the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Hebrews 2:15
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Jesus became like these people and died so that he could free them. They were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.
and yt he myght delyver the which thorow feare of deeth were all their lyfetyme in dauger of bondage.
and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
and free those who were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.
and might deliver all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to slavery.
And deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage.
and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
And deliver them, as many as through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage.
and might set at liberty all those who through fear of death had been subject to lifelong slavery.
and that he schulde delyuere hem that bi drede of deth, `bi al lijf weren boundun to seruage.
and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.
and [that He] might free all those who through [the haunting] fear of death were held in slavery throughout their lives.
and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
And let those who all their lives were in chains because of their fear of death, go free.
and thus set free those who had been in bondage all their lives because of their fear of death.
and might set free all those who through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage.
and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.Luke 1:74; Romans 8:15; 2 Timothy 1:7;">[xr]
and set loose them who in the fear of death had been all their lives subjected to servitude.
and might release them, who, through fear of death, are all their lives subject to bondage.
And deliuer them, who through feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage.
Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
Jesus did this to make us free from the fear of death. We no longer need to be chained to this fear.
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.
And that he might deliuer all them, which for feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage.
And has released them who, through fear of death all their lives, were subject to slavery.
And might release these - as many as, by fear of death, were all their lifetime liable, to bondage.
And might deliver them, who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to servitude.
And that he myght delyuer them, which through feare of death, were all their lyfe tyme in daunger of bondage.
and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.
and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
and could set free these who through fear of death were subject to slavery throughout all their lives.
and might set these free, as many as by fear of death were subject to slavery through all the lifetime to live.
and might deliver those, whoever, with fear of death, throughout all their life, were subjects of bondage,
& that he mighte delyuer the which thorow feare of death were all their life tyme in dauger of bodage.
and deliver them who thro' fear of death were all their life-time in a state of slavery.
and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Jesus died for us and so has freed us from the power of fear of dying. No longer are we afraid to die because Jesus did it for us.
and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
deliver: Job 33:21-28, Psalms 33:19, Psalms 56:13, Psalms 89:48, Luke 1:74, Luke 1:75, 2 Corinthians 1:10
through: Job 18:11, Job 18:14, Job 24:17, Psalms 55:4, Psalms 73:19, 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
subject: Romans 8:15, Romans 8:21, Galatians 4:21, 2 Timothy 1:7
Reciprocal: Genesis 3:15 - it shall Judges 14:14 - Out of the eater Judges 16:30 - So the dead Psalms 18:17 - strong Psalms 68:20 - unto Psalms 98:1 - his right Isaiah 25:8 - He Isaiah 42:7 - to bring Isaiah 49:25 - Even Isaiah 53:3 - a man Isaiah 53:12 - will I Isaiah 63:5 - mine own Jeremiah 31:11 - redeemed Micah 2:13 - breaker Matthew 6:13 - deliver Luke 8:35 - and found John 10:18 - but John 19:30 - and he Acts 10:38 - healing Acts 26:18 - and from Romans 6:9 - death Romans 7:24 - who Romans 16:20 - shall 1 Corinthians 15:54 - Death Galatians 4:31 - we 2 Timothy 1:10 - who Revelation 12:11 - they overcame Revelation 21:4 - no
Cross-References
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
if I have concealed my transgressions from men, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And deliver them, who through fear of death,.... This is another end of Christ's assuming human nature, and dying in it, and thereby destroying Satan, that he might save some out of his hands:
[who] were all their lifetime subject to bondage; meaning chiefly God's elect among the Jews; for though all men are in a state of bondage to the lusts of the flesh, and are Satan's captives; yet this describes more particularly the state of the Jews, under the law of Moses, which gendered unto bondage; which they being guilty of the breach of, and seeing the danger they were exposed to on that account, were subject, bound, and held fast in and under a spirit of bondage: and that "through fear of death"; through fear of a corporeal death; through fear of chastisements and afflictions, the forerunners of death, and what sometimes bring it on; and through fear of death itself, as a disunion of soul and body, and as a penal evil; and through fear of what follows it, an awful judgment: and this the Jews especially were in fear of, from their frequent violations of the precepts, both of the moral, and of the ceremonial law, which threatened with death; and this they lived in a continual fear of, because they were daily transgressing, which brought on them a spirit of bondage unto fear: and, as Philo the Jew o observes, nothing more brings the mind into bondage than the fear of death: and many these, even all the chosen ones among them, Christ delivered, or saved from sin, from Satan, from the law, and its curses, from death corporeal, as a penal evil, and from death eternal; even from all enemies and dangers, and brought them into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
o Quod omnis Probus Liber, p. 868.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And deliver them - Not all of them “in fact,” though the way is open for all. This deliverance relates:
(1) To the dread of death. He came to free them from that.
(2) From death itself - that is, ultimately to bring them to a world where death shall be unknown. The dread of death may be removed by the work of Christ, and they who had been subject to constant alarms on account of it may be brought to look on it with calmness and peace; and ultimately they will be brought to a world where it will be wholly unknown. The dread of death is taken away, or they are delivered from that, because:
(a)The cause of that dread - to wit, sin, is removed; see the notes at 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.
- Because they are enabled to look to the world beyond with triumphant joy.
Death conducts them to heaven. A Christian has nothing to fear in death; nothing beyond the grave. In no part of the universe has he any thing to dread, for God is his friend, and he will be his Protector everywhere. On the dying bed; in the grave; on the way up to the judgment; at the solemn tribunal; and in the eternal world, he is under the eye and the protection of his Saviour - and of what should he be afraid?
