Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He exhorts the Hebrews to fraternal charity, hospitality, mercy, conjugal chastity, flight from avarice, and the imitation of those set over them.
Secondly, in verse 9, he warns that they should not allow themselves to be led away by new and various doctrines, but should establish their heart by grace, namely by receiving the Eucharist from the altar, which Christ gave not to the Jews but to Christians.
Hence thirdly, in verse 11, from the ancient type of the public victim for sin, which was to be burned outside the camp, he allegorically concludes: Let us therefore go forth to Him (Christ) outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Fourthly, in verse 17, he commands that they obey those set over them, and that they pray for him.
Finally, in verse 20, having prayed well for them, he closes the epistle with greetings according to custom.
Vulgate Text: Hebrews 13:1-25
1. Let the charity of the brotherhood remain in you. 2. And do not forget hospitality, for through it some, while not knowing, have entertained angels. 3. Remember those in bonds, as if bound with them; and those who labor, as being yourselves also in the body. 4. Marriage honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 5. Let your manners be without avarice, contented with present things: for He Himself has said: I will not leave you, neither will I forsake you. 6. So that we may confidently say: The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man may do to me. 7. Remember those set over you, who have spoken the word of God to you: whose end of conversation considering, imitate their faith. 8. Jesus Christ yesterday, and today, He Himself even forever. 9. By various and strange doctrines do not be led away. For it is best to establish the heart by grace, not by foods: which have not profited those who walked in them. 10. We have an altar, of which they have no power to eat, who serve the tabernacle. 11. For of those animals whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary for sin by the pontiff, the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13. Let us therefore go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14. For we do not have here a permanent city, but we seek one to come. 15. Through Him therefore let us offer a sacrifice of praise always to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing to His name. 16. And do not forget beneficence and communion: for by such sacrifices God is won over. 17. Obey those set over you, and be subject to them. For they themselves keep watch as if to render an account for your souls, that they may do this with joy and not groaning: for this is not expedient for you. 18. Pray for us: for we trust that we have a good conscience, willing in all things to behave well. 19. And I beseech you the more to do this, that I may be restored to you the more quickly. 20. And the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of the everlasting testament, our Lord Jesus Christ, 21. fit you in every good work, that you may do His will: doing in you what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ: to whom is glory forever and ever. Amen. 22. And I beseech you, brethren, that you bear with the word of consolation. For I have written to you in few words. 23. Know our brother Timothy to be released: with whom (if he comes more quickly) I will see you. 24. Greet all those set over you, and all the saints. The brethren from Italy greet you. 25. Grace be with all of you. Amen.
Verse 1: Let the Charity of the Brotherhood Remain in You
1. Let the charity of the brotherhood remain in you. — In Greek it is philadelphia, that is, fraternal charity, or of brothers, by which Christians love one another, as brothers, born from the same mother the Church, and from the same Father Christ, of which I have spoken on Romans XII, 10.
Note: He does not say "let it be," because it already was in them, as appears in chap. X, v. 34; but "let it remain," as if to say: Continue, as you have begun, mutually to help and cherish one another, nor permit that on account of persecutions, exiles and despoliations, these duties of charity grow lukewarm, nor say: We cannot help others, because we ourselves have been despoiled of our goods by the Jews and reduced to poverty, or are soon to be reduced.
Verse 2: And Do Not Forget Hospitality
2. And do not forget hospitality. — He speaks, as Galen rightly notes, of the receiving not of Gentiles, but of brethren, or Christians, for whom it was once forbidden to turn aside to the houses and lodgings of Gentiles: but they were received into the houses of bishops, and were attended by widows, and even their feet were washed, as the Apostle sufficiently intimates in I Tim. V, 10.
Note: Hospitality was commended both in the Old and especially in the New Testament. In the Old, Abraham commended it, Lot, and Rahab of Jericho, who receiving the Hebrew spies in hospitality, by this merited her own and her family's safety, Joshua II. So also the Shunammite, giving hospitality to Elisha, obtained from him a son and the raising of her dead son, IV Kings IV. In the New Testament the hosts of Christ were Matthew, Zacchaeus, Martha and Magdalene; what fruit they thereby gained no one is ignorant. Hence in the primitive Church hospitality flourished wonderfully among Christians, so much that Tertullian, in his book On Prescription, ch. XX, numbers these three as symbols of the Catholic faith and communion, namely the communication of peace, the appellation of brotherhood, and the contesseration of hospitality: "Which rights," he says, "no other principle governs than the one tradition of the same sacrament." Where by the contesseration of hospitality, Tertullian understands a certain sign, as it were a token of Christianity, which whoever brought, anywhere by Christians, as a Christian friend and brother was very kindly received in hospitality. This sign, when heretics had counterfeited it, was often changed by Catholics, and at length committed to letters which the Fathers in the Council of Nicaea sanctioned, and called Formatae, in which they decreed that these four Greek letters be subscribed, as a token and profession of Christianity, namely Π. Υ. Α. Π, that is, Patēr, Hyios, Hagion Pneuma, that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Hence the impostor Peregrinus (witness Lucian in his Life) feigned himself a Christian, because he said there was enough provision for him in the hospitality of Christians: so that he was not only fed by them, but also accompanied on the way, and thus surrounded would proceed in every direction. For not to receive, nor to join the offered token, was the same as to be separated from Catholic communion; just as among the Gentiles to break the hospitable token was to dissolve friendship. For this reason that great Pachomius (as is recorded in his Life), when still a heathen serving in the camps of the Emperor Licinius, and had come with the camp to Thebes, having seen the hospitality and charity of the Theban Christians toward his fellow soldiers, was converted to Christ, and turned out as great as we all already marvel. Nor only did the first Christians cultivate hospitality, but even five hundred years ago it was held in esteem, indeed in precept. For D. Burchardus, Bishop of Worms, who flourished about the year of the Lord 1020, in Book I of the Decretals, xciv, question 71, teaches that bishops in the solemn visitation of parishes, in which they inquire about grave crimes, ought from office as it were about a crime to inquire whether in the parish there were any who refused hospitality to pilgrims or travelers coming to them. On the praises of hospitality see St. Ambrose, On Duties, II, ch. XXI, and III, ch. VII; Chrysostom, Sermon 2 On Lazarus; Augustine, Serm. 70 On Time.
How much hospitality befits clerics, the chapter Hospitalem, distinction 42, teaches, and the Council of Trent, session XXV, ch. VIII.
By this some while not knowing entertained angels. — Many read "pleased," but it must be read "while not knowing." For so the Roman and the Syriac read, and so signifies the Greek elathon. Now Faber, Catharinus and Vasquez explain thus, as if to say: Lot and his daughters and son-in-law receiving the angels in hospitality, "escaped notice," that is, were not seen by the Sodomites, when they bursting into Lot's house were struck with blindness. But the Greek phrase does not allow this; for, as Ribera learnedly teaches, the verb lanthanō, that is "I lie hidden," when joined to a participle, signifies that the action signified by that participle was hidden, either to those acting themselves, or to others. So Aristophanes in the Wasps says, "you served unawares," that is, you do not know you serve. So Plutarch wrote a book with this title Lathe biōsas, that is, "Live hidden," live so that no one feels you have lived: for he is happy who has been hidden. There is therefore a hypallage: "they escaped notice having received angels," that is, they secretly, or unknowingly received angels; it escaped their notice that the guests were angels; they did not feel them to be angels, but thought them to be men. Therefore in this action Abraham and Lot escaped their own notice, that is, they did not feel that which they themselves were doing: for they thought they were receiving men, when they were receiving not men but angels. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Theodoret and the Syriac, who thus translates, "for this some merited, that la regishin, that is, when they least felt it, they received angels," as if to say: Hospitality is of such great merit, that angels offered themselves as guests to those who were hospitable, as if they were men, as happened to Abraham, Gen. XVIII, 2 and following; and to Lot, Gen. XIX, 1. The same happened to St. Gregory the Great, the pontiff, and that quite often, as appears in Book I of his Life, ch. X, and Book II, ch. XXII and XXIII. Hospitality therefore is so great a virtue, that sometimes it merits to have angels for guests, as if a fisherman for a fish were to draw a gem with his hook.
