Hebrews 2:14

‘Since then the children are sharers in (partake of in common - kekoinoneken)) blood and flesh, he also himself in the same way partook (meteschen) of the same, that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,’

So as these ‘children’ were/are all ‘blood and flesh’, sharing human nature in common, it was necessary that He Who would be their Messiah-Deliverer should also become, voluntarily and deliberately, blood and flesh. He fully partook by choice of what they essentially were in their original state of innocence. He had to become fully man for the purpose. ‘Blood and flesh’ (compare ‘flesh and blood’ Matthew 16:17; 1 Corinthians 15:50 (which cannot inherit the future Kingly Rule of God); Galatians 1:16) simply describes being a true human, as being made up of those constituents. Sin was not included for it was foreign to man in his perfect state. And His final purpose in this was in order that through death He might ‘bring to nought’, render powerless, the one who had the power of death, that is, the Devil.

But how did the Devil have ‘the power of death’? One explanation is that death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), and in true Pauline fashion here means eternal death. The power of death was thus effected by bringing men into sin. Once man sinned he became liable to death, permanent death. The Devil used this power when he tempted Eve to sin and dragged down Adam along with her (for the idea in Jewish thinking compare Wisdom of Solomon 2:24, ‘by the envy of the Devil death entered into the world’). He continues to use the power of death by blinding men’s eyes to the truth of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), and by constantly keeping men in trespasses and sins, and in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind (Ephesians 2:1-3). Those who are not in Christ ‘live in death’ (1 John 3:14).

But its power is brought to naught ‘through (His) death’, by means of Christ’s perfect sacrifice and provision of the means of forgiveness and sanctification before God. Once the benefit of that is received, man’s conscience for past ‘dead works’ is clear (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:22). They have been borne by and put aside in Christ. He is delivered from eternal death which has become but ‘sleep’. Thus is the Devil rendered powerless for those who are in Christ (compare John 12:31; Colossians 2:15). He can deceive them no longer.

Another explanation is that ‘the power of death’ should be seen as a similar expression to ‘the power of darkness’ (Colossians 1:13). In Colossians 1:13 ‘the power of darkness parallels ‘the kingdom of His beloved Son’. In other words ‘power’ is almost equivalent to ‘kingdom’, but with a greater emphasis on the force applied to keep its subjects within that kingdom. They are held in darkness by his power. So here we may see it as referring to the ‘kingdom of death’ in which the Devil holds mankind. They are held prisoner in the sphere of ‘death’, kept away from light and life. They live in death (1 John 3:14). They lie in the arms of the Evil One (1 John 5:19). Thus as he is brought to naught, so are men released from his kingdom of death and darkness, through receiving the light of life.

‘Blood and flesh.’ This is the reading of the best witnesses. ‘Blood’ may well be put first because of the emphasis on His death in this passage. He came to shed blood.