Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 3:16
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
16. some, when they had heard, did provoke ] Rattier, “Who ( ) when they heard, embittered (Him)”? This is the reading of the Peshito. It would have been absurd to use the word “some” of 600,000 with only two exceptions, Num 14:38; Jos 14:8-9.
howbeit not all ] Rather, “Nay! was it not all?” (i.e. all except Caleb and Joshua). It is true that the rendering is not free from difficulty, since there seems to be no exact parallel to this use of ‘ . But it involves less harshness than the other.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For some – Some of the Hebrews who came out of Egypt. The truth was that a large proportion of them rebelled against God, and provoked him to indignation. It is somewhat remarkable that though all the Hebrews seem to have joined in the provocation – except a very small number – Paul should have used language which would seem to imply that the number which rebelled was comparatively small. Another version, therefore, has been given to this passage by some of the most eminent critics, consisting merely in a change in the punctuation, by which a different view is given of the whole sentence. According to this, it would be a question, and would mean, But who were they who when they had heard did provoke? Were they not all indeed who came out of Egypt under Moses? And with whom was He angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? This version was adopted by Chrysostom, Theodoret, and others of the Fathers; and is adopted by Rosenmuller, Clarke, Stuart, Pyle, and some others. In favor of it, it may be alleged:
(1)That the Greek will bear it, all the change required being in the punctuation;
(2)That it avoids the difficulty which exists in the other interpretation of supposing the apostle to imply that but few of them rebelled, when the truth was that it was nearly all;
(3)It thus accords with the remainder of the exhortation, which consists in a series of questions; and,
(4)It agrees with the scope and design of the whole.
The object was not to state that it was not all who came out of Egypt that rebelled, or that the number was small, but that the great body of them rebelled and fell in the wilderness, and that Christians should be admonished by their example. These reasons seem to be so strong as to make it probable that this is the true construction, and the sense then will be, For who were they that having heard did provoke? Were they not all who came out of Egypt under Moses?
When they had heard – Had heard God speaking to them, and giving them his commands.
Did provoke – Provoked him to anger; or their conduct was such as was suited to produce indignation; see the note on Heb 3:8.
Howbeit – Alla. But. This particle in a series of questions, and standing at the head of a question, means but, further. It serves to connect, and give intensity to the interrogation – Stuart. Paul means to ask with emphasis whether the great mass of those who came out of Egypt did not apostatize? At the same time he means to intimate that there is no security that they who have witnessed – remarkable manifestations of the greatness of God, and who have partaken of extraordinary mercies, will not apostatize and perish. As the Hebrews, who heard God speak from Mount Sinai, revolted and perished, so it is possible that they who witness the mercies of God in redemption, may be in danger of abusing all those mercies, and of perishing. By the example, therefore, of the disobedient Israelites, he would admonish professed Christians of their danger.
Not all … – According to the interpretation proposed above, Were they not all who came out of Egypt? Or did not all who came out of Egypt? The word all here is not to be taken in the strict sense, It is often used to denote the great body; a large proportion; or vast multitudes. Thus, it is used in Mat 3:5, Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. So in Joh 3:26, The same baptizeth, and all people came to him. So Phi 2:21, For all seek their own; 2Co 3:2, Ye are our epistle, known and read of all men. In fact there were two exceptions – and but two – of the adults who came out of Egypt – Caleb and Joshua; Num 14:30. All the others complained against the Lord, and were prohibited from entering the promised land. Of the great multitudes who came out of Egypt, and who murmured, the exception was so small that the apostle had no scruple in saying in general that they were all rebellious.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Heb 3:16
Borne, when they had heard, did provoke
Some but not all bad
I.
MANY HEAR THE WORD OR VOICE OF GOD TO NO ADVANTAGE, BUT ONLY TO AGGRAVATE THEIR SIN. Their hearing renders their sin provoking unto God, and destructive to their own souls. It is, I confess, a great privilege for men to have the Word preached unto them, and to hear it (Psa 147:19-20). But privileges are as men use them. In themselves, they are of worth, and to be prized. But unto us, they are as they are used. Hence the gospel comes unto some a savour of death unto death (2Co 2:16). Yea, Christ Himself, in His whole ministry was a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Isa 8:14; Luk 2:34). And the enjoyment of any part of the means of grace is but a trial.
