Page 100 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

13:1 Let brotherly love continue. (ESV)

NASB "Let love of the brethren continue"
NKJV "Let brotherly love continue"
NRSV "Let mutual love continue"
TEV "Keep on loving one another as Christians"
NJB "Continue to love one another like brothers"

This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE (not a SUBJUNCTIVE, as NASB translates), meaning "abide" or "continue."
The thing the readers are to continue is "brotherly love" (philadelphia, cf. Rom. 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1
Pet. 3:8). They have done this in the past (cf. 6:10; 10:32-35) and are encouraged to continue. It is a
clear sign that one knows God (cf. John 13:34-45; 15:12,17; 1 John 2:10; 3:11,14,17-24; 4:7-21; 2 John 5).
There are several philoō compounds.
1. Brother love, v. 1
2. Stranger love, v. 2
3. Money love, v. 5

13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers...entertained angels without knowing it" This is
an allusion to Genesis 18, where Abraham meets three angels who looked like men (cf. also Tobit
chapters 4-7). Angels also appeared to Gideon (Judges 6); Manoah (Judges 13); Lot (Genesis 19); Hagar
(Genesis 21). This does not mean that Christians may have angels visit; as men of old helped strangers
and received a blessing, so too, are believers to do.

13:3 "Remember the prisoners" This is a PRESENT MIDDLE (deponent) IMPERATIVE. These readers had
followed Christ's words of Matt. 25:44-45, for in Heb. 10:32-36 they had helped other believers. Their
imprisonment was not for evil deeds, but for their faith in Christ (cf. 1 Pet. 4:14-15). Imprisonment was
a real possibility for all early believers, as it is for many believers in today's world also.

13:4 "Marriage is to be held in honor among all... the marriage bed is to be undefiled" Marriage is a
gift from God and the norm for all (cf. Gen. 1:28; 9:1,7). It is not sinful or shameful. Here Uttly explains
that, “The Greek philosophical concept of asceticism, the view that the body is evil and that to deny its
wants and needs show a superior spirituality, affected the early church! And still does! The term
"undefiled" is used in 7:26 to describe the sexual purity of Jesus, our high priest. It was used in the
Septuagint to refer to adultery.”
63
Uttly also expresses that, “This warning against sexual promiscuity is surprising if this book is written to
Jewish people. The Gentile culture of the first century was characterized by sexual exploitation, but not
the Jewish community. There is so much about the historical setting and recipients of Hebrews that is
uncertain.”
64
"fornicators" The term in the Old Testament means sexual relations between two unmarried people,
but in the NT it has the wider connotation of sexual immorality of any kind. We get the English word
"pornography" from this Greek term.

63 Ibid (13:4)

64 Ibid
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