Along with every major point in this book there is a warning. There are five such warnings in the book. Along with the first major point, that Christ is superior to angels, unfolded in Heb. 1:4-14; 2:1-18, there is the first warning in vv. 1-4.

Or, drift by them, drift past them.

In principle, to escape here is to escape some recompense, as mentioned in v. 2. If we neglect so great a salvation, it is right and just that we receive a certain recompense.

Salvation here refers back to what is mentioned in Heb. 1:14. It is God's full salvation, from the forgiveness of sins to the sharing of the coming kingdom with glory. It refers not only to what Christ has done and will do for us but also to Himself, the One who is able to save us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25). As the Son of God — as God — and as the Son of Man — as man — He is our salvation. His wonderful person plus His splendid work constitute so great a salvation, a salvation that none of us should neglect. Our negligence will cause us to miss this great salvation's
1) most precious part — the enjoying of Christ as our saving life and rest in this age;
2) most glorious part — the inheriting of Christ's kingdom with glory in the coming age. These two points are fully developed and dealt with in the succeeding chapters of this book.

Distributions of the Holy Spirit, which include the Holy Spirit Himself, are the things that the Holy Spirit distributes to those who receive salvation by believing.

I.e., the earth that will become the Lord's kingdom in the next age (Psa. 2:8; Dan. 2:35; Rev. 11:15).

The first man, Adam, created by God in Gen. 1, failed to accomplish God's purpose for man. Psalm 8 then alludes, through prophecy, to another man, a man who would replace the first man and would fulfill God's purpose. This chapter tells us that this other man, the second man, who is Jesus, has come and has accomplished so much for the fulfilling of God's desire in man as revealed in Gen. 1:26, 28 and alluded to in Psa. 8:4-8. Hence, in whatever the first man, Adam, failed, the second man, Christ, succeeded, by replacing the first man.

This chapter is the fulfillment of the prophecies in Psa. 8 and Psa. 22 concerning the major steps taken by Christ, as a man, to fulfill God's purpose. In incarnation He partook of human nature (v. 14). In crucifixion He suffered death for everything (v. 9) and destroyed the devil (v. 14). In resurrection He brought forth many sons of God, His brothers, to form the church (vv. 10-12). In exaltation He was crowned with glory and honor. All these steps are the qualifications that qualify Him to be our High Priest (v. 17).

Or, for a little while inferior. So also in v. 9.

In eternity Christ was the Creator, unlimited and omnipresent, but when He became a man in time, He was limited so that one day He could go to the cross to deal with the universal problem — death. In order to suffer death and thus destroy and nullify death, Christ had to become a man and lose His freedom temporarily, for thirty-three and a half years. In that sense, He was inferior to the angels during that period. However, three days after His death He resurrected out of that inferiority and is now much superior to all the angels.

Glory is the splendor related to Jesus' person; honor is the preciousness related to Jesus' worth, value, and dignity, which is related to His position (2 Pet. 1:17; cf. 1 Pet. 2:17; Rom. 13:7). In 1 Pet. 2:7 the Greek word for preciousness is the same as that for honor here.

Or, everyone. The Lord Jesus' redemption was accomplished not only for people but for everything created by God. Thus, God can reconcile all things to Himself through Christ (Col. 1:20). This is clearly typified by the redemption accomplished through Noah's ark, in which not only eight persons but all living things created by God were saved (Gen. 7:13-23).

Referring to God, who created all things.

The many sons here are the many brothers in Rom. 8:29 and the many grains in John 12:24.

The last step of God's great salvation is to bring His many sons into glory. Romans 8 tells us that God's work of grace upon us began with His foreknowing, passed through His predestination, calling, and justification, and will end with His glorification (Rom. 8:29-30). Also, Rom. 8 tells us that the whole creation eagerly awaits the revelation (glorification) of the sons of God, in hope that the creation itself will enter into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:19-21). This will be accomplished by the Lord's coming back (Phil. 3:21), at which time we will be manifested with Him in glory (Col. 3:4); this is our hope (Col. 1:27). This glorification of the sons of God, as the goal of God's salvation, will last through the millennial kingdom and will be manifested in full in the New Jerusalem for eternity (Rev. 21:11, 23).

