Hebrews 12
1 For that reason and since we have all around us such an extensive crowd of people who attest to the truth, after putting down every burden and easily discardeda deviation, we may run the raceb laid out for us with endurance,c 2 focusing on Jesus, the one who begins and completes faithfulness, who endured the cross and disregarded its shame in exchange for the joy laid out for him, and “He has sat at the right hand of the throne of God.”d 3 So, meditatee on the one who endured that kind of opposition against himself from deviators so that you won’t become fatigued in your very beings, becoming exhausted.
4 In your struggle, you haven’t yet mounted a resistance against deviation to the point of blood. 5 You have neglected to remember the encouragement which is discussed for you as “sons”f: “My son, don’t minimizeg the Lord’s childrearing,h and don’t become exhausted when being challengedi by him. 6 You see, the Lord trains upj whomever he loves and correctsk every son he receives.l”m 7 Endure during the childrearing; God is treatingn you as “sons.” What son does a father not train up? 8 But if you don’t experience the childrearing of which all have become participants, then you are counterfeitso and not “sons.”
9 Moreover, since certainly we have people who have trained us upp—the parentsq of our bodies—and respected them, wouldn’t we also cooperate with the Father of our life-breaths even more so and live? 10 You see, while the first ones trained us up for a little while as seemed good to them, the other one does so to unify usr for sharing his designation for sacred purposes. 11 While, to whoever passes by, all childrearings seems to be not prompted by joy but by grief, later to the ones trained up by it, it pays back the peaceable fruit of justness. 12 Because of this, “supportt the hands that have fallen and the knees that have gone limp,”u 13 and “make level paths for your feet”v so that what is limping wouldn’t be sprained and—even better—would be healed.
14 Pursue peacew among everyone—the sacred purpose for which you are designated,x without which no one will see the Lord— 15 keeping an eye outy that no one is left outz of God’s generosity, that no one would give provocation,aa being a root of bitterness shooting up,bb and because of it many people be contaminated. 16 Watch over people so that no one is caused to sell themselves to be used for sexcc or to make themselves available for public use,dd being like Esau who sold his own birthright in exchange for a single meal.ee 17 As you know, later when he wanted to inherit what well-wishes were to be spoken over him,ff he was disqualified since there was no opportunity to change his mind, even though he sought itgg with tears.
18 You see, you have not come tohh something tangible, a burning fire and darkness and shadow and a blast of wind 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a speaking voice, of which those who heard pleaded that the conversation not be inflicted on themii 20 because they couldn’t bear what was being stated explicitly to them: “If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned…”jj 21 What was being shown was terrifying like that, even Moses said, “I’m shaking with fear!” 22 However, you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the God-who-is-Alive, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable messengers,kk to the gathering of all the people 23 and to the assembly of firstbornsll registered in the heavens, and to the judge, God of everyone, and to the just life-breaths who have been made complete 24 and to the mediator of the new covenant, Jesus, and to the blood for sprinkling which speaks of something better than Abel’s does.mm
25 Watch out not to excuse yourselves from the One who speaks. For if those ones did not escape after excusing themselves from the one giving proclamations on the land,nn it will be much more so if we turn away from the One doing so from the heavens. 26 That One’s voice shook the land at that time, but now he has promised, “I will still yet once shake not only the land but also the heavens.”oo 27 The “still yet once” indicates a changepp from what is being shaken, as in the things that have been done, so that the things that are not shaken would remain. 28 That’s why, since we are embracing an unshakeable royal power, we can experience generosity, through which we perform service as representatives that is pleasing to God with care and respect, 29 and since our “God is a consuming fire.”qq
FOOTNOTES:
a Or ‘disposable.’ Traditionally, ‘which clings so closely’ or ‘which easily entangles.’ However, these would only work if they were describing the person clinging to the deviation or being easily entangled by the deviation. The word essentially means ‘easily influenced.’ In the context here, it seems to indicate that the deviation is not valuable and can be discarded ‘easily’ in the sense of at little loss of value, or perhaps it refers to the deviations that can be discarded easily in contrast with those that take a longer period of growth and transformation to leave behind.