Hear also St. Ambrose, On Abraham I, ch. V: "How do you know," he says, "whether you are receiving God, when you think it is a guest? Abraham, while he offers hospitality to wayfarers, received as His foundation God and His angels: though even when you receive a guest, you receive God. For so it is written in the Gospel, where the Lord Jesus says: I was a stranger, and you took Me in; what you have done to one of these least ones, you have done to Me. By the hospitality of a single hour, that widow who received Elijah and fed him with scanty food found nourishment for the entire time of famine, and received a marvelous reward, that the meal in the jar should never fail. Elisha likewise, having been granted the resurrection of a deceased pledge, paid the rent of his hospitality." So Ambrose, and more.
Note: Although some wish that Abraham and Lot immediately recognized their guests to be angels, it is far truer that the contrary is the case, namely that at first they did not know it: for the angels had assumed a human form, and seemed to be mere men. Hence Abraham says to them: "I will set down a morsel of bread, and let your heart be strengthened." If he had known they were angels, he would not have said, "let your heart be strengthened;" for he knew that angels are not strengthened by our food. A little later, however, when the angel foretold and promised a son to Sarah and the destruction of Sodom to Lot, he was recognized by Abraham and by Lot to be not a man but an angel.
Note secondly: Chrysostom thinks that Abraham is here being praised, in that he received the angels secretly and unaware, and showed them such great kindness when he believed them to be men. For it would have been nothing great to render this service to angels known as such. But the Apostle is treating here not so much of the praises of Abraham as of the praises of hospitality. For it is a great praise of hospitality, that it drew angels to his lodging, and from this praise the Apostle is inciting and impelling the Hebrews to hospitality.
Verse 3: Remember Those in Bonds, as Bound With Them
3. Remember those in bonds as bound with them. — From guests he passes to confessors, who are cast into bonds for the faith of Christ, as if to say: Have such pity on those in bonds for Christ as though you yourselves were bound; consider yourselves to be held in chains together with them, filled with squalor, filth, and countless other miseries, and then what you would wish others to render to you, render to them yourselves: for he who experiences another's misery, or vividly represents it to himself in his own person, easily has compassion on another and helps him, not as another, but as himself. Ribera explains it differently: "Remember those in bonds, as bound with them," that is, he says, because you also are bound in the body, as in a prison; therefore, in order that God may bring you out of this prison into full liberty and happiness, for this reason do you yourselves grieve with and do good to others in bonds: for "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy;" and as you show yourself to your most afflicted neighbor, so will God show Himself to you. This meaning corresponds well with what follows: for the Apostle seems to explain "as bound with them" by what follows, "as being yourselves also in the body," you who, if you are not sick or afflicted, can yet be sick and afflicted. So also Maldonatus in his manuscript Notes which exist in the Roman College. The first sense, however, is plainer.
And those who labor. — In Greek kakouchoumenōn, that is, of those who are afflicted and ill-treated by the Jews or Gentiles for the faith of Christ.
As being yourselves also in the body. — Some explain it thus, as if to say: Imagine yourselves to be in their bodies, pretend you are they, put on their person. But we shall take it more simply concerning the body proper to each one, as if to say: Remember the afflicted, considering that you are carrying about a body subject to the same evils, in which you may suffer the like, and to which the same may shortly happen. If therefore you see anyone afflicted and groaning, and on that account murmuring, impatient and almost despairing, have compassion on him and console him, considering that the same may befall you; and that if you were in his place, you would do likewise, unless God preserved you. Truly says St. Augustine in his Sentences, n. 75: "The body," he says, "was an ornament to us of our flesh. We sinned, and from this we received fetters, so that the whole course of human actions might be impeded by the chains of mortality."
Verse 4: Marriage Honorable in All, and the Bed Undefiled
4. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. — "In all," supply persons, and consequently also in priests and monks, marriage is honorable, says Luther and Beza. But if you explain "in all" thus, namely as persons, it will follow that even between brothers and sisters, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, marriage is honorable, which is horrible even to the heretics themselves.
Catholics therefore explain this passage more fittingly. First, assertively, so that the verb 'is' is understood; and this firstly, as if to say: Marriage is honorable in all that pertains to marriage, whether you consider the sacrament, or fidelity, or offspring. So Oecumenius. Secondly, "in all," that is among all, as if to say: No one ought to reprehend marriage, even if he himself professes virginity. So Fulgentius, in the book On the Faith to Peter, chap. III. Thirdly, "in all," supply lawfully joined, whoever they may be, whether old or young, rich or poor, Greeks or Jews, marriage is honorable. So Theophylact.
Secondly, others, more aptly and genuinely, take these words imperatively, and understand the verb to be not 'is' but 'let it be.' For it is a precept given to spouses, as if to say: "In all," that is in every matter, preserve the integrity, honor, and dignity of your marriage, that you may keep the faith mutually pledged, and live with your spouses lovingly, peacefully, and honorably, and violate the right of matrimony in no respect, nor dishonor and disgrace your spouse and yourselves; but especially and above all take care that your bed be undefiled, that is, that it be defiled neither by adultery, nor by softness, nor even within marriage itself by any other lust which nature and conjugal modesty would shrink from, but use only that marital union which nature has appointed for generation. For that this precept is here given to spouses is clear from what he adds: "For God will judge (that is, condemn and punish) fornicators and adulterers." For with these words he gives the reason why he commanded marriage to be honored and the bed kept undefiled, namely because if they do otherwise and dishonor and defile the marriage and bed itself by adultery, fornication, or any other lust, they will feel God as avenger and vindicator. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others. For this is the second, ethical part of the epistle, in which the Apostle, in his customary way, gathers and transcribes not dogmas but precepts of morals; otherwise, why, I ask, would he here abruptly weave a dogma about the honorability of marriage into his precepts on almsgiving? For who is ignorant of this? what Jew has denied it? indeed, if anywhere, marriage was held in honor among the Jews.
Note: For 'honorable' the Greek is timios, which the Syriac rightly renders meiakaru, that is precious, so that marriage, as a great and holy thing, may be held in great esteem and honor: for, as the Apostle says, Ephes. ch. V, ver. 32: "This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church."
For God will judge fornicators and adulterers. — Although the violation of marriage is adultery, not fornication, the Apostle also mentions fornication, because it was frequent among the Gentiles, and indeed the Gentiles thought it lawful: hence it had to be expressly forbidden by the Apostles, Acts chap. XV, ver. 20. Now the sense is, as if to say: That no one may commit adultery or fornication, God has instituted honorable marriage as a remedy for concupiscence: anyone is permitted to embrace it, so that if, having forsaken it, he commits fornication, he is inexcusable, and therefore to be judged and condemned by God.
Verse 5: Let Your Manners Be Without Avarice
5. Let your manners be without avarice. — For the vice of avarice and lust for earthly things seems innate in the Hebrews. Hence even now the Jews care for nothing but usury and gain, and pursue these in the basest and most contemptible matters. Cajetan renders the Greek tropos as 'measure' or 'moderation,' as if to say: Let there be measure without avarice, that is, he says, let avarice not impose a measure on your actions, but rather let equity and moderation of mind set a measure to avarice and the other vices. But this interpretation is awkward and forced: for tropos signifies not only measure but also manners, and manners are said to be avaricious, sordid, illiberal, but measure or moderation is not said to be avaricious.
Content with present things. — As if to say: Content with your lot and with the goods you have, do not strive always to increase and accumulate wealth: for this is the mark of an avaricious, overly anxious, restless, and insatiable mind, especially in this present time when one ought to lavish wealth for the faith.
How sordid and unworthy of man avarice is, hear the philosophers teaching it. Bion said of the rich miser: "This man does not possess his wealth, but his wealth possesses him." So Laertius, lib. IV, cap. VII. The same said that avarice is the metropolis of all wickedness.
Anacharsis says: "The greedy, who through lust of gain sail the seas, uncertain of return, are four fingers from death:" for that is the thickness of the ships in which they are carried. So Laertius, lib. I, cap. IX.
Curius the Roman, eating turnips, refused the gold of the Samnites, saying that "he preferred to rule money and those who had it, rather than be ruled by it." For wealth does not satisfy. So Valerius Maximus, lib. IV, cap. III and IV.
Crates of Thebes, that he might philosophize better, threw all his wealth into the sea: "I prefer," he said, "to ruin you, rather than that you should ruin me." So Laertius in his Life.
Democritus judged avarice to be more wretched than extreme poverty. For greater desires make greater needs.
Diogenes compared the avaricious to those with dropsy: for they, full of silver, and these, swollen with water, desire still more, and that, he said, both to their own great ruin. The same said of Anaximenes: "Is he not ashamed," he says, "to have so much, when he does not have himself?" indicating that the avaricious man is outside of himself.
Socrates used to say, "one must seek neither converse from a dead man, nor a benefit from a miser." The same, when he saw in a procession a great quantity of gold and silver being carried: "How many things," he said, "I do not desire!"
Plato to a miser: "O wicked man," he said, "do not be eager for increasing possession, but for diminishing desire."
Timon thought there were two elements of evils: avarice and ambition.
Aristotle said that the avaricious act as if they were never going to die: for they give nothing and retain everything.
Lycurgus expelled wealth and avarice from Sparta. Hence Sparta for six hundred years held the first place in Greece both for the equity of her laws and for her glory. Afterwards the oracle foretold to King Theopompus: "The love of money will destroy Sparta:" and so it happened.
Jugurtha said of Rome: "O venal city, soon to perish, if it should find a buyer!"
King Alfonso called his avaricious ministers the Harpies of his court.
Finally, St. Jerome used to say, "the avaricious man lacks both what he has and what he does not have." And indeed this was a doctrine of the Stoics, that the good man is rich and that all things belong to the wise. Hence Chilon also used to say, "the goodness of men is tested by gold, just as gold is tested by the Lydian stone." For the avaricious, for the sake of gold, pervert all justice.
Therefore the less covetous you are, the more you will be lord of your possessions, indeed of the whole world: "for the avaricious man hungers for earthly things as a beggar, the faithful man despises them as a lord," says St. Bernard.
For He Himself (God, who preceded in verse 4) has said: I will not leave you, neither will I forsake you. — These are the words of God to Joshua, chap. I, 5: "As I was with Moses," He says, "so will I be with you: I will not leave you, nor forsake you," as if to say: Be not anxious about gathering wealth necessary for the maintenance of life; trust in God, He Himself will provide for you the necessities. For He Himself said to Joshua, and in Joshua promised and said to all His faithful servants and friends: "I will not leave you, nor forsake you." Vatablus, Erasmus, and Cajetan think that the Greek anō and enkatalipō are in the present tense, and translate, "I do not leave you, nor forsake you." But they are mistaken: for they are aorists, which have the force of the future, and signify, "I will not leave you, nor forsake you," as the Greeks and the Syriac translate, and indeed Beza. For if enkatalipō were in the present tense, it would have to be written with η, not with simple ι. In a similar manner God said to Abraham, Gen. XV, 1: "I am your protector," in Hebrew anochi magen lach, that is, "I am your shield."
Well known is Alciati's emblem about the soldier who, from the shield with which he had received the weapons of all enemies, made a boat, by which he crossed a river impassable on foot, and then kissed the shield: "This," he said, "was my true and sole friend, when I was pressed on land and pressed on the sea." Such a shield in every place and in all things has God been, and is, to Abraham and the other saints, especially in temptation and persecution. Hence Philo, accused with other Jews before Gaius Caligula Caesar by Apion, of not granting divine honors to Caesar, having been thrown out of the court, replied to his Jewish companions: "We ought to be of good cheer, we with whom Gaius is angry: for the divine must needs be present where human aid ceases." Eusebius is witness, lib. II Historiae, cap. V.
Strengthened by this hope in God, St. John, who because he wonderfully cherished silence was called the Silentiary, when, having left the episcopate, he had secretly withdrawn into a monastery and put himself under the discipline of St. Sabas, and Alamundarus with his Saracens was laying waste Palestine and its monasteries, and leading many thousands of men into slavery: while the rest fled, John the Silentiary alone remained in the monastery, making the Most High his refuge. The monks pressed him to provide for himself by flight too; to whom he said: "If God does not care for me, why am I living?" Nor did hope or God fail him. For He immediately sent a huge and horrible lion, which guarded John day and night, and always accompanied him, and protected him from the snares and injuries of the Saracens. Thus the eyewitness Cyril relates in his Life.
Verse 6: So That We May Confidently Say, the Lord Is My Helper
6. So that we may confidently (tharrountas, that is, daring, trusting, secure, courageous) say: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man may do to me. — He cites Psalm CXVII, 6. The Apostle proves by an argument from the greater to the lesser that we ought to be content with present things, hoping in God that He Himself will provide for our future need, as if to say: With God as helper, no man, however powerful and hostile, is to be feared; therefore much less, with God as helper, is poverty to be feared: for poverty is not as powerful as a man. So Ribera.
To me, however, the Apostle's argument seems still more profound and more closely connected, namely, that he wishes to cut off the cause of the Hebrews' avarice and distrust, as if to say: You, O Hebrews, are anxious to gather new wealth, because the Jews deprive you of yours. This therefore is the first root of your poverty, and equally of your avarice and excessive solicitude, namely the persecution by men, that is, by the Jews. To this therefore I oppose the hope and help of God: for with God as helper, there is no reason for you to fear the Jews or other men: for either God will deliver you from them; or He will give strength and vigor to bear bravely the plundering, poverty, and every persecution; or by the kindness of others, and a thousand other ways, He will provide for your need. Say then with David your king: "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do to me."
Verse 7: Remember Your Prelates Who Have Spoken the Word of God to You
7. Remember your prelates, who have spoken the word of God to you; considering the end of whose conversation, imitate their faith. — He speaks of the doctors of the faith, Apostles, Bishops, priests; but whether he speaks of the living or the deceased some doubt. Theophylact thinks he is speaking of the living, as if to say: Remember your doctors, who labor for you, that you may supply them with the necessaries of life. But it is certain that the Apostle is speaking not of the living but of the deceased; this is clear from his saying: "Considering the end of whose conversation," that is, the most honorable end of life. So Chrysostom and the Syriac, as if to say: Consider what your first doctors were, Stephen, James, and others, how steadfast they were in the faith, and despisers of perishable things, how bravely they underwent martyrdom for the faith, how beautiful and glorious was their end, how beautiful and glorious their death, indeed their triumph; imitate their faith, constancy, perseverance, and fortitude of mind, that, like them, you may desire to suffer anything for the confession of faith. For "faith" here, as also in chap. XI, I take properly with Theophylact, although some by faith understand the fidelity which we have professed to God in baptism, that we will violate it by no threats, promises, punishments, or rewards.
The Apostle speaks of commemoration, both the private commemoration of every member of the faithful, and the solemn and public commemoration of the whole Church. "He is speaking of the dead," says Theodoret, "such as James the brother of the Lord, and James the brother of John," who had already been killed. Therefore Paul here commands their memory to be celebrated both in the canon of the Mass by the priest, says Eustratius of Constantinople, and following him our Turrianus, in lib. VIII Constit. Apost., with St. Clement, cap. XXXIII; and on the anniversary feast of the day on which they died or were slain for Christ, by the whole people. For this is what the Apostles Peter and Paul ordained in Clement at the cited passage, whose words are most similar to these of Paul. For they say: "In the days of the Apostles let the faithful take time off (to celebrate their memory): for they were your masters in teaching you about Christ, and they gave you the Holy Spirit. On the day of Stephen the Protomartyr likewise let them take time off, and on the other days of the holy Martyrs who preferred Christ to their own life."
Note: For "considering" the Greek is anatheōrountes, that is, as Chrysostom puts it, reconsidering, contemplating frequently, again and again considering and beholding.
