Hebrews 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Heb 12:1
Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα καὶ τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν, δι’ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα,
Heb 12:2
ἀφορῶντες εἰς τὸν τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν Ἰησοῦν, ὃς ἀντὶ τῆς προκειμένης αὐτῷ χαρᾶς ὑπέμεινεν σταυρὸν αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας, ἐν δεξιᾷ τε τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ κεκάθικεν.
Heb 12:3
Ἀναλογίσασθε γὰρ τὸν τοιαύτην ὑπομεμενηκότα ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς ἀντιλογίαν, ἵνα μὴ κάμητε ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ἐκλυόμενοι.
Heb 12:4
οὔπω μέχρις αἵματος ἀντικατέστητε πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι,
Heb 12:5
καὶ ἐκλέλησθε τῆς παρακλήσεως, ἥτις ὑμῖν ὡς υἱοῖς διαλέγεται, Υἱέ μου, μὴ ὀλιγώρει παιδείας κυρίου, μηδὲ ἐκλύου ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος·
Heb 12:6
ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται.
Heb 12:7
εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε· ὡς υἱοῖς ὑμῖν προσφέρεται ὁ θεός· τίς γὰρ υἱὸς ὃν οὐ παιδεύει πατήρ;
Heb 12:8
εἰ δὲ χωρίς ἐστε παιδείας ἧς μέτοχοι γεγόνασι πάντες, ἄρα νόθοι καὶ οὐχ υἱοί ἐστε.
Heb 12:9
εἶτα τοὺς μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν πατέρας εἴχομεν παιδευτὰς καὶ ἐνετρεπόμεθα· οὐ πολὺ μᾶλλον ὑποταγησόμεθα τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ ζήσομεν;
Heb 12:10
οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτοῖς ἐπαίδευον, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ συμφέρον εἰς τὸ μεταλαβεῖν τῆς ἁγιότητος αὐτοῦ.
Heb 12:11
πᾶσα δὲ παιδεία πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐ δοκεῖ χαρᾶς εἶναι ἀλλὰ λύπης, ὕστερον δὲ καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς δι’ αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσιν δικαιοσύνης.
But all childrearing for the present does not seem to be joy but grief; but later, the peaceable fruit to those who are being exercised by her, they see a return [which is] righteousness.
Paraphrase: Now I understand that the discipline which our heavenly Father gives us is not pleasant. We would choose a different path for our life, but take another look at what God is doing. We know that athletes put themselves through very difficult training routines. They endure all kinds of hardship because they have their eye on the goal. They are trying to make their bodies stronger, faster, more skilled, etc. Now, you should see your suffering in the same way. It’s a kind of training which brings a great return. This kind of training brings a real, practical holiness of heart and life which leads us to rejoice because we have peace with God and with others. (Hebrews 12:14)
Comments:
Heb 12:12
Διὸ τὰς παρειμένας χεῖρας καὶ τὰ παραλελυμένα γόνατα ἀνορθώσατε,
Wherefore, straighten up the exhausted hands and the weak knees.
Paraphrase: So take courage; don’t give up the struggle. Stand up on your feet and help others to stand up on their feet.
Comments:
Heb 12:13
καὶ τροχιὰς ὀρθὰς ποιεῖτε τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ χωλὸν ἐκτραπῇ, ἰαθῇ δὲ μᾶλλον.
and straight paths make for your feet in order that the lame might not be turned away but rather healed.
Paraphrase: Let’s roll up our sleeves, and do the work which God has called us to do. Especially watch out for those who are wavering and perhaps even now thinking of returning to the Jewish religion. (Hebrews 3:12) We don’t want these weaker brethren to be deceived by false teachers; we would much rather see their questions resolved and to see them rooted and grounded in the way of Christ. (Ephesians 3:17)
Comments:
Heb 12:14
Εἰρήνην διώκετε μετὰ πάντων, καὶ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν κύριον,
Pursue peace with all persons and sanctification not without no one shall see the Lord.
Paraphrase: Let’s all resolve together to do that which makes for peace (Romans 12:18; 14:19) in the household of God. This is the way to real holiness and real sanctification. I don’t need to remind you that without this kind of holiness in our lives, we have no reason to believe that we will see the Lord. (Psalm 93:5)
Comments:
Heb 12:15
ἐπισκοποῦντες μή τις ὑστερῶν ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ, μή τις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ καὶ δι’ αὐτῆς μιανθῶσιν πολλοί,
Watching not anyone falling away from the grace of God, not anyone a root of bitterness growing up many might be corrupted.
Paraphrase: Therefore, each of you should be vigilant. Don’t let anyone fall away from the covenant of grace in Christ (Hebrews 12:24) and return to the Jewish religion which is just a covenant of works. Watch carefully that no bitterness and anger arise between brothers and sisters. This happens way to quickly amongst those who should know better. Look at how quickly weeds spring up in your gardens and fields. In the same way, when some one plants a seed of bitterness, the roots of that plant grow downward and the fruit of that plant grows upwards. The result is that people eat this fruit and are poisoned. (James 3:5) The body of Christ begins to come apart, and the believers begin to bite and devour each other like a bunch of savage animals. (Galatians 5:15) Watch carefully for these weeds (Hosea 10:4) and strike them out before they do real damage.
