AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N
S,
OF THE EPISTLE TO
T H E H E B R E W S
CONCERNING
this epistle we must enquire, I. Into the divine authority of it; for this has
been questioned by some, whose distempered eyes could not bear the light of
it, or whose errors have been confuted by it; such as the Arians, who deny the
Godhead and self-existence of Christ; and the Socinians, who deny his
satisfaction; but, after all the attempts of such men to disparage this
epistle, the divine original of it shines forth with such strong and unclouded
rays that he who runs may read it as an eminent part of the canon of
scripture. The divinity of the matter, the sublimity of the style, the
excellency of the design, the harmony of this with other parts of scripture,
and its general reception in the
church
of
God
in all ages--these are the
evidences of its divine authority. II. As to the divine amanuensis or penman
of this epistle, we are not so certain; it does not bear the name of any in
the front of it, as the rest of the epistles do, and there has been some
dispute among the learned to whom they should ascribe it. Some have assigned
it to Clemens of Rome; other to Luke; and many to Barnabas, thinking that the
style and manner of expression is very agreeable to the zealous,
authoritative, affectionate temper that Barnabas appears to be of, in the
account we have of him in the acts of the Apostles; and one ancient father
quotes an expression out of this epistle as the words of Barnabas. But it is
generally assigned to the apostle Paul; and some later copies and translations
have put Paul's name in the title. In the primitive times it was generally
ascribed to him, and the style and scope of it very well agree with his
spirit, who was a person of a clear head and a warm heart, whose main end and
endeavour it was to exalt Christ. Some think that the apostle Peter refers to
this epistle, and proves Paul to be the penman of it, by telling the Hebrews,
to whom he wrote, of Paul's having written to them, 2 Pet. iii. 15. We read of
no other epistle that he ever wrote to them but this. And though it has been
objected that, since Paul put his name to all his other epistles, he would not
have omitted it here; yet others have well answered that he, being the apostle
of the Gentiles, who were odious to the Jews, might think fit to conceal his
name, lest their prejudices against him might hinder them from reading and
weighing it as they ought to do. III. As to the scope and design of this
epistle, it is very evident that it was clearly to inform the minds, and
strongly to confirm the judgment, of the Hebrews in the transcendent
excellency of the gospel above the law, and so to take them off from the
ceremonies of the law, to which they were so wedded, of which they were so
fond, that they even doted on them, and those of them who were Christians
retained too much of the old leaven, and needed to be purged from it. The
design of this epistle was to persuade and press the believing Hebrews to a
constant adherence to the Christian faith, and perseverance in it,
notwithstanding all the sufferings they might meet with in so doing. In order
to this, the apostle speaks much of the excellency of the author of the
gospel, the glorious Jesus, whose honour he advances, and whom he justly
prefers before all others, showing him to be all in all, and this in lofty
strains of holy rhetoric. It must be acknowledged that there are many things
in this epistle hard to be understood, but the sweetness we shall find therein
will make us abundant amends for all the pains we take to understand it. And
indeed, if we compare all the epistles of the New Testament, we shall not find
any of them more replenished with divine, heavenly matter than this to the
Hebrews.
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