Hebrews 6:13

13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Ver. 13. For when God made promise] Of those many that by faith and patience had inherited the promises, the apostle instanceth in Abraham, famous both for his faith in God’s promise, Heb 6:13, and for his patience, Heb 6:15.

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.

Heb 6:13-15. For when God made promise, &c. — As if he had said, And it appears that this is the way to partake of mercies promised, because Abraham was obliged to exercise faith and long-suffering before he obtained the accomplishment of the promise made to him. The promise here referred to, is that which God made to Abraham after he had laid Isaac on the altar, Gen 22:16-17. For on no other occasion did God confirm any promise to Abraham with an oath. To Abraham — Whose spiritual as well as natural seed you believing Hebrews are, and therefore shall partake of the same promises and blessings which were ensured to him. Because he could swear by no greater person, he sware by himself — By his own sacred and divine name; saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee — And all believers in thee; and multiplying I will multiply thee — Both thy natural and thy spiritual seed. The apostle quotes only the first words of the oath; but his reasoning is founded on the whole; and particularly on the promise, (Gen 22:18,) And in thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. They shall be blessed by having their faith counted to them for righteousness, through thy seed, Christ. And so after he had patiently endured — Μακροθυμησας, after he had waited, or suffered long: he waited about thirty years before Isaac was born, after he was promised; he obtained the promise — Here, by a usual figure of speech, the promise is put for the thing promised. “In the birth of Isaac, Abraham obtained the beginning of the accomplishment of God’s promise concerning his numerous natural progeny. Moreover, as the birth of Isaac was brought about supernaturally by the divine power, it was both a proof and a pledge of the accomplishment of the promise concerning the birth of his numerous spiritual seed. Wherefore, in the birth of Isaac, Abraham may truly be said to have obtained the accomplishment of the promise concerning his numerous spiritual seed likewise. In any other sense, Abraham did not obtain the accomplishment of that promise.”

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

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Heb_6:13.—The connection of thought may be thus given: “Follow the godly, I say. Take one such for an instance. Abraham. See how graciously God met his steadfast goodness.” But how does this illustrate the point? Thus God revealed Himself to Abraham, even as, in Christ, he has revealed Himself to you. Abraham believed. Abraham patiently continued. Abraham has long ago attained the promise. But, from this illustration it might be argued that Abraham had the advantage of a positive oath and promise: there was no uncertainty trying his faith. The writer replies, “Neither is there in Christianity.” That is the new grace of Him who has proved Himself faithful. What then are the two immutable things? The promise and oath of God. Given for confirming our faith. Stuart says, “the oath that David should have a son, and the oath that Christ should be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

Heb_6:19. Anchor of the soul.—This is a figure of hope; it was a familiar emblem from very early days. It is the hope, not the anchor, which is thought of as entering within the veil, resting on the living, exalted, spiritual High Priest. It is not necessary to think of the anchor as holding within the veil. Hope holds there, not the mere emblem of the hope. The figure of heaven is borrowed from the Jewish sanctuary.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Heb_6:13-20

Two Immutable Things.—In this epistle there is certainly one of the marked characteristics of the Pauline style. St. Paul was constantly swept aside from the main line of his argument by new thoughts suggested by words he used. And he does not always come back precisely upon the point where he broke off. The writer here has a train of thought suggested by speaking of those who “through faith and patience inherit the promises.” He checks himself to make mention of one, the patriarch Abraham. But it is not difficult to trace the continuance of his main argument. He had been urging the Jewish Christians to a persistent steadfastness. But what can he say to strengthen them in making the effort? What can he do better than remind them that God is always on the side of goodness? He has, through all the ages, encouraged His people to persevering and steadfast goodness, by two immutable things—His promise, and the oath that confirms it. Abraham is the example of those who can unite faith in God with patient waiting for Him. To him came the comforting of God’s well-assured promise, “Blessing I will bless thee.” In the ways of men promises are things to be relied on and acted on. Promises, when confirmed by solemn oath, become covenants, and are regarded as absolutely reliable. “In every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.” I. The ground of Abraham’s hope was God’s solemnly confirmed promise to him. II. The ground of our hope is God’s promise of eternal blessing, eternal life, in Christ Jesus, sealed and confirmed as it is by the Divine assurance and oath. It is evident that the term “oath” is not used in the precise way that is familiar to us. It means generally “a solemnly assured promise.” There is therefore good reason for considering Stuart’s suggestion, that the two immutable things are:

1. The solemn declaration and assurance that Abraham should have a son, in whom all nations should be blessed. Abraham was encouraged and strengthened to endure all disabilities by that assurance. He lived and suffered and acted in the inspiration and cheer of it.

2. The solemn declaration and assurance, to which God, as it were, pledged His faithfulness, that Abraham’s son, David’s son, the Messiah, should be man’s High Priest for ever, and after the permanent human order of Melchizedek, not the temporary and strictly Jewish order of Aaron. Both these promises are regarded as solemnly confirmed and sealed, because both are written down in the infallible Scriptures, to which God is solemnly pledged,—one in Gen_22:18; the other in Psa_110:4.

I. God’s solemn pledges to His people.—

1. They are given in ways that show gracious Divine consideration for human weakness.

2. They are given in ways that make a basis for absolute confidence.

3. They are represented by the extremest ways in which men gain the confidence of their fellow-men.

4. They are written down in the sacred Scriptures so that there may be no disputing about their character and meaning.

5. So written, they become equally Divine pledges to the people of God in each succeeding generation.

6. The honour of God’s name is involved in any failure to keep the promises so solemnly made. And God is a jealous God—jealous of the honour of His own name.

II. A representative instance of God’s faithfulness to His pledge.—The case of Abraham. Specially interesting to Jews, because Abraham was the great race-father. God made a solemn promise to him. But it was one which it seemed, naturally, impossible to fulfil. Nevertheless Abraham accepted the assurance, relied on the promise, and found, what God’s people find over and over again, that the impossible with men is possible with God, and that God’s word never does “return unto Him void.” The promised son was born; in his descendants came the Messiah, and in Him all nations of the earth have been and are blessed.

III. The universally interesting instance of God’s faithfulness to His pledge.—As solemnly as Abraham was assured that all nations should be blessed in him, so solemnly was humanity assured that Messiah should be the Priest of humanity after the order of Melchizedek. That may seem strange and almost impossible to men who could recognise no priesthood but the limited Levitical. But the pledge is kept. Christ is that priest; and if He seems to supersede the high priest for Jews, it is only because He is God’s High Priest for humanity, Jews included.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Heb_6:13. Swearing as Asseveration.—An examination of the references to swearing and oath-taking in a Bible Concordance will impress the familiarity of the custom in Bible times. It was the ancient way of assuring things which has in modern times been replaced by the signing of documents.

1. Swearing may be wrong. What is now commonly understood by swearing is always wrong. It is the “taking of God’s name in vain,” which is the expression of irreverence or unrestrained passion.

2. Swearing may be duty. It is when we are called upon seriously to confirm our word with an oath, in a court of justice.

3. Swearing may be the befitting thing. It is when the solemn confirmation of our word is called for. But Jesus taught that in the utterances of His followers there should always be such a ring of truth, that their words should never need such confirmations. Only in condescension to man’s weakness can God ever confirm His word with an oath. And He can only swear by Himself, as there is no one greater than He to whom His appeal can be made.

Heb_6:15. The Issue of God’s Waiting-time.—“And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.” However long God may call us to wait for the fulfilment of His promise, the fulfilment comes at last; but when it comes, it may not come to the person who first received the promise, or it may not come in the form which he expected it to take. Abraham himself did not receive the promise in its fulfilment, but his posterity did. Abraham did receive the fulfilment of the promise, if its spiritual significance be apprehended; for the spiritual blessing which holding the promise was to him was its really best fulfilment. This gives us two principles which can be applied to our Christian expectations.

I. Whatever God has literally promised will be actually and literally fulfilled, however long the fulfilment may seem to tarry, and even if the the waiting-time overpasses any one man’s life.

II. The spiritual blessing which God makes our times of trustful waiting for the fulfilment of His promise to be, are the very best fulfilment of that promise. In our trustful waiting we now “receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls.”

Heb_6:17. The Immutability of God’s Counsel impressed upon His People.—R.V. “Wherein God, being minded to shew more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed with an oath.” God’s taking oath to confirm His promise was an act of most gracious and pitiful condescension to the weakness of men—condescension indeed to admit for one moment the bare possibility that He might not be true to His word. Such a suspicion might arise in man’s frail heart; but it is a marvel of grace that God should recognise it, and so patiently and so graciously arrange for its removal, by taking solemn oath for the confirmation of the promise. As if, for the comforting of man, and as if He were a man with men, He would pledge His very life upon His faithfulness. That marvel of condescending grace is seldom worthily estimated, and our response of absolute and entire trustfulness is seldom worthily made. The unchangeableness of God’s word and God’s plan, the “immutability of God’s counsel,” needs to be impressed upon us. But when we speak of change in relation to God, it is necessary to speak with great care and precision. There never can be change in His plan or purpose, there must be change in His modes of carrying out His purposes, if He is to adapt them to the ever-changing moods and circumstances of His uncertain and ever-changing creatures. But that sort of change we know is quite consistent with the steadfast and unwavering purpose of our human parenthood. Within the human limits, parents are at once unchangeable and changeable. But it is always a most serious endeavour of wise parents to fix the conviction of their faithfulness and unchangeableness on the minds of their children. It is the support of their authority; it is the ground of their claim to full trust. Just so, and in the higher, the infinite sense, God must adequately impress on us the “immutability of His counsel,” because on our confidence in it rests our response to His authority, and our trust in Himself.

Heb_6:17-19. The Anchor of Hope.—One of the saddest things that was ever said about the heathen world is said by the apostle Paul, who wrote of it as having no hope. The agnostic literature of our own period is doing what it can to drag Christendom back and down to the same dismal abyss. A grim, hard unbelief seeks to bound our little life for us, and there is no hereafter. We have a foundation in a Divine promise—a hope of eternal life. We have “an assurance of hope unto the end,” that is a certainty as opposed to uncertainty, meagreness, and shallowness. This blessed hope is described and illustrated in the text.