Or, Captain, Originator, Inaugurator, Leader, Pioneer. The salvation mentioned in this verse and referred to in v. 3 and Heb. 1:14 saves us from our fallen state into glory. Jesus, as the Pioneer, the Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), took the lead to enter into glory, and we, His followers, are taking the same way to be brought into the same glory, which was ordained by God for us (1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Thes. 2:12). He cut the way, and we are now taking the way. Hence, He is not only the Savior who saved us from our fallen state but also the Author who, as the Pioneer, entered into glory that we may be brought into the same estate.

To make Jesus perfect was to make Him perfect in terms of qualification. It does not imply that there was any imperfection of virtue or attribute in Jesus, but only that the completing of His experience of human sufferings was needed to make Him fit to become the Author, the Leader, of His followers' salvation.

As the self-existing and ever-existing God, the Lord Jesus is complete from eternity to eternity. But He needed to be perfected through the processes of incarnation, the partaking of human nature, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, that He might be qualified to be God's Christ and our Savior.

He who sanctifies is Christ as the firstborn Son of God, and those who are being sanctified are the believers of Christ as the many sons of God. Both the firstborn Son and the many sons of God are born of the same Father God in resurrection (Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 1:3) and have the same divine life and nature. Hence, He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Lit., out of. The Sanctifier and the sanctified are all out of one source, one Father.

The firstborn Son declared the Father's name to His brothers after He resurrected from the dead, when He met with the Father's many sons (John 20:17, 19-23).

The church is mentioned only twice in this book, here and in Heb. 12:23. Here it is referred to as a corporate composition of the many brothers of the firstborn Son of God.

This is the firstborn Son's praising of the Father within the Father's many sons in the church meetings. When we, the many sons of God, meet as the church and praise the Father, the firstborn Son praises the Father in our praising. It is not that He praises the Father apart from us and alone; rather, He praises within us and with us through our praising. In our singing He sings hymns of praise to the Father. If then we do not sing, how can He sing? The more we sing to the Father, the more we enjoy His presence, His moving, His anointing, and His life-imparting within us. Thus we will grow in Him and be brought into His glorification above all.

Or, bring to nought, make of none effect, do away with, abolish, annul, discard. After the devil, the serpent, seduced man into the fall, God promised that the seed of woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). In the fullness of the time the Son of God came to become flesh (John 1:14; Rom. 8:3) by being born of a virgin (Gal. 4:4), that He might destroy the devil in man's flesh through His death in the flesh on the cross. (See note John 3:14¹, note John 12:31^1a, and note Rom. 8:3³.) This was to abolish Satan, to bring him to nought. Hallelujah, Satan has been abolished and done away with!

Since the Lord destroyed the devil, who has the might of death, we who were held in slavery through the fear of death have been released by Him. Death reigned over us (Rom. 5:14), and we were under its slavery, continually fearing death. Since the Lord destroyed the devil and nullified death (2 Tim. 1:10), we now have no more fear of death and are released from its slavery.

Jesus has rendered us — human beings, not the angels — help to succor us, to release us from the slavery of death under the devil's might, which is in our nature. He did this by partaking of our nature, in which the devil dwells, and then annulling it on the cross through His all-inclusive death.

The Son of God was made like us, His brothers, in that He partook of blood and flesh (v. 14). This was done for two purposes, one negative and the other positive. The negative purpose was to destroy for us the devil, who is in the flesh. The positive purpose is to be our merciful and faithful High Priest who has the human nature, that He may sympathize with us in all things.

As the High Priest, Christ ministers God Himself and the riches of the divine life to us. As the God-man, He is more than fully qualified to be our High Priest. Here, merciful corresponds with His being a man; faithful corresponds with His being God.

Lit., things toward God.

Jesus made propitiation for our sins, thereby satisfying the demand of God's righteousness and appeasing the relationship between God and us, that God may be peacefully gracious to us. See note Rom. 3:25^2a. Cf. Luke 18:13 and note Luke 18:13¹.