Hebrews 13:17–25

13:17 The hearers must not only remember their first generation of leaders (13:7); they must also listen to their present leaders, with teachable minds and submissive hearts. Our author offers reasons to persuade his readers to cooperate with these leaders, so perhaps his audience was reluctant to accept the second generation’s authority. Maybe the new leaders were being compared unfavorably to their predecessors or to interlopers who had introduced “diverse and strange teachings.” We know that Judaizers followed in Paul’s footsteps, luring Gentile believers toward Judaism’s regulations and rituals (Gal. 1:6–9; 4:12–20; 5:7–12; 6:12–13). Likewise, “super-apostles” inclined Christians in Corinth to despise Paul’s ministry (2 Cor. 10:7–12; 11:1–12:13). Perhaps these Hebrew Christians were being swayed by winsome teachers who contradicted the apostolic foundation laid by earlier leaders. “Obey [peithō] your leaders” enjoins not mindless submission but persuasion by the leaders’ biblical instruction—elsewhere this verb introduces conclusions of which the author is convinced on the basis of evidence (Heb. 6:9; 13:18; cf. Acts 17:4; 18:4; 19:8). When persuaded by sound doctrine, the hearers must “submit” (hypeikō).

They submit because of their leaders’ protective purpose and accountability to God. OT imagery forms the background of “they are keeping watch” and “will have to give an account.” “Keeping watch” refers to wakeful vigilance at night, when enemies might attack under cover of darkness (Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; Eph. 6:18). This was the duty of watchmen on city walls (Ezek. 33:6) and shepherds tending flocks in open country (Ezek. 34:8). Watchmen who fail to sound the alarm when enemies approach and shepherds who do not protect the flock from predators will answer to God for their negligence. All will give account to God (Rom. 14:12; Heb. 4:13; 10:30–31; 12:29; 1 Pet. 4:5).

Leaders are answerable not only for themselves but also for those they influence (Acts 20:26–31; James 3:1). Elders who shepherd others with humility and integrity can anticipate a reward from the chief shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1–4). When God settles accounts, not only the leaders’ conduct but also the response of those they lead will spell the difference between “joy” and “groaning.” A godly self-interest should move hearers to hear and heed their leaders, because they provide spiritual protection, and it “would be of no advantage to you” if, on the day of reckoning, leaders must report that the hearers’ have resisted God’s word.

13:18–19 Our author asks his hearers to pray for him, as Paul often does as well (Rom. 15:30–32; Eph. 6:19–20; Col. 4:3–4; 1 Thess. 5:25; cf. Phil. 1:19). His request honors his hearers, implying that they have the priestly privilege of access to God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:14–16). However, as Levitical priests interceded for other Israelites and as Jesus now intercedes for them (7:25), when the hearers “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (10:19–20) they must not only present their own requests but must also intercede for others.

Our author confidently appeals for prayer because his self-examination has persuaded him that he has a “clear [kalos] conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (cf. Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:12). Previously the “cleansing” (katharizō) of our consciences by the blood of Christ referred to the objective result of forgiveness, which immediately removes defilement and disqualification to approach God’s presence. Now, however, a (lit.) “good [kalos] conscience” reflects the subjective transformation God’s grace produces in believers’ motivations and desires over time.

The preacher mentions one specific request: that his friends ask God to hasten his return to them in person (cf. Rom. 15:30–32). His desire to be “restored” to them implies that he had previously ministered among them. This explains his detailed knowledge of their previous experience (Heb. 6:9–10; 10:32–34). Like other NT authors, he prefers ministry offered in person to written correspondence (Gal. 4:18–20; 3 John 13–14). He has urged them to encourage each other daily as they meet together (Heb. 3:13; 10:24–25), and he is eager to join them in that interaction. In the second cycle of closing news he will indicate that Timothy may accompany him “if he comes soon” (13:23), reemphasizing his sense of urgency to return to them “soon.”

13:20–21 As the author requested prayers for himself, so in return he invoked God’s blessing on his hearers. Although sometimes categorized as “wish-prayers,” this rich benediction and the briefer one in verse 25 are not merely the record of the author’s petition to God for his readers (as are, e.g., Eph. 1:15–23; Phil. 1:3–11). Benedictions have more weight than a petitioner’s supplication. They confer benefit through a minister authorized to speak from and for God. Benedictions in NT letters extend the OT tradition of priestly blessing on Israel with the threefold pronouncement of the Lord’s name to convey blessing, protection, favor, grace, and peace. “So shall [the priests] put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Num. 6:22–27).

The “God of peace” bestows blessing. “Peace” appeared previously in Hebrews in the interpretation of Melchizedek’s title of “king of Salem” (7:2), in Rahab’s kind treatment of Israelite spies (11:31), and in the command to “strive for peace with everyone” (12:14). Paul also describes God as the “God [or Lord] of peace” (Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9), specifically in benedictions (Rom. 15:33; 1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:16). Perhaps the frequency of this expression is attributable to the influence of the Aaronic blessing, which closes, “The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:26).

Hebrews has built its case for Jesus’ perpetual tenure as High Priest, in part, on the “power of [his] indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16), so that “he always lives to make intercession” for believers (7:25). Now, at last, our author explicitly announces Jesus’ resurrection, when God “brought [him] again from the dead.” As he has previously, our author builds anticipation by reserving the Savior’s name for the end of the clause (in Greek word order): “who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus” (cf. 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 7:22; 12:2, 24). Thus the name of Jesus concludes the description of the divine subject who blesses (13:20), and reappears to conclude the blessing he confers (13:21).

