Hebrews viii. 1, 2

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest; who is set down on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens: a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man.”

[1.] Paul mixes the lowly things with the lofty, ever imitating his Master, so that the lowly become the path to the lofty, and through the former we are led to the latter, and when we are amid the great things we learn that these [lowly ones] were a condescension. This accordingly he does here also. After declaring that “He offered up Himself,” and showing Him to be a “High Priest,” what does he say? “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: we have such an High Priest who is set down on the right hand of the throne of the majesty.” And yet this is not [the office] of a Priest, but of Him whom the Priest should serve.

“A minister of the sanctuary,” not simply a minister, but “a minister of the sanctuary. And of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” Thou seest the condescension. Did he not a little before make a separation,²⁹⁹⁰

2990See Hom. iii.

See how he raised up the minds of the believing Jews. For as they would be apt to imagine that we have no such tabernacle [as they had], see here (he says) is the Priest, Great, yea, much greater than the other, and who has offered a more wonderful sacrifice. But is not all this mere talk? is it not a boast, and merely said to win over our minds? on this account he established it first from the oath, and afterwards also from “the tabernacle.” For this difference too was manifest: but the Apostle thinks of another also, “which” (he says) “the Lord pitched [or “made firm”] and not man.” Where are they who say that the heaven whirls around?²⁹⁹¹

2991δινεῖσθαι. The common editions read κινεῖσθαι. Savile observes that it was the opinion of St. Chrys. that the heaven was stationary, and that the sun, moon and stars moved through it. [Such may have been St. Chrysostom’s opinion, but it does not appear in this passage.—F.G.]

“Now” (he says) “of the things which we have spoken this is the sum.” By “the sum” is always meant what is most important. Again he brings down his discourse; having said what is lofty, henceforward he speaks fearlessly.

[2.] In the next place that thou mayest understand that he used the word “minister” of the manhood, observe how he again indicates it: “For” ( ver. 3 ) (he says) “every high priest is ordained to offer both gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.”

Do not now, because thou hearest that He sitteth, suppose that His being called High Priest is mere idle talk.²⁹⁹²

2992ὕ θλον

2993τῆς ἀξίας τοῦ Θεοῦ

2994λιπαίνει

2995That is, lest the belief of His Godhead should undermine our belief in His true manhood.

And in another way; Having said that He is on high, he affirms and proves that He is a Priest from every consideration, from Melchisedec, from the oath, from offering sacrifice. From this he also frames another and necessary syllogism. “For if” (he says) “He had been on earth, He would not be a Priest, seeing that there are priests who offer the gifts according to the Law.” If then He is a Priest (as He really is), we must seek some other place for Him. “For if He were” indeed “on earth, He should not be a priest.” For how [could He be]? He offered no sacrifice, He ministered not in the Priest’s office. And with good reason, for there were the priests. Moreover he shows, that it was impossible that [He] should be a priest upon earth. For how [could He be]? There was no rising up against [the appointed Priests], he means.

[3.] Here we must apply our minds attentively, and consider the Apostolic wisdom; for again he shows the difference of the Priesthood. “Who” (he says) “serve unto the example²⁹⁹⁶

2996ὑ ποδείγματι … λατρεύουσι. i.e. “do service to and minister in that system which is a sample and shadow.”

What are the heavenly things he speaks of here? The spiritual things. For although they are done on earth, yet nevertheless they are worthy of the Heavens. For when our Lord Jesus Christ lies slain²⁹⁹⁷

2997ἐ σφαγμένος, see Rev. v. 6, 9, 12; xiii. 8

2998παραγίνηται

2999ἐ νταῦθα ᾖ

3000τὰ προκείμενα. The Sacred Elements there set before God. [The English edition has here missed the sense of πάντα πνευματικὰ γίνεται τὰ προκείμενα. προκείμενα is predicate rather than subject, and πάντα is to be taken with πνευματικά, not with προκείμενα. The idea is (as shown by the context) that our spiritual things (hymns, praises, &c.) answer to the parts of the victim laid upon the carnal altar of old.—F.G.]

“Who” (he says) “serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God,³⁰⁰¹

3001[κεχρημάτισται —a word always used of Divine communications.—F.G.]

3002τύπον

[4.] ( Ver. 6 ) “But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry,³⁰⁰³

3003λειτουργίας, “service as priest.”

And observe what safeguards he lays down, when intending to find fault with it. For in the former place after saying, “according to the power of an endless life” ( Heb. vii. 16 ), he then said that “there is a disannulling of the commandment going before” ( Heb. vii. 18 ); and then after that, he set forth something great, saying, “by which we draw nigh unto God.” ( Heb. vii. 19.) And in this place, after leading us up into Heaven, and showing that instead of the temple, we have Heaven, and that those things were types of ours, and having by these means exalted the Ministration [of the New Covenant], he then proceeds suitably to exalt the priesthood.

But (as I said) he sets down that which especially cheers them, in the words, “Which was established upon better promises.” Whence does appear? In that this the one was cast out, and the other introduced in its place: for it is therefore of force because it is better. For as he says, “If perfection were by” it, “what further need was there, that another priest should rise, after the order of Melchisedec?” ( Heb. vii. 11 ); so also here he used the same syllogism, saying ( ver. 7 ) “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second”; that is, if it made men “faultless.” For it is because he is speaking of this that he did not say, “But finding fault with” it, but ( ver. 8, 9 ) “But finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt: because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.”

Yea, verily. And whence does it appear that [the first Covenant] came to an end? He showed it indeed also from the Priest, but now he shows more clearly by express words that it has been cast out.

But how is it “upon better promises”? For how, tell me, can earth and heaven be equal? But do thou consider,³⁰⁰⁴

3004θεώρει used of contemplating and discerning the mystical sense of the Old Testament.

But inasmuch as they were forever making objections, he says, “Behold! the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” He is not speaking of any old Covenant: for, that they might not assert this, he determined the time also. Thus he did not say simply, “according to the covenant which I made with their fathers,” lest thou shouldest say [it was] the one made with Abraham, or that with Noah: but he declares what [covenant it was], “not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers” in the Exodus. Wherefore he added also, “in the day that I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Thou seest that the evils begin first from ourselves (“they” themselves first, saith he, “continued not in [the “covenant”]”) and the negligence is from ourselves, but the good things from Him; I mean the [acts] of bounty. He here introduces, as it were, an apology showing the cause why He forsakes them.

[5.] ( Ver. 10 ) “For this,” he says, “is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put³⁰⁰⁵

3005“give.”

But what other difference is there beside this?³⁰⁰⁶

3006That is, besides the covenant being in itself a new one, different from the Mosaic, there is also, he says, the difference in the mode of giving it, the one being written, the other put into the heart. The Jew is supposed to allege that this second is the only difference, and that the promise in the Prophecy is that the Mosaic law shall be given into the heart, and that this was fulfilled by the reformation of the people: as for instance after the Captivity.

[6.] ( Ver. 11, 12 ) “And they shall not teach” (he says) “every man his neighbor,³⁰⁰⁷

3007πολίτην. The common editions have πλησίον, as has the common text of the New Testament, but there also Scholz, Lachmann, Tischendorf [Tregelles, W. and H.] read πολίτην, which is the word used in Jeremiah, according to the Vatican ms. It is used by the LXX. to translate the Hebrew for “neighbor.”

3008τὸ ἡμέτερον

[A covenant] is then said to be “new,” when it is different and shows some advantage over the old. “Nay surely,” says one,³⁰⁰⁹

3009̓ Ιδοὺ, φησὶ, καὶ αὕτη καινὴ τυγχάνει. This is the argument of an objector, who alleges that the promise of a New Covenant was fulfilled by the modification and renewed efficacy of the Mosaic system, such as occurred after the Captivity. He alleges two senses in which the word “New” might be applied without implying the substitution of another system in place of the old, (i) as a repaired house is said to be new, and (ii) according to his interpretation, as the Heavens are new, when after long drought they again give rain. St. Chrys. replies. i. That after the Captivity the Covenant was still, as of old, unfruitful. ii. That this interpretation of the “new heaven” is incorrect. iii. That the Prophecy distinctly foretells a substitution. The common editions have changed the character of the passage by substituting ἄ λλως δὲ καινὴ for καινὴ two lines above, and καινὴ δὲ καὶ αὕτη τ. for ̓ Ιδοὺ … καινὴ τ. in this place; by omitting φησὶ at the end of the objection; and substituting ἵ να δειξῇ for ἐ ὰ ν οὖν δείξω

