Commentary on the book of Hebrews

Contents Introduction 1. Who wrote Hebrews? 2. To whom is it written? 3. Reason, purpose and motivation for writing the Epistle 4. Place and time of writing 5. Division of the Epistle The dogmatic part. The superiority of the New Testament economy of salvation over the Old Testament a) The height of the face of the Mediator of the New Testament The book of Hebrews does not have the usual superscription of who is writing to whom. Therefore, those who begin to read this message at first glance cannot help but be reminded of the question: who wrote this message and to whom? 1. Who wrote Hebrews? Let it not be indicated who wrote this message; but whoever begins to read it, as long as he has not first accepted any prejudice regarding the origin of it, this question cannot remain unresolved for long. Before he has time to read the first two or three chapters, he will be forced to realize: St. Paul wrote this. The further he goes in reading, the more this thought will be established and strengthened in him and, finally, will turn into complete conviction when he reaches the afterword. Every word here is an indication of St. Paul. Thus, even if we had no other true indications of the origin of this epistle from St. Paul, it itself would have spoken about this. But this epistle was not found yesterday, but from the very beginning of its writing it was given into the hands of Christians and until now has been revered and used by them - and always as the epistle of St. Paul. Why, if it is not enough for someone to verify the message itself from St. Paul, he can reinforce it with the testimony of Christian antiquity about such an origin and thereby dispel any bewilderment. This evidence begins in the apostolic age and even from among the Apostles themselves. This is how they went until they ended with conciliar definitions. The first testimony about this belongs to Saint Peter. In his second letter he writes: “having longings for these (that is, new heavens and new earths), strive for undefiled and undefiled Him to be found in peace, and do not long for the longsuffering of our Lord for salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as he did in all his epistles, speaking in them about these things” (2 Pet. 3:14-16). Sim. St. Peter testifies that St. Paul wrote to those to whom he himself writes. But he writes this to the believing Jews. Therefore, St. Paul also wrote to the Jews. Only one epistle is known from St. Paul, which is contained in the code of the Holy Books of the New Testament. What other epistle could St. Peter mean in these words? 1) that Saint Peter wrote his second epistle after the first bonds of Saint Paul in Rome, from which his epistle to the Hebrews is believed to have been written, in the period of time between these bonds and the second; 2) that Saint Paul, sending his message to a certain society of Christians, intended for it to be distributed by them everywhere among the Jews; and 3) that Saint Peter saw this intention of Saint Paul come true in practice. The truth that Saint Peter speaks of in the above words is the following: anticipating the end of the age and the second coming of Christ, try to live in such a way that you will then appear undefiled and blameless. In Saint Paul this thought is found in almost all of his epistles; Yes, it constitutes an integral part of the faith of Christ and was always included in the original outline of the gospel. Re-read for anyone: Titus. 2, 11–14; Col. 3, 1–11; Phil. 3, 17–21; Eph. 5, 1–11; Gal. 5, 19–26. In the book of Hebrews it is stated in Hebrews 10:19-31. “Let us,” he says, “keep an unwavering confession of hope, encouraging ... one another to works of love, and this is all the more so, since you see the approaching day of judgment. For he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23-25). If we depart from the faith, or sin and so remain in sin, then at the judgment we have nothing more to expect except severe condemnation and terrible punishment. The fact that this truth is not expressed in the same words by St. Paul as by St. Peter does not interfere with the recognition of the power of this testimony. Yes, this is not required by the words of St. Peter. The second testimony is given to us by Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, in his first letter to the Corinthians, written in the years 70-96. Reading this epistle, one cannot help but see how fully Saint Clement assimilated the Epistle to the Hebrews. He repeatedly contains provisions, phrases, and words literally taken from this epistle. So, about the Savior, he says that He is the radiance of the glory of God and that He is the best of the Angels, since He inherited a name more glorious than them. About the Angels it is said: “Angels create your spirits,” and about Him: “Thou art my son... sit at My right hand” (in Clement, chapter 36; in the Epistle to the Hebrews of St. Paul, Heb. 1:5, 7). About the holy prophet Moses he writes that he is faithful in everything to the house of God, like a faithful servant (chap. 43 and 17). These are the words of the book of Hebrews Heb. 3, 2–5. With the words of this epistle, he also praises the Old Testament righteous, such as: Enoch was transformed and was not found (in Clement, chapter 9; in the epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 11:5)); Abraham, having listened to the words of calling, left his land, in the hope, leaving the lesser, to inherit the greater - heavenly (in Clement ch. 10; in the letter to the Hebrews (Heb.11, 8, 16); and about all the saints it is generally said: expulsion and prison bonds, stoning, beatings, walking in sheepskins, in goatskins (in Clement ch. 45, 17; in the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 11, 36-37). He has other similar places. Although Saint Clement does not say that he takes such speeches from the Epistle to the Hebrews of Saint Paul, this is obvious even without such an indication. What follows from this? To say that this is the case, we must conclude that the Epistle to the Hebrews is older than the writings of St. Clement, or belongs to the apostolic age, will not be enough. It should be added that it is also of apostolic origin: firstly, because then, except for the Apostles, no one could write like that; secondly, because, if it were not of apostolic origin, Saint Clement would not have studied and assimilated it so diligently, as can be seen from his letter to the Corinthians. He himself is the closest disciple of the Apostles and their confidant. Only their word could he pay such attention to and love him so much. But from which Apostle could it have come? - From none other than St. Paul. The entire content of the message, and especially the afterword, points to it; Saint Clement was especially close to him, whom he calls his companion and companion in his letter to the Philippians (Phil. 4:3). From the above, Eusebius also draws the same conclusion about the origin of the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that, judging by this, it is rightly ranked among the other epistles of the holy Apostle Paul 2. Further, Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, Saint Polycarp and Saint Justin the Philosopher have passages that, with more or less certainty, point to the Epistle to the Hebrews. This should especially be said about Saint Justin the Philosopher, who, in a conversation with Tryphon, calls the Lord the Savior the eternal priest of the Most High according to the order of Melchizedek (§ 118); and in the first Apology - the Messenger, by which name He is not called anywhere except in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 3: 1). Although the name of St. Paul is not mentioned, it is obvious that the Epistle to the Hebrews was in use and was recognized as authoritative, that is, apostolic and, therefore, Paul’s, for the hand of St. Paul is visible everywhere in it. In the Church of Alexandria there are constantly definite indications of the origin of the Epistle to the Hebrews from the Apostle Paul. This is evidenced by Panten, the founder of the Alexandrian catechetical school, Clement of Alexandria, his student, and Origen, the latter's student. All of them revere St. Paul as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews - and only ask themselves the question of why St. Paul did not put his name at the beginning of the epistle, as he usually did, and solve it: which does not give any reason to assume that they wavered in their conviction in any way. It is not superfluous to note that Origen in his writings quotes the Epistle to the Hebrews up to two hundred times, and almost everywhere indicating that these are the words of St. Paul. As the basis for his conviction, he believed not only that the thoughts of the epistle point to Saint Paul, but also that they had a constant tradition about this from the ancient men. 3 After these writers in Alexandria and all subsequent ones, the Epistle to the Hebrews was looked upon as Pavlovo. These are Saint Dionysius, Saint Alexander, Saint Athanasius the Great, Anthony the Great, Didymus, Theophilus. The Syrian Church expressed its confidence in the origin of the Epistle to the Hebrews from the Apostle Paul in the Peshito translation, made in the second century, where this epistle is among the epistles of St. Paul, - and at the Council of Antioch against Paul of Samosata, in whose acts the following passages were quoted from this epistle: 2:14, 4:15, 11:16, - and one - 12:1, with the addition: according to Paul the teacher. After this, Saint James of Nizibia and Saint Ephraim the Syrian cited passages from this epistle always with the words: the holy Apostle or blessed Paul says. The Council of Laodicea completes and seals the testimony of this to the Syrian Church, which, in its 60th canon, listing the books of Holy Scripture, places the Epistle to the Hebrews among the Epistles of St. Paul among the New Testament books. The testimonies of the other Eastern Churches about this are conveyed by their most important teachers, who attributed the entire letter to the Hebrews to St. Paul. These are: Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius of Cyprus, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Chrysostom, Theodoret. Having reviewed all this, we cannot help but recognize the words of Blessed Jerome as irrefutably true - that this message is recognized by Paul not only by all the Eastern Churches, but also by all church writers from the Greeks 4 . In the West, after St. Clement, traces of reference to the Epistle to the Hebrews are found in the writings of St. Irenaeus, although few. So he says 5 that God created everything and contains everything “by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3), that the law in its cleansing sacred rites is “a shadow of what is to come” (Book 4, chapter 11, §4. - Heb. 10:1; Heb. 8:5; Heb. 9:23), that Enoch “pleased God and was converted” (book 5, chapter 5, §1). Eusebius mentions another book of Saint Irenaeus, entitled “Resolution of Perplexed Questions,” and assures that it also contains some sayings borrowed from the Epistle to the Hebrews. The contemporary testimony of St. Irenaeus about this message is also given by the translation of the Holy Scripture into Latin - Itala, where, along with other letters of St. Paul, there is also a letter to the Hebrews. This message was also known to Tertullian, who gave it apostolic authority (De pudic. p. 20). After this, Latin writers for about a hundred years or so did not remember this message, although it was read in the commonly used translation of the Holy Scriptures - Itala. Quotidie ecclesiarum lectione celebratur 6. But then, starting with Hilary, who flourished in the middle of the 4th century, Latin writers again began to cite it, and precisely as Paul’s epistle. After Hilary they did this - Lucifer, Saint Ambrose, Philastrius, Gaudentius, Blessed Jerome, Augustine. At the latter, this epistle was recognized as apostolic at the Council of Hippo and the Council of Carthage. That the use of the Epistle to the Hebrews by Latin writers was suppressed, this cannot serve as proof that in the West at that time they doubted its authenticity and apostolic dignity, because, as has been said, its use in the Church was not suppressed. This could have been allowed due to the circumstances of the time. This is how they explain it, believing that this was done due to Marcionite and Novatian errors. After the conciliar definitions, there is no need to ask yourself the question of who wrote this epistle, or to create bewilderments that perhaps it was not St. Paul who wrote it. Saint Paul did not indicate the one to whom this epistle was written. But this too is immediately revealed. The content of the letter indicates that it was written to the Jews. But to which Jews, those who believed or those still alien to the faith, or both? Reading the first chapters, one might think that a catechumen is being written to all Jews in general, to the entire Jewish people, without distinguishing those who believed from those who did not. But then, from the fifth chapter, quite definite indications begin to be found that the speech is addressed to believers who have been believing for a long time (Heb. 5:12), have served and are serving a lot to the saints, that is, Christians in need (Heb. 6:10), and have suffered a lot for the faith (Heb. 10:32-34). This is especially clear from the afterword (Heb. 13, 18 ff.). Here is a new question: did St. Paul write to all Jewish believers in general, or to the believers among them who lived in a certain place and region? Saint Paul, apparently, writes to his sincere children of faith, to his pets, whom he wants to see in the confidence that through this he will also receive joyful consolation (Heb. 13:19-23). But he had them everywhere. Wherever he founded churches, his first disciples were Jews, many of whom devoted themselves to the service of Saint Paul and became his inseparable companions and collaborators. Starting from Antioch