Teach them and exhort them about these things. 5
9:1 Now the first covenant, 12 in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.
5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people 16 and appointed 17 to represent them before God, 18 to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
1 tn The Greek word τηρέω (threw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.
2 tn Grk “the command.”
3 tn Or “think the less of them”; Grk “despise them,” “look down on them.”
4 tn Or “those who devote themselves to service are faithful and dearly loved” (referring to slaves who serve them).
5 tn Grk “these things teach and exhort.”
6 tn Grk “bodily training” (using the noun form of the verb “train” in v. 7b).
7 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
8 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.
9 sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.
10 tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.
11 tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.
12 tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.
13 sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
14 tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”
15 tn Grk “being called by God.”
16 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”
17 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
18 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
19 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
20 tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early