Hebræos 2
1 Propterea abundantius oportet observare nos ea, quae audivimus ne forte pereffluamus.
Therefore we must give still more heed to what we were taught, for fear we should drift away.
2 Si enim qui per Angelos dictus est sermo, factus est firmus, et omnis praevaricatio, et inobedientia accepit iustam mercedis retributionem:
For, if the Message which was delivered by angels had its authority confirmed, so that every offence against it, or neglect of it, met with a fitting requital,
3 quomodo nos effugiemus si tantam neglexerimus salutem? quae cum initium accepisset enarrari per Dominum ab eis, qui audierunt, in nos confirmata est,
how can we, of all people, expect to escape, if we disregard so great a Salvation? It was the Master who at the outset spoke of this Salvation, and its authority was confirmed for us by those who heard him,
4 contestante Deo signis et portentis, et variis virtutibus, et Spiritus sancti distributionibus secundum suam voluntatem.
while God himself added his testimony to it by signs, and marvels, and many different miracles, as well as by imparting the Holy Spirit as he saw fit.
5 Non enim Angelis subiecit Deus orbem terrae futurum, de quo loquimur.
God has not given to angels the control of that Future World of which we are speaking!
6 Testatus est autem in quodam loco quis, dicens: Quid est homo quod memor es eius, aut filius hominis quoniam visitas eum?
No; a writer has declared somewhere — ‘What is Man that thou shouldst remember him? Or a Son of Man that thou shouldst regard him?
7 Minuisti eum paulominus ab Angelis: gloria et honore coronasti eum: et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
Thou hast made him, for a while, lower than angels; With glory and honour thou hast crowned him; Thou hast set him over all that thy hands have made;
8 Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius: In eo enim quod omnia ei subiecit, nihil dimisit non subiectum ei. Nunc autem necdum videmus omnia subiecta ei.
Thou hast placed all things beneath his feet.’ This ‘placing of everything’ under man means that there was nothing which was not placed under him. As yet, however, we do not see everything placed under man.
9 Eum autem, qui modico quam Angeli minoratus est, videmus Iesum propter passionem mortis, gloria et honore coronatum: ut gratia Dei, pro omnibus gustaret mortem.
What our eyes do see is Jesus, who was made for a while lower than angels, now, because of his sufferings and death, crowned with glory and honour; so that his tasting the bitterness of death should, in God’s loving-kindness, be on behalf of all mankind.
10 Decebat enim eum, propter quem omnia, et per quem omnia, qui multos filios in gloriam adduxerat, auctorem salutis eorum per passionem consummari.
It was, indeed, fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should, when leading many sons to glory, make the author of their Salvation perfect through suffering.
11 Qui enim sanctificat, et qui sanctificantur, ex uno omnes. Propter quam causam non confunditur fratres eos vocare, dicens:
For he who purifies, and those whom he purifies, all spring from One; and therefore he is not ashamed to call them ‘Brothers.’
12 Nunciabo nomen tuum fratribus meis: in medio Ecclesiae laudabo te.
He says — ‘I will tell of thy Name to my Brothers, In the midst of the congregation I will sing thy praise.’
13 Et iterum: Ego ero fidens in eum. Et iterum: Ecce ego, et pueri mei, quos dedit mihi Deus.
And again — ‘As for me, I will put my trust in God.’ And yet again — ‘See, here am I and the children whom God gave me.’
14 Quia ergo pueri communicaverunt carni, et sanguini, et ipse similiter participavit eisdem: ut per mortem destrueret eum, qui habebat mortis imperium, id est, diabolum:
Therefore, since human nature is the common heritage of ‘the Children,’ Jesus also shared it, in order that by death he might render powerless him whose power lies in death — that is, the Devil —
15 et liberaret eos, qui timore mortis per totam vitam obnoxii erant servituti.
and so might deliver all those who, from fear of death, had all their lives been living in slavery.
16 Nusquam enim Angelos apprehendit, sed semen Abrahae apprehendit.
It was not, surely, to the help of the angels that Jesus came, but ‘to the help of the descendants of Abraham.’
17 Unde debuit per omnia fratribus similari, ut misericors fieret, et fidelis pontifex ad Deum, et ut repropitiaret delicta populi.
And consequently it was necessary that he should in all points be made like ‘his Brothers,’ in order that he might prove a merciful as well as a faithful High Priest in man’s relations with God, for the purpose of expiating the sins of his People.
18 In eo enim, in quo passus est ipse et tentatus, potens est et eis, qui tentantur, auxiliari.
The fact that he himself suffered under temptation enables him to help those who are tempted.
