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victim.

Extra castra sunt carnes ejus crematae, id est extra Jerusalem igne passionis consumptae. Vel concrematio ad signum pertinet resurrectionis, quia natura ignis est ut in superna moveatur...(Herv.).

The use of the verb pavscein of Christ is characteristic of this Epistle, of 1 Peter, and of the Acts. It is found again Heb. 2:18; 5:8; 9:26; in 1 Peter 2:21, 23; (3:18;) 4:1; and in Acts 1:3; 3:18; 17:3. It does not occur in this connexion in the epistles of St Paul, though he speaks of the paqhvmata of Christ: 2 Cor. 1:5, 7; Phil. 3:10.

It is found in the Synoptic Gospels, Matt. 16:21; 17:12 and parallels: Luke 22:15; 24:26, 46.

See Heb. 2:10 note. e[xw th'" puvlh" ] Vulg. extra portam. The change from e[xw th'" parembolh'" , which occurs immediately before and after, is remarkable. Puvlh suggests the idea of ‘the city,’ rather than that of the camp, and so points to the fatal error of later Judaism, which by seeking to give permanence to that which was designed to be transitory marred the conception of the Law. In this aspect the variant povlew" (comp. Tert. adv. Jud. 14) is of interest.

The fact that the Lord suffered ‘without the gate’ (Lev. 24:14; Num. 15:35) is implied in John 19:17, but it is not expressly stated.

The work of Christ, so far as it was wrought on earth, found its consummation outside the limits of the symbolical dwelling-place of the chosen people. It had a meaning confined within no such boundaries. The whole earth was the scene of its efficacy. So also in the new Jerusalem there is no sanctuary (Apoc. 21:22). The whole city is a Temple and God Himself is present there.

Heb. 13:13, 14. Christ—not a dead victim merely but the living leader—is represented as ‘outside the camp,’ outside the old limits of Israel, waiting to receive His people, consumed and yet unconsumed. Therefore, the Apostle concludes, even now let us be on our way to Him, carrying His reproach, and abandoning not only the ‘city,’ which men made as the permanent home for God, but also moving to something better than ‘the camp,’ in which Israel was organised. No Jew could partake of that typical sacrifice which Christ fulfilled: and Christians therefore must abandon Judaism to realise the full power of His work. In this sense ‘it is expedient’ that they also ‘should go away,’ in order to realise the fulness of their spiritual heritage.

It is worthy of notice that the first tabernacle which Moses set up was ‘outside the camp’ (Ex. 33:7): ‘ and it came to pass that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp. ’ The history is obscure, but as it stands it is significant in connexion with the language of the Epistle.

Heb. 13:13. toivnun ] The word occurs in the same position in Luke 20:25 ( v. l. ) and in the LXX. Is. 3:10 & c., like toigarou'n Heb. 12:1; 1 Thess. 4:8.

ejxercwvmeqa ] The present expresses vividly the immediate effort. Comp. Heb. 4:16; Matt. 25:6; John 1:47; 6:37.

The words necessarily recal the voice said to have been heard from the Sanctuary before the destruction of the Temple, Metabaivnwmen ejnteu'qen (Jos. B. J. 6.5, 3).


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