Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Psalms 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in…
Isaiah 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall o…
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be…
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 12:18–end
Here the apostle goes on to engage the professing Hebrews to perseverance in their Christian course and conflict, and not to relapse again into Judaism. This he does by showing them how much the state of the gospel church differs from that of the Jewish church, and how much it resembles the state of the church in heaven, and on both accounts demands and deserves our diligence, patience, and perseverance in Christianity.
I. He shows how much the gospel church differs from the Jewish church, and how much it excels. And here we have a very particular description of the state of the church under the Mosaic dispensation, Heb 12:18-21. 1. It was a gross sensible state. Mount Sinai, on which that c…
are come--Greek, "have come near unto" (compare Deu 4:11). Not merely, ye shall come, but, ye have already come.
Mount Sion--antitypical Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the spiritual invisible Church (of which the first foundation was laid in literal Zion, Joh 12:15; Pe1 2:6) is now the earnest; and of which the restored literal Jerusalem hereafter shall be the earthly representative, to be succeeded by the everlasting and "new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven" (Rev. 21:2-27; compare Heb 11:10).
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church--The city of God having been mentioned, the mention of its citizens follows. Believers being like the ang…
But ye are come unto mount Sion - In order to enter fully into the apostle's meaning, we must observe,
1. That the Church, which is called here the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and mount Sion, is represented under the notion of a City.
2. That the great assembly of believers in Christ is here opposed to the congregation of the Israelites assembled at Mount Sinai.
3. That the innumerable company of angels is here opposed to, those angels by whom the law was ushered in, Act 7:53; Gal 3:19.
4. That the Gospel first-born, whose names are written in heaven, are here opposed to the enrolled first-born among the Israelites, Exo 24:5, Exo 19:22.
5. That the mediator of the new cov…
The Church Fathers
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and to multitudes of angels." Instead of the people of Judah, angels are present. And he says there is a festive gathering among the multitude of angels. He also speaks of the firstborn, the faithful, whose names are written in the book of life. For this is what the Lord also says to the disciples: "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)
The Lord says, "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Mount Zion is there, and so is the city of peace, Jerusalem, built not of earthly stones but of living stones, with ten thousand angels and the church of the firstborn and the spirits of those made perfect and the God of the just, who spoke better with his blood than Abel. For one cried out for vengeance, but the other for pardon. The one was a reproach to his brother's sin. The other forgave the world's sin; the one was the revelation of a crime, the other covered a crime according to what was written, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven."
There you find dread, he is saying, here on the contrary festival and assembly. The former happens on earth, the latter in heaven; there thousands of people, here tens of thousands of angels. There unbelievers and lawbreakers, here church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven and spirits of the just who have been made perfect; there an old covenant, here a new one; there a slave as mediator, here a Son; there blood of brute beasts, here blood of a rational lamb. The phrase "speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" means communicating through deeds and betraying its own activity: while the blood of Abel is celebrated, this blood is responsible for the salvation of human beings.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Angels — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament,…
Saint — One separated from the world and consecrated to God; one holy by profession and by covenant; a believer in Christ (Ps. 16:3; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; Phil. 1:1; Heb. 6:10). The “saints” spoken of in Jude 1:14…
Sion — Elevated. (1.) Denotes Mount Hermon in Deut. 4:48; called Sirion by the Sidonians, and by the Amorites Shenir (Deut. 3:9). (See HERMON.) (2.) The Greek form of Zion (q.v.) in Matt. 21:5; John 12:15.
Zion — Sunny; height, one of the eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It was surrounded on all sides, except the north, by deep valleys, that of the Tyropoeon (q.v.) separating it from Moriah (q.v.),…
Angel (A Spirit) · .In — .In
Angels · Are innumerable — Are innumerable
Cities · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Communion Of Saints · Is with: Saints in heaven — Is with: Saints in heaven
Jerusalem · Illustrative: Of the church — Illustrative: Of the church
But ye are come unto Mount Sion,.... The Alexandrian copy reads, as in Hebrews 12:18 "for ye are not come"; which may seem to favour that interpretation of this passage, which refers it to the heavenly state; to which saints, in this present life, are not, as yet, come: but, by "Mount Sion", and the other names here given, is meant the church of God, under the Gospel dispensation, to which the believing Hebrews were come; in distinction from the legal dispensation, signified by Mount Sinai, from which they were delivered: and this is called Mount Sion, because, like that, it is beloved of God; chosen by him; and is the place of his habitation; here his worship is, and his word and ordinances…
Hebrews 12:18-24
18. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
18. Non enim accessistis ad montem qui tangatur vel ignem accensum ac turbinem et caliginem et procellam.
19. And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
19. Et tubae sonitum et vocem verborum, quam qui audierant excusarunt, ne illis proponeretur sermo:
20. (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
20. Non enim ferebant quod ediceba…
No: There is a strong contrast between the old and the new covenant. Believers have now come to wonderful Mount Zion, which is closely associated with Jerusalem and represents God’s dwelling place. • heavenly Jerusalem: See study note on 8:5. • The new covenant constitutes a relationship with God by which we experience his presence with joy, peace, and fellowship.
· Darkness, &c at giving of, illustrative of obscurity of Mosaic age
— Darkness, &c at giving of, illustrative of obscurity of Mosaic age
Titles And Names Of The Church · City of the Living God — City of the Living God
Zion · Name of, applied to the city of the re — Name of, applied to the city of the re
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