Comments:
Heb 12:16
μή τις πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος ὡς Ἠσαῦ, ὃς ἀντὶ βρώσεως μιᾶς ἀπέδετο τὰ πρωτοτόκια ἑαυτοῦ.
not anyone an adulterer or profane as Esau who in place of one meal, gave away his birthright.
Paraphrase: Another thing to watch against is those who regard God’s standards loosely and don’t take God’s law seriously. Usually, these persons are adulterers and disregard God’s command to remain sexually pure. Another example is Esau who for a single bowl of stew, gave away his right to the inheritance. (Genesis 25:32)
Comments:
Heb 12:17
ἴστε γὰρ ὅτι καὶ μετέπειτα θέλων κληρονομῆσαι τὴν εὐλογίαν ἀπεδοκιμάσθη, μετανοίας γὰρ τόπον οὐχ εὗρεν, καίπερ μετὰ δακρύων ἐκζητήσας αὐτήν.
For you know that afterwards, desiring to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for a place of repentance, he did not find, even as with tears seeking her.
Paraphrase: After he made this thoughtless tradeoff, he regretted it bitterly. He went to Isaac still hoping to claim his inheritance, but he was turned away. He bitterly regretted the rash and foolish decision he had made, but there was no going back. He even begged and shed many tears trying to get Isaac to change his mind and grant him his birthright, but it was no use.
Comments:
There are several important decisions to make in this verse:
- Whose repentance is this, Isaac’s or Esau’s? Stuart and Ebrard say Isaac. The verse would then read: “When he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance [change of mind in Isaac], though he sought it [such change of mind] with tears;” source
- What is the antecedent of αὐτήν? Grammatically, it could be either μετανοίας or εὐλογίαν. Vaughn argues for εὐλογίαν in which case the text would read: “When he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected (for he found no place of repentance), though he sought it [the blessing] with tears.” Owen says it makes no difference. Ebrard calls this “utterly unnatural.”
- Is the μετανοίας here real gospel repentance or a simple change of mind? and if the latter, why not the word μεταμέλεια? See Trench for the different shades of meaning in these words.
Meyer’s comment on this verse is extremely interesting.
Heb 12:18
Οὐ γὰρ προσεληλύθατε ψηλαφωμένῳ καὶ κεκαυμένῳ πυρὶ καὶ γνόφῳ καὶ ζόφῳ καὶ θυέλλῃ
For you have not come to a physical [mountain], burning with fire, to darkness, to blackness, and to a windstorm.
Paraphrase: Such sufferings are painful, and our struggle against sin never seems to improve. Nevertheless, bear in mind that you are not alone in all this. I have already related the heroic saints who have gone before us and all the sufferings which they endured. (Hebrews 11:4-40) Many of these were tortured, mocked, flogged, chained up, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in two, put to death by the sword. Others walked around with nothing more than a sheepskin or goatskin for clothing; they were completely destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. They wandered about in deserts and mountains and hid in caves and holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35-38) Now this is the great community of people of which you have been made a part. Think about it; we don’t come to Mount Sinai like the old covenant people of God. We don’t come to a physical mountain that has terrifying jets of flame bursting out of it or a mountain that was covered over with a surreal kind of darkness and despair and was constantly being battered by blasts of wind. (Exodus 19:16)
Comments:
What is the connection of this with the previous? Pink writes that the Jewish-Christians were tempted to return to Judaism by various temptations, one of them being “the afflictions and persecutions which fidelity to the Gospel entailed.” source In this chapter, the author addresses this suffering. It involved a struggle against sin (Hebrews 12:4), Fatherly discipline (Hebrews 12:7), limp hands and weak knees. (Hebrews 12:12) Now the author points them to the new community of which they have been made members as a comfort for them in their sufferings.
Heb 12:19
καὶ σάλπιγγος ἤχῳ καὶ φωνῇ ῥημάτων, ἧς οἱ ἀκούσαντες παρῃτήσαντο μὴ προστεθῆναι αὐτοῖς λόγον·
and the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words which those hearing begged not to add to them a word.
Paraphrase: Remember as well the awful blast of the trumpet that caused all the people to tremble and quake with fear. (Exodus 19:19; 20:18) Then came the very voice of God which was so terrible that no one could stand to hear it. The people begged Moses to go and speak with God so they wouldn’t have to hear His voice any more. “If we hear that voice again, we are all going to die,” they told Moses. (Exodus 20:19)
Comments:
Heb 12:20
οὐκ ἔφερον γὰρ τὸ διαστελλόμενον· Κἂν θηρίον θίγῃ τοῦ ὄρους, λιθοβοληθήσεται·
for they were not carrying the command, and if a beast might touch the mountain, it will be stoned.
