Hebrews 4:12

Heb_4:12-13

The Word of God is quick and powerful

The Word a sword

It may be most accurate to interpret this passage as relating both to the Word of God incarnate, and the Word of God inspired.

Christ and His Word must go together. What is true of the Christ is here predicated both of Him and of His Word.

I. First let me speak CONCERNING THE QUALITIES OF THE WORD OF GOD. It is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.

1. The Word of God is said to be quick. It is a living Book. Take up any other book except the Bible, and there may be a measure of power in it, but there is not that indescribable vitality in it which breathes, and speaks, and pleads, and conquers in the case of this sacred volume. It is a living and incorruptible seed. It moves, it stirs itself, it lives, it communes with living men as a living Word. That human system which was once vigorous may grow old, and lose all vitality; but the Word of God is always fresh, and new, and full of force. Here, in the Old and New Testaments, we have at once the oldest and the newest of books.

2. The Word is said to be powerful, or active. The Word of God is powerful for all sacred ends. How powerful it is to convince men of sin! How powerful it is for conversion!

3. Next, the apostle tells us that this Word is cutting, A sword with two edges has no blunt side: it cuts both this way and that. The revelation of God given us in Holy Scripture is edge all over. It is alive in every part, and in every part keen to cut the conscience, and wound the heart. Depend upon it, there is not a superfluous verse in the Bible, nor a chapter which is useless. Doctors say of certain drugs that they are inert--they have no effect upon the system one way or the other. Now, there is not an inert passage in the Scriptures; every line has its virtues.

4. It is piercing. While, it has an edge like a sword, it has also a point like a rapier. The difficulty with some mens hearts is to get at them. In fact, there is no spiritually penetrating the heart of any natural man except by this piercing instrument, the Word of God. Into the very marrow of the man the sacred truth will pass, and find him out in a way in which he cannot even find himself out.

5. The Word of God is discriminating. It divides asunder soul and spirit. Nothing else could do that, for the division is difficult.

6. Once more, the Word of God is marvellously revealing to the inner self. It pierces between the joints and marrow, and marrow is a thing not to be got at very readily. The Word of God gets at the very marrow of our manhood; it lays bare the secret thoughts of the soul.

II. SOME LESSONS.

1. Let us greatly reverence the Word of Cod.

2. Let us, whenever we feel ourselves dead, and especially in prayer, get close to the Word, for the Word of God is alive.

3. Whenever we feel weak in our duties, let us go to the Word of God, and the Christ in the Word, for power; and this will be the best of power.

4. If you need as a minister, or a worker, anything that will cut your hearers to the heart, go to this Book for it.

5. If we want to discriminate at any time between the soul and the spirit, and the joints and marrow, let us go to the Word of God for discrimination.

6. And lastly, since this Book is meant to be a discerner or critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart, let the Book criticise us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The power of the Word of God

I. ITS JUDGING POWER.

1. It is living and energetic.

2. It cuts both ways.

(1) With the one edge it corrects and converts.

(2) With the other it condemns and destroys adversaries.

II. ITS DIVIDING POWER.

1. It divides the soul from the spirit, i.e., the lower animal nature from the higher, spiritual and eternal.

2. It divides so closely as to lay bare everything in mans composite nature.

III. ITS DISCERNING POWER.

1. It shows the moral nature of what is interior and hidden in mental operations.

2. It shows the moral nature of what is revolving in desire, and forming itself into volition and action.

IV. REFLECTIONS.

1. The Word of God enters the conscience to convert or to smite.

2. It searches out what has hitherto lain buried in the heart, and uncovers the false and transient from what is true and eternal.

3. It opens a man to himself, so that he may know himself in his moral actions and accountability.

4. Since its powers are so peculiar, let us not resist the Word of God.

5. No one can for ever despise it with impunity. (L. O. Thompson.)

The self-evidencing power of the Bible

We may affirm of the Bible, that he who reads it with attention, will find his own portrait given with so much accuracy, his heart so dissected and laid bare for his inspection, that there will be nothing left for him but to confess that the Author of the Bible knew him better than he knew himself; knew him better than he would have been known by any being who could not read the thoughts and search the spirit. Is there any one of you who has read so little of the Bible, or read it with so little attention, that he has never found his own case described--described with so surprising an accuracy, that he felt as though he himself must have sat for the portrait? When Scripture insists on the radical corruption of the heart, on its native enmity to God, and on all its deceitfulness, is there any one of us who will fail to allow that the affirmations are every way just, supposing his own heart to be that of which the affirmations are made? And when over and above its more general statements the Bible descends, as it often does, into particulars; when it speaks of the proneness of man to prefer a transient good to an enduring; the objects in sight, however inconsiderable, to those of faith, however magnificent; when it mentions the subterfuges of those whose conscience has been disquieted; when it shows the vain hopes, the false theories, the lying visions with which men suffer themselves to be cheated, or, rather, with which, they cheat themselves, who is there amongst us who will venture to deny that the representation tallies most nicely either with what he is, or with what he was--with what he is, if he have never repented and sought forgiveness of sin; with what be was if his nature has been renewed by the operations of Gods Spirit? If there be anything like honesty in the mind of the student of Scripture, he must, we are persuaded, be continually startled in his pursuit, in finding his ,own thoughts and motives and designs set in order before him. And if this be true, then, as is very evident, there belongs to the Bible the character which is assigned to it in the words of our text. And though it may seem somewhat extraordinary that notwithstanding the confessed diversity in human character, we should thus make a simple description serve as the moral portrait of countless individuals, you will remember, that practically, all men are alike; the differences are only superficial, so that Solomon could affirm that--as in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man. The face in the water is not a more accurate copy of the face of the beholder, than is the heart of one man a copy of any other mans. And, therefore, with all the differences which there may be amongst men, differences in dispositions and tempers, partly from nature and partly from education, we still take the Scriptural characteristic as actually belonging to every one; and holding up this characteristic, we affirm that we hold up the perfect image or likeness of each man or each woman, without a solitary exception; and we boldly make our appeal to every hearer of the Word, and demand of him whether the preacher do not morally affect such an exhibition of him to himself, that that Word may most justly be described as--a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart? But, now, there remains a most important question--how comes it to pass that if the Word of God possess this dissecting power, so that it lays man bare and exposes to his own eye all the secrecies of his soul--how comes it to pass that so little effect is actually produced? This is only because the hearers are utterly inattentive; because they give no heed whatever to the statements of the preacher; but go through the business of the sanctuary as a matter of form, in which they have no interest. It is no marvel if to such as these the Word of God should not be as a sword. They may be said to clothe themselves in that thick armour, the armour of indifference, and though dissection may be going on all around, they ward off from themselves the knife of the anatomist. But there is another class of hearers on whom considerable impression is often made by the preaching of the gospel, who, while they remain in church, and are actually hearkening to the solemn truths of religion, feel an interest in what is said, feel its power, and wish to use it for their guidance; and in whom there seems the best moral promise presented of such an attempt at amendment of life, as would issue in genuine conversion. Are there not some who would be ready to own that sermons have occasionally had on them a mighty and almost overcoming effect; so that they have felt constrained to give full assent to the truths uttered in their hearing, though these truths have convicted them of heinous offences, and proved them placed in terrible danger. If the man thus exhibited to himself, startled with the moral deformity which he has been forced to behold, would strive at once to act on the disclosure, and set about procuring a renovation of his nature, he would be immeasurably advantaged by the spectacle of his own sinfulness--soul and spirit will have been divided by conviction of sin, only to the becoming united in the blessed hope of forgiveness through Christ. But if he contents himself with having heard, and do not immediately and intently strive to act on its requirements, what is to be looked for, but that he will speedily lose all those feelings which have been excited within him, as the process went forward of dissecting the inner man? And then there will be no conversion, though there have been conviction, and that, too, through his own listlessness, his own indifference, and not through any want of truth in this emphatic declaration--The Word of God is quick and powerful, &c. Now, let us recur again to that very important and interesting matter, the self-evidencing power of the Bible. We send a missionary to a barbarous tribe; he settles down amongst the savages; but he can employ no miracle; he can work no wonders to fix the attention, and win the confidence of his wild auditory. You would think there was no chance of his making any way with these barbarians. He seems to have nothing at his disposal by which the pretensions of Christianity may be substantiated. If he could heal the sick; if he could hush the elements; if he could raise the dead; then, indeed, the wild denizens of the distant land might be expected to give ear to him as a messenger from heaven; but just standing as a defenceless stranger on their shores, what probability is there of success when he proceeds to denounce their ancestral superstitions, summoning them away from idols that they had invested with all the sacredness of Divine, and declaring as the alone Saviour of mankind, a Being who died centuries back as a malefactor? But experience is all against you when you would conclude that Christianity cannot make way without miracle. The simple preaching of the sinfulness of man, and of the sacrifice of Christ, has proved a mighty engine in the hands of the missionary; and though he have done nothing but faithfully deliver his message, making no attempt at supporting its authority by an appeal to external evidence, yet have converts flocked in from the mass of idolators, and a moral regeneration has gone out over the long degraded territory. And what account do we give of this phenomenon? Shall we say that Christianity has been admitted without proof? The matter of fact is, that the gospel of Christ carries with it its own credentials. Wherever it is preached, there is a conscience to act upon; amid all the derangements of humanity, a sense of right and wrong is never wholly extinguished, but even where that nature is most sunken, the principle is in action which applauds the cause of virtue and utters a protest against vice; and which, stirring up forebodings when the mind looks onward to death, witnesses powerfully to our living under a retributive government. Conscience is everywhere mans attribute; therefore Christianity has everywhere an evidence. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

The Word of God

The Word of God may here mean the gospel revelation in all its fulness, especially as contrasted with that under the law; the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ.

1. The Word of God is quick. This is an ancient expression that signifies living: it occurs in our Creed and in our Advent Collect, the quick and the dead. This use of the word is frequent in Scripture (see Joh_5:21; Rom_8:11). Stephen, in Act_7:1-60., describes the ancient Scriptures as the lively (or living) oracles, those testimonies from God, by which at that time the means of life were communicated. We now inquire, what is the meaning of the Word of God giving life. And clearly it relates to an operation upon the soul of man, to some new state of being generated and produced. A new store of knowledge is brought to the understanding; a flood of light is poured in which arrays every object in a new colour; an influence works upon the affections by which they are refined and changed, made to delight in new purposes and pursuits, to flow in a new channel, and raised from earth to heaven. The Word and its accompanying grace, with its doctrines, and promise, and ordinances, with the manifold ministrations of the Spirit, brings the mind altogether into a new condition. And by the hearing of the Word, and the deep study of the Word, and by the willing and faithful acceptance of all that it reveals, this life of God in the soul is maintained; renewed as it languishes from its corrupt communication with earth, and daily carried on to further advancement and strength. The Word is quick and powerful: energetic, active. It has the power because it has life. The life is such as to exert a perpetual energy within us: we might say, powerfully alive. It will move upon the mass of corruption; it will convince of sin; it will change the love of sin into the love of holiness; and will, if applied and carried out by the Churchs wisdom, bring the wayward and ungodly affections into a stale of self-denying discipline, into humble submission to the Divine will.

2. The text moreover declares that the Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. This figure seems to be borrowed from the prophets Isa_49:2; Hos_6:5). St. Paul in Eph_6:1-24. speaks of the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The Word of God has always been found, from the beginning, capable of penetrating deeply into the heart of a sinner; of producing a sudden and terrible alarm in the conscience, of striking conviction into the trembling frame, and lowering the rebel to the ,lust. To the humble, pious, faithful disciple also the Word of God is a sharp instructor, a penetrating sword; often bringing truths to remembrance, which in mortal weakness had been forgotten; often giving a new colour and force to truths already in the mind. And how quick, and mighty, and prevailing are the truths of the gospel for the furtherance of grace, and the increase of heavenly comfort in the soul; depths of wisdom newly discovered; rays of consolation beaming forth; lights of unearthly brightness successively rising to the eye of faith. (J. Slade, M. A.)

The sword of the Lord

I. THE QUALITIES OF THE WORD.

1. Divine.

2. Living.

3. Effectual.

4. Cutting.

5. Piercing.

6. Discriminating.

7. Revealing.

II. THE LESSONS WHICH WE SHOULD LEARN THEREFROM.

1. That we do greatly reverence the Word, as truly spoken of God.

2. That we come to it for quickening for our own souls.

3. That we come to it for power when fighting the battles of truth.

4. That we come to it for cutting force to kill our own sins and to help us in destroying the evils of the day.

5. That we come to it, for piercing force when mens consciences and hearts are hard to reach.

6. That we use it to the most obstinate, to arouse their consciences and convict them of sin.

7. That we discriminate by its means between truth and falsehood.

8. That we let it criticise us, and our opinions, and projects, and acts, and all about us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The power of the Divine Word

I. THE MIGHTY EFFECTS OF THE DIVINE WORD AS THEY ARE HERE DESCRIBED.

1. The characteristics of the Divine Word, as quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, are illustrated by its effects upon the intellect of man. The carnal mind rebels against, and, by subtle sophistries, attempts to deny its truth; but it has a powerful influence upon the understanding, spiritualising that understanding, and enabling it to discern spiritual things. It carries with it undoubtable credence, and forces the reluctant will and judgment. Its doctrines, how heavenly! its precepts, how holy!

2. The effect of this Word upon the conscience, in convincing of sin and producing godly sorrow, is an illustration of the description in this passage. It is common to view sin, even when it is acknowledged and condemned by the transgressor, in the light simply of its effects on society, or the injury it inflicts on a mans own reputation, property, or health; but when the Divine Word penetrates the soul with a convertine power, it is no longer regarded with reference only to its personal or temporal consequences, but as an atrocious violation of the law and an insult to the glory of God. Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight. Then again, with regard to the conscience, the Word of God is quick and powerful, for it annihilates the spirit of self-defence, extenuation, and apology, together with those self-righteous principles which exist in the unregenerate man.

3. The characteristics of this Divine Word are manifested in the effects of it upon the heart, in producing sanctification. This, too, is a severe progress, involving much struggle and self-denial. Hence the Word of God is not only a two edged sword in respect to conviction, but in respect to its operations in perfecting religion and preparing us for eternal glory.

4. The operation of truth is sometimes remarkably quick as well as powerful. A remarkable instance of its quick and mighty operation is recorded in the conversion of Paul.

5. The potent influence of the Word is often for a long period concealed from the outward world in the depths of the soul. It is thus a discerner of the thoughts.

II. THE CONCLUSIONS TO BE DRAWN FROM THESE STATEMENTS.

1. The representation of the text ought to enhance our estimation of the Divine Word. It is doing what all the philosophy in the world could never do. How ought we then to estimate it?

2. We should be induced to employ the most zealous efforts for the circulation of the Divine Word by means of printed copies, and the support of Christian ministrations, both at home and abroad.

3. The characteristics of the Divine Word as given in the text, which we have endeavoured to illustrate, should induce the individual inquiry, What am I doing to obstruct or to sustain its influence in my own soul? You must by the very necessity of the ease, having heard the Word, either receive or reject it. (F. A. Cox, D. D.)

The Word of God likened to a sword

The same illustration is used by St. Paul, by Philo, and in the Book of Wisdom, but with a different application in each case. St. Paul likens the Word of God to the sword of the warrior, used as a weapon of the faith (Eph_6:17); the Book of Wisdom compares the almighty Word of God to a sharp sword, but uses a different word for sword, evidently designating the sword of the destroying am, of, which executed Gods mandate on the first-born of Egypt (Wis_18:16). Philo dwells on the searching and penetrative power of the Word as that which severs all things. In this passage the ideas of the two last authors are combined by way of warning to the disobedient; the Word of God is compared to the sword of the executioner, piercing with its double edge the very heart of the victim. Like the sword, it searches out evil and destroys it; but it is sharper than the sword, because it penetrates into the region of spiritual life, whereas the sword can only divide joints and marrow, and its power is limited to the animal life. The images are borrowed from a court of justice, where the guilty is brought before his judge, convicted, and executed: (F. Rendall, M. A.)

Quick and powerful

The latter word explains the former; for those things that are living are said to be active in opposition to such things which are dead, which have lost their power; and to be lively and very active are many times the same; and this signifies the efficacy and active power of this law. This active vigour and efficacy is illustrated by a similitude. For the law is compared to a two-edged sword, which, being used by a powerful and skilful hand, doth manifest how sharp and cutting it is; for it pierceth quickly into the inward parts, and divideth between soul and spirit, and the bones and marrow, which are most nearly united, and more hidden and secret in living bodies. So that in the similitude we have two acts of a sword, or any such cutting instrument. The first is, dividing things most nearly united. The second, discovering things most secret. There cannot be any more perfect division or discovery in any dissection or anatomy than is here expressed. (G. Lawson.)

The living Word of God

The Word of God is living, because He who speaks the Word is the living God. It acts with mighty energy, like the silent laws of nature, which destroy or save alive, according as men obey or disobey them. It cuts like a sword whetted on each side of the blade, piercing through to the place where the natural life of the soul divides from, or passes into, the supernatural life of the spirit. For it is revelation that has made known to man his possession of the spiritual faculty. The word spirit is used by heathen writers. But in their books it means only the air we breathe. The very conception of the spiritual is enshrined in the bosom of Gods Word. Further, the Word of God pierces to the joints that connect the natural and the supernatural. It does not ignore the former. On the contrary, it addresses itself to mans reason and conscience, in order to erect the supernatural upon nature. Where reason stops short, the Word of God appeals to the supernatural faculty of faith; and when conscience grows blunt, the Word makes conscience, like itself, sharper than any two-edged sword. Once more, the Word of God pierces to the marrow. It reveals to man the innermost meaning of his own nature and of the supernatural planted within him. The truest morality and the highest spirituality are both the direct product of Gods revelation. But all this is true in its practical application to every man individually. The power of the Word of God to create distinct dispensations and yet maintain their fundamental unity, to distinguish between masses of men and yet cause all the separate threads of human history to converge and at last meet, is the same power which judges the inmost thoughts and inmost purposes of the heart. These it surveys with critical judgment. If its eye is keen, its range of vision is also wide. No created thing but is seen and manifest. The surface is bared, and the depth within is opened up before it. As the upturned neck of the sacrificial beast lay bare to the eye of God, so are we exposed to the eye of Him to whom we have to give our account. (T. C. Edwards, D. D.)

Gods Word to us, and our word to God

We are here at the end of a long argument. Close attention is required to follow the steps of it. But the general idea is simple. There is a rest of God which is the goal of the long race of the human creation. It has been so from the beginning. It was realised by the old patriarchs as their true city and country, while they lived the tent-life here. It was typified in the promise of Canaan--typified, but certainly not fulfilled--more certainly not exhausted. Long ages after the entrance of Israel into Canaan, a psalmist speaks (by clear implication) of Gods rest as still open, still liable to be forfeited, therefore still capable of being attained. Nothing certainly has occurred since the psalmists day which could be supposed to have cancelled promise by performance. The rest of God is still in reserve for His true people. Let us give diligence to enter into it. Let us not forfeit it, as one whole generation forfeited Canaan, by unbelief. Thus we reach the double text, which tells of the impossibility of eluding Gods judgment by any differences of circumstance, or by any counterfeits of character. The Word of God, His utterance in judging, His discernment of character, His estimate of conduct, is no dead or dormant thing; it is living and active; it is sharper than any two-edged sword; it divides and discriminates where man sees only the inseparable; soul and spirit, the immaterial part of us in one aspect and the same immaterial part of us in another aspect, it can cleave in twain; thoughts and feelings, exercises of intellect and exercises of affection, it is apt and quick to distinguish between and to pronounce upon. No created being can wear mask or veil in that Presence; all things are bare and naked, all things are exposed and opened; the head that would bend and bow itself, in conscious guilt and shame, before the fierce light of the Presence, is lifted (such perhaps is the figure) and thrown back in full exposure before the eye of the Examiner and the Judge, unto whom, so the sentence ends, our word is; with whom--according to the beautiful paraphrase which no later version will wish or dare to improve away--with whom we have to do.

I. THE WORD OF GOD. There are many such words. There is a Word of God in Nature. Order diversified, which is a true description of Nature, tells of a power which is no brute force; in other words, of a mind at work in its exercise. There is a Word of God in Providence. Consequence modified, which is a true description of Providence, tells of a power working which is no mechanical agency; in other words, of a mind purposing, and realising that purpose in ceaseless processes of adaptation. There is not sound only, but voice in both these--a voice implying a personality, and a voice presupposing an auditor. The Epistle from which the texts come carries us beyond this vaguer and more general Divine utterance to another of which the very differentia is the personality. God, it says, having of old time spoken in the prophets--utterers of His truth in sundry modes and manifold particulars--spoke to us at the end of these days--at the dividing line, as it were, of present and future, of time and eternity--in One, of whom the title--the unique, incommunicable title--is Son. The Word of God, if not a person, is yet a personalcommunication, as much in the voice that utters as in the ear that hears. This Word was a voice before it was a Book. The living Life wrote itself upon other lives; they in their turn wrote it upon others, ere yet a page of Gospel Scripture was written--on purpose that the distinction between , letter and spirit might be kept ever fresh and vital, on purpose that the characteristic of the new revelation might never fade or be lost sight of, how that it is God speaking in His Son, God speaking, and God bidding man to make reply. But where would the Word have been by this time, left to itself--left, I mean, to echo and tradition? It pleased God by His holy inspiration to move and to guide the pen of living men; and it pleased Him by His Providence wonderfully to watch over the thing written; and it pleased Him in days when there was neither scholarship to revise nor machinery to multiply the writing, to put such love into hearts for those perishable fugitive scrolls of rude, almost hieroglyphic, manuscript, that they were treasured up in cells and churches as the most precious of heirlooms; and it pleased Him at last to stimulate into a marvellous inventiveness His own gift--grace we might well call it--of human reason, so that the completed volume of the once scattered Biblia was multiplied by the new miracle of the printing press into the myriad Bibles, which are now sown broadcast over the surface of the inhabited globe. There are, St. Paul says, so many kinds of voices in the world--say a hundred, say a thousand--and no one of them is without signification. Even the Divine voices are many. There is a word of God in nature, and there is a word of God in providence; there is a word of God in science, and there is a word of God in history; there is a word of God in the Church, and there is a word of God in the Bible. And yet all these are external, as such, to the very spirit of the man that is in him. The Word of God, which is the real speech and utterance of all these voices, comes at last to the man himself in conscience. I speak not now of that more limited sense of conscience in which it is the guiding and warning voice within, saying, This is the way of duty, walk thou in it. The word of God in conscience is more, much more, than this. It is that of which our Lord said, in reference to the volume of His own evidences, Yea, and why even of yourselves, without waiting for sign or portent, judge ye not what is right? You can discern the face of the earth and of the sky; you can infer from certain indications the approach of shower or heat. Bow is it that ye cannot infer Deity from the Divine--the Emmanuel presence from the Emmanuel character? The appeal was to conscience, not so much in its sensitiveness to right and wrong, as in its appreciativeness of the false and the true, of God speaking this and God not speaking that. Thus it is that the Word of God, as it at last reaches the spirit and soul of the man, is the net result of a thousand separate sayings, no one of which by itself is the absolute arbiter of the being. It cannot become this till it has made itself audible to the conscience. Till then it is suggestive, it is contributory, it is evidential, it is not the verdict, nor the judgment, nor the sentence, nor the Word. There is no encouragement to the dallying, to the procrastinating, to the fastidiousness and the waywardness, which is characteristic of the generation. On the contrary, it is a trumpet call to decision. It says, there is a word of God somewhere. The Word of God is a personal word--it speaks to the personal being, as God made and as God sees him. We seem yet to lack one thing. The Word speaks in con-science--speaks to the consciousness--but who speaks it? The Word itself, tobe audible as such, must have become the Spirits voice; then it takes of the things of God and speaks them into the conscience, which is the consciousness of the man.

II. THESE IS ALSO A WORD OF OURS TO GOD. Unto Him our word is. The particular point in the view of the holy writer was that of accountability. God speaks in judgment, and we speak to give account. The first readers were on the eve of a terrible crisis. They had to choose between Christianity and Judaism, between religion and patriotism, almost therefore between duty and duty. It was reasonable to speak to them of the Word which is a two-edged sword in discriminating, and of the word which pleads guilty or not guilty at the bar of judgment. We also are passing through a great crisis. You will think that I speak of some political or national crisis. But I do not. I speak of a crisis greater even than these--greater (shall I dare the paradox?) because less great--greater because individual. The crisis of which I speak is that life-long trial, in which each one of us is standing before Gods judgment-seat, and upon the decision of which depends for each one a future not to be measured by years, and not to be told in terms of human speech. The text says of this crisis, of this trial, that it is the interchange, so to speak, of two words--the dialogue, I had almost said, of two speakers--the word of God judging, and the word of the man making answer and giving account. With whom we have to do. Our word of account is to God. Oh, if we could take the thought home, what an effect would it have upon the life! What an independence, what a dignity would it give to it! How would it put an end to that running to and fro to give in our account, which makes so many lives so servile and so contemptible? What pains do we take to please, to give satisfaction, to win applause, to be admired if it may be so, at all events to avoid censure one of another. What haste do we make to explain, to excuse, to apologise for, to daub with obtrusive whitewash, our little dubious acts, our little unfortunate speeches. What a forgetfulness do we see everywhere, and first of all in ourselves, of the great principle of the Godward Word, of the with whom we have to do of this text. What a weight, what an influence, what a sanctity, what an inspiration, would be given to our common words, to our every-day remarks and comments upon men and things, if we carried about us that indefinable something, which says, in tones more persuasive in proportion as they are less obtrusive, This man knows and feels that he has to do with God! And all this sets in strong light the duty of doing it. It shows us what is meant by self-examination, what is meant by confession. With Him, directly and personally, we have to do. Just to carry to God Himself, in the nightly confessional where we meet the one Judge, just the very thing itself which we did wrong, which we said wrong, just in so many words, that very day which is now being gathered to its parent days--|hat is the Christian evensong. So judging ourselves, we shall not be judged. The Word of account was the first thought of the text. But it is not the only one. It is not perhaps the most beautiful or the most attractive. The spirit of the man has other words besides this to utter in the ear with which it has to do. The speech of God is to me, and my speech is to Him. Might we but enter into this conception, what an elevation, what a grandeur would it give to the life! The speech of God is to thee--His discourse, His self-disclosure, His mind uttering itself, His Spirit breathing itself in converse. And my speech is to Him--my discourse, my self-disclosure, my uttered mind, my soul expressing itself in audible thought. What is this but to give to the life itself a new Christian name, at the font of a spiritual baptism, and to send it forth afresh into all the relationships and all the occupations of the being, having this for its title--Conversation with God? As a man talketh with his friend, was Gods own account of His communication with the hero-saint of Israel--then it was the privilege of the one or two, now it is the very birthright and citizenship of the promiscuous world of the redeemed. There is yet one condition more--we will end with it. The speech of the man to his God must presuppose and proceed upon the speech of God to the man. The two words of which the texts tell are not independent words. The conversation is not between two equals, either of whom must contribute his share to the instruction and enjoyment of the meeting. The incommensureableness, in nature and dignity, of the two speakers, while it forbids not freedom in the inferior, forbids presumption; nay, precludes it as a tone and a feeling which would jar upon, and jangle out of tune, the very melody and harmony of the converse. God speaks, and man makes reply. It is not that on equal terms and with equal rights God and the man meet together to think out and to talk out the thing that was, and that is, and that shall be. The world by its wisdom knew not God. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. The Word of God came, and the word of man made reply on the strength of it. This consecrates for him the new and living way, by which, not in hesitation, not as a peradventure, but in calm faith and trust--not forgetting the realities of sin and the Fall, but seeing them at once recognised and overborne by a mightier revelation of love--the word of the man meets the Word of his God, on the strength of that Word made flesh, which is the reconciler and the harmoniser of the two. (Dean Vaughan.)

The mighty power of the Word

Goliaths sword not like to this. David said of that, none to it; but none to this. Lord give it to us. This sword can hew in pieces the most stony heart in the world; to see what blindness in the understanding, what frowardness in the affections. It will lay the heart open, and betray the secret filthiness, and all the sluttish corners of sin that be in it. When the preacher is speaking, the Word doth so pierce the hearts of the hearers, as that many in the church imagine that the preacher is acquainted with their sins. You shall find it to be a lively and mighty Word, one way or other, either to save you or to condemn you. It is lively and mighty in the godly, to kill sin within them, to raise them up unto newness of life. Was it not mighty in David, making him cry, Peccavi? in Josiah, making his heart to melt? in Manasseh, when, of the most horrible idolator that was ever heard of, it made him a zealous worshipper Of the true God? in Zaccheus, when it made him to forsake his oppression and to restore fourfold? in Mary Magdalen, when it cast out seven devils out of her? in those three thousand souls, when, pricked in their hearts, they went to the apostles? in the city of Samaria, when it made them to abjure Simon Magus and to listen to St. Philip? Was it not mighty by twelve men, over all the world, when it subdued by their ministry all nations to Christ? There may be a dark and misty morning; the sun comes, scatters the mist, clears the air, and makes it a bright day. So the whole world was shadowed with the mist of blindness, and the fog of sin. The Word comes forth like the sun, and introduces the knowledge of Christ and of His gospel into all the world. O mighty Word! Let us all acknowledge the power of this wonderful Word. Who is able to stand before this might, Word? It is lively and mighty too, even in the very reprobate. Sometimes they may be senseless, and have no feeling of the cutting of the Word, as those in Jeremiah; nay, they may even scoff at the Word preached, as the Pharisees Luk_16:14); their consciences may be seared up, and feel not the sword when it cutteth; as they that be in a lethargy, they may inwardly fret and fume, be in a pelting chafe with the preacher for reproving sins, as Ahab with Micaiah, and Jezebel with Elias, yet but like mad dogs, that sit biting of the chain wherewith they are tied, but not break the chain. So they may snap at the preacher and the Word, but they themselves have the hurt; yet for all that, at one time or other, God will make them to feel the power of His Word and the strength of this mighty arm of His. (W. Jones, D. D.)

The Divine Word

We are familiar with the Word of God. Like Israel, we possess this treasure in our country, in our families. But, thankful as we ought to be for this great privilege, do we know also the majesty and the power of the Word of God? Do we know that, in possessing, reading, and knowing the Scripture, we are under a mighty, solemn, and decisive influence, and that this Word judges us now, and will judge us at the last day? The expressions which are used here of the Word of God are all applicable to Christ Himself; for He is living, He is the power of God, He came for judgment into the world, He is the Searcher of hearts, His eyes are like a flame of fire. But the reference is to the spoken and written Word. The Scripture, as the written Word, is according to Christ and of Christ; and by it Christ is heard, received, and formed in the soul. Of this written Word, of which Christ is centre and end, as well as author and method, which is inspired by the Holy Ghost and sent by God, the gospel message is the kernel. And hence it is this gospel which especially is called the Word.

1. The Word is living (Rev_1:18, Greek; Joh_5:21; Joh_5:24; Joh_5:26; Joh_6:63; Joh_6:68). God is called the Living One; and Christ the Lord calls Himself the Living One. He is the life, He has life in Himself, and He came to quicken and to give us life abundantly. And the Word which proceedeth out of the mouth and heart of God, the Word of which Christ is the substance, and which is given and watched over by the Spirit, is also living; for Gods words are spirit and life. The Word is the seed, which appears insignificant, but which if received in good ground shows its vitality. Hence it is by this Word that souls are born again unto eternal life.

2. The living Word is powerful or energetic. It is compared to the seed which possesses vitality and power. We can see the power or energy of the Word when it fills those that hear and receive it with strong emotions, filling them with fear and terror, with grief and contrition; we can see its power in the sudden and striking changes it produces, when the thoughtless and worldly, the selfish and depraved, are arrested and quickened by its mighty power. But while the earthquake and the fire declare the approach of the Lord, it is in the still small voice that the Lord at last appears to take up His permanent abode. There are the hidden flowers of humility, of forgiving love, of patience and meekness; there are the unseen and unknown daily conflicts and victories; there is the crucifixion of the old man, and the constant renewal of the resurrection-life; and these are especially the triumphs of the power of the Word.

3. The Word cannot be living and energetic without being also a sword, dividing and separating, with piercing and often painful sharpness, that which in our natural state lies together mixed and confused. It comes not to flatter and to soothe; it comes not to encourage us with half-true, half-false encomiums; it does not call the flesh Spirit, but condemns it as flesh and enmity against God. It leads you into the lower Christian life (Joh_3:30); it discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart, the hidden self-complacency, the hidden ambition and self-will; it enters into the very joints and marrow, the energies and sentiments, the motives and springs of our actions, the true character of our rejoicing and mourning, our elevations and depressions; and then you say with the apostle: I have no confidence in the flesh, in my old nature, in me, body, soul, and spirit, as I am of Adam. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. I cannot call my holy things holy, for they are full of sin. The Word of God enters into my inmost soul and heart-life, and as a judge both unveils and condemns; what hitherto was hidden, is uncovered; what was disguised, unveiled; what was falsely called good and spiritual, appears now in the bright light of Gods countenance; the thoughts and intents of the hearts are discerned. Thus am I brought into Gods presence, as when I first was convinced of my sin and my guilt; but I feel more abased, and with a deeper knowledge and sorrow I exclaim: I am vile, and abhor myself in dust and ashes. On, where is Christ? I wish to be found in Him. I wish Him to live in me. What is there in me pleasing to God? Oh that Christ would sing, pray, love, live in me! When the Word thus dwells in us, we give glory to God, and we are spiritually-minded. We live not on mere notions and impressions; we begin to apply our knowledge to our actual state and to our daily walk: we are delivered from hypocrisy, which is since the Fall the great disease of mankind. (A. Saphir.)

It finds me

It was Coleridge, if we remember aright, who, in giving one of the grand internal evidences of the inspiration of the Blade, as derived from his own experience, use t the idiomatic and significant expression, It flints me.

Effects of the Bible

A dealer in low publications taunted me about the Bible. I begged her to take a copy and read it. She said, I shall sell it. That is your affair, I replied. I lost sight of her for three weeks. When I returned to her kiosk all her immoral publications had disappeared. Oh! she cried, on seeing me, I am delivered; this book has saved me from dishonour. No, no, I will not sell it. I and my husband now read it together, and with the children. This morning this dear old woman told me that in two neighbouring families the Holy Bible is read, And, says she, it has absolutely had the same effect with them as with us. (Pasteur Hirsch.)

The Word self-revealing

The Word will turn the inside of a sinner out, and let him see all that is in his heart. (M. Henry.)

Conviction by the Word

The Bechuanas are excellent patients. There is no wincing. In any operation even the women sit unmoved. I have been quite astonished, again and again, at their calmness. In clotting out a tumour, an inch in diameter, they sit and talk as if they felt nothing. A man like me never cries, they say; they are children that cry. And it is a fact that the men never cry. But when the Spirit of God works on their minds they cry most piteously. Sometimes in church they endeavoured to screen themselves from the eyes of the preacher by hiding under the forms, or covering their heads with their karosses, as a remedy against their convictions. And when they find that wont do they rush out of the church and run with all their might, crying as if the hand of death were behind them. (D. Livingstone.)

The Word of God

The Word of God is too sacred a thing, and preaching too solemn a work to be toyed and played with, as is the usage of some who make a sermon but matter of wit and fine oratory. If we mean to do good we must come unto mens hearts, not in word only, but with power. Satan moves not for a thousand squibs and wit-cracks of rhetoric. Draw, therefore, this sword out of your scabbard and strike with its raked edge; this you will find the only way to pierce your peoples consciences and fetch blood of their sins. (William Gurnall.)

The eyes of Him with whom we have to do

God over all

I. We have to do with God fundamently and pre-eminently as our CREATOR Whence came we? How are we? What are we? Who made us? He made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Now, if God made us, and not we ourselves, if the faculties of our mind, if the energies of our heart, if the wondrous proportions of our body, are all from Him, then can we ever be separate from God? can we ever cease to have that relationship to Him that the creature has to the Creator, the relationship that a child has to a parent? A parent has a claim upon a child as long as it lives. We have to do, then, with a God of love as our Creator.

II. We have to do with God as our PRESERVER. Strange that men live on year after year and go up and down, sleeping and waking, toiling and resting, mourning and rejoicing, and yet they can forget how it is that they live and continue in life; how it is that reason still holds its seat; how it is that the heart still throbs; how it is that the harp strings are kept in tune; how it is they are not continually tormented with anguish, distemper, and distress: can any man account for this? If we did not make ourselves, if we did not string the harp, we cannot keep it attuned; if we did not form the mechanism we cannot keep it from decay and dissolution. There is no independent life but in the one Fountain of all life, and all other life is a life of dependence--a dependence of the creature on the Creator, of the thing made upon the Maker, of the thing living on Him that gave it life. We have to do with Him as our Creator; we must have to do with Him in sickness and health, in peril and in safety, in life and in death, in madness and in reason, in the lunatic asylum or the house of prayer; we must have to do with Him as our Creator. Sir, said a poor maniac, that had escaped from bedlam, and was passing along the streets of London, to a gentleman he met at the angle of one of the streets, did you ever thank God for reason? The man stared, and said, I cannot say that I ever did. Then do so now, for I have lost mine I said the poor man. And well I remember, when attending the deathbed of one who died of that most fearful disease, hydrophobia, as, in the agony of the spasms of disease, she grasped my hind until it ached, I repeated to her many of those beautiful prayers of ours, in one of which you have, or ought to have been joining, the thanksgiving, We bless Time for our creation, preservation; and she said, with a shriek, Oh preservation, preservation, how we forget it; look at me, and let none who know it ever forget it again! Yes, preservation.