II. IN THE MOST GENERAL AND VISIBLE APOSTASIES OF THE CHURCH, GOD STILL RESERVES A REMNANT UNTO HIMSELF TO BEAR WITNESS UNTO:HIM AND FOR HIM, BY THEIR FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. This He hath done, and this He will do.
1. To maintain His own kingdom in the world.
2. Should all faith utterly fail in the earth, should all professors provoke God and apostatise from Him, all gracious intercourse between the Holy Spirit and mankind in the world would be at an end.
3. Goal will do this for the work that He hath for some of His in all ages and seasons to do in the world. And this is great and various. He will have some always to conflict with His adversaries and overcome them, and therein give testimony to the power of His grace and truth.
4. God will always have a testimony given to His goodness, grace, and mercy.
5. God will always have a revenue of especial glory out of the world, in and by His worship.
III. GOD LAYS A FEW, OFT-TIMES A VERY FEW, OF HIS SECRET ONES IN THE BALANCE AGAINST THE GREATEST MULTITUDE OF REBELS AND TRANSGRESSORS. They are His portion, His inheritance, His jewels, dear to Him as the apple of His eye, and deservedly preferred unto the greatest heap of chaff and rubbish. (John Owen, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. For some, when they had heard, did provoke] There is a various reading here, which consists merely in the different placing of an accent, and yet gives the whole passage a different turn: – , from , who, if read with the accent on the epsilon, , is the plural indefinite, and signifies some, as in our translation; if read with the accent on the iota, , it has an interrogative meaning; and, according to this, the whole clause, : But who were those hearers who did bitterly provoke? ‘ ; Were they not all they who came out of the land of Egypt by Moses? Or, the whole clause may be read with one interrogation: But who were those hearers that did bitterly provoke, but all those who came out of Egypt by Moses? This mode of reading is followed by some editions, and by Chrysostom and Theodoret, and by several learned moderns. It is more likely that this is the true reading, as all that follows to the end of the 18th verse is a series of interrogations.
Should it be said that all did not provoke, for Joshua and Caleb are expressly excepted; I answer, that the term all may be with great propriety used, when out of many hundreds of thousands only two persons were found who continued faithful. To these also we may add the priests and the whole tribe of Levi, who, it is very likely, did not provoke; for, as Dr. Macknight very properly remarks, they were not of the number of those who were to fight their way into Canaan, being entirely devoted to the service of the sanctuary. See Nu 1:3; Nu 1:45, and Nu 1:49. And therefore what remained of them after forty years, no doubt, entered Canaan; for it appears from Nu 34:17, and Jos 24:33, that Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was one of those who did take possession of Canaan. Should it be still said our version appears to be most proper, because all did not provoke; it may be answered, that the common reading, , some, is too contracted in its meaning to comprehend the hundreds of thousands who did rebel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: this is a rational enforcement of the former duty pressed; it being as possible for them to provoke Christ as others, they should look to it, and not harden their hearts; for the greater some, the most of the congregation of Israel, imbittered Gods Spirit by their unbelief and hardness of heart; though Christ spake to them from heaven, as never was before done, and daily by Moses they were hearing counsels by which they might live, yet provoked they him, and would not believe.
Howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses: this rightly interprets the psalmist, and sets a better example of their fathers for them to follow. Let Caleb and Joshua, believers, and obedient to God, be your patterns to imitate. He aggravates the disobedience of the one, and the obedience of the other. They all had equally a clear exemption and deliverance from the place of bondage, and that by Moses, by whom God wrought such miracles as might command faith from any; yet these some, by murmuring and striving with the Redeemer, provoked him: how great is their sin! How suitable and pleasing the obedience of the others to him!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. For someratherinterrogatively, “For WHOwas it that, when they had heard (referring to ‘if ye will hear,‘Heb 3:15), did provoke (God)?”The “For” implies, Ye need to take heed against unbelief:for, was it not because of unbelief that all our fathers wereexcluded (Eze 2:3)? “Some,”and “not all,” would be a faint way of putting hisargument, when his object is to show the universality of theevil. Not merely some, but all the Israelites, for thesolitary exceptions, Joshua and Caleb, are hardly to be taken intoaccount in so general a statement. So Heb 3:17;Heb 3:18, are interrogative: (1)the beginning of the provocation, soon after the departure fromEgypt, is marked in Heb 3:16;(2) the forty years of it in the wilderness, Heb3:17; (3) the denial of entrance into the land of rest, Heb3:18. Compare Note, see on 1Co10:5, “with the majority of them God was displeased.”
