Warning against Neglect
1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. v 2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding ,w and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, x 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? y This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. z 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will. a
Jesus and Humanity
5 For he has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about. 6 But someone somewhere has testified:
What is man that you remember him,
or the son of man that you care for him?
7 You made him lower than the angels
for a short time;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and subjected everything under his feet.
For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. b 9 But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death c for everyone—crowned with glory and honor d because he suffered death. e
10 For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—for whom and through whom all things exist—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. f 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, g 12 saying:
I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters;
I will sing hymns to you in the congregation. ,h
13 Again, I will trust in him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave me. ,i
14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil j— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. k 16 For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. l 17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement ,m for the sins of the people. n 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
2:1–4. The preceding exposition is now applied in the first of many exhortatory sections that punctuate the letter and demonstrate its true purpose. The readers had no reservations concerning the legitimacy and severity of the sanctions of the Mosaic law, though it was mediated by angels (2:2; cf. Dt 33:2 LXX; Ac 7:53; Gl 3:19). How much more, then, ought they to fear the consequences of slighting a revelation communicated immediately by one far greater than angels, attested by eyewitnesses, and confirmed by miraculous signs of various kinds (2:3–4)?
2:5. In the next section (2:5–18) the contrast between Christ and the angels continues. The assertion of the sovereignty of the Son over the world to come may be a direct rebuttal of such speculation regarding the role of angels in the coming kingdom entertained among some Jews. “The world to come” is the author’s theme and thus may be identified with the salvation just mentioned in 2:3 (cf. 9:28). Throughout Hebrews, the author views salvation in terms of its future consummation. Its present dimensions are not emphasized, since they are not immediately relevant to the author’s purpose, which is to call readers to that persevering faith which alone obtains entrance to the heavenly country (10:35–39).
2:6–9. The citation of Ps 8:4–6 (2:6b–8a) is introduced with an expression of striking indifference to the human authorship of Scripture (2:6a). The psalm itself harks back to Gn 1:26 and the supreme dignity bestowed on humanity, God’s unique image bearer and vice regent. Elsewhere in the NT (Mt 21:16; 1 Co 15:27; Eph 1:22) it receives a messianic interpretation. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of that dignity as the Son of Man and last Adam.
2:10. In the following paragraphs (2:10–18) the author explains why the Son had to become human and suffer and die. As the larger subject of the comparison of the Son to angels is not forgotten (2:16), it may be assumed that this explanation is offered in part to allay the suspicion of the readers that Jesus’s reputation, on account of his humanity and humiliation at the hands of mere mortals, suffers in comparison with that of such purely spiritual and mighty beings.
2:11–13. In Hebrews the sanctification that results from Christ’s sacrifice is reconciliation to God (2:11a; cf. 10:10, 14, 29). What makes Christ one with the beneficiaries of his sacrifice is not that they have the same Father (both being children of God) but that they share a common humanity. “Is not ashamed” (2:11b) is an affirmation of the compassionate identification of Christ with his unworthy people, which led him to empty himself (cf. Php 2:6–8).
2:14–15. The point of Christ’s sharing humanity is recapitulated and elaborated. It was necessary that the Son of God become human, since a human death was required for the sin that separated humankind from God and rendered humankind subject to the devil (2:14). Only a human could die, and only the God-man could die for the sins of the world (Gl 4:4–5). The breaking of the devil’s grip is accomplished precisely by the breaking of the grip of sin (Eph 2:1–5), and liberation from the fear of death (2:15) is nothing else but liberation from the guilt of sin or liability to God’s wrath (1 Co 15:54–57).
2:16–18. The author further develops the rationale for the incarnation. Because Christ’s purpose was to “help” the people of God rather than angels (2:16), he had to become human. Abraham’s descendants are characteristically viewed as a spiritual rather than a racial entity—the elect of God (Rm 9:6; 11:1–8; Gl 3:29). To deliver humankind required that Christ become his people’s high priest, to represent them in offering himself as their substitute, and in dying for them to appease God’s holy wrath against their sin (2:17). Christ’s atonement is at once the gift of God’s love and the requirement of his justice.