Hebrews 13:25

Grace be with you all - May the Divine favor ever rest upon you and among you; and may you receive, from that source of all good, whatsoever is calculated to make you wise, holy, useful, and happy! And may you be enabled to persevere in the truth to the end of your lives! Amen. May it be so! May God seal the prayer by giving the blessings!

The subscriptions to this epistle are, as in other cases, various and contradictory.

The Versions are as follow: -

The Epistle to the Hebrews was written from Roman Italy, and sent by the hand of Timothy. - Syriac.

Vulgate nothing, in the present printed copies.

It was written from Italy by Timothy: with the assistance of God, disposing every thing right, the fourteen epistles of the blessed Paul are completed, according to the copy from which they have been transcribed.

May the Lord extend his benedictions to us. Amen. - Arabic.

The Epistle to the Hebrews is completed. The end. - Aethiopic.

Written in Italy, and sent by Timothy. - Coptic.

The Manuscripts, and ancient editions taken from MSS., are not more to be relied on.

To the Hebrews, written from Rome. - Codex Alexandrinus.

The epistles of Saint Paul the apostle arc finished. - Colophon, at the end of this epistle; in one of the first printed Bibles; and in an ancient MS. of the Vulgate in my own collection.

The end of the Epistle to the Hebrews. - Greek Text of the Complutensian Edition.

The Epistle of the blessed Paul to the Hebrews is finished. - Latin Text of ditto.

continued...

Grace be with you all - notes, Romans 16:20, Romans 16:24.

The subscription at the close of the Epistle "written to the Hebrews from Italy by Timothy," like the other subscriptions, is of no authority; see notes at the end of 1 Cor. is demonstrably erroneous here, for it is expressly said by the author of the Epistle that at the time he wrote it, Timothy was absent; Hebrews 13:23. In regard to the time and place of writing it, see the Introduction, section 4.

At the close of this exposition, it is not improper to refer the reader to the remarks on its design at the end of the introduction, section 6. Having passed through the exposition, we may see more clearly the importance of the views there presented. There is no book of the New Testament more important than this, and of course none whose want would be more perceptible in the canon of the Scriptures. Every reader of the Old Testament needs such a guide as this Epistle, written by some one who had an intimate acquaintance from childhood with the Jewish system; who had all the advantages of the most able and faithful instruction, and who was under the influence of inspiration, to make us acquainted with the true nature of those institutions Nothing was more important than to settle the principles in regard to the nature of the Jewish economy; to show what was typical, and how those institutions were the means of introducing a far more perfect system - the system of the Christian religion.

If we have right feelings, we shall have sincere gratitude to God that he caused the Christian religion to be prefigured by a system in itself so magnificent and grand as that of the Jewish, and higher gratitude for that sublime system of religion of which the Jewish, with all its splendor, was only the shadow. There was much that was beautiful, cheering, and sublime in the Jewish system. There was much that was grand and awful in the giving of the Law, and much that was imposing in its ceremonies. In its palmy and pure days, it was incomparably the purest and noblest system of religion then on earth. It taught the knowledge of the one true God; inculcated a pure system of morals; preserved the record of the truth on the earth, and held up constantly before man the hope of a better system still in days to come. But it was expensive, burdensome, precise in its prescriptions, and wearisome in its ceremonies; Acts 15:10. It was adapted to one people - a people who occupied a small territory, and who could conveniently assemble at the central place of their worship three times in a year. It was not a system adapted to the whole world, nor was it designed for the whole world. When the Saviour came, therefore, to introduce whom was the design of the Jewish economy, it ceased as a matter of course. The Jewish altars were soon thrown down; the temple was razed to the ground, and the city of their solemnities was destroyed. The religion of the Hebrews passed away to be revived no more in its splendor and power, and it has never lived since, except as an empty form.

This Epistle teaches us why it passed away, and why it can never he restored. It is the true key with which to unlock the Old Testament; and with these views, we may remark in conclusion, that he who would understand the Bible thoroughly should make himself familiar with this Epistle; that the canon of Scripture would be incomplete without it; and that, to one who wishes to understand the Revelation which God has given, there is no portion of the volume whose loss would be a more irreparable calamity than that of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

13:25 - Grace be with you all — St. Paul's usual benediction. God apply it to our hearts!