3010See Isa. lxv. 17; Deut. xxviii. 23

3011 The Verona edition, one Catena, the mss. which Mr. Field usually follows, and the Latin versions of Mutianus and the later translator, all give the text which is here translated: ὁ ταν μηκέτι χαλκοῦς ᾖ, ἀλλ̓ ὑετὸν διδῷ· ὅταν μὴ ἄκαρπος, οὐχ ὁταν μεταβληθῇ, οὐχ ὅταν τὰ μὲν αὐτοῦ ἐξαιρεθῇ, τὰ δὲ μένῃ. Mr. Field says that he has nolens volens admitted into the text the “amended” readings of the common editions, ὅ ταν μηκέτι χ. ᾖ. ἀ. ὑ. διδῷ, καὶ ἡ γῆ ὁμοιως καινὴ, ὅταν μὴ ἀ. ᾖ, οὐχ ὅταν μεταβληθῆ, καὶ οἶκος οὕτω καινὸς ὅταν τὰ μὲν κ. λ. “when it is no longer of brass, but gives rain: [and the earth in like manner is new,] when it is not unfruitful, not when it has been changed: [and in this sense the house is new], when portions of it have been,” &c. There does not however appear to be any need for this: on the contrary, while the old text is simple and intelligible, the additions bring in matters which are out of place. [The other Catena, however, that of Niketas, Archbishop of Heraklea, one of Mr. Field’s valuable authorities, has the bracketed bits.] The words ὅ ταν μὴ ἄκαρπος apply naturally to the heaven, when it does not supply the moisture necessary for producing fruit. This argument from the “new heaven” is alleged by the objector as distinct from that of the “new house” : it is an instance, he would say, of the word “new” being applied, when there was neither change nor substitution, as St. Chrys. interprets the prophecy: nor even partial alteration as in the analogy of the “new house” ; but only a renewal of fertilizing action which had been previously suspended. On the other hand the introduction of “the new earth” by the interpolator is out of place: inasmuch as unfruitful ground would represent the people not the Law; neither does St. Chrys. in the refutation which follows refer at all to this point of “new earth.” The introduction of the “house” is simply needless repetition. [It has seemed better to follow in the translation Field’s text than to follow the alterations of the English edition—both because the passage is thus much clearer, and because this is professedly a translation of Field’s text, and his critical sagacity must be considered on such a point of higher value.—F.G.]

3012ὥ στε, φησι. Sav. &c. om. φησὶ

If then I show that that covenant had become “Old” in this respect, that it yielded no fruit? And that thou mayest know this exactly, read what Haggai says, what Zechariah, what the Messenger,³⁰¹³

3013ὁ ῎Αγγελος Malachi.

3014πῶς οὖν ἔλαβεν αὐτόν ; The Catena has πῶς συνέλαβον αὐτόν ; which Mutianus read, translating it, “Quomodo corripuerunt eum?” Mr. Field thinks that neither reading gives a suitable meaning. If the reading adopted by Mr. F. and followed in the translation be the true one, it must be supposed that St. Chrys. had in mind the condition in which Ezra, or perhaps Nehemiah, found the Jews. The words τί δὲ ῎Εσδρας ἐγκαλεῖ ; seem more appropriate to Nehemiah than to Ezra: and the reception of Nehemiah on his second visit to Jerusalem may have been the circumstance of which the orator was thinking.

3015See Mal. i. 6, and c. ii., iii

3016βεβίασται τὸ σόν ; or, “how forced it is.”

And besides, I do not concede that the words “the heaven shall be new” ( Isa. lxv. 17 ), were spoken concerning this. For why, when saying in Deuteronomy “the heaven shall be of brass,” did he not set down this in the contrasted passage,³⁰¹⁷

3017ἐ ν τῇ διαστολῇ. See Deut. xxviii. 12

And further on this account He says that He will give “another Covenant, because they did not continue in the first.” This I show by what he says (“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,” Rom. viii. 3 ; and again, “Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Acts xv. 10.) But “they did not continue therein,” he says.

Here he shows that [God] counts us worthy of greater and of spiritual [privileges]: for it is said “their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world.” ( Ps. xix. 5; Rom. x. 18.) That is [the meaning of] “they shall not say each man to his neighbor, Know the Lord.” And again, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as much water to cover the seas.” ( Isa. xi. 9 .)

[7.] “In calling it new” (he says), “He hath made the first old: but that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” See what was hidden, how he hath laid open the very mind of the prophet! He honored the law, and was not willing to call it “old” in express terms: but nevertheless, this he did call it. For if the former had been new, he would not have called this which came afterwards “new” also. So that by granting something more and different, he declares that “it was waxen old.” Therefore it is done away and is perishing, and no longer exists.

