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Infant Christ could be found? The angel Gabriel was especially sent to Mary to announce
the miracle of the Incarnation, and a multitude of the heavenly host heralded His birth. Is
it not reasonable to believe that an angel led the Magi by means of the star which they
had seen in the East, and so deliver the whole subject from the astronomical problems
that beset the ordinary interpretation?
We have done little more than survey the material contained in Scripture. Our next
study must be directed to the place which angels occupied in the ages that are past and
what part they will play in the world to come. Anticipating our findings, we believe that
w shall discover that the `gap' occasioned by angelic fall was `filled' by the creation and
subsequent redemption of man made `for a little lower than the angels'.
One further note upon these references to angels and this article must close. We refer
to Heb. 2: 16 which reads as follows in the A.V. and the R.V.
"For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of
Abraham."
A.V. margin Gr. reads: "He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he
taketh hold." The R.V. follows the A.V. margin.
A great mass of conflicting opinions will be found in commentaries upon this verse,
some seeking to prove that Christ did not assume angelic form, but human, some seeking
to prove that the passage means that He did not succour or assist angels, but men. As
there is no agreement, either among commentators or the A.V. and the R.V., we must
turn once more to the Fountain Head. One writer complains that the usage of the word
`to take hold' does not help him; the reason seems that the references do not help his idea
of what it means. Let us examine the word afresh, epilambanomai.
Matt. 14: 31
"Stretched forth His hand, and caught him."
Mark 8: 23
"He took the blind man by the hand."
Luke 9: 47
"And Jesus . . . . . took a child."
Luke 14: 4
"He took him, and healed him."
Luke 20: 20, 26
"Take hold of His words."
Luke 23: 26
"They laid hold upon one Simon."
Acts 9: 27
"But Barnabas took him."
Acts 16: 19
"They caught Paul and Silas."
Acts 17: 19
"They took him."
Acts 18: 17
"The Greeks took Sosthenes."
Acts 21: 30, 33
"They took Paul."
Acts 23: 19
"Took him by the hand."
I Tim. 6: 12, 19
"Lay hold on eternal life."
Heb. 2: 16
The passage under consideration.
Heb. 8: 9
"I took them by the hand."
An impartial examination shews that the word is colourless. There is no moral
meaning inherent to it. The same word can be used when Christ takes a man by the hand
to heal him, as when the Roman soldiers take hold on Simon to compel him to bear the
cross. The same word can be used for Barnabas' kindly act in taking hold of Paul to
bring him to the apostles, as for the mob who took Paul with intent to kill him. The
characteristic use of the word precludes the idea of `assisting, helping, succouring'. It