III. We have to do with Him as our bounteous BENEFACTOR, our gracious Attender, and the Fatherly Provider of all we have. Whether a man is racked with pain all his life, or disordered, as some are, from their mothers womb; whether he is blessed with health and a cheerful mind, or if he has anything that relieves him in this vale of tears, any flower that blooms in the desert, any star that brightens the dark sky of our fallen lot; is it not all from God? It is a terrible thought that men have to do with God in all that they have, and abuse, and prostrate to their own destruction; it is all from God, and they cannot say in one thing they have that it is not from Him. How this should make us reconciled, however He may deprive us; how we should be grateful for anything we have, for anything short of hell is the gift of his grace, to us who are deserving of hell; and, therefore, we ought to say, oh! how often, Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

IV. We have to do with God as our RULER AND GOVERNOR. Does any man suppose that, because we talk of laws, there is no lawgiver? What is law without the power of enforcing it? What is government without a governor? Without the Divine and mighty Ruler of all, what would take place? Universal anarchy, chaos, and desolation.

V. Ah! we have to do with Him as our LAWGIVER. He has given a law; and all things--the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars--have laws; summer and winter, autumn and spring, have all their laws and appointed times--the clouds have their laws, and the light above--everything has its laws; and do you Suppose the moral world hath no law, that the great God hath left the mind and spirit without anything to control or guide it? I tell you no. In man, at the first, there was a perfect law en-graven on the tablet of his heart, and it is there still; and though shattered the tablet, and blotted is the writing, man knows far more than he fancies; he knows more what he ought to do, and what he ought not to do, than he will admit; he has a conscience within him, and this is from God. And then we Christians--professing Christians--we have the law of God written again, republished by the Divine Registrar; the law so plain and so simple that any man that has a heart can understand it, and so beautiful, and bountiful, and benevolent, and perfect, that no man with any right moral sense can find fault with it or deny it. It is diversified according to circumstances, but the whole is based upon this principle--love to God and love to man.

VI. We have yet further to do with this great God as our JUDGE. A man may refuse to have to do with God in obedience and submission to His will; he may set it at nought and forget it; be may lose all sense of it, by imbruting his moral being and becoming seared as with a hot iron, hut he cannot refuse to have to do with his Judge. And judgment is not all in a future world--it begins here; the conscience of a man passes a kind of judgment upon him as long as he reads it until he blots it out, or drowns it in mirth, in unbelief, in crime, in debauchery, in drunkenness, and so seals it. Not only so, judgment has begun in this world in present punishment, often in present comfort and joy and peace.

VII. We have all of us to do with God as SAVIOUR--a just God and a Saviour. I believe in the beautiful summary of our Creed, and in the scriptural voice of our Chinch, first, I learn to believe in God the Father, who made me and all the world; secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind; thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God. I believe, therefore, that God laid on His own Son the iniquity of us all. He did not become simply the Son of man, but the Son of men--the Son of mankind. He did not take the nature of one race, or of one people, or of one colour, or of one clime; but He took upon Him the seed of Abraham: He took upon Him our nature and became the Son of man, so that none can claim Him exclusively, and say, He did not die for you; nor can any one say, He died for me alone. He is the Saviour of all men, and especially of them that belong to the household of faith. If any of you perish, you perish, not as heathen, bat as professed and baptized Christians; and how this will turn into a source of remorse and the worm that never dies, if you perish with the name of Christian, with the Cross of Christ, upon your brow! See to it, for to whom much is given, of him shall be much required.

VIII. We have to do with God, or, at least, we may have to do with Him--we have if we are wise, we have if we are saved--as OUR RECONCILED FATHER, the Lord our Righteousness, in whom we are chosen, in whom we are sealed, in whom we are at peace with God. Oh I to have to do with God in peace, and reconciliation, and adoption; to have to do with God, not because we must, but because we would be made willing in the day of His power, to have His love constraining us so that we yield ourselves to Him as those that are alive from the dead, and our poor members as instruments of righteousness unto God. We have to do with Him, groaning within ourselves, and waiting for the adoption: to wit, the redemption of our bodies; and we are able to testify that it is through His grace that He has made us His children.

IX. Then how sweet to have to do with Him as our SANCTIFIER--Our portion for ever; our Sanctifier, restoring us from the ruins of our fallen race, and raising us again to be a temple meet for His own habitation; beautifying us with grace that shines in the Adam here, and that will shine more brightly in the Second Adam. We have to do with Him in anticipation, that we may be like Him for ever. (H. Stowell, M. A.)

Our relation to God

I. WITH GOD WE PRE-EMINENTLY HAVE TO NO. We stand in a very intimate connection with Him. To the Being who, in Himself, is infinitely great and glorious, we bear a very close and momentous relation. He is our Creator, Proprietor, Governor, Benefactor, and Judge, and therefore has claims upon us manifold and mighty. In the services of religion, the common business of life, the mysteries of death, the solemnities of judgment, and the issues of eternity, we have to do with him. We must have to do with Him, whether we will or not. And oh, surely, we should transact with Him as a Saviour since we shall have to transact with Him as a Judge.

II. THERE IS NO CREATURE THAT IS NOT MANIFEST IN HIS SIGHT; yea, all things are naked and open to His eyes. Angels and men--saints and sinners--are alike the objects of His scrutiny. To Him the actions of all hands and the secrets of all souls are intimately known. The phrase all things indicates the universal range which the eye of Jehovah takes. The words manifest, naked, opened, express the intensity and clearness of the vision which He exerts throughout the vast and varied sphere. With what reverence should we think of Him whose eyes are ever fixed on us, and with whom, far more than with father, husband, brother, bosom-friend, we have to do! With what vigilance should we guard our hearts! and with what circumspection should we regulate our lives! (A. S. Patterson.)

Watched by God

Can we indulge in sin since the eye of God is ever resting upon us? It was enough to cause the ancient Roman to be circumspect, if the words Cato sees you were whispered in his ear. It is said that when the Doges of Venice had degenerated into imperious and oppressive rulers, if only four of the inquisitors whom the State secretly employed were present at any of the great processions or festivals for which that city was famous, it was sufficient to overawe the mighty throng of people present. How much more guarded and serious should our deportment be, seeing that we are ever watched by Him whose eyes are like a flame of fire! (C. Hewitt.)

God knows all

Mother, asked a child, since nothing is ever lost, where do all thoughts go? To God, answered the mother, gravely, who remembers them for ever. For ever! said the child; he leaned his head, and drawing closer to his mother, murmured, I am frightened! (Gold Dust.)

God with us

Horace Bushnell woke up in the night and said, Oh, God is a wonderful Being! And when his daughter replied, Yes; is He with you? the old man replied, Yes, in a certain sense He is with me; and I have no doubt He is with me in a sense I do not imagine. (Baxendales Anecdotes.)

Omniscience illustrated

A few years ago a gentleman in Ireland had a farm there, about a mile and a half from his house. It was situated on the side of a hill, and from his attic window he could get a view of every portion of the land. He would often go to this window with a powerful telescope, and about five minutes every day he would spend in this way, examining what his work people were doing, and whether the work of the farm was being carried on properly or not. The men happened to know this, and it often quickened them in their various duties to know that the masters eye from the little attic window might possibly at that very moment be resting upon them. Our Masters eye is always resting upon us. He sees and knows all we think or do or say, End yet bow many people act as though God were both blind and deaf. (Preachers Promptuary of Anecdote.)

God is present

The celebrated Linnaeus always testified, in his conversations, writings, and actions, the greatest sense of Gods omniscience; yea, he was so strongly impressed with the idea that he wrote over the door of his library, Innocui vivite, Numen adest--Live innocently, God is present. (K. Arvine.)

God a Person

Do not preach about Providence; preach about God. There is no objection to the word providence when used in connection with God. But when a man says, I am very thankful to Providence, Providence has been very good to me, I always feel disposed to say, You coward! why dont you say God? You know you mean God all the time. (J. C. Miller, D. D.)

The cry of the human heart for a personal God

A leader of thought in Germany, famous as a poet, famous as a man of letters--who had through his long literary career fought against the idea of a personal God--when poor in purse, paralytic in body, and in his last week of life wrotethus to one of his old class-mates, and under its style of banter I detect a pathetic minor of earnest feeling. A religious reaction has set in upon me for some time. God knows whether the morphine or the poultices have anything to do with it. It is so. I believe in a personal God. To tills we come when we are sick to death and broken down. Do not make a crime of it. If the German people accept the personal King of Prussia in their need, why should not I accept a personal God? My friend, here is a great truth. When health is used up, money used up, and sound human senses used up, Christianity begins. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

An all-seeing God

If you believe that God is about your bed, and about your path, and spieth out all your ways, then take care not to do the least thing, nor to speak the least word, nor to indulge the least thought, which you have reason to think would offend Him. Suppose that a messenger of God, an angel, were now standing at your right hand and fixing his eyes upon you, would you not take care to abstain from every word or action that you knew would offend him? Yea, suppose one of your mortal fellow servants, suppose only a holy man stood by you, would you not be extremely anxious how you conducted yourself both in word and action? How much more cautious ought you to be when you know, not a holy man, not an angel of God, but God Himself, the Holy One, is inspecting your heart, your tongue, your hand, every moment, and that He Himself will surely call you to account for all yea think, speak, or act! (J. Wesley.)

God sees all

A man who was in the habit of going into a neighbours corn-field to steal the ears, one day took his son with him, a boy of eight years of age. The father told him to hold the bag while he looked if any one was near to see him. After standing on the fence, and peeping through all the corn rows, he returned and took the bag from the child, and began his guilty work. Father, said the boy, you forgot to look somewhere else. the man dropped the bag in a fright, and said, Which way, child? supposing he had seen some one. You forgot to look up to the sky to see if God was noticing you The father felt this reproof of the child so much, that he left the corn, returned home, and never again ventured to steal, remembering the truth his child had taught him, that the eye of God always beholds us.

God seeing all things

When we perceive that a vast number of objects enter in at our eye by a very small passage, and yet are so little jumbled in that crowd that they open themselves regularly, though there is no great space for that either, and that they give us a distinct apprehension of many objects that lie before us, some even at a vast distance from us, both of their nature, colour, and size, and by a secret geometry, from the angles that they make in our eye, we judge of the distance of all objects, both from us and from one another--if to this we add the vast number of figures that we receive and retain long, and with great order, in our brains, which we easily fetch up either in our thoughts or in our discourses, we shall find it less difficult to apprehend how an Infinite Mind should have the universal view of all things ever present before it. (W. Burnet.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 4:12. For the word of God — As if he had said, Take heed of unbelief, for the word of God will try and condemn you if you be guilty of it. It is greatly debated among commentators whether this is to be understood of Christ, the eternal Word, or of the gospel. “None of the properties,” says Calmet, “mentioned here can be denied to the Son of God, the eternal Word. He sees all things, knows all things, penetrates all things, and can do all things. He is the Ruler of the heart, and can turn it where he pleases. He enlightens the soul, and calls it gently and efficaciously, when and how he wills. Finally, he punishes in the most exemplary manner the insults offered to his Father and to himself by infidels, unbelievers, and the wicked in general. But it does not appear that the divine Logos is here intended: 1st, Because St. Paul does not use that term to express the Son of God. 2d, Because the conjunction, γαρ, for, shows that this verse is an inference drawn from the preceding, where the subject in question is concerning the eternal rest, and the means by which it is obtained. It is therefore more natural to explain the term of the word, order, and will of God; for the Hebrews represent the revelation of God as an active being, living, all- powerful, illumined, executing vengeance, discernibly and penetrating all things.” Of this he produces divers examples. Macknight considers the passage in the same light, observing, “The apostle having said, (Heb 4:2,) that λογος της ακοης, the word which they heard did not profit them; the word of God in this verse, I think, signifies the preached gospel; understanding thereby its doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatenings, together with those examples of the divine judgments which are recorded in the Scriptures; by all which the gospel operates powerfully on the minds of believers. In our common version of 1Pe 1:23, the word of God is said to be living. So also Christ, Joh 6:63, The words that I speak to you they are spirit and they are life; and in the last clause of this verse, actions are ascribed to the word of God which imply life, namely, it is a discerner of the devices and purposes of the heart.” And as the word is here said to be, ενεργης, efficacious, “this efficacy is described by Paul, 2Co 10:4, The weapons of our warfare are powerful, for the overturning of strong holds, &c. Also 1Th 2:13, the word of God is said to work effectually in them who believe: Eph 6:17, the sword of the Spirit denotes the doctrine of the gospel, called a sword, because it is of great use to repel the attacks of our spiritual enemies; and a sword of the Spirit, because it was dictated by the Spirit of God: Rev 1:16, the word of God is represented as a sharp, two-edged sword, which went out of the mouth of Christ: Isa 11:4, it is said of Christ, He shall smite the earth with the rod, or (as the LXX. render it) τω λογω, the word of his mouth.” Bengelius and Wesley understand the passage in the same sense, the note of the latter being as follows: “The word of God preached, (Heb 4:2,) and armed with threatenings, (Heb 4:3,) is living and powerful, attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers; sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating the heart more than this does the body; piercing quite through, and laying open the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, the inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words: and is a discerner not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.”

In the clause, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, the writer proceeds on the supposition that man consists of three parts, a body, a sensitive soul, which he hath in common with the brutes, and a rational spirit, of which see the note on 1Th 5:23. In representing the word, or gospel, as a person who shall judge the world at the last day the apostle hath imitated Christ, who said to the Jews, (Joh 12:48,) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: ο λογος, the word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day. But to raise the figure, the apostle ascribes to the word life, strength, discernment, and action; qualities highly necessary in a judge.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Characteristics of the sacred Scriptures.

"For the Word of God is quick and powerful," etc. We take the Word of God" here as meaning the sacred Scriptures, and the text as presenting to our notice several characteristics of them.

I THE VITALITY OF GOD"S WORD. "The Word of God is quick," or, "living." Sometimes the written Word is spoken of as a "dead letter;" but with at least equal propriety it may be spoken of as a "living Word." "The Word of God, which liveth and abideth. For all flesh is as grass," etc. (1Pe_1:23-25) We mention three evidences of the vitality of the Word of God.

1. Its continued and unimpaired existence notwithstanding innumerable, persistent, and powerful assaults. If these writings had not been instinct with a Divine life they would have been destroyed long ere this.

2. Its adaptation to all ages and all peoples. This book is as true and living for us today as it was for the men of the second century of our era; it is as applicable to the European as to the Asiatic.

3. Its inexhaustible interest. Like God"s book of nature, it is endless in its significance and undiminishing in its attractiveness. Dr. Payne Smith has well said, "For nearly eighteen centuries men have thought and written upon that one Book, and if for eighteen more centuries men so write, yet will there still remain much that calls for fresh examination and fuller inquiry; new knowledge to be won, old truths to be better and more fully understood. The books of men have their day, and then grow obsolete. God"s Word is like himself, "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Time passes over it, but it ages not. Its power is as fresh as if God spake it but yesterday.

II THE ENERGY OF GOD"S WORD. "Quick, and powerful," or active, or energizing. This power is seen:

1. In the conviction of men of sin. "Is not my Word like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Its exhibition of infinite mercy has melted many a stubborn soul into genuine penitence.

2. In the conversion of sinners. "The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." It is the instrument of spiritual regeneration. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth.

3. In the correction of faults and errors. "Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction," etc.

4. In the consolation of the mourner. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope." "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and comfort, and consolation." "Comfort one another with these words.

5. In the sanctification of the believer. "Sanctify them in the truth: thy Word is truth." "Ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." "Sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word." "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth.

III THE PENETRATION OF GOD"S WORD. "And sharper than any two-edged sword," etc. The Word of God is frequently compared to a sword. "The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." And to a two-edged sword. "Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." "As it is from the mouth that man"s word proceeds; so this sword, not wielded in the hand, but proceeding from the mouth of the Son of God, is his Word." (Isa_49:2) Here are two suggestions concerning the penetration of God"s Word.

1. It searches the whole of man"s nature. The "soul," i.e. man"s animal soul; "spirit," i.e. man"s religious spirit. By the former he is related to the brute creation; by the latter he is related to angels and to God himself, who is the "Father of spirits." The Word enters the heart and makes an impression there; it pierces through even to the spirit, and works mightily there. It divides "both joints and marrow;" it investigates the most interior and hidden parts of man"s being.

2. It searches the whole of man"s nature most rigorously. "Even to the dividing of soul and spirit;" not dividing the soul from the spirit, but dividing the soul itself and the spirit itself. This Word is not as an ordinary sword, but is "sharper than any two-edged sword;" and it does not as an ordinary sword cut to the bone, but through the bones and through the innermost marrow. So thoroughly and rigorously does the Word of God search man"s moral nature.

IV THE DISCRIMINATION OF GOD"S WORD. "And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." It exercises a critical and separating power upon the thoughts and ideas, opinions and principles, of the heart. And it discovers to men the true moral character of their thoughts and intents, their opinions and principles. The Word of God frequently reveals man to himself. "The Bible," says Dr. Parker, "exposes the very innermost recesses of human nature; sets a light where no other hand ever placed a candle; lights up the pathways of our most secret life and thought; and we begin to feel that the book we must shut up when we are going to do evil is God"s Book. This is the great hold, the sovereign mastery, which the Book of God has over the ages that it knows us; that it gives articulation to our dumb reproaches; that it puts into the best words the things we reap against ourselves and cannot fully explain. Esaias knows us; Jeremiah has analyzed and dissected and anatomized us. It any man would know the human heart, he must read the human heart in God"s Book." The sacred page With calm attention scan! If on thy soul, As thou dost read, a ray of purer light Break in oh, cheek it not; give it full scope! Admitted, it will break the clouds which long Have dimmed thy sight, and lead thee, till at last, Convictions, like the sun"s meridian beams, Illuminate thy mind. (Samuel Hayes.) W.J.

Vers. 12, 13. The power of the Divine Word.

The writer urges here that if the Word of God condemned the unbelieving Jews in the Sinaitic desert, it will judge and condemn us also, should we prove unfaithful. The original reference is, of course, not to the written Word; but, in applying the passage to ourselves, we can think only of the promises and warnings of Holy Scripture.

I A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORD OF GOD. (Ver. 12.) The representation is very vivid and impressive. The Word is, as it were, a magistrate; it judges actions, sifts motives, pronounces sentences. As such it is:

1. Living. It is "the breath of his lips God-breathed; and so it is never "a dead letter," but always quick with spiritual life, and ready to quicken. What Luther said of Paul"s writings is true of all Scripture: its words are not dead words; they are living creatures, and have hands and feet.

2. Energetic. The actual power of the Word is as great as the authority which it claims. It is, indeed, the supreme power among men. In the moral sphere it dominates the thought of the world. To the individual soul it is like "a fire "and "a hammer." It is sharper than any two-edged sword two-edged, because it both punishes as a sword and heals as a surgeon"s knife.

3. Heart-dissecting. The Word pierces into the deepest recesses of man"s being. It pricks men in their hearts. It parts "soul and spirit," "joints and marrow;" i.e. it separates the animal soul from the angel-spirit in human nature. It gives sensibility and power to the heavenward side of our being; and enables us to distinguish what in us is carnal and must be subdued. It marks off to the believer"s consciousness "the works of the flesh" from "the fruit of the Spirit.

