Hebrews 3:5

And {5} Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; (5) Another comparison: Moses was a faithful servant in this house, that is, in the Church, serving the Lord that was to come, but Christ rules and governs his house as Lord.

And Moses Καὶ and introduces the further development of the thought of Hebrews 3:2, Hebrews 3:3 - fidelity, and the corresponding honor. It is not a second proof of the superiority of Christ to Moses. See Numbers 12:7. A servant (θεράπων) N.T.o. Comp. Revelation 15:3. Often in lxx, mostly as translation of עֶבֶד, servant, slave, bondman. Also, when coupled with the name of a deity, a worshipper, devotee. Sometimes applied to angels or prophets. Of Moses, θεράπων κυρίου servant of the Lord, Wisd. 10:16. In Class. and N.T. the word emphasizes the performance of a present service, without reference to the condition of the doer, whether bond or free. An ethical character attaches to it, as to the kindred verb θεραπεύειν: service of an affectionate, hearty character, performed with care and fidelity. Hence the relation of the θεράπων is of a nobler and freer character than that of the δοῦλος or bondservant. The verb is used of a physician's tendance of the sick. Xenophon (Mem. iv. 3, 9) uses it of the gods taking care of men, and, on the other hand, of men's worshipping the gods (ii, 1. 28). See Eurip. Iph. Taur. 1105; and on heal, Matthew 8:7; Luke 10:15, and on is worshipped, Acts 17:25. For a testimony of those things which were to be spoken (εἰς μαρτύριον τῶν λαληθησομένων) Ἐις for, with the whole preceding clause. Moses' faithful service in God's house was for a testimony, etc. The things which were to be spoken are the revelations afterward to be given in Christ

. Others, however, explain of the things which Moses himself was afterward to speak to the people by God's command, referring to Numbers 12:8. According to this explanation, the fidelity hitherto exhibited by Moses ought to command respect for all that he might say in future. But (1) in the present connection that thought is insignificant. (2) It would be an exaggeration to speak of Moses's fidelity to God throughout his whole official career as a witness of the things which he was to speak to the people by God's command. (3) The future participle requires a reference to a time subsequent to Moses's ministry. The meaning is that Moses, in his entire ministry, was but a testimony to what was to be spoken in the future by another and a greater than he. Comp. Deuteronomy 18:15, explained of Christ in Acts 3:22, Acts 3:23.

Hebrews 3:5-6 . And Moses verily — Another proof of the pre-eminence of Christ above Moses; was faithful in all his house as a servant — Θεραπων , minister, or officer. In describing the faithfulness of Moses, when, under God, he built the Jewish Church, God called him, ( Numbers 12:7 ,) My servant Moses. From this the apostle justly inferred that Moses was not a legislator, but only a messenger from the legislator, or his minister. This was his place, this his dignity and honour; and it was amplified by the considerations, that he was faithful in his service — was a servant in the house of God — and was not thus employed, and thus faithful, in this or that part, this or that service of God’s house, but in his whole house, and all the concernments of it. Herein was he different from all others in the same service in the Old Testament; one was employed in one part of it, another in another; one to instruct, another to reform it, one to renew a neglected ordinance, another to give new instructions; no one but he was used in the service of the whole house. For a testimony of the things, &c. — That is, because the Jewish Church was designed for a testimony of the things which were afterward to be spoken by Christ and his apostles. This shows that Moses’s faithfulness consisted not only in forming the tabernacle and its services, according to the pattern showed him by God, but in recording all the preceding revelations, exactly as they were discovered to him by the Spirit.