Verse 8: Jesus Christ Yesterday, and Today, and the Same Forever
8. Jesus Christ yesterday and today, and the same forever. — Blessed Cyril, in the book On the Faith to the Queens, says: "'Yesterday' signifies the eternity of the divine nature in Christ, 'today' signifies the newness of the Incarnation." And St. Ambrose, in lib. V De Fide, cap. II: "'Yesterday,'" he says, "refers to the eternal, 'today' to the carnal generation of Christ," as if to say: Christ "is yesterday," that is, He was from eternity; He "is today," that is, in the present time; He "is also forever," that is, in all future time: which St. John says in Apoc. I: "Who is, and who was, and who is to come;" although Theodoret, following Nazianzen, joins these two together: "'Yesterday and today,'" he says, "designate the human and temporal nature of Christ; but the eternal, when he says: The same forever, he calls the divinity of Christ." In this then Cyril, Ambrose, Gregory Nazianzen, Theodoret, and indeed Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm, and others agree, that here is signified the eternity and divinity of Christ, which they themselves prove from this passage against the Arians, as if to say, Cajetan says: This is the faith which you ought to follow, O Hebrews, namely that you should believe Christ to be eternal, and therefore God. For this article is the foundation of the entire Christian faith. But "yesterday" neither in Scripture, nor among profane authors, signifies eternity. Indeed "yesterday and today" in Scripture means the same as "a little while ago and now," as Ribera rightly observes. Thus Ecclus. XXXVIII, 23, it is said: "Be mindful of my judgment, for thine also shall be such: yesterday for me, and today for thee." And I Macc. IX, 44: "It is not today as yesterday." And Exod. V, 14: "Why have you not filled the tale of bricks, as before, neither yesterday nor today?"
Secondly, Oecumenius explains it thus, as if Paul were saying: Do not expect, O Hebrews, another Messiah, just as the Jews are expecting the Antichrist. For Christ is not like Aaron, who was Pontiff for a brief time and died, but Christ lives at all times, and remains our Pontiff and Liberator.
Thirdly, Vatablus says: Christ, that is, the doctrine and faith of Christ, "is yesterday, and today, and forever," that is, remains in all times and is invariable. This exposition is favored by what follows: "Be not led away by various doctrines."
Fourth, and best, Cyril above notes that the Apostle is not so much speaking of the divinity of Christ as of His humanity. For he is speaking of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, Liberator, and Savior: but He is the God-man; for the proper name of this man, given to Him at His circumcision, is Jesus. Therefore this man, who is called "Jesus," was "yesterday," that is, He lived on earth a little while before you, O Hebrews; the same is He "and today," because at this present time Christ, having risen from the dead, still lives: "the same is He also forever," because He will live and reign gloriously through all eternity. So that Christ embraces every difference of time: for Christ was "yesterday," that is, in past time; the same is He "today," that is, in present time; the same shall He be "also forever," that is, in all future time.
Note: The Apostle anticipates a tacit objection of the Hebrews, as if to say: Do not object to me, O Hebrews: You, Paul, want us to imitate the faith of the Apostles; you demand too much of us. For the Apostles had Christ present, they saw and heard Him, the not only leader but also the object of faith: but we have not seen nor heard Christ: for Christ has long ago departed from this life; do not, I say, say these things, for Christ who lived a little while ago, still lives, and will live forever. As therefore Christ living was present to the Apostles, so even now He is present to His own, and to you, O Hebrews, and hereafter He will be present to all the other faithful who shall follow Christ's faith, and He will be the Redeemer, Protector, and Savior of you and of all the faithful, that He may by His doctrine and grace confirm them in His faith, and strengthen them against all persecutions, and at last with eternal glory, which He proposes and promises to us by His faith, He may reward and crown the same, if they persevere in the faith. So practically St. Thomas, Anselm, Galen, and Ribera. For the Apostle frequently in this epistle inculcates this resurrection and eternity of Christ to the Hebrews, and opposes it to the temporary pontificate of Aaron. Hence so emphatically in chap. VII and following he urges that of Psalm CIX: "You (O Christ) are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech." Note the Hebraism: for the caph of similitude is understood, that is, 'as'; then the conjunction 'and' is the same as 'so.' For the Hebrew copulative vav, when it joins two like things, is often, as can be seen in the Proverbs, taken for 'so.' The sense therefore is: Jesus Christ, as He was yesterday, so He is today, so He shall be also forever.
Verse 9: Be Not Led Away With Various and Strange Doctrines
9. Be not led away with various and strange doctrines. — He notes the heresies of Simon Magus, of Ebion, and of the Judaizers already arising at that time. For to the Judaizers pertains what follows about foods, when he says: "For it is best that the heart be established with grace, not with foods," namely Jewish foods, as I shall presently say.
Note here three epithets and properties of heresy. The first is that it is various, because it varies not only from the truth, but also from itself, and goes off into many sects: for, as St. Thomas says, truth consists in the middle, as in a center, from which one departs to the circumference by many ways and lines: as therefore the lines from the center to the circumference are various, so by various ways one departs and deviates from the truth into errors and heresies.
The second property of heresy is that it is foreign, because it is alien and abhorrent from the school of truth and the doctrine of the Church, because it has been imported from elsewhere, and contrived by philosophers and other curious men at the suggestion of the devil.
The third property is that it leads its followers astray, so that they are carried about by every wind of doctrine. Our translator in the Greek reads, as some still read, paraferesthe, that is, "to be led away." But many with Chrysostom read periferesthe, "to be carried about," of which I have spoken at Ephes. IV, 14. By this word he notes the madness and dizziness of the heretics, for whom it is customary to be perpetually whirled about, daily fashioning and refashioning new dogmas, and falling from one heresy into others, and being carried about by every wind of vanity and error. Examples of this we see daily, all too many and disastrous.
For it is best that the heart be established with grace, not with foods, which have not profited those who walked in them. — For 'best' the Greek is kalon, that is good, namely by excellence, this is 'best,' as if to say: That we may not be led away and carried about by various doctrines, the best remedy is that we establish our heart in faith "with grace," that is, with sanctity and probity (for if you fall away from sanctity, you will easily fall away from faith too; but if you preserve sanctity, you will also preserve faith), "not with foods," which indeed for a time establish the heart and life, "but have not profited, nor profit those who walk in them," that is, those who lead their life amid messes, banquets, and symposia. For however much they may establish the heart with foods, in the end they will fail and die. So Ribera.
But because the Apostle is not here treating of intemperance of foods, and because he opposes these foods to grace and faith, as if these foods had been the occasion or object of the various and strange doctrine which is opposed to faith, therefore better Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Anselm by 'foods' understand the observances of certain foods and meats prescribed by the Mosaic law, Lev. ch. XI; for these "have not profited," that is, they did not justify those who ate them, nor did they add the strength of grace to their minds, but rather, after Christ, they gave them occasion for strange doctrine, for Judaism and the Judaizers. Hence to these he opposes grace, that is, the law of grace, says Anselm, and the very grace of Christ.
You will say: If the Apostle had wished this, he would not have said "foods," but 'abstinence,' or 'choice of foods.' I reply: I deny the consequence, for the Jews thought that by foods permitted by the law, as if holy, the heart was established, cleansed, and sanctified. The Apostle indicates the choice of Jewish foods sufficiently when he says: "Walking in them," that is among them, namely using those that are permitted by the law, abstaining from those that are forbidden by the law. This sense is fitting and convenient: but it will become still more fitting and plainly genuine if with Galen and Vasquez we say that the Apostle is censuring the Merinthians and Cerinthians, who wished to graft Judaism onto Christianity, and placed a great part of religion in feasts and sacrificial foods which had been offered to God in sacrifice, as if such foods sanctified men and rendered them pleasing to God. For these heretics were from the school of the Pharisees, who had grown old in sacrifices. The Apostle therefore understands not common foods, but sacred foods, or those offered to God in sacrifice: for part of the sacrificed victim went to God, part to the priest, part to the laymen offering, as is clear in Lev. ch. III. For by these sacred foods the Judaizers thought that the mind was cleansed, sanctified, and supported, but falsely: for this the Apostle, from Christ's doctrine, attributes to faith, hope, charity, and the grace of Christ. That the Apostle is speaking of sacrificial foods is clear from the fact that, opposing to these the spiritual foods of Christians, he adds: "We have an altar, of which they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle," as if to say: The priests, Levites, and people place great power and holiness in their sacrifices and victims: for the one offering his victims in the Mosaic tabernacle then takes foods from them, and thinks himself sanctified by them, but falsely. But we Christians have an altar and victims far more noble, which truly sanctify us, of which the Jews, Levites, and Aaronic priests cannot partake.
