William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 12:3-4
12:3-4 Consider him who steadfastly endured such opposition at the hands of sinners, and compare your lives with his, so that you may not faint and grow weary in your souls. You have not yet had to resist to the point of blood in your struggle against sin. The writer to the Hebrews uses two very vivid words when he speaks of fainting and growing weary. They are the words which Aristotle uses of an athlete who flings himself on the ground in collapse after he has surged past the winning... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 12:4-17
Here the apostle presses the exhortation to patience and perseverance by an argument taken from the gentle measure and gracious nature of those sufferings which the believing Hebrews endured in their Christian course. I. From the gentle and moderate degree and measure of their sufferings: You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, Heb. 12:4. Observe, 1. He owns that they had suffered much, they had been striving to an agony against sin. Here, (1.) The cause of the conflict was... read more