Hebrews

12:1-3

The Arguments, 2:10-12:29

3. God's people persevere through suffering by faith, 11:1-12:24

vi] Looking to Jesus

"Run the race with perseverance and look to Jesus", Kistemaker. "

In this sub point of our writers third sermon point, his exhortation to faithful endurance begins to climax. Some commentators argue that these opening verse form a chiastic structure, eg. Vanhoye.

"The Christian life is a race to be run by all of us." We cannot run the race "unless we have first got rid of everything that would hinder us, the sins that cling to us and keep us back", Neil.

toigaroun "therefore" - An emphatic form of gar drawing a conclusion, "So therefore".

econteV (ecw) pres. part. "since" - having. The participle is adverbial, probably causal, "because we have", as NIV.

kai hJmeiV "we" - and we. Emphatic, "we ourselves too", Kistemaker. The central players in our writer's exhortation, namely "we" and "Christ", return in this literary unit.

perikeimenon (perikeimai) pres. part. "are surrounded" - [..... a cloud of witnesses] surrounding, bounding [us]. The participle is adjectival, limiting "a cloud of witnesses", witnesses "who surround us". These "witnesses" are the men and women of faith, chapter 11.

tosouton pro. "such a great [cloud of witnesses]" - Denoting quantity, and this with "cloud" meaning "throng", gives us "many witnesses". "Surrounded by a vast crowd of spectators", Barclay. The word "witnesses" is moving toward the idea of "martyrs", Moffatt, cf. Bruce p347.

apoqemenoi (apotiqhmi) aor. part. "let us throw off" - having put off, laid aside, put away. The participle is imperatival, as NIV, although we would more properly classify it as attendant circumstance to the main verb "let us run", a hortatory subjunctive. "Let us throw off / get rid of".

ogkon (oV) "[everything] that hinders" - impediment, encumbrance, weight. "Everything that gets in the way", TEV.

euperistaton adj. "[the sin] that so easily entangles" - easily distracting, easily ensnaring. The adjective limits "the sin", although probably sin in general, "the burden of sin/guilt", rather than some specific sin, so "entangling sin". "Which holds on to us so tightly", TEV.

trecwmen (trecw) subj. "let us run" - Hortatory subjunctive.

dia + gen. "with [perseverance]" - This prepositional phrase is best treated as attendant circumstance, as NIV. It is an unusual way of expressing attendant circumstance, but given the abundance of participles it is an understandable choice, cf. Rom.8:25 for a similar construction.

prokeimenon (prokeimai) pres. part. "[the race] marked out for [us]" - laying before. The participle is adjectival, limiting "the race", "the race which lays before us". "The race which stretches in front of us", Barclay.

In running the race we are to set our eyes on Jesus who has run the race before us, reached the goal, won the prize and so has set the path for us to follow and coaches us through (and sometimes carries!) so that we may share in the prize.

aforwnteV (aforaw) pres. part. "let us fix our eye on [Jesus]" - looking up to, fixing gaze on, concentrate on. The participle is imperatival, attendant circumstance of the hortatory subjunctive, "let run" (v1), although possibly modal, expressing how to run, "run our appointed race ..... eyes fixed on Jesus", Moffatt. The prefix apo strengthens the looking, a looking without distraction, and the present tense, being durative, expresses ongoing looking. "We must concentrate on nothing but Jesus", Barclay.

ton ... archgon kai teleiwthn "the author and perfecter" - pioneer, trail-blazer, author, leader, founder, prince / and / perfecter. Possibly "beginning and end" is being implied; "the founder of our faith and the one who brings it to perfection", Cassirer.

thV pistewV "of our faith" - of the faith. The presence of the article may indicate that "the faith", in the sense of assembled propositional truth, is intended, but this is unlikely. "Faith", in the sense of a firm reliance on the divine will/word/revelation, is more likely. This faith is exemplified in the Old Testament saints listed in chapter 11, but is particularly exemplified, and more pointedly realized, in Christ. The genitive "of faith" is probably adjectival, limiting both nouns "pioneer" and "perfecter". "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the champion (trail-blazer) in the exercise of faith and the one who brought faith to complete expression", Lane.

o} "who" - Personal pronoun = "Jesus".

anti + gen. "for" - instead of. This preposition very rarely takes a causal sense, "for / because of", which meaning would imply that Jesus endured the cross because he wanted to gain the joy set before him; "in order to reach his own appointed joy", Moffatt. The more likely meanings are either i] "in the place of", expressing exchange, or ii] "instead of", expressing substitution. Either way, it was only exchange/substitution for a time. Ellingworth has a take on this prepositional clause which he ultimately doesn't accept, but which is worth considering; "Instead of (earthly) joy which was within his grasp, Jesus endured the cross and thus obtained greater joy in heaven." Most commentators / translators opt for "because of / for the sake of" = "for", the "joy" being heavenly.

prokeimenhV (prokeimai) pres. part. "[the joy] set before [him]" - being set before. The participle is adjectival, limiting "joy", "the joy which was set before him".

uJpemeinen (uJpomenw) aor. "endured [the cross]" - patiently endured.

katafronhsaV (katafronew) aor. part. "scorning [its shame]" - having scorned, despised. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "endured", "endured .... and scorned ....", although possibly adverbial, concessive, "endured the cross although scorned its shame", even possibly modal, expressing how he endured the cross, "thinking nothing of its shame", Moffatt.

kekaqiken (kaqizw) perf. "sat down" - he has sat down. The perfect tense expresses a past event with ongoing consequences, ie. Jesus is still sitting at the right hand of the Ancient of Days bringing all things into subjection to himself.

"When [we] become weary on the way, and grow faint at heart because there seems no end to the trials [we] have to endure, let [us] consider Jesus", Bruce.

analogisasqe (analogizomai) aor. imp. "consider" - consider, reckon up. Barclay draws out the idea strongly; "the way to avoid the failure of your nerve and heart is to compare your situation with the situation of him who met the opposition of sinners with such constancy and courage."

ton ... uJpomemenhkota (uJpomenw) perf. part. "him who endured" - the one having endured. The participle functions as a substantive, while the perfect tense indicates that Christ endured and endures.

toiauthn "such" - such a one. Expressing a quality, unlike v1 which expresses quantity.

antilogian (a) "opposition" - controversy, hostility, speaking against. "Think about how much those sinners who hated him caused him to suffer", TH.

twn aJmartwlwn (oV) "[from] sinful men" - the sinful. "Sinners".

eiV "-" - against [himself]. The preposition here expresses disadvantage; "let your minds dwell on him who has borne up patiently with so much hostility against himself on the part of sinful men", Cassirer.

iJna + subj. "so that [you will not grow weary]" - that [you may not be weary]. Introducing a purpose clause, "in order that", or hypothetical result, "so that".

ekluomenoi (ekluomai) pres. pas. part. "and lose heart" - losing heart, become weary or slack, give out, BAGD. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "grow weary"; "not grow weary and be discouraged". Physical language is being used to express "mental or spiritual exhaustion", Attridge, resulting in "apathy", Ellingworth, and/or a "loss of faith", Lane.

taiV yucaiV (h) "-" - in the souls [of you]. Dative of respect. The sense is "in your very being". Most likely "lose heart in your souls", rather than "grow weary in your souls". "So, don't let yourselves become discouraged and give up", TEV.

Hebrews Introduction

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