Ye have net yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Here (as in 1 Corinthians 9:26 ) there is a transition of thought from a race to a combat. Your trials have not yet reached the point of dying in the good fight of faith, as has been the case with some of your brethren before you, who have followed their Leader to the end (of. Hebrews 13:7 ). read more
Chastisement. In this passage the writer reminds the Hebrews that although doubtless they had sustained severe trials on account of their devotedness to Christ, none of them had yet been required to seal their faith with their blood ( Hebrews 12:4 ). Other children of God had suffered much more than they ( Hebrews 11:35-38 ), and had remained faithful. For them to apostatize would, therefore, be very heinous sin. Rather they must learn to view their afflictions as the corrections of... read more
And ye have forgotten (or, have ye forgotten? ) the exhortation which speaketh unto you (more correctly, discourses , or reasons , with you ; i.e. in the way of fatherly remonstrance) as unto children, My son , etc. This verse introduces a further motive for persevering under prolonged trial, viz. our being assured in Holy Writ of its beneficial purpose as discipline. The quotation is from Proverbs 3:11 , Proverbs 3:12 , as it is in the LXX . We observe that the word... read more
Divine discipline. "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord," etc. Our subject is Divine discipline. Let us notice— I. ITS CHARACTER . Three words are used to express it—"rebuke," "chastening," "scourging." The last two seem to be used synonymously here. Archbishop Trench points out that "'to rebuke" and "to chasten" are often found together, but they are very capable of being distinguished. "To rebuke" is so to rebuke that the person is brought to the acknowledgment... read more
God's discipline of his children. Continually in the New Testament, when we get into circumstances of doubt and pain, we are brought back to the rich truth and comfort to be found in the fatherhood of God. Here, as elsewhere, à fortiori argument is employed. If an earthly father, being evil, gives good gifts to his children, how much more will the heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them asking him? And even so, if an earthly father disciplines his children, making them do and bear... read more
For chastening ye endure ; i.e. It is for chastening that ye endure. The reading εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε , supported by almost the whole weight of manuscripts (including all the uncials that contain the text), of ancient versions, and commentators (Theophylact being the only certain exception), is decidedly to be accepted instead of the εἰ παιδείαν ὑπομένετε (equivalent to "if ye endure chastening") of the Textus Receptus. Moreover, it is required for the sense of the... read more
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us (more correctly, we once had , or, we used to have , the fathers of our flesh as chasteners ), and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? This introduces an à fortiori argument. We are reminded of the days of our youth, while we were under parental discipline, and bore with it submissively: much more should we submit to the discipline of our heavenly... read more
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. The a fortiori argument is thus continued. The discipline of our earthly fathers was "for a few days," i.e. during our childhood only, since which we have been left to ourselves; and even then not necessarily for our greatest advantage; it was only as seemed good to them ( κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτοῖς ); it might be injudicious, or even capricious.... read more
Now no chastening seemeth for the present to be joyous, but grievous (literally, not of joy , but of grief ): nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which have been exercised thereby. This is a general statement with respect to all chastening, though the expression of its result at the end of the verse is suggested by the thought of Divine chastening, to which alone it is certainly, and in the full sense of the words, applicable. "Of... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 12:1-29
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