Heb 3:12-19 | JFB | STEP | 12. Take heed —to be joined with "wherefore," . lest there be — Greek (indicative), "lest there shall be"; lest there be, as I fear there is; implying that it is not merely a possible contingency, but that there is ground for thinking it will be so. in any —"in any one of you." Not merely ought all in general be on their guard, but they ought to be so concerned for the safety of each one member, as not to suffer any one to perish through their negligence [CALVIN ]. heart —The heart is not to be trusted. Compare , "They do always err in their heart." unbelief — faithlessness. Christ is faithful; therefore, saith Paul to the Hebrews, we ought not to be faithless as our fathers were under Moses. departing —apostatizing. The opposite of "come unto" Him ( ). God punishes such apostates in kind. He departs from them—the worst of woes. the living God —real: the distinctive characteristic of the God of Israel, not like the lifeless gods of the heathen; therefore One whose threats are awful realities. To apostatize from Christ is to apostatize from the living God ( ).

Hebrews 3:12-19

12. Take heed—to be joined with "wherefore," Heb 3:7.

lest there be—Greek (indicative), "lest there shall be"; lest there be, as I fear there is; implying that it is not merely a possible contingency, but that there is ground for thinking it will be so.

in any—"in any one of you." Not merely ought all in general be on their guard, but they ought to be so concerned for the safety of each one member, as not to suffer any one to perish through their negligence [CALVIN].

heart—The heart is not to be trusted. Compare Heb 3:10, "They do always err in their heart."

unbelief—faithlessness. Christ is faithful; therefore, saith Paul to the Hebrews, we ought not to be faithless as our fathers were under Moses.

departing—apostatizing. The opposite of "come unto" Him (Heb 4:16). God punishes such apostates in kind. He departs from them—the worst of woes.

the living God—real: the distinctive characteristic of the God of Israel, not like the lifeless gods of the heathen; therefore One whose threats are awful realities. To apostatize from Christ is to apostatize from the living God (Heb 2:3).

13. one another—Greek, "yourselves"; let each exhort himself and his neighbor.

daily—Greek, "on each day," or "day by day."

while it is called To-day—while the "to-day" lasts (the day of grace, Lu 4:21, before the coming of the day of glory and judgment at Christ's coming, Heb 10:25, 37). To-morrow is the day when idle men work, and fools repent. To-morrow is Satan's to-day; he cares not what good resolutions you form, if only you fix them for to-morrow.

lest . . . of you—The "you" is emphatic, as distinguished from "your fathers" (Heb 3:9). "That from among you no one (so the Greek order is in some of the oldest manuscripts) be hardened" (Heb 3:8).

deceitfulness—causing you to "err in your heart."

sin—unbelief.

14. For, &c.—enforcing the warning, Heb 3:12.

partakers of Christ—(Compare Heb 3:1, 6). So "partakers of the Holy Ghost" (Heb 6:4).

hold—Greek, "hold fast."

the beginning of our confidence—that is, the confidence (literally, substantial, solid confidence) of faith which we have begun (Heb 6:11; 12:2). A Christian so long as he is not made perfect, considers himself as a beginner [BENGEL].

unto the end—unto the coming of Christ (Heb 12:2).

15. While it is said—connected with Heb 3:13, "exhort one another . . . while it is said, To-day": Heb 3:14, "for we are made partakers," &c., being a parenthesis. "It entirely depends on yourselves that the invitation of the ninety-fifth Psalm be not a mere invitation, but also an actual enjoyment." ALFORD translates, "Since (that is, 'for') it is said," &c., regarding Heb 3:15 as a proof that we must "hold . . . confidence . . . unto the end," in order to be "partakers of Christ."

16. For some—rather interrogatively, "For WHO was 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 were excluded (Eze 2:3)? "Some," and "not all," would be a faint way of putting his argument, when his object is to show the universality of the evil. Not merely some, but all the Israelites, for the solitary exceptions, Joshua and Caleb, are hardly to be taken into account in so general a statement. So Heb 3:17, 18, are interrogative: (1) the beginning of the provocation, soon after the departure from Egypt, is marked in Heb 3:16; (2) the forty years of it in the wilderness, Heb 3:17; (3) the denial of entrance into the land of rest, Heb 3:18. Compare Note, see on 1Co 10:5, "with the majority of them God was displeased."

howbeit—"Nay (why need I put the question?), was it not all that came out of Egypt?" (Ex 17:1, 2).

by Moses—by the instrumentality of Moses as their leader.

17. But—Translate, "Moreover," as it is not in contrast to Heb 3:16, but carrying out the same thought.

corpses—literally, "limbs," implying that their bodies fell limb from limb.

18. to them that believed not—rather as Greek, "to them that disobeyed." Practical unbelief (De 1:26).

19. they could not enter—though desiring it.