The Eastern Cross/Bible/Hebrews/Chapter 12
The Epistle to the Hebrews
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Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα καὶ τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν, δι᾽ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα,
"Wherefore" (he says) "we also being compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." In many places the Scripture derives its consolation in evils from corresponding things. As when the prophet says, "From burning heat, and from storm, and rain." (Isa. iv. 6.) This at least he says here also, that the memory of…
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
ἀφορῶντες εἰς τὸν τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν Ἰησοῦν, ὃς ἀντὶ τῆς προκειμένης αὐτῷ χαρᾶς ὑπέμεινε σταυρόν, αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας, ἐν δεξιᾷ τε τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ κεκάθικεν.
In the next place as the sum and substance of his exhortation, which he puts both first and last, even Christ. "Looking" (he says) "unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith"; The very thing which Christ Himself also continually said to His disciples, "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how…
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
ἀναλογίσασθε γὰρ τὸν τοιαύτην ὑπομεμενηκότα ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀντιλογίαν, ἵνα μὴ κάμητε ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ἐκλυόμενοι.
"For consider," saith he, "Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." For if the sufferings of those near us arouse us, what earnestness will not those of our Master give us! What will they not work in us! And passing by all else, he expressed the whole…
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Οὔπω μέχρις αἵματος ἀντικατέστητε πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι,
There are two kinds of consolation, apparently opposed to one another, but yet contributing great strength each to the other; both of which he has here put forward. The one is when we say that persons have suffered much: for the soul is refreshed, when it has many witnesses of its own sufferings, and this he…
"Ye have not yet," he said, "resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Here he indicates that sin is both very vigorous, and is itself armed. For the expression "Ye have resisted [stood firm against]," is used with reference to those who stand firm.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
καὶ ἐκλέλησθε τῆς παρακλήσεως, ἥτις ὑμῖν ὡς υἱοῖς διαλέγεται· υἱέ μου, μὴ ὀλιγώρει παιδείας Κυρίου, μηδὲ ἐκλύου ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐλεγχόμενος.
"And ye have forgotten the exhortation." That is, And ye have slackened your hands, ye have become faint.
"Which" (he says) "speaketh unto you as unto sons, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him." He has drawn his encouragement from the facts themselves; over and above he adds also that which is drawn from arguments, from this testimony. "Faint not" (he says) "when…
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται.
"For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Thou canst not say that any righteous man is without affliction: even if he appear to be so, yet we know not his other afflictions. So that of necessity every righteous man must pass through affliction. For it is a declaration of…
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
εἰ παιδείαν ὑπομένετε, ὡς υἱοῖς ὑμῖν προσφέρεται ὁ Θεός· τίς γάρ ἐστιν υἱὸς ὃν οὐ παιδεύει πατήρ;
"Ye endure chastisement" (he says); not for punishment, nor for vengeance, nor for suffering. See, from that from which they supposed they had been deserted of God, from these he says they may be confident, that they have not been deserted. It is as if he had said, Because ye have suffered so many evils, do you…
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
εἰ δὲ χωρίς ἐστε παιδείας, ἧς μέτοχοι γεγόνασι πάντες, ἄρα νόθοι ἐστὲ καὶ οὐχ υἱοί.
Then again he argues from the general custom. Seest thou how he brings up arguments from all quarters, from facts in the Scripture, from its words, from our own notions, from examples in ordinary life? "But if ye be without chastisement" and so on. Seest thou that he said what I just mentioned, that it is not possible…
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
εἶτα τοὺς μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν πατέρας εἴχομεν παιδευτὰς καὶ ἐνετρεπόμεθα· οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑποταγησόμεθα τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ ζήσομεν;
"Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence." Again, he reasons from their own experiences, from what they themselves suffered. For as he says above, "Call to mind the former days," so here also "God" (he saith) "dealeth with you as with sons," and ye could not say, We…
"Furthermore," he saith, "we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?" ("To the Father of spirits," whether of spiritual gifts, or of prayers, or of the incorporeal powers.) If we die thus, then "we shall…
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.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτοῖς ἐπαίδευον, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ συμφέρον, εἰς τὸ μεταλαβεῖν τῆς ἁγιότητος αὐτοῦ.
However the difference arises not from this alone, nor from the persons, but also from the cause itself, and from the fact. For it is not on the same grounds that He and they inflict chastisement: but they did it with a view to "what seemed good to them," that is, fulfilling their own pleasure oftentimes, and not…
Therefore chastisement is "profitable"; therefore chastisement is a "participation of holiness." Yea and this greatly: for when it casts out sloth, and evil desire, and love of the things of this life, when it helps the soul, when it causes a light esteem of all things here (for affliction does this), is it not holy?…
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
πᾶσα δὲ παιδεία πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐ δοκεῖ χαρᾶς εἶναι, ἀλλὰ λύπης, ὕστερον δὲ καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς δι᾽ αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσι δικαιοσύνης.
They who drink bitter medicines, first submit to some unpleasantness, and afterwards feel the benefit. For such is virtue, such is vice. In the latter there is first the pleasure, then the despondency: in the former first the despondency, and then the pleasure. But there is no equality; for it is not the same, to be…
Ye are suffering, he says. For such is chastisement; such is its beginning. For "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous." Well said he, "seemeth not," Chastisement he means is not grievous but "seemeth" so. "All chastisement": not this and that, but "all," both human and spiritual. Seest thou…
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Διὸ τὰς παρειμένας χεῖρας καὶ τὰ παραλελυμένα γόνατα ἀνορθώσατε,
He speaks as to runners, and boxers, and warriors. Seest thou how he arms them, how he encourages them? "Walk straight," he says. Here he speaks with reference to their thoughts; that is to say, not doubting. For if the chastisement be of love, if it begin from loving care, if it end with a good result (and this he…
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
καὶ τροχιὰς ὀρθὰς ποιήσατε τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ χωλὸν ἐκτραπῇ, ἰαθῇ δὲ μᾶλλον.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Εἰρήνην διώκετε μετὰ πάντων, καὶ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν Κύριον,
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." What he also said above, "Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together" (c. x. 25), he hints at in this place also. For nothing so especially makes persons easily vanquished and subdued in temptations, as isolation. For, tell…
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness." What does he mean by "holiness"? Chaste, and orderly living in marriage. If any person is unmarried (he says) let him remain pure, let him marry: or if he be married, let him not commit fornication, but let him live with his own wife: for this also is "holiness." How?…
There are many things characteristic of Christianity: but more than all, and better than all, Love towards one another, and Peace. Therefore Christ also saith, "My peace I give unto you." And again, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye love one another." Therefore Paul too says, "Follow peace…
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;
ἐπισκοποῦντες μή τις ὑστερῶν ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ, μή τις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ καὶ διὰ ταύτης μιανθῶσι πολλοί,
"Looking diligently lest any man come short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled: lest there be any fornicator or profane person." Dost thou see how everywhere he puts the common salvation into the hands of each individual? "Exhorting one another daily"…
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God." As if they were traveling together on some long journey, in a large company, he says, Take heed that no man be left behind: I do not seek this only, that ye should arrive yourselves, but also that ye should look diligently after the others. "Lest any man" (he…
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
μή τις πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος ὡς Ἠσαῦ, ὃς ἀντὶ βρώσεως μιᾶς ἀπέδοτο τὰ πρωτοτόκια αὐτοῦ.
"Lest there be any fornicator: or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." And wherein was Esau a "fornicator"? He does not say that Esau was a fornicator. "Lest there be any fornicator," he says, then, "follow after holiness: lest there be any, as Esau, profane": that is, gluttonous,…
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.
ἴστε γὰρ ὅτι καὶ μετέπειτα, θέλων κληρονομῆσαι τὴν εὐλογίαν, ἀπεδοκιμάσθη· μετανοίας γὰρ τόπον οὐχ εὗρε, καίπερ μετὰ δακρύων ἐκζητήσας αὐτήν.
"For ye know" (he says) "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." What now is this? Doth he indeed exclude repentance? By no means. But how, you say, was it that "he found no place of repentance"? For…
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Οὐ γὰρ προσεληλύθατε ψηλαφωμένῳ ὄρει καὶ κεκαυμένῳ πυρὶ καὶ γνόφῳ καὶ σκότῳ καὶ θυέλλῃ
Wonderful indeed were the things in the Temple, the Holy of Holies; and again awful were those things also that were done at Mount Sinai, "the fire, the darkness, the blackness, the tempest." For, it says, "God appeared in Sinai," and long ago were these things celebrated. The New Covenant, however, was not given with…
And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
καὶ σάλπιγγος ἤχῳ καὶ φωνῇ ῥημάτων, ἧς οἱ ἀκούσαντες παρῃτήσαντο μὴ προστεθῆναι αὐτοῖς λόγον·
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
οὐκ ἔφερον γὰρ τὸ διαστελλόμενον· κἂν θηρίον θίγῃ τοῦ ὄρους, λιθοβοληθήσεται·
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
καί· οὕτω φοβερὸν ἦν τὸ φανταζόμενον! Μωϋσῆς εἶπεν· ἔκφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος·
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων,
Instead of "Moses," Jesus. Instead of the people, "myriads of angels." Fearful were those things, but these are far more admirable and glorious. For here there is not "darkness," nor "blackness," nor "tempest." It seems to me that by these words he hints at the obscurity of the Old Testament, and the overshadowed and…
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
πανηγύρει καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀπογεγραμμένων, καὶ κριτῇ Θεῷ πάντων, καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων τετελειωμένων,
Of what "first-born" does he speak? Of the faithful. "And to the spirits of just men made perfect." With these shall ye be, he says. "And to the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all." They did not draw near, but stood afar off, even Moses: but "ye are…
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
καὶ διαθήκης νέας μεσίτῃ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ.
"And to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Did then the blood "of Abel" speak? "Yea," he saith, "and by it he being dead yet speaketh." And again God says, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me." Either this meaning or that;…
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Βλέπετε μὴ παραιτήσησθε τὸν λαλοῦντα. εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἔφυγον τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς παραιτησάμενοι χρηματίζοντα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ᾽ οὐρανῶν ἀποστρεφόμενοι·
"See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh"; that is, that ye reject Him not. "For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth." Whom does he mean? Moses, I suppose. But what he says is this: if they, having "refused Him" when He gave laws "on earth, did not escape," how shall we refuse Him, when He gives…
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
οὗ ἡ φωνὴ τὴν γῆν ἐσάλευσε τότε, νῦν δὲ ἐπήγγελται λέγων· ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν.
"But now hath He promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things which are shaken, as of things that are made." All things therefore will be taken away, and will be compacted anew for the better. For this is what he…
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
τὸ δὲ ἔτι ἅπαξ δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων τὴν μετάθεσιν ὡς πεποιημένων, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Διὸ βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες ἔχωμεν χάριν, δι᾽ ἧς λατρεύωμεν εὐαρέστως τῷ Θεῷ μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας·
"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Let us then do all for this, that we may attain that rest, that we may enjoy those good things. Yea, I pray and beseech you, let us be earnest for this. No one builds in a city…
In another place he says the same, "for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv. 18); and from this makes an exhortation with regard to the evils which we endure in this present life; and here he does this, and says, let us continue steadfast; "let us have…
For our God is a consuming fire.
καὶ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον.
"For our God is a consuming fire." These things, he means, are terrible; and so terrible that they could not even bear to hear them, that not even "a beast" dared to go up. But things that come hereafter are not such. For what is Sinai to Heaven? And what the "fire which might be touched" to God who cannot be touched?…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.