Interpretation of Hebrews preface–1.10

Those who have caught the Arian disease do nothing surprising when they rage against the apostolic writings, separating the letter to the Hebrews from the rest and calling it spurious. For those who move their tongues against our God and Saviour, what would they not dare against his loyal and loud-voiced heralds of the truth? For it is the saying of the Master himself: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” But they ought, if nothing else, at least to have respected the length of time during which the nurslings of the church have continued to read this letter in the churches. For from the time the churches of God received the apostolic writings, from that time they have reaped the benefit of the letter to the Hebrews as well. And if not even this is enough to persuade them, [they ought to have been persuaded] at least by Eusebius of Palestine, whom they call the advocate of their own doctrines. For he too acknowledged that this letter is the most divine Paul’s, and said that all the ancients held this opinion about it. But these men, bidding farewell to all, shamelessly fight against the truth, unable to bear the brilliance of the apostolic theology with which the opening is adorned. For being unable to contradict what is said expressly about the divinity of the Only-begotten, they dared to reject the whole letter, although both in its doctrines and in its other arguments it has a close kinship with the other letters. As a pretext for the accusation they allege that the apostolic title is not placed in the opening as [in the others]. But they ought to have perceived that he had been appointed apostle of those who believed from the gentiles, and not of those from the Jews. For the Lord said to him: “Hurry and get out of here quickly, for they will not accept your testimony about me. Go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles.” And he made such agreements with the others as well: “For James,” he says, “and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcision.” So too, writing to the Romans, he said: “Inasmuch as I am an apostle of the gentiles, I glorify my ministry.” For this reason, when writing to those who believed from the gentiles, he both added his title and set forth his apostolic rank, as a teacher writing to disciples; but writing to Hebrews, whose care had not been entrusted to him, he fittingly offered the teaching stripped of rank; for they were under the care of the other apostles. That the letter is full of spiritual grace, and offers not even the slightest occasion for slander, the interpretation in detail will teach more clearly. The subject of the letter is this. Those afflicted with the disease of unbelief surrounded those who had believed from the Jews with many and various pains. The divine Apostle mentioned these sufferings when writing to the Thessalonians too: “For you became imitators,” he says, “of the churches of God that are in Judea; for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.” And writing to these too he added this: “And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.” And the blessed Luke teaches us that before his calling the divine Apostle was ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women and handing them over to prison. And not only did the unbelievers dare these things against the believers, but they also mocked them as men who had consented to believe in a man who had died, and … [as having abandoned the law given by God]. For this reason the divine Apostle at once, in the opening, shows him to be greater than all the prophets. Then, beginning the theology, he declares him eternal, co-eternal with the Father, and creator of all things. Next, comparing him with the angels, he brings forward the divine Scripture, which teaches plainly that he is Son and God, but they are ministers and creatures. From there he shows that what was given by the Master Christ is greater than what was brought in through Moses. For the one gave the Old Covenant, the other the New, which he had promised beforehand through the ancient prophets; and the one promised to give Palestine, the other the kingdom of heaven. He also compares with the Levitical priesthood the [priesthood] “according to the order of Melchizedek,” and shows its superiority. Besides this, he shows that those nurtured in godliness before the law and under the law became illustrious through faith. He tells of their sufferings and their courage too, anointing his readers for the dangers. Then, having reminded them of their own contests and exhorted them to stand firm courageously to the end, and having joined moral exhortation to the doctrinal teaching, he has completed the letter. He wrote it in the language of the Hebrews; and they say it was translated by Clement. Now let us take up the interpretation. “In many parts and in many ways God spoke of old to the fathers in the prophets; in these last days he has spoken to us in a Son.” He has clearly shown the difference between the Master Christ and the prophets; for he called him alone Son. The opening resembles the Lord’s parable. For the Lord, telling the Jews the parable of the vineyard, showed first slaves sent to the wicked tenants, and then, after these had been killed, the son arriving. Now “in many parts” signifies the various dispensations, and “in many ways” the difference of the divine visions. For he appeared one way to Abraham, another way to Moses, another to Elijah, and another to Micaiah; and Isaiah and Daniel and Ezekiel saw different shapes. Teaching this the God of all said: “I multiplied visions, and by the hands of the prophets I was represented.” For the divine nature is not many-formed, but without form and shape, simple and uncompounded. So they did not see the unattainable nature itself, but certain shapes, which the invisible God showed as need required. “In many parts” also hints at something else: that each of the prophets was entrusted with some partial dispensation; but their God, I mean the Master Christ, did not administer one particular need, but by becoming man accomplished the whole and brought about the salvation of human beings. And it is shown that he is the one lawgiver of the