<- Previous   First   Next ->

Compare De Cher. § 9 (i. p. 144 M.), where the flaming sword of the Cherubim is explained of the Logos used by the individual.

Thus as far as the ‘cutting,’ ‘dividing’ power of the Divine Logos is concerned, it is, according to Philo, exercised simply in the realm of being. It has no moral qualities. The moral divider is the human reason. Under other aspects however the Philonic Logos has a moral power ( Quod Deus sit immut. § 28; i. p. 292 M.).

There is a yet more fundamental difference between the writer of the Epistle and Philo in the conception of the Divine Logos. With Philo it is characteristically the divine thought (the lovgo" ejndiavqeto" ): with the writer of the Epistle the divine word (the lovgo" proforikov" ), as it is with St John.

The action of the word is regarded in relation to (1) man (Heb. 4:12), and (2) to all created things. It deals with man in respect ( a ) to his constitution, both immaterial and material, and ( b ) to his activity, in feeling and reason.

4:12. zw'n ... kai; ejnergh;" kai; tomwvtero" ...] The Word—the revelation—of God is living ( zw'n ), not simply as ‘enduring for ever,’ but as having in itself energies of action. It partakes in some measure of the character of God Himself (3:12 qeo;" zw'n note; 10:31). Comp. Acts 7:38 lovgia zw'nta . John 6:63 ta; rJhvmata a} ejgw; lelavlhka uJmi'n pneu'mav ejstin kai; zwhv ejstin taken up by St Peter 5:68 rJhvmata zwh'" aijwnivou e[cei" .

With this ‘living word’ believers are incorporated. Compare Orig. de Princ. 1.2, 3 Unde et recte mihi dictus videtur sermo ille qui in Actibus Pauli scriptus est quia Hic (?) est verbum animal vivens (cf. Lipsius, Apokr. Apostelgesch. 2.1, 70 f.).

Comp. Philo, Leg. Alleg. iii. §§ 59, 61 (1.120, 122 M.) oJra'/" th'" yuch'" trofh;n oi{a ejstiv . lovgo" qeou' (Ex. 16:15)... to; de; rJh'ma mevro" aujtou' : trevfetai de; tw'n me;n teleiotevrwn hJ yuch; o{lw/ tw'/ lovgw/, ajgaphvsaimen dj a]n hJmei'" eij kai; mevrei trafeivhmen aujtou' .

The life of the Word is not only present, but it is also vigorously manifested. The Word is active ( ejnerghv" , O.L. validum , Vulg. efficax ). For ejnerghv" see 1 Cor. 16:9 quvra ... ejnerghv" . Philem. 6 o{pw" hJ koinwniva ... ejnergh;" gevnhtai . The variant ejnarghv" (B, Hier. in Isai. lxvi. evidens ) represents a very common confusion of forms.

The activity of the Word is not intellectual only but moral: it deals with conduct as well as with knowledge. It is shewn in the power of the Word to lay open the innermost depths of human nature. The Word has unrivalled keenness: it pierces in fact to the most secret parts of man; and that not as an instrument merely but as a judge of moral issues. It is sharper than the most formidable weapon of earthly warfare: it finds its way through every element of our earthly frame: it scrutinises the affections and thoughts of which our bodily members are the present organs. The image of the sharp cutting power ( tomwvtero" , Vulg. penetrabilior ) of the Word finds a striking parallel in a line of Phocylides (Heb. 5.118), o{plon toi lovgo" ajndri; tomwvterovn ejsti sidhvrou .

In this respect the word is compared with the sharpest of material arms, ‘the two-edged sword.’ Comp. Apoc. 1:16 ejk tou' stovmato" aujtou' rJomfaiva divstomo" ojxei'a ejkporeuomevnh , 2:12. Is. 49:2; (11:4; 51:16; Hos. 6:5). Schoettgen quotes a Jewish saying to the effect that ‘he who utters the Shema is as if he held a two-


<- Previous   First   Next ->