For these revelations, equally with the types and figures of the Levitical ritual, were intended to exhibit the things afterward to be spoken by Christ. Hence our Lord said to the Jews, ( John 5:46 ,) Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me; namely, in the figures, but especially in the prophecies of his law, where the gospel dispensation, the coming of its author, and his character as Messiah, are all described with a precision which adds the greatest lustre of evidence to Jesus and his gospel. See Luke 24:44 . But Christ as a Son — That is, was faithful as a Son; over his own house — “Every word proves the asserted pre-eminence of Christ; he is a Son, Moses a servant; he over the house, Moses in the house; he over his own house, Moses in the house of another. The argument of the apostle therefore is obvious.” — Owen. But Pierce objects to this version, over his own house, and thinks the reading ought to be his, that is, God’s house; “1st, Because if the church be Christ’s own house, to speak of him as a Song of Solomon was improper, by reason that he would have presided over it as its master. 2d, Because the apostle’s argument requires that Christ be faithful to the same person as a Son, to whom Moses was faithful as a servant.” Wherefore his house, he thinks, in this verse, is God’s house or church.

Hebrews 3:5 . καὶ Μωϋσῆς .… Another reason for expecting to find fidelity in Jesus and for ascribing to Him greater glory. Moses was faithful as a servant in the house ( ἐν ), Christ as a Son over ( ἐπὶ ) his house. θεράπων denotes a free servant in an honourable position and is the word applied to Moses in Numbers 12:7 . [“Apud Homerum nomen est non servile sed ministros significat voluntarios, nec raro de viris dicitur nobili genere natis” (Stephanus). It is especially used of those who serve the gods. See Pindar Olymp . iii. 29.] Both the fidelity and the inferior position of Moses are indicated in the words which occur like a refrain in Exodus: “According to all that the Lord commanded, so did he”. Nothing was left to his own initiative; he had to be instructed and commanded; but all that was entrusted to him, he executed with absolute exactness. The crowning proof of his fidelity was given in the extraordinary scene (Exodus 37), where Moses refused to be “made a great nation” in room of Israel. He is said to have been faithful εἰς μαρτύριον τῶν λαληθησομένων . The meaning is, the testimony to his faithfulness which God had pronounced was the guarantee of the trustworthiness of the report he gave of what the Lord afterwards spoke to him. This meaning seems to be determined by the context in Numbers 12. “My servant Moses … is faithful in all my house.

I will speak to him mouth to mouth, apparently and not in dark speeches.” Grotius says “ut pronuntiaret populo ea quae Deus ei dicenda quoquo tempore mandabat”. Bleek and Davidson refer the μαρτύριον to Moses not to God. “He was a servant for a testimony, i.e. , to bear testimony of those things which were to be spoken, i.e. , from time to time revealed. Reference might be made to Barnabas viii. 3, εἰς μαρτ . τῶν φυλῶν . The meaning advocated by Calvin, Delitzsch, Westcott and others is attractive. They understand the words as referring to the things which were to be spoken by Christ, and that the whole of Moses’ work was for a testimony of those things. Thus Westcott translates “for a testimony of the things which should be spoken by God through the prophets and finally through Christ”. This gives a fine range to the words, but the context in Numbers is decisively against it. The idea seems to be that Moses being but a θεράπων needed a testimonial to his fidelity that the people might trust him; and also that he had no initiative but could only report to the people the words that God might speak to him. In contrast to this position of Moses, Χριστὸς ὡς υἱὸς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ , Christ’s fidelity was that of “a Son over his house”. It was not the fidelity which exactly performs what another commands and faithfully enters into and fulfils His will. It is the fidelity of one who himself is possessed by the same love and conceives the same purposes as the Father.

Hebrews 3:5 . Καὶ , and ) Another reason for the superiority of Christ to Moses.— θεράπων , servant ) So the LXX., Numbers 12:7 . This intimates the excellence of Moses in comparison with all other prophets; but again it speaks of Moses as inferior to Christ the Lord.— εἰς , for ) He was a servant, in order that testimony should be given by him.— τῶν λαληθησομένων , of those things which were to be spoken ) which Moses was to speak (ch. Hebrews 9:19 ), chiefly of Christ; and subsequently Christ Himself was about to speak. In ch. Hebrews 9:19 , there is a verbal parallelism, which however at the same time infers a like reason, viz. what Moses, in accordance with the time, Numbers 12, both had spoken and was about to speak. Miriam did not assail the authority of Moses respecting the past; but she wished to claim just as much for herself for the future, on account of certain past specimens (of God speaking by her and Aaron).