howbeit“Nay (whyneed I put the question?), was it not all that came out of Egypt?”(Exo 17:1; Exo 17:2).
by Mosesby theinstrumentality of Moses as their leader.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For some, when, they had heard,…. The Arabic version adds, “his voice”; the law on Mount Sinai; the voice of words, with the voices and thunderings that attended it; the book of the covenant read; the whole system of laws and ordinances delivered to Moses, and by him to them; and also the Gospel, for that was preached to the Israelites in the wilderness, and heard by them; as appears from Heb 4:2 and which seems chiefly intended: and yet some of the hearers of it
did provoke; not only Moses, to speak unadvisedly with his lips; but they provoked Jehovah himself, and the angel of his presence, and his Holy Spirit, by their idolatry, ingratitude, and unbelief: and the aggravation of their sin is, that they did it when they had heard the Gospel, and while they were hearing it; which shows that the Gospel may be heard to no advantage; as when it is heard in a careless and indifferent manner; when it makes no impression, takes no place, and has no root; when the world and the things of it are the great concern of the mind, while hearing it; when it is not attended with the power and Spirit of God; when it is not received in love, nor mixed with faith, nor put in practice: and hence the Gospel heard, comes to be an aggravation of men’s condemnation:
howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses; that is, they did not all provoke, but some did; which is another aggravation of their sin; they were just come out of Egyptian bondage; brought out of it by the Lord, with the mighty and outstretched arm of his power; and yet they provoked him: and this was done by Moses; by the hand of Moses, as the Syriac version renders it; by his means, by him as an instrument; and yet they provoked him: but however all did not, yet these were but few; it seems only Caleb and Joshua, out of six hundred thousand; God will have a few to serve him in the worst of times.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Who (). Clearly interrogative, not indefinite (some).
Did provoke (). First aorist active indicative of , apparently coined by the LXX like (verse 15) to which it points, exasperating the anger of God.
Nay, did not all (‘ ). “A favourite device of the diatribe style” (Moffatt), answering one rhetorical question with another (Lu 17:8) as in verses Heb 3:17; Heb 3:18, There was a faithful minority mentioned by Paul (1Co 10:7f.).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
For some, when they had heard, did provoke [ ] . Rend. who, when they heard, did provoke ? The interrogative tinev calls special attention to those who provoked God. The writer would say, ” My warning against apostasy is not superfluous or irrelevant : for, consider : who were they that provoked God ? They were those who had fairly begun their journey to Canaan, as you have begun your Christian course. They provoked God, so may you. Howbeit not all [ ] . Wrong. The interrogation should be continued. Who were they? But [] why do I ask? Were they not all who came out of Egypt by Moses ? They were so numerous that they practically constituted the whole generation of the exodus. So far from its being true that a good ending necessarily follows a good beginning, a whole generation of God ‘s chosen people failed to reach the Land of Promise because they provoked God.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For some, when they had heard, did provoke,” (tines gar alkousantes parepikranon) “For there were some who hearing (distinctly understanding), still provoked (God)” did they not? This is a rhetoric question suggesting an affirmative reply – They did, about 600,000 of them as adults, Num 14:26-38; Jos 14:8-9.
2) “Howbeit not aII, (aII’ ou pantes) “But (certainly) not aII, who heard provoked him; Joshua, Caleb, the women and children of Israel did not; and the Levites, and those under twenty years of age did not provoke him to cut their lives short as did the others.
3) “That came out of Egypt by Moses,” (hoi ekselthones eks aiguptou dia Mouseos) “Those coming up out of Egypt through Moses’ leadership,” provoked him, did they? The answer is “no,” Num 14:4-24; Deu 1:34-38, Joshua and Caleb did not provoke him to anger; They entreated the people to obey God’s voice, and were rewarded for it with long lives, useful service, and positions of honor; Num 14:37-38; Jos 14:10-14; Jos 15:14; Exo 17:9; Exo 24:13; Jos 24:15.
THE NEGLECTED BIBLE
In the gloomy cell of an Indian jail a number of prisoners were attentively listening to a gentleman, who was earnestly entreating them to study the Scriptures. Wishing to ascertain if they possessed the precious volume, he put the question, “Have any of you the Bible?” After a considerable pause, a soldier, who was under sentence of death for murdering a black man, broke the silence, and amidst sobs and tears, confessed that he once had a Bible. “But,” he said, I sold it for drink. It was the companion of my youth. I brought it from my native land. Oh! if I had listened to my Bible, I should not have been here.”
