Hebrews 1:11 Kommentar

In this chapter we have a twofold comparison stated: I. Between the evangelical and legal dispensation; and the excellency of the gospel above that of the law is asserted and proved (Heb 1:1-3). II. Between the glory of Christ and that of the highest creatures, the angels; where the pre-eminence is justly given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and clearly demonstrated to belong to him (Heb 1:4 to the end).

The intention of this epistle being to demonstrate the superior excellency of the Gospel revelation to the legal one, the apostle begins with the divine author of it, in which they both agree, and observes that in other things they differ. The revelation under the law was made in times past, the Gospel revelation in these last days; the former was made to the Jewish fathers that were of old, the latter to the then present apostles; the one was made at sundry times, and in divers manners, the other was made at once, and in one way; the one was made by the prophets of the Lord, the other by his own son, Heb 1:1 and therefore the latter must be the more excellent; in proof of which the author enlarges on the character of the Son of God, with respect to his person, office, and glory; showing that he is heir of all things, the Maker of the worlds, of the same nature and glory with his Father; is omnipotent, and upholds all things by the word of his power; is the High Priest of his people, who has made satisfaction for their sins, and purged them from them, and is now at the right hand of God, Heb 1:2 He goes on to prove that he is more excellent than the angels, by a variety of arguments, and these supported by testimonies from the Scriptures; as that he has a more excellent name than any of them, being called the Son of God, Heb 1:4 which is proved from Psa 2:7 that he is the object of the worship of angels, Heb 1:6 which is required of them, Psa 97:7 that he is their Maker and Creator, Heb 1:7 which appears from Psa 104:4 that he has an everlasting kingdom, is a righteous King, and is richly anointed above his fellows, Heb 1:8 which is the sense of some passages in Psa 45:6 and that he is the founder and former of the heavens, and of the earth, and will endure when they shall not, Heb 1:10 which is confirmed by testimonies out of Psa 102:25 that he sits at the right hand of God, where none of the angels were ever admitted, Heb 1:13 as is clear from Psa 110:1 and besides, the angels, as they are ministers made by him, they are sent out from him to wait on his people, the heirs of salvation, and minister to them, and therefore he must be greater than they, Heb 1:14.

They shall perish,.... That is, the heavens and the earth; not as to the substance of them, but as to the quality of them; the present form and fashion of them shall pass away; the curse will be removed from them, and they will be renewed and purified, but the substance of them will continue; otherwise there would be no place, either for the righteous or the wicked, But thou remainest; without any change or alteration, neither in his natures, divine or human, as God or man, nor in his office as Mediator; as a priest, he has an unchangeable priesthood, and ever lives to make intercession; as a King, his kingdom is an everlasting one, and of it there will be no end; and as a prophet, he will be the everlasting light, of his people. They all shall wax old as doth a garment; garments in time wax old, and lose their beauty and usefulness, unless when a miracle is wrought, as in the case of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Now the heavens, and the light thereof, are as a garment and a curtain, Psa 104:2 and these, together with the earth, will in time come to their end of usefulness, in the present form of them; see Isa 51:6.

This is the way, dear friends, in which we found our salvation, Jesus Christ, the high priest of our offerings, the protector and helper of our weakness. Through him we fix our gaze on the heights of heaven. In him we see mirrored God’s pure and transcendent face. Through him the eyes of our hearts have been opened. Through him our foolish and darkened understanding springs up to the light. Through him the Master has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge. For, since “he reflects the glory of God,” “he is as much superior to the angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs.” For thus it is written: “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” But of his Son this is what the Master said: “You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” And again he says to him, “Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.” Who are meant by “enemies”? Those who are wicked and resist his will.

Paul also said, “They will perish,” and all the other things, and again the apostle took up the same words of David. But if all the works of creation perish completely, then paradise, which is not perishable, will also perish. In truth, because of paradise, which does not cease, it is evident that all the works of creation will be renewed for us, as some assert, and they will not perish, as others have said.

