Hebrews 12:1

Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς.… “Wherefore, as we have so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, let us likewise lay aside every encumbrance and sin that clings so close and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to the leader and perfecter of faith, even Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured a cross despising shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” τοιγαροῦν, “wherefore then” more formal and emphatic than the usual, διὰ τοῦτο, διὸ, ὅθεν, οὖν. καὶ ἡμεῖς, we in our turn, we as well as they, and with the added advantage of having so many testimonies to the good results of faith. νέφος used frequently in Homer and elsewhere, as “nubes” in Latin and “cloud” in English to suggest a vast multitude. μαρτύρων, “witnesses,” persons who by their actions have testified to the worth of faith. The cloud of witnesses are those named and suggested in chap. 11; persons whose lives witnessed to the work and triumph of faith, and whose faith was witnessed to by Scripture, cf. Hebrews 11:2; Hebrews 11:4-5. This cloud is περικείμενον, because, as the writer has just shown, look where they will into their history his Hebrew readers see such examples of faith. It is impossible to take μάρτυρες as equivalent to θεαταί. If the idea of “spectator” is present at all, which is very doubtful, it is only introduced by the words τρέχωμεν … ἀγῶνα. The idea is not that they are running in presence of spectators and must therefore run well; but that their people's history being filled with examples of much-enduring but triumphant faith, they also must approve their lineage by showing a like persistence of faith. ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα, ὄγκος, a mass or weight or burden (= φόρτος), hence a swelling or superfluous flesh [cf. especially Longinus, iii. 9, κακοὶ δὲ ὄγκοι καὶ ἐπὶ σωμάτων καὶ λόγων. and from Hippocrates in Wetstein, καὶ γὰρ δρόμοι ταχεῖς, καὶ γυμνάσια τοιαῦτα, σαρκῶν ὄγκον καθαίρει.] The allusion therefore is to the training preparatory to a race by which an encumbering superfluity of flesh is reduced. The Christian runner must rid himself even of innocent things which might retard him. And all that does not help, hinders. It is by running he learns what these things are. So long as he stands he does not feel that they are burdensome and hampering. καὶ f1τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν. Of the difficult word εὐπερ. Chrysostom gives two interpretations; “which is easily avoided,” and “which easily encompasses or surrounds us”. In the sense of “avoid” the verb περιϊστάσθαι occurs in 2 Timothy 2:16 and Titus 3:9, but it is scarcely credible that in the present context such an epithet could be applied to sin. The second interpretation has been generally accepted [“circumstans nos peccatum” (Vulg.); “qui nous enveloppe si aisément”; “die Sünde, die immer zur Hand ist” (Weizsäcker)]. This meaning suits the context and the action enjoined in ἀποθέμενοι, suggesting, as it does, the trailing garment that encumbers the runner. The article τὴν does not point to some particular sin, but to that which characterises all sin, the tenacity with which it clings to a man. We might suppose from the word itself that it alluded to sin as an enemy encompassing from well-chosen points of vantage, but this does not suit the figure of the race nor the ἀποθέμενοι. [Porphyry, de Abstin., says γυμνοὶ δὲ καὶ ἀχίτωνες ἐπὶ τὸ στάδιον ἀναβαίνωμεν ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς Ὀλύμπια ἀγωνισόμενοι. “Ut cursores vestimenta non solum abjiciunt, nudique currunt, verum etiam crebris exercitationibus, ne corpus nimis obesum et ineptum reddatur, efficiunt: ita et vos omnia impedimenta in studio virtutis, et tarditatem vestram crebris meditationibus vincite” (Wetstein).] διʼ ὑπομονῆς, after the negative preparation comes the positive demand for endurance, cf. Hebrews 10:36. τρέχωμεν … ἀγῶνα, as in Herod, viii. 102, πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας δραμέονται οἱ Ἕλληνες. προκείμενον, [frequent with ἀγών, as in Arrian's Epict., iii. 25, οὐ γὰρ ὑπὲρ πάλης καὶ παγκρατίου ὁ ἀγὼν πρόκειται. Cf. Orestes of Eurip., 845, and Ignatius to Eph., c. 17. τοῦ προκειμένου ζῆν.] appointed, lying before us as our destined trial. This let us run, not waiting for a pleasanter, easier course, but accepting that which is appointed and recognising the difficulties as constituent parts of the race. Success depends on the condition attached ἀφορῶντες … Ἰησοῦν, fixing our gaze on Him who sets us the example (ἀρχηγὸν) of faith, and exhibits it in its perfect form (τελειωτής), who leads us in faith and in whom faith finds its perfect embodiment. ἀρχηγός properly means one to whom anything owes its origin (cf. Hebrews 2:10), but here it rather indicates one who takes the lead or sets the example most worth following. Jesus is the ἀρχηγὸς τῆς πίστεως because he is its τελειωτής. In Him alone do we see absolute dependence on God, implicit trust, what it is, what it costs, and what it results in. (Hence the human name Ἰησοῦν.) On Him therefore must the gaze be fixed if the runner is to endure, for in Him the reasonableness, the beauty, and the reward of a life of faith are seen. Faith manifested itself in Jesus, especially in His endurance of the cross in virtue of His faith in the resulting joy beyond. ὃς ἀντὶ τῆς προκειμένης αὐτῷ χαρᾶς … ἀντί here as in Hebrews 12:16 denotes the price paid, or reward offered, “in consideration of”. There was a joy set before Jesus, which nerved Him to endure. This joy was the sitting in the place of achieved victory and power, not a selfish joy, but the consciousness of salvation wrought for men, of power won which he could use in their interests. This hope or confident expectation so animated Him that He endured the utmost of human suffering and shame. The shame is mentioned αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας, because His despising of it manifests a mind fixed on the glory that was to follow and filled with it.