Hebrews 12:1-3
AN EXHORTATION TO PATIENT STEADFASTNESS... [ Continue Reading ]
AN EXHORTATION TO PATIENT STEADFASTNESS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΟΙΓΑΡΟΥ͂Ν. A very strong particle of inference not found elsewhere in the N. T. except in 1 Thessalonians 4:8. ΚΑῚ ἩΜΕΙ͂Σ Κ.Τ.Λ. “Let us also, seeing we are compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses … run with patience.” ΝΈΦΟΣ. A classical Greek and Latin, as well as Hebrew, metaphor for a gre... [ Continue Reading ]
CH. 12. An exhortation to faithful endurance (1–3) and a reminder that our earthly sufferings are due to the fatherly chastisement of God (4–13). The need of earnest watchfulness (14–17). Magnificent concluding appeal founded on the superiority and grandeur of the New Covenant (18–24), which enhance... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΕΚΆΘΙΚΕΝ. Much better supported than the rec. ἐκάθισεν. 2. ἈΦΟΡΩ͂ΝΤΕΣ. It is not possible to express in English the thought suggested by this verb, which implies that we must “look away (from other things) unto Jesus.” It implies “the concentration of the wandering gaze into a single direction.” C... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ ἙΑΥΤΌΝ. The MSS. vary between this reading (A, Vulg.) and εἰς αὑτόν, εἰς αὐτόν and εἰς ἑαυτούς. 3. ἈΝΑΛΟΓΊΣΑΣΘΕ. Lit., “_compare yourselves with_.” Contrast the comparative immunity from anguish of your lot with the agony of His (John 15:20). ΤῸΝ ΤΟΙΑΎΤΗΝ Κ.Τ.Λ. Who hath endured at the hand of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΝΤΙΚΑΤΈΣΤΗΤΕ. In some MSS. and quotations the word appears naturally with the double augment ἀντεκατέστητε. 4. ΜΈΧΡΙΣ ΑἽΜΑΤΟΣ. If this be a metaphor drawn from pugilism, as the last is from “running a race,” it means that as yet they have not “had blood drawn.” This would not be impossible, for St... [ Continue Reading ]
FATHERLY CHASTISEMENTS SHOULD BE CHEERFULLY ENDURED... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΚΛΈΛΗΣΘΕ. “_Yet ye have utterly forgotten_,” or possibly the words may be intended interrogatively, “Yet have ye utterly forgotten?” ΤΗ͂Σ ΠΑΡΑΚΛΉΣΕΩΣ, “_the encouragement_,” or “strengthening consolation.” ΔΙΑΛΈΓΕΤΑΙ, “_discourseth_,” or “reasoneth.” ΥἹΈ. The quotation is from Proverbs 3:11-... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΙΔΕΎΕΙ. This blessedness of being “trained by God” (“Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and _teachest him_ out of thy law,” Psalms 94:12) is found in many parts of Scripture. “As many as I love, I test (ἐλέγχω) and train” (παιδεύω), Revelation 3:19; Psalms 119:75; James 1:12. ΜΑΣΤΙΓ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ אADKL, Vulg. Syr. Copt., &c. 7. ΕἸΣ ΠΑΙΔΊΑΝ ὙΠΟΜΈΝΕΤΕ. The true reading is not εἰ, “if” (which is followed by the A. V., but for which there is hardly any good authority), but εἰς, “unto.” “It is for training that ye endure,” or better, “Endure ye, for training,” i.e. “regard your trials as a p... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΆΝΤΕΣ. He speaks of God’s blessed and disciplinary chastisement as a gift in which all His sons have their share. ἌΡΑ. See note on Hebrews 4:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝΕΤΡΕΠΌΜΕΘΑ. In classical Greek this verb is found with the gen. but in later Greek with an acc. as here. Comp. Matthew 21:37, ἐντραπήσονται τὸν υἱόν μου, Luke 18:4, ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐντρέπομαι. ΤΩ͂Ι ΠΑΤΡῚ ΤΩ͂Ν ΠΝΕΥΜΆΤΩΝ. God might be called “the Father of _the_ spirits,” as having created Angels and S... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡῸΣ ὈΛΊΓΑΣ ἩΜΈΡΑΣ. Comp. πρὸς καιρόν Luke 8:13. ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῸ ΔΟΚΟΥ͂Ν ΑΥ̓ΤΟΙ͂Σ. “As seemed good to them.” He is contrasting the brief authority of parents, and their liability to error, and even to caprice, with the pure love and eternal justice of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΑΡΑ͂Σ. “A matter of joy”; the gen. of a property, or perhaps of the sphere to which a thing belongs. Winer, p. 244. ὝΣΤΕΡΟΝ ΔῈ Κ.Τ.Λ. The original is expressed in the emphatic and oratorical style of the writer, “but afterwards it yieldeth a peaceful fruit to those who have been exercised by it—(t... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΌ. The poetic style, and even the metrical form of diction, in these two verses (of which Hebrews 12:13 contains a complete hexameter, καὶ τροχιὰς ὀρθὰς ποιήσατε τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν and half an iambic, ἵνα μὴ τὸ χωλὸν ἐκτραπῇ), reflect the earnestness of the writer, as he gives more and more elabo... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΚΤΡΑΠΗ͂Ι. Lit., “_that the lame_ (i.e. lameness) _may not be quite out of joint, but may rather be cured_.” The verb ἐκτραπῆ _may_ mean “be turned out of the way,” as in 1 Timothy 1:6; 1 Timothy 5:15; 2 Timothy 4:4; but as it is a technical term for “_spraining_” or “dislocation” it may have that m... [ Continue Reading ]
NEED OF EARNEST WATCHFULNESS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΤᾺ ΠΆΝΤΩΝ. The word “men” is better omitted, for doubtless the writer is thinking mainly of peace in the bosom of the little Christian community—a peace which, even in these early days, was often disturbed by rival egotisms (Romans 14:19; 2 Timothy 2:22). ΚΑῚ ΤῸΝ ἉΓΙΑΣΜΌΝ. “_And the sanctificatio... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΣΤΕΡΩ͂Ν Κ.Τ.Λ. Lit., “_whether there be any man who is falling short of_” or possibly “falling back from the grace of God.” We have already noticed that not improbably the writer has in view some one individual instance of a tendency towards apostasy, which might have a fatal influence upon other w... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΈΔΟΤΟ אDKL. In AC ἀπέδετο, which is probably a mere oversight, and a form which has no authority. 16. ΠΌΡΝΟΣ. The word must be taken in a literal sense, since Esau was not “an idolater.” It is true that Esau is not charged with fornication in the Book of Genesis (which only speaks of his heathen... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΤΈΠΕΙΤΑ. The verse runs literally, “_for ye know that even, afterwards, when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected—for he found no opportunity for a change of mind—though with tears he earnestly sought for it_.” It is clear at once that if the writer means to say “that Esau earnestly... [ Continue Reading ]
ΨΗΛΑΦΩΜΈΝΩΙ ΚΑῚ ΚΕΚΑΥΜΈΝΩΙ ΠΥΡΊ. The ὄρει of DKL Vulg. followed by the rec. is a gloss, not found in אAC and many versions. It is perhaps due to the Σιὼν ὄρει of Hebrews 12:22. ΚΑῚ ΓΝΌΦΩΙ ΚΑῚ ΖΌΦΩΙ AC. The MSS. vary considerably, but the σκότῳ of the rec. is probably taken by L from Deuteronomy 4:1... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MERCY AND SUBLIMITY OF THE NEW COVENANT AS CONTRASTED WITH THE OLD (18–24) ENHANCE THE GUILT AND PERIL OF THE BACKSLIDER (25–29)... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΆΛΠΙΓΓΟΣ. Exodus 19:16; Exodus 19:19; Exodus 20:18. ΦΩΝΗ͂Ι ῬΗΜΆΤΩΝ. Deuteronomy 4:12. ΠΑΡΗΙΤΉΣΑΝΤΟ. The verb means literally “to beg off.” ΜΉ. The common redundant negative (expressing the negative _result_) after verbs of denying. See Winer, p. 755. ΜῊ ΠΡΟΣΤΕΘΗ͂ΝΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. Lit., “_that no word m... [ Continue Reading ]
