SEV Biblia, Chapter 13:14
Porque no tenemos aquí ciudad permaneciente, mas buscamos la por venir.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 13:14
Verse 14. For here have we no continuing city] Here is an elegant and forcible allusion to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem that was below was about to be burnt with fire, and erased to the ground; the Jerusalem that was from above was that alone which could be considered to be menousan, permanent. The words seem to say: "Arise, and depart; for this is not your rest: it is polluted:" About seven or eight years after this, Jerusalem was wholly destroyed.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. For here have we no continuing city , etc..] Neither for religious worship, the city of Jerusalem being quickly to be destroyed, nor for civil life to dwell in; and so may have a peculiar regard to the Hebrews, whose temple and city would, in a short time, become desolate; though it was the general case of the saints, in those times, to be obliged to flee from one city to another, having no certain dwelling place: and it may respect the common instability of this world, and of the state of the saints in it: this world, and all things in it, are unstable and transitory, the riches, honours, pleasures, and profits of it, and the persons in it, and even the world itself; the fashion of it passes away: the saints have no settlement and abiding here; they are not of it, though in it; and though they are in it, it is but for a time; and, when they have done the will of God, they are taken out of it; another place is prepared for them: they are but sojourners, and strangers, and pilgrims; and this they are sensible of, and own, and acknowledge: and it is their mercy, that they are not to continue here; since, while in it, they are exposed to a great many sorrows and afflictions, both of soul and body; are often disturbed with Satan's temptations; and are liable to the snares, insults, and reproaches of the world; and, seeing they have no continuance here, they will be the sooner at home: and they have that to support them, under the instability of worldly things, which others have not; they are interested in an unchangeable God, and in his love; and in an unchangeable Saviour; and in an unchangeable covenant; and have a right to eternal glory and happiness, a city which has foundations, as follows: but we seek one to come ; heaven; which is compared to a city; is future, yet to come; though certain, being built and prepared by God; and is continuing, will abide, being well founded: hence the saints seek for it; (see Gill on Hebrews 11:10).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-15 - The instructions and examples of ministers, who honourably an comfortably closed their testimony, should be particularly remembere by survivors. And though their ministers were some dead, others dying yet the great Head and High Priest of the church, the Bishop of their souls, ever lives, and is ever the same. Christ is the same in the Ol Testament day. as in the gospel day, and will be so to his people for ever, equally merciful, powerful, and all-sufficient. Still he fill the hungry, encourages the trembling, and welcomes repenting sinners still he rejects the proud and self-righteous, abhors mere profession and teaches all whom he saves, to love righteousness, and to hat iniquity. Believers should seek to have their hearts established in simple dependence on free grace, by the Holy Spirit, which woul comfort their hearts, and render them proof against delusion. Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice; he sanctifies the gift. The Lord' supper is the feast of the gospel passover. Having showed that keepin to the Levitical law would, according to its own rules, keep men from the Christian altar, the apostle adds, Let us go forth therefore unt him without the camp; go forth from the ceremonial law, from sin, from the world, and from ourselves. Living by faith in Christ, set apart to God through his blood, let us willingly separate from this evil world Sin, sinners, nor death, will not suffer us to continue long here therefore let us go forth now by faith and seek in Christ the rest an peace which this world cannot afford us. Let us bring our sacrifices to this altar, and to this our High Priest, and offer them up by him. The sacrifice of praise to God, we should offer always. In this are worshi and prayer, as well as thanksgiving.
Greek Textus Receptus
ου 3756 γαρ 1063 εχομεν 2192 5719 ωδε 5602 μενουσαν 3306 5723 πολιν 4172 αλλα 235 την 3588 μελλουσαν 3195 5723 επιζητουμεν 1934 5719
Vincent's NT Word Studies
14. For here have we no continuing city (ou gar ecomen wde menousan polin). Here, on earth. Continuing city. Let us go forth without the gate to Jesus; for the system which has its center in Jerusalem, the Holy City, is no more ours. We are excluded from its religious fellowship by embracing the faith of him who suffered without the gate. The city itself is not abiding. As a holy city, it is the center and representative of a system of shadows and figures (ch. viii. 5; ix. 9, 23, 24; x. 1), which is to be shaken and removed, even as is the city itself (xii. 27); viii. 13; ix. 10; x. 9, 18. If the epistle had been written after the destruction of Jerusalem a reference to that event could hardly have been avoided here. One to come ( thn mellousan). Rend. "that which is to come." The heavenly Jerusalem. Comp. ch. xi. 10, 13-16.
The course of thought in vers. 9-14 is as follows: Be not carried away with divers and strange teachings, for example, those concerning meats and drinks and sacrificial feasts. It is good that the heart be established, rather than that the body should be ceremonially pure; and that the heart be established by the grace of God in Christ, which alone can give inward peace, a pure conscience, an established rest and security - rather than by the consciousness of having partaken of meats ceremonially clean: for those whose religious life was under the regimen of this ceremonial system derived no permanent profit from it. Not only so, the two systems exclude each other. You cannot hold by the Levitical system and enjoy the blessings of Christian salvation. It is the sacrifice of Christ through which you become partakers of grace. It is impossible to obtain grace through meats; for meats represent the economy which denies Christ; and, by seeking establishment through meats, you exclude yourselves from the economy which is the only vehicle of grace.
Accordingly, we have an altar and a sacrifice from which the votary of Leviticalism is excluded. By the Levitical law it was forbidden to eat the flesh of the victim offered on the Great Day of Atonement; so that, if the Levitical law still holds for you, you cannot partake of the Christian's atoning victim. The law under which you are prohibits you. According to that law, there is nothing to eat of in an atoning sacrifice, since the body of the victim is burned. Neither priest nor people have anything more to do with it, and, therefore, it is carried outside of the camp or city, outside of the region of O.T. covenant-fellowship. Similarly, so long as you hold by Judaism, participation in Christ's atoning sacrifice is impossible for you. It is outside your religious sphere, like the body of the victim outside the gate. You cannot eat of our altar.
The blood of the Levitical victim was carried into the holy of holies and remained there. If you seek the benefit of that blood, it must be within the camp, at the Levitical tabernacle or temple. And you cannot have the benefit of Christ's blood, for that compels you to go outside the gate, where he suffered. According to the O.T. law, you could partake of the benefit of the blood, but you could not eat of the body. Christ's sacrifice gives you both body and blood as spiritual food; but these you must seek outside of Judaism. Thus, by means of the O.T. ritual itself, it is shown that the Jewish and the Christian systems exclude each other. Christ must be sought outside of the Jewish pale.
