Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 10:30
For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
30. Vengeance belongeth unto me ] The Scripture warrant adduced in support of this stern language is Deu 32:35, and a similar phrase (“O God, to whom vengeance belongeth”) is used in Psa 94:1-2. It is remarkable that the citation does not agree either with the Hebrew or the LXX., but is quoted in the same form as in Rom 12:19, where however the application is quite different, for it is there used as an argument against avenging our own wrongs. The writer of this Epistle, as a friend of St Paul and one who was of his school, may have been familiar with this form of the quotation, or may have read it in the Epistle to the Romans, with which he seems to have been familiar (comp. Heb 13:1-6 with Rom 12:1-21); and indeed there are traces that the quotation in this form was known in the Jewish schools. Perhaps it had become proverbial.
saith the Lord ] The words are omitted in , D, and most ancient versions, and may have been added from Rom 12:19.
And again ] Deu 32:36.
The Lord shall judge his people ] In the original passage the “judgment” consists in saving His people from their enemies, as also in Psa 135:14.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For we know him that hath said – We know who has said this – God. They knew this because it was recorded in their own sacred books.
Vengeance belongeth unto me … – This is found in Deu 32:35; see it explained in the notes on Rom 12:19. It is there quoted to show that we should not avenge ourselves; it is here quoted to show that God will certainly inflict punishment on those who deserve it. If any should apostatize in the manner here referred to by the apostle, they would, says he, be guilty of great and unparalleled wickedness, and would have the certainty that they must meet the wrath of God.
And again, The Lord shall judge his people – This is quoted from Deu 32:36. That is, he will judge them when they deserve it, and punish them if they ought to be punished. The mere fact that they are his people will not save them from punishment if they deserve it, any more than the fact that one is a beloved child will save him from correction when he does wrong. This truth was abundantly illustrated in the history of the Israelites; and the same great principle would be applied should any sincere Christian apostatize from his religion. He would have before him the certainty of the most fearful and severe of all punishments.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Heb 10:30
Vengeance belongeth unto Me
I.
VENGEANCE BELONGETH TO THE LORD. By vengeance is meant vindicative justice punishing offenders, the acts whereof are condemnation and execution; and it is proper to a judge, as here it may be taken either for the power or the act and exercise of the power. The party to whom it belongs is the Lord, as He is the supreme and universal Judge; for He that is the supreme Law-giver must needs be the supreme Judge. Angels or men may have the use of it, but the propriety is in God; and that you may understand it more fully, you must know that this power of punishing is an universal, an original power, as it belongs to God and none else. It extends to all persons, to all causes, and to these in all respects; for He hath jurisdiction over angels, and the consciences and immortal souls of men, and can arrogate spiritual and eternal punishments.
II. As vengeance, so RETRIBUTION BELONGS UNTO THE LORD; and it may be considered, not only as it is a power or right to recompense, but the act and exercise of vindicative justice, and may include both the sentence and the execution, which is nothing else but a returning evil for evil, the evil of punishment for the evil of sin. The apostle in this follows the Septuagint, which turn it, I will recompense, which seems to imply, that as He is
(1) Just to punish sin.
(2) Hath a power of retribution. So
(3) He will recompense and exercise this power, and that certainly.
III. HE WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. This may be understood two ways.
1. That God will judge the cause of His oppressed and persecuted people, by punishing and destroying their enemies; and this the context in Deuteronomy seems to imply.
2. That He will judge His people, and punish severely all apostates among them. Men may threaten and never condemn, they may condemn and never execute; but God will certainly do both.
IV. THE LORD SAITH SO. Man might have said it, and it might have been otherwise; out of ignorance he might have been deceived, or out of pravity he might deceive others; or if any earthly judge, who knew his own mind and power, should have said so, yet he might change his mind, or want power; and so recompense might fail. But it is God who is Supreme Judge, who cannot be deceived, cannot deceive, cannot change His mind; who hath almighty power that saith so, and His word is His deed. If therefore He say, I will recompense, I will judge; recompense and judgment will certainly follow, they cannot fail.
V. THEY KNEW IT WAS GOD WHO SAID SO; THAT GOD WHO COULD CERTAINLY DO AS HE HAD SAID, If any other had said it, and they had been ignorant of it, their fear had been less, though the danger had been as great as if they had known it. Seeing, therefore, it is the Lord who said it, and they knew that it was said, and that by Him, their fear should be answerable to the danger, and so much the greater, as their knowledge was more clear and certain. They knew this, and that by Scripture, which they believed to be the Word of God. Ignorance of this truth makes men secure and presumptuous, and so doth unbelief; this seems to prove the punishment to be unavoidable. (G. Lawson.)
Accurate scales
In the reign of King Charles I., the goldsmiths of London had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metals before the Privy Council. On this occasion they made use of scales poised with such exquisite nicety that the beam would turn, the Master of the company affirmed, at the two-hundredth part of a grain. Now the famous Attorney-General, standing by, and hearing this, replied, I shall be loath, then, to have all my actions weighed in these scales. (Baxendales Anecdotes.)
God avenges wrong:
When a Chief Justice was spoken to of showing mercy to a prisoner before him, he said, Let me remember that there is mercy due to my country. Have you travelled in the Alps? You will come to a magnificent and beautiful valley with flowing streams and exuberant foliage. A few miles–it may be a few steps–further, and you have a great mountain with its awful shadows, and threatening to hurl its mass over you. You cannot have the sunny valley without the frowning mountain. So there are changes in the scenery when you study the Divine working. There is the lowly valley where the flowers of redemption grow, and the waters of grace curl their eddies; and there is also the great white throne, glorious indeed, but great and terrible in its shadows, because of the intense light that shines upon it. The same engine that beneficently draws the train along will be an instrument of wrath and destruction to anything that crosses its path. God moves on the track of perfect holiness, not only bestowing blessing, but avenging wrong for the benefit of His universe. If the sinner throws himself across that track, the same law that moves Him to love will cause Him to punish the unrepenting sinner. (A. P.Pierson, D. D.)
Vengeance a Divine prerogative
A person happened to complain in the hearing of a pious man of some conduct which had been manifested towards him by his neighbours, and concluded by saying that he had a large portion of vengeance in store for them. You have stolen it, then, was the answer, for I know it does not belong to you of right, because God says, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. Vengeance belongeth unto me] This is the saying of God, De 32:35, in reference to the idolatrous Gentiles, who were the enemies of his people; and is here with propriety applied to the above apostates, who, being enemies to God’s ordinances, and Christ’s ministry and merits, must also be enemies to Christ’s people; and labour for the destruction of them, and the cause in which they are engaged.
The Lord shall judge his people.] That is, he shall execute judgment for them; for this is evidently the sense in which the word is used in the place from which the apostle quotes, De 32:36: For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone. So God will avenge and vindicate the cause of Christianity by destroying its enemies, as he did in the case of the Jewish people, whom he destroyed from being a nation, and made them a proverb of reproach and monuments of his wrathful indignation to the present day.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For we know him that hath said: For brings in the proof of the soreness of Gods punishment to be inflicted on apostates, from Gods own testimony about it; which we, who are conversant with the Scriptures, are well acquainted with; we know what God hath spoken, and by whom he hath spoken it, Joh 9:29. Their knowledge of it was clear and certain, it being spoken to them by Moses, and written for them, Deu 32:35,36.
