Hebrews 3:5,6 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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 Son 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. Inasmuch, however, as Christ is the heir of all things, it may with the utmost propriety be said that the church is his own house, that is, the house in which he hath not only a trust and office, but also a property; which is appointed for him to inhabit and preside over, and which is still more especially his own, as it was purchased with his own blood, Acts 20:28. Whose house we All true believers; are Or shall make it appear that we are, namely, lively stones in the spiritual temple built upon him, 1 Peter 2:5; and inhabited by him, Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; and true members of his family, his servants, yea, even his brethren and sisters; if we hold fast the confidence Την παρρησιαν, properly, the liberty of speech; that is, that bold profession of the Christian faith which in the first age was so dangerous, exposing those who made it frequently to imprisonment and martyrdom, but which was absolutely necessary to the continuance of the gospel in the world; and therefore it was expressly required by Christ, Matthew 10:32-33. See Hebrews 10:22-23. The apostle uses another word, namely, υποστασις, to express confidence, as Hebrews 3:14. And the rejoicing Or, glorying, as καυχημα signifies; of hope Hope of eternal life founded on God's promises, namely, the hope which we professed at our baptism; firm Without declining from or being shaken in it; keeping it up against all that fluctuating uncertainty of mind, which is apt to invade and possess unstable persons; unto the end That is, as long as we live; not for the present season only, but in all future occurrences until we come to the end of our faith, the final salvation of our souls. Now, in order to this, great care and watchfulness, zeal, diligence, and resolution must be exercised, because of the opposition and violence that will be used to wrest them from us. Hence the exhortation contained in the following paragraph.