And again he saith: "Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thine hands. They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and they shall all wax old as a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same and Thy years shall not fail." Lest hearing the words, "and when He bringeth in the First-Begotten into the world"; thou shouldest think it as it were a Gift afterwards super-added to Him; above, he both corrected this beforehand, and again further corrects, saying, "in the beginning": not now, but from the first. See again he strikes both Paul of Samosata and also Arius a mortal blow, applying to the Son the things which relate to the Father. And withal he has also intimated another thing by the way, greater even than this. For surely he hath incidentally pointed out also the transfiguration of the world, saying, "they shall wax old as a garment, and as a vesture Thou shall fold them up, and they shall be changed." Which also he saith in the Epistle to the Romans, that he shall transfigure the world. And showing the facility thereof, he adds, as if a man should fold up a garment so shall He both fold up and change it. But if He with so much ease works the transfiguration and the creation to what is better and more perfect, needed He another for the inferior creation? How far doth your shamelessness go? At the same time too this is a very great consolation, to know that things will not be as they are, but they all shall receive change, and all shall be altered, but He Himself remaineth ever existing, and living without end: "and Thy years," he saith, "shall not fail."

He indicated creation's change for the better that was due to him, and his own lack of beginning or extinction. "You are the same, and your years will never end," he says, note, meaning, "You were not made, but you are, and you admit of no change, being always the same." This suggests also the impassibility of the divinity. If it suffered, how is it the same? After all, it would be changed, and if it passed three days in death, its years would fail. Both the prophet and the apostle, however, the one writing the testimony and the other using it, emphasize that he is always the same and his years will not fail.

He does not say that a change of nature took place, but by way of comparison, that he permits these things to be destroyed and they do perish in contrast to the eternity of the Son. For also the Lord, when predicting his second coming, says "the stars will fall" and there will no longer be sun or moon or heavens. And one must demonstrate in addition that he revealed through the statement "but you are the same" Christ's eternal existence and the immutability of his nature.

"they will perish." Something greater than creation has been revealed, the transformation of the world. For all that is seen will be transformed, and they will come to incorruption. Therefore, it is said, "they will perish" from the present sight.

He suggests something more important than creation, namely, the transformation of the world. Everything will be changed from corruption to incorruption, and so easily, as if someone were rolling up a garment. If He will so easily accomplish the transformation and conversion of the world into something better, could He have had need of anyone else in the original formation of the world? It is no small consolation here for suffering believers to know that things will not remain in such a state, but will receive a transformation, and that He whom they worship lives and will always live. For "Your years will not come to an end."

71. – Then (v. 11) he shows the difference between Creator and creature, and this in regard to two things which are proper to the Creator; the first is eternity; the second is immutability (v. 11c). In regard to the first he dos two things: first, he puts a limitation on the creature; secondly, no limitation on God (v. 11b). 72. – He says, therefore: they, i.e., the heavens, shall perish. But Ec. (1:4) says that 'the earth stands forever'. Therefore, it seems that it will last longer than the heavens. I answer according to Augustine and the Philosopher that in every change there is a coming into existence and a ceasing to exist. Therefore, when he says that the heavens shall perish, this is not to be understood of their substance, concerning which Jb. (37:18) says: 'The heavens are most strong, as if they were of molten brass', but of their state which they now have: 'I saw a new haven and a new earth' (Rev. 21:1); 'The fashion of this world passes away' (1 Cor. 7:31). But how will they change their state? In various ways, because the higher heavens are moving in regard to place, but are not altered, whereas the lower heaven, namely, fire and air, are moved and altered and subject to corruption. Therefore, the state of all the heavens is changeable; but then, movement will cease in the higher heavens and corruption in the lower heavens, because the air will be purged by fire: 'But the heavens and the earth which exist now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men' (Ps. 101:13). 73. – Here he shows the permanence of the Creator. As if to say: 'In you there is no change nor shadow of change' (Jas. 1:17). This can be understood of Christ as man: 'Jesus Christ, yesterday and today and forever' (Heb. 13:8).

Different discoveries made of the Divine will to the ancient Israelites by the prophets, Heb 1:1. The discovery now perfected by the revelation of Jesus Christ, of whose excellences and glories a large description is given, Heb 1:2-13. Angels are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation, Heb 1:14.

