Hebrews Chapter 12:12-17 | |
12. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; | 12. Quare manus remissas et genua soluta surrigite; |
13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. | 13. Et rectasfacite vias pedibus vestris, ne claudicatio aberret, sed magis sanetur. |
14. Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: | 14. Pacem sectamini cum omnibus et sanctimonium, sine qua nemo videbit Dominum: |
15. 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; | 15. Curam agentes ne quis deficiat a grtia Dei, no quae radix amaritudinis sursum pullulans obturbet et per eam inquinentur multi; |
16. Lest there [be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. | 16. Ne quis scortator vel profanus, ut Esau, quo pro uno edulio vendidit primogenituram suam. |
17. 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 tears. | 17. Nostis enim quod quum postea vellet haeriditariam obtinere benedictionem, reprobatus sit, poenitentae enim locum non invenit, etiamsi cum lachrymis quaesiisset eam. |
12.
Were then this extreme fear of the cross removed, and were we prepared for endurance, there would be nothing in us not fitted and adapted for the work of doing God's will. This, then, is what the Apostle means here, "You have your hands," he says, "hanging down and your knees feeble, because ye know not what real consolation there is in adversity; hence ye are slow to do your duty: but now as I have shown how useful to you is the discipline of the cross, this doctrine ought to put new vigor in all your members, so that you may be ready and prompt, both with your hands and feet, to follow the call of God." Moreover, he seems to allude to a passage in Isaiah, (Isaiah 35:3;) and there the Prophet commands godly teachers to strengthen trembling knees and weak hands by giving them the hope of favor; but the Apostle bids all the faithful to do this; for since this is the benefit of the consolation which God offers to us, then as it is the office of a teacher to strengthen the whole Church, so every one ought, by applying especially the doctrine to his own case, to strengthen and animate himself.1
13.
Hence be adds,
The words may indeed be rendered, "Lest halting should grow worse," or turn aside; but the meaning would remain the same; for what the Apostle intimates is, that those who keep not a straight course, but gradually though carelessly turn here and there, become eventually wholly alienated from God.3
14.
As however peace cannot be maintained with the ungodly except on the condition of approving of their vices and wickedness, the Apostle immediately adds, that
He declares, that without holiness
15.
Moreover, under the word
He mentions
16.
Most appropriate then is this example; for when the Lord designs to set forth the power of that love which he has for his people, he calls all those whom he has called to the hope of eternal life his firstborn. Invaluable indeed is this honor with which he favors us; and all the wealth, all the conveniences, the honors and the pleasures of the world, and everything commonly deemed necessary for happiness, when compared with this honor, are of no more value than a morsel of meat. That we indeed set a high value on things which are nearly worth nothing, arises from this, -- that depraved lust dazzles our eyes and thus blinds us. If therefore we would hold a place in God's sanctuary, we must learn to despise morsels of meat of this kind, by which Satan is wont to catch the reprobate.7
17.
While Esau was hungry, he cared for nothing but how he might have his stomach well filled; when full he laughed at his brother, and judged him a fool for having voluntarily deprived himself of a meal. Nay, such is also the stupidity of the ungodly, as long as they burn with depraved lusts or intemperately plunge themselves into sinful pleasures; after a time they understand how fatal to them are all the things which they so eagerly desired. The word "rejected" means that he was repulsed, or denied his request.
Now as he denounces the same danger on all the despisers of God's grace, it may be asked, whether no hope of pardon remains, when God's grace has been treated with contempt and his kingdom less esteemed than the world? To this I answer, that pardon is not expressly denied to such, but that they are warned to take heed, lest the same thing should happen to them also. And doubtless we may see daily many examples of God's severity, which prove that he takes vengeance on the mockings and scoffs of profane men: for when they promise themselves tomorrow, he often suddenly takes them away by death in a manner new and unexpected; when they deem fabulous what they hear of God's judgment, he so pursues them that they are forced to acknowledge him as their judge; when they have consciences wholly dead, they afterwards feel dreadful agonies as a punishment for their stupidity. But though this happens not to all, yet as there is this danger, the Apostle justly warns all to beware.
