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
Acts 14:3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders t…
Mark 16:20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Romans 15:18-19 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,
Ephesians 4:8-11 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
John 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
Acts 19:11-12 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 2:1-4
The apostle proceeds in the plain profitable method of doctrine, reason, and use, through this epistle. Here we have the application of the truths before asserted and proved; this is brought in by the illative particle therefore, with which this chapter begins, and which shows its connection with the former, where the apostle having proved Christ to be superior to the angels by whose ministry the law was given, and therefore that the gospel dispensation must be more excellent than the legal, he now comes to apply this doctrine both by way of exhortation and argument.
I. By way of exhortation: Therefore we ought to give the more diligent heed to the things which we have heard, Heb 2:1. This i…
them--rather, "God also [as well as Christ, Heb 2:3] bearing witness to it," &c., joining in attestation of it."
signs and wonders--performed by Christ and His apostles. "Signs" and miracles, or other facts regarded as proofs of a divine mission; "wonders" are miracles viewed as prodigies, causing astonishment (Act 2:22, Act 2:33); "powers" are miracles viewed as evidences of superhuman power.
divers miracles--Greek, "varied (miraculous) powers" (Co2 12:12) granted to the apostles after the ascension.
gifts, &c.--Greek, "distributions." The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Christ without measure (Joh 3:34), but to us it is distributed in various measures and operations (Rom 12:3, R…
God also bearing them witness - He did not leave the confirmation of these great truths to the testimony of men; he bore his own testimony to them by signs, wonders, various miracles, and distributions of the Holy Ghost, Πνευματος 'Αγιου μερισμοις. And all these were proved to come from himself; for no man could do those miracles at his own pleasure, but the power to work them was given according to God's own will; or rather, God himself wrought them, in order to accredit the ministry of his servants.
For the meaning of signs, wonders, etc., See the note on Deu 4:34.
The Church Fathers
Then, lest those who heard from Christ be believed to lie, and say one thing for another: He says not so. For God Himself bears witness to the truth along with them through signs and wonders, and various powers which He works for them. "and various miracles." Paul said "various" to indicate the abundance of the gifts; for never were so many and so diverse signs produced. And since magicians also perform many things, he said "miracles"; for those are not powers but weakness and illusion and empty matters. "by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed." And through the gifts and the coming of the Holy Spirit, those things are made which are of divine testimony. It is said, however, concerning distributions, that as spiritual grace is distributed, it is according to each one's measure and according to the proportion of faith, and as it is expedient for each. (1 Cor. 12:6) "according to His own will." Namely, of the Paraclete. Dividing, Paul says, to each as He wishes.
How doth He bear witness? not by word or by voice, (though this also would have been worthy of belief): but how? "By signs, and wonders, and divers miracles." (Well said he, "divers miracles," declaring the abundance of the gifts: which was not so in the former dispensation, neither so great signs and so various.) That is, we did not believe them simply, but through signs and wonders: wherefore we believe not them, but God Himself. "And by gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." What then, if wizards also do signs, and the Jews said that He "cast out devils through Beelzebub"? But they do not such kind of signs: therefore said he "divers miracles": for those others were not miracles, [or powers,] but weakness and fancy, and things altogether vain. Wherefore he said, "by gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His own will." Here he seems to me to intimate something further. For it is not likely there were many there who had gifts, but that these had failed, upon their becoming more slothful. In order then that even in this he might comfort them, and not leave them to fall away, he referred all to the will of God. He knows (he says) what is expedient, and for whom, and apportions His grace accordingly. Which also he [Paul] does in the Epistle to the Corinthians, saying, "God hath set every one of us, as it pleased Him." And again, "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." "According to His will." He shows that the gift is according to the will of the Father. But oftentimes on account of their unclean and slothful life many have not received a gift, and sometimes also those whose life is good and pure have not received one. Why, I pray you? Lest they might be made haughty, that they might not be puffed up, that they might not grow more negligent, that they might not be more excited. For if even without a gift, the mere consciousness of a pure life be sufficient to lift a man up, much more when the grace is added also. Wherefore to the humble, to the simple, it was rather given, and especially to the simple: for it is said, "in singleness and gladness of heart." Yea, and hereby also he rather urged them on, and if they were growing negligent gave them a spur. For the humble, and he who imagines no great things concerning himself, becomes more earnest when he has received a gift, in that he has obtained what is beyond…
Dictionary and topics
Holy Ghost — The third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved (1) from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1…
Miracles · First preaching of the gospel confirmed by — First preaching of the gospel confirmed by
Miraculous Gifts Of The Holy Spirit · Communicated: For the confirmation of the gospel — Communicated: For the confirmation of the gospel
Witness Of The Holy Spirit · The first preaching of the gospel confirmed by — The first preaching of the gospel confirmed by
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).
John Gill on Hebrews 2:4
God also bearing them witness,.... The apostles of Christ; God testifying to their mission and commission, and the truth of the doctrine they preached:
both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles; such as taking up serpents without hurt, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, and raising the dead, and casting out devils, and the like; all which were for the confirmation of the Gospel preached by them: a sign, wonder, or miracle, for these signify the same thing, is a marvellous work done before men, by the power of God, to confirm a divine truth; God is the sole author of miracles; and they were done in the first ages of Christianity, when they were necessary, to give evidenc…
Hebrews 2:1-4
1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
1. Quamobrem opertet nos magis attendere iis quae audimus, ne quando diffluamus.
2. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
2. Si enim quo per angelos enunciatus erat, sermo, firmus fuit, et omnis transgressio et inobedientia justam acceptit repensionem mercedis;
3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
3. Quomodo nos effugiemus tanta neglecta…
God confirmed the message (literally God bore witness): God himself confirmed the validity of the message of Christ and his followers by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:22; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor 12:12).
