不可忽视救恩

因此,我们必须更加留心所听过的事,免得随流漂去。 要知道,那藉着天使所说的话既然是确定的,连一切过犯和悖逆都受到了应得的报应, 那么,如果我们忽视了如此伟大的救恩,又怎么能逃脱报应呢?这救恩起初由主传讲,后来由那些听见的人向我们证实。 神又照着自己的旨意,用神迹、奇事和各种大能,以及圣灵的各种恩赐,与他们一同见证。

耶稣与谦卑

事实上,我们所说的那“将要来的世界”,神并没有使它服从天使, 但是有人在经上[a]某处郑重地见证说:

“人算什么,你竟然顾念他?
人之子算什么,你竟然照顾他?
你使他暂时比天使低微[b]
你赐他荣耀和尊贵为冠冕;[c]
你使万有都服从在他的脚下。”[d]

既然神使万有都服从他,就没有留下一样不服从他;但如今,我们还没有看见万有都服从他。 不过我们看见的是:那暂时比天使低微的耶稣,因着死亡的痛苦被赐予荣耀和尊贵为冠冕,好使他藉着神的恩典,替所有的人尝了死的滋味。

10 万有因他而有、万有藉他而成的那一位,既然要带领许多儿女归于荣耀,就藉着苦难使他们救恩的元首[e]得以成全,这是合宜的, 11 因为那使人分别为圣的,和那些被分别为圣的,都是出于同一位。因这理由,他称他们为弟兄,并不以为耻。 12 他说:

“我要向我的弟兄们宣扬你的名,
我要在会众面前歌颂你。”[f]

13 他又说:“我要依靠他。”[g]还说:“看哪,我和神所赐给我的孩子们都在这里[h]!”[i]

14 所以,孩子们既然同属血肉之体,他也照样同有一样的血肉之体,为要藉着死亡来废除那掌握死亡权势的——就是魔鬼, 15 并且释放那些因怕死而终生被束缚为奴役的人。 16 显然,他并不是要救拔天使,而是救拔亚伯拉罕的后裔。 17 故此,他必须在各方面都像他的弟兄们那样,为要在属神的事上成为怜悯人的、忠心[j]的大祭司,好为子民的罪孽献上平息祭[k] 18 既然他自己在被试探的时候受了苦,他就能帮助那些受试探的人。

Footnotes

  1. 希伯来书 2:6 在经上——辅助词语。
  2. 希伯来书 2:7 暂时比天使低微——或译作“比天使低微一点”。
  3. 希伯来书 2:7 有古抄本附“你也委任他统管你手所造的;”。
  4. 希伯来书 2:8 《诗篇》8:4-6。
  5. 希伯来书 2:10 元首——或译作“创始者”。
  6. 希伯来书 2:12 《诗篇》22:22。
  7. 希伯来书 2:13 《以赛亚书》8:17;12:2。
  8. 希伯来书 2:13 都在这里——辅助词语。
  9. 希伯来书 2:13 《以赛亚书》8:18。
  10. 希伯来书 2:17 忠心——或译作“信实”。
  11. 希伯来书 2:17 平息祭——或译作“挽回祭”。

Warning Against Drifting Away

Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken through angels[a] proved to be so firm that every violation[b] or disobedience received its just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, while God confirmed their witness[c] with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed[d] according to his will.

Exposition of Psalm 8: Jesus and the Destiny of Humanity

For he did not put the world to come,[e] about which we are speaking,[f] under the control of angels. Instead someone testified somewhere:

What is man that you think of him[g] or the son of man that you care for him?
You made him lower than the angels for a little while.
You crowned him with glory and honor.[h]
You put all things under his control.”[i]

For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control,[j] but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while,[k] now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death,[l] so that by God’s grace he would experience[m] death on behalf of everyone. 10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist,[n] in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer[o] of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin,[p] and so[q] he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,[r] 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers;[s] in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.”[t] 13 Again he says,[u] “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am,[v] with[w] the children God has given me.”[x] 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in[y] their humanity,[z] so that through death he could destroy[aa] the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. 16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17 Therefore he had[ab] to be made like his brothers and sisters[ac] in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement[ad] for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 2:2 sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).
  2. Hebrews 2:2 tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”
  3. Hebrews 2:4 tn Grk “God bearing witness together” (the phrase “with them” is implied).
  4. Hebrews 2:4 tn Grk “and distributions of the Holy Spirit.”
  5. Hebrews 2:5 sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.
  6. Hebrews 2:5 sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.
  7. Hebrews 2:6 tn Grk “remember him.”
  8. Hebrews 2:7 tc Several witnesses, many of them early and significant (א A C D* P Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat co), have at the end of v 7, “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” Other mss, not quite as impressive in weight, lack the words (P46 B D2 M). In spite of the impressive external evidence for the longer reading, it is most likely a scribal addition to conform the text of Hebrews to Ps 8:6 (8:7 LXX). Conformity of a NT quotation of the OT to the LXX was a routine scribal activity, and can hardly be in doubt here as to the cause of the longer reading.
  9. Hebrews 2:8 tn Grk “you subjected all things under his feet.”sn A quotation from Ps 8:4-6.
  10. Hebrews 2:8 sn The expression all things under his control occurs three times in 2:8. The latter two occurrences are not exactly identical to the Greek text of Ps 8:6 quoted at the beginning of the verse, but have been adapted by the writer of Hebrews to fit his argument.
  11. Hebrews 2:9 tn Or “who was made a little lower than the angels.”
  12. Hebrews 2:9 tn Grk “because of the suffering of death.”
  13. Hebrews 2:9 tn Grk “would taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).
  14. Hebrews 2:10 tn Grk “for whom are all things and through whom are all things.”
  15. Hebrews 2:10 sn The Greek word translated pioneer is used of a “prince” or leader, the representative head of a family. It also carries nuances of “trailblazer,” one who breaks through to new ground for those who follow him. It is used some thirty-five times in the Greek OT and four times in the NT, always of Christ (Acts 3:15; 5:31; Heb 2:10; 12:2).
  16. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “are all from one.”
  17. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “for which reason.”
  18. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The context here also indicates both men and women are in view; note especially the collective τὰ παιδία (ta paidia) in v. 14.
  19. Hebrews 2:12 tn Here, because of its occurrence in an OT quotation, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (tois adelphois) has been translated simply as “brothers” rather than “brothers and sisters” (see the note on the latter phrase in the previous verse).
  20. Hebrews 2:12 sn A quotation from Ps 22:22.
  21. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “and again,” as a continuation of the preceding.
  22. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).
  23. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “and.”
  24. Hebrews 2:13 sn A quotation from Isa 8:17-18.
  25. Hebrews 2:14 tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).
  26. Hebrews 2:14 tn Grk “the same.”
  27. Hebrews 2:14 tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”
  28. Hebrews 2:17 tn Or “he was obligated.”
  29. Hebrews 2:17 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
  30. Hebrews 2:17 tn Or “propitiation.”