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action. All that the word requires is that the writer should have been kept from the Hebrews (in one sense) against his will. It may have been by illness.

For the word see Matt. 12:13; 17:11; Acts 1:6. Comp. Acts 3:21. It is not unfrequent in Polybius: 3:5, 4; 98, 9; 8:29, 6 & c.

By the use of it the writer suggests the idea of service which he had rendered and could render to his readers. He was in some sense required for their completeness; and by his presence he could remove the causes of present anxiety. Deivknusin o{ti qarrei' tw'/ suneidovti kai; dia; tou'to prostrevcei aujtoi'" (Theophlct.).

Quo celerius restituar vobis , hoc est, amplius pro vestra quam pro mea salute deprecor vos ut oretis pro me...ut...restituar non mihi sed vobis (Herv.). Heb. 13:20, 21. The Apostle has first asked for the prayers of his readers, and then he anticipates their answer by the outpouring of his own petitions in their behalf.

Notandum quod primo postulat ab eis orationis suffragium ac deinde non simpliciter sed tota intentione et omni prorsus studio suam orationem pro eis ad Dominum fundit (Primas.).

Comp. 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Pet. 5:10 f. Heb. 13:20. The aspects under which God is described as ‘the God of peace’ and the author of the exaltation of Christ, correspond with the trials of the Hebrews. They were in a crisis of conflict within and without. They were tempted to separate themselves from those who were their true leaders under the presence of unexpected afflictions (comp. 12:11); and they were tempted also to question the power of Christ and the efficacy of the Covenant made through Him.

The title ‘the God of peace’ is not uncommon in St Paul's Epistles: Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:11 ( oJ qeo;" th'" ajgavph" kai; eijr. ); 1 Thess. 5:23. Comp. 1 Cor. 14:33.

It is through God, as the author and giver of peace, that man is able to find the harmony which he seeks in the conflicting elements of his own nature, in his relations with the world, in his relations to God Himself. Tou'to ei\pe dia; to; stasiavzein aujtouv" (Chrys.).

jEpeidh; qeo;" eijrhvnh" ejsti; ouj dei' uJma'" diastasiavzein pro;" ejme; kai; tau'ta ajpo; ajkoh'" yilh'" (Theophlct.).

The thoughts which spring from the contemplation of the general character of God are deepened by the contemplation of His work for ‘our Lord Jesus.’ In the Resurrection of Christ we have the decisive revelation of victory over all evil, in the victory over death. Christ's Resurrection is the perfect assurance of the support of those who in any degree fulfil in part that pastoral office which He fulfilled perfectly.

This is the only direct reference to the Resurrection in the Epistle, just as Heb. 12:2 is the only direct reference to the Cross. The writer regards the work of Christ in its eternal aspects. Compare Additional Note.
oJ ajnag. ejk n. ] Vulg. qui eduxit de mortuis ( suscitat ex mortuis d). The phrase occurs again in Rom. 10:7. Compare Wisd. 16:13 katavgei" eij" puvla" a{/dou kai; ajnavgei" . The usage of the verb ajnavgein generally in the N. T., as well as the contrast in which it stands in these two passages to katavgein , shews that ajnagagwvn must be taken in the sense of ‘brought up’ and not of ‘brought again.’ The thought of restoration is made more emphatic by the


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