old and the new. “Whom he appointed heir of all things.” The divine Apostle began from the human things, and, speaking first of the lowlier, so goes on to the greater. For the Master Christ is heir of all things not as God but as man. For as God he is maker of all things, and the creator of all is by nature Master of all; but an heir is declared lord of what he was not master of before. So believers are heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ; for by grace they receive what they did not have before. That he himself is Master of all, what follows bears witness: “Through whom also he made the ages.” This points to the divinity; for he showed him to be not only creator but also eternal. For an age is not a substance, but a thing without subsistence of its own, which accompanies whatever has a created nature. For the span from the constitution of the world to the consummation is called an age; so the Lord too said: “Behold, I am with you all the days, until the consummation of the age.” And the divine David called the time of each one’s life an age: “Our age,” he says, “is in the light of your face.” And the divine Apostle called the state of the future life an age: “Not only,” he says, “in this age, but also in the one to come.” And again: “So that in the coming ages he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us.” An age, then, is the span joined to created nature. And by calling the Son maker of the ages, he teaches that he is eternal, and instructs us that he always was, [before] anything whatever. So the Old Scripture says of God the Father: “He who exists before the ages,” in place of “he who always is.” Then, since he had declared the Son eternal, and it seemed somehow incredible to those uninitiated in divine things that one who is a son should not be second to his begetter in time, he shows the truth of the theology from a visible image, and says: “Who being the radiance of his glory.” For the radiance is both from the fire and with the fire; it has the fire as its cause, yet it is inseparable from the fire; for from the time the fire is, from that time the radiance is too. If, then, among things perceived by the senses it is possible for something to be from something and to coexist with that from which it is, do not doubt, he says, that God the Word, the only-begotten Son of God, both is begotten as light and coexists with his begetter as Word, as radiance of glory. For from the time the glory is, from that time the radiance is too; and the glory is always; therefore the radiance too is always. And the radiance is of the same nature as the fire; so too is the Son with the Father. And since the image of the radiance sufficiently showed the co-eternity and the consubstantiality, but offered an occasion for blasphemy to those sick with the errors of Sabellius and Photinus (for the radiance does not subsist by itself), by another image he banishes this blasphemy too. For he adds: “And the exact imprint of his hypostasis.” For he subsists by himself, he says, showing the whole Father in himself; for he bears the Father’s features. Like this is what the Lord said to Philip: “He who has seen me has seen my Father.” So by several names the divine Apostle taught the genuineness of the begetting, the consubstantiality, and the co-eternity. For since divine things surpass every mind, and it is not possible to teach the mystery of theology through one image only, the heralds of the truth are compelled to do it through several. So the inspired John named the Son “Word.” For since passion and time are joined to human begetting, he necessarily called him Word, to show that the begetting is impassible and timeless. And so that no one should suppose in turn that he is a word without subsistence, as Marcellus and Photinus and Paul held, he necessarily added: “And the Word was God,” signifying his own hypostasis, displaying the one nature, and teaching that the begetting is impassible and timeless. So the blessed Paul called him Son, showing him to be other than the Father by the principle of individual property. He called him Maker of the ages, teaching his eternity by this. He named him also radiance of glory, signifying by this both his co-eternity and the identity of substance; for the radiance is from the nature of the fire. And he added that he is also the exact imprint of the hypostasis, teaching both at once: that he subsists by himself, and that he shows in himself the Father’s features. And he adds yet another thing: “And upholding all things by the word of his power.” For he not only made all things, but also directs and steers them. He showed the surpassing greatness of his power by saying that a word suffices him for the creation and providence of all. For he said: “Let there be light,” and there was light; and he said, “Let there be a firmament,” and it was so; and all the rest likewise. So too the blessed David said: “He spoke, and they came into being; he commanded, and they were created.” Seeing that this theology is beyond dispute, those who hold the views of Arius tried to cast this letter out of the apostolic treasuries. For this reason we have shown that it agrees with the teachings of the Gospels. Now the divine Apostle, having thus gone through what concerns the divine nature, passes on to the human things, teaching the mystery of the incarnation. “Having made purification of our sins through himself, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” “Through him” should be read with a rough breathing, in place of “through himself.” For this Son of the Father, who is with his begetter, the creator and ruler of all, who shows the Father in himself, having become man brought about our salvation. And “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” is said in human fashion. For being Most High he humbled himself, and being God he became man. It was not that, being lowly, he was exalted, nor that, being man, he became God; but as God he was always Master of all, and as man he received the glory that he had as God. This he himself said in the holy Gospels: “Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was.” And he asked not to receive what he did not have, but that what he had might be shown.

