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Is. 38:14 (Lord) be Thou surety for me ( ynIber“[; ).

The word mesiteuvein occurs here only in N.T. It occurs both in Philo and Josephus for that which interposes between conflicting powers or persons: Philo de plant. Nooe § 2 (1.331) tou' qeivou novmou ... ta;" tw'n ejnantivwn (elements) ajpeilav" ... mesiteuvonto" kai; diaitw'nto" . Jos. Antt. 7.8, 5; 16:4, 3. For mesivth" , see Heb. 8:6 n.

Heb. 6:18. i{na ... ijsc. paravk. e[c. oiJ kataf. ...] that...we may have strong
encouragement who fled
...Latt. ut fortissimum solacium habeamus qui confugimus ...The whole context shews that paravklhsin is to be understood as encouragement to maintain with boldness a position beset by difficulties, and not simply passive consolation. The word occurs again in the Epistle Heb. 12:5; 13:22.

The epithet ( ijscuravn ) is unusual (comp. Heb. 5:7 kraugh; ijsc. [11:34]). It describes that which possesses absolute might, and not simply strength sufficient for a particular task. Compare 2 Cor. 10:10; Apoc. 18:2, 10; 19:6; Lk. 15:14 (not Matt. 14:30).

For the order see Heb. 9:12; and distinguish the predicative use in 7:24.

On e[cwmen Chrysostom says with true feeling: oJra'/" o{ti ouj th;n ajxivan th;n eJautou' skopei' ajllj o{pw" tou;" ajnqrwvpou" peivsh/ . Comp. 1 John 2:1 note. dia; duvo pragm. ajm. ] by two immutable things , the promise and the oath (Heb. 6:13, 17). Pra'gma may mean either object (Heb. 10:1; 11:1) or fact, action (Acts 5:4; Luke 1:1).
ejn oi|" ajduvn. yeuv". ] That the promise of God should fail is as inconceivable as that His oath should fail. He must (as we speak) fulfil His promise: He must fulfil His oath. Comp. Philo, de Sacr. Ab. et Cain § 28
(1.181 M.)
ouj dij o{rkon pisto;" oJ qeo;" ajlla; dij aujto;n kai; oJ o{rko" bevbaio" . For ajduvnaton comp. Heb. 6:4; 10:4; 11:6; and for ajduvn. yeuv". see Tit. 1:2; Clem.
R. i. c. 27
oujde;n ajduvnaton para; tw'/ qew'/ eij mh; to; yeuvsasqai . For illustrations of the ‘divine impossibility’ see John 5:19 note. Aug. de civ. 5.10 Recte quippe [Deus] omnipotens dicitur qui tamen mori et falli non potest. Dicitur enim omnipotens faciendo quod vult, non patiendo quod non vult; quod ei si accideret nequaquam esset omnipotens. Unde propterea quaedam non potest quia omnipotens est.

The use of oJ qeov" (Heb. 6:17) and qeovn is instructive. In the second case the idea is rather that of the nature of God than of His Personality: ‘impossible for Him who is God....’
oiJ katafugovnte" krath'sai ...] we who at the decisive moment fled for refuge to lay hold of .... Comp 4:3 oiJ pisteuvsante" . Every other support was
abandoned. The word occurs again Acts 14:6. Delitzsch refers to two striking passages of Philo:
Leg. All. iii. § 12 (1:95) oJ de; ejnantivo" touvtw/ (who is destitute of feeling for the noble) feuvgei me;n ajfj eJautou' katafeuvgei dj ejpi; to;n tw'n o[ntwn qeovn . de prof. § 18 (1.560) mhvpotj ou\n hJ presbutavth ... mhtrovpoli" (among the cities of refuge) oJ qei'ov" ejsti lovgo" ejfj o}n prw'ton katafeuvgein wjfelimwvtaton . So Clement speaks of Christians as tou;" prospefeugovta" toi'" oijktirmoi'" aujtou' [ tou' megavlou dhmiourgou' kai; despovtou tw'n aJpavntwn ] dia; tou' kurivou hJmw'n jIhsou' Cristou' (1 Cor. 20).

The words krath'sai t. prok. ejlp. appear to be connected in different ways both with katafugovnte" and with paravklhsin . The position of the words


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