If then the construction is complete we must connect Heb. 3:7 directly with v. 12; but it is possible that the sentence begun in v. 7 is left formally unfinished, so that v. 12 takes up again the main thought. Such a broken construction may be compared with 10:16.
k. levgei to; pn. to; a{g.
] Comp. 9:8; 10:15; Acts 28:25. See also Mark 13:11; Acts 13:2; 20:23; 21:11; 1 Clem. 13:1; 16:2. The same words are afterwards referred to God: Heb. 4:4 f.
It is characteristic of the Epistle that the words of Holy Scripture are referred to the Divine Author and not to the human instrument. The phrase
to; pneu'ma to; a{gion
occurs again Heb. 9:8; 10:15: in clear contrast with
pneu'ma a{gion
2:4; 6:4. Comp. Heb. 10:29
to; pneu'ma th'" cavrito"
. The forms
to; pneu'ma
and
to; a{gion pneu'ma
, which are both used by St Paul, are not found in this Epistle. It is however to be noticed that the form
to; a{gion pneu'ma
is comparatively very rare. It occurs Matt. 28:19; Lk. 12:10, 12; Acts 1:8; 2:38; 9:31; 13:4; 16:6 (not 2:33; 10:45; 15:28); 1 Cor. (6:19;) 13:13.
shvmeron
]
Today.
Comp. 2 Cor. 6:2. The word emphasises the immediate necessity of vigilance and effort. In old times the people fell away when the divine voice was still sounding in their ears.
eja;n th'" f.
] The original may be rendered as a wish O that today ye would...; but the structure of the Psalm favours the rendering of the LXX. followed here, though, indeed,
ejavn
is used to represent a wish (Ps. 139:19).
th'" fwnh'" aujtou'
]
His voice
, that is, the voice of God spoken through Christ as the Apostle applies the words. The application to Christ of that which is said of the Lord in the Old Testament was of the highest moment for the apprehension of the doctrine of His Person. Comp. Acts 2:21. See Additional Note.
Heb. 3:8. mh; sklhruvnhte ...] Harden not ...Unbelief, like faith, finds one element in man's self-determination. The issue of unbelief is his act. On the other hand he is subject to adverse influences. It is alike true that he hardens his heart and also that he is hardened (v. 13). Scripture recognises man's responsibility and no less the inexorable law of moral consequence by the working of which God hardens the heart of the disobedient and self-willed. In this respect the variations in the narrative of the Exodus are most instructive. Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 8:15, 32; 9:34). The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart (Heb. 4:21; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). Pharaoh's heart was hardened (7:14, 22; 9:7, 35).
The word
sklhruvnein
, except in this context (3:13, 15; 4:7), is found in the N. T. only in Acts 19:9; Rom. 9:18. It is used in the LXX. of the heart, the spirit (Deut. 2:30), the back, the neck.
parapikrasmw'/
......
peirasmou'
] The original text gives the two proper
names:
As at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness;
and perhaps the LXX. which elsewhere gives equivalents for proper names, may have intended
Parapikrasmov"
and
Peirasmov"
to be so taken.
The two acts of faithlessness referred to cover the whole period of the forty years (Num. 20:1 ff.; Ex. 17:1 ff.; comp. Deut. 33:8).
The rendering kata; t. hJ. ( : wyk ) obscures the distinctness of the
second (first) event, but does not destroy it.
The preposition katav is probably to be understood in a temporal sense ( at the day ...3:13) and not of comparison, like as on...secundum diem