independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The first warning: do not drift away 2:1–4
v. 1 — the inference from the Son's supremacy: closer attention
1
Διὰ τοῦτο δεῖ περισσοτέρως προσέχειν ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἀκουσθεῖσιν,independent — διὰ τοῦτο — the pastoral conclusion drawn from ch. 1
μήποτε παραρυῶμεν.purpose — μήποτε + subjunctive — the feared outcome; a nautical image, slipping off course
vv. 2–4 — the a fortiori: if the angels' word was binding, how shall we escape?
2
εἰ γὰρ ὁ δι' ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς λόγος ἐγένετο βέβαιος,conditional — protasis — the lesser case: the angel-mediated law held good
καὶ πᾶσα παράβασις καὶ παρακοὴ ἔλαβεν ἔνδικον μισθαποδοσίαν,conditional — protasis continued — inexorable sanctions, μισθαποδοσία a Hebrews coinage
3
πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐκφευξόμεθαindependent — apodosis — the a fortiori sting; a rhetorical question expecting 'we shall not'
τηλικαύτης ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας;participial — conditional participle — neglect, the antithesis of paying attention (v. 1)
ἥτις ἀρχὴν λαβοῦσα λαλεῖσθαι διὰ τοῦ κυρίου,relative — the pedigree opens: qualitative ἥτις; the Lord himself the first herald, verb withheld
ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκουσάντων εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐβεβαιώθη,relative — the relative's verb — apostolic confirmation; βεβαιόω echoes βέβαιος (v. 2)
4
συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ σημείοις τε καὶ τέρασιν καὶ ποικίλαις δυνάμεσιν καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου μερισμοῖς κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ θέλησιν.participial — genitive absolute — the divine countersignature on the human witness
Jesus crowned with glory through suffering 2:5–9
v. 5 — not to angels: the coming world
5
Οὐ γὰρ ἀγγέλοις ὑπέταξεν τὴν οἰκουμένην τὴν μέλλουσαν,independent — the argument turns from angels to humanity — Οὐ fronted, emphatic
περὶ ἧς λαλοῦμεν.relative — authorial aside — this is the homily's present subject
vv. 6–8a — Psalm 8: man lowered, crowned, all things under his feet
6
διεμαρτύρατο δέ πού τις λέγων·independent — the deliberately vague citation formula — God the true speaker of Scripture
Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωποςcontent — Ps 8:4 (LXX 8:5) — the marvel at frail humanity
ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ,content — consecutive ὅτι — the wonder of God's covenantal remembering
ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπουcontent — Ps 8:4 — the parallel half-line, the verb carried over
ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν;content — consecutive ὅτι — gracious visitation, God stooping to mortals
7
ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέλους,content — Ps 8:5 — the lowering; βραχύ τι heard temporally, as v. 9 will exploit
δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτόν,content — Ps 8:5 — the coronation; the shorter text, without Ps 8:7a LXX
8
πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ.content — Ps 8:6 — total dominion; the citation closes on 'all'
vv. 8b–9 — not yet seen in general — but we do see Jesus
ἐν τῷ γὰρ ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα οὐδὲν ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ ἀνυπότακτον.independent — the exposition mines the word 'all' — no exception in principle
νῦν δὲ οὔπω ὁρῶμεν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ὑποτεταγμένα·independent — the honest 'not yet' — the dominion real but not visibly consummated
9
τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἰησοῦνindependent — the hinge — βλέπομεν answers ὁρῶμεν; the human name Ἰησοῦν delayed to the climax
διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον,participial — predicate participle — the crowning grounded in the passion (causal διά + acc.)
