maintenance of faith. This is the ever-present antithesis of religion. That which God has done is absolute; but man's appropriation of the gift must be by continuous effort. Comp. Col. 3:3, 5 ( ajpeqavnete ..., nekrwvsate ou\n ). ejavnper th;n ajrchvn ...] if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. Vulg. si initium substantiae ejus usque ad finem firmum retineamus. The beginning of our confidence is more than our first confidence. It describes that which is capable (so to speak) of a natural growth; a principle which is active at first, and continues to be progressively energetic. Comp. Heb. 10:32 ff.
There can be no doubt that
uJpovstasi"
is here used to express that resolute confidence, which opposes a strong resistance to all assaults. It is used in late Greek writers for firmness of endurance under torture (Diod. Sic.
2.557
hJ ejn tai'" basavnoi" uJpovstasi" th'" yuch'"
); and generally for courageous firmness of character (Polyb. 6.55, 2): and so for resolution (Diod. Sic. 2.57
kata; th;n ijdivan uJpovstasin
). The word occurs in a similar sense in 2 Cor. 9:4; 11:17. Compare Heb. 1:3; 11:1 and notes.
The Fathers give an objective sense to uJpovstasi" , as expressing that in virtue of which we are what we are, believers united with Christ, and this is expressed by the Vulgate ( substantiae ejus ). Thus Chrysostom: tiv ejsti;n ajrch; th'" uJpostavsew" ; th;n pivstin levgei, dij h|" uJpevsthmen kai; gegenhvmeqa kai; sunousiwvqhmen, wJ" a[n ti" ei[poi . And Theodoret: th;n ajrch;n th'" uJpostavsew"
[ th;n pivstin ] kevklhken : dij ejkeivnh" ga;r ejneourghvqhmen kai; sunhvfqhmen tw'/ despovth/ cristw'/ kai; th'" tou' panagivou pneuvmato" meteilhvfamen cavrito" . And Theophylact: toutevstin th;n pivstin, dij aujth'" ga;r uJpevsthmen kai; oujsiwvqhmen th;n qeivan kai; pneumatikh;n oujsivwsin kai; ajnagevnnhsin .
And so Primasius more in detail: Initium substantiae dicit fidem Christi, per quam subsistimus et renati sumus, quia ipse est fundamentum omnium virtutum. Et bene substantiam eam vocat, quia sicut corpus anima subsistit et vivificatur, ita anima fide subsistit in Deo et vivit hac fide. Substantia autem Christi appellatur fides vel quia ab illo datur, vel certe quia ipse per eam habitat in cordibus fidelium.
According to this interpretation hJ ajrch; th'" uJpostavsew" has the same general sense as has been already given to uJpovstasi" alone. mevcri tevlou" ] until the end. The end is not exactly defined. The writer leaves it undetermined whether the close of trial is the close of the individual life or of the age itself. Comp. Heb. 6:11.
3:15. ejn tw'/ levgesqai ] The connexion of the quotation is uncertain. It has been taken closely with v. 16. But the question tivne" gavr , which marks a beginning, is fatal to this view.
Again it has been taken with v. 14, or, more particularly, with the conditional clause of it
ejavnper
....This connexion gives a good sense, and
brings the necessity of effort into close relation with obedience to every voice of God.
Chrysostom, followed by the later Greek commentators, supposed that the whole passage vv. 15-19 is an irregular parenthesis, and that the sequel of v. 14 is in Heb. 4:1. But the abrupt ejn tw'/ levgesqai without any particle, followed by tivne" gavr ...;, is strongly against this view, and also against the view that a new paragraph is begun in 3:15, which is not formally completed.
It is on the whole most natural to connect the quotation with v. 13.