Hebrews 2:13

I will put my trust in him... Behold I and the children... — Of the two passages cited in this verse, the latter is certainly from Isaiah 8:18; and though the former might be derived from 2 Samuel 22:3 or Isaiah 12:2, yet, as the words are also found in the same chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:17), we may with certainty consider this the source of the quotation. That the section of Isaiah’s prophecies to which Hebrews 8 belongs is directly Messianic, is a fact that must be kept in mind; but the stress of the quotation cannot be laid on this. The prophet, as the representative of God to the people, has given utterance to the divine message: in these words, however, “I will put my trust” (better, “I will have my trust,” for continuous confidence is what the words denote) “in Him,” he retires into the same position with the people whom he has addressed; their relation towards God’s word and the hope it inspires must be his also. This two-fold position of the prophet symbolised the two-fold nature of Him of whom every prophet was a type. (In Isaiah 8:17, the Authorised version, “I will look for Him,” is nearer to the strict meaning of the original; but the difference is of little moment.)

The second passage is free from difficulty up to a certain point. In Isaiah 7:8 we not only read of the word of God sent by Isaiah, but also find his sons associated with him in his message to the people. The warning of judgment and the promise are, so to speak, held up before the people inscribed in the symbolic names borne by the sons, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (“Speed the spoil, hastens the prey”) and Shear-jashub (“A remnant shall return;” see Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 10:21), and by Isaiah himself (“Salvation of Jehovah”). “Behold I,” he says, “and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts.” By God’s own appointment, the children whom God gave him, though themselves no prophets, were joined with himself in the relation of prophets to the people, and were representatives of those whom God, who “hideth His face from the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 8:17), will save. As in the former passage Isaiah is taken as representing Christ, so here those who, being of the same blood, are joined with him in his work and in the promise of salvation, represent those whom the Son calls “brethren.” The difficulty is that, whereas the original passage speaks of “the children” of the prophet, the meaning here must be children of God, given by Him to the Son. But no type can answer in every respect to that which it represents. The association of Jesus with His, people contains three elements of thought — His essential superiority, His sharing the same nature with His people, His brotherhood with them. The first two thoughts are truly represented in this Old Testament figure; the last no figure could at the same time set forth. And though Hebrews 2:12 are directly connected with the word “brethren,” yet, as the next verse shows, the most important constituent of the thought is community of nature. It should be observed that in these two verses the citations are not so distinctly adduced by way of proof as are those of the first chapter.