4. All-discerning. The sacred writers evince a profounder knowledge of human nature than even Shakespeare or Goethe. God"s Word is the touchstone of character. Rather it is an eye which detects the true spiritual condition of every one upon whom it gazes. That awful eye never closes. It reads the most secret thoughts and desires of the soul, and pronounces judgment upon the impenitent for doom. Even the manner in which a man treats the promises and threatenings of the Bible shows what that man is. Eye of God"s Word! whene"er we turn, Ever upon us I Thy keen gaze Can all the depths of sin discern, Unravel every bosom"s maze. Who that has felt thy glance of dread Thrill through his heart"s remotest cells, About his path, about his bed, Can doubt what spirit in thee dwells? (Keble. )

II THE SECRET OF ITS POWER. (Ver. 13.) Holy Scripture is thus energetic and efficacious because it is the Word of the Omniscient. It derives from him "who knows what is in man" its subtle insight into character, and its deep hold upon the world"s life. The all-seeing Judge, "with whom we have to do," has invested his Word with its marvelous magisterial power. As the teachings of Scripture are an exact transcript of the nature and will of God, even the bare Word itself exercises as a Book transcendent moral influence over men. But, when accompanied with the supernatural energy of the Holy Spirit, upon which it depends for its efficacy as a means of grace, Holy Scripture becomes the very omnipotence of the Omnipotent, to arouse, convict, and condemn, as well as to comfort, sanctify, and save.

CONCLUSION.

1. Let ministers preach the Word. " The faithful exhibition of the truth will lay bare the hearts of those who hear, and sometimes so thoroughly that individuals will conclude that their experiences must have been reported beforehand to the preacher. And without solid spiritual instruction no Church will receive blessing or power.

2. Let all hearers of the gospel tremble at the Word. " Every human heart should submit with holy awe to its inspection, and allow its teachings to determine belief, mould character, and control conduct.

Vers. 12-16. The Word of God discovering, the great High Priest delivering from, the apostate"s sin.

This completes the argument in this section (Heb 3 and Heb 4) on the sin of apostasy. Having brought his readers face to face with the awful peril of departure from the Son of God, we might suppose the writer had reached the limit of the subject. But not so; he goes on to say that this sin and doom may be true of some whose defection is hidden in the heart. But he cannot relinquish the subject there. This searching admonition closes with the revelation of the great High Priest, who will deliver those who come to him from the guilt of apostasy. Subject The Word of God discovering, the great High -Priest delivering from, the apostate"s sin.

I THE WORD OF GOD DETECTS AND JUDGES THE SIN OF APOSTASY. "The Word of God" here probably alludes to that particular word in the ninety-fifth psalm, on which, in both these chapters, the writer has built his argument.

1. This Word is permanent. "Quick," i.e. not dead. The Word of threatening to Israel lives still. It has not to do only with a former generation. Time makes no difference to what God has said. His Word never dies; it is as true now as when it was uttered. The principles which underlie the Divine sayings are everlasting.

2. This Word is efficient. "Powerful," or active. Its utterances are always followed by corresponding results. Laws in an earthly statute-book may not be executed; he who made them may not have intended to enforce them, or has changed his mind about them, or has lost the power to carry them into effect. It can never be so with the Divine laws. God "is not man, that he should lie, nor the son," etc "hath he spoken, and shall he not do it?" He is always in one mind, and nothing can change him. Men forget that because of his long-suffering; but it is true.

3. This Word is destructive. "Sharper than," etc. To divide the soul from the spirit is equal to the parting of the body from the spirit; it is another expression for "to produce death." And this is said to be in the most painful way. Nothing could produce intenser pain or more certain death than the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow." The figure declares that the threatenings of God will be executed with an awful intensity of suffering and completeness of destruction.

4. This Word is penetrating. "Quick to discern," etc. (the sudden transition from the penetrating power of the Word to that of God is natural. The habitual thought of Scripture in this Epistle is that of a direct Divine utterance; God and his Word are one). "Naked, and laid open," paraphrased by "turned inside out." Its demands have as much to do with heart as life, with principles as doings. There may be no outward departure, but inner backsliding; and if so, the Word discovers and judges it.

II FROM THE SIN OF APOSTASY OUR HIGH PRIEST IS ABLE TO DELIVER US. How delightful to be able to turn from the preceding to this: "Having a great, etc."! From the fears excited we are bidden to look up to our Priest-King in the heavens.

1. The guilt of apostasy needs atonement. That need is met in the vision of Jesus as High Priest passed within the veil, to present on our behalf the blood of sprinkling, which cries for and secures mercy. "The blood of Jesus Christ, God"s Son, cleanseth," etc.

2. The temptation to apostasy needs help. That need, also, is met in the vision of Jesus as High Priest, Intercessor. He bears no jeweled names on his breast, but his people"s names are graven on those hands ever stretched toward the throne in prayer. "Simon, Simon, Satan hath," etc. Therefore "let us hold fast.

3. The resistance of apostasy needs sympathy. To refuse to be unfaithful often brings suffering. To cleave to Christ meant to these Hebrews the spoiling of their goods, etc. The need that brings solace and help is also met in the vision of Christ as High Priest. The "yet without sin" draws him nearer; for, to maintain a sinless heart and character, he must have experienced the keenest pains of self-crucifixion and temptation, and therefore knows this suffering at its greatest, and "is able to succor those," etc.

III TO OBTAIN OUR HIGH PRIEST"S DELIVERING HELP WE MUST DRAW NEAR TO THE THRONE OF GRACE.

1. He who has apostatized is invited, for Christ is the sinner"s High Priest.

"We have a High Priest." Who? "Jesus belongs to the sinner." He is given to save; then he belongs to the man who needs saving. Have we part in his sacrifice? is answered by another question Do you need it? Let such draw near.

2. He who has suffered in resisting apostasy is invited, for we may come saying all. " "Let us draw near with boldness;" literally, "saying all." We cannot tell our fears, sufferings, temptations, victories, to any creature, and our hearts get full for want of one to understand our deepest experience. Then we may go to Christ, and at his feet make a clean breast of everything, "saying all." Pour out your hearts before him," etc. Let such draw near.

3. He who is tempted to apostasy is invited, for here mercy and grace" are given. Mercy and grace are free free to the undo-serving. Mercy for the past, grace for the future. Let those whose sin and infirmity and circumstances need these draw near, for such are welcome. C.N.

Characteristics of the Word of God.

What is the connection with the context? Is it not this that the Word of God, living and abiding forever, (1Pe_1:23) stands in its constant living relation to every generation of men? So far as we are essentially in the position of that generation which came out of Egypt, so far as we have Divine promises before us the conditions of which we may neglect, so far are we the objects of the same Word of God. Essentially the same Divine visitation, judicial visitation, comes on all who fail to show that trust which is their duty. The same things must happen to all who will not believe what is true and trust what is trustworthy. And yet what is here said of the Word of God only takes a threatening aspect if we choose to have it so. The Word of God has a double function. It may penetrate, physician-like, to heal, to purify, to illuminate the depths and darknesses of our being, or it may penetrate to furnish the irresistible evidence for our condemnation. It is sufficient, then, that we look at the characteristics of God"s Word in themselves. What they may become in action it is for us to decide.

I THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING. Every word concerning truth and duty, every word of promise, comfort, revelation of the unseen, is like a living being sent out into the world, going to and fro in the earth, so that none of us knows when, with all its fullness of life, it may take hold of us. "Moses," says Stephen in his great discourse, "received the lively oracles (logia zwnta) to give to us." It is well that we should bear in mind how the written Scriptures, though an invaluable help, are not an absolute necessity. Apart from the living Spirit of God which fills them with life, they would be, perhaps, the least comprehensible, the most perplexing, of antique writings. Nor must we be forgetful of that Divine Loges spoken of at the beginning of John"s Gospel. In that Loges was life life which was the light of men. The Word of God finding its highest expression, the expression of what would otherwise be ineffable in a manifested human life; human, yet Divine; Divine, yet human.

II THE WORD OF GOD IS POWERFUL. Powerful, but powerful in a peculiar way. Energetic, shall we say? Leaven leavening the whole lump, undermining cherished principles of worldly wisdom, falsehoods, prejudices, superstitions, and putting in their place the Christian the true and the rational. Note the expression of Paul in 2Co_4:12, where he speaks of life energizing in us.

III THE WORD OF GOD IS PENETRATING. This would seem to be the characteristic most to be borne in mind, considering how language is multiplied and varied to declare it. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Some plain word of God with the Spirit"s force behind it is a sword, sharper than any two-edged sword; and yet, unlike the carnal weapon, it is not for killing, nor for mischief. Here is the penetrating power which reveals all secrets, opens out all mysteries. It hacks its way in and in till it is face to face with the real man. Every man has, as it were, a holy of holies with respect to others. They cannot get behind the veil. But God is never anywhere else in relation to us. His ways are past finding out by us. But all our ways in every winding are known to him. And all this deep, infallible searching is for our good. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Heb_4:12. Word of God.—Either

(1) the personal Word, the Λόγος; or

(2) the revealed word, to which the writer has been appealing; or

(3) the spoken word of God, which may come to men through human agents now. Probably the second is the more preferable explanation, because to this writer Scripture is constantly thought of as a direct Divine utterance. It is not simply the written word, but that word as the voice for every age of the living God. Quick.—Alive, active. Soul.—ψυχή, the animal soul, spirit; πνεῦμα, that part of our nature in which the Divine Spirit works. Not a separating of these things from one another, but a dividing so as to lay them both bare to view. “The awakening and alarming of the conscience, the felt opening up, the dissection of the ultimate principles of the moral and spiritual life, is the effect of the word here intended” (Webster and Wilkinson). For the sword-figure see Isa_49:2; Eph_6:17; Rev_1:16; and Wis_18:15-16. Joints and marrow.—A very strong figure. Dividing the joints or limbs from the body, and piercing through the very bone to the marrow. “The divine commination is of the most deadly punitive efficacy.”

Heb_4:13. Naked.—Or laid bare; as the throat of a victim is bared for sacrifice; Greek, “to take by the neck,” as do wrestlers. Perhaps the better meaning is “fully exposed to view.” No self-deceptions can hide the truth from God. Farrar suggests that the figure may be taken from the anatomic examination of victims by the priests, which was called momoskopia, since it was necessary that every victim should be “without blemish.” But he prefers the usage of Philo, which decides the meaning to be “laid prostrate” for examination. R.V. “naked and laid open.”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Heb_4:12-13

The Searching Power of the Living Word.—This passage asserts the searching, testing power of the Word of God. Observe the connection in which it stands. Beware of falling from the Christian profession. Beware of unbelief and presumption. Your dangers are many and great. The Divine observations and testings are most exact and searching. “Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off.” “Quick,” with either the idea of enduring or of activity. The Word is in actual operation; it is not a thing of mere possibilities. “Sharper than two-edged sword”; the Bible idea of keenness—perfect discrimination. “Soul and spirit”; material and spiritual life. “Joints and marrow,” or bone and marrow; metaphor from the bodily frame. “Thoughts and intents”; mere ideas, and ideas when formed into resolves; metaphor from the intellectual life. Notice the impression of present, perfect, subtle searching which is produced by the terms of the text. No language could have been more effective.

I. What is this Word of God.—Divest the mind of the idea that the Scriptures are chiefly or only referred to. That is the common use of the text as quoted in extempore Christian prayers. At one time the term Word was a much more important expression than it is now. To the early Christians, and in early Church philosophy, the term Word, or Logos, had its own special significance. We know how much St. John makes of it in the prologue of his gospel; and he wrote at a time when a half-Jewish and half-pagan philosophy was getting influence in the Church. As it is used in Scripture the term includes:

1. The conditions under which our first parents had their rights to Paradise. The Word of God given to Adam. The mode of communication we cannot now know. Somehow the thought and will of God were intelligently conveyed to their minds.

2. The manifestations of God and His will to men in the patriarchal age. The modes of communication being visions, dreams, angelic appearances, living voices—all being Words of God. Illustrate by the Jewish idea of the Memra, as the Second Person of the Trinity.

3. The special disclosure of the Divine mind concerning a particular people. The modes of communication being by a mediator, Moses, and by a ceremonial worship.

4. The human life on earth of the Son of God, whom we call the Incarnate Word. This is, in the very highest sense, the Word of God.

5. The active energy of the Divine Spirit working in the hearts of men. So far as it is revealing and teaching it becomes the Word of God.

6. The Written Word, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Through printing and education this has come to be the most effective form of the Word. From this sketch of the forms of the Word, it may be shown that it is essentially this: the manifestation of God to men; the communication of the thought and will of God to men; the translation of the mind of God into some form of language that men can understand. It is affirmed of nature, “There is no speech nor language, (yet) their line is gone out into all the earth.” There are more or less perfect degrees in which words utter thoughts. They serve both to convey and to conceal our meaning. So in God’s Word there are different degrees of clearness. We find it given under a variety of conditions, and in forms appropriate to each condition. The Word in Christ, and taught by His Spirit, represents the highest form of Divine communication.

II. How does the Word of God search and try men?—The Word, we have seen, is God bringing Himself into such relations with men as men can realise. The Word is God. It is essential to God that He must be a searching power wherever He comes. This is affirmed in Scripture, and by the experience of believers. “All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” What is true of God Himself is true of all modes of His Word.

1. The Written Word. It searches by the force of its commands, examples, counsels, warnings—wonderfully fitting into all the circumstances of life. Sinning man dreads the Scriptures.

2. The Incarnate Word. Searches by the contact of His purity and perfection. No man can fail to admit the moral perfection of Christ. A man feels it. All the power is exerted which attends on putting the standard, the model, beside the copy. Jesus is the one and only model of a man who reached heaven by His own goodness.

3. The Living Word, or Holy Spirit. This is declared to be the effect of His inworking—He “convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment”; and this is His constant operation in the Christian soul. This searching quality ought to attach to the preached Word: it does whenever it is really the Word of God.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Heb_4:12-13. The Divine Thought-reader.—“All things are naked and laid open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Much is now made of the skill in thought-reading which seems to be the special endowment of particular persons. The assertion is made that God is, in an absolute and unqualified sense, the “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” If we can explain man’s thought-reading power, the explanation will help us to understand the perfect thought-reading power of God.

I. If thought-reading be an unusual gift or endowment, a particular form of human genius, it is a Divine bestowment, or rather trust; and God cannot give what He does not possess: what God possesses constitutes Him what He is. He has this genius of thought-reading in a perfection of which man’s limited power can give no adequate idea. Man’s power is in body limitations.

II. If thought-reading be dependent on sympathy, it must be a Divine attribute. Familiar to men long before “thought-reading” was heard of was the power of persons in close sympathy—as friends, or husbands and wives—to understand each other without the use of words. Sympathetic friends constantly know what friends are thinking. With God we associate the revelations of a perfect sympathy.

III. If thought-reading be a result of knowledge of mental laws, God has the perfect knowledge. Thinking is entirely in the control of laws. And every man’s thoughts are the strict operation of laws, which always work as they do in any one case. God knows what we think, for He knows all the working of the thought-laws.

The Testing-power of the Logos.—Show how the discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart is ascribed to God. That such discerning is characteristic of the Incarnate Word, or Gospel; of the Written Word, or Scriptures; and of the Living Word, or Spirit. It ought to be a marked characteristic of the preached Word, or ministry.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4

Heb_4:12. The Double-edged Knife.—The Jewish priest required a strong and skilful hand to do the ordinary work of his holy calling. It needed both strength and skill to lay the victim on the altar, to guide the sharp two-edged sacrificial knife straight through the carcass, till the very backbone was severed, the whole laid bare, and the very joints and marrow exposed and separated. For this reason (as well as because he was a type of Him who is perfect), because such persons ordinarily are deficient in bodily strength, no deformed person could be high priest, he could not do the work required of him. There is a knife sharper than that two-edged sword, and a hand to guide its blade and apply its edges and point stronger and surer than the Jewish priest’s. That knife is the word of God: it is a “living” word; it has a power to lay open hearts far greater than that sacrificial knife had to lay bare the bodies of the sacrifice; its edge is sharper than that of the two-edged sword; and when driven home and directed by the hand of the Almighty Spirit, “it pierces even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, the soul and spirit,” and lays bare “the thoughts and intents of the heart.”—W. W. Champneys, M.A.

The Force of Conscience.—A man who was remarkable for his ignorance and wickedness was visiting some of his relations on the last day that our mission-tent was used. They tried to persuade him to come to our closing meeting; but finding their entreaties prevailed nothing, one of them asked if he would go, provided some one would give him a sum of money. He answered, “Yes, he would do anything for money.” “Would he go for a shilling?” “Would he go for a meal’s victuals?” “Yes.” “Then I will give you one.” A loaf was then broken in two, and one half of it, with some butter and cheese, was deposited at a cottage near the tent, it being understood that the man was to have it immediately the service was over. This being done, the man came to the tent. My sermon, being founded upon “The end of all things is at hand,” etc., turned a good deal upon the future judgment, and made way for some remarks from Mr. Pocock, in the course of which he described the Judge descending, the judgment set, and the books opened; and then remarking that every word, and every work, and every secret thing would then be exposed, he exclaimed, “Who was it at such a time opened his neighbour’s potato-pit, and deprived a poor family of their stock of winter provisions? There he is; bring him forward—what! is that he?” etc. Conscience now smote this man; he had been guilty of this very crime, and, filled with alarm, went home without his victuals. The next morning he went to the woman whose potato-pit he had robbed, and confessed his crime, adding, “Mr. Pocock wouldn’t ha’ knawed I, but my hankercher weren’t tied like anybody else’s!” What is specially remarkable in this case is, that Mr. Pocock knew nothing of the man, nor had he ever heard of such a circumstance as a potato-pit being opened and robbed in the neighbourhood; but he simply hit upon the observation as involving a general thing, without the slightest idea of any individual case. Surely there was something more than chance in all this. Who can tell but this very occurrence saved this poor fellow from the gallows?—Memoirs of the Rev. John Pyer.