ὅπως χάριτι θεοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς γεύσηται θανάτου.purpose — ὅπως — the goal of the whole descent-and-crowning; χάριτι θεοῦ read, against the variant χωρὶς θεοῦ
The pioneer perfected through suffering 2:10–13
v. 10 — it was fitting: the pioneer perfected through sufferings
10
Ἔπρεπεν γὰρ αὐτῷ,independent — impersonal ἔπρεπεν — the cross congruous with God's character, not arbitrary
δι' ὃν τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα,relative — verbless relative pair — God the goal (διά + acc.) and origin (διά + gen.) of all
πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόνταparticipial — accusative participle agreeing with the implied subject of τελειῶσαι — God leading many sons; ἀγαγόντα read of God
τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν διὰ παθημάτων τελειῶσαι.content — the complement of ἔπρεπεν — ἀρχηγός the trailblazer; τελειόω as vocational completion, not moral repair
vv. 11–13 — one origin, so 'brothers': three testimonies
11
ὅ τε γὰρ ἁγιάζων καὶ οἱ ἁγιαζόμενοι ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντες·cause — verbless ground — ἐξ ἑνός: one origin in God, the basis of the kinship
δι' ἣν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοὺς καλεῖν,independent — connective relative δι' ἣν αἰτίαν — the litotes: he gladly owns them (cf. 11:16)
12
λέγων·participial — the quotation formula — the Son himself voices the psalm
Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου,content — Ps 22:22 (LXX 21:23) — 'brothers' in the Messiah's own mouth
ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε·content — Ps 22:22 — the exalted one worships among his own, one of them
13
καὶ πάλιν· Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι πεποιθὼς ἐπ' αὐτῷ·content — Isa 8:17 — the Messiah shares his brothers' posture of settled trust
καὶ πάλιν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδίαcontent — Isa 8:18 — solidarity completed: he stands with the children
ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός.relative — the children as the Father's gift to the Son
He shared flesh and blood: the merciful high priest 2:14–18
vv. 14–15 — flesh and blood taken: death's lord disarmed, the slaves freed
14
Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός,cause — forward-leaning ἐπεί ground — 'the children' picked up verbatim from the citation; perfect κεκοινώνηκεν, their standing condition
καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχεν τῶν αὐτῶν,independent — the incarnation — once-for-all aorist μετέσχεν against the children's settled perfect
ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου,purpose — the paradox — by his own dying he disempowers death's lord (καταργέω: nullify, not annihilate)
τοῦτ' ἔστιν τὸν διάβολον,phrase modifier — appositional gloss — the accuser named
15
καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ τούτους,purpose — the coordinate, manward goal — ἀπαλλάσσω, a legal manumission term
ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας.relative — ὅσοι — comprehensive; the dread of death itself the enslaving chain
vv. 16–18 — Abraham's seed grasped: the merciful and faithful high priest
16
οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται,cause — why flesh and not angelic nature — δήπου appeals to what the readers grant
ἀλλὰ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ ἐπιλαμβάνεται.cause — ἐπιλαμβάνεται as the rescuing grasp (Isa 41:8–9 LXX) — not 'assumes the nature of'
17
ὅθεν ὤφειλεν κατὰ πάντα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὁμοιωθῆναι,independent — ὅθεν — the necessary consequence: total likeness, sin apart (4:15)
ἵνα ἐλεήμων γένηται καὶ πιστὸς ἀρχιερεὺς τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν,purpose — ἀρχιερεύς — the letter's master-title sounded for the first time
εἰς τὸ ἱλάσκεσθαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ λαοῦ.purpose — εἰς τό + infinitive — the priest's atoning work, sins as its object
18
ἐν ᾧ γὰρ πέπονθεν αὐτὸς πειρασθείς,cause — forward-leaning ground — ἐν ᾧ taken causally; the perfect πέπονθεν, an abiding qualification
δύναται τοῖς πειραζομένοις βοηθῆσαι.independent — the closing comfort — βοηθέω, running at a cry (cf. 4:16)
Analysis. Hebrews 2 falls into two great gestures — a warning and an argument — and the layout shows both hanging from very few finite verbs. In vv. 1–4 the first warning is a single a-fortiori period: the paired εἰ γὰρ protases lean forward, unanchored, on the flush-left question πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐκφευξόμεθα, and the neglected salvation's pedigree then descends step by step — begun in the Lord's own speaking, confirmed by the hearers, God co-attesting in a genitive absolute of signs, wonders, powers, and Spirit-distributions. In vv. 5–9 one participle of citation (λέγων) carries the whole of Ps 8:4–6 as a suspended column, and the chapter's hinge is the βλέπομεν that answers οὔπω ὁρῶμεν: what we do not yet see in general we do see in Jesus, whose crowning hangs on ἐστεφανωμένον 'because of the suffering of death,' and whose purpose clause (ὅπως … γεύσηται θανάτου) reaches down to 'death for everyone.' Verses 10–13 hang from the impersonal Ἔπρεπεν — the pioneer perfected through sufferings — with the three brotherhood citations (Ps 22:22; Isa 8:17, 18) strung as a catena under a single λέγων. Verses 14–18 are the incarnation period: the ἐπεὶ οὖν ground leans forward on μετέσχεν, from which the double ἵνα descends (καταργήσῃ the death-holding devil, ἀπαλλάξῃ the fear-enslaved), and the chapter lands on the first sounding of ἀρχιερεύς with its εἰς τὸ ἱλάσκεσθαι. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: at v. 9 χάριτι θεοῦ ('by the grace of God') is read with the chapter data against the minority variant χωρὶς θεοῦ ('apart from God'), and βραχύ τι is heard temporally ('for a little while'); at v. 7 the shorter text is followed (some witnesses add 'and set him over the works of your hands' from Ps 8:7 LXX); ἐξ ἑνός (v. 11) is taken of one common origin in God, the ground of the kinship; ἐπιλαμβάνεται (v. 16) is rendered 'takes hold of to help' (the rescuing grasp of Isa 41:8–9 LXX), not the patristic 'assumes the nature of'; ἀγαγόντα (v. 10) is read of God, the implied subject of τελειῶσαι; and ἐν ᾧ (v. 18) is taken causally, 'in that he himself has suffered.' The forward-leaning ἐπεί (v. 14) and ἐν ᾧ (v. 18) grounds are laid out like protases — above the clause they support, without anchors.