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16 For some, when they had heard, etc. David spoke of the fathers as though that whole generation were unbelieving; but it appears that some who truly feared God mingled with the wicked. The apostle mentions this to modify what had been more severely said by David, in order that we may know that the word is preached to all for this end, that all may obey it with one consent, and that the whole people were justly condemned for unbelief, when the body was torn and mutilated by the defection of the greatest part.
But by saying that some provoked, while yet they were by far the greatest part, this object was not only to avoid giving offense, but also to encourage the Jews to imitate those who believed; as though he had said, “As God forbids you to follow the unbelief of the fathers, so he sets before you other fathers whose faith is to be your example”. Thus is mitigated what otherwise might have appeared too hard; that is, had they been commanded wholly to dissent from their fathers. To come out by Moses, means by the hand of Moses, for he was the minister of their deliverance. But there is an implied comparison between the benefit which God had bestowed on them by Moses, and the participation of Christ previously mentioned.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) For.The connecting link is the thought of the provocation. A slight change in the accentuation of the first Greek word effects a complete change in the sense: For who when they had heard did provoke? Nay, was it not all that came out of Egypt through Moses? Those who were disobedient were the people whom God, through Moses, had but now delivered from bondage! The two exceptions (Num. 14:30) are left out of account in the presence of the multitude of rebels. There can be little doubt that the above translation (now generally received) presents the true meaning of the verse. It will be remembered that the oldest MSS. give no evidence on such points as accentuation, and therefore leave our judgment free. In modern times Bengel was the first to point out the true form of the Greek word; but one of the ancient versions (the Peschito-Syriac), and at least three of the Greek Fathers, are found to give the same interpretation. It will be seen at once that, with this arrangement of the words, the present verse is similar in structure to the two following.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Some It is a query (depending on the Greek accent upon the Greek word for some) whether this verse is affirmation or question. If it be an affirmation, the meaning then is, some provoked, but not all. But the provokers, in fact, were all with an exceptional two Caleb and Joshua, Nor does the train of thought require a depreciation of the practically all into a some. On the contrary, the force of our author’s strain of warning here is increased rather by emphasizing the all, and overlooking the exceptions. The obvious interpretation, therefore, is to bring the verse into interrogative form, in accordance with the series of five interrogations, of which this verse contains two. Read thus: For who, when they heard, did provoke? Was it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses? The for, then, refers to the danger implied in the if of Heb 3:14; the danger of failing, as the mass of Israel did, of attaining rest in Christ. The for, therefore, introduces the whole drift of the following interrogations.
The series of questions argues that it was the provokers, the all, who sinned, and who believed not, that were the subjects of God’s grief, of his destructive judgment, and his menacing oath. The whole history shows, then, that perdition arises from unbelief as concludingly asserted in Heb 3:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
c. Was it not the unbelievers who failed of that rest? Then let us fear, Heb 3:16 to Heb 4:2 .
This paragraph is a series of questions impressing upon the Hebrews the fact that the underlying cause of Israel’s destruction in the wilderness was one unbelief. Heb 3:19. This furnishes basis for an inferential exhortation against apostasy by this same unbelief, commencing with the therefore of Heb 4:1, and extending to Heb 4:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For who, when they heard, did provoke? No, did not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?’
And who of those who heard these words, provoked God? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt through the activity of Moses? The situation was appalling. It was not the few who provoked God, but the many. Indeed (nearly) all of them. Let his readers not think that, because they were all agreed, it proved that what they were thinking of doing was right. For Israel had all been agreed in provoking God and murmuring against Moses, even though it was through Moses that they had been delivered, and they were all in the wrong.
‘No, did not all –’. The first question gave the impression that it might have been just some, so he firmly asserts, no, it was not only some, but all.
‘All.’ That is the large majority sufficient to be seen as almost all, a regular use of all.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Heb 3:16. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: The reasoning is thus: “Do you every day exhort one another to steadfastness in the faith; omit no opportunity of doing so: do not delay, or put it off; for you see in fact, that some when they had heard, yet obstinately provoked: take care that you be not like them, either in sinning, or in suffering.” The inspired writer speaks of this transaction with tenderness, saying only, that some of them did provoke, but not all; although among the adults there were only two exceptions, Caleb and Joshua; who, in such a vast multitude, were next to none at all. Nor was it necessary for the apostle to set forth a case so well known in the harshest manner: their own reflection would supply what might seem wanting, and bring the matter home upon them; who might learn by this example, that the vastness of the multitude of unbelievers would be no excuse for thosewho now believed not in Christ; nor would the smallness of the number of those who now believed in him, cause them to be overlooked, or to fail of obtaining the promised rest.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Ver. 16. Howbeit not all ] Yet all fell in the wilderness save Joshua and Caleb. Good men are oft wrapped up in a common calamity. The righteous perisheth, Isa 57:1 , so the world thinketh; “But whether they live, they live unto the Lord, or whether they die, they die unto the Lord,”Rom 14:8Rom 14:8 . The good grain is cut down together with the tares, but to another and to a better purpose.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16 .] For (on our understanding of the connexion of (see above) this is not the elliptic so often accompanying an interrogation, as on Bleek’s rendering, but the ordinary , rendering a reason. ‘You need indeed to be careful against unbelief: for on account of this very unbelief all our fathers were excluded’) WHO, when they had heard (in immediate reference to above), provoked (scil. God: see reff. and Eze 20:13 A)? nay, was it not (this , in a question which itself answers a question, is elliptical, and may be explained in two ways: 1. ‘ was it not, not a few but’. : 2. by regarding the as expressing a negation of the uncertainty implied in the question a ground why the question should not have been asked at all. And this is by far the better account: cf. ref. Luke: . ; q. d. ‘what need to ask such a question?’ Xen. Cyr. ii. 2. 21, . , ; Aristid. Panath. i. p. 169, , ; 😉 all who (Bengel and several others would take to signify “ meri ,” “ only those who ,” a meaning which it cannot by any possibility bear. As above noticed, the exceptions are put out of sight, and that which was true of almost all , asserted generally) came out from Egypt by means of Moses (the construction is somewhat unusual. We should expect with a passive participle, like . Lnemann refers to 1Co 3:5 ) ? and (we cannot otherwise express in English this , which simply brings out the very slight contrast of a second and new particular. It is “ but ” in the E. V.: but that is because they take Heb 3:16 in the manner above rejected, as an assertion ) with WHOM was He offended forty years (see on Heb 3:9-10 for the verb , and the consonance, in the connexion of . with it, with that in the Psalm, which was there departed from) ? Was it not with those who sinned (some, as Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Knapp, Vater, set the interrogation here, and take . . . as an affirmative sentence. But it seems unnatural to insert an affirmative clause in the midst of a series of interrogatories, and therefore better to keep the interrogation for the end of the sentence, including that clause in it), whose carcases ( any members of the body, but especially the legs: taken also for the legs and arms, i. e. limbs: see example in Wetst. from Galen. The LXX, see reff., use it for , corpses : but probably with the meaning that their bodies should fall and perish limb from limb in the wilderness: so Beza: “Hoc vocabulo significatur, illos non tam sic ferente mortalitate vel quovis morbo, sed tabescentibus sensim corporibus in deserto veluti concidisse”) fell in the wilderness (cf. 1Co 10:5 , . The words here are exactly those of Num 14:29 . Again, we must remember, in explaining these words, that the Writer is not bearing in mind at this moment the exceptions, but speaking generally. So Calvin: “Quritur, an Moses et Aaron ac similes in hoc numero comprehendantur. Respondeo, apostolum de universo magis corpore quam de singulis membris loqui”) ? And to whom (not “ concerning whom ,” as Syr., al.: the dative after verbs of swearing or asserting is common, as expressing those towards whom the act is directed. So that it is not a dativus incommodi, as Lnemann) sware He that they should not enter into His rest (the construction here is somewhat anomalous with regard to the subject of the verb . Ordinarily, the subject of the verb of swearing is identical with that of the verb expressing the act to which he binds himself. So in Xen. Hel. iii. 4. 6, . . , , , . See other examples in Bleek. But here the persons to whom the oath is directed, are the subject of the future . We seem to want either a before ., or an after it. The latter construction is found in ref. Tobit, , ), except to those who disobeyed (not, as vulg., “ increduli fuerunt :” E. V., “ believed not :” and so Luther, Estius, Calov., al.: this was a fact, and was indeed the root of their : but , , are most commonly used of practical unbelief, i. e. disobedience: even in the passages in the Acts (reff.), where the meaning approximates the nearest to unbelief, it is best understood of ‘contumacia.’ Ref. Deut. seems decisive of the meaning here: see also Deu 9:7 ; Deu 9:23-24 ; Jos 1:18 al.)?
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Heb 3:16 . : “For who were they who after hearing provoked?” He proceeds further to enforce his warning that confidence begun is not enough, by showing that they who provoked God and fell in the wilderness had begun a life of faith and begun it well. For the answer to his question is “Nay did not all who came out of Egypt with Moses?” They were not exceptional sinners who fell away, but all who came out of Egypt, the whole mass of the gloriously rescued people whose faith had carried them through between the threatening walls of water and over whom Miriam sang her triumphal ode. adds force to the answer, as if it were said, It is asked who provoked, as though it were some only, but was it not all? , for it is needless excepting Joshua and Caleb.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
some. Greek. tines. App-124.
when . . . heard = having heard.
provoke. Greek. parapikraino. Only here. Often in the Septuagint
out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] For (on our understanding of the connexion of (see above) this is not the elliptic so often accompanying an interrogation, as on Bleeks rendering, but the ordinary , rendering a reason. You need indeed to be careful against unbelief:-for on account of this very unbelief all our fathers were excluded) WHO, when they had heard (in immediate reference to above), provoked (scil. God: see reff. and Eze 20:13 A)? nay, was it not (this , in a question which itself answers a question, is elliptical, and may be explained in two ways: 1. was it not, not a few but.: 2. by regarding the as expressing a negation of the uncertainty implied in the question-a ground why the question should not have been asked at all. And this is by far the better account: cf. ref. Luke: . ; q. d. what need to ask such a question? Xen. Cyr. ii. 2. 21, . , ; Aristid. Panath. i. p. 169, , ; 😉 all who (Bengel and several others would take to signify meri, only those who, a meaning which it cannot by any possibility bear. As above noticed, the exceptions are put out of sight, and that which was true of almost all, asserted generally) came out from Egypt by means of Moses (the construction is somewhat unusual. We should expect with a passive participle, like . Lnemann refers to 1Co 3:5)? and (we cannot otherwise express in English this , which simply brings out the very slight contrast of a second and new particular. It is but in the E. V.: but that is because they take Heb 3:16 in the manner above rejected, as an assertion) with WHOM was He offended forty years (see on Heb 3:9-10 for the verb , and the consonance, in the connexion of . with it, with that in the Psalm, which was there departed from)? Was it not with those who sinned (some, as Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Knapp, Vater, set the interrogation here, and take … as an affirmative sentence. But it seems unnatural to insert an affirmative clause in the midst of a series of interrogatories, and therefore better to keep the interrogation for the end of the sentence, including that clause in it), whose carcases ( any members of the body, but especially the legs: taken also for the legs and arms, i. e. limbs: see example in Wetst. from Galen. The LXX, see reff., use it for , corpses: but probably with the meaning that their bodies should fall and perish limb from limb in the wilderness: so Beza: Hoc vocabulo significatur, illos non tam sic ferente mortalitate vel quovis morbo, sed tabescentibus sensim corporibus in deserto veluti concidisse) fell in the wilderness (cf. 1Co 10:5, . The words here are exactly those of Num 14:29. Again, we must remember, in explaining these words, that the Writer is not bearing in mind at this moment the exceptions, but speaking generally. So Calvin: Quritur, an Moses et Aaron ac similes in hoc numero comprehendantur. Respondeo, apostolum de universo magis corpore quam de singulis membris loqui)? And to whom (not concerning whom, as Syr., al.: the dative after verbs of swearing or asserting is common, as expressing those towards whom the act is directed. So that it is not a dativus incommodi, as Lnemann) sware He that they should not enter into His rest (the construction here is somewhat anomalous with regard to the subject of the verb . Ordinarily, the subject of the verb of swearing is identical with that of the verb expressing the act to which he binds himself. So in Xen. Hel. iii. 4. 6, . . , , , . See other examples in Bleek. But here the persons to whom the oath is directed, are the subject of the future . We seem to want either a before ., or an after it. The latter construction is found in ref. Tobit, , ), except to those who disobeyed (not, as vulg., increduli fuerunt: E. V., believed not: and so Luther, Estius, Calov., al.: this was a fact, and was indeed the root of their : but , , are most commonly used of practical unbelief, i. e. disobedience: even in the passages in the Acts (reff.), where the meaning approximates the nearest to unbelief, it is best understood of contumacia. Ref. Deut. seems decisive of the meaning here: see also Deu 9:7; Deu 9:23-24; Jos 1:18 al.)?
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Heb 3:16. , who) Many write , some; but the argument of the apostle is thus rendered somewhat feeble: , , some, but not all, is rather a general expression concerning the Provocation, ch. Heb 4:6; Exo 17:2. is plainly interrogative, as ch. Heb 1:5; Heb 1:13, and at the same time a very weighty Anaphora,[26] , , Heb 3:16-18; and there are brought under our notice in these three verses, 1. The beginning of the Provocation, soon after the departure from Egypt; 2. The forty troublesome years in the wilderness; 3. The refusal of the entrance into the land of rest. is used, Heb 3:16, as , Heb 3:18; for neither is properly interrogative, but both stand under the interrogative word, . That the power of the particle may be more clearly seen, suppose some one to say, , , There were men who provoked, but not those that went out. The apostle denies that, and therefore says, , ; who were they, but these?-i.e. these were the very persons. There are similar particles in Luke, , , Luk 17:7-8; and in Paul, , , …, 1Th 2:19. , in this passage, is none else but, merely those, a meaning of the word which Raphelius, at Jam 1:17, beautifully explains, ex Ariano. Germ.: Diejenige, die eine Erbitterung angerichtet haben, wer waren sie? es warenlauter solche Leute, die von Egypten ausgegangen waren durch Mosen. These are not in this passage said to have been led out, but to have come out. They had already the pledge of Divine assistance, and had followed the Divine guidance; but their future progress did not correspond to that excellent beginning (comp. Heb 3:14). Chrysostom evidently reads : ; who, says he, have been mentioned as being hardened; where (comp. Heb 3:15) are the same as .-, after having heard) Heb 3:15.-, provoked) the Lord, namely, by chiding with Moses, Exo 17:2.- , by Moses) whose words, when they heard them, they should have obeyed.
[26] The frequent repetition of the same word in beginnings.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
some: Heb 3:9, Heb 3:10, Num 14:2, Num 14:4, Num 26:65, Psa 78:17
not: Num 14:24, Num 14:30, Num 14:38, Deu 1:36, Deu 1:38, Jos 14:7-11, Rom 11:4, Rom 11:5
Reciprocal: Exo 23:21 – provoke him not Num 14:11 – provoke Num 32:13 – until all 2Ki 19:3 – blasphemy Jer 44:8 – ye provoke Mat 17:17 – O faithless Act 13:18 – about Heb 7:8 – he liveth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Heb 3:16-19. The argument of these verses has been variously interpreted, and the varieties are seen in the difference of the translation. The Authorised Version translates some . . . howbeit not all; the Revised translates who . . . ? nay, did not all. Most of the ancient commentators, and many of the modem, adopt the translation some in Heb 3:16, even when they translate with whom as a question in Heb 3:17; forms though they be of the same word, but with difference of accent. Bengel, Alford, and many more translate who and with whom as questions in both cases. They hold that it contributes to the force of the argument to affirm that all perished. But on the whole the Authorised seems the preferable rendering; for (1) the facts rather require the statement that not all perished. Besides Caleb and Joshua, all the children who were under twenty years of age when they left Egypt, and the women and the Levites, were exceptions. (2) The N. Test. comment favours it also, for in 1Co 10:5 it is expressly said that it was with the greater part of them (or, with very many of them) God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness; and again and again it is said in the same context that some of them were idolaters, and some of them tempted, and some of them murmured (Heb 3:7-10); while the appeal to these facts (the limited extent of the ruin, not the universality of it) is used in that passage for the same purpose of warning as here; and (3) the argument is better enforced by the translation of the Authorised than by the proposed change.Beware, for all perish, may seem impressive; but it is more impressive still to say, as is said in 1 Corinthians 10, Most perished, and perished through unbelief; those who were spared were only the minority, and they were spared because they were not guilty of the disobedience of the greater part of the nation. Blended fear and hope is the warning most likely to impress and encourage; nor was there danger of the Hebrews reading the lesson so as to foster delusion when it is so carefully intimated that men must perish wherever there is unbelief.
Whose carcassesliterally limbs, suggesting, perhaps, the gradual decay of the nations strengthone falling here, another there, till they were strewn all over the wilderness.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Heb 3:16. For some, &c. As if he had said, You have need to attend; be watchful and circumspect. For some Yea, many; when they had heard The voice of God in giving the law, and the various instructions which God granted them in the wilderness; did provoke Literally, bitterly provoke, that is, God, whose voice they heard. By this consideration the apostle enforces his exhortation; when the people, says he, of old heard the voice of God in that dispensation of his law and grace which was suited to their condition, some of them provoked God; and whereas those also may do so who hear his voice in the dispensation of the gospel, it concerns all that hear it to take care that they be not disobedient; for, under every dispensation, dreadful is the consequence of abused mercy. Howbeit, not all that came out of Egypt In the preceding discourse the apostle had expressed the sin and punishment of the people indefinitely, so as to appear at first view to include the whole generation in the wilderness; but here he makes an exception, which may refer to three sorts of persons. First, Those who were under twenty years of age in the second year after their coming out of Egypt, and who were not numbered in the wilderness of Sinai. See Num 1:1; Num 1:3. For of those that were then numbered, there was not a man left save Caleb and Joshua, but they all died, because of their provocation. Secondly, the tribe of Levi; for the threatening and oath of God was only against them that were numbered, and Moses was expressly commanded not to number the Levites; although it is much to be feared that the generality of this tribe also provoked and fell. Thirdly, Caleb and Joshua are excepted; and indeed seem here to be principally intended. Now the apostle thus expresses the limitation of his former general assertion, that he might enforce his exhortation by the example of them who believed and obeyed the voice of God, and therefore entered into his rest; as well as of those who provoked, and therefore were prohibited from entering it. So that he draws his argument not only from the severity of God, which at the first view seems to be only set forth, but also from his implied faithfulness and mercy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 16
Did provoke; that is, instead of regarding the warning, they disobeyed God, and provoked his displeasure. It is probable that the two clauses of this verse, like those of the verses which follow, were intended as interrogative, thus: Who was it that, when they heard, did provoke? was it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses? Thus understood, the verse harmonizes in construction with what follows, and the whole presents the example of the defection and punishment of the Israelites as a very solemn warning.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
These verses constitute an exposition of the passage quoted. The questions indicate the diatribe style of rhetoric in which the speaker raises questions and provides answers. The Israelites who died in the wilderness were mostly redeemed believers (cf. Exo 14:31). [Note: See Randall C. Gleason, "The Old Testament Background of Rest in Hebrews 3:7-4:11," Bibliotheca Sacra 157:627 (July-September 2000):288.] They died as believers; they did not lose their salvation. However they did fail to enter into the blessings that could have been theirs because they refused to believe that God would defeat their enemies and bring them into rest in the Promised Land. If we fail to believe that Jesus has defeated and will defeat our enemies (Heb 1:13-14), we too will fail to enter into all the blessing that can be ours in heaven. We need to continue to trust and obey just like the Israelites should have done.
"By saying So we see that [Heb 3:19], the writer assumes that his reasoning will be self-evident." [Note: Guthrie, p. 110.]
"The conclusion thus introduces the motif of the impossibility of a second repentance after apostasy, in anticipation of a fuller treatment later in the sermon (Heb 6:4-8; Heb 10:26-31; Heb 12:16-17 . . .). The hearers are left with the overwhelming impression that unbelief would expose them to the same precarious situation as Israel at Kadesh." [Note: Lane, p. 89.]
The apostate generation of Israelites failed to enter the Promised Land when they hardened their hearts and provoked God by their disbelief. Is the implication that Christians who do the same will not enter heaven? Many interpreters have taken this view. However, the New Testament elsewhere teaches that all who believe in Jesus Christ will go to heaven because simple faith in Christ is what saves us (e.g., Eph 2:8-9). God has promised to complete the work of salvation that He began in us (cf. Joh 10:27-28; Rom 8:30; Php 1:6; et al.). He will glorify us just as he justified us and just as He is sanctifying us. He will do this despite our subsequent unbelief (cf. 2Ti 2:13). If our subsequent unbelief resulted in our loss of salvation, the condition for being saved would have to be faith plus faithfulness, which it is not. Remember, "rest" does not equal the Promised Land (for the Israelites, or heaven for Christians) but obtaining all the inheritance that God wants to give believers in the Promised Land (or heaven).