Who through fear of death - From the dread of dying - that is, whenever they think of it, and they think of it “so often” as to make them slaves of that fear. This obviously means the natural dread of dying, and not particularly the fear of punishment beyond. It is that indeed which often gives its principal terror to the dread of death, but still the apostle refers here evidently to natural death - as an object which people fear. All men have, by nature, this dread of dying - and perhaps some of the inferior creation have it also. It is certain that it exists in the heart of every man, and that God has implanted it there for some wise purpose. There is the dread:
(1)Of the dying pang, or pain.
- Of the darkness and gloom of mind that attends it.
(3)Of the unknown world beyond - the “evil that we know not of.”
(4)Of the chilliness, and loneliness, and darkness of the grave.
(5)Of the solemn trial at the bar of God.
(6)Of the condemnation which awaits the guilty - the apprehension of future wo. There is no other evil that we fear so much as we do death - and there is nothing more clear than that God intended that we should have a dread of dying.
The reasons why he designed this are equally clear:
- One may have been to lead people to prepare for it - which otherwise they would neglect.
(2)Another, to “deter them from committing self-murder” - where nothing else would deter them.
Facts have shown that it was necessary that there should be some strong principle in the human bosom to prevent this crime - and even the dread of death does not always do it. So sick do people become of the life that God gave them; so weary of the world; so overwhelmed with calamity; so oppressed with disappointment and cares, that they lay violent hands on themselves, and rush unbidden into the awful presence of their Creator. This would occur more frequently by far than it now does, if it were not for the salutary fear of death which God has implanted in every bosom. The feelings of the human heart; on this subject were never more accurately or graphically drawn than in the celebrated Soliloquy of Hamlet:
- To die; - to sleep -
No more; - and by a sleep, to say we end.
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks.
That flesh is heir to, - ‘tis a consummation.
Devoutly to be wished. To die - to sleep -
To sleep: - perchance to dream; - ay, there’s the rub;
For in that deep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: - there’s the respect.
That makes calamity of so long a life:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns.
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make.
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life;
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourne.
No traveler returns, puzzles the will;
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution.
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment.
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
God planned that man should be deterred from rushing uncalled into His awful presence, by this salutary dread of death - and his implanting this feeling in the human heart is one of the most striking and conclusive proofs of a moral government over the world. This instinctive dread of death can be overcome only by religion - and then man does not need it to reconcile him to life. He becomes submissive to trials. He is willing to bear all that is laid on him. He resigns himself to the dispensations of Providence, and feels that life, even in affliction, is the gift of God, and is a valuable endowment. He now dreads “self-murder” as a crime of deep dye, and religion restrains him and keeps him by a more mild and salutary restraint than the dread of death. The man who has true religion is willing to live or to die; he feels that life is the gift of God, and that he will take it away in the best time and manner; and feeling this, he is willing to leave all in his hands. We may remark:
(1) How much do we owe to religion! It is the only thing that will effectually take away the dread of death, and yet secure this point - to make man willing to live in all the circumstances where God may place him. It is possible that philosophy or stoicism may remove to a great extent the dread of death - but then it will be likely to make man willing to take his life if he is placed in trying circumstances. Such an effect it had on Cato in Utica; and such an effect it had on Hume, who maintained that suicide was lawful, and that to turn a current of blood from its accustomed channel was of no more consequence than to change the course of any other fluid!
(2) In what a sad condition is the sinner! There are thousands who never think of death with composure, and who all their life long are subject to bondage through the fear of it. They never think of it if they can avoid it; and when it is forced upon them, it fills them with alarm. They attempt to drive the thought away. They travel; they plunge into business; they occupy the mind with trifles; they drown their fears in the intoxicating bowl: but all this tends only to make death more terrific and awful when the reality comes. If man were wise, he would seek an interest in that religion which, if it did nothing else, would deliver him from the dread of death; and the influence of the gospel in this respect, if it exerted no other, is worth to a man all the sacrifices and self-denials which it would ever require.
All their life-time subject to bondage - Slaves of fear; in a depressed and miserable condition, like slaves under a master. They have no freedom; no comfort; no peace. From this miserable state Christ comes to deliver man. Religion enables him to look calmly on death and the judgment, and to feel that all will be well.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. And deliver them who through fear of death — It is very likely that the apostle has the Gentiles here principally in view. As they had no revelation, and no certainty of immortality, they were continually in bondage to the fear of death. They preferred life in any state, with the most grievous evils, to death, because they had no hope beyond the grave. But it is also true that all men naturally fear death; even those that have the fullest persuasion and certainty of a future state dread it: genuine Christians, who know that, if the earthly house of their tabernacle were dissolved, they have a house not made with hands, a building framed of God, eternal in the heavens, only they fear it not. In the assurance they have of God's love, the fear of death is removed; and by the purification of their hearts through faith, the sting of death is extracted. The people who know not God are in continual torment through the fear of death, and they fear death because they fear something beyond death. They are conscious to themselves that they are wicked, and they are afraid of God, and terrified at the thought of eternity. By these fears thousands of sinful, miserable creatures are prevented from hurrying themselves into the unknown world. This is finely expressed by the poet: -
"To die,--to sleep,--
No more:--and, by a sleep, to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,--'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die,--to sleep,--
To sleep!--perchance to dream;--ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause:--There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life:
For who could bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear
To grunt and sweat under a weary life;
But that the dread of something after death,--
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns,--puzzles the will;
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action."
I give this long quotation from a poet who was well acquainted with all the workings of the human heart; and one who could not have described scenes of distress and anguish of mind so well, had he not passed through them.
