AND IS NOT TO BE CONNECTED WITH DOULEIVA " .
TOUVTOU " OSOI ...] ALL MEN WHO HAD , AS WE SEE , COME TO A PERCEPTION OF THEIR POSITION AS MEN . T HE UNUSUAL PHRASE VIVIDLY PRESENTS THE PICTURE OF HUMAN MISERY AS REALISED BY THE READERS OF THE E PISTLE .
DIA PANTO ;" TOU ZHN ] O. L. SEMPER VIVENDO . V ULG . PER TOTAM VITAM . T HE VERBAL PHRASE EXPRESSES THE ACTIVITY OF LIFE AND NOT ONLY THE ABSTRACT IDEA OF LIFE .
ENOCOI DOULEIVA " ] V ULG . OBNOXII SERVITUTI . C OMP . M ARK 14:64. T HIS BONDAGE WAS TO THE FEAR OF DEATH . T O DEATH ITSELF MEN ARE STILL SUBJECT , BUT C HRIST HAS REMOVED ITS TERRORS . C OMP . R OM . 8:15, 21. T HIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE E PISTLE IN WHICH THE FAMILIAR IMAGE OF BONDAGE ( DOULO ", DOULOVW , DOULEUVW , DOULEIVA ) IS USED .
I N CONSIDERING THE S CRIPTURAL VIEW OF DEATH IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE IDEA OF A TRANSITION TO A NEW FORM OF BEING DISTINCT FROM THAT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THE TRANSITION ACTUALLY TAKES PLACE . T HE PASSAGE FROM ONE FORM OF LIFE TO ANOTHER , WHICH IS INVOLVED IN THE ESSENTIAL TRANSITORINESS OF MAN ' S CONSTITUTION , MIGHT HAVE BEEN JOYFUL . A S IT IS DEATH BRINGS TO OUR APPREHENSION THE SENSE OF AN UNNATURAL BREAK IN PERSONAL BEING , AND OF SEPARATION FROM G OD . T HIS PAIN COMES FROM SIN . T HE T RANSFIGURATION IS A REVELATION OF THE PASSAGE OF SINLESS HUMANITY TO THE SPIRITUAL ORDER .
H EB . 2:16-18. T HE NECESSITY OF THE I NCARNATION . T HE I NCARNATION IS FURTHER SHEWN TO BE NECESSARY FROM THE CONSIDERATION OF
(1) T
HE SPHERE OF
C
HRIST
'
S WORK
,
MAN
(
V
. 16);
(2) T
HE SCOPE OF
C
HRIST
'
S WORK
,
THE REDEMPTION OF FALLEN MAN
(
V
. 17);
AND
(3) T
HE APPLICATION OF
C
HRIST
'
S WORK TO INDIVIDUAL MEN IN THE CONFLICT OF LIFE
(
V
. 18).
16 F OR H E DOTH NOT , AS WE KNOW , TAKE HOLD OF ANGELS , BUT H E TAKETH HOLD OF A BRAHAM ' S SEED . 17 W HEREFORE HE WAS BOUND IN ALL THINGS TO BE MADE LIKE UNTO H IS BRETHREN THAT H E MIGHT ( MAY ) BE A MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HIGH - PRIEST IN THE THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO G OD , TO MAKE PROPITIATION FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE . 18 F OR WHEREIN H E H IMSELF HATH SUFFERED BEING TEMPTED , H E IS ABLE TO SUCCOUR THEM THAT ARE TEMPTED .
2:16. T HE NECESSITY OF THE I NCARNATION FOLLOWS FROM A CONSIDERATION OF THE SPHERE OF C HRIST ' S WORK . H IS PURPOSE IS , AS IS CONFESSEDLY ADMITTED , TO ASSIST MEN AND NOT PRIMARILY OTHER BEINGS , AS ANGELS , THOUGH IN FACT THEY ARE HELPED THROUGH MEN . H E LAYS HOLD OF A FAITHFUL SEED TO SUPPORT AND GUIDE THEM TO THE END WHICH H E HAS H IMSELF REACHED .
OUJ GAR DHV POU
...] O. L.
N
EC ENIM STATIM
... V
ULG
.
NUSQUAM ENIM
... T
HE
GAVR
GIVES THE EXPLANATION OF THE END OF THE
I
NCARNATION WHICH HAS BEEN STATED IN V
. 14
B
.
T
HE COMBINATION
DHV POU
(
NOT IN
LXX.) is found here only in the N. T. It implies that the statement made is a familiar truth: For He doth not, as we well know... The Versions fail to give the sense; and Primasius explains the
nusquam
of the Vulgate: id est nullo loco, neque in caelo neque in terra, angelicam naturam assumpsit.
ejpilambavnetai
] The verb
ejpilambavnesqai
in the middle form has the general sense of
laying hold of
with the gen. of that which is taken hold of: Matt. 14:31; Luke 9:47; Acts 21:30, & c.
In a particular case this may be with the additional notion of helping