Heb_4:13. Examining the Entrails.—The Greek word here is taken from the practices that accompanied the offering of animals in sacrifices. It is said that, in ancient nations, when the animal that was to be sacrificed had been killed, the priest examined microscopically all the entrails and bowels, and watched certain spots or symptoms, from which he argued success or misfortune in the enterprise in which the offerer was embarked; and therefore the apostle says, that all things are as clearly noted by God as the entrails of the victim were laid bare and examined by the priest.—Dr. Cumming.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:12-13 Echoing the call to hear God’s voice (3:7, 15; 4:7; quoted from Ps 95:7), the author gives a beautiful epigram on the power and penetration of God’s word. • alive and powerful: God’s word is an active, effective force. The word that created and governs the cosmos (Heb 1:2-3) can deal powerfully with people. • the sharpest two-edged sword: God’s word is able to penetrate the darkest recesses of people’s lives, exposing their innermost thoughts and desires (cp. Eph 6:17; Rev 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 4:12. Ζῶν γὰρ, for quick, lively) The efficacy of the word of GOD and the omniscience of GOD Himself is described as saving to those in the case of whom the word of GOD is mixed with faith on their part [Heb 4:2], but as terrible to those who are obstinate: comp. 2Co 2:15.—ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ) the word of God that is preached, Heb 4:2, and which is the Gospel-word, ib., and is joined with threatening, Heb 4:3. For Christ, the hypostatic Word, is not said to be a sword, hut to have a sword (comp. Jos 5:13, to which passage this passage, relating to Joshua, Heb 4:8, seems also to refer); nor is He called κριτικὸς, judicial, but κριτὴς, the Judge. The appellation of Sword, given to God, Deu 33:29, is suitable to the song, not to the ordinary style of epistolary writing.—τομώτερος) more cutting, sharper.—διικνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ, piercing even to the dividing) Its parallel presently, κριτικὸς, judicial, judging, discerning.—ψυχῆς τε καὶ πνεύματος, of soul and spirit) Hence it is evident that soul and spirit are not synonymous, but the spirit is in the soul. Man, contemplated according to his nature, consists of soul and body, Mat 10:28: but when he has in him the working of GOD’S word, he consists of spirit, soul, and body. The inmost parts, and the recesses in the spirit, soul, and body of man, are called by Synecdoche[27] ἁρμοὶ καὶ μυελοὶ, joints and marrow (marrows). Moses forms the soul, Christ the spirit, 2Co 3:6. The soul attracts (draws with it) the body, the spirit both, 1Th 5:23. The spirit is divided from the soul by the efficacy of the word of GOD, when the former is claimed for GOD; the latter is left to itself, in so far as it either does not attain to, or does not follow the spirit. And as the joints are not only divided from the marrow, but the joints and marrow respectively are divided into their own parts: nor are the intentions only distinguished from the thoughts, but the intentions themselves, as well as the thoughts themselves, are discerned [decided upon]: so, not only is the soul divided from the spirit, but as it were a part of the spirit is divided from part of the spirit, a part of the soul from part of the soul: Luk 2:35. Flesh and spirit are also separated: 1Pe 4:6, note.—ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν, of the intentions and thoughts) He comes from the greater parts as soul and spirit, and from the less as joints and marrow, to the faculties of the mind. Ἐνθύμησις, intention, involves feeling; there follows by gradation ἔννοια, thought, which expresses something simpler, previously existing and internal. Both nourish and foster either good or evil. Θυμὸς, from θύω, ὁρμῶ· νόος from νέω, κινοῦμαι.

[27] A part for the whole. Append.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_4:12-13. Warning demonstration of the necessity for compliance with the exhortation uttered Heb_4:11.[67]

Ὁ ΛΌΓΟς ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ] the word of God. By these words we have not, with many Fathers, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Thomas Aquinas, Lyra, Cajetan, Clarius, Justinian, Cornelius a Lapide, Jac. Cappellus, Gomar, Owen, Heinsius, Alting, Clericus, Cramer, Ewald, al., the hypostatic word of God, or Christ, as the second person of the Godhead. For although this mode of designating Christ in the case of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, according to Heb_1:1-3, and on account of the points of contact he displays with Philo, can present nothing strange in itself, yet the expression was too unusual for it to be employed and understood without further indication, in this special sense, where the connection did not even lead up to it. Moreover, the predicates ἐνεργής, τομώτερος κ.τ.λ., and ΚΡΙΤΙΚΌς (instead of ΚΡΙΤΉς), seem better suited to an impersonal than a personal subject. The majority understand Ὁ ΛΌΓΟς ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ of the word of God, as proclaimed and as preserved in Scripture. They refer it then either to the gospel (Cameron, Grotius, Wittich, Akersloot, Ebrard, al.), or to the threatenings of God (Schlichting, Michaelis, Abresch, Böhme, Heinrichs, al.), or, finally, to the threatenings and promises of God taken together (Beza, Schulz, Bisping, al.). ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ is to be understood quite generally: that which God speaks, as, indeed, the whole proposition, Heb_4:12-13, contains a general sentence. But that that which God speaks was then, in its application to the case here specially coming under notice, the call to receptivity of heart repeatedly made by God through the psalmist, and the exclusion from His ΚΑΤΆΠΑΥΣΙς threatened in the event of obstinate disobedience and unbelief, was for the reader self-evident from the connection.

The word of God is characterized in progressive enhancement. It is called ΖῶΝ, living, on account of its inner vital power (not on account of its everlasting, intransitory continuance, Schlichting, Abresch; nor as cibus ac nutrimentum, quod hominum animis vitam conservat, Carpzov; nor, in opposition to the rigid lifeless law, Ebrard); ἐνεργής, effective, on account of its asserting itself, manifesting itself vigorously in the outer world. The latter is the consequence of the former, and both in this connection refer to the power of punishing its contemners, which is inherent in the word of God.

The penetrating sharpness of this power of punishment is described in ascending gradation in the sequel.

καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον] and more trenchant than every (any) two-edged sword. ὑπέρ after a comparative (Luk_16:8; Jdg_11:25, LXX. Cod. Vaticanus), like ΠΑΡΆ, Heb_1:4. ΜΆΧΑΙΡΑ ΔΊΣΤΟΜΟς, a sword with twofold mouth, i.e. with an edge on both sides (ἀμφοτέρωθεν ὀξεῖα). The same expression in the LXX. Jdg_3:16; Pro_5:4. Comp. ῬΟΜΦΑΊΑ ΔΊΣΤΟΜΟς, Rev_1:16; Rev_2:12; LXX. Psa_149:6; Sir_21:3. Similarly, Eurip. Helen. 989: ἐμὸν πρὸς ἧπαρ ὦσαι δίστομον ξίφος τόδε; Orest. 1309: δίπτυχα, δίστομα φάσγανα.

The proof for the statement: ΤΟΜΏΤΕΡΟς ὙΠῈΡ ΠᾶΣΑΝ ΜΆΧΑΙΡΑΝ ΔΊΣΤΟΜΟΝ, is contained in the words: ΚΑῚ ΔΙΪΚΝΟΎΜΕΝΟς ἌΧΡΙ ΜΕΡΙΣΜΟῦ ΨΥΧῆς ΚΑῚ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟς, ἉΡΜῶΝ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΜΥΕΛῶΝ] and piercing to the separating of soul and spirit, joints as well as marrow. μερισμός denotes the action of separating, and the separating subject is the word of God. Wrongly does Schlichting (comp. also Böhme) take it locally, or as reflexive: to the secret spot where soul and spirit separate. Such construction is to be rejected, as otherwise the clause following would have also to be explained in like manner: where joints and marrow separate. Joints and marrow, however, not being, in the human organization, things coming into direct contact, the thought would be inappropriate, whether we understand ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν in the literal or non-literal sense. Schlichting, to be sure, will make ἉΡΜῶΝ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΜΥΕΛῶΝ no longer dependent upon ΜΕΡΙΣΜΟῦ, but take it as co-ordinate with ΜΕΡΙΣΜΟῦ (… ut gladius iste penetrare dicatur ad loca in homine abditissima, etiam illuc, ubi anima cum spiritu connectitur et ab eo dividitur, itemque ubi sunt membrorum compages et medullae). But for this distinction the repetition of ἌΧΡΙ before ἉΡΜῶΝ would have been necessary. An entire failure, finally, is also the method proposed by Hofmann (Schriftbew. I. 2 Aufl. p. 297, and likewise still in his Comm. p. 192), in order to preserve the local acceptation, in making ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος dependent on ἉΡΜῶΝ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΜΥΕΛῶΝ: to the point at which it dissects and dissolves both joints and marrow of the inner life, the secret ligaments of its connection and the innermost marrow of its existence. For then the readers would be required to understand an arrangement of the words which has not, as Hofmann thinks, perhaps its parallel in Heb_6:1-2, but which is, on the contrary, altogether impossible, on account of the addition of ΜΕΡΙΣΜΟῦ already to ΨΥΧῆς ΚΑῚ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟς, and therefore nowhere finds its analogon in the N. T., not to say in the Epistle to the Hebrews. All four words: ΨΥΧῆς, ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟς, ἉΡΜῶΝ, and ΜΥΕΛῶΝ, depend upon ΜΕΡΙΣΜΟῦ, and not a dividing of the soul from the spirit, of joinings or joints from, the marrow, is intended, nor yet a dividing of the soul and spirit from joints and marrow (Böhme), but a dividing of the soul, the spirit, etc., each in itself is meant. The two last substantives, however, are not co-ordinate to the two first (Calvin, Beza, Cameron, Storr, Delitzsch, al.), but subordinate. For ψυχή and ΠΝΕῦΜΑ, which are distinguished from each other as characterizing respectively the lower sensuous life and the higher life of the spirit, here set forth without any more special limitation the inner side of human life generally, in opposition to the ΣῶΜΑ or body, which latter alone an earthly sword is able to pierce, and ἉΡΜΟΊ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΜΥΕΛΟΊ is not to be understood of the joints and marrow of the body,[68] but of the ligaments and marrow of the ψυχή and πνεῦμα, is thus a figurative expression to denote the innermost, most hidden depth of the rational life of man. In such transferred signification μυελός is used also with the classics. Comp. Themist. Orat. 32, p. 357: (ὀδύνη) εἰσδεδυκυῖα εἰς αὐτόν που τὸν μυελὸν τῆς ψυχῆς; Eurip. Hippol. 255 f.: χρῆν γὰρ μετρίας εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλίας θνητοὺς ἀνακίρνασθαι καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἄκρον μυελὸν ψυχῆς. ἁρμός, however, a fastening together, uniting, joint, could likewise he employed metaphorically, inasmuch as it receives its signification as joint of the human body only from the addition of τοῦ σώματος or from the connection, but elsewhere occurs in the most varied combinations and relations. Comp. e.g. ἁρμὸς θύρας, Dionys. Hal. Heb_5:7; ἁρμοὶ λιθῶν, Sir_27:2, al.

It is, moreover, worthy of notice that Philo also ascribes to his divine Logos a like cutting and severing power. He calls the same τομεὺς τῶν συμπάντων, which God has whetted to the most piercing sharpness, which on that account not only separates all sensuous things and penetrates to the atoms, but even divides the supra-sensuous, separating the soul into the rational and irrational, the reason into the true and false, the perception into the clear and the obscure. Comp. especially, Quis rerum divinarum haeres. p. 499 (with Mangey, I. p. 491): Εἶτʼ ἐπιλέγει· Διεῖλεν αὐτὰ μέσα [Gen_15:10] τὸ τίς οὐ προσθείς, ἵνα τὸν ἀδίδακτον ἐννοῇς θεὸν τέμνοντα τάς τε τῶν σωμάτων καὶ πραγμάτων ἑξῆς ἁπάσας ἡρμόσθαι καὶ ἡνῶσθαι δοκούσας φύσεις τῷ τομεῖ τῶν συμπάντων αὐτοῦ λόγῳ· ὄς, εἰς τὴν ὀξυτάτην ἀκονηθεὶς ἀκμήν, διαιρῶν οὐδέποτε λήγει τὰ αἰσθητὰ πάντα· ἐπειδὰν δὲ μέχρι τῶν ἀτόμων καὶ λεγομένων ἀμερῶν διεξέλθῃ, πάλιν ἀπὸ τούτων τὰ λόγῳ θεωρητὰ εἰς ἀμυθήτους καὶ ἀπεριγράφους μοίρας ἄρχεται διαιρεῖν οὗτος ὁ τομεύς … Ἕκαστον οὖν τῶν τριῶν διεῖλε μέσον, τὴν μὲν ψυχὴν εἰς λογικὸν καὶ ἄλογον, τὸν δὲ λόγον εἰς ἀληθές τε καὶ ψεῦδος, τὴν δὲ αἴσθησιν εἰς καταληπτικὴν φαντασίαν καὶ ἀκατάληπτον.

Ibid. p. 500 (I. p. 492): Οὕτως ὁ θεὸς ἀκονησάμενος τὸν τομέα τῶν συμπάντων αὐτοῦ λόγον διαιρεῖ τήν τε ἄμορφον καὶ ἄποιον τῶν ὅλων οὐσίαν, καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀποκριθέντα τέσσαρα τοῦ κόσμου στοιχεῖα, etc.

Comp. also de Cherubim, p. 112 f. (with Mangey, I. p. 144), where Philo finds in the φλογίνη ῥομφαία, Gen_3:24, a symbol of the Logos, and then observes with regard to Abraham: Οὐχ ὁρᾷς, ὅτι καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ὁ σοφός, ἡνίκα ἤρξατο κατὰ θεὸν μετρεῖν πάντα καὶ μηδὲν ἀπολείπειν τῷ γεννητῷ, λαμβάνει τῆς φλογίνης ῥομφαίας (i.e. of the divine Logos) μίμημα, πῦρ καὶ μάχαιραν [Gen_22:6] διελεῖν καὶ καταφλέξαι τὸ θνητὸν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ γλιχόμενος, ἴνα γυμνῇ τῇ διανοίᾳ μετάρσιος πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀναπτῇ.

καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας] and qualified to take cognizance of, or to judge (wrongly Heinrichs, Kuinoel, al.: to condemn), the dispositions and thoughts of the heart.

ἐνθυμήσεων] Mat_9:4; Mat_12:25; Act_17:29.

ἐννοιῶν] 1Pe_4:1.

[67] Ebrards commentary here too abounds in quixotic caprice, such as disowns all linguistic basis. According to Ebrard, the preceding warning of ver. 11 is yet further enforced, ver. 12, by the reminder that in our case (!) that excuse (!) is removed, which, according to ver. 2 (!), still existed in the case of the contemporaries of Moses. For us nothing is wanting (!) on the part of the word of God; for (!) the word of God is living, powerful, penetrating into the soul; if we (!) should fall victims to unbelief, the guilt would rest upon ourselves alone (!). According to Ebrard, the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ forms an opposition to the first person plural σπουδάσωμεν (!), and ver. 12 a supplementary material opposition to ver. 2 (!). That this profound and delicate connection has hitherto been overlooked by all expositors is natural enough. Even after Ebrard has discovered it, it will still remain unnoticed.

[68] So Delitzsch still explains, who represents the author as giving expression to the grossly sensuous conception, regardless whether such conception is in harmony with the authors refined mode of thought,that the word of God points out to man the antitheistic forces of his bodily nature, which has become wholly, and to all the joints and marrow (cerebral marrow, spinal marrow, etc.), a seat of sin and death! The expression is supposed to adapt itself, without itself becoming figurative, to the figure of the μάχαιρα. It is presupposed that the word of God has already accomplished its work of dissection (!) to the skeleton, with its bones and sinews (!), or at least presupposed that all, so far as this, is manifestly to be performed with ease. A stop, however, is not made here, but it further separates the joints of the bones, with the sinews or tendons serving to their movement, and cuts through the bones themselves, so that the marrow they contain is laid bare. Thus, then, the word renders the whole man transparent to God and to himself, and unveils in sharpest and most rigid analysis his most psychico-spiritual and innermost physical (!) condition; whereby it is then seen that, in so far as the man has not yet given scope to the work of grace, and in so far as the latter has not yet been able to accomplish itself, the marrow of the body is as corrupt as the spirit, which is as it were the marrow of the soul, and the joints of the body as corrupt as the soul, which is as it were the joint of the spirit (!).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He calleth the word of God lively by reason of the effects it worketh in them, to whom it is preached.

He calleth that the soul, which hath the affections resident in it.

By the spirit he meaneth that nobelest part which is called the mind.

An amplification taken from the nature of the word of God, the power whereof is such, that it entereth even to the deepest and most inward and secret parts of the heart, wounding them deadly that are stubborn, and plainly quickening the believers.

The doctrine of God which is preached both in the Law and in the Gospel.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For--Such diligent striving (Heb 4:11) is incumbent on us FOR we have to do with a God whose "word" whereby we shall be judged, is heart-searching, and whose eyes are all-seeing (Heb 4:13). The qualities here attributed to the word of God, and the whole context, show that it is regarded in its JUDICIAL power, whereby it doomed the disobedient Israelites to exclusion from Canaan, and shall exclude unbelieving so-called Christians from the heavenly rest. The written Word of God is not the prominent thought here, though the passage is often quoted as if it were. Still the word of God (the same as that preached, Heb 4:2), used here in the broadest sense, but with special reference to its judicial power, INCLUDES the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit with double edge, one edge for convicting and converting some (Heb 4:2), and the other for condemning and destroying the unbelieving (Heb 4:14). Rev 19:15 similarly represents the Word's judicial power as a sharp sword going out of Christ's mouth to smite the nations. The same word which is saving to the faithful (Heb 4:2) is destroying to the disobedient (Co2 2:15-16). The personal Word, to whom some refer the passage, is not here meant: for He is not the sword, but has the sword. Thus reference to Joshua appropriately follows in Heb 4:8.

quick--Greek, "living"; having living power, as "the rod of the mouth and the breath of the lips" of "the living God."

powerful--Greek, "energetic"; not only living, but energetically efficacious.

sharper--"more cutting."

two-edged--sharpened at both edge and back. Compare "sword of the Spirit . . . word of God" (Eph 6:17). Its double power seems to be implied by its being "two-edged." "It judges all that is in the heart, for there it passes through, at once punishing [unbelievers] and searching [both believers and unbelievers]" [CHRYSOSTOM]. PHILO similarly speaks of "God passing between the parts of Abraham's sacrifices (Gen 15:17, where, however, it is a 'burning lamp' that passed between the pieces) with His word, which is the cutter of all things: which sword, being sharpened to the utmost keenness, never ceases to divide all sensible things, and even things not perceptible to sense or physically divisible, but perceptible and divisible by the word." Paul's early training, both in the Greek schools of Tarsus and the Hebrew schools at Jerusalem, accounts fully for his acquaintance with Philo's modes of thought, which were sure to be current among learned Jews everywhere, though Philo himself belonged to Alexandria, not Jerusalem. Addressing Jews, he by the Spirit sanctions what was true in their current literature, as he similarly did in addressing Gentiles (Act 17:28).

piercing--Greek, "coming through."

even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit--that is, reaching through even to the separation of the animal soul, the lower part of man's incorporeal nature, the seat of animal desires, which he has in common with the brutes; compare the same Greek, Co1 2:14, "the natural [animal-souled] man" (Jde 1:19), from the spirit (the higher part of man, receptive of the Spirit of God, and allying him to heavenly beings).