Another question also arises, Whether the sinner, endued with repentance, gains nothing by it? For the Apostle seems to imply this when he tells us that Esau's repentance availed him nothing. My reply is, that repentance here is not to be taken for sincere conversion to God; but it was only that terror with which the Lord smites the ungodly, after they have long indulged themselves in their iniquity. Nor is it a wonder that this terror should be said to be useless and unavailing, for they do not in the meantime repent nor hate their own vices, but are only tormented by a sense of their own punishment. The same thing is to be said of
1 The words are neither from the Hebrew nor from the Septuagint, but the order is more according to the former than the latter. The Hebrew is "Brace ye up the relaxed hands, and the tottering knees invigorate;" and the Sept., "Be strong, ye relaxed hands and paralyzed knees." The literal rendering of this passage is, "Therefore the enfeebled (or relaxed) hands and the paralyzed knees restore; i.e., to their former vigor, so that you may contend with your enemies and your trials and run your race." They had before acted nobly as it is stated in chapter 10:32-34; he now exhorts them to recover their former vigor and strength. It is rendered by Macknight, "Bring to their right position." The verb ajnorqo>w literally means no doubt to make straight again, and is so used in Luke 13:13; but it has also the meaning of renewing or restoring to a former state, or of rebuilding. See Acts 15:16. And in this sense Schleusner takes it in this passage. It is used in the Sept. in the sense of establishing confirming, making firm or strong. See Jeremiah 10:12. Hence Stuart gives this version,--
"Strengthen the weak hands and the feeble knees."
But the idea of repairing, or restoring or reinvigorating, gives the passage the most emphatic meaning. The Apostle in this instance only borrows some of the words from Isaiah, and accommodates them to his own purpose. -- Ed.
2 Having spoken of strength, he now tells them how to use that strength. Be strong, and take a right course; go along the straight way of duty. See Appendix T 2. -- Ed.
3 This interpretation is given by Grotius, Macknight and Stuart; but Beza, Doddridge and Scott, take the view given in our version regarding the lame or weak person as intended by to< cwlo<n. So is the Vulgate, "that no one halting may go astray, but rather be healed." -- Ed.
4 It has been justly observed that diw>kw is to follow or pursue one fleeing away from us. It means not only to seek peace but strive to maintain it. Psalm 34, we have pursuing after seeking, "Seek peace and pursue it," i.e., strive earnestly to secure and retain it. Romans 12:18, is an explanation.
But this strenuous effort as to peace is to be extended to holiness; not chastity, as Chrysostom and some other fathers have imagined, but holiness in its widest sense, purity of heart and life, universal holiness. The word aJgiasmo<v is indeed taken in a limited sense, and rendered "sanctification" 1 Thessalonians 4:3, and it may be so rendered here as it is in those places where it evidently means holiness universally, 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2. The article is put before it in order to show its connection with what follows, "and the (or that) holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord." -- Ed
5 It means properly overseeing and is rendered "taking the oversight," in 1 Peter 5:2, where alone it occurs elsewhere. The word bishop comes from it. It is rendered, "taking heed," by Erasmus; "Diligently attending," by Grotius; "Taking care," by Beza; "Looking to it," by Doddridge; "carefully observing," by Macknight; and "Seeing to it." By Stuart. Considering what follows, "Taking heed" would be the best version. -- Ed.
6 See Appendix U 2.
7 It is said that "for one morsel of meat," literally, "for one eating," or, "for one meal," as rendered by Doddridge, "he sold his birthright," or according to Macknight, "he gave away his birthrights." In this reference the Apostle gives the substance without regarding expressions, though he adopts those of the Septuagint in two instances, -- the verb, which means to give away, used in the sense of selling, -- and birthrights, or the rights of primogeniture. The word in Hebrew means primogeniture, used evidently by metonymy for its rights and privileges. Not only a double portion belonged to the first-born, but also the paternal blessing, which included things temporal and spiritual. The notion that the priesthood at that time and from the beginning of the world belonged to the first-born, has nothing to support it. Abel was a priest as well as Cain, and a better priest too. -- Ed.
8 Though many such as Beza, Doddridge, Stuart etc. regard this "repentance" as that of Isaac, yet the phrase seems to favor the views of Calvin, "he found not the place of repentance," that is the admission of repentance; it was inadmissible, there was no place found for it. The word to>pov has this meaning in chapter 8:7, "there should be no place (or admission) have been sought for the second." The same sense is given to the word in Ecclesiasticus 38:12, "give place" (or admission) to the physician -- iJatrw~| do<v to>pon. We may give this rendering, "for he found not room for repentance;" he seemed to repent of his sin and folly, but his repentance availed nothing, for it could not be admitted; there was in his case no repentance allowed, as the account given in Genesis testifies.
The difficulty about "it" in the following clause is removed, when we consider that here, as in some previous instances, the Apostle arranges his sentences according to the law of parallelism; there are here four clauses; the first and last are connected, and also the middle clauses, --
"For ye know,
That even afterwards wishing to inherit the blessing,
He was rejected,
For he found no room for repentance,
Though with tears he sought it, (i.e., the blessing.)"
Though Macknight gave the other explanation of "repentance" yet he considered the blessing as the antecedent to "it" in the last line. Though with the tears of repentance he sought the blessing, yet he was rejected: the door to repentance was as it were closed up, and it could not be opened -- Ed.
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