2:16 This verse resumes the contrast of v. 5. The background is Is. 41:8–14, where Israel is called “offspring of Abraham,” whom the Lord will “hold” and whom He “helps” (Is. 41:13; cf. Heb. 2:18), so they need not “fear” (Is. 41:10; Heb. 2:15; cf. 13:5, 6). On Abraham and his descendants, see 6:15–17; 11:9; Rom. 4:11–18; 9:7, 8; Gal. 3:29.

helps. Another translation is “takes on” or “lays hold of,” as of “taking on” human nature in the Incarnation. Either way, the point is that the sort of incarnation described in v. 14 is determined by the sort of creatures whom God wills to save. These are human beings, and the eternal Word must be incarnated as a human being: “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).