Heb 13:7-8 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 7. Remember them which have the rule over you . Marg., "are the guides." The word here used means, properly, leaders, guides , directors . It is often applied to military commanders. Here it means teachers--appointed to lead or guide them to eternal life. It does not refer to them so much as rulers or governors , as teachers or guides . In , however, it is used in the former sense. The duty here enjoined is that of remembering them; that is, remembering their counsel, their instructions, their example. Who have spoken to you the word of God . Preachers; either apostles or others. Respect is to be shown to the ministerial office by whomsoever it is borne. Whose faith follow . That is, imitate. . Considering the end of their conversation . Of their conduct; of their manner of life. The word here rendered the end --εκβασις --occurs only here and in , where it is rendered " a way of escape." It properly means, a going out, an egress , and is hence spoken of as a going out from life, or as an exit from the world-- death . This is probably the meaning here. It does not mean, as our translation would seem to imply, that Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever, was the aim or end for which they lived--for the Greek will not bear that construction; but it means that they were attentively to contemplate the end or the issue of the conduct of those holy teachers--the close or going out of all that they did; to wit, in a peaceful death. Their faith sustained them. They were enabled to persevere in a Christian course, and did not faint or fail. There is allusion, doubtless, to those who had been their religious instructors, and who had died in the faith of the gospel, either by persecution, or by an ordinary death; and the apostle points to them as examples of that to which he would exhort those whom he addressed--of perseverance in the faith until death. Thus explained, this verse does not refer to the duty of Christians towards living teachers, but toward those who are dead . Their duty towards living teachers is enforced in . The sentiment here is, that the proper remembrance of those now deceased, who were once our spiritual instructors and guides, should be allowed to have an important influence in inducing us to lead a holy life. We should remember them with affection and gratitude; we should recall the truths which they taught, and the exhortations which they addressed to us; we should cherish, with kind affection, the memory of all that they did for our welfare, and we should not forget the effect of the truths which they taught in sustaining their own souls when they died. (1) "them which" "are the guides" (a) "faith follow" (*) "follow" "whose faith imitate"

Hebrews 13:7-8

Verse 7. Remember them which have the rule over you. Marg., "are the guides." The word here used means, properly, leaders, guides, directors. It is often applied to military commanders. Here it means teachers--appointed to lead or guide them to eternal life. It does not refer to them so much as rulers or governors, as teachers or guides. In Heb 13:17, however, it is used in the former sense. The duty here enjoined is that of remembering them; that is, remembering their counsel, their instructions, their example.

Who have spoken to you the word of God. Preachers; either apostles or others. Respect is to be shown to the ministerial office by whomsoever it is borne.

Whose faith follow. That is, imitate. Heb 6:12.

Considering the end of their conversation. Of their conduct; of their manner of life. The word here rendered the end--εκβασις --occurs only here and in 1Cor 10:13, where it is rendered "a way of escape." It properly means, a going out, an egress, and is hence spoken of as a going out from life, or as an exit from the world-- death. This is probably the meaning here. It does not mean, as our translation would seem to imply, that Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever, was the aim or end for which they lived--for the Greek will not bear that construction; but it means that they were attentively to contemplate the end or the issue of the conduct of those holy teachers--the close or going out of all that they did; to wit, in a peaceful death. Their faith sustained them. They were enabled to persevere in a Christian course, and did not faint or fail. There is allusion, doubtless, to those who had been their religious instructors, and who had died in the faith of the gospel, either by persecution, or by an ordinary death; and the apostle points to them as examples of that to which he would exhort those whom he addressed--of perseverance in the faith until death. Thus explained, this verse does not refer to the duty of Christians towards living teachers, but toward those who are dead. Their duty towards living teachers is enforced in Heb 13:17. The sentiment here is, that the proper remembrance of those now deceased, who were once our spiritual instructors and guides, should be allowed to have an important influence in inducing us to lead a holy life. We should remember them with affection and gratitude; we should recall the truths which they taught, and the exhortations which they addressed to us; we should cherish, with kind affection, the memory of all that they did for our welfare, and we should not forget the effect of the truths which they taught in sustaining their own souls when they died.

(1) "them which" "are the guides" (a) "faith follow" Heb 6:12 (*) "follow" "whose faith imitate" Verse 8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, etc. As this stands in our common translation it conveys an idea which is not in the original. It would seem to mean that Jesus Christ, the unchangeable Saviour, was the end or aim of the conduct of those referred to, or that they lived to imitate and glorify him. But this is by no means the meaning in the original. There it stands as an absolute proposition, that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever;" that is, that he is unchangeable. The evident design of this independent proposition here is, to encourage them to persevere by showing that their Saviour was always the same; that he who had sustained his people in former times was the same still, and would be the same for ever. The argument here, therefore, for perseverance is founded on the immutability of the Redeemer. If he were fickle, vacillating, changing in his character and plans; if to-day he aids his people, and to-morrow will forsake them; if at one time he loves the virtuous, and at another equally loves the vicious; if he formed a plan yesterday which he has abandoned today; or if he is ever to be a different being from what he is now, there would be no encouragement to effort. Who would know what to depend on? Who would know what to expect tomorrow? For who could have any certainty that he could ever please a capricious or a vacillating being? Who could know how to shape his conduct if the principles of the Divine administration were not always the same? At the same time, also, that this passage furnishes the strongest argument for fidelity and perseverance, it is an irrefragable proof of the divinity of the Saviour. It asserts immutability--sameness in the past, the present, and to all eternity --but of whom can this be affirmed but God? It would not be possible to conceive of a declaration which would more strongly assert immutability than this.

(b) "same" Rev 1:4