefore, that we offer up a thanks-offering always to God, which is fruit of lips confessing His name, |
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. |
16 τῆς δὲ εὐποιΐας καὶ κοινωνίας μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε· τοιαύταιςB γὰρ θυσίαις εὐαρεστεῖταιC ὁ Θεός. |
16 and never forget good works and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased. |
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. |
22 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, ἀνέχεσθε τοῦ λόγου τῆς παρακλήσεως· καὶ γὰρ διὰ βραχέωνD ἐπέστειλαE ὑμῖν. |
22 Now, brothers, I exhort you, bear with the matter of this exhortation, for I have indeed written to y’all with brevity. |
22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for X I have written a letter unto you in few [words]. |
23 ΓινώσκετεF τὸν ἀδελφὸν [ἡμῶνG] Τιμόθεον ἀπολελυμένον, μεθ᾿ οὗ, ἐὰν τάχιονH ἔρχηται, ὄψομαι ὑμᾶς. |
23 Our brother Timothy, you know, has been released; I will see y’all with him if he happens to come soon! |
23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. |
24 ᾿ΑσπάσασθεI πάντας τοὺς ἡγουμένους ὑμῶν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. ᾿Ασπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿ΙταλίαςJ. |
24 Y’all greet all of your leaders and all of the saints. Those from Italy greet y’all. |
24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. |
25 ῾Η χάρις μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν· ἀμήνK. |
25 May grace be with all of you. Amen. |
25 Grace be with you all. Amen. Written to the Hebrews from Italy, by Timothy.L |
1"Jews themselves say, that in future time (i.e. in the days of the Messiah) all sacrifices shall cease, but קרבן תודה, 'the sacrifice of praise' shall not cease (Vajikra Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 153. 1. & sect 27. fol. 168. 4.).'' ~John Gill
2"[I]n
Hosea
14:2
which is thought to be referred to here, it is, "the calves of
our lips"; sacrifices of praise being instead of calves: and
the apostle interprets it in great agreement with the Jewish
writers; the Chaldee paraphrase explains it by מלי
ספותנא,
"the words of their lips": and so Jarchi, דברי
שפתינו,
"the words of our lips"; and Kimchi, וידוי
שפתינו,
"the confession of our lips": and it may be observed, that
there is a great nearness in פרים,
"calves", and פרי,
"fruit"; though perhaps rather the phrase is borrowed from
Isa. 57:19 where it is expressly had; the Septuagint indeed have it
in Hos. 14:2" ~John Gill
“The
Hebrew of Hosea 14:2 may be divided and vocalized either as parim
sephathenu ‘bullocks of our lips,’ or as peri
missephathenu ‘fruit of our lips.’ Of particular
interest is the discovery of the expression, ‘the fruit of the
lips’ in the Qumran literature (Hymns I.28),
while the expression ‘the oblation of the lips’ is also
found (The Community Rule
X.4; cf. 26). This would seem to indicate that the Qumran
understanding of Hosea 14:2 agreed with that of the Septuagint, and
thus to confirm the correctness of our author’s language when
he speaks of a ‘sacrifice’ which is the ‘fruit of
lips.’” ~P.E. Hughes, A Commentary on the
Epistle to the Hebrews.
3John Brown, in his commentary, also cited Lev. 7:14 and Deut. 12:12, 14:29, 16:11 as proof that the Jews did the same for their religious feasts.
4Gill also quoted a Jewish tradition: “greater is he who does alms than all sacrifices” (T. Bab. Succa, fol. 49. 2).
5It is also reminiscent of 1 Cor. 13:7 “Love bears all things...” but that is a different Greek verb [στέγει].
6Calvin supported this view (as did Brown “concisely,” Owen, Vincent and Gill), explaining that the apostle did not write so exhaustively as to preclude the need for further personal teaching. “Let us hence learn that the Scripture has not been committed to us in order to silence the voice of pastors... for the holy Spirit has so regulated the writings which he has dictated to the Prophets and the Apostles, that he detracts nothing from the order instituted by himself; and the order is, that constant exhortations should be heard in the Church from the mouth of pastors.”
7John Brown’s is 728 pages, Phillip Hughes’ is 623 pages, John Owens’ was 8 volumes!
8In arguing against Pauline authorship, Vincent noted that Paul usually put the word “brother” after a name rather than before as it is here, Gill noted that Paul usually (with the exception of Col 1:1) called Timothy “son” rather than “brother,” and Gardinier (editor of Chrysostom’s homilies) noted that coming “with Timothy” rather than bringing “Timothy with” him could indicate that Timothy was in a superior position to the author.
9This could comport with 2 Tim. 4:9 in favor of Pauline authorship. Gill noted of the author, “whether he ever had his liberty after this, and saw the Hebrews any more, cannot be said; the contrary seems most probable.” Owen suggested the opposite, “Timothy...does not seem to have been present with the Apostle at the despatch of this epistle, but he believed it was in the mind of Timothy to visit them in Judea… What was the event of this resolution God only knows.”
10Acts 4:23, 5:40, 16:36; 17:9, 26:32. Just as many verses could be cited for the more innocuous meaning of “dismissed.” Of those who ventured to comment on this unknown circumstance: Chrysostom said, “I suppose he had been cast into prison: or if not this, that he was sent away from Athens.” Matthew Henry wrote, "It seems, Timothy had been a prisoner, doubtless for the gospel, but now he was set at liberty." John Owen: “...Timothy’s release out of prison...” and John Brown: “… it would appear from this passage that he had been cast into prison as an associate of Paul, or for preaching the Gospel himself.”