I. It is a “hope set before us.”—That form of expression is to be found again and again in this epistle. It is not uncertain, but devised, planned, and provided for by the God of our love. “Confirmed by an oath.” “Set before us.” Whom? Those who “flee for refuge.” Not for self-confident persons.

II. It is a “hope sure and stedfast.”—It rests on the promise of God. We need it in the face of the frequent defeats of natural earthly hopes, and the frequent discouragements of our personal experience and service.

III. It “enters within the veil.”—Thus it is like an anchor that goes into the sea—its proper place. Its security is in heaven, where Christian believers have and hold all their best things. The writer of this epistle never lost sight of the priesthood and the sanctuary. Nothing can twine itself about the person or injure the life of the great High Priest who is “within the veil.” We hope in Him, think of Him, and wait—that is our hope.

IV. The hope illustrated.—

1. It is an anchor of the soul. A most apposite and instructive metaphor. The anchor gives steadiness and security. So of our hope that goes down beneath the surface-troubles of life, and grapples with some secret ground of strength and comfort.

2. The folly of going to sea without an anchor. Men have impulse, energy, but no hold on the promises of God, no good hope through grace. So, too, unsound anchors and chains are worse than having none. A little profession, a faint hope, is an unsound anchor.

3. A well-taught, well-disciplined Christian has good hope, and is secure against going on the shoals of doubt, or the hard rocks of despair. When life is troubled, conscience agitated, and the heart tossed with tempests and conflict, the Christian can hope in God. The shipwreck of faith is well prevented by the strong anchor of hope. There is no perfect calm. We must put our hope in the promise of eternal life, which God has given to us in Christ Jesus. That is our anchorage ground. If, like Bunyan’s pilgrim, we “feel the ground,” we shall “see the Gate and Him standing by it to receive us.”—Donald Fraser, D.D.

Heb_6:18. The Immutable Promises of God.—This is one of the most inspiring and helpful passages in the New Testament. The key to it is in the dual thought presented, and which runs all through the paragraph. God gave to Abraham a promise which He confirmed by oath. These, His word and His oath, are the two immutable things; they constitute not only a consolation, but a strong consolation; we have not only an anchor, but an anchorage; the word is sure, and the oath makes it steadfast. This double form of presentation thus pervades the passage. God condescends to human frailty and the weakness of our faith. He gives His word of promise, and then confirms it with an oath; and because He can swear by no greater, swears by Himself. A deeper thought lies here. Jesus Christ is the living, incarnate oath of God—His word of promise made flesh, and thus doubly secured to the believer. The word of God is our anchor; but the anchor needs an anchorage; and Jesus, the forerunner, takes the anchor and lodges it within the veil, making it fast to the rock of ages. The introduction of the person of Christ here is to be accounted for on this ground—that He represents God’s confirming oath; and hence without Him the promise would lack its confirmation. (Compare Heb_7:22, also 2Co_1:18-20.) The theme suggested is the immutable promises of God.

1. God has given His word, and cannot lie.

2. God has given His oath, and cannot perjure Himself.

3. God has given His Son, and so has given Himself. Christ incarnates His word of promise and His oath in Himself, and fulfils both. He adds the yea of confirmation to God’s word. He seals the promise with His own blood. Practical thoughts:

1. The folly of unbelief. The land of promise is before us, but we are slack to possess it. All depends on our appropriation. (Compare Jos_1:3.) Only what we measure off with our own feet do we actually possess and enjoy.

2. The sin of unbelief. We virtually make God both a liar and a false swearer by not accepting His promise. We dishonour and disobey so far as we lack faith.

3. The inseparableness of the word written and the word incarnate. He who appropriates or rejects the promises appropriates or rejects Jesus. No man’s anchor has an anchorage until he finds Jesus as his Saviour.

4. Faith and hope are close akin (Heb_11:1). To believe God’s word begets hope. The more confident the faith the more assured the hope. Both reveal their real value, like an anchor, only when subjected to the strain of trial.—Anon.

Taking Sanctuary with Christ.—“Fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” There are two sets of associations which will materially help us in the endeavour to understand and to apply this somewhat figurative expression. There are one or two cases mentioned in Old Testament Scriptures in which men whose lives were imperilled fled for personal safety into the tabernacle precincts, and caught hold of the horns of the altar of burnt offering, evidently with the idea that they could not be slain while they held those horns. Adonijah, an elder son of David, made a desperate effort to secure the succession to David’s throne. He was thwarted by the promptitude of Solomon and Bathsheba; and then, knowing that he had forfeited his life by his rebellious scheme, “he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.” Solomon graciously accepted this symbolical appeal, and granted him the right of asylum which he thus claimed. Because Adonijah had been successful, Joab, one of the rebellious party, and a much more dangerous man, thought he would try the same plan, and demand the same asylum. He also “took sanctuary.” “And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.” But Solomon refused in this case to recognise the right of asylum; and as Joab would not voluntarily come forth from the holy place, he ordered Benaiah to fall upon him and kill him, even as he clung to the “horns.” It is not necessary now to vindicate the wisdom, or the rightness, or the policy of Solomon’s different action in these two cases; we only need attend to the fact, that laying hold of the horns of the altar was one of the ancient modes of claiming sanctuary, or protection from the legal consequences of misdeeds. It should, however, be fully understood that no sanctuary was allowed for wilful and determined criminals, though it was always difficult to decide who were to be classed as such. Sanctuary was recognised for those who had done some wrong by haste, or inadvertently, or by accident, or through circumstances that were quite beyond their own control. It was altogether a degradation of the idea of “sanctuary” when, in the middle ages, villains and criminals were shielded from the proper punishment of their crimes. It is interesting to know that the right of sanctuary was enjoyed by various districts and buildings in London. “In times when every man went armed, when feuds were of hourly occurrence in the streets, when the age had not yet learned the true superiority of right over might, and when private revenge too often usurped the functions of justice, it was essential that there should be places whither the homicide might flee, and find refuge and protection until the violence of angry passions had subsided, and there was chance of a fair trial. Whitefriars was once a refuge for all criminals except traitors; but in the fifteenth century it afforded shelter to debtors only. The ancient sanctuary at Westminster is of historical celebrity as the place where Elizabeth Gray, queen of Edward IV., took refuge when Warwick, the kingmaker, marched to London to dethrone her husband, and set Henry VI. on the throne. The precinct of St. Martin le Grand was also a sanctuary. So was the Savoy; and it was the custom of its inhabitants to tar and feather those who ventured to follow their debtors thither.” Dr. Turner, the missionary in Polynesia, tells us that, in the Samoan Islands, the manslayer, or the deliberate murderer, flies to the house of the chief of the village, or to the house of the chief of another village to which he is related by the father’s or the mother’s side. In nine cases out of ten he is perfectly safe if he remains there. In such instances the chief delights in the opportunity of showing his importance. The other set of associations likely to help us in understanding the metaphor of the text is that connected with the very familiar Mosaic “cities of refuge.” Indeed, that is more likely to have been in the mind of the writer, and to have guided his thought, than the less familiar sanctuary safety of the horns of the altar. Moses was instructed to make an arrangement which would give an unintentional manslayer, in any part of the country, a temporary asylum from the family goël, or avenger of blood. Three cities on each side Jordan were made refuge cities, and the roads giving access to these cities were required to be kept in good repair, so that the man fleeing from the avenger might have no hindrance. A man with the stain of a brother’s blood upon him must flee for his life to the nearest city of refuge; or, as our text expresses it, “he must flee for refuge to the hope set before him.” With these two sets of associations in our minds, can we find the applications of our text to our own religious conditions? If we are Christians indeed, we have taken sanctuary with Christ; we are in the Christ-sanctuary; we have, as it were, firm hold of the “horns of the altar”; we “have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” The writer is using persuasion to Christian professors.

I. A Christian is one who has had cause to flee.—He has been a sinner, and such a sinner that he has forfeited his life. The law has reached him, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” We need not speak exaggeratedly about this, or in any unreal, excited, sentimental way. The Christian has not been a murderer, or a thief, or a slanderer, or unclean. He may look at the great commands that affect moral relations, with the rich young ruler, and say as sincerely as he did, “All these have I kept from my youth up.” And yet the fact may remain, that relative to the searching spiritual law of God which demands a spiritual perfection of motive as well as of conduct, and the supreme devotion of the whole man to the glory of God, he is found wanting, judged a sinner, guilty before God. He has sinned with his soul; he must die. We can never get that sense of our sin which makes us feel the need of Jesus as our Saviour while our attention is fixed on acts of sin. It is not until we come to apprehend what sin really is, not until we see it to be the soul’s rebellion against God in order to exalt itself, that we see how righteously there hung over us the rebel’s doom—the doom of the spiritual and eternal death. Once the avenger of God’s outraged honour and claim was aroused, was at our heels, and we had cause to flee. Bunyan pictures Graceless awakened to see himself a sinner, and exposed to the sinner’s death. In his hand is the roll, in which he reads. There is the direction which he needs. He has cause to flee; and it reads, “Flee from the wrath to come.”

II. A Christian is one for whom a refuge has been provided.—It is pictured and anticipated in the old cities of refuge for the manslayer. It is a secure refuge; it is near at hand: the access to it is easy. But the old city was only a materialising of the the spiritual reality. The refuge provided for the soul-sinner is a man, a fellow-man, a Divine Man—altogether competent, for He has gained the full right and the full power to become man’s sanctuary. The psalmist had his foreshadowing of the truth which is so plain to us when he said, “I flee unto Thee to hide me.” An imperilled criminal may find refuge in a house, in a tabernacle, in a city; but an imperilled soul—and remember you once were a soul-sinner, that is the supreme fact of the past which demands such anxious attention—cannot find refuge at an altar, in a church, or even in an appointed city of refuge. No sanctuary that you ever heard of is any good at all to you, you soul-sinner. The imperilled soul, after whom the eternal death-avenger is pursuing, can find no refuge save in God—nay, nay, there is something far deeper, far more wonderful than that—only in the God-man, in God come into the soul’s actual sphere, to stretch out arms of welcome, and to make precisely adapted defences and securities. That Samoan custom to which allusion has been made suggests the true and spiritual refuge-provision. The man fleeing for his life fled to a man, the strongest, noblest, most powerful man within his reach; and the man, the chief, became his sanctuary: and Christ Himself is our refuge provided.

III. A Christian is one who has fled to the refuge provided.—It was much that three cities this side Jordan, and three cities that side, were known throughout the land to be “cities of refuge.” But the knowledge never secured any manslayer from the avenger of blood. Only his actual energetic flight over bridge and road, only his breathless hurrying till he could almost leap the last step within the gates of the city, could secure him. He must flee for refuge. It is much that an all-sufficient, almighty, infinitely adapted, and most gracious Saviour-refuge has been provided for us. We may dwell with the utmost satisfaction upon His Divine person, His finished righteousness, His perfect work, His recognised merit, His entrusted power to save, and His satisfying attractiveness; but the meditation, and even the knowledge, never yet saved one soul from the fatal grip of the avenger who executed the eternal death-penalty on soul-sinners. Adonijah would have found no clemency if he had satisfied himself with knowing about the safety gained, and the rights secured, by clutching the horns of the altar. He must flee to the tabernacle, and clutch them; and there must be no possibility of mistaking the fact that he does clutch them. And we cannot be Christians if we only know about Christ our refuge. We must have come into personal relations with Him. We must have fled to Him for refuge. We must have actually taken sanctuary with Christ. We must be behind Him, safe behind Him, so that He shall meet and answer all our foes. The apostle Paul has a famous passage, which is the exulting triumph of the soul that has fled for refuge, that is actually in the sanctuary. It is the song of the soul’s safety. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus that died; yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

IV. A Christian is one who has found more than he expected in the refuge to which he has fled.—Here we leave all the earthly symbols of Christ our sanctuary far, far behind. The old city of refuge provided safety—nothing more; or rather nothing more that was unusual. The “horns of the altar” provided safety—nothing more. The middle-age sanctuaries provided safety, and little or nothing more. And if all I could tell you about Christ the soul’s sanctuary were that it provided for the soul’s safety, but nothing more, I would scarcely care to tell the story—at least, there would be no passion of intense persuasion in the telling. Some people think to take sanctuary with Christ that they may be secure from going to hell. Many want Christ for nothing more than safety from their spiritual peril. Let us begin with that, but do not let us stay with that. Take sanctuary with Christ for shelter from the eternal death-avenger; and if you are true-hearted, you will soon find that taking sanctuary is an altogether more precious, more inclusive, more wonderful thing than you could have imagined. Christ our sanctuary is a provision for present enjoyment, and an inspiration to our hope. All thought of peril passes away in the restful, happy, beautiful life we can live in this sanctuary; and everything in it seems full of reminders of the “house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.” In Christ our sanctuary we are safe—that is true. In Christ our sanctuary we are being saved—that is yet more precious truth. In Christ our sanctuary we have the pledge of eternal salvation—that is the unspeakably precious truth. We fled for refuge to a Saviour, and we find that we have fled for refuge to gain a hope full of immortality and bliss. Would you be a Christian? Verily you have good cause to flee. A refuge has been provided for you. You must flee to it, or it can be no refuge to you. If you do take sanctuary with Christ, there is safety for you, joy unspeakable for you, a hope laid up in heaven for you.

Heb_6:19. Hope as a Christian Grace.—Hopo is the looking for something to come with an earnest longing and desire. What is it that Christians hope for? Is it not for “fulness of joy” in the presence of God, for the “pleasure” which is at His “right hand for evermore”? There can be no true hope where there is not some faith and some love. If we have no faith, no living interest in the things of another world—no strong feeling of their vast importance—how can we hope for them? And we only hope for that on which we have set our affections; and hope, in its very nature, springs from and implies a love of that which we hope for. Perhaps we do not think enough of hope, as a Christian grace and duty. We strive after a brighter faith and a warmer love, but suffer our hope to be weak and dim. We do not dwell enough on the glorious things which it is our privilege to hope for. God has given us hope as a help and support to other higher motives.—W. Walsham How, D.D.

The Anchor Figure for Christian Hope.—The anchor, in one form or another, was known among the most ancient navigators of whom we have any record; and very early, as was natural, it became a symbol of hope. The Jews were not a maritime people, and they probably borrowed both the anchor, and the symbolic use of it, from their Gentile contemporaries. From the text it appears that the anchor, as a symbol of hope, was well known in the apostolic Church. The early Christians engraved it on rings, sculptured it on monuments, and on the walls of cemeteries and catacombs. Sometimes the symbol was associated with the fish, which was regarded as the symbol of Christ Himself. The anchor still holds its place as a sign of hope, and will do so probably to the end of time.

The Soul’s Anchor-hold.—Christ is the soul’s anchor. He is within the veil. He is there for us—there in such real connection with us as is represented by the relation of the anchor to the vessel. The illustration can only be taken in a general way, suggesting the stability of that in which the anchor holds; the strength of the grip with which it holds; and the real—though not necessarily apparent—safety and restfulness of that for whose sake the anchor holds. The verse is a somewhat difficult one, and the metaphor is more involved than our Western precision of thinking can readily appreciate. Stuart gives the meaning so as to put the stress on the quality, soundness, of the anchor. “Which hope we are in possession of, ἔχομεν, and it will prove to us, in our troubles and distresses, what an anchor of sound materials, and one firmly fixed, will be to a ship in a tempest, i.e. it will keep us from making ‘shipwreck of the faith.’ Ἀσφαλῆ means, that which will not fail, i.e. like an anchor of good materials, which will not give way. Our Hope enters into the inner sanctuary, where God dwells. The meaning is, that the objects of hope are in heaven. The sentiment then is this: Hold fast the objects of your Christian hope. These will keep you steady in your adherence to the Christian religion, and preserve you, like an anchor, from making shipwreck of your faith.” Then the soul’s anchor-hold is its hope. We have said above that the soul’s anchor is Christ. Both are true. And perhaps if we could see more than the surface of things, if we could see the depths of things, we might find these two to be really one. When our thoughts circle about ourselves, our anchor seems to be our hope, which we put out into the heavenly things, and try to steady ourselves by getting a strong hold. But when we are in worthier and less self-centred moods of thought, we lose satisfactions in our hope, in anything that is ours, and see Christ to be our anchor, close fastened to us here amid the seas of time, but actually reaching into, actually there in the heavenly world, gripping tight for us the everlasting rocks, and holding us so firm that no wildest storm of earth can ever shift us from our Christian place.

Heb_6:20. Jesus as our Forerunner.—“Whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us.” The use of the term “forerunner” reminds us at once of John the Baptist, and suggests a comparison or contrast between John as the forerunner of Jesus, and Jesus as the forerunner of His Church. It is necessary to the idea of a forerunner that

(1) he announces one coming;

(2) that his presence pledges the certainty of his coming; and

(3) that he secures all due preparations for the coming. In these senses we may look at the work of John the Baptist as the forerunner of the earthly Messiah. He announced the Coming One. His presence was the pledge that He was coming, and the assurance that He was coming at once. And his work as forerunner was only completed in his endeavour to secure the necessary moral preparations for the coming. It is manifest that these peculiarities of a forerunner can only be applied to Jesus in modified ways, if He be regarded as the forerunner of the Church, as the Church comes to its spiritual privilege and heritage; and that other ideas must be associated with Christ as forerunner. He does go into the spiritual world to say that His Church is coming, and to pledge His Church’s coming, and to prepare for His Church’s coming; but we must not miss His peculiarity as forerunner—He is the ground on which the Church has the right to come, and the source of the Church’s power to come.

The Order of Melchizedek.—In what sense was Christ a priest after the order of Melchizedek? The question may be answered thus: The Aaronic priesthood was typical of Christ, but in two principal respects it failed in representing the great Antitype. It consisted of succeeding generations of mortal men; it consisted of priests not royal. The Holy Ghost, on the other hand, suddenly brings Melchizedek before us in the patriarchal history. A royal priest, with the significant names “King of righteousness” and “King of peace” (Gen_14:18-20), and as suddenly withdraws him. Whence he comes and whither he goes we know not. As a private man he had an unwritten history, like others; but as a royal priest he ever remains, without father, without mother, without origin, succession, or end; and therefore, as Paul says (Heb_7:3), made beforehand of God an exact type of the eternity of the priesthood of Christ (Psa_110:4). The prophecy was “Thou shalt be a priest for ever,” or an eternal priest, “after the order of Melchizedek.” The similitude of this type therefore included two things:

1. An everlasting priesthood.

2. The union of the kingly and priestly functions in one person.—Hodge.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6

Heb_6:13. Three Kinds of Oaths, or Swearing.—In early times we find no scruples about the employment of the oath. As then humanity had to be accustomed to a mutual reverence for truth and fidelity, it was natural that its use should be frequent and its signs forcible. We may distinguish three kinds:

1. The simple kind, when a private individual would confirm something in a sacred manner by his own spontaneous action. He would call on the name of his God, and the Semitic nations raised the right hand, as if in a challenge, to heaven. Along with the name of God, the person swearing would at the same time designate His other attributes, His power and greatness, or whatever else of the essence of this God appeared to him at the moment of swearing of special significance. One of the shortest and finest of the asseverative phrases is that of the last king of Judah: “As Jahveh lives, who has created for us this soul” (Jer_38:16). There is a peculiar Hebrew word which means “to bind oneself by seven [things].” According to this, the person swearing deemed it necessary to call upon seven things as witnesses of his declaration, or as enduring monuments of the truth. It might be seven men whom he invoked, or seven gods, or else he might touch seven sacred objects, or take seven steps to a sacred stone. (This last was customary amongst the ancient Indians in concluding treaties.) Sometimes seven sacrificial animals were presented (Gen_21:27-31).

2. The oath became an adjuration, when it was used to compel another to confess the truth, or observe a command. Then the punishments imprecated from heaven would undoubtedly be always expressed in the strongest language. In the patriarchal times the person who desired to bind another to the strictest truth used to make the latter lay his hand under his own hip, on that part of the body out of which, according to ancient ideas, posterity proceeded. Thus he would refer the latter to the whole of posterity at once, and to its revenge should he break his promise.

3. When the oath was employed in making contracts or alliances, each of the two contracting parties made the other utter aloud the words of the contract which concerned him, these mutual promises being accompanied by similar oaths and imprecations.—Biblical Things.

Swearing by laying Hands on the Koran.—The present mode of swearing among the Mahometan Arabs, that live in tents as the patriarchs did, according to De la Rogue, is by laying their hands on the Koran. They cause those who swear to wash their hands before they give them the book; they put their left hand underneath, and the right over it. Whether, among the patriarchs, one hand was under and the other upon the thigh is not certain. As the posterity of the patriarchs are described as coming out of the thigh, it has been supposed that this ceremony had some relation to their believing the promise of God, to bless all the nations of the earth by means of One that was to descend from Abraham.—Harmer.

Oath “By the life of Pharaoh” (Gen_42:15).—Extraordinary as the kind of oath which Joseph made use of may appear to us, it still continues in the East. Mr. Hanway says the most sacred oath among the Persians is “By the king’s head”; and among other instances of it we read in the travels of the ambassadors that “there were but sixty horses for ninety-four persons. The nehemander (or conductor) swore by the head of the king (which is the greatest oath among the Persians) that he could not possibly find any more.” And Thevenot says: “His subjects never look upon him but with fear and trembling; and they have such respect for him, and pay so blind an obedience to all his orders, that how unjust soever his commands might be, they perform them, though against the law both of God and nature. Nay, if they sware by the king’s head, their oath is more authentic, and of greater credit, than if they swore by all that is most sacred in heaven and upon earth.”—Burder.

Touching the Altar.—Patrick tell us that it was the custom of all nations to touch the altar when they made a solemn oath, calling God to witness the truth of what they said, and to punish them if they did not speak the truth.

Swearing lawfully.—Cruden says: That a person swear lawfully, must have a regard

1. First to the object; that he swear by the Lord alone; for seeing we deify and make that our god which we swear by, therefore we forsake the true God if we swear by that which is no God (Jer_5:7).

2. To the manner; that he swear in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness (Jer_4:2); that he swear not falsely or deceitfully, but that which is agreeable to truth; that he swear not rashly, but upon due consideration of all circumstances; and that he swear nothing but what is agreeable to justice and equity.

3. He must have a regard to the end; that God may be glorified, our duty discharged, controversies appeased, our brethren satisfied, or our own or others’ innocency cleared.

Heb_6:18. The True Refuge.—During the rebellion in Ireland in 1798, the rebels had long meditated an attack on the Moravian settlement at Grace Hill, Wexford County. At length they put their threat in execution, and a large body of them marched to the town. When they arrived there, they saw no one in the streets nor in the houses. The brethren had long expected this attack; but true to their Christian profession, they would not have recourse to arms for their defence, but assembled in their chapel, and in solemn prayer besought Him in whom they trusted to be their shield in the hour of danger. The ruffian band, hitherto breathing nothing but destruction and slaughter, were struck with astonishment at this novel sight. Where they expected an armed hand, they saw it clasped in prayer—where they expected weapon to weapon, and the body armed for the fight, they saw the bended knee and humble head before the altar of the Prince of peace. They heard the prayer for protection; they heard the intended victims asking mercy for their murderers; they heard the song of praise, and the hymn of confidence, in the “sure promise of the Lord.” They beheld in silence this little band of Christians; they felt unable to raise their hand against them; and after lingering in the streets which they filled for a night and a day, with one consent they turned and marched away from the place, without having injured an individual or purloined a single loaf of bread. In consequence of this signal mark of protection from heaven, the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages brought their goods, and asked for shelter in Grace Hill, which they called the City of Refuge.

Heb_6:19. The Anchor-symbol in the Catacombs.—Because the anchor is often the sole hope and resource of the sailor, it came to be called by the ancients “the sacred anchor,” and was made the emblem of “hope.” By the early Christians it was naturally adopted, sometimes with regard to the stormy ocean of human life, at other times in relation to the persecutions and dangers of the ship of the Church. It is found engraved on rings, and depicted on monuments, and on the walls of cemeteries in the catacombs. The symbols on sepulchral tablets often contain allusions to the name of the deceased. The Chevalier de Rossi states that he has three times found an anchor upon tituli, bearing names derived from spes, the Latin, or elpis, the Greek word for “hope,” upon the tablet of a certain ELPIDIVS, and upon two others, in the cemetery of Priscilla, two women, ELPIZVSA and SPES. In some cases above the transverse bar of the anchor stands the letter E, which is probably the abbreviation of the word elpis. Further, we find the anchor associated with the fish, the symbol of the Saviour. It is clear that the union of the two symbols expresses “hope in Jesus Christ,” and is equivalent to the formula so common on Christian tablets, “Spes in Christo,” “Spes in Deo,” “Spes in Deo Christo.” The fact that the transverse bar of an anchor below the ring forms a cross may have helped towards the choice of the anchor as a Christian symbol.

THE TYPE OF UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD

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.

V

The example of Abraham shows that perseverance in faith leads to the attainment of the promised blessing, which is pledged by the oath of God

Heb_6:13-15

13For when God made promise to Abraham, because be could swear by no greater, 14he sware by himself, saying, Surely4 blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15And so, after be had patiently endured [patiently enduring], he obtained the promise.

[Heb_6:13.—Ἐπαγγειλάμενος Moll renders “after making promise,” thus making the promise precede the oath in time, the promise being given at various times, as Gen_12:7; Gen_17:5; Gen_18:18, while it is not until Gen_22:16-18 that the oath is given. So, previously, De Wette and Lünemann. Delitzsch and Alford, however, more correctly, I think, make the ἐπαγγειλ. express an act contemporaneous with the ὤμοσεν, viz., God, when He promised, swore, and refer both to Genesis 22. The Eng. ver. is, I think, correct.

Heb_6:15.—Καὶ οὕτως, and thus, i. e. under these conditions,—μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχεν, by patiently enduring he obtained=he patiently endured and obtained; not having patiently endured, he obtained.—K.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Heb_6:13. For to Abraham—“Exemplum Abrahæ adducitur, non quia unicum sit, sed quia præ aliis illustre.” (Calv.).

God in making promise, etc.—Lünem. rightly follows De Wette in taking ἐπαγγειλάμενος, as in time preceding the ὤμοσεν, and refers it to the promises which had been already given to Abraham, Gen_12:7; Gen_17:5; Gen_18:18, which finally, at Gen_22:16-18, were not merely repeated and confirmed by an oath, but at the same time had an incipient fulfilment. Del. refers the language only to the last named passage, in which, after the offering of Isaac, promise and oath are united. The Aor. Part, would then express an act contemporaneous with the finite verb. [God promising swore=he promised and swore.] But Abraham had previously nothing upon which he could rely but the promise. This was now, after he had long waited for the promised Son, and had then consented to the sacrifice of Him, been not merely renewed to him, but by the Divine oath attested as thoroughly to be relied on; yet at the same time alike by the oath itself, and by its own intrinsic nature, the promise was marked as one which could have only a gradual realization, and that completely only in the distant future. For this reason Abraham was even to the last remitted to the μακροθυμία, which was conditioned upon his faith, and in this relation stands as an individual and concrete example of the general truth uttered in the preceding verse, and as an instructive and stimulating pattern for his readers; precisely as also at Heb_11:13; Heb_11:29, they are reminded that the Patriarchs did not live to see the fulfilment of the promise, but only saluted it from afar.

Heb_6:15. And thus patiently enduring, he obtained the promise.—The οὔτως, thus, is to be constructed with ἐπέτυχεν (Bl., De W., Lün., Alf.), not with μακροθυμήσας (Stein, Thol., Bisp., Hofm.), nor to the two combined (Del.); but points back to the just previously mentioned pledge of the Divine oath confirming the Divine promise. It thus presents the objective historical condition under which Abraham obtained the promise, while μακροθυμήσας indicates his subjective condition; i.e, he, under the condition of having waited long and patiently since the promise of God was first made (Genesis 15), now (Genesis 22) received the oath which guaranteed the fulfilment of the promise. The added clause thus involves a slight progress in the discourse (even if we make τῆς ἑπαγγελίας, refer only to the word of promise), inasmuch as at all events it holds up to the view of the readers, as strongly brought out in the typical history of Abraham, that μακροθυμία which is so essentially involved in the preceding exhortation. If we seek a still further advance, we shall scarcely find it in the verb (as does Otto, who, p. 103, interprets the ἐπέτυχε as an actual taking possession, or as an attainment—no longer dependent on the tried and approved fidelity of the subject—of the irrevocably pledged promise); nor in the fact that ἐπαγγελία is to be interpreted specially of the Messianic salvation (Bleek); but only by explaining the ἐπαγγελία of the subject matter of the promise, whose attainment (ἐπέτυχε) commences with the receiving back of Isaac (Heb_11:17; Heb_11:19), yet is not to be restricted (as by De W., Lün.) to that which Abraham even on earth lived to see of the multiplication of his posterity. The promise (which here substitutes the abbreviated and concentrated form πληθυνῶ σέ, for the fuller expression of the LXX., πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου) embraces in its fulfilment a blessing bestowed on Abraham, extending down through time and onward into eternity.

[The precise relations and import of the passage just explained, are matter of some difficulty, and of a good deal of diversity of opinion. Grammatically the difficulty lies in determining whether the Aor. Participles ἐπαγγειλάμενος (Heb_6:13) and μακροθυμήσας (Heb_6:15) are, either or both of them, to be construed as expressing an action anterior to, or contemporaneous with the principal verb—either of which construction is equally consistent with the use of the Aorist. In the former case we should render: “after giving promise to Abraham, God swore,” etc.; and “and thus, after having waited patiently, he obtained,” etc. In the latter case we should render thus: “upon giving promise or when he gave promise—God swore;” and “suffering long he obtained” = “he waited patiently and obtained,” or, “by waiting patiently he obtained.” In the former case the giving of the promise precedes the swearing of the oath, and the promise (ἐπαγγειλάμ. must be supposed to refer to Gen_12:7; Gen_15:4-5, etc.; Gen_17:5; Gen_18:18, as preceding the oath given Genesis 22, at the time of the offering of Isaac. In this case also the μακροθυμήσας, having waited patiently, will refer to Abraham’s patient waiting during the time which elapsed between the promise of the birth of his son, and its fulfilment, and also perhaps to his cheerful submission to the command to offer up his son in sacrifice. So the passage is taken substantially by De Wette, Lönemann, and Moll; and in this case the “obtaining the promise” after his long waiting, took place in part in his receiving his son back from the grave, while in part this only prefigures and commences its fulfilment, which runs on into the indefinite and endless future. In the other construction—which makes the action of the Participles contemporaneous with that of the principal verbs,—the whole action would naturally refer to the one event in which the promise and oath were both given, viz., Genesis 22, and we should render thus: “For in giving, or when He gave promise to Abraham, God, because, etc., sware by Himself, saying, Surely blessing, etc.; and so (under these conditions of promise and blessing) Abraham waited patiently and obtained (=by patiently waiting obtained) the promise.” So substantially Delitzsch. The objection to the former is that it makes an unnatural separation between the giving of the promise and the giving of the oath, (which the author seems to link closely together), and that it seems to attach a special significance to the period of the giving of the oath, which does not really belong to it, for although the promise was then repeated with a special fulness and emphasis, yet it was substantially but a repetition of the earlier promises, while Abraham’s receiving his son from threatened death, which then occurred, took place before the utterance of the oath, and could be conceived to stand in no consecutive relation to it. The objection to the second construction would seem to be, that if the reference is only to the promise and oath of Genesis 22, then all the earlier promises are apparently ignored, and therefore all Abraham’s patient waiting since they were given, could scarcely come into the account. But to this we may reply, I think, that it is not a matter of importance to the writer to distinguish the separate times and forms of the promise which was made to Abraham; but he naturally, in referring to the promise, takes that occasion in which the promise was finally, and with the greatest fulness and emphasis repeated, and ratified by an oath; while the μακροθυμήσας refers to Abraham’s entire, patient waiting for the fulfilment of the Divine promise, and the ἐπέτυχεν, as it seems to me, refers mainly not to that which Abraham experienced in his life-time, but to the reward of his faith and patience, which, commencing in his life-time, continued on into eternity. I would thus regard ἐπαγγειλάμενος as referring specially indeed to the promise of Genesis 22, where it stands connected with the oath, but to this in reality as the representative of God’s whole collective promise to Abraham; and the καὶ οὔτως μακρ. ἐπέτ. and thus waiting patiently he obtained, etc., as virtually covering Abraham’s bearing during the entire period after God had made to him His promises. I prefer, therefore, substantially Delitzsch’s construction. To make, as Alford does, ἐπαγγειλάμενος, refer to the time of the oath (when he promised, he swore) and yet refer μακροθ. ἐπέτυχεν back to Abraham’s having obtained the promise in the birth of a son in consequence of his long and patient waiting, seems specially inconsistent, and totally confuses the passage.—K.].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The promises of God, in so far as they are declarations of the time and words of the Almighty One, have, in themselves, the pledge and power of their accomplishment. But the Searcher of hearts condescends in His love to the needs of men, has respect to the weakness of those that are assailed, and gives to them for the strengthening of their faith special pledges and guaranties for perfect reliableness in His promises. In accordance, however, with the sacred character of the relations which are hereby to be confirmed and enhanced, these pledges are themselves of a moral and religious nature; they point to eternity, have respect to the holy nature of God, and have value and significance only for him who is already a believer.

2. Inasmuch as an oath is a form of ratifying a declaration, in which the attributes just mentioned appear not perchance as concomitant merely, but as constitutive, and since for this reason an oath forms for men the highest form of solemn assurance, and sacred affirmation, it becomes clear why precisely this sort of pledge is the most appropriate to the condescension of God, and the simplest and surest for the attainment of the proposed end.

3. From the nature and form of the oath as a solemn appeal to the omniscient Holy God for confirmation of the truth and credibility of a definite utterance, it follows that God can swear only by Himself (=so truly as I live), but that all appeal to this example of God in justification of the use of such a form of swearing among men, cannot be admissible.

4. The promises of God enter with determining power into the course of history. They are not mere words, but are germs of blessing and salvation implanted in the souls of believers, with which he who receives and awaits them grows into an increasingly vital union, and attains to the richness of the promise.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The undeserved goodness of God toward us shows itself, specially: 1. in the promises of immeasurable blessing; 2. in giving assurance of their reliableness; 3. in the experience of their fulfilment.—Only they who wait in faith attain to what God has promised to them in His grace.—The compassion and faithfulness of God must be responded to by us with faith and steadfastness.—The sacredness of the oath through the example of God.

Starke:—O happy people, for whose sake God swears an oath! and miserable they who will not trust to His oath.—Material blessing is a benefit, but spiritual blessing is a far greater. If thou hast the latter, cheerfully resign the former; but if God gives thee both, thou art doubly blessed.—To throw forward is not to throw aside; deferral is not reversal; God does every thing at its right time; wait in hope; what He has promised to thee, will be done for thee.

Rieger:—God’s entire way from the beginning, has been in the path of waiting. God gave promises; to these faith had to attach itself, and make its way through all difficulties.

Footnotes:

[4]Heb_6:14.—Instead of ἦ μήν we should read, with Cod. Sin., A. B. D. E., 17, 23, εἰ μήν. This is the customary form with the LXX., springing from the blending of the classical ἦ μήν with the Hellenistic εἰ μή, which C. and J**, read here, and which imitates the Hebrew אִם לֹא.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:13-20 This passage focuses on the reliability of God’s faithfulness to his promises. The theme of God’s oath is developed with an illustration (6:13-15), followed by a general principle (6:16), followed by the main point: God has sworn a significant oath (6:17-18), which gives us hope because it shows that Jesus is our permanent High Priest (6:19-20).

6:13-14 Abraham was the premier exemplar of faith: He continued to believe that God would give him a son, then was willing to sacrifice that son in obedience to God (11:17-19; Gen 15:1-5; 22:1-14). In response to Abraham’s faith, God took an oath, assuring Abraham that he would bless him and multiply his descendants.

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

Heb 6:13. Κατʼ οὐδενὸς, by none) This epistle abounds in comparisons: here we are informed that no comparison [none to be compared with God] was to be found.—ὤμοσε, He swore) He now affords consolation by the oath of God’s grace, to those whom, in ch. 3 and 4, he had admonished by the oath of God’s wrath, although indeed the oath of His wrath did not extend its force beyond the wilderness for ever; for David and Paul bring down nothing of that oath to their own times: but the oath of grace is in force for ever.

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

Heb_6:13-15. Proof of the general truth that stedfast endurance leads to the possession of the promised blessing, from the special instance of Abraham. Calvin: exemplum Abrahae adducitur, non quia unicum sit, sed quia prae aliis illustre.

τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός] for when God had given promise to Abraham. ἐπαγγειλάμενος we have, with de Wette, to take as in point of time anterior to ὤμοσεν. It has reference to the promises which God had already, Gen_12:7; Gen_17:5-6; Gen_18:18, imparted to Abraham, and which were then, Gen_22:16-18, not merely repeated to him by God, and confirmed by an oath, but likewise, in part at least, were fulfilled (see at Heb_6:15).

ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς κ.τ.λ.] because there was no greater or higher (οὐδενός, masculine, not, as Hofmann supposes, neuter), by whom He could swear, He sware by Himself. Relation of the words, LXX. Gen_22:16 : κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα, λέγει κύριος, with the reason for this form of declaration inserted. Comp. Philo, Legg. allegor. 3:98 E (with Mangey, I. p. 127), where, with regard to the same passage of Scripture, it is said: εὖ καὶ τῷ ὂρκῳ βεβαιώσας τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, καὶ ὅρκῳ θεοπρεπεῖ. Ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὅτι οὐ καθʼ ἑτέρου ὀμνύει θεός

οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κρεῖττον

ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, ὃς ἐστι πάντων ἄριστος.

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.

Heb 6:13-20 . Reasons for diligently cultivating hope and exercising patience, thus becoming imitators of those who have patiently waited for the fulfilment of the promises, the reasons being that God has made the failure of the promises impossible, and that already Jesus has passed within the veil as our forerunner.

Heb 6:13 . Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ .… “For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could sware by none greater, He sware by Himself, saying, etc.” Abraham is introduced because to him was made the fundamental and comprehensive promise ( cf. Luk 1:73 , and Gal 3 ) which involved all that God was ever to bestow. And in Abraham it is seen that the promise is secure, but that only by patient waiting can it be inherited. It is secure because God pledged Himself to perform it. The promise referred to in ἐπαγγειλάμενος seems to be that which was confirmed by an oath, and which is recorded in Gen 22:16-18 , κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα κ . τ . λ . But Westcott prefers to consider that previous promises are referred to, as in Gen 12:3 ; Gen 12:7 ; Gen 13:14 ; Gen 15:5 ; Gen 17:5 . The aorist participle ἐπαγγ . admits of either construction. ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς … ὀμνύω followed by κατά as frequently in classics (Arist., Frogs , 94) and LXX, Isa 45:23 , Amo 4:2 ; Amo 8:7 , Zep 1:5 , Mat 26:63 . See references. εἶχε … ὀμόσαι , a classical use of ἔχειν from Homer downwards, “to have means or power to do,” “to be able”. The greater the Being sworn by, the surer the promise. Cf. Longinus, De Subl. , c. 16, on swearing by those who died at Marathon. ὤμοσε καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ , how this oath was given, and how the knowledge of it was conveyed to men, this writer does not say. But it was somehow conveyed to the mind of Abraham that the fulfilment of this promise was bound up with the life of God; that it was so implicated with His purposes that God could as soon cease to be, as neglect the fulfilment of it. Lying as it did at the root of all further development, and marking out as it did the true end for which the world exists, it seemed to be bound up with the very being of God. Paul’s way of expressing a similar idea is more congruous to our ways of looking at things, cf. 2Co 1:20 . Cf. Philo’s discussion in De Leg. Allegor. , iii. 72, 3.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Another prick to prick them forward: Because the hope of the inheritance is certain, if we continue to the end, for God hath not only promised it, but also promised it with an oath.

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

For--confirming the reasonableness of resting on "the promises" as infallibly sure, resting as they do on God's oath, by the instance of Abraham. "He now gives consolation, by the oath of God's grace, to those whom, in the second, third, and fourth chapters, he had warned by the oath of God's 'wrath.' The oath of wrath did not primarily extend its force beyond the wilderness; but the oath of grace is in force for ever" [BENGEL].

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 13. When God made promise to Abraham] The promise referred to is that made to Abraham when he had offered his son Isaac on the altar, Ge 22:16-18: "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thy only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Of this promise the apostle only quotes a part, as is generally the case, because he knew that his readers were well acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and particularly with the law.

He sware by himself] He pledged his eternal power and Godhead for the fulfilment of the promise; there was no being superior to himself to whom he could make appeal, or by whom he could be bound, therefore he appeals to and pledges his immutable truth and Godhead.

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

13. For when God made a promise to Abraham, etc. His object was to prove, that the grace of God is offered to us in vain, except we receive the promise by faith, and constantly cherish it in the bosom of our heart. And he proves it by this argument, that when God promised a countless offspring to Abraham, it seemed a thing incredible; Sarah had been through life barren; both had reached a sterile old age, when they were nearer the grave than to a conjugal bed; there was no vigor to beget children, when Sarah’s womb, which had been barren through the prime of life, was now become dead. Who could believe that a nation would proceed from them, equaling the stars in number, and like the sand of the sea? It was, indeed, contrary to all reason. Yet Abraham looked for this and feared no disappointment, because he relied on the Word of God. We must, then, notice the circumstance as to time, that the Apostle’s reasoning may appear evident; and what he subjoins refers to this — that he was made partaker of this blessing, but that it was after he had waited for what no one could have thought would ever come to pass. In this way ought glory to be given to God; we must quietly hope for what he does not as yet show to our senses, but hides from us and for a long time defers, in order that our patience may be exercised.

Why God did swear by himself we shall presently see. The manner of swearing, Except blessing I will bless thee, we have explained what it means in the third chapter: God’s name is not here expressed, but must be understood, for except he performs what he promises, he testifies that he is not to he counted true and faithful.

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.

(13) The connection seems to be this: “You, like them, have promises—promises to which God has given all possible certainty; you, like them, can attain the fulfilment only through faith and patient waiting.”

For when God made promise.—It is better to follow the words literally, For when to Abraham God had made promise. Abraham is chosen for special mention as the most illustrious example of those who “inherit the promises” (comp. Joh_8:58); also because (1) the assurance given to him was confirmed by oath; and (2) in it lay included the promise of the Christ. The promises made to Abraham were essentially one, with various parts progressively fulfilled. It seems likely that, though the next verse is quoted from Gen_22:17, the writer also has in mind (“had promised”) Gen_12:3, and especially Genesis 15.

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

13. For when God] The “for” implies “and you may feel absolute confidence about the promises; for,” &c.

made promise to Abraham] Abraham is here only selected as “the father of the faithful” (Rom_4:13); and not as the sole example of persevering constancy, but as an example specially illustrious (Calvin).

because he could swear by no greater] In the Jewish treatise Berachoth (f. 32.1) Moses is introduced as saying to God, “Hadst thou sworn by Heaven and Earth, I should have said They will perish, and therefore so may Thy oath; but as Thou hast sworn by Thy great name, that oath shall endure for ever.”

he sware by himself] “By myself have I sworn” (Gen_22:16). “God sweareth not by another,” says Philo, in a passage of which this may be a reminiscence—“for nothing is superior to Himself—but by Himself, Who is best of all” (De Leg, Alleg. iii. 72). There are other passages in Philo which recall the reasoning of this clause (Opp. i. 622, ii. 39).

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.

Saying, surely blessing I will bless thee,.... Which is expressive of the certainty of the blessings; the reality and substantiality of them; the abundance of them, and the continuance of the same: and of this nature are all spiritual blessings; as to be chosen of God; to have God to be a covenant God and Father; to be justified, pardoned, adopted, and sanctified, and so have a right and title to eternal happiness:

and multiplying I will multiply thee; meaning both in his natural and spiritual seed, which has had its accomplishment.

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

For when God made promise to Abraham - That he would bless him, and multiply his seed as the stars of heaven; Gen 22:16-17. The object of introducing this example here is, to encourage those to whom the apostle was writing to persevere in the Christian life, This he does by showing that God had given the highest possible assurance of his purpose to bless his people, by an oath. Reference is made to Abraham in this argument, probably, for two reasons:

To show the nature of the evidence which Christians have that they will be saved, or the ground of encouragement - being the same as that made to Abraham, and depending, as in his case, on the promise of God; and,

(2)Because the “example” of Abraham was just in point. He had persevered. He had relied firmly and solely on the promise of God. He did this when appearances were much against the fulfillment of the promise, and he thus showed the advantage of perseverance and fidelity in the cause of God.

Because he could swear by no greater - There is no being greater than God. In taking an oath among people it is always implied that the appeal is to one of superior power, who is able to punish for its infraction. But this could not occur in the case of God himself. There was no greater being than himself, and the oath, therefore, was by his own existence.

He sware by himself - Gen 22:16. “By myself have I sworn;” compare Isa 45:23. In an oath of this kind God pledges his veracity; declares that the event shall be as certain as his existence; and secures it by all the perfections of his nature. The usual form of the oath is, “As I live, saith the Lord;” see Num 14:21, Num 14:28; Eze 33:11.

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

For God promising to Abraham, to bless all nations in his seed; i.e. by the coming of Christ, swore by himself, having no greater to swear by, &c. He shews them how certain they may be of eternal happiness, unless they be slothful. First, it is God himself, who hath promised to make them happy. Secondly, he promised it with an oath; and these are two unchangeable things in God, who cannot lie. And the oath was: unless blessing, I will bless thee, &c. The sense is, unless I give thee great blessings, let me not be esteemed the true God. By this God hath given the strongest consolation to us, who have fled from the imperfect works of the former law of Moses, by believing and hoping in Christ. This hope is as a sure and firm anchor of our souls, amidst all persecutions and dangers, which will make us enter in, even within the veil, as it were into that part of the temple called the holy of holies, which was a figure of heaven, into which Christ Jesus himself entered first, by his glorious ascension after his sufferings. He entered as our high priest, and to prepare us there a place. (Witham)

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 when God made promise to Abraham: for is a confirmation by instance, that faith and patience had made some to inherit the promises, as Abraham, and what was influencing of him in the exercising them, viz. God’s promise and oath. God Almighty, who was as able to perform as to make a promise, Gen 17:1, having made a promise to Abraham the father of believers, that he wonld communicate some temporal and spiritual good, which by it he gave him a right to, and bound himself to perform, which summarily was Christ the Redeemer to be of his seed, and Isaac his immediate seed to be a type of him; this promise at the offering up of his son Isaac God confirms to him by oath.

Because he could swear by no greater: an oath is to be made by the greatest, who is able to make good all, and to judge after his will; by nothing under or beneath God must there be any swearing.

He sware by himself, as the best and greatest, Jehovah himself confirming that which was evident and certain by that which was most so: a strange condescension of God the Son, the Angel of the covenant, to a creature, to lift up his hand to eternity, and to lay it on the altar of his infinite and unchangeable being, to pawn and pledge his Deity, that he might give the highest assurance; and is willing that it shall be forfeited and lost, if Abraham fall short of what he hath promised to him: see the oath, Gen 22:15-18; an oath confirming the covenant of grace to all believers as firmly as to Abraham.

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

13-20. The basis of our assurance that perseverance will assuredly bring glory is the doubly-pledged veracity of God as covenanting and as binding himself by oath. But God neither swears nor promises that we shall persevere. He only promises and swears that there shall be no failure of the reward, if we do, through exerted grace and power derived from him, persevere. Note Rom_8:30. The reason why the old Jews were lost, was not because God did not covenant and swear, but because they did not persevere, and make the covenant and oath binding.

13. Promise to Abraham—To illustrate that infinite promise of God to faith which insures to the militant Church its eternal triumph, our author, as in the Epistle to the Romans, goes back to the first great recorded exemplar in the patriarchal age, Abraham.

Could swear by no greater— In a proper oath we men call a higher Being to witness our words and to be ready to punish our perjury. The true oath is a solemn calling of God himself to be that witness and avenger. But, by whom shall God swear? Only by himself. So God has to take upon himself a twofoldness. He himself must be both the promiser and witness. So the solemn words, Gen_22:16, “By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, that in blessing I will bless thee,” etc. And, Num_14:21, “As truly as I live.”

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

Vers. 13-15. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Abraham the ancestor of the Hebrews, the first recipient of the promises, the father of the faithful is now appropriately adduced as an example. He, (Gen_22:16) as is the case with you, (Ps 110) was assured of his inheritance by the Divine oath; and so he obtained it, but only through "faith and patience." You have the like assurance, but attended with the like conditions. And then this Divine oath, the significance of which is set forth in vers. 16-18, is made a link of connection between the hortatory section (Heb_5:11-14; Heb_6:1-20) and the coming argument about Melchizedek. This is one instance of the artistic way in which, throughout the Epistle, the interposed hortatory passages are so turned as to connect the divided sections of the argument. But what is said about Abraham (vers. 13, 14, 15) has been variously understood. It is connected with ver. 12 thus: Be ye followers of them who inherit the promises through faith and patience: for God, in his promise to Abraham, swore by himself in confirmation of it; and so (kai outw) through patience he obtained the promise. Be it here observed that makroyumhsav in ver. 15 ("having patiently endured," A.V) corresponds with dia makroyumiav in ver. 12, and expresses essentially the same idea. The aorist participle makroyumhsav does not in itself imply that the patience was previous to the obtaining; it expresses only that by patiently enduring he obtained. Observe also that kai outw (cf. Act_7:8 Act_27:44 Act_28:14) denotes the consequence from what has been previously stated; i.e. that makroyumhsav epetuce followed from the Divine oath ensuring the fulfillment of the promise. Both his eventually obtaining and his patience in awaiting fulfillment were in consequence of the assuring oath. But then how and when did Abraham himself obtain the promise? Not even the temporal fulfillment in the multiplication of his seed and the inheritance of the Promised Land, much less the spiritual fulfillment in Christ, was during his own life. Both he could but see "afar off. " In respect to the latter it is expressly said (Heb_11:13, Heb_11:39) that the patriarchs did not receive the promises mh labontev taav ouk ekomisanto than . What, then, is meant by makroyumhsav epetuce ? Bleek understands the time of the oath (Genesis 22), when the promise was irrevocably assured, to have been the time of obtaining. But more than this is suggested by the phrase, epetuce thv epaggeliav , (cf. Heb_11:33) as well as by kai outw , viz. the actual attainment of the blessing assured to him by oath. There are two other ways of explaining:

(1) to identify Abraham with his seed, in whom, though not in his own person, he may be conceived to have obtained, of which view it may be significant that plhyunw to sperma sou of the LXX (Gen_22:17) is changed in the Epistle to plhynnw se :

(2) to regard Abraham, still alive in the unseen world, as himself enjoying the fulfillment of the ancient promise. So Delitzsch, who, dwelling on the thought that nothing less than the blessing of Abraham extended to the whole world (cf. klhronomov tou kosmou , Rom_4:13) can be regarded as complete fulfill-merit, says, "God"s oath-sealed word of promise is now fulfilled in Christ, and Abraham, while living on in the unseen world, is conscious of and enjoys that fulfillment, anti so may be said to have "obtained the promise." This view derives some support from Heb 11, 13-16, where the longings of the pilgrim patriarchs is so beautifully represented as reaching to a heavenly fulfillment. On the other hand, the aorist epetuce is against it, and hence view (1) may be accepted as a sufficient explanation of the expression. (see below, or Heb_11:39) With regard to the general drift, it is obvious how makroyumia , as well as pistiv , in respect to the promise first made to him "in Charran," is strikingly displayed in Abraham"s recorded life.

Vers. 13-20. The encouragements to cherish the hope of eternal life.

These assume that there is a strong disposition in men to doubt the veracity of the Divine promise, and in adorable condescension God gives us ample evidence to justify our faith and perseverance. It must be confessed that the abandonment of the Jewish Law, separation from the synagogue, the surrender of earthly pleasure, and submission to manifold trials, require varied reasons to convince and to maintain the conviction of the claims of the gospel. The encouragements consist of the following facts:

I THE EXAMPLE OF THE PROMISE AND OATH VOUCHSAFED TO ABRAHAM AND SINCE GLORIOUSLY REALIZED. The patriarch was called by the voice of God to offer up his son on Mount Moriah. It was the highest proof of his faith in Jehovah, and although he received him back in a figure of a nobler sacrifice, "to will was present," and God accepted the purpose of his believing soul. "In the mount of the Lord it was seen" that where there was the sternest trial of his faith there came the most blessed manifestations of the Divine favor, both for himself, his descendants after the flesh, and his more numerous spiritual progeny. God said, "By myself have I sworn, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore". (Gen_22:16, Gen_22:17) He waited patiently, and obtained the promise in the birth of Isaac; and afterwards he saw the day of Christ, the seed in whom all nations are blessed. The latest portions of the New Testament verify the promise contained in the earliest part of the Old; and John said, after the sealing of the hundred and. forty and four thousand of the tribes of Israel, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb" (Rev_7:9, Rev_7:10). "And if ye be Christ"s, then are ye Abraham"s seed, and heirs according to the promise". (Gal_3:29)

II THE EXTENSION OF THE BLESSING CONTAINED IN THE PROMISE, AND SANCTIONED BY THE OATH, TO ALL BELIEVERS. The words of grace which were spoken to Abraham retain their force and application to all who are his children by a living faith. "The Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto us. " The patriarch was the heir of the world, a trustee for the future generations of believers. The oath is still valid, and the promise is made by One who cannot lie, and whose self-sufficiency and omnipotence raise him above the temptation and possibility of deception. The oath in human affairs is final, and is an end of all strife; and, to remove all doubt, Jehovah condescends to adopt a human form of appeal, to assure believers of the immovable ground of confidence which they possess and enjoy. The freeness of the promise tends to confirm the confidence of the righteous; for it is the unexpected, unextorted utterance of Divine love to cheer and inspire believers in their way to heaven. Both furnish strong consolation, which is adequate to disarm all earthly sorrows and assaults of their terror, and recalls those cheering images of the Divine love which ancient psalmists often introduce in their exultation and gratitude after deliverance from adversaries, and with cheerful hope of future safety; for "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress: my God; in him will I trust". (Psa_91:1, Psa_91:2)

III THE POWER AND CONNECTIONS OF CHRISTIAN HOPE. It is not unnatural to imagine that the writer may have thought of the wild and stormy ocean, from whose waves and turbulence the mariner hastens to a port of safety, and. then drops his anchor in the calm waters of the haven. The anchor descends below and grasps the solid earth, and holds the vessel fast amid the raging of the wind and the darkness of the sky. It resembles hope in its retentive capacity, which, amid winds of doctrine, failure of some who go back and walk no more with Christ, temptations from the world, the flesh, and the devil, keeps the believer from leaving his position and surrendering his profession of the gospel. The thought of the anchor is qualified by the connection of our hope with heaven, which our Lord has entered. It attaches itself to him who has entered as the Forerunner. Here we note a striking and glorious difference between the high priest of the temple and the office of the Redeemer. The Aaronic high priest had no one with him in the holiest of all, and stood and ministered in awful solitude before God. Our Lord is the Forerunner, and awaits the arrival of his followers. He is the Captain of salvation, who will bring many sons into glory; for he is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who, as a sublime type of the Lord Jesus, is presented to our consideration in the following chapter. B.

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

For - Ye have abundant encouragement, seeing no stronger promise could be made than that great promise which God made to Abraham, and in him to us.

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

The certainty of God’s promises:

v. 13. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by Himself,

v. 14. saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

v. 15. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

v. 16. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife

v. 17. Where in God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,

v. 18. that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us;

v. 19. which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

v. 20. whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

In reminding his readers of the sureness of God’s promises, the inspired author never loses sight of the fact that he wants to stimulate interest and further encouragement, in order that the believers might obtain the end of faith by patient perseverance in their trust in God. Since the writer has Jewish Christians to deal with, he reminds them of the example of Abraham, as one of those who did inherit the promise: For God, in making promise to Abraham, since He could swear by none greater, swore by Himself, saying, Blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. The Lord had repeatedly given Abraham the promise that he should have offspring of his own body, a prophecy which included the Messianic promise, Gen 12:1-3; Gen 15:5; Gen 17:5-6; Gen 18:18. But this promise, sure as it was in itself, the Lord in addition supplemented with an oath by Himself, there being no greater to swear by, Gen 22:16-18. In the case of Abraham, therefore, it is seen that the promise is secure, God having pledged Himself with an oath to perform it. But its benefits can be obtained only by patient waiting, as in the case of the patriarch, whose faith was finally rewarded. He was so sure of the fulfillment that he was convinced God could just as soon cease to be as neglect the keeping of His promise. His reward came in due time: And so, having shown patience, he obtained the promise. Though delay followed delay and one year after the other rolled by; though he became a sojourner in a strange land and the barrenness of his wife seemed to mock all hope, yet he continued in his confident expectation, until the fulfillment of the first part of God’s promise came as a reward of his faith. A son, Isaac, was born to him by Sarah, and he saw his grandchildren as the bearers of the promise, before the Lord gathered him to his fathers. The birth of Isaac was a guarantee to Abraham that the Messianic part of the prophecy would also come true, that God would redeem and bless all nations in one of his descendants, and so he, in the spirit, saw the Lord’s day, and rejoiced, Joh 8:56. Note: Since Christ is the Savior, not only of Abraham, but of the whole world, the promises of God, with the confirmatory oath, are meant not only for Abraham, but for the believers of all times.

The sacred writer wants to bring home the full significance of God’s promise and oath to his readers, and therefore introduces an analogy: For men swear by a greater (than themselves), and to them the oath is the end of all controversy unto confirmation. That has ever been the rule among men. Whenever an oath is really required and may be honestly given, as when the government commands it or the welfare of one’s neighbor or the honor of God demands it, then men swear by the greater being, by God Himself. The oath is made for the confirmation of a statement, it settles the matter in dispute, it brings all controversy to a speedy end, Exo 22:10-11.

Now the great God, in order to remove all doubts from the hearts of men, in this case conformed to the custom justified by human usage: Wherefore God, intending more abundantly to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His will, intervened with an oath. The Lord accommodated Himself to the weakness of the human beings who were included in His gracious will. In a more emphatic way than by a mere promise He wanted to demonstrate to us the unchangeableness, the immutability of His gracious and good will. His solemn oath came between Him and us, as an added guarantee for the fact that His promises were intended for us all, lest any single one be tortured by doubt. In doing so, God actually disregarded the implied insult to His truthfulness, to the certainty of His Word, in placing Himself on a level with men. "God descended, as it were, from His own absolute exaltation, in order, so to speak, to look up to Himself after the manner of men and take Himself to witness; and so by a gracious condescension confirm the promise for the sake of its inheritors" (Delitzsch). "He brought in Himself as surety, He mediated or came in between men and Himself, through the oath by Himself" (Davidson).

God’s purpose in condescending in this manner is expressly stated: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong inducement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope held out to us. God’s promise and God’s oath are the two immutable things. By means of these, His promise which it is impossible for God to break, and His oath, which it is impossible for Him to falsify, we have a sound and firm encouragement, inducement, and consolation. Having fled for refuge, we found it and have it in Him. We may hold fast unswervingly to the hope held out to us, for a surer guarantee we cannot get, no matter where we apply. Fugitives from our own doubts and weaknesses, we have a safe refuge in the promise of the Lord. We map cling without wavering to the hope of eternal salvation as it is assured to us in the words of God’s grace.