20. [ἢ βολίδι κατατοξευθήσεται]. An ill-supported gloss from Exodus 19:13. 20. ΟΥ̓Κ ἜΦΕΡΟΝ ΓᾺΡ Κ.Τ.Λ. “_For they endured not the injunction, If even a beast …_” (Exodus 19:12-13). This injunction seemed to them to indicate an awful terror and sanctity in the environment of the mountain. It filled t... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΦΑΝΤΑΖΌΜΕΝΟΝ. “_The splendour of the spectacle_” (here only in N. T.). The true punctuation of the verse is And—so fearful was the spectacle—Moses said … ἜΚΦΟΒΌΣ ΕἸΜΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. No such speech of Moses at Sinai is recorded in the Pentateuch. The writer is either drawing from the Jewish _Haggadah_ or... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΙῺΝ ὌΡΕΙ … The true Sion is the antitype of all the promises with which the name had been connected (Psalms 2:6; Psalms 48:2; Psalms 78:68-69; Psalms 125:1; Joel 2:32; Micah 4:7). Hence the names of Sion and “the heavenly Jerusalem” are given to “the city of the living God” (Galatians 4:26; Revelat... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΝΗΓΎΡΕΙ. The word means a general festive assembly, as in Song of Solomon 7:1 (LXX.). It has been questioned whether both clauses refer to Angels—“To myriads of Angels, a Festal Assembly, and Church of Firstborn enrolled in Heaven”—or whether two classes of the Blessed are intended, viz. “To myria... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΑΘΉΚΗΣ ΝΈΑΣ ΜΕΣΊΤΗΙ. “_Mediator of a New Covenant_.” The word for “new” is here νέας (“new in time”), not καινῆς (“fresh in quality”), implying not only that it is “fresh” or “recent,” but also young and strong (Matthew 26:27-29; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 10:22). ΠΑΡᾺ ΤῸΝ ἌΒΕΛ. Better things “than Abe... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸΝ ΛΑΛΟΥ͂ΝΤΑ. Not Moses, as Chrysostom supposed, but God. The speaker is the same under both dispensations, different as they are. God spoke alike from Sinai and from heaven. The difference of the places whence they spoke involves the whole difference of their tone and revelations. Perhaps the writ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΗ͂Ν ἘΣΆΛΕΥΣΕΝ. Exodus 19:18; Judges 5:4; Psalms 114:7. ἘΠΉΓΓΕΛΤΑΙ. “_He has promised_.” The verb has the sense of the _middle_ voice as in Romans 4:21. ἜΤΙ ἍΠΑΞ. “_Again, once for all_.” The quotation is from Haggai 2:6-7, “yet once, it is a little while” (comp. Hosea 1:4). ΚΑῚ ΤῸΝ ΟΥ̓ΡΑΝΌΝ. “Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΔῈ ἜΤΙ ἍΠΑΞ. The argument on the phrase “_Again, yet once for all_,” and the bringing it into connexion with the former shaking of the earth at Sinai, resembles the style of argument on the word “to-day” in Hebrews 3:7 to Hebrews 4:9; and on the word “new” in Hebrews 8:13. ΜΕΤΆΘΕΣΙΝ. The rest of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΧΩΜΕΝ … ΛΑΤΡΕΎΩΜΕΝ ACDL. In the constant variations of the MSS. between the indicative and the hortative in all similar passages, it is not easy to be sure of the reading. ΜΕΤᾺ ΕΥ̓ΛΑΒΕΊΑΣ ΚΑῚ ΔΈΟΥΣ AC. The MSS. vary; the μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλ. of the rec. is found in KL. 28. ΔΙΌ. This splendid stra... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΓΆΡ. Comp. Hebrews 4:2. ΠΥ͂Ρ ΚΑΤΑΝΑΛΊΣΚΟΝ. The reference is to Deuteronomy 4:24, and the special application of the description to one set of circumstances shews that this is not—like “God is light” and “God is love”—a description of the whole character of God, but an anthropomorphic way of exp... [ Continue Reading ]