Hebrews 3:3

For this man Rather, "For He," i.e. Christ. The "for" depends on the "Consider."

was counted worthy Rather, "hath been deemed worthy," namely, by God.

more glory Rather, "a fuller glory" (amplioris gloriae, Vulg.).

of more glory than Moses Eagerly as the writer is pressing forwards to develop his original and central conception of Christ as our Eternal High Priest, he yet has to pause to prove His superiority over Moses, because the Jews had begun to elevate Moses into a position of almost supernatural grandeur which would have its effect on the imaginations of wavering and almost apostatising converts. Thus the Rabbis said that "the soul of Moses was equivalent to the souls of all Israel;" (because by the cabbalistic process called Gematriathe numerical value of the letters of "Moses our Rabbi" in Hebrew = 613, which is also the value of the letters of "Lord God of Israel"). They said that "the face of Moses. was like the Sun;" that he alone "saw through a clear glass" not as other prophets "through a dim glass" (comp. St Paul's "through a mirror in a riddle," 1 Corinthians 13:12) and that whereas there are but fifty gates of understanding in the world, "all but one were opened to Moses." See the Rabbinic references in my Early days of Christianity, 1. 362. St Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:7-8 contrasts the evanescing splendour on the face of Moses with the unchanging glory of Christ.

he who hath builded the house The verb (κατασκευάσας) implies rather "equipped" or "established" than "builded" (see Hebrews 9:2; Hebrews 9:6; Hebrews 11:7 and note on Hebrews 1:2; Wis 13:4).

hath more honour than the house The point of this expression is not very obvious. If taken strictly it would imply that Moses was himself "the house" which Christ built. But οἶκος, "house" or "household" means more than the mere building (οἰκία), It means the whole theocratic family, the House of Israel in its covenant relation; and though Moses was not this House, he was more than a servant in it being also its direct representative and human head. (There is a somewhat similar phrase in Philo, De plant. Noe, 16.)