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense; to me is vengeance and recompence; which are the words of the Hebrew text. To me, the sovereign Being, the supreme and universal Lawgiver and Judge, doth belong the universal right and power of vindictive justice. It is his propriety, as he will avenge all injuries against his people, he will much more avenge the sins and injuries against his Son; and will actually return to evil-doers, as a recompence for their sins, the evil of punishment. He is not only just and powerful, but actually manifesting both in his retribution on them, Deu 32:41,43; Psa 94:1; Rom 12:19; 2Th 1:8.
Saith the Lord; Jehovah saith it, who is faithful and true, powerful, and constant to his threatenings, as well as his promises. This he saith to, and threatens apostate Jeshurun with, who revolted from God, and served idols, Deu 32:15-17.
And again, The Lord shall judge his people: a further testimony is urged from Gods vindication of his people, when he hath punished apostates, taken from Deu 32:6, and Psa 135:14. The sovereign Being of righteousness, the same Jehovah as before, will rule, justify, save, deliver, and vindicate his covenant people from the contempt and vilifying of his Son and them, by punishing severely such who, by their apostacy from him and them, are guilty of it. He will certainly take vengeance on them, and thereby clear the innocency, truth, and goodness of his, who are trampled on by them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. himGod, who enters noempty threats.
Vengeance belongeth untomeGreek, “To Me belongeth vengeance”: exactlyaccording with Paul’s quotation, Ro12:19, of the same text.
Lord shall judge hispeoplein grace, or else anger, according as each deserves:here, “judge,” so as to punish the reprobate apostate;there, “judge,” so as to interpose in behalf of, and saveHis people (De 32:36).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For we know him that hath said,…. That is, God, whom the apostle and the Hebrews knew; not merely by the works of creation and providence, but by the Scriptures, which they were favoured with, and by which they were distinguished from the Gentiles, and by which they knew his being, nature, and perfections; particularly, that what he said he was able to perform, and that he was true and faithful to every word of his, and to what he has said, De 32:35
vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompence, saith the Lord. Vengeance belongs to God, not as to the affection, as if there was any such passion in him; but as to the effect, there being that produced by him, which answers to the effect of such a passion among men, namely punishment: and punishment for sin belongs to God, against whom it is committed; and not to Heathen deities, one of which goes by the name of Vengeance, Ac 28:4 nor to Satan, and his spiteful angels; nor to men, to exercise it in a private and personal way; though civil magistrates, being in God’s stead, are allowed to exercise it in a public way, according to the laws of God: and there is good reason to believe, that what the Lord here says, “I will recompence”, or revenge sin, shall be done; which may be concluded from his hatred of sin; from his purity, holiness, and justice; from his faithfulness to his word; from his omnipotence; from the notice he takes of sin, in his own people, in a way of chastisement, and correction; and from the vengeance he has poured on his own Son, as their surety.
And again, in De 32:36 the Lord shall judge his people; such as are truly so, his chosen and covenant people, his redeemed and called ones; these he judges by chastising them in a fatherly way, that they may not be condemned with the world; and by governing and protecting them; and by vindicating and pleading their cause, and avenging them on their enemies: or else such as are only his people by profession; on these he will write a “Lo-ammi”; he distinguishes them from his own, and judges between them and his people, and will condemn them; nor will their profession screen them from his wrath and vengeance.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We know him that said ( ). God lives and is true to his word. He quotes De 32:35 (cf. Ro 12:19). For see Lu 18:7f. God is the God of justice. He is patient, but he will punish.
And again ( ). De 32:36.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
We know him that hath said [ ] . The retribution [] is certain, because assured by the word of God in Scripture.
Vengeance [] . An unfortunate translation, since it conveys the idea of vindictiveness which does not reside in the Greek word. It is the full meting out of justice to all parties. The quotation is an adaptation of the LXX of Deu 32:35. The second citation is literally from LXX of Deu 32:36.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For we know him that hath said,” (oidamen gar ton eiponta) “For (because) we know (experimentally) know him who has said,” God who has warned, pre-warned of his judgement against wrong as an expression of his holy and just character, Rom 12:19; Deu 32:35.
2) “Vengeance belongeth unto me,” (emoi ekdikesis) “Vengeance is mine,” or Vengeance belongs to me; Children of God can not treat God and their professed faith in him with arrogant disregard, turn their back on pursuing promises and pledges made to him without paying the price of lost joys of salvation, loss of influence, and finding chastisement, even as David did, Psa 51:1-17; 2Sa 12:1-13.
3) “I will recompense saith the Lord,” (ego antapodose) “I will repay,” pay back, says the Lord, Gal 6:7-8. Even the natural law of sowing to the flesh, after regeneration, against the call of God to sanctification, brings chastening, Rom 12:1-2.
4) “And again, The Lord shall judge his people,” (kai palin krinei kurios ton laon autou) “And again, (it is written) the Lord will judge his people,” Deu 32:36; Psa 50:4; Psa 135:14; those who belong to him by covenant of the blood of his Son, not merely those of natural Israel. They are his after they have disobeyed, before he punishes, or (chastens) them, while he chastens them, and after he chastens them; You see fathers do not presume to chasten children who do not belong to them, neither does God, Heb 12:5-11; Psa 89:30-33; Luk 12:47-48.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
30. For we know him that hath said, etc. Both the passages are taken from Deu 32:35. But as Moses there promises that God would take vengeance for the wrongs done to his people, it seems that the words are improperly and constrainedly applied to the vengeance referred to here; for what does the Apostle speak of? Even that the impiety of those who despised God would not be unpunished. Paul also in Rom 12:19, knowing the true sense of the passage, accommodates it to another purpose; for having in view to exhort us to patience, he bids us to give place to God to take vengeance, because this office belongs to him; and this he proves by the testimony of Moses. But there is no reason why we should not turn a special declaration to a universal truth. Though then the design of Moses was to console the faithful, as they would have God as the avenger of wrongs done to them; yet we may always conclude from his words that it is the peculiar office of God to take vengeance on the ungodly. Nor does he pervert his testimony who hence proves that the contempt of God will not be unpunished; for he is a righteous judge who claims to himself the office of taking vengeance.
At the same time the Apostle might here also reason from the less to the greater, and in this manner: “God says that he will not suffer his people to be injured with impunity, and declares that he will surely be their avenger: If he suffers not wrongs done to men to be unpunished, will he not avenge his own? Has he so little or no care and concern for his own glory, as to connive at and pass by indignities offered to him?” But the former view is more simple and natural, — that the Apostle only shows that God will not be mocked with impunity, since it is his peculiar office to render to the ungodly what they have deserved. (187)
The Lord shall judge his people. Here another and a greater difficulty arises; for the meaning of Moses seems not to agree with what here intended. The Apostle seems to have quoted this passage as though Moses had used the word punish, and not judge; but as it immediately follows by way of explanation, “He will be merciful to his saints,” it appears evident that to judge here is to act as a governor, according to its frequent meaning in the Hebrew; but this seems to have little to do with the present subject. Nevertheless he who weighs well all things will find that this passage is fitly and suitably adduced here; for God cannot govern the Church without purifying it, and without restoring to order the confusion that may be in it. Therefore this governing ought justly to be dreaded by hypocrites, who will then be punished for usurping a place among the faithful, and for perfidiously using the sacred name of God, when the master of the family undertakes himself the care of setting in order his own house. It is in this sense that God is said to arise to judge his people, that is, when he separates the truly godly from hypocrites, (Psa 1:4😉 and in Psa 125:5, (188) where the Prophet speaks of exterminating hypocrites, that they might no more dare to boast that they were of the Church, because God bore with them; he promises peace to Israel after having executed his judgment.
It was not then unreasonably that the apostle reminded them that God presided over his Church and omitted nothing necessary for its rightful government, in order that they might all learn carefully to keep themselves under his power, and remember that they had to render an account to their judge. (189)
He hence concludes that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. A mortal man, however incensed he may be, cannot carry his vengeance beyond death; but God’s power is not bounded by so narrow limits; besides, we often escape from men, but we cannot escape from God’s judgment. Who soever then considers that he has to do with God, must (except he be extremely stupid) really tremble and quake; nay, such an apprehension of God must necessarily absorb the whole man, so that no sorrows, or torments can be compared with it. In short, whenever our flesh allures us or we flatter ourselves by any means in our sins, this admonition alone ought to be sufficient to arouse us, that “it is a fearful thing to fall into to hands of the living God;” for his wrath is furnished with dreadful punishments which are to be forever.
However, the saying of David, when he exclaimed, that it was better to fall into Gods hands than into the hands of men, (2Sa 24:14,) seems to be inconsistent with what is said here. But this apparent inconsistency vanishes, when we consider that David, relying confidently on God’s mercy, chose him as his Judge rather than men; for though he knew that God was displeased with him, yet he felt confident that he would be reconciled to him; in himself, indeed, he was prostrate on the ground, but yet he was raised up by the promise of grace. As then he believed God not to be inexorable, there is no wonder that he dreaded his wrath less, than that of men; but the Apostle here speaks of God’s wrath as being dreadful to the reprobate, who being destitute of the hope of pardon, expect nothing but extreme severity, as they have already closed up against themselves the door of grace. And we know that God is set forth in various ways according to the character of those whom he addresses; and this is what David means when he says, “With the merciful thou wilt be merciful, and with the froward thou wilt be froward.” (Psa 18:25.) (190)
(187) The quotation is literally neither from the Hebrew nor from the Sept., but is the same as quoted in Rom 12:19; which seems to show that Paul is the Author of both epistles. The Hebrew is, “Mine is vengeance and recompense;” and the Sept., “In the day vengeance will I recompense.” The sense is the same, though the words are different. — Ed.
(188) The original text referred to Psa 125:3, which seems to be directed more at the fact that the wicked will not persevere over the righteous, whereas Psa 125:5 refers to the wicked joining the “workers of iniquity,” and that “peace will be upon Israel”; neither are quite as explicit as the commentary in terms of the final destruction of the wicked, but in my humble opinion, verse 5 has more relevance. -fj. ]
(189) See Appendix O 2.
(190) The original text had Psa 18:27, but because the quote comes partly from the first half of verse 25, and partly from the last half of verse 26, and is emphasized by verse 27, I decided that all three verses should be referenced. -fj. ]
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(30) By a new and living way.Better, by the way which He dedicated (or inaugurated) for us, a new and living way. This way was opened to us by Him; in it we follow Him. For Him, the way into the Holiest led through the veil, His flesh. As the veil concealed from the high priest the place of Gods presence, which he could enter only by passing through the veil; so, although in His earthly life Jesus dwelt in the presence of God, yet as our representative He could not enter the heavenly sanctuary until He had passed through and out of His life of flesh (see Heb. 9:11). There is probably a covert allusion to the rending of the Temple veil in the hour when Jesus thus passed through the rent veil of His flesh. This way is new (Heb. 9:8; Heb. 9:12), it is living, for in truth this way is living union with Christ (Joh. 14:6).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(30) Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense.This quotation from Deu. 32:35 completely preserves the sense of the original words, To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence, whilst departing from their form. The LXX. shows still wider divergence, neglecting entirely the emphasis which rests on the words to Me It is therefore very remarkable that this quotation is given, in exactly the same form, in Rom. 12:19. As, however, the words I will recompense are found in the most ancient of the Targums (that of Onkelos) it is very possible that St. Paul may have there adopted a form already current amongst the Jews. (See Note on Rom. 12:19.) If so, there is no difficulty in accounting for the coincidence in this place. But, even if this supposition is. without foundation, and the saying in this form was first used in Rom. 12:19, is there any real cause for wonder if a disciple of St. Paul in a single instance reproduces the Apostles words? It should be observed that the words saith the Lord must be omitted from the text, according to the best authorities.
The Lord shall judge his people.This, again, is a quotation, and from the same chapter (Deu. 32:36). If the context of the original passage be examined, there will be no doubt as to the meaning of the words. As in Psa. 43:1; Psa. 135:14, to judge, as here used, signifies to maintain the right of one who is exposed to wrong. The Lord shall judge His people (see Heb. 10:27) when He shall appear to establish their cause by taking vengeance on His enemies and theirs. With what impressive force would the quotations in this section (Heb. 10:27-28; Heb. 10:30)differing widely in form, but presenting a very striking agreement in their meaningfall on the ears of readers familiar from childhood with the ideas and language of the Old Testament Scriptures!
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. How terrible this punishment we can realize when we realize who is its denouncer and author God. We who have read truly know the speaker.
Vengeance me An allusion to, but not exact quotation from, Deu 32:35: “To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.”
But the words agree exactly with Rom 12:19, an indication that either our author very minutely quotes Paul or is himself Paul: for the notion that the passage is a proverbial phrase then in use is arbitrary.
Again Deu 32:36.
Judge Either to avenge or punish his people or Church.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense.” And again, “The Lord shall judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’
And, he says, we can see this clearly for ourselves, for we know Him as He is and as He is revealed to be by the Scriptures which say, ‘Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay’ (a translation and adaptation of Deu 32:35; compare Rom 12:9 which suggests it had taken on a standard form). The Hebrew says, ‘Vengeance is Mine, and recompense’ which indicates the same thought. Note both the fact and the warning. Vengeance is His, that is the fact. He will repay, that is the warning.
His second quotation is ‘The Lord will judge His people’ (Deu 32:36). This includes both beneficent ‘judging’ as with the ‘judges’, and condemning judgments as Judge of all the world. It is an assurance to those who are faithful to Him, that He will rule them and watch over them as they come under the Kingly Rule of God, and brings cold fear on those who sin with a high hand as the Day of Judgment draws near. Thus we know that He will certainly, in accordance with His own will, judge those who have called themselves His people and bring vengeance on those who rebel. It is telling them that the very words that declare their judgment are taken from the very Law to which they claim to be returning.
And he adds the solemn reminder, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ For ‘it is a fearful thing’ compare the ‘fearful looking for of judgment’ in Heb 10:28. God is not mocked, not to be treated lightly. For those who have returned to dead works and to a now invalid and dead ritual, to fall into the hands of ‘the living God’ can only be a fearful thing, for God will require it at their hands, especially in view of what they have rejected.
These words are not cited as a quotation. However, some of the wording, although not the direct idea, is taken from 2Sa 24:14; 1Ch 21:13 in LXX, where the thought is that David prefers to fall into the hands of ‘the Lord’ because He at least is both just and compassionate. He trusts God and fears men. It is a very different for those who have permanently turned away from Him by rejecting His Son to shame and humiliation. For them facing up to Him is the most fearful thing that is possible
‘To fall into the hands of ‘the living God’.’ The fact of the ‘living’ God is emphasised to bring about the realisation that, because He is unlike the dead gods of other religions, they can be sure that the living God will undoubtedly exercise justice against them (compare the warning in Heb 3:12). They have previously declared themselves as servants of the living God (Heb 9:14). Now they are runaways from One Who is aware of all they do. He will not look lightly on their rejection of His Son.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Heb 10:30. For we know him that hath said, Namely, Moses: see Deu 32:35. It maybe inquired how this passage is here applied to those who profess themselves Christians, since in Deuteronomy it evidently relates to the idolatrous Gentile adversaries of Israel? The answer is easy; for, besides that such as apostatized from the Christian religion declared themselves to beavowed enemies to the institutions of God by Jesus Christ our Lord, (which were much more sacred and important than those by Moses:) besides that, the assertion,that vengeance belongeth to God, &c. is to be considered as a general maxim, and therefore equally applicable in all cases wherein vengeance and a penal recompence are due. The next words may be taken either from the places in Deuteronomy above referred to, or from Psa 135:14 where we have exactly the same words; and their force may be this, “That if God will vindicate and avenge the injuries done to his chosen people the Jews, he will much more severely animadvert upon those injuries which were offered to his Christ, his Spirit, and his church.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Heb 10:30 . The , Heb 10:29 , is a matter for the most serious consideration. This the declarations of God Himself in the Scriptures prove.
] for we know Him who hath spoken, i.e. we know what it means when God makes predictions like those which follow.
The first utterance is without doubt from Deu 32:35 . It deviates from the Hebrew original ( ), but still more from the LXX. ( ); on the other hand, it agrees to so great an extent with Paul’s mode of citing the same in Rom 12:19 , that even the , which is wanting in Deuteronomy, is found in both these places. This agreement arises, according to Bleek, de Wette, Delitzsch, and Reiche, Comm. Crit. p. 97 (comp. also Bhme), from a deriving of the citation from the Epistle to the Romans; while according to Meyer (at Rom. xii. 19, 2, 3, and 4 Aufl.) the identical words: , are to be traced back to the paraphrase of Onkelos ( ) as the common source employed by Paul and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Yet with much greater probability is the coincidence to be explained by the supposition that the utterance, in the form adopted here as with Paul, had become proverbial. This was also the later view of Meyer (see Meyer on Rom. xii. 19, 5 Aufl. p. 551 f.).
The second utterance: , attached by means of (Heb 1:5 , Heb 2:13 ), is found in like form, Deu 32:36 and Psa 135:14 . This has, in the mind of the author of the epistle, the general signification of the holding of judgment upon His people, so that the recreant members among the same will not be able to escape punishment. Different is the sense of the original: He shall do justice for His people. Delitzsch, it is true, who is followed therein by Maier, Kluge, Moll, and Hofmann, will not acknowledge such diversity of the sense. But he is able to remove such diversity only, in that manifestly led thereto in the interest of a mistaken harmonistic method he foists upon the author of the epistle the statement: “the Lord will do justice for His church, and punish its betrayers and blasphemers;” a statement of which the first half as opposed to the grammatical meaning of , as well as to the connection with Heb 10:26 , since this latter leads of necessity not to the idea of rendering justice to any one, but exclusively to the idea of punitive judgment is only arbitrarily imported.
At Heb 10:31 the whole train of thought, Heb 10:26-30 , is briefly summed up, and with this the warning brought to a close. Fearful is it to fall into the hands of the living God, i.e. to fall a victim to the divine punitive judgment. Comp. Mat 10:28 ; Luk 12:4-5 .
occurs also with the LXX. 2Sa 24:14 , 1Ch 21:13 , Sir 2:18 , but is there used in the mild sense, in that it is opposed to falling into the hands of men. Bengel: Bonum est incidere cum fide; temere terribile.
] see at Heb 3:12 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Ver. 30. I will recompense ] And if God will avenge his elect,Luk 18:7Luk 18:7 , how much more his Son and his Spirit!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30, 31 .] And this and are certainties, testified to by God Himself.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
30 .] For we know Him who said, To me belongeth vengeance, I will repay, saith the Lord (the citation is from Deu 32:35 , and is given not in agreement with the Hebrew text ( , “To me (belongeth) vengeance and recompense”) nor with the LXX ( (i. e. , as is read in the Samaritan Pent.) , so also Philo, Leg. Alleg. iii. 34, vol. i. p. 108), but, remarkably enough, in verbal accordance with St. Paul’s citation of the same text, Rom 12:19 , even to the adding of the words , which are neither in the Heb. nor the LXX. Two solutions of this are possible: 1. that the expression had become a common saying in the Church; 2. that our Writer takes it from St. Paul’s citation. A third alternative is of course open; that it is St. Paul himself, who quotes here as there. For a solution, see Prolegg. on the authorship of this Epistle) : and again, The Lord will judge His people (no doubt quoted primarily from the passage where it primarily occurs, in ref. Deut. The there expresses another function of the judge from that which is adduced here. There, He will judge for rescue and for defence: here, for punishment and for condemnation. But the office of Judge , generally asserted by , involves all that belongs to a judge: and if there it induces the comforting of those whom He , . , . , here the same general office of judgment also induces the punishment of the wilful sinner and apostate).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Heb 10:30 . . “For we know Him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay.” The certainty of the punishment spoken of is based upon the righteousness of God. “We know who it is that said”; it is the living God (Heb 10:31 ). The quotation is from Deu 32:35 not as in the LXX but as given in Rom 12:19 where it is used as an argument for the surrender of private vengeance. In Deut. LXX the words are . The second quotation, is from the following verse where the words intimate God’s protecting care of His people, using in the sense common in O.T. Delitzsch thinks that sense may be retained here, but this is less relevant and consistent with the passage. Cf. Sir 27:28 . and Sir 28:1 . . “It is dreadful to fall into the hands of the living God”. Where David (2Sa 24:14 ) prefers to do so [ ] it is because he knows his chastisement will be measured and that no unjust advantage will be taken. The dreadfulness of the impenitent’s doom arises from the same certainty that absolute justice will be done. As Judge, God is “the living God,” who sees and has power to execute just judgment, cf. Heb 3:12 , Heb 12:22 , cf. Heb 12:29 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Hebrews
HOW TO OWN OURSELVES
Heb 10:30
THE writer uses a somewhat uncommon word in this clause, which is not altogether adequately represented by the translation ‘saving.’ Its true force will be apparent by comparing one or two of the few instances in which it occurs in the New Testament. For example, it is twice employed in the Epistles to the Thessalonians; in one case being rendered, ‘God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain’ or, more correctly, to the obtaining of ‘salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ’; and in another, ‘called to the obtaining of glory through Jesus Christ.’ It is employed twice besides in two other places of Scripture, and in both of these it means ‘possession.’ So that, though practically equivalent to the idea of salvation, there is a very beautiful shade of difference which is well worth noticing. The thought of the text is substantially this – those who believe win their souls; they acquire them for their possession. We talk colloquially about ‘people that cannot call their souls their own.’ That is a very true description of all men who are not lords of themselves through faith in Jesus Christ. ‘They who believe to the gaining of their own souls’ is the meaning of the writer here. And I almost think that we may trace in this peculiar expression an allusion, somewhat veiled but real, to similar words of our Lord’s. For He said, when, like the writer in the present context, He was encouraging His disciples to steadfastness in the face of difficulties and persecutions, ‘In your patience’ – in your persistent adherence to Me, whatever might draw you away, – ‘ye shall win’ – not merely possess, as our Bible has it, and not a commandment, but a promise – ‘in your patience ye shall win your souls.’ Whether that allusion be sustainable or no matters comparatively little; it is the significant and beautiful thought which underlies the word to which I wish to turn, and to present you with some illustrations of it. I. First, then, if we lose ourselves we win ourselves.
All men admit in theory that a self-centred life is a blunder. Jesus Christ has all moralists and all thoughtful men wholly with Him when He says, ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life shall find it.’ There is no such way of filling a soul with enlargement and blessedness and of evolving new powers and capacities as self-oblivion for some great cause, for some great love, for some great enthusiasm. Many a woman has found herself when she held her child in her arms, and in the self-oblivion which comes from maternal affections and cares has sprung into a loftier new life. Many a heart, of husband and wife, can set its seal to this truth, that the blessedness of love is that it decentralises the soul, and substitutes another aim for the wretched and narrow one that is involved in self-seeking. And even if we do not refer to these sacred heights of maternal or of wedded love, there are many other noble counterpoises to the do-grading influence of self- absorption, which all men recognise and some men practise. Whoever has once tasted the joy and rapture of flinging himself into some great enthusiasm, and has known how much fuller life is when so inspired than in its ordinary forms, needs no words to convince him that the secret of blessedness, elevation, and power, if it is to be put into one great word, must be put into this one, ‘self-oblivion.’ But whilst all these counterpoises to the love of self are, in their measure and degree, great and noble and blessed, not one of them, nor all of them put together, will so break the fetters from off a prisoned soul and let it out into the large place of utter and glad self-oblivion as the course which our text enjoins upon us when it says: If you wish to forget yourselves, to abandon and lose yourselves, fling yourselves into Christ’s arms, and by faith yield your whole being, will, trust, purposes, aims, everything – yield them all to Him; and when you can say, ‘We are not our own,’ then first will you belong to yourselves and have won your own souls. There is nothing except that absolute departure from all reliance upon our own poor powers, and from all making of ourselves our centre and aim in life, which gives us true possession of ourselves. Nothing else is comparable to the talismanic power of trust in Jesus Christ. When thus we lose ourselves in Him we find ourselves, and find Him in ourselves. I believe that, at bottom, a life must either spin round on its own axis, self- centred and self-moved, or else it must be drawn by the mass and weight and mystical attractiveness of the great central sun, and swept clean out of its own little path to become a satellite round Him. Then only will it move in music and beauty, and flash back the lustre of an unfading light. Self or God, one or other will be the centre of every human life. It is well to be touched with lofty enthusiasms; it is well to conquer self in the eager pursuit of some great thought or large subject of study; it is well to conquer self in the sweetness of domestic love; but through all these there may run a perverting and polluting reference to myself. Affection may become but a subtle prolongation of myself, and study and thought may likewise be tainted, and even in the enthusiasm for a great cause there may mingle much of self-regard; and on the whole there is nothing that will sweep out, and keep out, the seven devils of selfishness except to yield yourselves to God, drawn by His mercies, and say, ‘I am not my own; I am bought with a price.’ Then, and only then, will you belong to yourselves.
II. Secondly it we will take Christ for our Lord we shall be lords of our own souls.
I have said that self-surrender is self-possession. It is equally true that self- control is self-possession; and it is as true about this application of my text as it was about the former, that Christianity only says more emphatically what moralists say, and suggests and supplies a more efficient means of accomplishing the end which they all recognise as good. For everybody knows that the man who is a slave to his own passions, lusts, or desire is not his own master. And everybody knows that the man who is the sport of circumstance, and yields to every temptation that comes sweeping round him, as bamboos bend before every blast; or the man who is guided by fashion, conventionality, custom, and the influence of the men amongst whom he lives, and whom he calls ‘the world,’ is not his own master. He ‘dare not call his soul his own.’ What do we mean by being self-possessed, except this, that we can so rule our more fluctuating and sensitive parts as that, notwithstanding appeals made to them By external circumstances, they do not necessarily yield to these? He possesses himself who, in the face of antagonism, can do what is right; who, in the face of temptation, will not do what is wrong; who can dare to be in the right with one or two; and who is not moulded By circumstances, howsoever they may influence him, but reacts upon them as a hammer, and is not as an anvil. And this superiority over the parts of my nature which are meant to be kept down, and this assertion of independent power in the face of circumstances, and this freedom from the dominion of cliques and parties and organs of opinion and loud voices round us, this is best secured in its fulness and completeness by the path which my text suggests. Trust in Jesus Christ, and let Him be your Commander-in-chief, and you have won your souls. Let Him dominate them, and you can dominate them. If you will give your wills into His hands, He will give them back to you and make you able to subdue your passions and desires. Put the reins into Christ’s hands and say, ‘Here, O Lord, guide Thou the horses and the chariot, for I cannot coerce them, but Thou canst.’ Then He will come and bring a new ally in the field, and cast a new weight into the scale, and you will no longer be the slave of the servile and inferior parts of your nature; nor be kicked about, the football of circumstances; nor be the echo of some other body’s views, but you will have a voice of your own, and a will of your own, and a soul of your own, because you have given them to Christ, and He will help you to control them. Such a man – and I verily believe, from the bottom of my heart, such a man only – in the fullest sense, is
‘Free from slavish bands, Of hope to rise, or fear to fall; Lord of himself, though not of lands; And having nothing, yet hath all.’
What does some little rajah, on the edge of our great Indian Empire, do when troubled with rebels whom he cannot subdue? He goes and makes himself a feudatory of the great central power at Calcutta, and then down comes a regiment or two, and makes very short work of the rebellion that the little kinglet could do nothing with. If you go to Christ and say to Him, ‘Dear Lord, I take my crown from my head and lay it at Thy feet. Come Thou to help me to rule this anarchic realm of my own soul,’ you will win yourself. III. Thirdly, if we have faith in Christ we acquire a better self. The thing that most thoughtful men and women feel, after they have gone a little way into life, is not so much that they want to possess themselves, as that they want to get rid of themselves – of all the failures and shame and disappointment and futility of their lives. That desire may be accomplished. We cannot strip ourselves of ourselves by any effort. The bitter old past keeps living on, and leaves with us seeds of weakness and memories that sometimes corrupt, and always enfeeble: memories that seem to limit the possibilities of the future in a tragic fashion. Ah, brethren! we can get rid of ourselves; and, instead of continuing the poor, sin-laden, feeble creatures that we are, we can have pouring into our souls the gift most real -though people nowadays, in their shallow religion, call it mystical – of a new impulse and a new life. The old individuality will remain, but new tastes, new aspirations, aversions, hopes, and capacities to realise them may all be ours, so that ‘if any man be in Christ he is a new creature’; and in barter for the old garment he receives the robe of righteousness. You can lose yourselves, in a very deep and earnest sense, if, trusting in Jesus Christ, you open the door of the heart to the influx of that new life which is His best gift. Faith wins a better self, and we may each experience, in all its fulness and Blessedness, the paradox of the apostle when he said, ‘I live’ now, at last, in triumphant possession of this better life: ‘I live’ now – I only existed before – ‘yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ And with Christ in me I first find myself. IV. Lastly, if by faith we win our souls here, we save them from destruction hereafter. I have said that the word of my text is substantially equivalent to the more frequent and common expression ‘salvation’; though with a shade of difference, which I have been trying to bring Out. And this substantial equivalence is more obvious if you will note that the text is the second member of an antithesis of which the first is, ‘we are not of them which draw back into perdition.’ So, then, the writer sets up, as exact opposites of one another, these two ideas – perdition or destruction on the one hand, and the saving or winning of the soul on the other. Therefore, whilst we must give due eight to the considerations which I have already been suggesting, we shall not grasp the whole of the writer’s meaning unless we admit also the thought of the future. And that the same blending of the two ideas, of possession and salvation in the more usual sense of the word, was implied in the Lord’s saying, of which I have suggested there may be an echo here, is plain if you observe that the version in St. Luke gives the text which I have already quoted: ‘In your patience ye shall win your souls’; and that of St. Matthew, in the same connection, gives, instead, the saying, ‘he that endureth’ – which corresponds with patience – ‘he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.’ So, then, brethren, you cannot be said to have won your souls if you are only keeping them for destruction, and such destruction is clearly laid down here as the fate of those who turn away from Jesus Christ. Now, it seems to me that no fair interpretation can eject from that word ‘perdition,’ or ‘destruction,’ an element of awe and terror. However you may interpret the ruin, it is ruin utter of which it speaks. And I am very much afraid that in this generation eager discussions about the duration of punishment, and the final condition of those who die impenitent, have had a disastrous influence on a great many minds and consciences in reference to this whole subject, by making it rather a subject of controversy than a solemn truth to be pondered. However the controversies be settled, there is terror enough left in that word to make us all bethink ourselves. I lay it on your hearts, dear friends – it is no business of mine to say much about it, but I lay it on your hearts and on my own; and I beseech you to ponder it. Do not mix it up with wholly independent questions as to what is to become of people who never heard about Jesus Christ. ‘The Judge of all the earth will do right.’ What this verse says applies to people that have heard about Him – that is, to you and me – and to people that do not accept Him – and that is some of us; and about them it says that they ‘draw back unto perdition.’ Now, remember, the alternative applies to each of us. It is a case of ‘either- or’ in regard to us all. If we have taken Christ for our Saviour, and, as I said, put the reins into His hands and given ourselves to Him by love and submission and confidence, then we own our souls, because we have given them to Him to keep, ‘and He is able to keep that which is committed to Him against that day.’ But I am bound to tell you, in the plainest words I can command, that if you have not thus surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His intercession, His quickening Spirit, then I know not where you are to find one foothold of hope that upon you there will not come down the overwhelming fate that is darkly portrayed in that one solemn word. Oh, brethren! let us all ponder the question, ‘ What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
know. Greek. oida. App-132.
hath. Omit.
Vengeance. Greek. ekdikesis. See Act 7:24.
unto = to.
judge. Greek. krino. App-122. These quotations are from Deu 32:35, Deu 32:36. Compare Rom 12:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30, 31.] And this and are certainties, testified to by God Himself.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Heb 10:30. , Him, who hath said) GOD, who does not threaten in vain.-, to me) See Rom 12:19, note, from Deu 32:35.-, again) after a few words intervening in the same song of Moses.- , the Lord will judge His people) Deu 32:36, LXX., . This epistle has very often a reference to the song of Moses and to Deuteronomy, a book which is well explained by it. He will judge, in grace and in anger, according as He shall find each individual.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
, , , . , . .
Heb 10:30-31. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people, [It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
There is in these verses the confirmation of all that was spoken before, by the consideration of what God is in himself, with whom alone we have to do in this matter, and what he assumeth unto himself in this and the like cases; as if the apostle had said, In the severe sentence which we have denounced against apostates, we have spoken nothing but what is suitable unto the holiness of God, and what, indeed, in such cases he hath declared that he will do.
The conjunction denotes the introduction of a reason of what was spoken before; but this is not all which he had discoursed on, on this subject, but more particularly the reference he had made unto their own judgments of what sore punishment was due unto apostates: Thus it will be with them, thus you must needs determine concerning them in your own minds; for we know him with whom we have to do in these things. Wherefore the apostle confirms the truth of his discourse, or rather illustrates the evidence of it, by a double consideration:
1. Of the person of him who is, and is to be the sole judge in this case, who is God alone: For we know him. And,
2. What he hath assumed unto himself, and affirmed concerning himself in the like cases; which he expresseth in a double testimony of Scripture. And then, lastly, there is the way whereby our minds are influenced from this person and what he hath said; which is, that we know him.
The first consideration confirming the evidence and certainty of the truth asserted, is the person of Him who is the only judge in this case. I confess the pronoun herein is not expressed in the original, but as it is included in the participle and article prefixed, , him that saith, who expresseth himself in the words ensuing; but it is evident that the apostle directeth unto a special consideration of God himself, both in the manner of the expression and in the addition of these words, , to the testimony which he writes immediately: If you will be convinced of the righteousness and certainty of this dreadful destruction of apostates, consider in the first place the Author of this judgment, the only judge in the case: We know him that hath said.
Obs. 1. There can be no right judgment made of the nature and demerit of sin, without a due consideration of the nature and holiness of God, against whom it is committed. Fools make a mock of sin; they have no sense of its guilt, nor dread of its punishment. Others have slight thoughts of it, measuring it only either by outward effects, or by presumptions which they have been accustomed unto. Some have general notions of its guilt, as it is prohibited by the divine law, but never search into the nature of that law with respect unto its author. Such false measures of sin ruin the souls of men. Nothing, therefore, will state our thoughts aright concerning the guilt and demerit of sin, but a deep consideration of the infinite greatness, holiness, righteousness, and power of God, against whom it is committed.
And hereunto this also is to be added, that God acts not in the effect of any of these properties of his nature, but on a preceding contempt of his goodness, bounty, grace, and mercy; as it is impossible that sin should come into the world but by the contempt of these things. Antecedently unto all possibility of sinning, God communicates the effects of his goodness and bounty unto the creation; and in those sins which are against the gospel, he doth so also of his grace and mercy. This is that which will give us a due measure of the guilt and demerit of sin: look upon it as a contempt of infinite goodness, bounty, grace, and mercy, and to rise up against infinite greatness, holiness, righteousness, and power, and we shall have a view of it as it is in itself.
Obs. 2. Under apprehensions of great severities of divine judgments, the consideration of God, the author of them, will both relieve our faith and quiet our hearts. Such instances are given in the eternal casting off of multitudes of angels, on their guilt in one sin; the woful sin of Adam, and the ruin of his posterity, even of those who had not sinned after the similitude of his transgression; the destruction of the old world by a universal flood; as in the fire and brimstone that God rained from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah; in the final rejection of the Jews, and the dreadful overthrow of the city and temple by fire; in the eternity of the torments of impenitent sinners. In all these things, and others that seem to have any thing of the same kind with them, we shall need nothing to give the most full satisfaction unto our souls, if we know him who hath said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
Secondly, This consideration is confirmed by a double testimony, wherein God assumeth unto himself that which will give assurance of the punishment of apostates. And we may consider, concerning these testimonies,
1. The apostles application of them unto his purpose;
2. The force that is in them unto that end.
1. They are both of them taken from Deu 32:35-36. But in that place they seem absolutely to intend vengeance and judgment on the adversaries of his people, to make a way for their deliverance; but here they are applied unto the final destruction of that same people, namely, the Jews, without hope of deliverance. I answer,
(1.) That it is usual with the apostle in this epistle, and all other writers of the New Testament, to make use of testimonies out of the Old without respect unto the particular cases and designs which they were originally applied unto, but with regard unto the truth and equity contained in them; whereon they are equally applicable unto all cases of a like nature. Thus, saith he, God declares himself with respect unto his stubborn enemies; whence a rule is established, that he will deal so with all that are so, who are in the same circumstances with them of whom we speak.
(2.) What God speaks concerning his enemies, and the enemies of his people in covenant with him, is applicable unto that people itself when they absolutely break and reject the covenant. So was it done by these apostates, who thereon came into the room and place of the most cursed enemies of God and his people. And therefore God will be unto them what he was unto the worst of those his adversaries.
(3.) That which God properly in that place assumeth this title unto himself upon, is the cruelty and rage of those adversaries in the persecution and destruction of his people: and shall he not act in like manner towards them who murdered the Lord Jesus, and persecuted all his followers?
Wherefore, whatever frame of mind in God is represented in the Scripture, as unto his indignation against the worst of sinners and his adversaries, is fully applicable unto these degenerate apostates.
2. The first testimony in the original is, , to me vengeance and recompence; which the apostle renders by , to the same purpose. Recompence is the actual exercise of vengeance. , , vengeance, is the actual execution of judgment on sinners according unto their desert, without mitigation or mercy. It is an act of judgment; and wherever mention is made of it, God is still proposed as a judge, it being a just retribution, on the consideration of the demerit of sin as sin.
(1.) This vengeance God appropriateth the right of unto himself in a peculiar manner, as that which no creature, in its full latitude, hath any interest in. See Psa 94:1-2. For it respects only sin in its own formal nature, as sin against God.
[1.] Though men may inflict punishment on it, yet they do it principally on other accounts. Whatever is of vengeance in punishment is merely an emanation from divine constitution.
[2.] No creature can have the just measures of the desert of sin, so as to give it a just and due recompence.
[3.] The power of the creature cannot extend to the just execution of vengeance, sin deserving eternal punishment.
[4.] Pure vengeance, as vengeance, is not to be intrusted with our nature; nor would any man be able to manage it, but would fall into one excess or other, unto the ruin of his own soul. Wherefore God hath reserved and included all vengeance unto himself, and all just, final retribution for and unto sin. Although he hath allowed infliction of punishment on offenders, in order unto the government and peace of the world, in magistrates and public persons, yet as unto vengeance, as it denotes giving satisfaction to ourselves in the punishment of others, it is forbidden unto all persons, both private and public. God, in executing vengeance, gives satisfaction unto his own infinite holiness and righteousness; which makes it holy and just. Men cannot give satisfaction unto themselves in punishment but it is unto their evil affections; which makes it useless and unjust. Hence David blessed God that he had kept him from avenging himself on Nabal. For there is no vengeance but what is exerted by a mans self, in his own case and cause: the judgment unto punishment is for others. Wherefore the formal reason of the appropriation of all vengeance unto God is, that God alone can judge and punish in his own case, and unto his own satisfaction. He hath made all things for himself, and the wicked for the day of evil.
(2.) In this appropriation of vengeance unto God, there is supposed and included that indeed there is vengeance with God, which in due time he will execute: I will repay, saith the Lord. He doth oftentimes exercise great patience and forbearance, even then when vengeance might justly be expected and is called for: How long dost thou not avenge our blood? This commonly adds unto the security of wicked men, and they learn to despise the threatening of all the judgments of God which they have deserved, 2Pe 3:3-7; Ecc 8:11. They are ready to conclude that either vengeance doth not belong unto God; or that it shall be executed when and where they are not concerned. But in all these cases God hath fixed a determinate time and season for the execution of deserved vengeance. Hence he calls it the year of vengeance, and the day of recompence; so here, I will repay it, saith the Lord.
This being so, God having said that vengeance belongeth unto him, and that it is due unto provoking sins and sinners; that it is in his power, and his alone, to inflict it when and how he pleaseth, and that he will certainly do so, in the assurance whereof the apostle adds that word, saith the Lord, he will repay it; it evidently follows, that in his appointed season, the day and year of vengeance, such horrible provoking sinners as were those treated of must fall under the most severe punishment, and that for evermore.
The second testimony, taken from the same place, is of the same importance with this, The Lord shall judge his people. In Deuteronomy it is applied unto such a judgment of them as tends unto their deliverance. But the general truth of the words is, that God is the supreme judge, he is judge himself, Psa 50:6. This the apostle makes use of, concluding that the righteousness of God, as the supreme judge of all, obligeth him unto this severe destruction of apostates: for shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? shall not he who is judge in a peculiar manner of those that profess themselves to be his people, punish them for their iniquities, especially such as break off all covenant-relation between him and them.
Obs. 3. A due consideration of the nature of God, his office, that he is the judge of all, especially of his people, and that enclosure he hath made of vengeance unto himself, under an irrevocable purpose for its execution, gives indubitable assurance of the certain, unavoidable destruction of all wilful apostates. All their security, all their presumptions, all their hopes, will vanish before this consideration, as darkness before the light of the sun.
Obs. 4. Although those who are the peculiar people of God do stand in many relations unto him that are full of refreshment and comfort, yet is it their duty constantly to remember that he is the holy and righteous judge, even towards his own people.
Lastly, The ground of the application of these testimonies unto the present case, is that knowledge of God which they had unto whom he spoke: For we know him. You have the same sense of God, his holiness and truth, as I have; and therefore it cannot be strange unto you that he will deal thus severely with apostates: you know who he is, how infinite in holiness, righteousness, and power; you know what he hath said in cases like unto this, namely, that vengeance is his, and he will repay: wherefore it must be evident unto you that these things will be as they are now declared.
Obs. 5. The knowledge of God in some good measure, both what he is in himself and what he hath taken on himself to do, is necessary to render either his promises or threatenings effectual unto the minds of men.
Heb 10:31. [It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The apostle in these words winds up his whole argument against the wilful despisers of the gospel, taken from the nature and aggravations of that sin, with the severity of the punishment that will certainly befall them that are guilty thereof. And these words are, as an inference from them that go immediately before, so a recapitulation of all that he had spoken to this purpose. Let men look to it, look to themselves, consider what they do; for it is a fearful thing, etc.
There are three things in the words:
1. The description given of God with respect unto the present case; he is the living God.
2. The event of their sin with respect unto him; it is a falling into his hands.
3. The nature hereof in general, it is a fearful thing.
First, In what sense God is called the living God, and with respect unto what ends, have been declared on Heb 3:12; Heb 9:14. In brief, this title is ascribed unto God principally on two accounts:
1. By way of opposition unto all dead and dumb idols, those which the heathen worshipped; and which are graphically described by the psalmist, Psa 115:4-8; as also by the prophet, Isa 44:9-11, etc. And,
2. This is to impress upon our minds a due sense of his glory and eternal power, according as we are called to trust in him or to fear him. Life is the foundation of power. He who hath life in himself, who is the cause of all life in all other things that are partakers of it, must be the only spring of infinite power. But God is here called the living God with respect unto his eternal power, whereby he is able to avenge the sins of men. Indeed, it calls to mind all the other holy properties of his nature, which are suited to impress dread or terror on the minds of presumptuous sinners; whose punishment is thence demonstrated to be unavoidable. He sees and knows all the evil and malice that are in their sin, and the circumstances of it. He is the God that liveth and seeth, Gen 16:14. And as he seeth, so he judgeth, because he is the living God; which also is the ground of holy trust in him, 1Ti 4:10.
Obs. 6. This name, the living God, is full of terror or comfort unto the souls of men.
Secondly, The event of the sin spoken against, as unto its demerit, with respect unto God, is called falling into his hands. The assertion is general, but is particularly applied unto this case by the apostle. To fall into the hands, is a common expression with reference unto any one falling into and under the power of his enemies. None can be said to fall into the hands of God, as though they were not before in his power. But to fall into the hands of God absolutely, as it is here intended, is to be obnoxious to the power and judgment of God, when and where there is nothing in God himself, nothing in his word, promises, laws, institutions, that should oblige him to mercy or a mitigation of punishment. So when a man falls into the hands of his enemies, between whom and him there is no law, no love, he can expect nothing but death. Such is this falling into the hands of the living God; there is nothing in the law, nothing in the gospel, that can be pleaded for the least abatement of punishment. There is no property of God that can be implored. It is the destruction of the sinner alone whereby they will all be glorified.
There is a falling into the hands of God that respects temporal things only, and that is spoken of comparatively. When David knew that an affliction or temporal punishment was unavoidable, he chose rather to fall into the hands of God as unto the immediate infliction of it, than to have the wrath of men used as the instrument thereof, 2Sa 24:14. But this appertains not unto our present purpose.
Thirdly, Hereof the apostle affirms in general, that it is , a fearful, dreadful thing; that which no heart can conceive, nor tongue express. Men are apt to put off thoughts of it, to have slight thoughts about it; but it is, and will be, dreadful, terrible, and eternally destructive of every thing that is good, and inflictive of every thing that is evil, or that our nature is capable of.
Obs. 7. There is an apprehension of the terror of the Lord in the final judgment, which is of great use unto the souls of men, 2Co 5:11. It is so to them who are not yet irrecoverably engaged into the effects of it.
Obs. 8. When there is nothing left but judgment, nothing remains but the expectation of it, its fore-apprehension will be filled with dread and terror.
Obs. 9. The dread of the final judgment, where there shall be no mixture of ease, is altogether inexpressible.
Obs. 10. That man is lost for ever who hath nothing in God that he can appeal unto, nothing in the law or gospel which he can plead for himself; which is the state of all wilful apostates. Obs. 11. Those properties of God which are the principal delight of believers, the chief object, of their faith, hope, and trust, are an eternal spring of dread and terror unto all impenitent sinners: The living God.
Obs. 12. The glory and horror of the future state of blessedness and misery are inconceivable either to believers or sinners.
Obs. 13. The fear and dread of God, in the description of his wrath, ought continually to be on the hearts of all who profess the gospel.
Herein, by this general assertion, the apostle sums up and closeth his blessed discourse concerning the greatest sin that men can make themselves guilty of, and the greatest punishment that the righteousness of God will inflict on any sinners. Nor is there any reaching of either part of this divine discourse unto the utmost. When he treats of this sin and its aggravations, no mind is able to search into, no heart is able truly to apprehend the evil and guilt which he chargeth it withal. No one can express or declare the least part of the evil which is comprised in every aggravation which he gives us of this sin. And in like manner concerning the punishment of it, he plainly intimates it shall be accompanied with an incomprehensible severity, dread, and terror. This, therefore, is a passage of holy writ which is much to be considered, especially in these days wherein we live, wherein men are apt to grow cold and careless in their profession, and to decline gradually from what they had attained unto. To be useful in such a season it was first written; and it belongs unto us no less than unto them unto whom it was originally sent. And we live in days wherein the security and contempt of God, the despite of the Lord Christ and his Spirit, are come to the full, so as to justify the truth that we have insisted on.
Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews
Vengeance: Deu 32:35, Psa 94:1, Isa 59:17, Isa 61:2, Isa 63:4, Nah 1:2, Rom 12:19, Rom 13:4
The Lord shall: Deu 32:36, Psa 50:4, Psa 96:13, Psa 98:9, Psa 135:14, Eze 18:30, Eze 34:17, 2Co 5:10
Reciprocal: Gen 50:19 – for am I Num 31:2 – Avenge Deu 28:58 – fear this glorious 2Ki 9:7 – I may avenge Isa 47:3 – I will take Jer 51:36 – take Eze 7:4 – but Eze 9:10 – but Eze 25:14 – and they shall know Mal 3:5 – I will come 2Th 1:8 – taking
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Heb 10:30. Paul cites a statement of God recorded in Deuterony 32:34-36, in regard to the determination of God to judge (execute punishment) the people who reject His terms of mercy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Heb 10:30. For. This punishment is certain, and is fulfilled and executed by God Himself. The first quotation in this verse follows neither the Hebrew nor the Greek text, but is the exact rendering adopted by Paul in Rom 12:19. The second is taken from Deu 32:36, and from the Psalms. The Hebrew of the word judge has two meaningsto exercise judgment in punishing others, and to exercise judgment on behalf of others. The second sense may be seen in Psa 82:3-4 (compare margin), Psa 43:1, 1Sa 24:12; 1Sa 24:15, and is appropriate to the passage in Deu 32:35-36, as well as here. He will execute judgment on behalf of His people, and against those who become traitors and blasphemers. God is Judge, is the first truth; and His judgment will be executed, is the second.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The apostle had declared in the verses before, the certain judgment of apostates: Here he declare the Judge, the Lord; and the judgment, vengeance; Vengeance is mine saith the Lord: Where, by vengeance, is meant vindictive justice in punishing sinners. The apostle’s arguments seems to lie thus:
“If God professes himself an avenger of all sin and injury done to his people, as he certainly doth, Deu 32:36. Much more will he show himself an avenger of so horrible an indignity offered to his Son and his Holy Spirit.”
Learn hence, That the consideration of the righteous nature of God, and that inclosure he has made of vengeance, to himself under an irrevocable assurance of the unavoidable purpose for its execution, gives undubitable assurance of the unavoidable destruction of all wilful apostates.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Heb 10:30-31. For we know him As if he had said, We may well think that such shall be punished very severely, because God has declared as much, saying, Vengeance belongeth unto me, Deu 32:35; Psa 94:1-2. Though this was originally said of the idolatrous nations who oppressed the Israelites, it was very properly applied by the apostle to apostates, being a general maxim of Gods government, according to which he will act in all cases where vengeance or punishment is due. I will recompense Recompense is the actual exercise of vengeance, and vengeance is the actual execution of judgment on sinners, according to their desert, without mitigation by mercy. He however oftentimes exercises great patience and forbearance even then, when vengeance might justly be expected. And this commonly adds to the security of wicked men, who take occasion from it to despise all the threatenings of the divine judgments which they have deserved; concluding from it, that either vengeance doth not belong to God, or that it shall be executed when and where they are not concerned. And the Lord will judge his people If they rebel against him; and that far more rigorously than he will judge the heathen. It is a fearful thing A thing above all others the most to be dreaded; to fall into the hands To be exposed to the avenging justice; of the living God Who, living for ever, can for ever punish, in what degree he pleases, the wretched creatures who have made themselves the objects of his final displeasure.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 30
Hebrews 10:30; Deuteronomy 32:35,36.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
10:30 {10} For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall {o} judge his people.
(10) The reason of all these things is, because God is a revenger of those who despise him: otherwise he could not rightly govern his Church. Now there is nothing more horrible then the wrath of the living God.
(o) Rule or govern.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In Deuteronomy 32, which the writer quoted here twice (Deu 32:35-36; Deu 32:40-41), Moses warned the Israelites against apostatizing. That was this writer’s point here as well. It is a terrifying prospect for a believer who has renounced his or her faith to fall under God’s hand of chastisement. Note that the writer addressed this warning to believers, though many interpreters have applied it to unbelievers. [Note: See Fanning, pp. 407-8.]
"Actually, Heb 10:30-31 forms a parallel reference to 2Co 5:10-11, and the preceding verses (Heb 10:26-29) provide additional information concerning that facet of the judgment seat associated with the ’terror of the Lord.’" [Note: Arlen L. Chitwood, Judgment Seat of Christ, p. 31.]
Heb 10:31 is not so much a logical conclusion from what precedes as it is a summary recalling the context of the Deuteronomy quotations. [Note: Ellingworth, p. 543.]