Hebrews 10:26

Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν.… “For if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no more remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain dreadful waiting for judgment and a fury of fire which is to devour the adversaries.” γὰρ, introducing an additional reason for the preceding exhortation. The emphasis is on ἑκουσίως; and the present tense of ἁμαρτ. must not be overlooked. Cf. τῶν ἀκουσίων ἁμαρτημάτων καταφυγὴν εἶναι τοὺς βωμούς, Thuc. 4:98. Wilful sin, continued in, means apostasy, repudiation of the covenant. Cf. Hebrews 6:6, καὶ παραπεσόντας, and Hebrews 5:2, τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν, and Hebrews 3:12. Apostasy can only occur μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν … a condition which is explained in detail in chap. 6. Without this preceding knowledge of the covenant its wilful repudiation is impossible. Those spoken of in Hebrews 10:25, as having abandoned meeting with their fellow Christians, and possibly as having neglected, if not renounced, the confession of their hope, were perhaps alluded to here, as on their way to apostasy. They are warned that they are drifting into an irredeemable condition, for to those who have repudiated and keep repudiating the one sacrifice of Christ, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτίων ἀπολείπεται θυσία. The only sacrifice has been rejected, and there is no other sacrifice which can atone for the rejection of this sacrifice. “The meaning is not merely that the Jewish sacrifices to which the apostate has returned have in themselves no sin-destroying power, nor even that there is no second sacrifice additional to that of Christ, but further that for a sinner of this kind the very sacrifice of Christ itself has no more atoning or reconciling power” (Delitzsch). That this is the meaning is shown by the positive assertion of what the future does contain, a terrifying prospect of waiting for inevitable judgment. The expression is not equivalent to φοβερᾶς ἐκδοχὴ κρίσεως, which, as Bleek remarks, would not be so impressive. φοβερός means either “causing fear” or “feeling fear”; “scaring” or “affrighted”. Here it is used in the former sense. ἐκδοχὴ occurs elsewhere only in the sense of receiving something or of the acceptation or interpretation of a word; but Hebrews 10:13 and Hebrews 9:28 guide to the meaning given by the Vulg. expectatis. The τις by leaving the expectation indefinite heightens the terror of it. The imagination is allowed scope. κρίσεως is general, but immediately suggests πυρὸς ζῆλος μέλλοντος, the destined fire; for which see 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10. “Fiery indignation” very well renders πυρὸς ζῆλος, an anger which expresses itself in fire. The expression is derived from such O.T. phrases as Psalms 79:5 ἐκκαυθήσεται ὡς πῦρ ὁ ζῆλός σου. Cf. Zephaniah 1:18 and Deuteronomy 4:21. This fiery anger is destined to devour the adversaries, as in Isaiah 26:11 ζῆλος λήψεται λαὸν ἀπαίδευτον, και νῦν πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἔδεται, and Isaiah 64:2 κατακαύσει πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους. Cf. also Isaiah 30:27 ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θυμοῦ ὡς πῦρ ἔδεται, a natural figure used by Homer and others. ὑπεναντίους, see Lightfoot on Colossians 2:14, who shows that it means “direct, close, persistent opposition”.