tevkna ... parameivnanta ). It would be pointless to say that death hindered them from living: it hindered them from discharging the function which was necessary for man's well-being.
Heb. 7:24. oJ de; dia; to; mevnein ... th;n iJerw" .] He, because He abideth for ever, hath His priesthood inviolable. Vulg. Hic autem eo quod maneat in aeternum sempiternum habet sacerdotium. In both respects Christ offers a contrast with the Levitical priests. He abides for ever, though in this sense it is not said that He abides with us ( paramevnein ), while they were hindered by death from so abiding. In this respect Christ's eternal abiding as Son (John 8:35; 12:34; comp. Heb. 7:28) is contrasted with the transitory continuance of mortal men on earth. And again the fact that He abides for ever in virtue of His Nature involves the further fact that He will fulfil His priestly office for ever.
Jesus quia immortalis est sempiternum habet sacerdotium; nec ullum habere poterit subsequentem, eo quod ipse maneat in aeternum (Primas.).
ajparavbaton e[cei th;n iJer.
] Literally
hath His priesthood inviolable
, unimpaired, and so unchangeable. The word
ajparavbato"
has caused difficulty from early times (Ambr.
impraevaricabile
, Aug.
intransgressible:
Theophlct.
toutevstin ajdiavkopon, ajdiavdocon
). There appears to be no independent authority for the sense untransmitted, that does not pass to another. According to the analogy of
a[bato", ejpivbato"
, the form
paravbato"
expresses that which is or may be transgressed, invaded.
jAparavbato"
is therefore that which cannot be (or in fact is not) overstepped, transgressed, violated, that which is absolute. Thus Galen speaks of observing an absolute law (
novmon ajparavbaton fulavttein
). Compare Epict.
Ench.
50, 2
(
novmo" ajparavbato"
); Pseudo-Just.
Quaest. ad Orthod.
§ 27; Jos.
c. Ap.
2.41 (
tiv eujsebeiva" ajparabavtou
(
inviolate
)
kavllion
; but in
Antt.
18.9 (10), 2 he uses it of men
ajparavbatoi memenhkovte"
in connexion with the phrase
oujdj a]n aujtoi; parabaivhmen
). So the word is used in connexion with
qewriva, tavxi", eiJmarmevnh
(comp. Wetst.
ad loc.
). Christ's Priesthood is His alone, open to no rival claim, liable to no invasion of its functions.
Heb. 7:25. o{qen kaiv ] whence (Heb. 2:17 note) also , because His priesthood is absolute and final, He is able to fulfil completely the ideal office of the priest.
If Christ's priesthood had failed in any respect then provision would have been made for some other. But, as it is, the salvation wrought by Christ reaches to the last element of man's nature and man's life. In relation to man fallen and sinful swvzein expresses the same idea as teleiou'n applied to man as he was made by God (comp. 2:10), and it finds its fulfilment in the whole course of his existence. The thought here is not of the world (John 3:17) but of believers: not of salvation in its broadest sense, but of the working out of salvation to the uttermost in those who have received the Gospel.
Thus the present ( swvzein ) as distinguished from the aorist ( sw'sai ) has its full force. The support comes at each moment of trial.
The present occurs again 1 Cor. 15:2; Jude 23; Heb. 7:7 (Acts 27:20, contrasted with 31). For the aorist, see Rom. 8:24; Tit. 3:5; 1 Tim. 1:15.
eij" to; pantelev"
]
completely, wholly, to the uttermost.
Comp. Lk. 13:11 (with neg.). The phrase does not occur elsewhere in the N.T. The old commentators strangely explain it as if it were
eij" to; dihnekev"
(so Latt.
in perpetuum
).