and of the joints and marrow--rather, "(reaching even TO) both the joints (so as to divide them) and marrow." Christ "knows what is in man" (Joh 2:25): so His word reaches as far as to the most intimate and accurate knowledge of man's most hidden parts, feelings, and thoughts, dividing, that is, distinguishing what is spiritual from what is carnal and animal in him, the spirit from the soul: so Pro 20:27. As the knife of the Levitical priest reached to dividing parts, closely united as the joints of the limbs, and penetrated to the innermost parts, as the marrows (the Greek is plural); so the word of God divides the closely joined parts of man's immaterial being, soul and spirit, and penetrates to the innermost parts of the spirit. The clause (reaching even to) "both the joints and marrow" is subordinate to the clause, "even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." (In the oldest manuscripts as in English Version, there is no "both," as there is in the clause "both the joints and . . . which marks the latter to be subordinate). An image (appropriate in addressing Jews) from the literal dividing of joints, and penetrating to, so as to open out, the marrow, by the priest's knife, illustrating the previously mentioned spiritual "dividing of soul from spirit," whereby each (soul as well as spirit) is laid bare and "naked" before God; this view accords with Heb 4:13. Evidently "the dividing of the soul from the spirit" answers to the "joints" which the sword, when it reaches unto, divides asunder, as the "spirit" answers to the innermost "marrow." "Moses forms the soul, Christ the spirit. The soul draws with it the body; the spirit draws with it both soul and body." ALFORD'S interpretation is clumsy, by which he makes the soul itself, and the spirit itself, to be divided, instead of the soul from the spirit: so also he makes not only the joints to be divided asunder, but the marrow also to be divided (?). The Word's dividing and far penetrating power has both a punitive and a healing effect.

discerner of the thoughts--Greek, "capable of judging the purposes."

intents--rather, "conceptions" [CRELLIUS]; "ideas" [ALFORD]. AS the Greek for "thoughts" refers to the mind and feelings, so that for "intents," or rather "mental conceptions," refers to the intellect.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. For the word of God is quick, and powerful] Commentators are greatly divided concerning the meaning of the phrase 'ολογοςτοςθεου, the word of God; some supposing the whole of Divine revelation to be intended; others, the doctrine of the Gospel faithfully preached; others, the mind of God or the Divine intellect; and others, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is thus denominated in Joh 1:1, c., and Re 19:13 the only places in which he is thus incontestably characterized in the New Testament. The disputed text, 1John 5:7, I leave at present out of the question. In the introduction to this epistle I have produced sufficient evidence to make it very probable that St. Paul was the author of this epistle. In this sentiment the most eminent scholars and critics are now agreed. That Jesus Christ, the eternal, uncreated WORD, is not meant here, is more than probable from this consideration, that St. Paul, in no part of his thirteen acknowledged epistles, ever thus denominates our blessed Lord; nor is he thus denominated by any other of the New Testament writers except St. John. Dr. Owen has endeavoured to prove the contrary, but I believe to no man's conviction who was able to examine and judge of the subject. He has not been able to find more than two texts which even appeared to look his way. The first is, Lu 1:2: Us, which - were eye witnesses, and ministers του λογου, of the word; where it is evident the whole of our Lord's ministry is intended. The second is, Ac 20:32: I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace; where nothing but the gracious doctrine of salvation by faith, the influence of the Divine Spirit, c., c., can be meant: nor is there any legitimate mode of construction with which I am acquainted, by which the words in either place can be personally applied to our Lord. That the phrase was applied to denominate the second subsistence in the glorious Trinity, by Philo and the rabbinical writers, I have already proved in my notes on John 1., where such observations are alone applicable.

Calmet, who had read all that either the ancients or moderns have said on this subject, and who does not think that Jesus Christ is here intended, speaks thus: "None of the properties mentioned here can be denied to the Son of God, the eternal Word he sees all things, knows all things, penetrates all things, and can do all things. He is the ruler of the heart, and can turn it where he pleases. He enlightens the soul, and calls it gently and efficaciously, when and how he wills. Finally, he punishes in the most exemplary manner the insults offered to his Father and himself by infidels, unbelievers, and the wicked in general. But it does not appear that the Divine Logos is here intended,

1. Because St. Paul does not use that term to express the Son of God.

2. Because the conjunction γαρ, for, shows that this verse is an inference drawn from the preceding, where the subject in question is concerning the eternal rest, and the means by which it is to be obtained.

It is therefore more natural to explain the term of the word, order, and will of God, for the Hebrews represent the revelation of God as an active being, living, all-powerful, illumined, executing vengeance, discerning and penetrating all things. Thus Wisd. 16:26: 'Thy children, O Lord, know that it is not the growing of fruits that nourisheth man, but that it is thy word that preserveth them that put their trust in thee.' See De 8:3. That is, the sacred Scriptures point out and appoint all the means of life. Again, speaking of the Hebrews who were bitten with the fiery serpents, the same writer says, Wisd. 16:12: 'For it was neither herb nor mollifying plaster that restored them to health, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things' i.e. which describes and prescribes the means of healing. And it is very likely that the purpose of God, sending the destroying angel to slay the firstborn in Egypt is intended by the same expression, Wisd. 18:15, 16: 'Thine almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into a land of destruction, and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and, standing up, filled all things with death.' This however may be applied to the eternal Logos, or uncreated Word.

"And this mode of speech is exactly conformable to that of the Prophet Isaiah, Isa 55:10-11, where to the word of God, spoken by his prophets, the same kind of powers are attributed as those mentioned here by the apostle: For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my WORD BE that GOETH FORTH OUT OF MY MOUTH: it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The centurion seems to speak a similar language, Lu 7:7: But say in a word, (αλλα ειπε λογω, speak to thy word,) and my servant shall be healed." This is the sum of what this very able commentator says on the subject.

In Dr. Dodd's collections we find the following: -

"The word of God, which promises to the faithful, an entrance into God's rest in David's time, and now to us, is not a thing which died or was forgotten as soon as it was uttered, but it continues one and the same to all generations; it is ζων, quick or living. So Isaiah says: The word of our God shall stand for ever; Isa 40:8. Compare Isa 51:6; Isa 55:11; 1Esdras 4:38; Joh 3:34; 1Pe 1:23. And powerful, ενργης, efficacious, active; sufficient, if it be not actually hindered, to produce its effects; effectual, Phm 1:6. See 2Co 10:4; 1Th 2:13. And sharper than any two-edged sword; τομωτεροςυπερ, more cutting than. The word of God penetrates deeper into a man than any sword; it enters into the soul and spirit, into all our sensations, passions, appetites, nay, to our very thoughts; and sits as judge of the most secret intentions, contrivances, and sentiments of the heart. Phocylides has an expression very similar to our author, where he says, of reason, 'that it is a weapon which penetrates deeper into a man than a sword.' See also Isa 40:4; Eph 6:17; Rev 1:16; Rev 2:16.

"Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. - When the soul is thus distinguished from the spirit, by the former is meant that inferior faculty by which we think of and desire what concerns our present being and welfare. By spirit is meant a superior power by which we prefer future things to present, by which we are directed to pursue truth and right above all things, and even to despise what is agreeable to our present state, if it stand in competition with, or is prejudicial to, our future happiness. See 1Th 5:23. Some have thought that by the expression before us is implied that the word of God is able to bring death, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira; for, say they, if the soul and spirit, or the joints and marrow are separated one from another, it is impossible that life can remain. But perhaps the meaning of the latter clause may rather be: 'It can divide the joints and divide the marrow; i.e. enter irresistibly into the soul, and produce some sentiment which perhaps it would not willingly have received; and sometimes discover and punish secret, as well as open wickedness.' Mr. Pierce observes that our author has been evidently arguing from a tremendous judgment of God upon the ancient Israelites, the ancestors of those to whom this epistle is directed; and in this verse, to press upon them that care and diligence he had been recommending, he sets before them the efficacy and virtue of the word of God, connecting this verse with the former by a for in the beginning of it; and therefore it is natural to suppose that what he says of the word of God may have a relation to somewhat remarkable in that sore punishment of which he had been speaking, particularly to the destruction of the people by lightning, or fire from heaven. See Le 10:1-5; Nu 11:1-3; Nu 16:35; Ps 78:21. All the expressions in this view will receive an additional force, for nothing is more quick and living, more powerful and irresistible, sharp and piercing, than lightning. If this idea be admitted, the meaning of the last clause in this verse will be, 'That the word of God is a judge, to censure and punish the evil thoughts and intents of the heart.' And this brings the matter home to the exhortation with which our author began, Heb 3:12; Heb 3:13; for under whatever disguise they might conceal themselves, yet, from such tremendous judgments as God executed upon their fathers, they might learn to judge as Moses did, Nu 32:23: If ye will not do so, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out." See Hammond, Whitby, Sykes, and Pierce.

Mr. Wesley's note on this verse is expressed with his usual precision and accuracy: -

"For the word of God - preached, Heb 4:2, and armed with threatenings, Heb 4:3, is living and powerful - attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers; sharper than any two-edged sword - penetrating the heart more than this does the body; piercing quite through, and laying open, the soul and spirit, joints and marrow - the inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words; and is a discerner, not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions."

The law, and the word of God in general, is repeatedly compared to a two-edged sword among the Jewish writers, חרב שתי פיפיות chereb shetey piphiyoth, the sword with the two mouths. By this sword the man himself lives, and by it he destroys his enemies. This is implied in its two edges. See also Schoettgen.

Is a discerner of the thoughts] Και κριτικος ενθυμησεων και εννοιων καρδιας. Is a critic of the propensities and suggestions of the heart. How many have felt this property of God's word where it has been faithfully preached! How often has it happened that a man has seen the whole of his own character, and some of the most private transactions of his life, held up as it were to public view by the preacher; and yet the parties absolutely unknown to each other! Some, thus exhibited, have even supposed that their neighbours must have privately informed the preacher of their character and conduct; but it was the word of God, which, by the direction and energy of the Divine Spirit, thus searched them out, was a critical examiner of the propensities and suggestions of their hearts, and had pursued them through all their public haunts and private ways. Every genuine minister of the Gospel has witnessed such effects as these under his ministry in repeated instances.

But while this effect of the word or true doctrine of God is acknowledged, let it not be supposed that it, of itself can produce such effects. The word of God is compared to a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces, Jer 23:29; but will a hammer break a stone unless it is applied by the skill and strength of some powerful agent? It is here compared to a two-edged sword; but will a sword cut or pierce to the dividing of joints and marrow, or separation of soul and spirit, unless some hand push and direct it? Surely, no. Nor can even the words and doctrine of God produce any effect but as directed by the experienced teacher, and applied by the Spirit of God. It is an instrument the most apt for the accomplishing of its work; but it will do nothing, can do nothing, but as used by the heavenly workman. To this is the reference in the next verse.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. For the word of God is quick, or living, etc. What he says here of the efficacy or power of the word, he says it, that they might know, that it could not be despised with impunity, as though he had said, “Whenever the Lord addresses us by his word, he deals seriously with us, in order that he may touch all our inmost thoughts and feelings; and so there is no part of our soul which ought not to be roused.”

But before we proceed further, we must inquire whether the Apostle speaks of the effect of the word generally, or refers only to the faithful.

It indeed appears evident, that the word of God is not equally efficacious in all. For in the elect it exerts its own power, when humbled by a true knowledge of themselves, they flee to the grace of Christ; and this is never the case, except when it penetrates into the innermost heart. For hypocrisy must be sifted, which has marvelous and extremely winding recesses in the hearts of men; and then we must not be slightly pricked or torn, but be thoroughly wounded, that being prostrate under a sense of eternal death, we may be taught to die to ourselves. In short, we shall never be renewed in the whole mind, which Paul requires, (Ephesians 4:23,) until our old man be slain by the edge of the spiritual sword. Hence Paul says in another place, (Philippians 2:17,) that the faithful are offered as a sacrifice to God by the Gospel; for they cannot otherwise be brought to obey God than by having, as it were, their own will slain; nor can they otherwise receive the light of God’s wisdom, than by having the wisdom of the flesh destroyed. Nothing of this kind is found in the reprobate; for they either carelessly disregard God speaking to them, and thus mock him, or clamour against his truth, and obstinately resist it. In short, as the word of God is a hammer, so they have a heart like the anvil, so that its hardness repels its strokes, however powerful they may be. The word of God, then, is far from being so efficacious towards them as to penetrate into them to the dividing of the soul and the spirit. Hence it appears, that this its character is to be confined to the faithful only, as they alone are thus searched to the quick.

The context, however, shows that there is here a general truth, and which extends also to the reprobate themselves; for though they are not softened, but set up a brazen and an iron heart against God’s word, yet they must necessarily be restrained by their own guilt. They indeed laugh, but it is a sardonic laugh; for they inwardly feel that they are, as it were, slain; they make evasions in various ways, so as not to come before God’s tribunal; but though unwilling, they are yet dragged there by this very word which they arrogantly deride; so that they may be fitly compared to furious dogs, which bite and claw the chain by which they are bound, and yet can do nothing, as they still remain fast bound.

And further, though this effect of the word may not appear immediately as it were on the first day, yet it will be found at length by the event, that it has not been preached to any one in vain. General no doubt is what Christ declares, when he says, When the Spirit shall come, he will convince the world, (John 16:8 9.) for the Spirit exercises this office by the preaching, of the Gospel. And lastly, though the word of God does not always exert its power on man, yet it has it in a manner included in itself. And the Apostle speaks here of its character and proper office for this end only, — that we may know that our consciences are summoned as guilty before God’s tribunal as soon as it sounds in our ears, as though he had said, “If any one thinks that the air is beaten by an empty sound when the word of God is preached, he is greatly mistaken; for it is a living thing and full of hidden power, which leaves nothing in man untouched.” The sum of the whole then is this, — that as soon as God opens his sacred mouth, all our faculties ought to be open to receive his word; for he would not have his word scattered in vain, so as to disappear or to fall neglected on the ground, but he would have it effectually to constrain the consciences of men, so as to bring them under his authority; and that he has put power in his word for this purpose, that it may scrutinize all the parts of the soul, search the thoughts, discern the affections, and in a word show itself to be the judge.

But here a new question arises, “Is this word to be understood of the Law or of the Gospel?” Those who think that the Apostle speaks of the Law bring these testimonies of Paul, — that it is the ministration of death, (2 Corinthians 3:6, 7,) that it is the letter which killeth, that it worketh nothing but wrath, (Romans 4:15,) and similar passages. But here the Apostle points out also its different effects; for, as we have said, there is a certain vivifying killing of the soul, which is effected by the Gospel. Let us then know that the Apostle speaks generally of the truth of God, when he says, that it is living and efficacious. So Paul testifies, when he declares, that by his preaching there went forth an odor of death unto death to the unbelieving, but of life unto life to believers, (2 Corinthians 2:16,) so that God never speaks in vain; he draws some to salvation, others he drives into ruin. This is the power of binding and loosing which the Lord conferred on his Apostles. (Matthew 18:18.) And, indeed, he never promises to us salvation in Christ, without denouncing, on the other hand, vengeance on unbelievers; who by rejecting Christ bring death on themselves.

It must be further noticed, that the Apostle speaks of God’s word, which is brought to us by the ministry of men. For delirious and even dangerous are those notions, that though the internal word is efficacious, yet that which proceeds from the mouth of man is lifeless and destitute of all power. I indeed admit that the power does not proceed from the tongue of man, nor exists in mere sound, but that the whole power is to be ascribed altogether to the Holy Spirit; there is, however, nothing in this to hinder the Spirit from putting forth his power in the word preached. For God, as he speaks not by himself, but by men, dwells carefully on this point, so that his truth may not be objected to in contempt, because men are its ministers. So Paul, by saying, that the Gospel is the power of God, (Romans 1:16.) designedly adorned with this distinction his own preaching, though he saw that it was slandered by some and despised by others. And when in another place, (Romans 10:8,) he teaches us that salvation is conferred by the doctrine of faith, he expressly says that it was the doctrine which was preached. We indeed find that God ever commends the truth administered to us by men, in order to induce us to receive it with reverence.

Now, by calling the word quick or living he must be understood as referring to men; which appears still clearer by the second word, powerful, for he shows what sort of life it possesses, when he expressly says that it is efficacious; for the Apostle’s object was to teach us what the word is to us. The sword is a metaphorical word often used in Scripture; but the Apostle not content with a simple comparison, says, that God’s word is sharper than any sword, even than a sword that cuts on both sides, or two-edged; for at that time swords were in common use, which were blunt on one side, and sharp on the other. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, or to the dividing of the soul and spirit, etc. The word soul means often the same with spirit; but when they occur together, the first includes all the affections, and the second means what they call the intellectual faculty. So Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, uses the words, when he prays God to keep their spirit, and soul, and body blameless until the coming of Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:23,) he meant no other thing, but that they might continue pure and chaste in mind, and will, and outward actions. Also Isaiah means the same when he says,

“My soul desired thee in the night; I sought thee with my spirit.” (Isaiah 26:9.)

What he doubtless intends to show is, that he was so intent on seeking God, that he applied his whole mind and his whole heart. I know that some give a different explanation; but all the sound-minded, as I expect, will assent to this view.

Now, to come to the passage before us, it is said that God’s word pierces, or reaches to the dividing of soul and spirit, that is, it examines the whole soul of man; for it searches his thoughts and scrutinizes his will with all its desires. And then he adds the joints and marrow, intimating that there is nothing so hard or strong in man, nothing so hidden, that the powerful word cannot pervade it. Paul declares the same when he says, that prophecy avails to reprove and to judge men, so that the secrets of the heart may come, to light. (1 Corinthians 14:24.) And as it is Christ’s office to uncover and bring to light the thoughts from the recesses of the heart, this he does for the most part by the Gospel.

Hence God’s word is a discerner, (κριτικὸς, one that has power to discern,) for it brings the light of knowledge to the mind of man as it were from a labyrinth, where it was held before entangled. There is indeed no thicker darkness than that of unbelief, and hypocrisy is a horrible blindness; but God’s word scatters this darkness and chases away this hypocrisy. Hence the separating or discerning which the Apostle mentions; for the vices, hid under the false appearance of virtues, begin then to be known, the varnish being wiped away. And if the reprobate remain for a time in their hidden recesses, yet they find at length that God’s word has penetrated there also, so that they cannot escape God’s judgment. Hence their clamour and also their fury, for were they not smitten by the word, they would not thus betray their madness, but they would seek to elude the word, or by evasion to escape from its power, or to pass it by unnoticed; but these things God does not allow them to do. Whenever then they slander God’s word, or become enraged against it, they show that they feel within its power, however unwillingly and reluctantly.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) As in Heb_3:12 the warning against the “evil heart of unbelief” is solemnly enforced by the mention of the “Living God,” so here, in pointing to the peril of disobedience, it is to the living power of the word of God that the writer makes appeal. But in what sense? Does he bring before us again the word of Scripture, or the divine Word Himself? Outside the writings of St. John there is no passage in the New Testament in which the word of God is as clearly invested with personal attributes as here. The word is “quick” (that is, living), “powerful” (or, active—mighty in operation, as most of our versions render the word), “able to discern the thoughts of the heart.” Philo, whose writings are pervaded by the doctrine of the divine Word (see the Note appended to St. John’s Gospel in Vol. I. of this Commentary, p. 553), in certain passages makes use of expressions so remarkably resembling some that are before us in this verse that we cannot suppose the coincidence accidental. Thus, in an allegorical explanation of Gen_15:10, he speaks of the sacred and divine Word as cutting through all things, dividing all perceptible objects, and penetrating even to those called indivisible, separating the different parts of the soul. But though these and the many other resemblances that are adduced may prove the writer’s familiarity with the Alexandrian philosophy, they are wholly insufficient to show an adoption of Philo’s doctrinal system (if system it could be called) in regard to the divine Word, or to rule the interpretation of the single passage in this Epistle in which an allusion to that system could be traced. Nor is the first-mentioned argument conclusive. There certainly is personification here, and in part the language used would, if it stood alone, even suggest the presence of a divine Person; but it is not easy to believe that in the New Testament the words “sharper than a two-edged sword” would be directly applied to the Son of God. In this Epistle, moreover (and even in this context, Heb_4:2), reference is repeatedly made to the word of God in revelation, without a trace of any other meaning. The key to the language of this verse, so far as it is exceptional, is found in that characteristic of the Epistle to which reference has been already made—the habitual thought of Scripture as a direct divine utterance. The transition from such a conception to those of this verse was very easy; and we need not feel surprise if with expressions which are naturally applied to the utterance are joined others which lead the thought to God as Speaker. It is, therefore, the whole word of God that is brought before us—mainly the word of threatening and judgment, but also (comp. Heb_4:2 and the last member of this verse) the word of promise.

