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Him in whom faith triumphs. He is unchangeable, and therefore the victory of the believer is at all times assured.

The absence of a connecting particle places the thought as a reflection following the last sentence after a pause.

Ad superiora pertinent ista, ubi testatus est dixisse Dominum Non te deseram neque derelinquam: poterant illi respondere Hoc non pertinet ad nostrum auxilium, quia non nobis est promissum, sed potius Josue promisit hoc Deus. Ad hoc Apostolus Nolite deficere...Nolite putare quasi qui tunc fuit non sit modo: idem enim qui fuit heri, idem erit et in saeculum (Primas.).

13:8. jI. C. ... aijw'na" ] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day,
yea and for ever
, Vulg. J. Ch. heri et hodie ipse est, et in saecula.

The statement is true universally, but the immediate thought appears to be that as Christ had but just now brought victory to His disciples so He would do in the present trials.

Ac si dicatur: Idem Christus qui cum illis fuit vobiscum est, et erit cum eis qui futuri sunt usque ad consummationem saeculi. Heri fuit cum patribus, hodie est vobiscum, ipse erit et cum posteris vestris usque in saecula (Herv.).

Ceterum divinitas ejus interminabilis plenitudinem totam pariter comprehendit ac possidet, cui neque futuri quidquam absit nec praeteriti fluxerit, quoniam esse ejus totum est et semper est nescitque mutabilitatem ( id. ).

The full title jIhsou'" Cristov" occurs again in the Epistle in v. 21; Heb. 10:10. The words ejcqe;" kai; shvmeron express generally ‘in the past and in the present’ (comp. Ecclus. 38:22 ejmoi; cqe;" kai; soi; shvmeron ); and the clause kai; eij" tou;" aijw'na" is added to the sentence which is already complete to express the absolute confidence of the Apostle: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day: yea, such a confession falls wholly below the truth: He is the same for ever.’

The phrase eij" tou;" aijw'na" occurs here only in the Epistle (Rom. 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; 2 Cor. 11:31).

Compare Heb. 5:21 ( eij" tou;" aij. tw'n aijwvnwn ); 6:20; 7:17 ff. ( eij" to;n aijw'na ); 1:8, LXX. ( eij" to;n aijw'na tou' aijw'no" ).

For oJ aujtov" compare 1:12. The usage is common in classical writers,
e.g., Thucyd. 2.61
ejgw; me;n (Pericles in the face of Athenian discontent) oJ aujtov" eijmi kai; oujk ejxivstamai .

Heb. 13:9. The unchangeableness of Christ calls up in contrast the variety of human doctrines. The faith of the Christian is in a Person and not in doctrines about Him.
did. p. kai; x. mh; par. ] Be not carried away by manifold and strange teachings , Vulg. Doctr. variis et peregrinis ( novis d) abduci nolite. These ‘manifold and strange teachings’ seem to have been various adaptations of Jewish thoughts and practices to Christianity. There was a danger lest the Hebrews should be carried by these away from the straight course of the Christian life. The phrase shews that the activity of religious speculation had by this time produced large results. For the plural didacaiv compare didaskalivai Col. 2:22; 1 Tim. 4:1.

OEcumenius takes the image of parafevresqai (Jude 12; comp. 1 Sam. 21:13) to be derived from the movements of those beside themselves, tw'n th'/de kajkei'se paraferomevnwn . Wetstein gives examples of the word


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