Paraphrase: They were not able to stand for a single moment before the perfect holiness of God almighty. Even the animals, were not able to come into God’s presence as is clear from the command God gave His people that if any of their beasts even touched the mountain, they were to be immediately executed.
Comments:
Heb 12:21
καί, οὕτω φοβερὸν ἦν τὸ φανταζόμενον, Μωϋσῆς εἶπεν· Ἔκφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος.
and in this manner, terrifying was the sight; Moses said, “I am terrified and tremble.”
Paraphrase: Even the man Moses, so marked for his holiness (Numbers 12:3) was struck with horror at what he saw. The sight of God’s presence on the mountain made him shake and tremble for fear.
Comments:
Ἔκφοβός and ἔντρομος are predicate adjectives.
Owen notes that Moses was the one who usually received the revelations from God for Israel. He was accustomed to this. Thus, he was “the mediator between God and the people, at that time. Yet could none of these privileges exempt him from an amazing sense of the terror of the Lord in giving the law. And if with all these advantages he could not bear it, much less can any other man so do. The mediator himself of the old covenant was not able to sustain the dread and terror of the law: how desperate then are their hopes who would yet be saved by Moses! source
Heb 12:22
ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων,
but you are come to Zion, the mountain and city of the living God, the Jerusalem above, and myriads of angels,
Paraphrase: But now a change has come. Now, we draw near to God with joy and confidence. When you put your trust in Jesus, you entered into the city of God. You came to His holy Mountain which is the Jerusalem which we call the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to a massive, heavenly festival where thousands upon tens of thousands of angels…
Comments:
The αλλα here stretches back to the προσεληλύθατε of v18.
Heb 12:23
πανηγύρει καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ κριτῇ θεῷ πάντων, καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων τετελειωμένων,
to a festival and to the church of the first born who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous, who are being made perfect.
Paraphrase: …are gathered for a celebration of our Great God, the Judge and Creator of everything. You have come to the church, where every member is the firstborn and has a right to the inheritance (Exodus 4:22), and your name has been registered in the rolls of the citizens of heaven. Even while you remain on this earth, you are joined into one community with the souls of those saints who have gone to glory and have been made entirely perfect, purified of everything that defiles. (Revelation 21:27)
Comments:
Stuart has quite a different understanding of ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων; see the very bottom here. My own understanding is that Christ is the firstborn (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15, 18; Revelation 1:5) and that all who are united to Him share in that privilege. Howe writes:
They are of the ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων—“the church of the first-born written in heaven,” (Hebrews 12:23) i.e., the church of the first-born ones; that is, all composed and made up of such; (as that expression signifies;) first-born, in a true (though not the most eminent) sense. Being sons by the first, i.e. the prime and more excellent sort of birth, in respect whereof they are said to be begotten again (James 1:18) by the word of truth, they should be a kind of first-fruits of the creatures of God. And this two-fold dignity is the privilege of their birthright, as anciently it was. Are you devoted to God? Have you dedicated yourselves? Hereby you are arrived to this dignity. For in the above-mentioned place (Hebrews 12) it is said, “Ye are come:” you are actually, already, adjoined to that church, and are the real present members of that holy community; for you are related and united to him of whom the family in heaven and earth is named; (Ephesians 3) are of the household, and the sons of God, his, under that peculiar notion, when you have dedicated yourselves to him. source
Heb 12:24
καὶ διαθήκης νέας μεσίτῃ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἅβελ.
and to the Mediator of a new covenant, Jesus and the blood of sprinkling, speaking better things than that of Abel.
Paraphrase: Furthermore, we come to a new Mediator. Moses was our old mediator, but he trembled and shook with fear when God came down on the mountain. Jesus, however, is the Mediator of a new and better covenant. His blood purifies us (Numbers 19:13) and preaches to us that we are cleansed and therefore welcome into God’s presence again. There’s no place for fear or trembling here. Remember that Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance, but not Jesus’ blood. His blood is an atonement which takes away our guilt (Leviticus 4:35) and brings God to speak tenderly to Jerusalem and to proclaim to her that her sin has been paid for. (Isaiah 40:2).
Comments:
Heb 12:25
Βλέπετε μὴ παραιτήσησθε τὸν λαλοῦντα· εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἐξέφυγον ἐπὶ γῆς παραιτησάμενοι τὸν χρηματίζοντα, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ’ οὐρανῶν ἀποστρεφόμενοι·
Heb 12:26
οὗ ἡ φωνὴ τὴν γῆν ἐσάλευσεν τότε, νῦν δὲ ἐπήγγελται λέγων· Ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείσω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν.
Heb 12:27
τὸ δὲ Ἔτι ἅπαξ δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων μετάθεσιν ὡς πεποιημένων, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα.
Heb 12:28
διὸ βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες ἔχωμεν χάριν, δι’ ἧς λατρεύωμεν εὐαρέστως τῷ θεῷ μετὰ εὐλαβείας καὶ δέους,
Heb 12:29
καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον.