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in word or act. to; kauvchma th'" ejlp. ] Old Lat. exsultationem spei , Vulg. gloriam spei. The Christian hope is one of courageous exultation. Comp. Heb. 6:18 ff. This exultation is here regarded in its definite concrete form ( kauvchma boast ) and not as finding personal expression ( kauvchsi" boasting ). Contrast 2 Cor. 1:14 with 1 Cor. 1:12; Rom. 3:27 with Rom. 4:2.
mevcri tevl. beb. ] If this clause is genuine, and not an interpolation from
v. 14, then
th'" ejlpivdo" must be taken with parr. as well as kauvchma , the gender of bebaivan being determined by the former noun. This connexion is unlikely, and so far the internal evidence is against the authenticity of the clause.
mevcri tevlou" ] till hope passes into sight. Comp. Heb. 6:11; Apoc. 2:26; Matt. 10:22; 1 Cor. 1:8.

The conception of ‘hope’ occupies an important place in the Epistle (Heb. 6:11, 18; 7:19; 10:23, note). ‘Hope’ is related to ‘Faith’ as the energetic activity of life is related to life. Through hope the power of faith is seen in regard to the future. Hope gives distinctness to the objects of faith.

ii. The promise and the people under the Old and the New Dispensations (Hebrews 3:7-4:13)

The comparison of Christ with Moses leads naturally to a comparison of those who respectively received their teaching. The faithlessness of the Jews in the desert becomes an eloquent warning to Christians who are in danger of unbelief. Even the date (about ‘forty years’ from the Passion) seemed to give additional force to the parallel. At the same time the history of the past was fitted to prepare ‘the remnant’ of Jewish believers for the general faithlessness of their countrymen. The Old Testament is in fact a record of successive judgments of Israel out of which a few only were saved.

The argument turns upon the Psalmist's interpretation of the discipline of the wilderness (Ps. 95). (1) Faith is first laid down as the condition of the enjoyment of the divine blessing (Heb. 3:7-19); and then (2) it is shewn that the promise still remains to be realised by Christians (4:1-13).

(1) Faith is the condition of the enjoyment of the divine blessing (Hebrews 3:7-19)

The condition of Faith is established by ( a ) the experience of the wilderness (3:7-11), which ( b ) is applied generally (3:12-15), and then ( c ) interpreted in detail (3:16-19).

The construction of the paragraph is by no means clear. It is uncertain whether vv. 12, 15 are to be connected with the verses which precede or with those which follow. On the whole it seems to be simplest to take blevpete (v.
12) as the sequel of
diov (v. 7), treating vv. 7 b-11 as structurally parenthetical; and to join v. 15 with v. 13, treating v. 14 also as parenthetical. In any case the whole scope of the passage remains the same.

( a ) The example of the wilderness (3:7-11). The xcvth Psalm serves perfectly to point the lesson which the Apostle desires to draw. It contains an invitation to the people of God to worship, and a divine warning against disobedience.


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