11John Gill quoted the Hist. Eccl. Magdeburg claiming that these were the first two men to preach in Italy.
12Except for James, Jude, and 1 & 3 John. Peter puts it up in the beginning of his epistles.
132nd John adds that it is also “from God the Father.”
14Chrysostom: “And what is ‘the grace’? Remission of sins, Cleansing: this is ‘with’ us.”
15cf.
John Gill: “he wishes renewed discoveries of the love and
favour of God; fresh communications of grace from Christ; an
abundant supply of the spirit of grace; an increase of internal
grace and external gifts; and a continuance of the Gospel of the
grace of God.”
cf. John Brown: “May
you be the objects of the continued love of the greatest, the
wisest, and the best Being in the universe; and may
He constantly bestow on you proofs of His peculiar love and care!
‘His favor is life, His loving-kindness is better than life.’
Nothing better, for time or for eternity, can be desired for
ourselves or for others than the grace of God. Infinite power to
guard, infinite wisdom to guide, infinite excellence and love to
excite and gratify all the affections of the heart for ever and
ever.”
AThe
Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority
of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript
evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes
notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but
since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online
document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a
standalone difference from all other English translations of a
certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the
English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of
meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a
Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word
translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added
in English not in the Greek. {Pointed Braces} indicate words added
in Greek to the original. Key words are colored consistently across
the chart to show correlations.
BMost English versions render the dative as one of means, but Robertson suggested in his Grammar that it is causal.
CThe only other occurrences of this verb in the N.T. are in Heb. 11:5 & 6.
DMoulton’s Grammar noted: “The prepositional phrase dia braxewn denotes attendant circumstance, with the meaning ‘briefly.’” cf. 1 Pet. 5:12 δι’ ολιγων
EA.T. Robertson noted that this is an “epistolary aorist”
FThe imperative and indicative moods of this verb are spelled identically, but the Vulgate, NASB, NIV, and ESV, as well as Calvin and Beza all supported the imperative interpretation. Hughes asserted that it was imperative, but undermined that by his assertion that the “NEB ‘I have news for you,’ conveys the spirit more effectively than… ‘You should understand that...’”
GAlthough not in the majority of Greek manuscripts (and therefore not in the traditional T.R. or Patriarchal editions of the GNT), this word appears in all 5 of the oldest-known manuscripts (plus a dozen more), and the oldest one which does NOT contain the word dates to the 9th century. Once again, it makes no difference in meaning because, in Greek grammar, a definite article before a noun can legitimately be interpreted as a possessive pronoun.
H“The comparative adverb is used for the positive, with the meaning ‘soon’” ~Turner’s Grammar (This was also Hughes’ comment on the previous instance of this word in v.19, a position debated by Blass & DeBrunner.)
II interpret the aorist tense of this imperative not as inceptive (“start greeting”) as I did at the end of 1 Corinthians, but rather as referring to a single occasion of conferring greetings. I am interpreting the present tense of the second instance of the verb in this verse as a real-time present (“they’re telling me as I write”) rather than as continuous action.
JIt is generally agreed by grammarians (as I have read it in Brown, Hughes, Turner, Robertson) that this grammar does not necessarily indicate where these Italians are at the time. They could be “from” in the sense of “native to” or “from” in the sense of “moved from.”
KThis word is in the majority of Greek manuscripts and thus in the traditional Textus Receptus and Patriarchal Greek Orthodox editions of the Greek New Testament, but is not in the western contemporary critical editions of the Greek New Testament (such as Nestle-Aland or the UBS) because it’s not in the two oldest-known manuscripts. (It is in 7/10 first-century manuscripts dating back to the 5th century, however.) The ancient Latin, Syriac, and central asian versions contain the Amen (the ancient Coptic versions go both ways), and Chrysostom includes it, but the “Amen” makes no real difference in meaning besides adding an air of finality to the last verse. In addition, the 1550 edition of the Textus Receptus by Stephens contains the following epilogue: προς εβραιους (“to the Hebrews” - this much is supported by א, A, C) εγραφη απο της ιταλιας (“written from Italy” - this phrase is supported by A, which substitutes “Rome” for “Italy” and also supported by at least 19 miniscules) δια τιμοθεου (“by Timothy” - this is supported by at least 22 Greek miniscule manuscripts, the earliest ones of which date to the 10th century – although at least three miniscules dating as far back as the 11th century substitute “Paul” for “Timothy.”), but the 1894 reprint of the Textus Receptus by Scrivner does not contain this postscript, nor do the Patriarchal or modern critical editions of the GNT (supported by the majority of Greek manuscripts, the oldest of which are P46 and D). Verse 23, with its separation between the first person author and the third person Timothy visiting, raises serious a logical objection to the later scribal claim of authorship by Timothy, although the Geneva Bible solves that problem with the viable translation of dia in terms of “sent by.”
LThis note began to appear in Bibles some 750 years after the book of Hebrews was written. It was not in the original letter; it is just a note by a scribe who copied the letter hundreds of years after it was written. It should also be noted that the interpretation of dia Timotheou as “by Timothy” can’t mean that the letter was written by Timothy - either as its author or as its amanuensis, because in v.23, the author talks about hoping that Timothy will visit him. The Geneva Bible’s translation “sent by Timothy” is plausible, however. Timothy could have come too late, and the author could have sent just his letter by Timothy rather than coming with Timothy.