Hebrews 13:5

your conversation The word here used is not the one generally rendered by "conversation" in the N.T. (anastrophças in Hebrews 13:7, "general walk" Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 2:3, or ("citizenship" politeuma, as in Philippians 1:27; Philippians 3:20), but "turn of mind" (tropos).

without covetousness Aphilargurosnot merely without covetousness (pleonexia) but "without love of money." It is remarkable that "covetousness" and "uncleanness" are constantly placed in juxtaposition in the N.T. (1 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5).

be content The formof the sentence "Let your turn of mind be without love of money, being content" is the same as "Let love be without pretence, hating" in Romans 12:9. The few marked similarities between this writer and St Paul only force the radical dissimilarity between their styles into greater prominence; and as the writer had almost certainly read the Epistle to the Romans a striking syntactical peculiarity like this may well have lingered in his memory.

he hath said More literally "Himself hath said." The "Himself" of course refers to God, and the phrase of citation is common in the Rabbis (הוא אמר). "He" and "I" are, as Delitzsch says, used by the Rabbis as mystical names of God.

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee These words are found (in the third person) in Deuteronomy 31:6; Deuteronomy 31:8; 1 Chronicles 28:20, and similarpromises, in the first person, in Genesis 28:15; Joshua 1:5; Isaiah 41:17. The very emphatic form of the citation (first with a double then with a triple negation) "I will in no wise fail, neither will I ever in any wise forsake thee" does not occur either in the Hebrew or the LXX., but it is found in the very same words in Philo (De Confus. Ling.§ 32), and since we have had occasion to notice again and again the thorough familiarity of the writer with Philo's works, it is probable that he derived it from Philo, unless it existed in some proverbial or liturgical form among the Jews. The triple negative οὐδ' οὐ μὴ is found in Matthew 24:21.