Having taken boldness from the prophet, he attacks it more suitably,³⁰¹⁸

3018μᾶλλον αὐτοῦ καθάπτεται συμφερόντως

The New then has not simply caused the old to cease, but because it had become aged, as it was not [any longer] useful. On this account he said, “for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof” ( Heb. vii. 18 ), and, “the law made nothing perfect” ( Heb. vii. 19 ); and that “if the first had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” ( Heb. viii. 7.) And “faultless”; that is, useful; not as though it [the old Covenant] was obnoxious to any charges, but as not being sufficient. He used a familiar form of speech. As if one should say, the house is not faultless, that is, it has some defect, it is decayed: the garment is not faultless, that is, it is coming to pieces. He does not therefore here speak of it as evil, but only as having some fault and deficiency.

[8.] So then we also are new, or rather we were made new, but now are become old; therefore we are “near to vanishing away,” and to destruction. Let us scrape off³⁰¹⁹

3019ἀ ποξύσωμεν : alluding to the poetic phrase ξῦσαι ἀπὸ γῆρας ὀλοιόν

3020ἐ νταῦθα

It is possible even for him who has fallen into the extremest deformity³⁰²¹

3021 [There was one who sold his patrimony, A dear-bought dower That had come down from high In a golden shower, It was a loss that gold could never mend, The heart-blood of a Friend, From out the world’s dark den he came aside, A monster for the sun to see, All hideous soiled with foulest leprosy, And he sat down upon the grass and cried, Is there no fountain that can wash again? . There is a fount where holy men do say He that doth look for aye He shall become like that he doth behold, Borrowing a light more pure than gold. There is a glass whereon he that doth bend Shall see portrayed the Heaven, Till he forget what earth hath best to lend In the sweet hope that he may be forgiven. The Rev. Isaac Williams, Thoughts in Past Years, “The Penitent,” p. 151, ed. 2, 1842.]

And he said not, “Go not after them,” but what is more, Do not admit them into thy mind; which he says also in another place, “I will not mention their names through my lips.” ( Ps. xvi. 4.) And again, “That my mouth may not talk of the deeds of men.” ( Ps. xvii. 3, 4.) As yet is this no great virtue; nay, rather, it is indeed great, but not such as this [which is here spoken of]. For what does he say there? He says not; “Talk not of the things of men, neither speak of the things of thy fathers”; but, neither remember them, nor admit them into thy mind. Thou seest to how great a distance he would have us keep away from wickedness. For he that remembers not [a matter] will not think of it, and he that does not think, will not speak of it: and he that does not speak of it, will not do it. Seest thou from how many paths he hath walled us off? by what great intervals he hath removed us, even to a very great [distance]?

[9.] Let us then also “hearken and forget” our own evils. I do not say our sins, for (He says) “Remember thou first, and I will not remember.” ( Isa. xliii. 26; 25 , LXX.) I mean for instance, Let us no longer remember rapacity, but even restore the former [plunder]. This is to forget wickedness, and to cast out the thought of rapacity, and never at any time to admit it, but to wipe away also the things already done amiss.

Whence may the forgetfulness of wickedness come to us? From the remembrance of good things, from the remembrance of God. If we continually remember God, we cannot remember those things also. For (he says) “When I remembered Thee upon my bed, I thought upon Thee in the morning dawn.” ( Ps. lxiii. 6.) We ought then to have God always in remembrance, but then especially, when thought is undisturbed, when by means of that remembrance [a man] is able to condemn himself, when he can retain [things] in memory. For in the daytime indeed, if we do remember, other cares and troubles entering in, drive the thought out again: but in the night it is possible to remember continually, when the soul is calm and at rest; when it is in the haven, and under a serene sky. “The things which you say in your hearts be ye grieved for on your beds,” he says. ( Ps. iv. 4 , LXX.) For it were indeed right to retain this remembrance through the day also. But inasmuch as you are always full of cares, and distracted amidst the things of this life, at least then remember God on your bed; at the morning dawn meditate upon Him.

If at the morning dawn we meditate on these things, we shall go forth to our business with much security. If we have first made God propitious by prayer³⁰²²

3022ἐ ντεύξει

[10.] Many of you have often beheld the Olympic games: and not only have beheld but have been zealous partisans and admirers of the combatants, one of this [combatant], one of that. You know then that both during the days of the contests, and during those nights, all night long the herald³⁰²³

3023κήρυξ

3024παννυχὶς. The term applied by Christians to whole nights spent in Psalmody and Prayer; “vigils.”

3025παννυχίσωμεν

3026χαμαιτυπεῖα

3027παραφθέγγονται

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