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With the exception of the fourth line, the emphatic word is death. If the A.V. reading
be retained it introduces a discordant note. If the idea of "assisting" be adopted it
harmonizes with "deliverance", but has no relation with the emphatic word "death".
What has Scripture to say about angels and death? Luke 20: 35, 36 says:
"But they which are accounted worthy to obtain that age (the very pith and marrow of
Hebrews) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
NEITHER CAN THEY DIE ANY MORE, FOR THEY ARE EQUAL TO THE
ANGELS" (not AV JP).
If the seed of Abraham, and flesh and blood, were laid hold of by the fear of death and
thereby brought into bondage, Christ's becoming flesh and delivering them from that
bondage is a fitting sequel.
"Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He
might be a merciful and faithful High Priest" (Heb. 2: 17).
We have already seen that the Lord Jesus "tasted death", and in the garden of
Gethsemane His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Three times He prayed
with reference to that awful cup. Heb. 5: 7 tells us that He was heard for His piety.
There is a direct connection between Gethsemane and the Melchisedec priesthood of
Christ in Heb. 5: It is an expansion of Heb. 2: 16-18. Since Christ has come and died
and risen again, such words as II Tim. 1: 10 can be written:
"Our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath on the one hand rendered death powerless (same
word Heb. 2: 14) and on the other hand illuminated life and incorruptibility through the
gospel."
Those who once were subject to bondage can now look death in the face and say, "O
death, where is thy sting?"
"For which reason it behooved Him to be made like to His brethren in all things
(kata panta), in order that He might be a merciful and a faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, with a view to making a propitiation for the sins of the people. For in
that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are
tempted" (Heb. 2: 17, 18 not AV JP).
"All things" here is panta, a word liable to much abuse. For although it may seem a
very forceful argument to say emphatically, "God says all things, and that does not admit
of exception", we find that this very epistle interprets its own language for us, and
definitely teaches that "all" does not necessarily mean "all" in our sense of the word.
Heb. 4: 15 returns to the theme of Heb. 2: 17, 18:
"For we have not an High Priest Which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but One having been tempted in all points (kata panta) like (see 2: 17) as
we are, SIN EXCEPTED" (not AV JP).