in Syria, through Asia Minor throughout almost its entire latitude and longitude, through Macedonia, Achaia and Illyricum to Rome and Spain, throughout the entire space of the apostolic works of St. Paul, there were hosts of Jews who believed in his word, who loved him and were loved by him. If we ask ourselves to which of them would St. Paul most likely write a letter, then, with all our efforts, we cannot find a definite answer to this; He could write to one, and another, and to a third, but to whom exactly he wrote, it is impossible to say. The particular circumstances mentioned in the message make us think so. These circumstances show that the epistle was written to a specific Christian society; but when we begin to compare them with what is known from the acts and epistles of St. Paul, we see that one goes more to one place, another to another, a third to a third. Thus, when Saint Paul speaks of those to whom he writes that they have long been enlightened by the faith, that at the beginning of their enlightenment they suffered the plunder of their estates and many passions, that then, however, despite this, they diligently served and serve the saints and that they even suffered his own bonds (Heb. 5, 12, 6:10, 10ff); then such reminders involuntarily make one think that he is writing a message to certain individuals, to a certain society and region. This is especially evident when he says: pray that I may return to you as soon as possible, or: soon I will see you together with Timothy (Heb. 13, 19, 23). If we now begin to inquire to which Church of believers such traits could be applied, we will find that the long history of enlightenment by faith comes most of all to the Christians of Jerusalem and Palestine in general, but that the Antiochians, Damascenes, Cilicians, Cyprians, Phoenicians and Cyreneans are also not far behind them in this regard (Acts 11:18 et seq.). The plunder of estates took place in Jerusalem, for which Saint Paul himself was the culprit (Acts 8); but the Thessalonians are similar to him in this, as evidenced in the letter to them (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Believers everywhere had to endure many passions. This happened in Jerusalem, and in Rome, and in Thessaloniki, and in all those places where the Jewish believers lived, to whom Saint Peter wrote his epistle, since he repeatedly speaks in it about the sufferings he endures and inspires him to endure them patiently. These places, let us note in passing, were partly the same in which Saint Paul acted, such as: Bithynia, Galatia, Asia. The Macedonian and Achaian Churches were especially distinguished by their service to the saints, as can be seen from the Epistle to the Corinthians. The Philippians and Colossians suffered through the bonds of Saint Paul, or showed their sympathy for him during them. This is when he was in prison in Rome; when he was kept in them in Caesarea, then the Palestinian Christians could show him the same. Shortly before writing this letter, he made a promise to visit and see the Philippians and Colossians, asking Philemon to prepare a room for him. The fact that he places Saint Timothy with him as a guide and visitor suggests that those whom he intended to visit were pleased to see Saint Timothy; the same could be especially true for the Lycaonians, Ephesians and Philippians. Taking into account all these applications, one can guess that this letter was sent by St. Paul to the Jews of either Jerusalem and Palestine, or Antioch and Syria, or Lycaonia and Phrygia, or Asia, Macedonia and Achaia. And (not our) interpreters of Scripture tried to time the present message to all these places, with the addition of Alexandria with Cyrene and Spain. – It is obvious that it is extremely difficult to say anything definite about this subject. Most of them, however, focus on Jerusalem, or Palestine in general. The last thought is the thought of our ancient interpreters. You can join her too. We say - it is possible, but it should not; because, according to all the calculated data, it would be better to leave this question without a definite solution, and just say: the message was written to a certain Christian society, or to Christians of a certain region, but to which one it is difficult to determine. What is certain is that this society was within the circle of the apostolic activity of St. Paul. We can add to this that Saint Paul, having sent the message to one place, meant that it would go to all other places where there were persons for whom this message could be useful. According to the above-mentioned features, Jewish believers from almost all the places where the Churches were founded by St. Paul, reading this letter, could think that it was specifically directed to them, and the more willingly they would accept what was written. In this case, this message can be called conciliar, or district - to all Jewish believers. We are forced to add the following: it cannot be denied that when writing this letter, Saint Paul was thinking about the Jews who had not yet believed. This idea is suggested not only by general reasoning about the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, but also by some specific indications (Heb. 4, 7, 7:18, 8:13, 10:1). A few more words will have to be said about this below. Thus, we can assume that the message, having been sent to a certain place, was intended for all not only believers, but also non-believers. The believing Jews who accepted the message spread it among all other believing Jews, and through them among the Jews who had not yet believed. The latter could be told in words that this message was deliberately written for the Jews, without naming the writer. Under this title this message was taught throughout antiquity and everywhere: πρὸς Ἐβραίους - to the Jews. Perhaps it was even inscribed this way by Saint Paul himself. This is the reason why Saint Paul did not put his name at the beginning of the letter. Because I wanted the Jews to read this message calmly. The name of Saint Paul resonated unpleasantly in the ears of many Jews and believers; those who did not believe could not tolerate him. If the Apostle had put it at the beginning of the epistle, how many readers would it have been deterred from reading it? Seeing nothing at the beginning and considering the message to contain good instructions about the path of the Lord, everyone calmly took it in their hands, read and studied it, captivated by its sound reasoning and suggestions. As a result, believers were naturally confirmed in the faith, and non-believers were disposed towards it: which was the main goal of the message. If the Apostle had acted differently, he himself would have been a ruiner of his own cause. This is how Saint Clement of Rome explains the omission of the name of the writer, as Eusebius says: “And what is not in the epistle is the inscription: Paul the Apostle - this should have been so; because he wrote, says Clement, an epistle to the Jews, who were prejudiced against him and suspected him. So he acted very prudently that from the very beginning he did not turn them away from himself by announcing his name" 7 . 