Hebrews 13:17

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU (cf. Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:24). This threefold mention of rulers is unique to this letter. In others, Paul includes the rulers in his exhortations. Here, the address is to the general body of the Church, as distinguished from the rulers, to whom they are charged to yield reverent submission. This is just what might be expected when the apostle of the Gentiles was writing to the Palestine Christians, among whom James and the eleven had exercised immediate authority. It was important he should not seem to inte...

17._Obey them, etc. _I doubt not but that he speaks of pastors and other rulers of the Church, for there were then no Christian magistrates; and what follows, _for they watch for your souls, _properly belongs to spiritual government. He commands first obedience and then honor to be rendered to them. (287) These two things are necessarily required, so that the people might have confidence in their pastors, and also reverence for them. But it ought at the same time to be noticed that the Apostle speaks only of those who faithfully performed their office; for they who have nothing but the title, nay, who use the title of pastors for the purpose of destroying the Church, deserve but little reverence and still less confidence. And this also is what the Apostle plainly sets forth when he says, that they _watched _for their souls, — a duty which is not performed but by those who are faithful ru...

16-21 We must, according to our power, give to the necessities of the souls and bodies of men: God will accept these offerings with pleasure, and will accept and bless the offerers through Christ. The apostle then states what is their duty to living ministers; to obey and submit to them, so far as is agreeable to the mind and will of God, made known in his word. Christians must not think themselves too wise, too good, or too great, to learn. The people must search the Scriptures, and so far as the ministers teach according to that rule, they ought to receive their instructions as the word of God, which works in those that believe. It is the interest of hearers, that the account their ministers give of them may be with joy, and not with grief. Faithful ministers deliver their own souls, but the ruin of a fruitless and faithless people will be upon their own heads. The more earnestly the...

Verse 17. _OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU_] Obey your _leaders_, τοις ηγουμενοις. He is not fit to _rule_ who is not capable of _guiding_. Hebrews 13:7. In the former verse the apostle exhorts them to remember those who had been their leaders, and to imitate their faith; in this he exhorts them to obey the leaders they now had, and to submit to their authority in all matters of doctrine and discipline, on the ground that they _watched for their souls_, and should have to give an account of their conduct to God. If this conduct were improper, they must give in their report before the great tribunal with _grief_; but _in_ it must be given: if holy and pure, they would give it in with _joy_. It is an awful consideration that many pastors, who had loved their flocks as their own souls, shall be obliged to accuse them before God for either having...

OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU - Margin, guide; see notes on Hebrews 13:7. The reference here is to their religious teachers, and not to civil rulers. They were to show them proper respect, and to submit to their authority in the church, so far as it was administered in accordance with the precepts of the Saviour. The obligation to obedience does not, of course, extend to anything which is wrong in itself, or which would be a violation of conscience. The doctrine is, that subordination is necessary to the welfare of the church, and that there ought to be a disposition to yield all proper obedience to those who are set over us in the Lord; compare notes on 1 Thessalonians 5:12. AND SUBMIT YOURSELVES - That is, t

CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS EXPOSITION As in St. Paul's Epistles, practical directions as to conduct conclude the treatise, such as the readers may be supposed to have especially needed. They are urged to evince and confirm the faith which was the subject of Hebrews 11:1, and to maintain their communion with the world invisible spoken of in Hebrews 12:1, by attending especially to those daily duties which they might be in danger of forgetting. By perseverance in a life consistent with profession faith is not only evidenced, but also kept from faltering. In the course of these hortations (Hebrews 12:10), being suggested by one of them, there is introduced a ye

OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU,.... Not the ecclesiastical rulers among the Jews, for to these they were no longer obliged, they being no longer under such tutors and governors; nor civil magistrates, though it was their duty to obey them, even Heathen ones; for as for Christian magistrates, as yet there were none; but their spiritual guides and governors, the same that are mentioned Hebrews 13:7 these the apostle exhorts them to "obey": by constantly tending upon the word preached by them, and hearkening to it; by receiving it with faith and love, as it appears agreeable to the Scriptures; for a contrary behaviour is pernicious to souls, and highly resented by God; and by being present at, and joining with them in the ordinances of Christ, as administered by them; and by regarding their admonitions, counsels, and advice: AND SUBMIT YOURSELVES; to the laws of Christ

This is a practical chapter at the close of this most instructive Epistle. Hebrews 13:1. _Let brotherly love continue._ The word «continue» implies that the «brotherly love» exists, there are many things which might put an end to it, so see to it that, as far as you are concerned, it continues. Under all provocations, and under all disappointments, «let brotherly love continue.» Hebrews 13:2. _Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body._ And being likely therefore to take your own turn of suffering, and to need the sympathy of your fellow-Christians. Show sympathy to others while they

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The practical walk (Hebrews 13:1)_ 2. The call to separation (Hebrews 13:7) 3. Conclusions (Hebrews 13:17) Hebrews 13:1 No comment is needed on the simple exhortations with which this concluding chapter of this Epistle begins. Brotherly love stands in the foreground. Hospitality and loving kindness to prisoners and those who suffer adversity is especially enjoined. The great high priest in glory sympathizes with such a condition of His saints and we too are to be sympathizers as well as intercessors with Him. The life is to be clean and undefiled. Walking in faith there should be

Admonitions concerning Church discipline. The brethren are to cherish the memory of their former leaders, who instructed them in the truth of God and exemplified it in their life and death. Jesus Christ, in whom those departed leaders found their strength, is the same still, and will be the same for ever (Hebrews 13:7 f.)_._ The mention of those revered teachers who have passed away suggests a warning against forgetfulness of the doctrines they had taught. Some peculiar form of error was threatening the Church; the nature of it cannot be precisely determined, but it seems to have laid stress on certain rules of eating and drinking, like the heresy at Colossæ (_cf._ Colossians 2:16). The writer declares that external devices of this kind have never helped those who trusted in them, and all strength