“Having become as much better than the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” This too he has said in respect of the human. For as God he is maker of angels and Master of angels; but as man, after the resurrection and the ascent into heaven, he became better than angels, since he had also been lower than angels because of the suffering of death: “For we see Jesus, made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death.” Just as, then, he was lower than angels as man, since they have an immortal nature while he underwent the passion, so after the ascent into heaven he became better than angels: “For he sat far above every rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” The divine Apostle also makes the comparison from the names. So too he made the comparison with the prophets, showing the Master Christ to be Son; so too in the case of the angels he mentions the sonship, and by it shows the difference. “Having become as much better than the angels,” he says, “as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” That he means the name of sonship, what follows teaches.

“For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you? And again: I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son?” These things too he has said in respect of the human. For this is what “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” shows; for these words are of future time. And indeed “Today I have begotten you” does not signify the eternal begetting, but the begetting joined to time. Such is the saying: “Today, if you hear his voice.” And what was said before these, “he has inherited a name,” agrees with them. For the one who is Son by nature does not receive this by grace; for he has it by nature. But, as I have already said, having taught the divine things, here he goes through what concerns the incarnation, and teaches that the same one is both maker of all as God and heir of all as man; both creator of angels as God and become better than they as man; both Son by nature, and receiving this again as man, what he had as God. And what follows agrees with what has been said.

“And when again he brings the Firstborn into the world, he says: And let all the angels of God worship him.” Both “he brings the Firstborn” and also “let them worship” hint at the incarnation. For he who upholds all things by the word of his power, the maker and creator of the ages, from where does he enter the world? And how is the Only-begotten Firstborn? And if the angels worshipped him after the incarnation, did they not offer him this honour before the incarnation? But he was both everywhere as God and entered the world as man. So too the inspired John said: “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” These things seem somehow contrary. For if he was in the world, how did he come? And if he came, how was he in the world? But he was both in the world as God and came as man. So too he is Only-begotten as God, and Firstborn as … he received from the angels; for he was always God; but they worshipped him also as man. Having made this comparison too in respect of the human, he passes again to the divine things, and says: “And of the angels he says: He who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son: Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” Through these words he has clearly shown that the angels have a created nature, but the only-begotten Son is uncreated and eternal. “For your throne,” he says, “O God, is for ever and ever.” And through these words he has taught us that “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” was said in human fashion. For as God he has an eternal throne, and a kingdom without beginning and without end. And here too, moreover, the human things are joined. For “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you” is said in respect of the human. For the prophet Isaiah too, having foretold the things about Emmanuel, added this as well: “Before the child knows good or evil, he refuses wickedness, to choose the good.” And the anointing was not of the divinity but of the humanity. This the difference too teaches: “With the oil of gladness,” he says, “beyond your companions.” And we are companions and partners not of the divinity but of the humanity. This too the divine Apostle taught in the letter to the Philippians: “For he will transform,” he says, “the body of our humiliation, so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” For the body of the saints will be conformed not to the divinity but to the body of glory. This testimony, moreover, has refuted the blasphemy of Arius as well; for it has shown that the throne of God the Word is eternal; and by the duality of the persons it has driven out the confusion of Sabellius. And this same thing stops the shameless mouth of the Jews. And the divine Apostle added another testimony proclaiming his divine nature: “And you, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain, and they will all grow old like a garment; and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail.” He showed him to be creator of all; for through heaven and earth he included all things in them. He taught that he is unchangeable and unalterable; for this is what “they will perish, but you remain” shows. He indicated also the change of creation for the better that will come about from him, and that he himself is without beginning and imperishable. “For you,” he says, “are the same, and your years will not fail.” For you did not come into being, but you are; nor do you admit any alteration; for you are always the same. These words show also the impassibility of the divinity. For if it had suffered, how is it the same? For it would have been altered; and if it had spent three days in death, its years would have failed. But both the prophet and the Apostle teach us, the one who wrote the testimony and the other who used it, that he is always the same, and his years will not fail. Having thus gone through the divine things, he turns again to the human …

“And to which of the angels has he ever said: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?” For if he says this to him as God, “Sit at my right hand,” how could that be? For “his throne is for ever and ever.” It is as man, then, that he has shared in this honour; for as God he has an eternal throne. … “sent out for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” He has sufficiently shown the difference in respect of the human too. For he, he says, sits at the right hand; but these are sent as servants for the sake of the salvation of human beings. Then he turns his word to [exhortation], and says: