Charles Ellicott Commentary Hebrews 3

Wherefore.—The address that here begins (the first direct address in the Epistle) bears the same relation to all that has preceded as Hebrews 2:1-4 bears to the first chapter. In particular, the contents of the second chapter are gathered up in this verse, almost every word of which recalls some previous statement or result.

Holy brethren.—United in one brotherhood by virtue of a common sonship (Hebrews 2:10) and of a common brotherhood (Hebrews 2:11) with Jesus, Him that sanctifieth (Hebrews 2:11).

Partakers.—Through Him who took part of our earthly nature (Hebrews 2:14) we are partakers of a heavenly calling (Hebrews 2:10) as God’s sons.

The Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.—The best manuscripts omit “Christ”; and it is impossible not to feel how fittingly the personal name “Jesus” is used after the later verses of Hebrews 2. Here only is the name Apostle directly given to our Lord; but the thought is present in Hebrews 2:3, and in the many passages in which Jesus designates Himself as the Sent of God, using the word from which Apostle is derived (John 3:17; John 5:36, and others; John 20:21).

There is very little difference between Apostle and Prophet, thus applied; but the one brings into relief the mission, the other the office and position. Each presents a thought complementary to that contained in high priest: “as Apostle Jesus pleads the cause of God with us; as High Priest He pleads our cause with God” (Bengel). The next verse makes it probable that the two terms contain a reference to the special mission of Moses and the priesthood of Aaron; our Christian confession looks to One mediator.

Who was.—Rather, as being; or that He was. Not merely, fix your thought on Jesus; but also (and especially), think of Him as faithful to God (Hebrews 2:17).

Appointed him.—Literally, made Him, an expression which some ancient (Ambrose and other Latin fathers—apparently also Athanasius) and many modern writers have understood as relating to the creation of the human nature of our Lord.

It is probable, however, that 1 Samuel 12:6 is in the writer’s mind: It is the Lord that made Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. As Samuel speaks there of the raising up of Moses and Aaron, constituted by God deliverers of the people, so here our thought must rest on Him who constituted Jesus “Apostle and High Priest.”

As also Moses.—These words, which give the key to the following verses, are quoted from Numbers 12:7, where Moses is placed in contrast with prophets in Israel to whom the Lord will make Himself known by vision or dream: My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth.

The “house” or household is God’s people, Israel. To others God will reveal Himself in various ways in regard to the many parts of the house, the many concerns of the household. Throughout the whole house Moses was the recipient of the divine commands, and was faithful—“faithful” (as one of the Targums paraphrases), “as chief of the chiefs of my court.”

For this man was counted.—Rather, For He has been accounted, by God, who has crowned Him with glory and honour (Hebrews 2:9). This reward contains the proof that He was faithful. This is probably the connection of thought; others join this verse with the first: “Consider Him . . . for He has received higher glory than Moses.”

Inasmuch as.—That is, in proportion as: the glory attained by Jesus exceeds the glory of Moses, as the honour due to the builder of the house exceeds that possessed by the house itself. It is not said that Jesus is the Builder; but the relation in which He stands to the Builder of the house is compared with that of Moses to the house. (See Hebrews 3:5-6.) “Builded” is not a happy word here (especially if we consider the sense in which “house” is used), but it is not easy to find a suitable rendering. The meaning is, He who prepared or formed the house, with all its necessary parts and arrangements.

For every house is built by some man.—Rather, by some one: the thought of the house leads at once to the thought of its builder. The meaning of the several parts of this verse is very simple, but it is not easy to follow the reasoning with certainty.

The second clause seems to be a condensed expression of this thought: “But He who built this house is He who built all things, God.” Moses possesses lesser glory than the Apostle of our confession, as the house stands below its maker in honor. For this house, like every other, has its maker—it is He who made all things, even God.

As a servant.—What was previously implied is now clearly expressed. Hebrews 3:3 associated Moses with the house, Jesus with Him who built it; the nature of this relation is stated in this verse and the next. Moses was “in God’s house”; however exalted his position, he was in the house as a servant. The Greek word used here does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament but is taken from the Septuagint version of Numbers 12:7. There is nothing special about the Hebrew word in that passage, but the translators seem to have felt that “bond-servant” was less suitable in such a context than “attendant” or “minister.”

The object of his service was that he might bear “testimony of the things that should afterward be spoken.” Are we to understand by these the divine commands that would from time to time be given to Moses? If so, then the statement “Moses was faithful” must be regarded as a pure quotation, equivalent to “Moses was at that time declared faithful.”

This does not seem probable. If, however, the words of Numbers 12:7 are taken as descriptive of the whole life of Moses, his “witness” must relate to the things spoken “in these last days”; of these, by his writings, his acts, his life, Moses bore constant witness. (Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:19; Hebrews 11:26; John 5:46, and other passages.) The latter interpretation is confirmed by Hebrews 3:6, in which the name given to our Lord is not Jesus, as in Hebrews 3:1, but Christ.