Verse 10: We Have an Altar, of Which They Have No Power to Eat Who Serve the Tabernacle
10. We have an altar, of which they have no power (exousian, that is faculty, license) to eat who serve the tabernacle. — "An altar," namely on which we offer the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, formerly immolated on the cross; which not the Levite Jews but the priests and faithful Christians eat and partake of, when they receive the Holy Eucharist, to this end, that they may obtain the grace establishing the heart, of which the Apostle spoke in the preceding verse, and may take as food the Body of Christ, who shall give them life eternal. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Anselm, Sedulius, Primasius, Haymo. That the Apostle is not speaking of the altar of the cross, as the heretics maintain, but of the Eucharist and the Mass, is clear from the word 'we have': for we do not have the altar of the cross, but had it 1600 years ago. Again from the word 'eat'; for we do not eat from the altar of the cross, but from the altar of the Eucharist. Thirdly, because to the tabernacle, that is, to the altar of the old tabernacle, from which the priests and the offering Jews ate the victims as holy foods, he opposes this new altar of the Church, from which priests and faithful eat not the carnal foods of oxen and sheep, but divine and heavenly food, namely the Body of Christ. The Apostle proposes to the Hebrews this altar of the Eucharist, that in this persecution they may establish their heart by the food of the Eucharist of Christ. For nothing so feeds and strengthens the mind as Holy Communion: for this brings it about that "we depart from this table as lions breathing fire, made terrible to the devil," as St. Chrysostom says, hom. 61 Ad Populum. For this reason the first Christians in time of persecution communicated frequently, indeed even carried the Eucharist home, that under pressing danger they might communicate as often as they wished, as Tertullian, Cyprian, and others teach. And I truly think that the great constancy of the Martyrs, of which we read everywhere in that age, their many victories and triumphs, are to be attributed especially to Holy Communion.
Note the metonymy, by which the container is put for the contained, namely "altar" for the food and sacrifice contained and offered on the altar. From this it is clear that the Eucharist and the Mass are a sacrifice: for the Eucharist has its altar; and where there is an altar, there must be also a priest and a sacrifice: for these three are correlative.
Hence for 'altar' in the Greek is thysiastērion, as if to say a "sacrificatory," in which namely sacrifice is performed and the sacrifice is offered. Beza answers that "altar" is here taken metonymically, not for the sacrifice, but for the oblations of the faithful, which are made at the altar, namely when they offer breads, oil, eggs, money, and other things to the ministers of the Church. But this is foolishly said:
First, because the Aaronic priests likewise had their offerings, which they could eat: but the Apostle here attributes to Christians an altar of such a kind as the Aaronic priests do not have, by which they far surpass the Aaronic priests: therefore by 'altar' he does not mean offering.
Secondly, nowhere else does "altar" signify offerings, but sacrifices: for an altar is not required for offerings, but for sacrifices. For offerings are wont to be deposited in the treasury, the chest, the side-table, or in the hands of the priest. Indeed Canon 3 of the Apostles expressly forbids that anything be offered on the altar, except those things which the Lord instituted, namely His Body and Blood.
Thirdly, those offerings are not eaten by the offerers, but by the priests: but the Apostle indicates that from this altar any of the faithful Hebrews eat, that they may obtain grace by which they may establish their heart in persecution: therefore by 'altar' he does not mean the offerings which the faithful offer to the priests.
Fourthly, why would the Apostle have mentioned offerings here? What have offerings to do with the matter and aim of the Apostle? What grace and sanctity do they bring? How do they establish the heart?
Fifthly, the Apostle in this verse and the next opposes to this altar the altar of the tabernacle properly so called, on which animals were sacrificed; therefore here also he means an altar properly so called, namely of the sacrifice of the Eucharist, which is the antitype, and is directly opposed to the altar of the tabernacle.
Sixthly, because in just such a manner the Apostle said in I Cor. X, 18 and 21: "Behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar? You cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils." But there by 'table' he means the altar of the Eucharist, from which the faithful take the sacred assembly, just as the Gentiles and Jews ate from their altars the meats there immolated, that they might be partakers of the sacrifice. See what is said at I Cor. X, ver. 18 and 21; therefore here also by "altar" he means the table and altar of the Eucharist. Finally, hence in the Church in every age there have been altars, and all the Fathers have mentioned them. Galen cites them here; and they were of great veneration not only to Catholics but even to heretics, so that the Donatists, who profaned the sacred things and Sacraments of the Catholics, did not however dare to throw down their wooden altars; but only because of the anointing with which they had been smeared with sacred chrism by the Bishop in consecration, did they scrape off the same, lest they should appear to have anything in common with the Catholics: Optatus of Milevis is witness, lib. VI Contra Parmenianum and elsewhere. How much holier were the Donatists than the Calvinists, who undermine and demolish all altars? Indeed the altars, which before Luther and Calvin existed everywhere, and in many places still survive most ancient, erected a thousand or more years ago, convict these innovators of new doctrine and heresy: for they are witnesses that our forefathers did not have the mind and spirit of Luther and Calvin; they are witnesses that our forefathers held the Eucharist as a sacrifice, and offered it as a sacrifice to God on these altars; they are witnesses that they had and venerated priests properly so called, such as Catholics now have, who would celebrate Masses on the altars.
Verses 11-14: For of Those Animals Whose Blood Is Brought for Sin Into the Holy by the Pontiff
11, 12, 13, 14. For of those animals whose blood is brought for sin into the Holy by the pontiff, their bodies are burned outside the camp. — He proves what preceded (for this is what the word 'for' signifies), namely that it is not lawful for those who serve the tabernacle, that is the Levites and Jews, to eat from our altar, namely from the victim of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. He proves this from the old type thus: The Levites could not eat those victims whose expiatory blood for sins was brought into the Holy of Holies; but these victims were a type, and represented our victim of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist; therefore neither is it lawful for them to eat this. So Theophylact.
Again, the Levites so far from eating these victims, that they wholly burned them outside the camp in the wilderness and outside the city in Judea. But this signified nothing else than that he must go out from the camp of the old tabernacle and priesthood who would be partaker on the Eucharistic altar of Christ, who on the cross, for love of us, for our sins, was as it were roasted and burned with so many sufferings and torments: therefore the Levites and Jews, so long as they remain in their camps and tabernacles of Judaism, cannot take and eat the Eucharist from our altar.
Note: As to the letter, these animals immolated for sin, which were not eaten by the priests but were burned outside the camp, were the goat and the bullock, which were offered for the sins of the pontiff and of the whole people, especially on the feast of expiation. For with their blood the Holy of Holies was expiated of the tabernacle — that is, of this fleeting and moveable world — that we may bear the reproach of the Cross of Christ, namely by imitating and voluntarily embracing Christ's poverty, abstinence, humility, contempt, persecutions, torments, and martyrdom. For with these words the Apostle stirs up the Hebrews, that they may bravely sustain the persecutions, insults, robberies, and every dire thing of the Jews for the faith of Christ, and that they may glory in them, as those who go out with Christ beyond the camp of Judaism and worldly felicity, bearing the reproach of His Cross. Thus "the Apostles went rejoicing from the presence of the Council, because they had been counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus." Let us therefore go forth, ourselves heaped with reproaches, spat upon and filled with a thousand insults, bearing our cross with Christ; let us go out, I say, joyful, confident, and spirited, with so great a Leader as Christ going before us. Thus Theodoret, St. Thomas, Anselm, Theophylact.
He gives the anagogical cause in verse 14, namely that by this ceremony was foreshadowed that in this life and world we do not have an abiding city, but that we sojourn in it as in camps and tents; so that we may know that we are here pilgrims and soldiers, who must seek the future eternal city in the heavens, and for it must generously fight against the flesh, the world, and the devil, and strive and strain toward it with all our might.
Note secondly: Of this ceremony there were four causes, namely literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical. The Apostle here pursues these last three in order. The literal cause therefore of this ceremony, why the animals were burned outside the camp, was that by this burning they might excite in the Jews horror and detestation of sin. For it tacitly signified that, just as the victim for sin was burned outside the camp, so much more shall sin itself, and sinners, be burned outside the world in hell. Again, this ceremony was a tacit prayer, in which the high priest besought God that those sins of the whole people — that is, the punishments due to their sins — might not touch nor harm the people themselves, but together with the victim of the goat and bullock be carried out as it were outside the camp of the people, and be burned and abolished.