b The word here is ‘contest’ or ‘assembly’ or ‘arena. The sense is that is a public athletic event, or it can refer to the spectators of that event, or it can refer to the location of that event. In combination with the word for ‘run’ which can also be translated as ‘run a race’ or ‘runner’ and the image of being surrounded by a large crowd, this whole verse seems to be setting up an image of running an endurance race with all the faithful who have come before watching us run.
c The image of this verse seems to be of the crowd watching the race and cheering us on to encourage us to endure.
d Quotation of Psalm 110:1
e Or ‘contemplate’ or ‘ponder’ or ‘think over’
f “Sons” is the most literal translation, but ‘children’ or ‘offspring’ or ‘descendants’ or ‘heirs’ would all be reasonable translations in the context. The point of its appearance here is not about including males and excluding females. It is to show that the audience should take to heart what the author of Proverbs wrote to someone addressed as “son.”
g The word here is traditionally ‘scorn’ but it literally means something like ‘make small’ and has to do with regarding something as worth little attention or care.
h Traditionally, ‘discipline.’ The Greek word is paideia, a noun from the word for ‘child’ as is reflected in the English word ‘pediatrics.’ Very literally, it would be something like ‘childing.’ It does not inherently imply punishment, as many people are likely to think when reading the word ‘discipline’ in this context. It means the practice of raising, nurturing, guiding, and training a child to prepare them for adulthood.
i The word here can convey a sense of ‘confronting’ or ‘refuting’ or ‘correcting.’
j Traditionally, ‘disciplines.’ The Greek word is paideuo, a verb from the word for ‘child’ as is reflected in the English word ‘pediatrics.’ Very literally, it would be something like ‘to child.’ It does not inherently imply punishment, as many people are likely to think when reading the word ‘discipline’ in this context. It means to raise, nurture, guide, and train a child to prepare them for adulthood.
k This word brings up several issues of translation and interpretation. The first point to note is that this quotation is of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint includes this word; however, there is no corresponding word in the Hebrew text. Proverbs 3:12 in Hebrew reads something more like “For whom the LORD loves he trains up, the son in whom he delights.” In that version, ‘the son in whom he delights’ is further describing ‘whom the LORD loves.” The Greek version adds an entirely new verb: mastigoo. It means ‘to whip’ and was typically used to describe whipping prisoners, enslaved people, and animals like horses. If taken to refer to ‘prisoners,’ then an argument could be made for punishment owed for bad behavior. However, that seems to go against the rest of the message of Hebrews and the other scriptures. If taken to refer to training a horse with a whip, then the understanding would be that sometimes training can be painful. No definitive interpretation exists for this, and those who view childrearing to involve substantial amounts of punishment, especially violent punishment, then this would be taken more literally. For those who understand childrearing to involve more nurturing and teaching, especially modeling, this would more likely be interpreted as metaphorical for training that might be experienced as unpleasant.
l Or ‘welcomes’ or ‘adopts’ These verses quote the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible reads slightly differently. The word there in Hebrew means ‘he delights in’ or ‘he is pleased with.’
m Quotation of Proverbs 3:11-12
n Or ‘presenting’
o Traditionally, ‘illegitimate’ or ‘bastards’ (KJV). The cultural perspective of devaluing children based on who their parents are does not fit with the entire message of this chapter, Hebrews, the New Testament, and the whole Bible. While the context does suggest it has something to do with contrasting a son who is an heir of the family estate and a child who is not an heir of the family estate, ‘illegitimate’ takes it too far. Another sense of nothos is ‘counterfeit’ in the sense of faking the authenticity of something. The implication with the full context here would be that while the audience seems to be genuine heirs at first glance, anyone who seems to be following the way of Christ without cost is likely not authentically following the way of Christ and would therefore not be moving toward the inheritance that is promised.
