Hebrews 12:17 NIV

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

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 12:12-17

12:12-17 So, then, lift up the slack hands. Strengthen the weak knees. And make straight the paths of your feet so that the bones of the lame may not be completely dislocated but rather may be cured. Make peace your aim--and do it all together--and aim at that holiness without which no one can see the Lord. Watch that no one misses the grace of God. Watch that no pernicious influence grows up to involve you in troubles. And watch that the main body of your people are not soiled by any such... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 12:17

For ye know how that afterwards ,.... After he had had his pottage; after he had sold his birthright for it, and the blessing with it; after his father had blessed Jacob: this the apostle relates to the Hebrews, as a thing well known to them; they having read the books of Moses, and being conversant with them, in which the whole history of this affair is recorded: how that when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected ; by his father, who refused to give him the blessing,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:17

When he would have inherited the blessing - When he wished to have the lordship over the whole family conveyed to him, and sought it earnestly with tears, he found no place for a change in his father's mind and counsel, who now perceived that it was the will of God that Jacob should be made lord of all. Repentance - Here μετανοια is not to be taken in a theological sense, as implying contrition for sin, but merely change of mind or purpose; nor does the word refer here to Esau at all,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:17

Verse 17 17.When he would have inherited the blessing, etc. He at first regarded as a sport the act by which he had sold his birthright, as though it was a child’s play; but at length, when too late, he found what a loss he had incurred, when the blessing transferred by his father to Jacob was refused to him. Thus they who are led away by the allurements of this world alienate themselves from God, and sell their own salvation that they may feed on the morsels of this world, without thinking... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:1-29

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:12-17

A threefold cord of duty. The word "wherefore" ( Hebrews 12:12 ) connects this admonition with what goes before. For these reasons, says the apostle—since the Savior was subjected to such hard treatment at the hands of wicked men; since your own resistance to sin has not yet exposed you to bloodshed; since your very trials are an expression of God's fatherly love; and since his chastisements are fitted to be so profitable in their results—surely you will never allow yourselves to fall... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

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 ( i.e. desired to inherit) the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. The word "fornicator" is to be understood literally, not figuratively (as Ebrard) of spiritual fornication (see ἁγιασμὸν , Hebrews 12:14 ). βέβηλος ("profane") denotes one... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

Esau; or, the sacrifice of the spiritual for the sensuous. "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person," etc. There is much about this man, Esau, which is noble and attractive. "Esau, the shaggy, red-haired huntsman, the man of the field, with his arrows, his quiver, and his bow, coming in weary from the chase, caught as with the levity and eagerness of a child by the sight of the lentil soup—'Feed me, I pray thee, with the red, red pottage'—yet so full of generous impulse, so... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

Esau—a warning. Esau is an excellent example of what serious results may come out of sheer thoughtlessness. There were special reasons why Esau should be a careful, thoughtful, prudent man. Thoughtfulness is the need of every man in such a maze as life is continually tending to become, but the position of some makes thoughtfulness a special duty. So it was with Esau. He had the birthright. To him it specially belonged to continue and increase the prosperity and credit of the family. Yet... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 12:4-17

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 12:12-17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 12:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 12:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:1-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:12-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:16-17

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