3. Reason, purpose and motivation for writing the Message The reason for this was the falling away of the Jews who believed again into Judaism and their removal from communication with Christians in their prayer meetings (Heb. 10:25). Fearing the repetition of such cases and the expansion of the circle of those who fall away, Saint Paul writes to the Jews, urging them to remain faithful to the one and saving faith. The fears of falling away were not in vain. The Jews had their own Apostles from a host of zealots, who were deliberately sent everywhere to attract proselytes from the pagans to Judaism and monitor the fidelity of the Jewish law. When the Christian preaching began, they could not look at it indifferently and not oppose it, especially seeing how their proselytes willingly converted to Christianity. The incitement against St. Paul in Thessaloniki and Beria was their business. Their cause was also the unrest in Rome, due to which all the Jews were expelled from Rome under Claudius. But what happened in these places was, of course, repeated in others, and never ceased to be repeated. Such agitations were undoubtedly accompanied not only by persecution of the strong believers, but also by the falling away from the faith of the weak. And it was impossible not to take care of keeping them within the fence of faith. Moreover, the Judaizing Christians were not left alone. They began to separate from real Christians following the Apostolic Council, at first, perhaps, without opposition, and then they began to oppose. The Galatians were damaged in their faith, it must be assumed, by them. The same thing, of course, could be repeated in other places. Reasonable Judaism, without considering Judaism an urgent condition in the matter of salvation, was tolerable as a transitional state. But Judaism as a condition of salvation was a destructive heresy, and deviation towards it is a real falling away from the faith of Christ. The falling away of believing Jews, weak in faith, into such Judaism with faith, it can be assumed, happened in greater numbers than the falling away into complete Judaism. Could St. Paul fail to take care of such people? The fear could have been intensified by the multiplication of apostasies, the increase in persecution and oppression. At first, Jewish Christians were persecuted only by their former brothers in faith. And then, not only outside Jerusalem, but also in Jerusalem itself, they met with patronage and protection from the Roman authorities, who, not considering Christianity to be contrary to their paganism, but only as a special religious sense among the Jews, did not allow one to crowd out others on such occasions. But by the time of the epistle to the Hebrews, these authorities began to distinguish Christianity from Judaism and consider it unfavorable to paganism. Why did they begin to oppose him on their own? The weak Jewish Christians, pressed in this way both from their blood and from the pagans, and not seeing a way out of their difficult situation, lost heart and fell away to their old faith more willingly and quickly than before. It was necessary to support such people as well, inspiring them to be patient. For all these reasons, Saint Paul writes his Epistle to the Hebrews, depicting the superiority of Christianity over Judaism in all those aspects from which Judaism was hitherto not unjustly revered as the only godly faith. And in his other epistles, almost all of them, the holy Apostle Paul addresses the Jews with a word of admonition. But there, for the most part, his speech was directed towards convincing them not only to consider themselves children of God and heirs of the promises given to their fathers, and through such suggestions to establish peace between the believers, who, in all places of his preaching, consisted of Jews and pagans. Why was his speech there to the Jews in connection with his speech to the pagans? Here, in the letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle addresses himself exclusively to the Jews, revealing to them that the old dispensation has passed away 8 and must give way to a new, more perfect one, as was predicted throughout the entire Scripture. From here the goals that St. Paul had in mind when writing his epistle to the Hebrews become obvious. The first was to prevent the intensification of falling away from the faith. This is evident from the repeated exhortations of the holy Apostle - not to fall away and not to retreat. Thus, having said that the New Testament economy of salvation was accomplished by the Son of God, “bearing all things with His power” (Heb. 1:3), he adds: “For this reason it is fitting for us to give heed to what we hear, lest we fall away” (Heb. 2:1). Then, this admonition is repeated more than once, in a number of different arguments. In one place he says: “Take heed, lest we fall away.” In some of you there will be a deceitful heart, full of unbelief, because you will live to depart from God” (Heb. 3:12); in another: “Be careful that you do not deny him who speaks” (Heb. 12:25); and calls out to everyone in general: “let you hold fast to your confession” (Heb. 4:14). This is also evident from the repeated reminders of the harmful consequences of falling away. Thus, at the beginning of the letter he says: “the word spoken by the angels,” as soon as it was violated, subjected the violators to righteous punishment. How can we escape heavenly punishment if we neglect the word, which “began to be spoken from the Lord by those who heard it spoken to us,” accompanied by evidence of ourselves from above “in signs, and wonders, and the dispensing of the Holy Spirit” (Heb. 2:2-4). In another place, further, he impressively imagines that those who by faith have united with Christ the Lord and tasted unspeakable blessings in Him fall away - the second 9 crucify the Lord, and because the earth, having drunk the rain that often falls on it and wearing out thorns and thistles, is subject to oaths and burning (Heb. 6: 4-8). He returns to a similar warning later, when he says that whoever rejected the law of Moses was subject to death; how much more is he worthy of bitter torment who rejects the Son of God? - Such a one tramples on the treasured blood, and insults the Holy Spirit, - and God Himself moves to take vengeance on him, saying: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19). “But it’s scary to fall into the hands of the living God.” This is what awaits such: “a certain expectation of judgment and fire is terrible, jealousy to destroy those who want to resist” (Heb. 10:27-31). This is evident from the entire content of the letter, which describes the superiority of the New Testament economy over the Old Testament. Having accepted everything that was said with his heart, he could not help but feel that, leaving Christianity and falling back to Judaism, he was turning not to the best, but to the worst, or to something that no longer had any value - and as a result, he could not help but stop in the backward movement towards Judaism. To make such an impression and to receive such a consequence from it, of course, is what Saint Paul had in mind when writing this letter. The second goal was to inspire patience with sorrows and hardships for the faith. Faith was weakened and the path to falling away from troubles and persecution was laid out. By leaving the persecuted without inspiration to endure them courageously, Saint Paul would have weakened the power of all previous exhortations and would have himself stopped the beneficial effect of his message. Why, presenting examples of faith and the courage that accompanied it in enduring sorrows for it throughout the course of Old Testament history, he concluded: “The cloud of witnesses has surrounded us with so much wealth... let us persevere with patience for the feat that is set before us, looking to the Author of our faith and the finisher of Jesus,” and so on. (Heb. 12:1–2ff). Chapters 11 and 12 are devoted to this inspiration. It is not clear that Saint Paul had in mind the correction of any moral shortcomings among the Jews who believed. There are very few moral lessons; in brief sayings they are placed in chapters 12 and 13 between other subjects and are all of a common nature. But it cannot be denied that he meant not only keeping those who believed in the faith, but also attracting Jews who had not yet believed to the faith, as we have already mentioned above. This thought arises by itself when reading the message. And as soon as an unbelieving Jew undertakes to read it, he cannot help but feel some slight distraction from Judaism. Already one general image of the superiority of the economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus over Judaism, with such strong evidence from Scripture and such victorious evidence from above, such as signs and wonders and the distribution of the Holy Spirit, taking place with everyone’s own eyes, could not but attract to faith with power. But throughout the epistle there are many passages that directly go to the non-believer and tell him: be careful, don’t ignore what is being said to you. For example: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts,” as your fathers did in the wilderness, for which the Lord condemned them: “They will not enter My rest” (Heb. 3:7-11). And they did not enter in because of their unbelief (Heb. 3:19). So the word of the gospel is addressed to us, as well as to those. But the word was of no use to those who were not accepted with faith; the same will happen to us now if we do not believe. Let us be afraid of losing the good that is offered to us. “Let us strive to enter into rest, so that no one will fall into the same parable of disobedience” (Heb. 4:1-2,11). These are the same words about the setting aside of the old commandment because of its weakness (Heb. 7:18), about the establishment of a new covenant, not according to the covenant of the fathers, by which the former is exposed as obsolete and worthless (Heb. 8:8-9, 13), about the fact that while the first tabernacle stood, “the way was not revealed to the saints” (Heb. 9:8); for it could not be revealed to him except by the Lord Jesus, who with His blood entered into the holy place not made with hands (Heb. 9:11-12). These places, and others similar to them, involuntarily suggest that St. Paul also had in mind the unbelieving Jews, in his desire to convert them. And which of the prudent Jews, reading such suggestions, could not think and desire, leaving the worst, to accept the best? What prompted St. Paul to write Hebrews when he was appointed to be the Apostle to the Gentiles and not to the Jews? – The common thing is his immeasurable love for the Lord, according to which he says about himself that now it is no longer he who lives, but Christ lives in him (Gal. 2:20). The spreading of His glory by faith was the ever-present pursuit and endeavor of St. Paul. But no less than that, his strong love for his people prompted him to do this. Loving his family, he sincerely wished that everyone in it would be saved. Desiring this, I could not resist, having shown the only path to salvation in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not to say to some - hold fast to this path you have accepted, and to others - hasten to enter it. He knew that, according to God’s definition, “there is salvation from the Jews” (John 4:22). What pity is worthy if some of the Jews themselves do not achieve salvation? Thoughts about this always greatly struck Saint Paul, and he prayed to the Lord to blot him out of the book of life, if only all of Israel would be saved. After this, could he not write a general admonition to the Jews about accepting and maintaining the one saving faith? Saint Chrysostom asks: “Blessed Paul says about himself that he is an “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13). What does he care about the Jews? And how does he write to them? And he answers: “How could he not write to those for whom he wanted to be excommunicated from Christ (Rom. 9:3)?” 4. Place and time of writing The place of writing is determined by the words: “you who are from Italy kiss you” (Heb. 13:24), that is, Italians. Consequently, St. Paul was in Italy when he wrote his letter to the Hebrews. In Italy, only one place of his residence is known - Rome. Therefore, we must assume that he wrote this message from Rome. Saint Paul was in Rome twice, and both times he was in prison. It comes out of his bonds that he wrote this message. But which ones? - From the first. In Heb. 13, 19 Saint Paul harbors the hope that he will be freed from Rome and will have the consolation of seeing those to whom he writes. But in this situation his captivity was at the end of the first bonds, as can be seen from his letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. At this time, it must be assumed, the Epistle to the Hebrews was written, in 63 or 64. The parts of the message are determined by its purposes. The goals were to keep those who believed in the faith and to attract Jews who had not yet believed to it, with the addition of an exhortation to complacent patience with everything that had to be endured for the faith. The first one is the main one. Saint Paul strives to achieve this by depicting the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, with strong inductions that encourage faith and to remain firmly in it. This constitutes the first part of the epistle, the largest, chapters 1–10. Let's call it dogmatic, about the superiority of the New Testament economy of salvation over the Old Testament. The second part is the smallest, containing an admonition about enduring sorrows for the faith with some moral lessons about Christian behavior and life. It consists of two and a half chapters, 11–13:25. The last verses of the last, 13th, chapter make up the afterword. The dogmatic part. The superiority of the New Testament economy of salvation over the Old Testament Both dispensations are from God. But in their establishment they were mediated by persons of unequal dignity; and the matter, or meaning and power of both, are also of unequal weight. In both respects, Christianity is immeasurably higher than Judaism - higher both in its Intercessor, and in its work, or in its power. This is what Saint Paul reveals in the first part of his letter. With this revelation in mind, from the first words he puts forward dogmatic provisions about Christ the Savior, which then serve as the basis for him to show the superiority of Christianity over Judaism in the two respects shown. We will call these first verses a) principles from which it is then derived b) the superiority of Christianity over Judaism according to its Intercessor, and further - c) according to one’s own business, or one’s own strength. A. Principles (Heb. 1:1–3) As the Apostle has two things in mind - a) the height of the face of the Mediator of the New Testament and b) the height of His work: then in the verses containing the grounds for this testimony, the Apostle introduced features that foreshadow both. a) Height of the face of the Mediator of the New Testament Hebrews 1:1–2. “Of many times and in many ways, God spoke of the Father as a prophet, but in these last days He spoke to us in His Son.” “Verb” – “verb”. Since the matter is about faith, and true faith can only be taught by God through His Divine revelation, the Apostle begins his speech with this. God taught faith in ancient times, and now He teaches it. But then He taught through the prophets, and now He teaches through His Son. This, from the very first word, was instilled in the Jews: take heed! What do these words suggest to us? – Don’t wait any longer for the revelation, it is completed. Why did the Apostle, having said: “the verb - the verb,” not add: and will speak. And there is no one to send. The Son, as in the parable of the vine workers, is the last messenger (Matthew 21:37). After this, you can also apply to us: take heed! "Verb - verb". And again the same God who spoke before speaks. Therefore, the new word of God agrees with the ancient, and the ancient with the new. Although the ancient external institutions have passed away, the word of truth hidden in them is immutable. It serves as the strongest confirmation of the truth of the new word; and the new word leads to a complete understanding of the ancient word. He who enters with the lamp of a new word into the ancient, all the mysterious things hidden there, understands clearly. And whoever properly understands the meaning of everything in the Old Testament, for that the New Testament receives an urgent necessity, and precisely in the form as it is. “Multiple and varied” indicate how God communicated His will to people, not just once, not once, but many times, as soon as the need demanded it, men appeared on behalf of God. There was a revelation in paradise, it was after the expulsion from paradise from Adam to Noah, it was after the flood from Noah to Abraham, to Moses, it was with Moses, it was with the judges, it was through other prophets until the last. God, who revealed His will to please Him, conformed to the religious, moral and mental state of the people who lived in those times. But in accordance with this revelation, external orders of life according to God were established, which, as we see, were renewed, and renewed more than once. According to the guidance of any of these revelations, people who were faithful to him pleased God and were saved - by the measure of salvation characteristic of each of them. Because the power of salvation - faith in the Promised One - passed through all times. The revelation of the Promised One could not be given all at once, but was given as it could be understood and assimilated. The image of the Promised One was revealed in parts (in many parts). About 500 years before His coming, revelations ended. Israel was given time to delve into what was revealed about Him, to understand, to assimilate, so that when He appears, they would unmistakably recognize Him. The word “multipartite” suggests such thoughts. Perhaps the word “more diverse” has the same meaning, so both words mean the same thing – “different.” This is how Saint Chrysostom interprets it. With this interpretation, diversity will have to be understood not in relation to the way in which the revelation itself took place, for example in a dream, in reality, etc., but in relation to the form in which the revelation was communicated in its content: antediluvian, through Abraham, through Moses... Multi-part revelation naturally became diverse. But it is also possible to distinguish these words by combining with the word: “manifold” - the concept of many times repeated acts of revelation, and with the word: “manifold” - the concept of images of revelation: sometimes in a dream, sometimes in reality, through angels, through inner illumination, through a word heard without seeing a person, and God commanded the people of Israel to convey His inspirations, sometimes in direct words, sometimes in an ad hoc manner, and Sometimes he ordered the parable to be expressed not in words, but in action. Blessed Theodoret distinguishes the meaning of these words: “The word “manifold” means different kinds of economy (probably patriarchal and subordinate), and the word “manifold” means the difference in divine knowledge (revelations). For God appeared differently to Abraham, differently to Moses, differently to Elijah, differently to Micah. Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel all saw different images. Teaching this, the God of all things said: “I have multiplied visions, and in the hands of the prophets I have become like them” (Hos. 12:10). For the nature of God is not diverse, on the contrary, it has neither form nor image, it is simple and uncomplicated. Therefore, they saw not the most incomprehensible nature, but such images as the invisible God showed as needed. However, the word: “many parts” also suggests another thought, namely, that each of the prophets was entrusted with a certain kind of private economy. The God of the prophets, that is, the Lord Christ, did not look at any particular need, but, having become human, accomplished everything and arranged the salvation of people.” Ecumenius expressed the meaning of these words in the following words: διάφορος καί ποικίλος, and blessed Theophylact - in these words: διάφορος καί πολυειδής, without giving any special explanation to each of them. However, there is no great need for a precise definition of these words. The main idea of ​​the Apostle: then God spoke through the prophets, and now through the Son. The power of speech is in the word: through the Son. He continues to talk about this afterwards. By the same token, how often and how variously God spoke through the prophets, there was no intention of entertaining the attention of the readers, although the explanation of this could convey very impressive thoughts, for example: there was a promise; here – execution; there is a shadow; here is the body; there everything had a preparatory meaning; here everything is in reality itself, here is the crown of revelations: “an ancient past, and it was all new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Consequently, the people of God were so carefully led by God that there was no longer any need to remain under the law, but to submit to the new economy of God, established by the Son of God. The explanation of these words can be directed to the main thought of the Apostle as follows: how many times and how variously God revealed His will, and all through the prophets, and now He has revealed it to us through the Son. How He distinguished us! What a wondrous work He has done in us! “What is great,” says Saint Chrysostom, “that God sent prophets to your fathers? He sent His Only Begotten Son to us.” Judging by what has been said, the word “anciently” embraces the entire time of Old Testament revelations, from Adam to the last prophet, and not just the period in which the prophets themselves acted. During all this time, God spoke “from father to prophet.” Fathers are all ancestors, and prophets are chosen men through whom God revealed His will. The former are the successors and guardians of the revelation, the latter are its announcers. As the flash of lightning runs through the sky from end to end in an instant, the Holy Apostle Paul illuminates with his thoughts all previous time. The beginning of speech is exciting. It is similar to the beginning of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where Saint Paul does not stop with Adam, but goes back to the eternal decrees of God. Adam, Enoch, Noah were prophets, through whom God taught the antediluvian race how it wanted to be served and pleased by people. In the person of Noah, this teaching passed into the post-Flood time and at the very beginning it was renewed and replenished, in accordance with the then age of mankind. When the need arose to isolate a separate race from the general mass of people to preserve the true faith, its ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were prophets for it. They stand on the transition to legality, which, when the time came for it, was established through the prophet Moses and then was constantly supported by the prophets, whom God raised up at all times and through them revealed His will, His judgments, commandments and especially the promises of the coming of the Savior. This is how the matter of teaching faith went on until the coming of Christ the Savior. God did not directly speak to the people, but spoke to the chosen men so that they would convey this to the people. Only once did He speak to the people at Sinai; but the people could hardly stand the brief word of God - the saying of the Ten Commandments - and asked that God would no longer speak to them, but would convey His will to Moses, and he to them. That was the purpose of this action of God, to instill in the people a strong confidence that everything that Moses had to establish was from God, which confidence remained in him until Christ the Lord, with whom they said: “We know that Moses is God” (John 9:29). They were also confident that God also spoke through all the other prophets, although they did not always obey their words, due to their evil nature. The Apostle affirms this confidence as true, and takes it as the basis for his guidance of the Jews to the faith of Christ. God, he says, who spoke of old through the prophets, has spoken His will to us in the last days through His Son. The same God speaks, but through the Son. Although hearing: “through the Son,” not everyone could accurately and clearly imagine that there is a Son in God, for everyone, however, with fear of the will of God, this word immediately gave rise to the idea that the word of God through the Son is higher than His word through the prophets. This thought immediately raised the apostolic word to a significant height in their eyes, revived and elevated the faith of the believer, and aroused the attention of the unbeliever and called for investigation into what it really is and how it is. “In these last days” - in these last days, recently, shortly before this, in our memory, one can even add: “we have heard with our ears” (1 John 1:1), as St. John the Theologian begins his first epistle. These last days are in relation to the previous ones. From Adam God began to speak to people, and did not let a single generation pass without speaking. Finally, the verb in our time is the last. This word: “last” gives two thoughts: that the promises have come to an end and that the revelation given to us is the last. The prophets often hear such expressions: the last days, the last days, and they almost all point to the time determined for the coming of the promised Deliverer. Having used such an expression, the Apostle expressively suggested that the last days, about which the prophets speak, have already taken place during the course of time and its events. Take heed! “The verb is in the prophet... the verb is in the Son.” The Son is supplied along with the prophets, as God’s instrument in speaking the will of God. From the very word and image of expression it is clear that the prophets cannot compare with Him, but it was not yet time for the Apostle to explain what the Son is. He will explain this later. Here, only a hint is given that He is Someone Higher - and that was enough for the beginning. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Apostle clearly showed the difference between the Lord Christ and the prophets: for He called Him alone the Son.” Those who had already accepted the Gospel could not help but recall the words of St. John the Theologian: “No one has seen God anywhere; The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, is the one who confesses” (John 1:18), and one cannot conclude that the word of the Son has in itself such an advantage that not only the prophets, but none of the most perfect spirits can have. Saint Chrysostom deduces from here: “The superiority (of the new revelation) is not only in the fact that the prophets were sent to them, and the Son to us, but also in the fact that none of them saw God, but the Only Begotten Son saw.” “Give him an Heir to everyone.” St. Paul begins to show that there is a Son. The first is that He is the heir. The name of the Son caused the naming of heir: for the Son is naturally the heir (Gal. 4:7). God made Him the heir. “Put”, or from the ages determined Him to be an heir, in the eternal Trinity Council, or now made Him an heir, brought Him into the inheritance, gave the inheritance into His hands. Both can be combined like this: the one who was appointed heir from time immemorial is now brought into the inheritance and has received it. But the Apostle had mainly the latter in mind. This is clear from what he says about the Lord the Savior, who said the will of the Father to people. And He did this in the incarnate economy. While He lived among