Piercing even to the dividing asunder . . .—Rather, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow. For the comparison of God’s word to a sword see Isa_49:2; Eph_6:17; (Rev_1:16); comp. also Wis_18:15-16, “Thine Almighty word leapt down from heaven out of Thy royal throne . . . and brought Thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and standing up filled all things with death.” The keen two-edged sword penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit (not soul from spirit), with unfailing stroke severing bone from bone and piercing the very marrow. The latter words, by a very natural metaphor, are transferred from the material frame to the soul and spirit.

And is a discerner . . .—Is quick to discern, able to judge, the thoughts (reflections, conceptions, intents) of the heart. Man’s word may be lifeless, without power to discriminate, to adapt itself to a changed state or varying circumstances, to enforce itself: the Spirit of God is never absent from His word.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. For the word of God is quick] “Quick” is an old English expression for “living;” hence St Stephen speaks of Scripture as “the living oracles” (Act_7:38). The “word of God” is not here the personal Logos; a phrase not distinctly and demonstrably adopted by any of the sacred writers except St John, who in the prologue to his Gospel calls Christ “the Word,” and in the Apocalypse “the Word of God.” The reference is to the written and spoken word of God, of the force and almost personality of which the writer shews so strong a sense. To him it is no dead utterance of the past, but a living power for ever. At the same time the expressions of this verse could hardly have been used by any one who was not familiar with the personification of the Logos, and St Clemens of Rome applies the words “a searcher of the thoughts and desires” to God. The passage closely resembles several which are found in Philo, though it applies the expressions in a different manner (see Introduction).

powerful] Lit., effective, energetic. The vital power shews itself in acts.

sharper than any twoedged sword] The same comparison is used by Isaiah (Isa_49:2) and St Paul (Eph_6:17) and St john (Rev_2:16; Rev_19:15). See too Wis_18:15-16, “Thine Almighty Word leaped down from heaven … and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword.” Philo compares the Logos to the flaming sword of Eden (Gen_3:24) and “the fire and knife” (μἁχαιραν) of Gen_22:6.

piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow] The meaning is not that the word of God divides the soul (the “natural” soul) by which we live from the spirit by which we reason and apprehend; but that it pierces not only the natural soul, but even to the Divine Spirit of man, and even to the joints and marrow (i.e. to the inmost depths) of these. Thus Euripides (Hippol. 527) speaks of the “marrow of the soul.” It is obvious that the writer does not mean anything very specific by each term of the enumeration, which produces its effect by the rhetorical fulness of the expressions. The ψυχὴ or animal soul is the sphere of that life which makes a man ψυχικὸς, i.e. carnal, unspiritual; he possesses this element of life (anima) in common with the beasts. It is only by virtue of his spirit (πνεῦμα) that he has affinity with God.

a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart] These words are a practical explanation of those which have preceded. The phraseology is an evident reminiscence of Philo. Philo compares the Word to the flaming sword of Paradise; and calls the Word “the cutter of all things,” and says that “when whetted to the utmost sharpness it is incessantly dividing all sensuous things” (see Quis Rer. Div. Haeres & § 27; Opp. ed. Mangey i. 491, 503, 506). By enthumçseis is meant (strictly) our moral imaginations and desires; by ennoiai our intellectual thoughts: but the distinction of meaning is hardly kept (Mat_9:4, &c).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight,.... Christ is the Lord God omniscient; there is no creature, in general, rational, or irrational, animate or inanimate, but what are known to him, and seen by him; for all creatures are made, and upheld by him, and he is omnipresent; and in particular, there is no man but is manifest to him; so "creature", is often used by the Rabbins for "man"; all men, openly profane men, who are enemies to Christ, and his people, are under his eye and notice; he knows their persons, he sees their actions, even those that are most secretly devised and performed against him, and his saints; and he takes such notice of them, as to bring them into judgment for them; he knows formal professors of religion, and upon what foot they have taken up their profession, and how they keep their lusts with their profession; he can distinguish between profession and grace; and he knows and observes the springs and progress of their apostasy: and as for true believers, he knows their persons, and knows them to be his; he sees their sins and their weaknesses; he takes notice of their graces, and observes their wants; and there is nothing in them, or belongs to them, but what is before him, even the secret desires of their souls. So Philo the Jew says (q) the divine Word reaches to, and comprehends all things, nothing escapes him: and this phrase is very commonly used of the divine Being by the Jews, , "all things are manifest before him" (r); and this being used of Christ, is no inconsiderable proof of his proper deity:

but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The words are an allusion to wrestlers, who exercised naked, and took each other by their necks and collars; and when one was thrown upon his back, as the word rendered "opened" is by some translated, he was publicly exposed and known: or to the putting of a creature in such a posture when sacrificed; or rather to the cutting of it up, and laying open its entrails: and especially to the manner of doing it among the Jews, with which these persons, the apostle writes to, were acquainted: and it was this; when the lamb for the daily sacrifice was slain, the priest hung it up by the foot, and skinned it; and when he came to the breast, he cut off the head; and having finished the skinning of it, he divided the heart, and took out the blood; then he cut off the shoulders; and when he came to the right leg, he cut it off, and then cut it down through the chine bone, and , "all of it was manifest before him" (s). The very phrase before used. The word here used seems to answer to which, with the Arabians, signifies, "to know", or make known; and with the Rabbins; is used for a companion, a familiar one that is well known; the theme in the Hebrew, is, the "neck". The last clause, "with whom we have to do", manifestly points at the person here spoken of, Jesus Christ: saints have a concern with him now, as their way to the Father, as their Saviour and Redeemer; they have to do with his blood for pardon and cleansing, and with his righteousness for justification, and with his fulness for every supply of grace; and with him as their King to rule over them, protect and defend them, and as their prophet to teach them, and their high priest to intercede for them. Moreover, the words may be rendered, "to whom we must give an account"; and so the Syriac version renders them, "to whom they give an account"; as all men must at the great day: and all this that is said of the Word of God should engage to care, watchfulness, and circumspection in the course of a profession of religion.

(q) De Sacrif. Abel, p. 140. (r) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 122. 2. Vid. Seder Tephillot, fol. 281. 1. Ed. Basil. (s) Misna Tamid, c. 4. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Ver. 12. Quick and powerful] Gr. Lively and energetical; sc. in hearts that can treinble at God’s judgments, as David did, Psa 119:120. As for hypocrites, the word will ransack them, and give them a very glimpse of the judgment to come, as it did Felix, Herod, &c. God smiteth the earth with this rod of his mouth, Isa 11:4, he dashes them in the teeth, and maketh them spit blood, as it were; hewing them by his prophets, and slaying them by the words of his mouth, Hos 6:5; Rev 11:5.

Soul and spirit] {See Trapp on "1Th 5:23"} It affecteth not only the lower parts of the soul, which are less pure, but the purest also, and most supreme; even the spirit of the mind, the bosom as well as the bottom of the soul.

And of the joints and marrow] The minima and intima, the least things and the most secret.

And is a discerner] Gr. A curious critic judging exactly, and telling tales of the hearers, disclosing the words that they speak in their very bedchambers, as 2Ki 6:12.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the word of God - The design of this and the following verse is obvious. It is to show that we cannot escape the notice of God; that all insincerity, unbelief, hypocrisy, will be detected by him; and that since our hearts are perfectly open before him, we should be sincere and should not attempt to deceive him. The sense is, that the truth of God is all-penetrating and searching, and that the real thoughts and intents of the heart will be brought to light, and that if there is insincerity and self-deception there can be no hope of escape. There has been a great variety of opinion here about the meaning of the phrase “the Word of God.” Some have supposed that it means the Lord Jesus; others, the whole of the divine revelation; others the gospel; others the particular threatening referred to here. The “Word of God” is “what God speaks” - whether it be a promise or a threatening; whether it be Law or gospel; whether it be a simple declaration or a statement of a doctrine. The idea here is, that what “God had said” is suited to detect hypocrisy and to lay open the true nature of the feelings of the soul, so that there can be no escape for the guilty. His “truth” is adapted to bring out the real feelings, and to show man exactly what he is. Truth always has this power - whether preached, or read, or communicated by conversation, or impressed upon the memory and conscience by the Holy Spirit. There can be no escape from the penetrating, searching application of the Word of God. That truth has power to show what man is, and is like a penetrating sword that lays open the whole man; compare Isa 49:2. The phrase “the Word of God” here may be applied, therefore, to the “truth” of God, however made known to the mind. In some way it will bring out the real feelings, and show what man is.

Is quick - Greek ζῶν zōn - “living.” It is not dead, inert, and powerless. It has a “living” power, and is energetic and active. It is “adapted” to produce this effect.

And powerful - Mighty. Its power is seen in awakening the conscience; alarming the fears; laying bare the secret feelings of the heart, and causing the sinner to tremble with the apprehension of the coming judgment. All the great changes in the moral world for the better, have been caused by the power of truth. They are such as the truth in its own nature is suited to effect, and if we may judge of its power by the greatness of the revolutions produced, no words can over-estimate the might of the truth which God has revealed.

Sharper than any two-edged sword - Literally, “two-mouthed” sword - δίστομον distomon. The word “mouth” was given to the sword because it seemed to “devour” all before it. It consumed or destroyed as a wild beast does. The comparison of the Word of God to a sword or to an arrow, is designed to show its power of penetrating the heart; Ecc 12:11, “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies;” compare Isa 49:2. “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;” Rev 1:16, “And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword;” Rev 2:12, Rev 2:16; Rev 19:15. The comparison is common in the classics, and in Arabic poetry; see Gesenius, on Isa 49:2. The idea is that of piercing, or penetrating; and the meaning here is, that the Word of God reaches the “heart” - the very center of action, and lays open the motives and feelings of the man. It was common among the ancients to have a sword with two edges. The Roman sword was commonly made in this manner. The fact that it had two edges made it more easy to penetrate, as well as to cut with every way.

Piercing even to the dividing asunder - Penetrating so as to divide.

Soul and spirit - The animal life from the immortal soul. The former word here - ψυχή psuchē - “soul” - is evidently used to denote the “animal life,” as distinguished from the mind or soul. The latter word - πνεῦμα pneuma - “spirit” - means the soul; the immaterial and immortal part; what lives when the animal life is extinct. This distinction occurs in 1Th 5:23, “your whole spirit, and soul, and body;” and it is a distinction which we are constantly in the habit of making. There is the body in man - the animal life - and the immortal part that leaves the body when life is extinct. Mysteriously united, they constitute one man. When the animal life is separated from the soul, or when the soul leaves the animated body, the body dies, and life is extinct. To separate the one from the other is, therefore, the same as to take life - and this is the idea here, that the Word of God is like a sharp sword that inflicts deadly wounds. The sinner “dies;” that is, he becomes dead to his former hopes, or is “slain” by the Law; Rom 7:9, “I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” This is the power referred to here - the power of destroying the hopes of the sinner; cutting him down under conviction; and prostrating him as if a sword had pierced his heart.

And of the joints and marrow - The figure is still continued of the sword that takes life. Such a sword would seem to penetrate even the joints and marrow of the body. It would separate the joints, and pierce through the very bones to the marrow. A similar effect, Paul says, is produced by truth. It seems to penetrate the very essence of the soul, and lay it all open to the view.

And is a discerner of the thoughts - It shows what the thoughts and intentions are. Prof. Stuart, Bloomfield, and some others, suppose that the reference here is to “God” speaking by his word. But the more natural construction certainly is, to refer it to the Word or truth of God. It is true that God searches the heart, and knows the thoughts, but that is not the truth which is prominent here. It is, that the thoughts and intents of the heart are brought out to view by the Word of God. And can anyone doubt this? see Rom 7:7. Is it not true that people are made to see their real character under the exhibition of the truth of God? That in the light of the Law they see their past lives to be sinful? That the exhibition of truth calls to their recollection many long-forgotten sins? And that their real feelings are brought out when the truth of God is proclaimed? Men then are made to look upon their motives as they had never done before, and to see in their hearts feelings whose existence they would not have suspected if it had not been for the exhibition of the truth. The exhibition of the truth is like pouring down the beams of the sun at midnight on a dark world; and the truth lays open the real feelings of the sinner as that sun would disclose the clouds of wickedness that are now performed under cover of the night. Many a man has a deep and fixed hostility to God and to his gospel who might never be sensible of it if the truth was not faithfully proclaimed. The particular idea here is, that the truth of God will detect the feelings of the hypocrite and self-deceiver. They cannot always conceal their emotions, and the time will come when truth, like light poured into the soul, will reveal their unbelief and their secret sins. They who are cherishing a hope of salvation, therefore, should be on their guard lest they mistake the name for the reality. Let us learn from this verse:

(1) The power of truth. It is “suited” to lay open the secret feelings of the soul. There is not an effect produced in awakening a sinner; or in his conviction, conversion, and sanctification, which the truth is not “adapted” to produce. The truth of God is not dead; nor suited to make people “worse;” nor designed merely to show its own “weakness,” and to be a mere occasion on which the Holy Spirit acts on the mind; it is in its own nature Fitted to produce just the effects which are produced when it awakens, convicts, converts, and sanctifies the soul.

(2) The truth should be preached with the feeling that it is adapted to this end. Men who preach should endeavor to understand the nature of the mind and of the moral feelings, as really as he who would inflict a deadly wound should endeavor to understand enough about anatomy to know where the heart is, or he who administers medicine should endeavor to know what is adapted to remove certain diseases. And he who has no belief in the efficacy of truth to produce any effect, resembles one who should suppose that all knowledge of the human system was needless to him who wished to perform a surgical operation, and who should cut at random - piously leaving it with God to direct the knife; or he who should go into a hospital of patients and administer medicines indiscriminately - devoutly saying that all healing must come from God, and that the use of medicine was only to show its own weakness! Thus, many men seem to preach. Yet for aught that appears, truth is just as wisely adapted to save the soul as medicine is to heal the sick; and why then should not a preacher be as careful to study the nature of truth and its adaptedness to a particular end, as a student of the healing art is to understand the adaptedness of medicine to cure disease? The true way of preaching is, to feel that truth is adapted to the end in view; to select what is best suited for that end; to preach as if the whole result depended on getting that truth before the mind and into the heart - and then to leave the whole result with God - as a physician with right feelings will exert all his skill to save his patient, and then commit the whole question of life and health to God. He will be more likely to praise God intelligently who believes that he has wisely adapted a plan to the end in view, than he who believes that God works only at random.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For the word of God is living, &c. Some understand by the word of God, the eternal word, or Son of God: (to whom may apply all in the 12th and 13th verses) but others rather expound it of the words, promises, and menaces of God, either foretold by the prophets, or preached by the apostles. (Witham) --- All this language is metaphorical, but perfectly well understood by the Jews. In their sacrifices, the Levites made use of a two-edged knife to separate from the victim what was for God, what was for the priests, and what was for the people. Thus in sacrificing sinners to the justice of God, Jesus Christ, like a two-edged knife, will separate what is for God, and what is for man; i.e. whatever is good or evil in the whole of man’s conduct.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For the word of God: the efficacy of the word of God is a further enforcement of their studious labour to enter into God’s rest, for that calleth us thereunto; even the law and doctrine of the gospel brought by the incarnate Word from heaven, preached by him to the world, dictated and inspired into the holy penmen both of the Old and New Testament by the Holy Ghost, and written by them at his call and order, 2Pe 1:19-21; representing all those precepts and prohibitions, promises and threatenings, by which God will judge to whom this gospel hath been preached in that man whom he hath appointed: compare Heb 2:1,2, and Heb 4:1,2 of this. And this word was written by David, Psa 95:1-11, even a word of exhortation, promise, and threatening, as opened before, and shows the perfection of this gospel law in its administration by Christ.

Is quick; this word, like the incarnate Word, is ζων, not only a living word, but a quickening word, making dead sinners living Christians; souls dead in sins and trespasses, alive to God. This word, the breath of God, conveyeth spirit and life to them, 2Ti 3:16; 1Pe 1:23; so David experienced it, preserving the life it breathed into him, Psa 119:50; and the members of the church, 1Co 4:15; compare 2Co 3:6,17,18; and as a rule it guideth and directeth them through Christ unto eternal life, Joh 6:68.

And powerful; ενεργης it is an active word, powerful in its effects, the very ministration of the Spirit, 2Co 3:8, most efficacious and energetical for convincing, converting, comforting; and for condemning, killing: it acts like the power of God; so Rom 1:16,18.

And sharper than any two-edged sword; τομωτερος signifieth a cutting sharpness, as becometh several uses, as searching, letting out corruption, or for killing; all which agree to this Divine word; sharper than any sword with two mouths. The Hebrews style the edge the mouth, that which bites, teareth, or woundeth; as Rev 1:16, and Rev 2:12. The word for spiritual execution upon souls is more sharp, and above every other sword; there is none so piercing for cutting the heart, or killing sin in it. So is it used, Eph 6:17; compare Act 2:37; 7:54. It is Christ’s weapon of offence and defence for his people, and it cuts without resistance; with it he is defending his truth, and smiting his enemies, Isa 11:4; compare Rev 19:13,15,21.

Piercing even to the dividing asunder; διικνουμενς, piercing, or going through what is smitten with it; which way soever it is turned it forceth its way through all opposition, to a dividing into parts, and separating the most nearly united and closely joined things, laying open the very entrails, the most inward in a man; where the metaphors taken from the closest parts of the person are applied to the soul.

Of soul: ψυχη may denote not so much the natural life and the faculties of that, but that which is styled the rational soul as unregenerate: see 1Co 2:14. Such an animal, carnal soul as is purely human, 1Co 3:3, which wants both a principle, light, and faculty to discern the things of God, as no natural eye can see a spirit, Rom 8:5-8.

And spirit; πνευματος, the soul of man regenerate and spiritualized, called spirit, 1Th 5:23. The soul enlightened, renewed, and governed by the Holy Ghost; not altered as to its substance, but as to its qualities; whose understanding, will, and affections are spiritualized, manifested in its actions, agreeable to the spiritual will of God, 1Co 2:10,12,14,15. These are both of them under the piercing power of the word, and the Spirit can reach them by it as he pleaseth.

