For when for the time ye ought to be teachers
These Hebrews had had great advantages; they were not only
descended from Abraham, and had the law of Moses, and the
writings of the Old Testament, but some of them had enjoyed the
ministry of Christ, and however of his apostles; and it was now
about thirty years from the day of Pentecost, in which the gifts
of the Holy Ghost were bestowed in such an extraordinary manner,
and a large number were converted, and a church state settled
among them; and therefore considering the length of time, the
opportunities and advantages they had enjoyed, it might have been
expected, and indeed it is what should have been, that they would
have been teachers of others, some in a private, and some in a
public way: from whence it may be observed, that to have time for
learning, and yet make no proficiency, is an aggravation of
dulness; moreover, that men ought to be hearers, and make some
good proficiency in hearing, before they are fit to be teachers
of others; also, that persons are not only to hear for their own
edification, but for the instruction of others, though all
hearers are not designed for public teachers; for to be teachers
of others, requires a considerable share of knowledge: to which
may be added, that the churches of Christ are the proper
seminaries of Gospel ministers. But this was so far from being
the case of these Hebrews, that the apostle says of them,
ye have need that one teach on again which be the first
principles
of the oracles of God;
by the oracles of God are meant the Scriptures, not the law of
Moses only, but all the writings of the Old Testament, which were
given by the respiration of God, and are authoritative and
infallible; and by the "first principles" of them are intended,
either the first promises in them, concerning the Messiah; or the
institutions, rites, and ceremonies of the law, which are
sometimes called (stoiceia)
, elements, ( Galatians
4:3 Galatians
4:9 ) where the same word is used as here; and which were the
alphabet and rudiments of the Gospel to the Jews: or else the
apostle designs the plain doctrines of the Gospel, which were at
first preached unto them, in which they needed to be again
instructed, as they were at first; so that instead of going
forward, they had rather gone back:
and are become such as have need of milk;
of the types, shadows, and figures of the law, which were suited
to the infant state of the church, who by sensible objects were
directed to the view of Gospel grace; or of the plain and easier
parts of the Gospel, comparable to milk for their purity,
sweetness, nourishing nature, and being easy of digestion:
and not of strong meat:
such as the deep things of God, the mysteries of the Gospel;
those which are more hard to he understood, received, and
digested; such as the doctrines of the Trinity, of God's
everlasting love, of eternal election and reprobation, of the
person of Christ, the abrogation of the law