it could not but be perilous to do so: and they had welcomed material loss.
kai; gavr
...] Constant usage suggests that the
kaiv
emphasises the general statement and does not simply correspond with the
kaiv
which follows:
For in fact ye
... Comp. Heb. 4:2; 5:12; 12:29; 13:22; and so constantly in the epistles of St Paul: 1 Thess. 4:10; Rom. 11:1 & c.
toi'" desmivoi" sunepaqhvsate
]
ye had compassion on them that were in bonds
, Vulg.
vinctis compassi estis
(O. L.
consensistis
). The definite article points to some familiar fact. Comp. Heb. 13:3. Elsewhere the word
devsmio"
is used in the epistles of the N. T. only by St Paul of himself: Eph. 3:1 & c. For
sunepaqhvsate
see Heb. 4:15, note (Job 2:11
Symm.
).
kai; th;n aJrp.
...
prosedevxasqe
]
and accepted (welcomed) with joy the
spoiling of your possessions
... You gladly accepted loss as if it were gain. For
prosdevcomai
see Heb. 11:35
ouj prosdexavmenoi th;n ajpoluvtrwsin
. Phil. 2:29
prosdevcesqe aujto;n ejn Kurivw/ meta; pavsh" cara'"
; for
aJrpaghv
, Matt. 23:25; Luke 11:39; and for
ta; uJpavrconta
1 Cor. 13:3; Matt. 24:17 & c.
ginwvskonte" e[cein eJautou;"
...
mevnousan
]
knowing that ye had your own selves for a better possession and an abiding one.
Stripped of their goods the Christians learned better than before that their true self remained unchangeable. That was not marred but purified: they had won their souls in patience (Luke 21:19). This possession they had so that they could never lose it. By the use of the word
ginwvskonte"
, as distinguished from
eijdovte"
(Eph. 6:8 f.; Rom. 5:3; 6:9 & c.), the writer implies that the knowledge was realised through the trial: through that the confessors came to know the value of their faith. Comp. James 1:3.
The order in the words kreivssona u{parxin kai; mevnousan gives distinctness to the two thoughts: a better possession and that too an abiding one. Comp. 1 Pet. 1:23. The word u{parxi" (Latt. substantia ) occurs again Acts 2:45, and several times in the later books of the LXX.
Heb. 10:35-39. The sacrifices which the Hebrews once made proved their confidence confidence in an unseen futurewhich they boldly proclaimed; and at the same time they confirmed it. The lesson of the past therefore encouraged them to still further endurance. And such endurance God claims from His people.
10:35.
mh; ajpobavlhte ou\n
] Vulg.
Nolite itaque amittere
.... The Latin
rendering can be justified, but the context evidently requires the stronger sense
Do not therefore cast
(fling)
away
(Mark 10:50), as though it were of no value,
the boldness
which you once made you own. The opposite is expressed Heb. 3:6
th;n parrhsivan katascei'n
. The exact phrase occurs in Dion Chrys. xxxiv. p. 425; and a fragment of Nicostratus gives the image with singular force:
tauvthn
[
th;n parrhsivan
]
ejavn ti" ajpolevsh/, th;n ajspivdj ajpobevblhken ou|to" tou' bivou
(
Fragm. Inc.
5).
Chrysostom remarks on the encouraging form of the address:
oujk ei\pen
...
ajnakthvsasqe
...
ajlla;
...
mh; ajpobavlhte, o} ma'llon aujtou;" ejyucagwvgei kai; ejpoivei rJwsqh'nai
.
th;n parrhsivan
] The Apostle first chooses the term which describes endurance under its most commanding aspect, as ready to proclaim the hope on which it rests and as secure of victory; and then afterwards (Heb. 10:36) he presents the idea of simple endurance. Comp. Heb. 3:6 note.
h{ti" e[cei
]
seeing that it hath great recompense.
The recompense is