They shall perish - Permanently fixed as they seem to be, a time shall come when they shall be dissolved, and afterward new heavens and a new earth be formed, in which righteousness alone shall dwell. See Pe2 3:10-13. Shall wax old as doth a garment - As a garment by long using becomes unfit to be longer used, so shall all visible things; they shall wear old, and wear out; and hence the necessity of their being renewed. It is remarkable that our word world is a contraction of wear old; a term by which our ancestors expressed the sentiment contained in this verse. That the word was thus compounded, and that it had this sense in our language, may be proved from the most competent and indisputable witnesses. It was formerly written weorold, and wereld. This etymology is finely alluded to by our excellent poet, Spencer, when describing the primitive age of innocence, succeeded by the age of depravity: - "The lion there did with the lambe consort, And eke the dove sat by the faulcon's side; Ne each of other feared fraude or tort, But did in safe security abide, Withouten perill of the stronger pride: But when the World woxe old, it woxe warre old, Whereof it hight, and having shortly tride The trains of wit, in wickednesse woxe bold, And dared of all sinnes, the secrets to unfold." Even the heathen poets are full of such allusions. See Horace, Carm. lib. iii., od. 6; Virgil, Aen. viii., ver. 324. Thou remainest - Instead of διαμένεις, some good MSS. read διαμενεῖς, the first, without the circumflex, being the present tense of the indicative mood; the latter, with the circumflex, being the future - thou shalt remain. The difference between these two readings is of little importance.

THE HIGHEST OF ALL REVELATIONS IS GIVEN US NOW IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS, AND WHO, HAVING COMPLETED REDEMPTION, SITS ENTHRONED AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND. (Heb 1:1-14) at sundry times--Greek, "in many portions." All was not revealed to each one prophet; but one received one portion of revelation, and another another. To Noah the quarter of the world to which Messiah should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the nation; to Jacob, the tribe; to David and Isaiah, the family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to Daniel, the exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His forerunner, and His second advent; through Jonah, His burial and resurrection; through Isaiah and Hosea, His resurrection. Each only knew in part; but when that which was perfect came in Messiah, that which was in part was done away (Co1 13:12). in divers manners--for example, internal suggestions, audible voices, the Urim and Thummim, dreams, and visions. "In one way He was seen by Abraham, in another by Moses, in another by Elias, and in another by Micah; Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, beheld different forms" [THEODORET]. (Compare Num 12:6-8). The Old Testament revelations were fragmentary in substance, and manifold in form; the very multitude of prophets shows that they prophesied only in part. In Christ, the revelation of God is full, not in shifting hues of separated color, but Himself the pure light, uniting in His one person the whole spectrum (Heb 1:3). spake--the expression usual for a Jew to employ in addressing Jews. So Matthew, a Jew writing especially for Jews, quotes Scripture, not by the formula, "It is written," but "said," &c. in time past--From Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, for four hundred years, there had arisen no prophet, in order that the Son might be the more an object of expectation [BENGEL]. As God (the Father) is introduced as having spoken here; so God the Son, Heb 2:3; God the Holy Ghost, Heb 3:7. the fathers--the Jewish fathers. The Jews of former days (Co1 10:1). by--Greek, "in." A mortal king speaks by his ambassador, not (as the King of kings) in his ambassador. The Son is the last and highest manifestation of God (Mat 21:34, Mat 21:37); not merely a measure, as in the prophets, but the fulness of the Spirit of God dwelling in Him bodily (Joh 1:16; Joh 3:34; Col 2:9). Thus he answers the Jewish objection drawn from their prophets. Jesus is the end of all prophecy (Rev 19:10), and of the law of Moses (Joh 1:17; Joh 5:46).

They--The earth and the heavens in their present state and form "shall perish" (Heb 12:26-27; Pe2 3:13). "Perish" does not mean annihilation; just as it did not mean so in the case of "the world that being overflowed with water, perished" under Noah (Pe2 3:6). The covenant of the possession of the earth was renewed with Noah and his seed on the renovated earth. So it shall be after the perishing by fire (Pe2 3:12-13). remainest--through (so the Greek) all changes. as . . . a garment-- (Isa 51:6).