“Brought again” (or “led up,” anagō) is an unusual verb for resurrection (cf. Rom. 10:7), reflecting the influence of Isaiah 63:11, which reads in the LXX, “who brought up [anabibazō] from the earth the shepherd of the sheep.” In the exodus, the shepherd was Moses (cf. Ps. 77:20) and the rescue was from the sea; now the great shepherd, Jesus, has been “led up” from the realm of the dead. Jesus identified himself as the shepherd who would lay down his life to protect his sheep (John 10:1–18; cf. Ezek. 34:1–24; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4). Hebrews fittingly identifies his “blood of the eternal covenant” as the grounds of his resurrection. Moses sprinkled the “blood of the covenant” on the Israelites at Sinai (Heb. 9:20, citing Ex. 24:8), but they broke that covenant, and Jeremiah 31:31–34 pronounced it “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13). The new covenant, which Jesus’ blood inaugurates, secures our everlasting salvation, fulfilling God’s promises to establish an “eternal covenant” with his people (2 Sam. 23:5; Isa. 55:3; 61:8; Jer. 32:40; 50:5; Ezek. 16:59–60; 37:26).

The blessing is that God would “equip you with everything good,” enabling them to “do his will,” which is “pleasing in his sight” (cf. Rom. 12:2). God had provided grace “through Jesus Christ,” so the hearers had already been pursuing the “will of God” (Heb. 10:32–36). To continue such “pleasing” worship (euareston; 12:28; 13:16), they needed God to “equip” them (Eph. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:17), to be “working in” believers what he finds pleasing (Phil. 2:12–13). Jesus is the mediator through whom God’s mercy flows to us and through whom our grateful worship returns to God (Heb. 13:15). The doxology that concludes this benediction, “to whom be glory forever and ever,” refers to the “God of peace.” God’s grace at work in believers brings him glory (Rom. 11:36; 16:27; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:20; Jude 25; Rev. 1:6).

13:22–23 The author now revisits the themes of his hearers’ interpersonal relationships. He “appeals,” or “exhorts” (parakaleō), them to bear with his “word of exhortation [paraklēsis].” As noted in the Introduction, this expression designates what we call a sermon: a spoken exposition and application of Scripture, such as those offered in first-century synagogues or Christian congregations (Acts 13:15; 1 Tim. 4:13). Through his sermon, our author has brought exhortation, as he had urged his hearers to do for “one another” (Heb. 3:13; 10:25) and as God himself had done for them (6:18; 12:5). To support his exhortation to “bear with” the sermon (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3), the preacher appeals to its brevity. Previously he had abridged where he could have elaborated (Heb. 9:5; 11:32), accommodating his hearers’ attention span.

The author elaborates on his intention to return to his hearers (13:23; cf. v. 19) by mentioning that Timothy “has been released” from imprisonment and will accompany him “if he comes soon.” By this news the author shows that he too remembers those in prison (10:34; 13:3). Timothy is known to the audience, so he needs no further identification. He is probably the Timothy who served as Paul’s associate (Acts 16:1–4; 1 Cor. 4:17; Phil. 1:1; 1 and 2 Timothy). In the early church this mention of Timothy encouraged the tradition that Paul wrote Hebrews, but arguments against Pauline authorship are stronger (cf. Introduction). The NT never mentions Timothy’s imprisonment, but his presence with Paul while the apostle was imprisoned (Phil. 2:19–24) makes this scenario likely.

13:24 The exchange of greetings between a letter’s author and those with him, on the one hand, and its recipients, on the other, is customary in NT correspondence. Here our author gives precedence to “all your leaders,” reinforcing their authority, in case some in the congregation still fail to accord them the respect their office warrants (Heb. 13:17). He then greets “all the saints,” expressing inclusivity and reinforcing their unity (cf. Phil. 1:1; 4:21). “Those who come from Italy,” who were with the author and asked him to convey their greetings, might be people residing in Italy. But the ESV is probably correct: with the author are believers who now sojourn as expatriates away from Italy and wish to send greetings home. Perhaps they were exiled when Emperor Claudius banned Jews from the imperial capital (AD 49), as Aquila and his wife Priscilla had been (Acts 18:2). See Introduction: Date and Occasion.

13:25 The closing benediction, though similar to many others in the NT,¹ is filled with meaning because of the rich exposition of grace throughout this sermon-letter. Our preacher has used “grace” (charis) to identify God’s undeserved favor that:

• ordained the redemptive plan in which Christ “[tasted] death” for all his brothers (2:9);
• flows from God’s throne of grace to give timely help (4:16);
• characterizes the Spirit of God (10:19);
• epitomizes believers’ final inheritance and the means by which they reach it (12:15);
• strengthens hearts through faith in Christ’s priestly mediation (13:9).

Hebrews shows God’s grace with us in other ways. God acknowledges as sons and leads to glory (2:10) those who required purification of their consciences. This could be achieved only by the blood of Christ, shed to redeem us from the transgressions committed under the first covenant (9:13–15). Though once excluded from his presence by our defiance and defilement, we can now draw near in confident assurance of his welcome (10:19–22). We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and this gift from God makes us grateful and eager to offer worship that pleases him (12:28). Amid the dangers of our earthly pilgrimage, we have the promise of his constant presence and strong protection: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (13:5). God’s grace is indeed with us.