Where note that the sins of the high priest, as a public and chief person, are equated with the sins of the whole people. For both the victim for the sin of the high priest and the victim offered for the sin of the people had to be burned outside the camp, to signify that the sin of the high priest, as of a chief, contaminates the whole camp of the people: for the other sins of private men were expiated by a victim immolated in the camps themselves and in the tabernacle itself, and were not deemed to contaminate, stain, or pollute the whole camp.
The Apostle gives the allegorical cause of this ceremony in the following verse, which is 12, namely that by this ceremony it was signified that "Christ outside the camp," that is, outside the gate of the city of Jerusalem (for the camps had their gates, and were as it were a city walking and moveable through the desert with its tabernacle and temple), was to be tortured on the Cross, and that — the tabernacle and temple of the Jewish camps having been abolished — He was, by His death, to establish the Church of the Gentiles to be diffused throughout the whole world; so that "the Cross of Christ was not the altar of the temple, but of the world," says St. Leo, serm. 9 De Passione.
Finally, the blood of the victims expiating the Holy of Holies signified that Christ by His Blood would expiate heaven itself: not as though heaven were unclean in itself, but because legally and symbolically it was deemed unclean and stained, as it were, with some sprinkling of sin (for sin, by a certain moral estimation, is reckoned and is said in Scripture to contaminate the earth itself, heaven, and the whole world), and therefore closed, just as a polluted temple is closed. Christ therefore, expiating our sins by His Blood, is also held in some manner to have expiated and reconciled heaven itself, as it were contaminated by our sins, when He opened and unlocked it for us. Thus Radulphus on Leviticus chapter XVI.
The Apostle gives the tropological cause of this ceremony in verse 13, namely that this ceremony signified that all of us who desire to approach Christ and the Eucharistic altar must go out "beyond the camp" of the pomp, pleasures, luxury, and laws of this world; and therefore their carcasses had to be burned outside the camp, as is clear in Lev. IV, 11, and XVI, 27.
Verse 15: Through Him Let Us Offer the Sacrifice of Praise Always to God
15. Through Him therefore let us always offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing to His name. — The illative word "therefore" infers this sentence from the preceding verse, for there the Apostle had said: "We have not here an abiding city, but we seek one to come;" hence here he infers: "Let us therefore offer a sacrifice of praise," as if to say: Since that future blessed and glorious city in the heavens awaits us, for this reason let us eagerly bear the reproach of Christ, and serve God in persecution joyful and constant, by praising Him and giving Him thanks. "Through Him therefore," namely Christ as our High Priest and Mediator, who has obtained for us all these goods, and who offers our prayers to God, "let us offer a sacrifice of praise," that is, the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is rightly called "a sacrifice of praise," because it was first offered by Christ the Lord to God the Father in thanksgiving and praise, and the same Christ prescribed and instituted it for us, that we might imitate Him: and from this it was called Eucharist, that is, thanksgiving. For the Apostle seems to persist on the Eucharistic altar, which he commended to us in verse 10.
But this interpretation seems too narrow, especially since the Apostle, explaining "this sacrifice of praise," adds: "That is, the fruit of lips confessing to His name," as if to say: Let us offer to God with our lips hymns, psalms, and thanksgivings, with which we may confess the name of God, that is, by which we may celebrate God's goodness, wisdom, and justice. For these attributes of God are God's name, since by them God is named, celebrated, and glorified as by titles of His Majesty, honor, fame, renown, and glory. With these hymns and praises therefore we must always celebrate God, both privately and publicly, especially in the Mass, which, as Galen rightly observes, is properly a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
Verse 16: But Forget Not Beneficence and Communion
16. But forget not to do good and to impart. — "Communion" here is the same as beneficence. Whence Theophylact and the Syriac read "of communication," namely toward the poor and needy. The word "communion" notes a beneficence which makes the goods of the rich common with the poor. Others add that it makes goods on both sides — those of the giver and those of the receiver — common; because the giver gives his earthly goods, and from the receiver he receives prayers and blessings, and other spiritual goods, as if Paul said: Although you are despoiled by the Jews of your goods, do not under the show of poverty excuse yourselves from beneficence and almsgiving, but with a generous spirit and great hope in God dispense your goods, nor doubt that God will in turn be liberal to you, and will always give more, so that you may never lack matter for giving and dispensing. Thus Theophylact. Thus St. John the Almsgiver, Archbishop of Alexandria, the more he gave to the poor, the more he received from elsewhere: hence he was wont to say to God: "I shall see, O Lord, who will sooner fail, You in giving to me, or I in distributing to others," as if Paul said: While I would have you always offer the sacrifice of praise, I do not want you to forget almsgiving, I want you so to act Magdalene that you do not neglect Martha. I said indeed that the fruits of lips are to be given to God, but I do not want you so to apply yourselves to prayer that you omit mercy toward your neighbors; for of this the Lord says in Hosea VI, 6: "I desired mercy, and not sacrifice."
Hear what the Gentiles thought about beneficence. Pythagoras, when asked, "by what means men might be held like to the gods?" replied: "If they should embrace truth, and do good to all." Aelian is the witness, lib. XII.
Theophrastus, when asked, "what preserves human life?" replied: "Beneficence."
King Anaxilaus, when asked, "what was the most blessed thing in a kingdom?" replied: "Never to be outdone in benefits."
Emperor Vespasian, though most avaricious, nonetheless used to say that "it is not permitted that anyone should depart sad from the face of the Emperor."
Titus, recalling at supper that on that day he had bestowed nothing on anyone, said: "Friends, I have lost a day."
Emperor Alexander Severus, when asked, "who is the best king?" said: "He who keeps his friends with gifts, and who courts and reconciles his enemies with benefits."
Alfonso, king of Aragon, hearing that certain men were ungrateful for the benefits received, said that "the ungrateful would by no means bring it about that he himself should not continue to be both humane and beneficent." Why then should not the Christian follow the beneficence of Christ, who, as St. Peter says in Acts X, 38, "went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil?"
For with such sacrifices God is gained over. — He calls communion and beneficence "sacrifices," both because every good act of any virtue referred to the honor of God is an act of religion, and so becomes as it were a sacrifice of God; and properly because almsgiving is as it were a sacrifice not immolated, but offered to God through the hands of the poor who live from it. Moreover it is most pleasing to God, and pleases Him more than sacrifice: so much so that God reckons that to be given and offered to Himself which is given to the poor. For, as Christ says in Matthew XXV, 40: "As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to Me." Thus the Apostle in Greek calls almsgiving liturgy in II Corinthians chapter IX, verse 12. In a similar way in Philippians IV, 18, he calls the alms sent to him from the Philippians "an odor of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to the Lord."
See Chrysostom on Psalm XCV, where he enumerates ten kinds of such sacrifices. The first, he says, is the sacrifice of martyrdom; the second, of supplication; the third, of jubilation; the fourth, of justice; the fifth, of almsgiving; the sixth, of praise; the seventh, of compunction; the eighth, of humility; the ninth, of preaching; the tenth, of beneficence toward the Saints.
Promeretur (is gained over). — Calvin and Beza calumniate that our Interpreter has translated this barbarously and badly, because it introduces the name of merit, when that is not in the Greek. But I answer: in Greek it is euaresteitai, that is, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and Erasmus translate, "He is conciliated and placated," and consequently God is provoked and induced to do good to those who are beneficent toward others: which is nothing else than that we earn or actively conciliate God to ourselves; or passively, that God is earned by these things, that is, is gained and conciliated, as Erasmus noted. For promereor is a deponent verb, and so can be taken both passively and actively. Just as therefore by gifts we earn and conciliate princes to ourselves, that they may be friendly, propitious, and beneficent to us: so by almsgiving and good works we conciliate and earn God, that He may become more friendly, propitious, and beneficent to us. For God holds our good works in place of benefits, so that as many good works as we do, so many benefits does God reckon as bestowed upon Him by us, which He, as He is most liberal, has determined and decreed to reward, to compensate with His grace and glory, and to repay them as merits with the most ample wages. The Syriac translates scaphar, that is "God is made beautiful," as if to say: Our almsgiving is a wonderful pleasure to God; in it He feeds Himself, takes delight, becomes beautiful, becomes cheerful, and glories; which we commonly say in Flemish, hy is daer moy mede.