And of the joints and marrow: αρμων are not the members, but the nerves, membranes, muscles, whereby the members or limbs are joined one to another, so as not without incision to be discovered; and the marrow within the bones, there must be a breaking or perforating them to reach it. By which metaphors are set out the hardest, compactest, and most intimate parts of a sinner, the most secret hidden ones, which no natural reason can reach; yet the word of God pierceth them, to discover either the evil or good of them, and to inflict wrath, or communicate comfort, according to their conditions.

And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart: the word of God is a most nice, exact, and critical judge, discerning the gravity and rectitude of them; it discovers and distinguisheth them as they are, or not, agreeable to itself, the fundamental truth; and is capable, as a judge, to charge or discharge, as its author will, by it, Rom 2:12,15,16; compare 1Co 14:24,25. It discovers the most inward, close, secret, and constant motions, both speculative and practical, of the soul of man inseparably united to the heart; and one with another, whether they are opinions, conceptions, resolutions, or decrees, so subtile and so secret, as who can know them, but he who made the heart? Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. For—The momentous reason for our taking warning, the character of the word by which our unbelief is searched out and we condemned.

Word of God—The solemn word, in form of oath, which excludes from rest. Heb_4:3, and Heb_3:11. This divine word is terribly searching of spirit, soul, and body; searching whether that fatal unbelief lurks, the least particle, in any secret corner of our being. The many personal attributes here ascribed to the word has induced many eminent commentators, ancient and modern, to find here the Word of Joh_1:1, and to identify it with the second Person of the Trinity. The view of Delitzsch on this point seems most plausible—which is about this. The divine Word is the true expression of the divine nature, both as revealed person and as revealed truth. As the personal Word is the formative energy in the realm of physical things, so he is the actuating energy in the spiritual realm. He is the soul of spiritual truth, which from him derives its penetrative power upon and within the human soul. Hence, this description of the searching power of the word has a blending and identification of the person and the utterance, united in the term Word. And as the Son, by virtue of his being sent forth from the Father, is Apostle, and as the expression of the Father he is the Word, so this passage constitutes the climax of that terribleness of the administration of the apostle which calls for transition to the gracious High Priest, which follows in the next verse. This view is confirmed by a strong similar passage in Philo, of which this is a great improvement, and which we thus translate: “You may contemplate the uncomprehended God, cutting in succession all the natures of bodies and things, which seem to be compacted and unified, with the cleaver of all things, his Word, which, being sharpened to its keenest edge, (ακμη,) divides unceasingly all sensible things, and afterwards goes through, even to the atoms and the so-called indivisibles.”

Quick—That is, living; full of a pervading, searching life.

Powerful—Intensely energetic in its search.

Sharper—With an omniscient keenness of edge.

Two-edged sword—Cutting either way, according as the presence of the element of unbelief may be.

Piercing— Rather, with a personification, going through; for both this word and sword are living. It is not a sword, which is an instrument, but which is vital and self-active.

Even—Expressive of the surprising extent to which the live word can penetrate.

Dividing asunder—The question is raised by commentators, does this mean a separation of soul from spirit, and of joints from marrow; or does it mean that the word so subtly inserts itself into the interstices between, as we may say, the particles of these four entities as to separate particle from particle? The very fact that they are ranged in couplets seems to indicate that a separation between the two units of each couplet is meant. Yet the language of Philo seems to imply an interpenetration of the ultimate elements. And Lunemann and Alford find that meaning in the text. Says Alford: “The word pierces to the dividing, not of the soul from the spirit, but of the soul itself and of the spirit itself; the former being the lower portion of man’s invisible part, which he has in common with the brutes, ‘the irrational of the soul’ of Philo; the latter, the higher portion, receptive of the Spirit of God, ‘the rational of the soul’ of the same; both which are pierced and divided by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.”

It is, of course, not meant that the word produces a literal separation of the joints and marrow. But these two parts are mentioned as the residences of mental operations; the former of activities and the latter of sensations; and it is between these mentalities that the word inserts its penetrative and divisive energy.

Discerner—Rendered by Alford “judger,” as being derived from a word signifying to judge. It continues the personification expressed in quick, or living, and going through; implying a discerning power in the word.

Thoughts—Thoughts in action, thinkings, trains of mental operations.

Intents—Mental intentions, out of which spring volitions and actions.

Heart—Note on Rom_10:10.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the word of God - Preached, ver. 2, and armed with threatenings, ver. 3. Is living and powerful - Attended with the power of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers. Sharper than any two-edged sword - Penetrating the heart more than this does the body. Piercing - Quite through, and laying open. The soul and spirit, joints and marrow - The inmost recesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative words. And is a discerner - Not only of the thoughts, but also of the intentions.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

As if the apostle had said, "Take heed especially of unbelief: for the word of God, or doctrine of the gospel will quickly find you out, if you be guilty of it."

There is a piercing power in the word of God, through the energy and efficacious operation of the Godly Spirit; it is here compared to a sword, because it does divide things most nearly united, and discover things most inward and secret, or rather God by the word doth this; he by the word pierces, even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit; that is, the actings of the understanding, and the motions of the will and affections it cuts asunder the most resolute and compacted purposes of the will: yea, it pierces to the marrow, that is, the most secret and close contrivances of the soul, the thoughts and intents ot the heart.

O mighty power of the word; and of God in and by the word, to convey strength to the weak, wisdom to the simple, comfort to the sorrowful, light to the blind, and life to the dead; it brings souls out of the captivity of sin into the blessed liberty of faith in Christ.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12, 13. For the word of God. The Israelites came short because they refused to hear the word of the Lord. If we could enter in, we must take heed to the word. It is living and active (Revision), sharper than any two-edged sword. Cutting keenly and in all directions. Dividing of soul and spirit. It not only gives life, but slays, as was the case with the Israelites who fell in the wilderness, and pierces to the soul and spirit. It reaches the very fountains of life. A discerner of the thoughts. It lays bare the thoughts and the intentions.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

the word of God is living

Here "word of God" refers to anything that God has communicated to humanity whether through speech or through written messages. "the words of God are living"

living and active

This speaks about God's word as if it were alive. It means when God speaks, it is powerful and effective. (See: Personification)

sharper than any two-edged sword

A two-edged sword can easily cut through a person's flesh. God's word is very effective in showing what is in a person's heart and thoughts. (See: Metaphor)

two-edged sword

a sword with a blade that is sharp on both edges

It pierces even to the division of soul from spirit, and joints from marrow

This continues speaking about God's word as if it were a sword. Here the sword is so sharp that it can cut through and divide parts of the human that are very difficult or even impossible to divide. This means that there is nothing inside us that we can hide from God. (See: Metaphor)

soul from spirit

These are two different but closely related nonphysical parts of a human. The "soul" is what causes a person to be alive. The "spirit" is the part of a person that causes him to be able to know and believe in God.

joints from marrow

The "joint" is what holds two bones together. The "marrow" is the center part of the bone.

It is able to know

This speaks about God's word as if it were a person who could know something. AT: "God's word exposes" (See: Personification)

the heart's thoughts and intentions

"Heart" here is a metonym for "inner self." AT: "what a person is thinking and intends to do" (See: Metonymy)

Nothing created is hidden before God

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Nothing that God has created can hide from him" (See: Active or Passive)

everything is bare and open

This speaks about all things as if they were a person standing bare, or a box that is open. AT: "everything is completely exposed" (See: Metaphor)

bare and open

These two words mean basically the same thing and emphasize that nothing is hidden from God. (See: Doublet)

to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account

God is spoken of as if he had eyes. AT: "to God, who will judge how we have lived" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

word of God

life

sword

pierce

soul

spirit

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

12. ψυχῆς καί. The τε before the καὶ in the rec. (DEK) is not found in אABCHL and was probably suggested by the following ἁρμῶν τε καί.

12. ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. The writer feels the force of the word ζῶν which he four times applies to God, Heb 3:12, Heb 9:14, Heb 10:31, Heb 12:22. “Quick” is an old English expression for “living”; hence St Stephen speaks of Scripture as “the living oracles” (Act 7:38). The “word of God” is not here the personal Logos; a phrase not distinctly and demonstrably adopted by any of the sacred writers except St John, who in the prologue to his Gospel calls Christ “the Word,” and in the Apocalypse “the Word of God.” The reference is to the written and spoken word of God, of the force and almost personality of which the writer shews so strong a sense. To him it is no dead utterance of the past, but a living power for ever. At the same time the expressions of this verse could hardly have been used by any one who was not familiar with the personification of the Logos, and St Clemens of Rome applies the words “a searcher of the thoughts and desires” to God. The passage closely resembles several which are found in Philo, though it applies the expressions in a different manner (see Introduction).

ἐνεργής. Lit., “effective, energetic.” The vital power shews itself in acts.

τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν. The same comparison is used by Isaiah (Isa 49:2) and St Paul (Eph 6:17) and St John (Rev 2:16; Rev 19:15). See too Wis 18:15-16, “Thine Almighty Word leaped down from heaven … and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword.” Philo, Quis rer. div. haer. §§ 26, 27 (Opp. I. 491), compares the Logos to the flaming sword (ῥομφαία) of Eden (Gen 3:24) and “the fire and knife” (μάχαιραν) of Gen 22:6. Comp. Eph 6:17.

διϊκνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ κ.τ.λ. The meaning is not that the word of God divides the soul (the “natural” soul) by which we live from the spirit by which we reason and apprehend; but that it pierces not only the natural soul, but even to the Divine Spirit of man, and even to the joints and marrow (i.e. to the inmost depths) of these. Thus Euripides (Hippol. 527) speaks of the “marrow of the soul.” It is obvious that the writer does not mean anything very specific by each term of the enumeration, which produces its effect by the rhetorical fulness of the expressions. The ψυχὴ or animal soul is the sphere of that life which makes a man ψυχικός, i.e. carnal, unspiritual; he possesses this element of life (anima) in common with the beasts. It is only by virtue of his spirit (πνεῦμα) that he has affinity with God.

κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων κ.τ.λ. These words are a practical explanation of those which have preceded. The phraseology is an evident reminiscence of Philo. Philo compares the Word to the flaming sword of Paradise; and calls the Word “the cutter of all things,” and says that “when whetted to the utmost sharpness it is incessantly dividing all sensuous things” (see Quis rer. div. haeres, § 27; Opp. ed. Mangey I. 491, 503, 506). By ἐνθυμήσεις is meant (strictly) our moral imaginations and desires; by ἔννοιαι our intellectual thoughts and active will (1Pe 4:1): but the distinction of meaning is hardly kept (Mat 9:4, &c.).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The exhortation is enforced by reference to the character of the revelation which sets forth the rest of God. The message of God which promises the rest and urges to seek it, is no dead, formal precept, but is instinct with living energy.

The word of God [ο λογος του θεου] . That which God speaks through any medium. The primary reference is to God 's declarations concerning his rest. The fathers explained it of the personal Word as in the Fourth Gospel. But in the Epistle there is no approach to any definite use of logov with reference to Christ, not even in the description of his relation to God in ch. 1, where, if anywhere, it might have been expected. In ch. Heb 6:5 and Heb 11:3 we find rJhma. Everywhere in the Epistle Christ appears as the Son, not as the Word. In this passage, the following predicates, ejnerghv, tomwterov, kritikov, would hardly be applied to the Logos, and in ver. 14 he is styled Jesus the Son of God.

Quick and powerful [ζων και ενεργης] . Note the emphatic position of zwn living. Living is the word of God, since it is the word of "the living God" (ch. 3 12). Living in its essence. For ejnerghv active, energizing, and kindred words, see on Joh 1:12; Phi 3:21; Col 1:29; Phl 1:6. Manifesting itself actively in the world and in men's hearts. Comp. 1Pe 1:23.

Sharper than any two - edged sword [τομωτερος υπερ πασαν μαχαιραν διστομον] . Tomwterov sharper from temnein to cut, N. T. o. o LXX The word of God has an incisive and penetrating quality. It lays bare self - delusions and moral sophisms. For the comparison of the word of God or of men to a sword, see Psa 57:4; Psa 59:7; Psa 64:3; Eph 6:17. Philo calls his Logos oJ tomeuv the cutter, as cutting chaos into distinct things, and so creating a kosmos. JUper than, is literally, above. Pasan any, is every. Dismoton only here and Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12, lit. two - mouthed. In LXX always of a sword. See Jud 3:16; Psa 149:6; Pro 5:4; Sir. 21 3. In Class. of a cave with a twofold mouth (Soph. Philoct. 16); of double - branching roads (Soph. Oed. Col. 900); of rivers with two mouths (Polyb. Pro 34:10, 5). Stoma mouth, of the edge of a sword, Luk 21:24; Heb 11:34. Often in LXX, as Gen 34:26; Joshua Gen 10:28, 33, 35, 37, 39; Jud 1:8. So occasionally in Class., as Homer, Il. xv. 389. Katesqiein or katesqein to devour is used of the sword, Deu 32:42; 2Sa 2:26; Isa 31:8; Jer 2:30, etc. Macaira sword, in Class. a dirk or dagger : rarely, a carving knife; later, a bent sword or sabre as contrasted with a straight, thrusting sword, xifov (not in N. T. but occasionally in LXX). JRomfaia, Luk 2:35 (see note), elsewhere only in Revelation, very often in LXX, is a large broadsword. In LXX of Goliath's sword, 1Sa 17:51 Piercing [διικνουμενος] . Lit. coming through. N. T. o.

Even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow [αρχι μερισμου ψυχης και πνευματος αρμων τε και μυελων] . Merismov dividing, only here and ch. 2 4, is not to be understood of dividing soul from spirit or joints from marrow. Soul and spirit cannot be said to be separated in any such sense as this, and joints and marrow are not in contact with each other. Merismov is the act of division; not the point or line of division. Joints and marrow are not to be taken in a literal and material sense. 184 In rendering, construe soul, spirit, joints, marrow, as all dependent on dividing. Joints and marrow [αρμων, μυελων, ν. τ. ο] are to be taken figuratively as joints and marrow of soul and spirit. This figurative sense is exemplified in classical usage, as Eurip. Hippol. 255, "to form moderate friendships, and not prov arkon muelon yuchv to the deep marrow of the soul." The conception of depth applied to the soul is on the same figurative line. See Aesch. Agam. 778; Eurip. Bacch. 203. Attempts to explain on any psychological basis are futile. The form of expression is poetical, and signifies that the word penetrates to the inmost recesses of our spiritual being as a sword cuts through the joints and marrow of the body. The separation is not of one part from another, but operates in each department of the spiritual nature. The expression is expanded and defined by the next clause.

A discerner [κριτικος] . N. T. o. o LXX The word carries on the thought of dividing. From krinein to divide or separate, which runs into the sense of judge, the usual meaning in N. T., judgment involving the sifting out and analysis of evidence. In kritikov the ideas of discrimination and judgment are blended. Vulg. discretor.

Of the thoughts and intents of the heart [ενθυμησεων και εννοιων καρδιας] . The A. V. is loose and inaccurate. jEnqumhsis rare in N. T. See Mt 9:4; Act 17:29. Comp. ejnqumeisqai, Mt 1:20; Mt 9:4. In every instance, both of the noun and of the verb, the sense is pondering or thinking out. Rend. the reflections. Ennoia only here and 1Pe 4:1. It is the definite conception which follows ejnqumhsiv Rend. conceptions.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. ζῶν... καὶ ἐνεργὴς καὶ τομώτερος... The Word—the revelation—of God is living (ζῶν), not simply as ‘enduring for ever,’ but as having in iteelf energies of action. It partakes in some measure of the character of x. 31). Oomp. Acts vii. 38 λόγια ζῶντα. John vi. 63 τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα ὑμῖν πνεῦμά ἐστιν καὶ ζωή ἐστιν taken up by St Peter 9. 68 ῥήματα ζωῆς aleviou ἔχεις.

With this ‘living word’ belicvers are incorporated.

Compare Orig. de Prine. i. 2, 3 Unde ot rocto mihi dictus vidotur sermo ille qui in Actibus Pauli scriptus est quia Hic (7) est verbum animab vivens (cf. Lipsius, Apokr. Apostelgeach. ii. 1, 70 f.).

Comp. Philo, Leg. AUeg. iii. 88. 59, 61 (1. 120, 122 M.) ὁρᾷς τῆς ψνχῆς τροφὴν ota ἐστί. λόγος θεοῦ (Ex. xvi. 15).. τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα μέρος αὐτοῦ" τρέφεται δὲ τῶν μὲν τελειοτέρων ἡ ψυχὴ ὅλῳ τῷ λόγῳ, ἀγαπήσαιμεν δ᾽ ἂν ἡμεῖς d καὶ

μέρει τραφείημεν αὐτοῦ.

. The life of the Word is not only present, but it is also vigorously manifested. The Word is active (ἐνεργής, O.L. validum, Vulg. eftcaz). For dvepyjs see 1 Oor. xvi. 9 θύρα... ἐνεργής. Philem. 6 ὅπως ἡ κοινωνία... ἐνεργὴς γένηται. The variant ἐναργής (B, Hier. in Zeat. lxvi. evidens) represents a very common confusion of forms.

The activity of the Word is not intellectual only but moral: it deals with conduct as well as with kuowledge. It is shewn in the power of the Word to lay open the innermost dopths of huinan nature. Tho Word has unrivalled keenness: it pierces in fact to the moet secret parte of man; and that not as an instrument

merely but as a judge of moral issucs. It is sharper than the most formidable weapon of oarthly warfare: it finds its way through evory cloment of our earthly frame: it scrutinises tho affectious and thoughts of which our bodily members are the present organs.

The image of the sharp cutting power (τομώτερος, Vulg. penetrabilior) of the Word finds a striking parallol in a line of Phocylides (v. 118), ὅπλον τοι λόγος ἀνδρὶ τομώτερόν ἐστι

σιδήρον.

In this respect the word is compared with the sharpest of materia] arms, ‘tho two- edged sword.’ Comp. Apoc. i. 16 ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστομος ὀξεῖα ἐκπορενοHoa. vi. 5). Schoettgen quotes a Jewish saying to the effect that ‘ho who utters the Shema is as if he held u two-edgod sword.’

The phrase is common in classical writors, 6.0. Eurip. Hed. 989.

Other examples are given by Wetatein.

For μάχαιρα 800 Eph. vi. 17 δέξασθε

«Τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος ὅ ἐστιν and for τομώτερος ὑπέρ Luke xvi.

καὶ διικνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ... The ‘ dividing’ operation of ‘the Word of God’ has been understood as reaching to the soparation of soul Jrom spirit, and of joints from marrow, or to the separation, in themselves, of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow. The latter interprotation scoms to be unquostionably right. Tho Word of God analysos, lays baro, reveals in their truo nature, roduces to their final elements, all the powers of man. Chrysostom mentions both h γὰρ ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα διαιρεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς, λέγει᾽ ἣ ὅτι καὶ αὐτῶν (leg. 30°

ratio spiritalis cum angelis... Comp.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.