Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

“To Noah the quarter of the world to which Messiah should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the nation; to Jacob, the tribe; to David and Isaiah, the family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to Daniel, the exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His…”

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word.

“His word is God's word (Heb 11:3). of his power--"The word" is the utterance which comes from His (the Son's) power, and gives expression to it. by himself--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. purged--Greek, "made purification of . . .”

And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

“"Worship Him all ye gods" ("gods," that is, exalted beings, as angels), refers to God; but it was universally admitted among the Hebrews that God would dwell, in a peculiar sense, in Messiah (so as to be in the Talmud phrase, "capable of being pointed…”

But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

“O God--the Greek has the article to mark emphasis (Ps 45:6, 7). for ever . . . righteousness--Everlasting duration and righteousness go together (Ps 45:2; 89:14). a sceptre of righteousness--literally, "a rod of rectitude," or "straightforwardness." The oldest manuscripts prefix "and" (compare Es 4:11).”

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

“God . . . thy God--JEROME, AUGUSTINE, and others translate Ps 45:7, "O God, Thy God, hath anointed thee," whereby Christ is addressed as God.”

And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

“And--In another passage (Ps 102:25-27) He says. in the beginning--English Version, Ps 102:25, "of old": Hebrew, "before," "aforetime." The Septuagint, "in the beginning" (as in Ge 1:1) answers by contrast to the end implied in "They shall perish," &c.”

They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

“The covenant of the possession of the earth was renewed with Noah and his seed on the renovated earth. So it shall be after the perishing by fire (2Pe 3:12, 13). remainest--through (so the Greek) all changes. as . . . a garment-- (Isa 51:6).”

You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”

“The same in nature, therefore in covenant faithfulness to Thy people. shall not fail--Hebrew, "shall not end." Israel, in the Babylonian captivity, in the hundred second Psalm, casts her hopes of deliverance on Messiah, the unchanging covenant God of Israel.”

We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

“Therefore--Because Christ the Mediator of the new covenant is so far (Heb 1:5-14) above all angels, the mediators of the old covenant. the more earnest--Greek, "the more abundantly." heard--spoken by God (Heb 1:1); and by the Lord (Heb 2:3).”

But somewhere it is testified in these words: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

“But--It is not to angels the Gospel kingdom is subject, BUT . . . one . . . testified--the usual way of quoting Scripture to readers familiar with it.”

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

“An answer to the Jews, and Hebrew Christians, whosoever, through impatience at the delay in the promised advent of Christ's glory, were in danger of apostasy, stumbling at Christ crucified.”

He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”

“At Ps 22:22, which begins with Christ's cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and details minutely His sorrows, passes from Christ's sufferings to His triumph, prefigured by the same in the experience of David.”

And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”

“I will put my trust in him--from the Septuagint, Isa 8:17, which immediately precedes the next quotation, "Behold, I and the children," &c.”

Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that…

“"The life of the flesh is in the blood; it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Le 17:11, 14). also--Greek, "in a somewhat similar manner"; not altogether in a like manner.”

and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

“Contrast with this bondage, the glory of the "sons" (Heb 2:10). "Bondage" is defined by Aristotle, "The living not as one chooses"; "liberty," "the living as one chooses."”

For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in…

“The sinner is brought by that sacrifice into God's favor, which by sin he had forfeited; hence his right prayer is, "God be propitiated (so the Greek) to me who am a sinner" (Lu 18:13).”

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

“Php 3:14, "the high calling"; Greek "the calling above," that is, heavenly. the Apostle and High Priest of our profession--There is but one Greek article to both nouns, "Him who is at once Apostle and High Priest"--Apostle, as Ambassador (a higher designation than "angel"-messenger) sent…”

He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

“Who was faithful--The Greek implies also that He still is faithful, namely, as our mediating High Priest, faithful to the trust God has assigned Him (Heb 2:17). So Moses in God's house (Nu 12:7).”

For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.

“For--assigning the reason why they should "consider" attentively "Christ" (Heb 3:1), highly as they regard Moses who resembled Him in faithfulness (Heb 3:2). was--Greek, "has been." counted worthy of more glory--by God, when He exalted Him to His own right hand.”

And every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

“Someone must be the establisher of every house; Moses was not the establisher of the house, but a portion of it (but He who established all things, and therefore the spiritual house in question, is God).”

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

“But Christ--was and is faithful (Heb 3:2). as a son over his own house--rather, "over His (GOD'S, Heb 3:4) house"; and therefore, as the inference from His being one with God, over His own house.”

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the…

“The Psalm, each fresh time when used in public worship, by "to-day," will mean the particular day when it was, or is, used. hear--obediently. his voice--of grace.”

do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,

“The first offense especially ought to be guarded against, and is the most severely reproved, as it is apt to produce many more. Nu 20:1-13 and De 33:8 mention a second similar occasion in the wilderness of Sin, near Kadesh, also called Meribah.”

where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works.

“The lesson intended to be hinted to the Hebrew Christians is, their "to-day" is to last only between the first preaching of the Gospel and Jerusalem's impending overthrow, namely, FORTY YEARS; exactly the number of years of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness, until the full…”

Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’

“But the oldest manuscripts read, "this." said--"grieved," or "displeased," at their first offense. Subsequently when they hardened their heart in unbelief still more, He sware in His wrath (Heb 3:11); an ascending gradation (compare Heb 3:17, 18).”