p Traditionally, ‘disciplines.’ The Greek word is paideuo, a verb from the word for ‘child’ as is reflected in the English word ‘pediatrics.’ Very literally, it would be something like ‘to child.’ It does not inherently imply punishment, as many people are likely to think when reading the word ‘discipline’ in this context. It means to raise, nurture, guide, and train a child to prepare them for adulthood.
q The word here can be translated as either ‘fathers’ or ‘parents.’ An example of when all translations render it as ‘parents’ is in Hebrews 11:23.
r Or ‘bringing together’ or ‘contributing’ or ‘helping.’ The last option is typically used with a different grammatical structure than what is present here.
s Traditionally, ‘discipline.’ The Greek word is paideia, a noun from the word for ‘child’ as is reflected in the English word ‘pediatrics.’ Very literally, it would be something like ‘childing.’ It does not inherently imply punishment, as many people are likely to think when reading the word ‘discipline’ in this context. It means the practice of raising, nurturing, guiding, and training a child to prepare them for adulthood.
t Or ‘straighten up’ or ‘rebuild’ or ‘restore’
u Quotation of Isaiah 35:3
v Quotation of Proverbs 4:26
w The context here suggests a Hebraic view of ‘peace’ related to the Hebrew word shalom is in view, more than the simple concept of absence of conflict. Shalom is more about a wholeness among the people that includes well-being for all.
x Traditionally, ‘holiness.’ This phrase removes confusion about what ‘holiness’ would mean and seeks to provide an explanatory phrase rather than a single word translation: “the sacred purpose for which you are designated.”
y Traditionally, this word is translated as ‘see that,’ making it a command to do something. It is the word for ‘watching,’ already the thing being instructed. It carries the meaning of watching over someone to ensure they are cared for.
z The word here most literally means ‘left behind.’ The traditional translation in this spot as ‘comes short’ implies the person is failing to live up to expectations, to the rules. However, this context seems much more about the ones who would be failing to live up to expectations would be the community who leaves someone behind, who doesn’t ensure everyone is cared for.
aa Or ‘annoy’ or ‘agitate’ or ‘cause distress’
bb Reference to Deuteronomy 29:18
cc Literally, ‘be a male sex worker’ but it would apply to both men and women (Traditionally, ‘immoral’ or ‘fornicator’ in this verse). The point in context being creating a community in which everyone is provided for so that no one finds themselves in so desperate a situation they are forced to sex work to survive.
dd The traditional term ‘godless’ as the traditional translation is inappropriate. The lexicon for this word indicates examples of it referring to a place that is not sacred ground, in the sense that anyone may walk on it, or referring to someone who has not be initiated, or applying to religious sayings that are available to anyone and not only religious professionals. In the current context, it could imply people who are seen as outsiders (uninitiated) or people who are ‘available to the public.’
ee Reference to Genesis 25:27-34. In this story, Esau thought he was starving to death, and in desperation gave away his birthright for food, sold his sense of self-worth and his calling in order to survive.
ff Reference to Genesis 27:1-41
gg “it” refers to that which was to have been spoken well over him.
hh Or ‘approached’
ii Reference to Exodus 20:18-19
jj Quotation of Exodus 19:12-13, intending to be referring to Exodus 19-20 as a whole story.
kk Traditionally, ‘angels.’ However, the Greek word angelos means ‘messenger’ which can refer to heavenly beings or humans or even natural phenomena.
ll Traditionally, ‘assembly of the firstborn’ or ‘church of the firstborn.’ The traditional translations may have in mind something like ‘assembly of firstborn sons’ and so have in mind that ‘firstborn’ is plural, but it leaves it confusing and too easily confused as being singular about Jesus, as if it’s saying, ‘the firstborn’s church.’ It is not. The word is plural, referring to all the members of the assembly each being a firstborn.
mm Reference to Genesis 4:10
nn Reference to Exodus 20:19
oo Quotation of Haggai 2:6
pp Or ‘transfer’ or ‘exchange’
qq Quotation of Deuteronomy 4:24 and 9:3.