24:16; Jer. 18:8.
Heb. 7:22. kreivttono" ... jIhsou'" ] Jesus hath become surety of a better covenant (Vulg. melioris testamenti sponsor factus est Jesus ) in that He has shewn in His own Person the fact of the establishment of a New Covenant between God and man. This He has done by His Incarnation, issuing in His Life, His Death, His Resurrection, His eternal Priesthood. But inasmuch as the immediate subject here is Christ's Priesthood, the reference is especially to this, the consummation of the Incarnation. Jesusthe Son of manhaving entered into the Presence of God for men is the sure pledge of the validity of the New Covenant.
In later passages of the Epistle (8:6 note) Christ is spoken of as the Mediator of the New Covenant. He Himself brought about the Covenant; and He is the adequate surety of its endurance.
jIhsou'" ] The human name of the Lord stands emphatically at the end. (Comp. 6:20; 2:9 note.) Jesus, the Son of man, has been exalted to the right hand of God, where He is seated as King and Priest. In His divine humanity He assures us that God has potentially accomplished the purpose of Creation, and will accomplish it.
The word
e[gguo"
does not occur elsewhere in N.T. See Ecclus. 29:15
f.; 2 Macc. 10:28
e[gguon eujhmeriva" kai; nivkh"
. A surety for the most part pledges himself that something will be: but here the Ascended Christ witnesses that something is: the assurance is not simply of the future but of that which is present though unseen.
It must be noticed that Christ is not said here to be a surety for man to God, but a surety of a covenant of God with man.
Theodoret interprets the phrase too narrowly: dia; th'" oijkeiva" ajnastavsew" ejbebaivwse th'" hJmetevra" ajnastavsew" th;n ejlpivda .
For diaqhvkh see Additional Note on Heb. 9:16. 7:23-25. A second fact establishes the pre-eminence of Christ's Priesthood. It is held uninterruptedly by One Ever-living Priest.
7:23.
kai; oiJ me;n pl. eij. geg.
...
oJ dev
...]
And while they
the one class, the
Levitical priests
have been made priests many in number...He...hath His priesthood inviolable.
Vulg.
Et alii quidem plures facti sunt sacerdotes...hic autem
.... The Levitical priests held the priesthood in succession, one after
another. They were made priests many in number, not simultaneously but successively. The thought is of the line which represents the office. The covenant of an everlasting priesthood was not with Aaron personally, but with Aaron and his sons throughout their generations (Ex. 40:15; comp. Num. 25:13). At the same time it is a true thought that the perfect continuity of the office could only be secured by the existence of many priests at once (comp. Exod. 29); but that is not the point here.
The order in the words gegonovte" iJerei'" as compared with Heb. 7:20 iJerei'" gegonovte" is worthy of notice. In the former passage iJerei'" was accentuated: here the thought is of the number who are made priests. dia; to; q. kwl. paramevnein ] The multitude of the Levitical priests is a necessity, because they are hindered by death from abiding as priests among men. The statement is made generally and not of the past only. The use of the rare word paramevnein (Phil. 1:25, not 1 Cor. 16:6) implies the idea of fellowship, service on the part of the priests during their abiding ( i.e. paramevnein toi'" ajnqrwvpoi" , not th'/ iJerateiva/ . Hdt. 1.30