Verse 17: Obey Your Prelates, and Be Subject to Them
17. Obey your prelates, and be subject to them. — He calls pastors and Bishops "prelates"; to these, even if they be peevish and wicked, says Theophylact, he commands that humble, submissive, and suppliant obedience (for this is what hypeikete, that is "be subject," signifies) be shown — as if to say: Whatever your pastors prescribe to you that is holy and sound, do it; the Bishop appoints fasting, prayers, feasts, supplications, and the like; he forbids taverns and drinking-parties: comply.
They themselves keep watch as having to render an account for your souls. — "They keep watch," that is, they ought to keep watch, and indeed when they are good, as they are, they truly do keep watch — as if to say: However much honor, reverence, and obedience you defer to your superior, you will never equal the burden and danger which he has taken upon himself for you. For he must bear the burden and care of your soul, and of each and all of his subjects, and exposes himself to the danger of eternal death for them: for the uprightness and salvation of each will be required from him on the day of judgment.
Secondly, since the burden of a superior is so great, obey him promptly, lest, if you are peevish and disobedient, you weigh down his burden, under which he groans, while he considers that he must render an account to God for your disobedience and malice. See how great is the burden of pastors and rectors, so that not without cause has Chrysostom said here in homily 14: "I marvel if any of the rectors can be saved." Who now would desire or seek after this honor — nay rather burden and danger? The Apostle proves with three reasons that one must obey superiors. The first has already been set forth, because they themselves keep watch as those who must render an account to God for the souls of their subjects. The second is what follows: "That they may do this with joy and not with groaning." The third is: "For this is not expedient for you." Each of these reasons is prudently weighed and pathetically treated by our Alfonso Rodriguez, tract V De Obedientia, cap. X.
That they may do this with joy and not with groaning. — The obedient man makes a light burden for his superior, namely that he may rejoice in his obedience and progress, says Theophylact; but the disobedient weighs down the burden for the superior, and makes him groan. For Prelates "groan" under the burden of governing, when they see their labors are vain and fruitless, while they strive to promote subjects in virtue and discipline, and the subjects evade this, indeed resist; while they keep watch over them as they resist, and devise and try every reason and means by which to bring them back to a sound mind; and after everything has been thought of and done, they see that they accomplish nothing — nay, they see the subjects becoming harder: for then the burden of rectors is wonderfully weighed down by this disobedience and rebellion of their subjects, and is almost crushed, so that they groan and sigh under it. Paul insinuates that Prelates ought to correct disobedient subjects, not by avenging, but by groaning and praying, yet so as not to omit fatherly correction and punishment, as the matter, time, and person demand.
For this is not expedient for you. — In Greek alysiteles gar hymin touto, "for this is unprofitable for you." This unprofitableness or detriment is the punishment due to the fault of disobedience, says St. Basil in Constitution XXII; and that, first, because, as Chrysostom says, the groan of the Prelate over the disobedience of the subject calls upon the Lord that He Himself may gravely punish it.
Secondly, because this groan and the disobedience of the subject constrains the superior, so that he dares not command what is more useful for the subject, but what is more agreeable and pleasing to him; and so the subject not only is deprived of the merit of obedience, but is also exposed to the peril of eternal salvation.
Thirdly, because, as Chrysostom says, what the choir is without the choirmaster, the army without the leader, the ship without the navigator, the flock without the shepherd — this is the subject without his superior. Just as therefore it is expedient for the choir to obey and follow the precentor promptly, that the harmony may be fitting and well-arranged; and as it is expedient for victory that the army follow its leader; finally, that the flock may be safe from the wolf and be well-fed, it is expedient to follow its shepherd: so plainly for the subject, that he may make progress and be saved, it is expedient to obey his superior promptly.
Verse 18: Pray for Us
18. Pray for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience in all (things and actions) willing to converse well. — The word enim ("for") gives a cause not so much positive as removing an impediment to the prayer, as if to say: Pray for me: for I am not an apostate from the Law, I am not a dissembler, I am not an impostor, and consequently I am not unworthy of the prayer of the faithful, as some among you, O Hebrews, detract from me. For my conscience is witness to me, and dictates to me, that I have sincerely preached the word of God, that I have not detracted from the Mosaic law out of hatred, that I have not pursued honors or gains; but have purely announced the Gospel truth, and have sought only the glory of God and your salvation. Thus Chrysostom and Theophylact.
Verse 19: And I Beseech You the More to Do This, That I May Be the Quicker Restored to You
19. And I beseech you the more to do this, that I may be the quicker restored to you. — The word "I may be restored" suggests that Paul wrote this while detained and bound in prison, but about to be freed soon, as is gathered from verse 23. Thus Anselm.
St. Thomas notes that Paul was accustomed to have recourse to God by prayer in all things, and so all his actions were directed by God and made fortunate, and had a happy and fruitful issue. Let all Christians do the same, especially the heralds of the Gospel, and those who seek the gains of souls.
Verses 20-21: The God of Peace, Who Brought Back From the Dead the Great Shepherd of the Sheep
20 and 21. Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of the everlasting testament, our Lord Jesus Christ, fit you in every good work. — He calls Him "the God of peace," namely as the author and lover of peace, both because God through Christ entered into peace with men and was reconciled to them; and because God wills, commands, and through the grace of Christ effects, that all, as sheep in the Church as in the sheepfold of the one Shepherd Christ, may live peaceably and amicably. By the word "peace" Paul wishes that schisms be removed, and again that they may cultivate peace and friendship with him. For Paul had perpetual war with the Jews. Hence the Hebrews converted to Christ also looked upon Paul, as it were an enemy of the Mosaic law, and listened to him with no equable minds and eyes. Thus Theophylact.
In the blood of the testament. — Anselm and Ribera refer these words not to "He brought forth," but to "the great Shepherd," and by "the blood of the testament" they understand the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, of which Christ said: "This is My Blood of the new and eternal Testament," as if to say: How great a Shepherd Christ is, is clear from the Blood of the Eucharist, because Christ gives us not only doctrine, but also His own Blood in the Eucharist to drink and feeds us, not once but always and eternally, as long as the Church and faith and the faithful, who need this Blood, shall last.
Where note: the Blood of the Eucharist is called "the blood of the everlasting testament," because by this Blood Christ ratified for us His new Testament, which shall last forever, by which He has instituted us heirs of His eternal inheritance, as if to say: Since therefore we all drink of this Blood of Christ, and through it shall obtain the same heavenly inheritance, it is plainly fitting that we live as brothers, table-companions, and sons of Christ in highest peace and concord. This sense is fitting, pious, and elegant. But more plainly and genuinely you may refer the words "in the blood" both to "He brought forth" and to "the great Shepherd," as if to say: God led Christ out from death and raised Him, and made Him, when led out and raised, the great Shepherd, "in the blood," that is, by the merit of the death and blood which Christ shed on the Cross — by which blood the new testament was confirmed, and our reconciliation with God; and Christ became the great Shepherd of the sheep, and we became the sheep of Christ. Hence Christ in John X calls Himself "the good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep." Thus Cajetan, Galen, and others: for the phrase "in the blood" by Hebraism is the same as "through the blood," by the merit and price of the blood, and signifies the Blood of Christ poured out for us on the Cross. For in a similar manner Zechariah, chapter IX, verse 11, says: "You also, in the blood of your testament, have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water." That is, You, O Christ, by the merit of Your Blood and death, by which You ratified the new covenant between God and men concerning the eternal inheritance to be given to Your sons, brought out the fathers who hoped in You from limbo, and led them with You as You ascended into heaven. Thus St. Jerome and Cyril on Zechariah IX. As therefore by the merit of His Blood and death He brought the fathers from limbo to heaven, so by the same merit He brought Himself back from death to life.
Theophylact notes that the Apostle repeatedly opposes the Testament of Christ as eternal and never to be dissolved to the old Mosaic Testament, which was temporary, perishable, and abolished through Christ.
21. May He fit you in every good work. — In Greek it is katartisai, which first, with Galen, can be translated "restore," and may He firmly knit and unite you, as limbs and members dislocated and tottering in persecution, to the body and structure of Christ, namely the Church. The word katartisai could also be referred to the restoration of injured and dislocated fraternal charity, as if to say: May God restore, gather, and bind you, as it were limbs torn apart or dislocated by schism, to mutual peace and charity in the one body of the Church. For thus in I Corinthians I, 10, the Apostle commanded the Corinthians to be perfect in the same mind, that is, plainly concordant and unanimous, where the same word katartisai is used.
