Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 12:23

"to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," — Hebrews 12:23 (ASV)

“The church [GK 1711] of the firstborn” is a difficult expression. Does it mean the angels just spoken of? They are not usually called a “church,” but the word basically means “assembly” and so could be applied to angels. If it refers to people, it is not easy to see it as the church triumphant because that is the same as “the spirits of righteous men made perfect” at the end of the verse. Nor is it easier to see it of the church here and now, for (1) the readers would be included and would be “coming” to themselves, and (2) it would give a strange sequence—angels, the church on earth, God, the departed. Nor are angels normally described as having their “names... written in heaven,” whereas there are references to the recording of the names of the saved (e.g., Lk 10:20; Revelation 21:27). Perhaps the best solution is to see a reference to the whole communion of saints, the church on earth and in heaven. Believers not only come to it but into it. This would follow naturally on the reference to angels, after which there is the thought of God as Judge.

In the next part of the sentence, then, the author is concerned with the Judge (i.e., God), who has rewarded “the spirits of righteous men.” It is unusual to have the departed referred to as “spirits.” It is probably used here to give emphasis to the spiritual nature of the new order that the righteous find themselves in. There is a sense in which they are not made perfect without Christians (11:40). But there is also a sense in which they have been brought to the end for which they were made.