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Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:16-17

‘Lest there be any fornication, or profane person, as Esau, who for one portion of food sold his own birthright. For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind, though he sought it diligently with tears.’ This root of bitterness is now defined in terms of Esau who ‘sold his birthright’ because it meant so little to him. He was a worldly person. He despised what was spiritual. He looked at present benefit not... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:14-17

Hebrews 12:14-Esther : . As the community is to bear up bravely under persecution, so it is to watch carefully over the purity of its own life. There must be no strife or dissension; above all, there must be moral consecration, for without this it is impossible to hold fellowship with Christ ( Hebrews 12:14) . The church must therefore keep anxious guard over its members, and make sure that each one of them lives up to his Christian profession. Even a single unworthy member may be like a... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Hebrews 12:16

This properly interprets the root of bitterness before, by two special fruits of it. Lest there be any fornicator: uncleanness, πορνος, is not to be taken so strictly, as only to note fornication, uncleanness committed by unmarried persons, but all sorts of pollution and filthiness, as it is used in the general decree, Acts 15:29; such defilements as had crept in among them already, to which many were propense and inclined, whence warned of and charged against it by James, Peter, and Jude, in... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Hebrews 12:9-17

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTESHebrews 12:9. Father of spirits.—See Numbers 16:22; Numbers 27:16; Zechariah 12:1. “The Creator of all spirits, who is the Giver of life to all, who knows the spirit which He has made, and can discipline it by chastening.”Hebrews 12:12. Lift up the hands.—Lit. “straighten out the relaxed hands and the palsied knees” (Isaiah 35:3).Hebrews 12:15. Root of bitterness.—See Deuteronomy 29:18.Hebrews 12:16. Fornicator.—The Scriptures do not thus describe Esau. Farrar... read more

William Nicoll

Sermon Bible Commentary - Hebrews 12:14-18

Hebrews 12:14-18 Peace and Holiness. The two exhortations to follow peace with all men and that holiness without which none can see the Lord comprise the whole Christian life. I. The characteristic feature of the Church ought to be the spirit of peace. Christians are faithful to God, and to His truth; their testimony is against sin and unbelief in the world, against hypocrisy and unfaithfulness in the Church; but as love is their life element, so peace is their characteristic. If God's peace is... read more

William Nicoll

Sermon Bible Commentary - Hebrews 12:16

Hebrews 12:16 Profanity in the Home. In Scripture there are few characters more profitable for study than Esau. Whether we look at his circumstances, or his temper, or the line along which the tragedy of his life developed, we get nearer to this man, and find in him more that resembles ourselves, more that resembles the pitiful facts and solemn possibilities of our own lives, than we do in connection with almost any other character in either of the two Testaments. Here is a man who was not an... read more

Charles Simeon

Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae - Hebrews 12:15-17

DISCOURSE: 2338THE DANGER OF DESPISING OR DISHONOURING THE GOSPELHebrews 12:15-17. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with... read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - Hebrews 12:1-29

Shall we turn now to Hebrews, chapter 12.Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses ( Hebrews 12:1 ),What this does not mean is that the Old Testament saints, which are spoken of in chapter 11, are sitting there in heaven watching the activities on the earth. It doesn't mean that they are just watching us to see how we are going to react and respond and we've got this big gallery up here of Old Testament saints. It does mean that their life of faith and... read more

Joseph Sutcliffe

Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - Hebrews 12:1-29

Hebrews 12:1 . Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Confessors and martyrs of the ancient church are here supposed to be the spectators of our course, and we are here called upon to follow these veterans of the faith. Their number is such that they are said to be a cloud, like the assembled multitudes seen on special occasions to witness some extraordinary spectacle. Nor is it the celestial host only that are interested in this contest; we are... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Hebrews 12:15-17

Hebrews 12:15-17Lest any man fail of the grace of GodAre you a failure?The wish to succeed is natural. It is seen in a little child, who will sometimes shed tears if he happen to lose the race which he runs with other children. The desire not only to do well, but to excel is the prevailing aspiration with all sane men and women. But the best men always feel as if they came short of the excellence they desire. One of the most eminent and beloved bishops of the Church of England had a book which... read more

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