Hebrews 12

So then, since such a great crowd of witnesses surrounds us, let us throw off every weight, and the sin that so easily trips us up. Let us run with endurance the race that is laid out for us,

1Wherefore 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,

Note"Witnesses" here translates a Greek word for someone who gives testimony, not for a spectator, and it points back to the people listed in the previous chapter, whose lives testify to what trusting God looks like. "A cloud" was an ordinary Greek way of saying "a huge crowd." The picture behind "every weight" is athletic: runners in Greek races trained and competed stripped of anything that would slow them, and the word can mean both excess bulk on the body and a burden carried.

2keeping our eyes on Jesus, who starts our faith and brings it to completion. For the joy set before him he endured the cross and paid no attention to its shame, and he sat down at the right hand of God's throne.

2Looking 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.

NoteCrucifixion was a Roman public execution used mainly on slaves, rebels and the worst criminals. The humiliation was part of the penalty: the condemned was stripped and displayed by a roadside for hours or days. "The shame" is that deliberate degradation, not an inward feeling. Sitting at a king's right hand was the position of highest honor and authority in his court, the seat of the person who acted on the king's behalf.

3Think carefully about him, the one who put up with such hostility from sinners against himself. Then you will not get worn out and lose heart.

3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

4Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Note"To the point of shedding your blood" means to the point of being killed. The readers had suffered for their allegiance, but none of them had yet died for it.

5And you have forgotten the encouragement that speaks to you as sons: "My son, do not treat the Lord's discipline lightly, and do not lose heart when he corrects you.

5And 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:

NoteThe quotation that follows, running through verse 6, is from Proverbs 3:11 and 12, cited in the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures that these readers used.

6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he receives as his own."

6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

NoteThe Greek word behind "punishes" (KJV "scourgeth") literally means flogs or whips. In the ancient world physical correction of sons and pupils by a father or teacher was ordinary and unremarkable, and the proverb being quoted assumes it.

7Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons. What son is there whom his father never disciplines?

7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8But if you are left out of the discipline that everyone else shares in, then you are not true sons at all. You are children born outside the family.

8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

NoteA child born outside the family (KJV "bastards") had no legal claim on the father's inheritance and no place in his household. Such a child was not disciplined by him either, because he was not being raised as an heir. The argument turns on that: being trained is evidence of being a recognized son.

9Besides that, we all had human fathers who corrected us, and we respected them for it. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits, and live?

9Furthermore 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?

NoteThe Greek says "fathers of our flesh," meaning the fathers who gave us our bodies, set against "the Father of spirits." The contrast is between human parentage and the origin of a person's life itself.

10Our fathers disciplined us for a short time, as they thought best. But God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in his holiness.

10For 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.

11No discipline seems pleasant while it is happening; it hurts. But later it produces a harvest of right living and peace in those who have been trained by it.

11Now 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.

Note"Trained" translates the Greek word for the training an athlete does in the gymnasium, keeping up the image of the race from verse 1.

12So lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the knees that are weak,

12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

NoteThe wording is taken from Isaiah 35:3, an oracle addressed to exhausted and frightened people promising that God is coming to rescue them.

13and make level paths for your feet, so that the part that is lame is not turned out of the way, but is healed instead.

13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

NoteThe wording comes from Proverbs 4:26. The Greek phrase rendered "turned out of the way" carries two senses at once and translators must pick one: a limb that is put out of joint, or a limping traveler who is turned aside off the road. Both fit the picture.

14Work at living in peace with everyone, and at being holy. Without holiness no one will see the Lord.

14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Note"Holy" in this vocabulary means set apart for God, belonging to him rather than to ordinary use. Moral purity is part of what that involves but is not the whole of the word.

15Watch carefully that no one misses out on God's grace, and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and make many people unclean.

15Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Note"No bitter root" echoes Deuteronomy 29:18, which warns against a person among the people who is "a root that beareth gall and wormwood," that is, a hidden root producing poisonous fruit. "Unclean" (KJV "defiled") is the language of Israel's purity laws: to be unclean was to be temporarily unfit to approach God or take part in worship, and uncleanness spread by contact.

16Watch that no one is sexually immoral, or treats sacred things as worthless, like Esau, who sold his rights as the oldest son for a single meal.

16Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

NoteThe Greek word behind "treats sacred things as worthless" (KJV "profane") originally described what lies outside the threshold of a temple, open to anyone and reserved for nothing. A birthright was the oldest son's legal position: a double share of the inheritance and headship of the family after the father's death. The story is in Genesis 25:29 to 34, where Esau, in from hunting and starving, trades it to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of stew. KJV "one morsel of meat" uses "meat" in its older sense of food of any kind.

17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to receive the blessing, he was turned down. He found no way to undo what he had done, even though he begged for it with tears.

17For 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.

NoteThe reference is to Genesis 27:30 to 40, where Jacob takes the blessing by deception and Esau, arriving too late, cannot get it back. The Greek of "he found no way to undo what he had done" (KJV "he found no place of repentance") is genuinely ambiguous and has been read two ways: that Esau could not change his father Isaac's mind, or that he could not reverse his own earlier decision. It is likewise unclear whether "he begged for it with tears" means he begged for the blessing or for the chance to undo the sale.

18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched, a mountain burning with fire, or to gloom and darkness and storm,

18For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

NoteThe mountain described in verses 18 to 21 is Sinai, where Israel camped after leaving Egypt and where the law was given. The account is in Exodus 19 and 20: fire, smoke, thick cloud, a trumpet blast and a voice, with the people kept back at the foot of the mountain.

19or to the blast of a trumpet and a voice speaking words. The people who heard that voice begged that no more words be spoken to them,

19And 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:

NoteThe trumpet is a ram's horn, an instrument used to summon and to signal alarm rather than to make music. The people's plea that God speak to them no more, and that Moses speak to them instead, is in Exodus 20:18 and 19.

20because they could not bear the command that was given: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned, or run through with a spear."

20(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:

NoteThe command quoted is Exodus 19:12 and 13: the mountain was cordoned off, and anything that crossed the line, animal or person, was to be killed without anyone touching it. The clause "or run through with a spear" (KJV "or thrust through with a dart") stands in the Greek manuscripts the King James translators used but is absent from the oldest copies of Hebrews, which is why most modern versions end the quotation at "stoned." KJV "dart" means a thrown spear or javelin, not a small dart.

21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am shaking with fear."

21And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

NoteThe words quoted are from Deuteronomy 9:19, where Moses describes his fear of God's anger after Israel worshiped the golden calf. The writer applies them to the whole terrifying scene at the mountain.

22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to angels beyond counting.

22But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

NoteMount Zion was originally the ridge in Jerusalem on which the oldest part of the city stood; the name later attached to the temple hill and then served as a name for Jerusalem itself and for its people. KJV "Sion" is simply the Greek spelling of Zion. "Angels beyond counting" renders a Greek word meaning tens of thousands, the largest unit the language had for counting, used the way we use "millions."

23You have come to the joyful gathering and assembly of the firstborn ones, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, who is the Judge of all, and to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect.

23To 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,

Note"Joyful gathering" (KJV "general assembly") translates a word for the crowd at a national religious festival. "Assembly" (KJV "church") is the ordinary Greek word for the citizens of a town summoned together for public business. "Firstborn" is plural here, applied to a whole company: the firstborn son held the chief place in a family and the largest share of its inheritance. "Whose names are written in heaven" draws on the civic register in which a city recorded its citizens. "Made perfect" translates a verb meaning brought to the finished state something was always aimed at, rather than merely made faultless.

24You have come to Jesus, who set up the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement with sworn terms and obligations on both sides, closer to a treaty than to a contract. A mediator is the go between who arranges such an agreement and stands as its guarantee. Blood sprinkled on people and objects marked the sealing of the first covenant at Sinai in Exodus 24:8 and was used in Israel's rites of purification. Abel is the brother murdered by Cain in Genesis 4; God tells Cain that his brother's blood "crieth unto me from the ground," calling for justice against the killer.

25Be careful that you do not refuse the one who is speaking. Those people did not escape when they refused the one who warned them here on earth. Much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who warns us from heaven.

25See 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:

Note"The one who warned them here on earth" is the voice at Sinai, heard through Moses; "those people" are the generation that heard it and afterward refused to obey.

26Back then his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens."

26Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Note"His voice shook the earth" refers to Sinai, where Exodus 19:18 says the whole mountain quaked. The promise quoted is from Haggai 2:6, spoken to the people rebuilding the temple after the exile.

27The words "once more" show that the things being shaken will be removed, since they are created things. Then the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

27And 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.

28So then, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. In that way we can serve God as he wants to be served, with respect and awe,

28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

NoteThe Greek phrase behind "let us be thankful" (KJV "let us have grace") can be read two ways: as the ordinary idiom for giving thanks, or as holding on to the favor God has shown. Translators must choose one and both are defensible. "Awe" here (KJV "godly fear") is the Greek word for religious dread in the presence of something overwhelming, not fright at a threat.

29for our God is a fire that burns things up.

29For our God is a consuming fire.

NoteThe sentence is quoted from Deuteronomy 4:24, part of a warning to Israel against making images of God.