makes it difficult to separate krath'sai from katafugovnte" ; and under any circumstances oiJ katafugovnte" would be most harsh if taken absolutely. At the same time the exact sense of krath'sai carries back the thought of krat. th'" prok. ejlp. to paravklhsin : that we who fled for refuge to seize the hope may have encouragement to keep hold on it.
The idea of krath'sai is to lay hold on and cling to that which has been so taken. See Heb. 4:14 note. By the choice of this word in place of labei'n or the like, the writer emphasises the special duty of the Hebrews to keep their own by a fresh effort that which they had originally felt to be the one spring of safety, even the hope based on the efficacy of Christ's work, and specially of His Priestly intercession, whereby the promise of universal blessing through Abraham's seed is fulfilled.
This hope is described as lying before us (comp. Heb. 12:1, 2), the prize of victory (Philo, de mut. nom. § 14; 1.591 M.), open and obvious, as soon as we embrace the Faith. It is treated as being at once God's gift and man's own feeling. It is both an objective hope and a subjective hope. For the power of hope see Rom. 8:24. Philo makes hope the characteristic of a true man Quod det. pot. ins. § 38 (1.218 M.) ejggravfetai ga;r th'/ qeou' bivblw/ o{ti movno" eu[elpi" ( leg. oJ eu[elpi" ) a[nqrwpo" : w{ste kata; ta; ejnantiva oJ duvselpi" oujk a[nqrwpo" . o{ro" ou\n ... tou' ... kata; Mwush'n ajnqrwvpou diavqesi" yuch'" ejpi; to;n o[ntw" o[nta qeo;n ejlpivzousa .
(
c
) The promise fulfilled in the exaltation of the Son of man (Heb. 6:19,
20).
Heb. 6:19, 20. The promise has been fulfilled for humanity in the Son of man. Hope therefore can now enter into the very Presence of God where Jesus is, a High-priest for ever.
19.
h}n wJ" a[gk. e[c.
] The hope created and sustained by the promise keeps the soul secure in all storms (1 Tim. 1:19). The Anchor, which is not mentioned in the O. T., is the familiar symbol of hope. Clement of Alexandria mentions it as a device on Christian rings (
Paed.
iii. § 59). It occurs commonly with the
ijcquv"
on epitaphs. And names of hope (Elpis, [Helpis,] Elpidius) are very frequent.
ajsf. te kai; beb. kai; eijserc.
] These words may refer, as far as the structure of the sentence is concerned, either to hope, the main subject, or to the anchor, with which it is compared. Patristic interpreters, following Chrysostom, connect them with the anchor, and endeavour to lessen the harshness of the last predicate (
eijsercomevnhn eij" to; ej". t. katap.
) by drawing an ingenious contrast between the earthly anchor which sinks to the depths of the sea, and the spiritual anchor which rises to the heights of heaven
(
deivknusin o{ti kainhv ti" au{th th'" ajgkuvra" hJ fuvsi", ouj kavtw pievzousa ajllj a[nw koufivzousa th;n diavnoian
Chrys.
ap.
Cram.
Cat.
7.522). But no explanation of the kind can remove the strangeness of the image or adapt the tense of
eijsercomevnhn
directly to the action of the anchor. It seems certain then that this clause at least must refer to hope. But there are still two possible combinations. The three predicates may be taken together referring to hope or the two first may be closely joined (
te...kaiv
... comp. Heb. 6:4) and referred to the anchor, while the third may give a second characteristic of hope (
wJ" a[gkuran
...
kai; eijsercomevnhn
). In favour of this view, which appears to be taken by OEcumenius and Theophylact, it may be urged that it gives