Secondly and better, since with others everywhere you may translate katartisai as "may He perfect, complete, fill in all His numbers and parts, as it were in His limbs," so that namely in every good, grace, and virtue you may be adapted, formed, perfected, and consummated. Whence it follows: "That you may do His will," etc.
Working in you what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. — He says the same thing with different words: this is the force and abundance of the Pauline spirit. These three therefore are in fact the same: first, "may He fit, or perfect you in every good;" second, "that you may do His will;" third, "may He do in you what is pleasing in His sight." For we please God by no other thing than by good work, by which we do His will.
Note: Great is the praise of good work: first, that through it we do and fulfill God's will; secondly, that through it we please God and delight God: and this is a most pure act of charity familiar to holy men, namely that they do all their works in this manner and to this end, that they may please God, be acceptable to Him, feed Him, and delight Him; just as a friend strives in all ways to please his friend, a bridegroom his bride, a son his father, to be beautiful, to be in his delights, and to delight him by all means.
Note secondly: God "through Jesus Christ," that is, through the grace which He bestows upon us through the merits of Christ, makes us work good things by which we please Him, lest anyone with Pelagius attribute this same to himself and to his own merits or to the powers of nature.
Note thirdly, the phrase "what is pleasing in His sight" can be referred both to actions and to passions, as if to say: May God so fit and perfect you, O Hebrews, in every good, virtue, and fortitude, that you may do His will; and may He, when you are thus fitted and perfected, set before, decree, send in, or permit persecutions, proscriptions, and whatever adversities — which please Him, and by which He is pleased to increase your virtue, patience, crown, and glory.
Verse 22: And I Beseech You, Brethren, That You Suffer the Word of Consolation
22. And I beseech you, brethren, that you suffer this word of consolation. — As if to say: I, Paul, although I am not properly yours, O Hebrews, but the Apostle of the Gentiles, do not command, but ask you, that with calm mind you receive this consoling and exhorting (for the Greek paraklēseōs signifies both) — namely, for undertaking greater contests for the faith of Christ — letter. With these words Paul ingratiates himself with the Hebrews. For he was suspected by them as an enemy of Judaism, or hated; and on the other hand the Hebrews, oppressed by persecutions and temptations, could appear ready to admit his exhortation only with difficulty.
For I have written to you in a few words. — "In a few words," if you consider the subject matter and dignity of the matter, and my zeal and affection toward you, O Hebrews. Paul says this, says Chrysostom and Theophylact, because the Hebrews were small-minded in their tribulations: for it is the way of such persons not to bear a long discourse.
St. Thomas and Anselm note that short discourses are everywhere more pleasing: for if they are pleasing and please, they are imbibed more eagerly; but if they are tiresome and displeasing, they bring little annoyance, because they are short, and this is what Paul says here: "Suffer the word of consolation; for I have written to you in a few words." Hence the Wise Man warns in Ecclesiastes V, 1: "Let your words be few." And the poet:
Whatever you teach, be brief, that what is quickly spoken docile minds may grasp, and faithful ones retain.
Let preachers note and observe this. Thus they will please more, and bring forth more fruit.
Verse 23: Know That Our Brother Timothy Has Been Set Free
23. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free. — The Greek ginōskete can be translated either as "you know" or "know." The word "set free" signifies that Timothy had somewhere been in chains, although this is not narrated elsewhere. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Primasius, Anselm, St. Thomas. All of whom however add a second sense, namely that he could be said to have been "sent away" by friends — for example, by the Athenians, who were detaining him with importunate requests.
But the former sense is plainer: hence the Syriac translates desteri, that is, "loosed from chains." That Timothy was not at Rome, whence Paul wrote this, but bound elsewhere, is signified by what follows: "With whom, if he comes more quickly, I will see you."
Verse 24: Greet All Your Prelates; the Brethren From Italy Greet You
24. I will see you. — Therefore Paul knew that he was about to be freed from prison soon.
Greet all your prelates. — Paul signifies, says Theodoret, that he is writing to the people: for the prelates do not need this doctrine and exhortation of his.
And all the saints, — that is, Christians, who by calling, profession, office, and duty are holy, that is, ought to be holy, as I said on Rom. I, 7.
The brethren from Italy greet you. — Paul writes this from Rome, as I said at the beginning of the epistle. Beza denies this: for Paul, he says, here mentions not Romans, but Italian greeters. But I answer that this was done because Paul had traversed Italy as well as other provinces in preaching: also the name of Paul, famous everywhere, had drawn many Christians from all Italy to Rome to visit him. It is therefore no wonder if these Italians, present at Rome with Paul, salute the Hebrews through Paul. For in like manner if Paul had written this from Bologna, or in another city of Italy, he could have said: "The brethren from Italy greet you." Add that by "Italians" the Romans can be understood by antonomasia: for Rome was the head and metropolis of Italy. Thus Luke in Acts XVIII, 2 says that Priscilla and Aquila came from Italy, that is, as he himself immediately explains, from the city of Rome, from which they had been driven with the rest of the Jews by an edict of Claudius. For Claudius had ordered the Jews to depart not from all of Italy, but only from the city of Rome.
Closing Dedication and Benediction
And let these things have been said about these epistles; now let all things go to the source whence they came.
Receive therefore, St. Paul, as the beginning, so also the end of this work. For it is wholly Yours, not mine. For who am I? and what is the commentary on Your epistles? This work is not from my own strength, not from my weak and infirm health, not from my talent, not from my wisdom. For truly and in my conscience I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me. It is therefore Yours, by Your seed and origin, by Your help, intercession, prompting; it is Yours by my vow, debt, aim, and gift; it is Yours by subject, end, and praise. To you therefore I offer it, as owed under so many titles — nay, I refer it; not to myself but to you, and to God our Lord I attribute, consecrate, and dedicate it, saying: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory." God appointed You the Teacher of the Gentiles, teacher of all ages. In Your own age You taught the whole world by living voice with Your preaching; now reigning in the heavens You teach the same, and shall teach it to the end of the age through Your monuments, through these fiery and divine epistles. Grant that this commentary may serve this purpose; grant that what I have written outwardly here, the Holy Spirit may suggest and teach inwardly to as many as possible, that very many from the reading of them may make progress as well in true faith and wisdom as in virtue and in the Christian — nay, the Apostolic — spirit, may make progress — and I myself first of all, who am a little child not knowing my going in and going out.
I have everywhere with fixed eyes regarded and pursued the truth and Your true mind. For truth is dearer to me than life itself. If anywhere I have erred from it, I have erred as a man; show me this error and to others, that no one may stumble upon it. For I exceedingly desire to leave all heirs of the truth, none of my error.
Offer also these same things to the Holy Virgin Mother of God, who is the Mother of eternal Wisdom, and the common parent of us all, to whom I owe myself and all that is mine, since she called me, undeserving and unworthy, to Religion and to this holy Society of her Son, and within the Society itself has wonderfully always — and especially in this work — directed, helped, and instructed me, and brought it about that my slow and unpolished mind and hand have become the pen of a scribe writing swiftly: that she herself may offer these same things to her blessed Son Jesus Christ, for His perennial pleasure, praise, and glory, which one thing in life and in death, in time and in eternity, I intend and strive to celebrate and promote with every vow and study, and with all the powers of body and soul. For this is eternal life, that all may know the true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He sent, Who is our salvation, our love, our joy, our hope and beatitude, our God and all things. Grant lastly that we may enjoy Him with You, after this brief life, in heaven, where we may celebrate His praises not with human but with angelic tongue forever, and continually sing: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen."
O Jesus Christ, our Love, by the blood of Your eternal testament, fit us in every good, that always and everywhere we may do Your will, and what is pleasing to You. O Father of the age to come, lead us by the straight path to a happy ETERNITY, that for ages of ages we may sing to the Most Holy Trinity: "You have redeemed us, O Lord God, and You have made us a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign forever." O endless, O glorious, O exceedingly long, high, broad, and deep ETERNITY!