Forerunner

is the literal meaning of πρόδρομος (Heb 6:20), a precursor, one who not only goes before to a particular place, to lead or prepare the way, but who makes arrangements for those that follow. In this sense it in usually applied to John the Baptist, as the harbinger of Christ. But in the above text (the only one where it occurs in Scripture) it is spoken of Jesus, the high-priest of the new dispensation, as entering before his followers into the heavenly sanctuary, and making expiation of perpetual. efficacy for sinners (comp. Joh 14:2).

Forerunner. A person sent before an army or a noted person. Thus John the Baptist was a messenger who went beforehand to prepare the way of the Lord. Mar 1:2-3. And Christ is said to be "the forerunner for us," Heb 6:20, representing and introducing us. For, when as a priest he entered into the holy place, he went thither not for himself merely, but as the head and guide of his people, to open the way and conduct the whole church into his glory.

Used symbolically of Christ, who has entered within the veil as the forerunner of the saints. Heb 6:20. It is an allusion to those in high position in the East, who have men to run before them to clear the way, and to announce who is coming. In the case of Christ the reverse is the fact: the Lord has run before His servants; but the term necessarily implies that there are others who are following after.

FORERUNNER.—See John the Baptist.

FORERUNNER.—The English word gives the exact sense of the Greek prodromos, which, in its classical usage, signifies ‘one who goes before’; it may be as a scout to reconnoitre, or as a herald to announce the coming of the king and to make ready the way for the royal journey.

1. John the Baptist was our Lord’s ‘forerunner.’ The word is never applied to him in the NT, but he was the ‘messenger’ sent ‘before the face’ of the Lord ‘to prepare his way’ (Mat 11:10, Mar 1:2, Luk 7:27; cf. Mal 3:1), and to exhort others to ‘make his paths straight’ (Mar 1:2; cf. Isa 40:3 ff.).

2. Only in Heb 6:20 is the word ‘forerunner’ found in the EV [Note: English Version.] (Wyclif ‘the bifor goer,’ Rheims ‘the precursor’). Instead of the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘whither the forerunner has for us entered, even Jesus,’ the RV [Note: Revised Version.] rightly renders: ‘whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us.’ The change is important. To the readers of this Epistle it would be a startling announcement that Jesus had entered the Holy of Holies as a forerunner. Thither the Jewish high priest, one day in the year, went alone (Heb 9:7). He was the people’s representative, but he was not their forerunner, for none might dare to follow him. The key-note of the Epistle is that all believers have access with boldness to the presence of the Most Holy God ‘in the blood of Jesus’; they have this boldness because their High Priest has inaugurated for them a fresh and living way (Heb 10:19 ff.). Already within the veil hope enters with assurance, for Jesus has ‘gone that we may follow too.’ As the Forerunner of His redeemed He has inaugurated their entrance, He makes intercession for them, and He is preparing for them a place (Joh 14:2). Commenting on the significance of this ‘one word,’ Dr. A. B. Bruce says that it ‘expresses the whole essential difference between the Christian and the Levitical religion—between the religion that brings men nigh to God, and the religion that kept or left men standing afar off’ (Expositor, iii. vii. [1888], p. 167 f.).

J. G. Tasker.

fōr-run´ẽr (πρόδρομος, pródromos): This word occurs but once in the Bible: “Whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us” (Heb 6:20). The word signifies one who comes in advance to a place where the rest are to follow, or one who is sent on before as a scout to take observations. In this sense Christ is our forerunner for He has gone into heaven to prepare a place for His people into which He will eventually lead them. The idea of a forerunner is peculiar to the Christian dispensation. The Old Testament Levitical economy knew nothing of such. The high priest was a representative, not a forerunner: where he led, namely, into the Holy of Holies, the people could not follow. He was not the pioneer of the people; Christ is. Christ goes nowhere but where His people may follow. He is the file-leader (compare Heb 12:2, “the author ... of faith”). He goeth before His people to prepare the way for them, to open the gates of heaven by His atoning blood and priestly intercession. The believer is led into full fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. See also JOHN THE BAPTIST; RUNNER.

This word occurs only in Heb_6:20, where it is used of our Lord, who has entered within the veil as the Forerunner of redeemed mankind. It is a military term (ðñüäñïìïò) used of the troops which were sent in advance of an army as scouts (Herod. i. 60, iv. 121, 122; Thuc. ii. 22, etc.). Again, a forerunner was sent in advance of a king to prepare the way for him (Isa_40:3). In the NT the Baptist becomes the forerunner of the Christ (Mat_11:10). The author of the Epistle shows that the promise made to Abraham still awaits its complete fulfilment-a promise which is made doubly sure, being confirmed by an oath. This promise has been fulfilled by Christ, so that hope may new enter where Jesus, the Son of Man, has already entered to make atonement for us.

The use of this term ðñüäñïìïò emphasizes the fact that Jesus has entered heaven, not as the Jewish high priest entered the Holy of Holies, to return again, but to open a way by which His people may follow, and to prepare a place for them (Joh_14:2).

Morley Stevenson.