Hebrews 13:22-25: Brethren, Suffer the Word of Exhortation
2024-03-21
Hebrews 13:22
And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words. (Hebrews 13:22)
Paul the apostle urges his readers to listen to the words he wrote. In the Pauline epistles, the phrase “I beseech you” is used 11 times. What follows is a strong intreating to do something. It is stronger than a normal request. Recall the famous verse, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). He means that, considering all that came before, please do these things. Now that Paul had come to the end of his epistle, he wanted the Hebrews to recall the challenges he made to them over the previous 13 chapters. Many had not “entered into his rest” (Hebrews 4:10). Many had become “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). Some needed to hear, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward” (Hebrews 10:35). They needed to “suffer the word of exhortation.” Maybe these things the apostle wrote were hard to hear, but they needed to hear them and endure the warnings. Paul’s love for people led him to tell them the truth, even if it were difficult.
“...for I have written a letter unto you in few words.” According to one source I found, Hebrews is the third longest Pauline epistle after Romans and 1 Corinthians. You might think that the author was very thorough in his dealings with the subjects at hand. With this sentence, it seems Paul had written a minimal amount, and that there was a lot more to say.
Hebrews 13:23
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. (Hebrews 13:23)
Timothy had been in prison, which was common for anyone who preached the Gospel to hostile audiences. Paul had heard that he was set free, and he expected that he may come to him. If that were the case, that would have freed Paul up from his current ministry responsibilities so he could visit these Hebrew Christians.
Paul wanted to see these Christians to encourage them. We saw how he wrote “in few words.” Whatever else they needed to hear, he could tell them face to face and take questions from them.
The mentioning of Timothy may support Pauline authorship. Paul and Timothy were close, like a father and a son: “Timothy, my own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). They frequently worked together and were in correspondence when they were apart.
Hebrews 13:24
Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. (Hebrews 13:24)
We discussed the phrase “them that have the rule over you” previously. These were likely church elders. Paul often singled people out at the end of his letters to greet them. He probably singled out the elders to show his appreciation for them, knowing that they have a tough job ruling and feeding the flock of God. He also gave greeting to the saints in general, which is a word for Christian. Anyone who is in Christ is a saint; saints are not a hall of fame of “special” Christians.
We see that Paul wrote this from Italy. Maybe he wrote from Rome specifically, but we do not know for sure. The way it is written in the previous verse, Timothy was released from prison and may see Paul, and then Paul could come to see them. Because of this, it was likely that Paul was not in prison and had the freedom to travel.
A possible chronology could be this. We know he made his journey to Rome and made it there in Acts 28:16. He may have been on trial and set free. He could have stayed there awhile, and maybe he eventually made it to Spain as was his plan in Romans 15:24, 28. Perhaps it was after any trial he had in Rome that he was at liberty, writing to the Hebrews, and waiting for opportunity to visit them, wherever they were. We know this would have been before the events of 2 Timothy, where he was imprisoned and on trial, shortly before he would be put to death.
Wherever he was, Paul was sharing the Gospel and befriending Christians. Whoever he met along the way in Italy greeted them, having compassion on them and their tribulation. Hebrew converts, as we have said before, had a rough time because they were breaking with the traditions of their families. The result was great persecution. “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews” (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Perhaps these of Italy were some of the same people that were with him when he wrote the Philippians. “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:22).
Hebrews 13:25
Grace be with you all. Amen. (Hebrews 13:25)
This was a common signature that Paul included in all his epistles. He put it there to show that this was his letter, since there were people who tried to impersonate him. “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (2 Thessalonians 3:17-18).
Moreover, the apostle wrote “Grace be with you all” because grace is the antithesis of what the first century Jewish religion taught the recipients. It was all about doing the works. One sinned, offered sacrifices, and then sinned again. All the carnage of sacrifice and days of atonements never put an end to guilty conscience, took away their sins and sin’s penalty, or put them in a right standing with God. Jesus Christ did all that for them; that is grace.
Of course, the final word “Amen” is emphasizing that Paul solemnly meant everything he said.
Jesus Christ is supreme over all of creation. Neither angels, nor important Old Testament personages, nor the sacrificial system are paths to life. Jesus Christ fulfills and supersedes all of these, and our confidence must be in Him alone.
The End.