Hebrews 2:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Wishing to show the great condescension of God and the love He has for the human race, Paul, after saying, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same” (Heb 2:14), explains this passage and says: “He does not take hold of Angels.”

Do not hear what was said simply, he says, and do not consider it an ordinary matter that He assumed our flesh. He did not deem Angels worthy of this.

For this reason he speaks thus: “He does not take hold of Angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham.” What do his words mean?

He says that He did not clothe Himself in angelic nature, but in human nature. And what does “takes hold” mean? He did not assume angelic nature, he says, but ours.

“For He does not take hold of Angels.” That is, the Lord was not united to the angelic nature, nor did He bear it. This shows God’s great love for the human race.

What He did not grant to Angels, he says, He gave to human beings, namely to take flesh from them.

“But He takes hold of the seed of Abraham.” He did not say, “He took,” but “He takes hold,” in order to show that He overtook our nature as it fled and had gone far away.

Having overtaken it, He assumed it and clothed Himself in it. He united it to Himself and stopped it as it fled from Him.

He did not say “the nature of human beings,” but “the seed of Abraham.” In part he wished to exalt them and show that their lineage is honorable.

See Rom 8:3-4.

If this was only a shadow and appearance, and not true Incarnation, then the Virgin did not give birth. The Word from God the Father did not take hold of the seed of Abraham, and was not made like His brothers (Heb 2:16-17).

Therefore, if the Word did not become flesh, He cannot help those who are tempted in what He Himself did not suffer in temptations.

The Only-begotten did not act through His own nature of Divinity, for this would not have improved our condition at all. Nor did He act through the nature of Angels, but through the seed of Abraham, as it is written.

For in this way, and in no other, the people who had slipped into corruption are restored.

Therefore you do not receive this life-giving medicine of your life from angels, but from the very seed of Abraham, to whom it was said: "In your seed all the nations shall be blessed" (cf. Gen 22:18).

If He had assumed angelic nature, says the Apostle, He would have become not subject to death. But since He assumed human nature, then, just as by suffering He paid the human debt, so by the resurrection of the body that suffered He proved His own power. With great wisdom the divine Apostle used the proper name instead of the generic name. He did not say, "He takes hold of the seed of man," but, "He takes hold of the seed of Abraham," reminding them of the promise made to Abraham.

He does not unite the angelic nature to Himself in order to exalt it with honor, but the human nature.

Or again, in another way: Angels fell away from God, and human beings also fell away from Him. God passed by the Angels and came to fallen human beings. He came to them by way of becoming man.

This seeking of those who had fled is proof of His great love for mankind and goodness. As for the powers of evil spirits, He knew that after their fall they were no longer capable of healing.

The word “takes hold” is used in place of “touches,” “binds to Himself,” and “unites,” since He united humanity with His Divinity.

This expression is suitable for explaining that He stopped those who were fleeing from Him and drew to Himself those who had gone astray.

He said “of the seed of Abraham” in order to honor the whole Hebrew race. More immediately, Christ according to His humanity came from the tribe of Judah, but Judah too was a descendant of Abraham.

"But He takes hold of the seed of Abraham." "Takes hold" indicates that we men were fleeing from Him, while Christ pursued us, and in pursuing overtook us, and having overtaken us, assumed us. He did not assume angelic nature, but human nature. Then, wishing to show Christ's origin according to the flesh from Judah, he says: "of the seed of Abraham."

To the incomprehensible love for mankind of the Son of God, and to the high honor of the human race, belongs also what the Apostle wrote: “He does not take hold of Angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham.”

That is, the Son of God, wishing to save us, became flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones. He became like us in all things except sin. The Son of God became the Son of Man, and the immutable God became man.

Therefore in His holy Gospel we see that He often called Himself the Son of Man, out of love for us and humility. For these reasons He “is not ashamed to call” human beings brothers, saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren” (Heb 2:11-12).

"For indeed He does not take hold of angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham." One might have expected the Apostle to say "of the seed of Adam," by contrast with angels and men. But the Apostle wished to show more closely the high-priestly dignity of the Savior, and the high priests come from the race of Abraham.

“For He certainly does not take hold of Angels,” that is, the Son of God does not assume angelic nature upon Himself, “but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham” (Heb 2:16), that is, the nature of those who believe like Abraham.

Why does the Apostle make this negative qualification about Angels? It clearly has a connection with his preceding arguments about the superiority of Jesus Christ over the Angels.

Since a certain abasement of the human nature of the suffering Savior before the Angels seemed not to agree with His superiority over them, the Apostle makes two observations on this point.

First, he notes above that the abasement of Christ’s human nature was only “for a little while,” that is, for a short time, during His earthly life and sufferings.

Christ assumed human nature, and together with it death, because angels were not the goal of His saving activity, έπίλαμβάνεσθαι; cf. Jer 31:2. Rather, His goal was the chosen people, the Church of God composed of the best representatives of humanity, or the true seed of Abraham.