How utterly and absolutely safe this hope is, appears from the final statement: Which we have as an anchor of the soul, safe and sure, and entering into that part behind the veil, where the Forerunner is entered for us, Jesus, becoming a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Just as the anchor of a ship, if solidly placed, holds the vessel safe and secure, even against a strong wind and dangerous waves, thus the hope of our faith, being anchored in the promises of the Lord, gives us a firm and safe hold on salvation in the midst of the storms of these latter days. This anchor of our soul, by the grace of God, is firmly imbedded in the very presence of Almighty God, in the most holy place of the heavens. The Holy of Holies was the innermost shrine of the Jewish Temple, into which the high priest entered but once a year, in the name of the entire nation. Thus Jesus, our Forerunner, as well as our High Priest, has been exalted into the very presence, to the right hand, of His heavenly Father, in our behalf He has entered there, to become our Advocate with the Father, to intercede for us, with a continual reference to His perfect work of atonement. Jesus it is in whom we believe, in whom we trust. By His death and resurrection He secured for us the power to enter into the mansions of heaven, to follow where He has shown the way, when He became a priest throughout eternity after the order of Melchizedek. Note: If we Christians place the hope of our salvation on the promises and the oath of God, then our hope is anchored in the almighty God Himself. All languidness and sluggishness must therefore be cast aside as we apply God’s promises to ourselves and thus daily become surer of our redemption.

Summary

The writer continues his exhortation to progress and steadfastness in the faith by showing how necessary progress in knowledge is, by warning against denial of the faith, by urging progress in sanctification, and by demonstrating the certainty of God’s promises.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The apostle having told us in general, that the saints by faith and patience do inherit the promises; instances here paticularly in Abraham, unto whom God made a promise of multiplying his seed greatly to him, and confirmed that promise by and oath; but Abraham waited long by faith and patience for the complete fulfilling of the promise; and so must we. God delights to be trusted by his people upon his word and oath; and when they do not live to see the promise of God fulfilled, they glorify him exceedingly, by dying in the faith and firm belief, that it shall be fulfilled in God’s own appointed time.

Note here, The wonderful condescension of God towards the infirmity of men, he swears, he swears by himself, he pawns and pledges his Godhead, and if he performs not what he promises and swears, is willing to forfeit it. O felices nos! quorum causa Deus jurat! O miserrimi! si nec juranti credamus. "O happy man! For whose sake God condescends to swear. O miserable man! If we doubt of God’s promise confirmed by his oath, in which he has laid down his Godhead as a stake and pawn, never to take it up again, if he fails in the least jot in the punctual performance of it."

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

13–20. For when God made promise. The promises are absolutely sure. See how God confirmed his promise to Abraham! See Gen. 22:15–18.

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.

He said

God said

I will greatly increase you

Here "increase" stands for give descendants. AT: "I will give you many descendants" (See: Metonymy)

what was promised

This can be stated in active form. AT: "what God promised him" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

promise

Abraham

oath

bless

patient

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

13–15. FOUNDED ON THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD’S PROMISES

13. τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραάμ. The “for” implies “and you may feel absolute confidence about the promises; for,” &c. Abraham is here only selected as “the father of the faithful” (Rom 4:13); and not as the sole example of persevering constancy, but as an example specially illustrious (Calvin).

κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι. In the Jewish treatise Berachoth (f. 32. 1) Moses is introduced as saying to God, “Hadst thou sworn by Heaven and Earth, I should have said They will perish, and therefore so may Thy oath; but as Thou hast sworn by Thy great name, that oath shall endure for ever.”

καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ. Κατὰ with the gen. of the person adjured is peculiar to Hellenistic Greek (Mat 26:63). In classical Greek κατὰ only takes the gen. of acts or objects by which the oath is made, and the acc. of the person (or πρὸς with the gen.). “By myself have I sworn” (Gen 22:16). “God sweareth not by another,” says Philo, in a passage of which this may be a reminiscence—“for nothing is superior to Himself—but by Himself, Who is best of all” (De Leg. Alleg. III. 72). There are other passages in Philo which recall the reasoning of this clause (Opp. I. 622, II. 30).

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.

13-20.] The encouragement to perseverance is further confirmed by God’s express oath made to Abraham, the first inheritor of the promise.

13.] For (“His verbis non reddit rationem cur imitari debeant eos, qui per fidem et longanimitatem divinarum promissionum hæredes sunt facti, sed cur mentionem faciat talium. Poterat enim aliquis quærere, an tales aliqui sint, et quinam sint? his ergo verbis in exemplum istius rei adducit patrem omnium credentium Abrahamum, qui et in fide fuit constantissimus, et istius fidei fructum tulit maximum.” Schlichting) God when He promised (not, as De W., Lün., al., having promised: for in matter of fact the oath preceded the statement of the promise, cf. ver. 14 below: but the aor. participle, as so often, is contemporaneous with the aor. verb, as in ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπε, &c. Bleek well remarks, that ἐπαγγειλάμενος is to be taken not only as “made a promise,” but in the Messianic sense, “gave the promise,” as τὰς ἐπαγγελίας above, and ἡ ἐπαγγελία vv. 15, 17 al., αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι ch. 7:6 al.: Rom 9:4: Gal 3:16) to Abraham, since He could (ἔχειν with an infin., ‘to have the power, or the means, or the opportunity, to …’ is good Greek, e. g. οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν, common in Herod. See reff.) swear by (the classical construction of ὄμνυμι is with an accus. of the person sworn by, ὄμνυμι τοὺς θεούς: but κατά with a gen, is found when a thing is used as binding the oath, as ὄμνυμι κατʼ ἐξολείας, Demosth, p. 553. 17 al.; καθʼ ἱερῶν, p. 1306. 21 al. And this construction, applied to persons, appears to have arisen from that other. See Bleek’s note) none (masc.) greater, swore by Himself (a singularly coincident passage occurs, of the same promise, in Philo, Legg. Allegor. iii. 72, vol. i. p. 127: εὖ καὶ τῷ ὅρκῳ βεβαιώσας τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, καὶ ὅρκῳ θεοπρεπεῖ. ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὅτι οὐ καθʼ ἑτέρου ὀμνύει θεός, οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κρεῖττον, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, ὅς ἐστι πάντων ἄριστος),

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Illustration of the long - suffering of faith by the example of Abraham. The necessity for emphasizing this element of faith lay in the growing discouragement of the Jewish Christians at the long delay of Christ 's second coming. Comp. ch. 11. Abraham became a sojourner in the land of the promise, looking for the heavenly city (ch. 11 9, 10). All the instances cited in that chapter illustrate the long outlook of faith, involving patient waiting and endurance. The example of Abraham shows, first, that the promise of God is sure.

Because he could swear by no greater [επει κατ ουδενος ειχεν μειζονος ομοσαι] . Lit. since he had (the power) to swear by no one greater.

By himself [καθ εαυτου] . Comp. Gen 22:16. N. T. o, but see LXX, Amo 6:8.

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

13. τῷ yap ᾿Α. ἐπαγγειλάμενοε.. καθ᾽ davrot} For God having made promise to Abraham...sware...Vulg. promittens (Old Lat. cum repromt-

sisest).. juravit.... The promise was given, and then the promise was confirmed by an oath (Gen. xii. 3, 7; xiii. 14; xv. 5 &; xvil. 5 δ᾽; compared with Gon. xxii. 16 &). The student will do well to consider very carefully the exact differences of form under which the promise was given to Abraham at different times and afterwards to Igaac (Gen. xxvi. 2 ff.) and to Jacob (Gen. xxviii 13 &).

This interpretation, which is directly suggested by the history, seems to be better than that which regards ἐπαγγειλάμενος and ὥμοσεν as contemporaneous, a construction which is in Ν perfectly admissible. (Comp. c.

It may be further added that the interposition of an oath implied delay in the fulfilment of tho promise. No oath would have been required if tho blessing had been about to follow immediately. But in the nature of the case the promise to Abraham pointed to a remote future. Thus bis examplo was fitted to encourage tho Hebrews to trust in the unseen. At the samo time the promise was absolute and not conditional (as 1 K. ii. 4).

ἐπεὶ κατ᾽ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μ. ὁ. since He could swear by no greater one (according to usage). Vulg. quoniam neminem habuit quem juraret majorem. Comp. Philo, Leg. AdXeg. iii. § 72 (i 127 M.) ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐ καθ᾽ ἑτέρου ὀμνύει θεός, οὐδὲν yap αὐτοῦ κρεῖττον, ἀλλὰ καθ' ἑαντοῦ ὅς ἐστι πάντων ἄριστος (in reference to Gen. xxii. 16).

ὥμοσεν καθ' ἑαντοῦ] The oath to Abraham was tho foundation of tho hope of Israel (Ps. cv. 6 ; Luke i. 73) and the support of all positivo religious faith. In this respoct it is important to notice that it is the first explicit mention of the divine oath, which however was implied in the promiso to Noah (Is. liv. 9; Gon.

viil. 21 ὦ; ix. 11 ff). Compare also Gen. xv.8 ff. Jewish scholars dwelt on tho thought of God’s oath ‘by Himsclf’: Shemoth R. 44 (on Ex. xxxii. 13), What means By Τλνεοζ R. Eliezer replied : Moses spake thus to the Lord (Blessed be He). If Thou hadst sworn by honven and earth, [ should say, since heaven and earth shall porish, 80 too Thine oath. Now Thou hast sworn to them by Thy great namo: as Thy gront name livos and lasts for ever and ever, Thy oath also chall last for ever and ever.

The phraso op». κατά τινος docs not occur again in the N. T. (comp. Matt. xxvi, 63). It is found in the LXxX.: Jor. xxix. 14 (xlix. 13); xxviif. (li.) 14; Amos vi. 8; and in later Greek. The classical construction (with the simplo acc.) is found in James v. 12.

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.