people, He told people what He had heard from the Father; When, after suffering, he rose again, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, then he became the heir of everything. Πάντων - everything. Just what? The son usually inherits his father's property. Why is Christ the Lord the heir? - All of the Father's property. Is it not the nature of the Divine? - No. The divine nature is not inherited by Him, but is present in birth itself. The Lord Savior, like God the Son, has everything Divine by nature, and does not inherit by dispensation. Saint Chrysostom says: “What does it mean: appoint an heir? That is, He made Him Lord of all. The Apostle uses the title “Heir” to express two concepts: the truth of sonship and the inalienability of dominion.” Obviously, this is said in relation to the embodied economy. By divine nature, the Son of God is the Lord of all, and is not brought into this dominion. If introduced, then according to humanity. He Himself spoke about this after the resurrection: “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). This is the same as: I am now brought into dominion over everything. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Lord Christ is the “heir” of all, not as God, but as man. As God, He is the Creator of all. And the Creator of all is by nature the Lord of all. The heir becomes master of that over which he was not previously master.” Everything has been given into the hands of the Lord Savior for the fulfillment of the goal of the incarnate economy, so that all the forces of heaven and earth and all creation can be directed towards this one thing and around oneself to gather all those who are being saved. On the other hand, and in order to introduce restorative forces into the world through human nature, which in the body combines all the forces of the world and all its elements, building in it above the rough appearance an invisibly better world, which will appear in all its greatness on the last day. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Saint Paul already wrote that God “in Christ Jesus took charge of all things that are in heaven and on earth” (Eph. 1:10) - and that through the resurrection and sitting at the right hand of the Father He became “above all principality and power...” and “every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the one to come.” God put everything in subjection under His feet. “He will give him the head above all” (Eph. 1:20–22). Or as in the letter to the Philippians: “Highly exalt Him and give Him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, those in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10). By inheritance we can more generally understand all people. This is in contrast to the Old Testament economy. Then only Israel was a part of God and His heritage, and now - all nations, as it was predicted through the prophet David: “I will give to you the tongues of Your heritage...” (Ps. 2:8). Blessed Theophylact writes: “He made Him an heir to all,” that is, He made Him the Lord of the whole world. Jacob is no longer only part of the Lord, but everything.” What kind of dominion is the Apostle talking about here? - About dominion over those who self-willingly and voluntarily had to submit to Him - about moral dominion, for He always had natural dominion over those who did not want Him, as they say: “Everything is done for You” (Ps. 119:91). After this, it is clear what kind of advantage it is that God spoke to us in the Son, “He hath made an heir to all,” speaking through such a person, above whom there is no one. Consequently, if there were a need for people to speak to them, then there would be no one to speak through. The last word has been said. Either listen and you will be saved, or perish if you do not listen. “With him also create eyelids.” That the Savior is appointed heir may seem to be the fruit of the completion of the dispensation of salvation. And that “with Him you created the ages,” this cannot be a gift, but an accessory of nature. Why does the Apostle raise here to the vision of the Divinity in the face of the Savior? The Apostle seems to say: God made Him an heir, but He Himself is God. He gradually raises minds, pointing out first that in Christ Jesus God spoke, then that after the completion of the speaking He was placed over everything, He received everything into His hands. Now he points out God in him, but not directly, but through the assimilation of His creativity: “For them God created centuries.” Although creativity directly pointed to the Divine: for it is only natural for God to create. But the Apostle refrains from such a proclamation, but leaves it so that in the souls of those who read it would be proclaimed by itself: therefore, He is God! The Apostle provides only the basis for such a confession. “With these words the Apostle pointed to the Divinity” (Theodoret). If the Apostle had limited himself to only pointing out that He is the heir of everything, then others might have thought that this was a gift of grace, or the mercy of God. But, pointing to creativity, he directly paves the way to confession of Him as God (Photius and Ecumenius). “An age is not some kind of essence, but something dependent, accompanying that which has a created nature. He is a product of time, associated with created natures” (Theodorit). Because of this inseparability of ages, or time, from created things, the creation of ages is inseparable from the creation of things, and to say: “ages were created” is the same as saying that all creatures were created. But you can focus your attention on one century, or time, and draw an abstract and special conclusion from here. The Lord Jesus created the eyelids. Therefore, He is before all ages, that is, eternal. A new indication of the Divinity: for eternity takes place only in God. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Apostle called the Son the Creator of the ages, teaching and admonishing that He is eternal, because He was always above all, no matter what temporary extension. Thus, the Old Testament Scripture speaks of God: “This is the first age” (Ps. 54:20), that is, always existing.” “Where are you who says: There was a time when He was not?” (Chrysostom). “He Himself created the ages. How were there centuries when He was not?” (Theophylact). This is what he said about the creativity of the Son, the Apostle rejected any low idea from making Him Heir and at the same time made it clear that this latter is not an appendage to nature, but a natural attribute of the Son, like God, which remains unchanged even after the Incarnation, which did not diminish it in the least... This work of Saint Theophan the Recluse remained unfinished Eusebius Pamphilus. Church history. Book 3, ch. 38 "" ( Eusebius Pamphilus. Church history. Book 6, chapter 25). Hieronymus of Stridon. Epistolae ad D'ardanum. 129. Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. Against heresies. Book 2, ch. 30, § 91. Church history. Book 6, ch. 14. You might be interested in: