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to whom we have to give account.

11. spoudavswmen ou\n ...] Let us give diligence (Latt. Festinemus ), strive earnestly...because ‘the prize is noble and the peril is great.’ There is need of active exertion that we may secure what God has promised. So Chrysostom: mevga me;n hJ pivsti" kai; swthvrion kai; tauvth" a[neu oujk e[ni swqh'naiv tina. ajllj oujk ajrkei' kaqj eJauth;n tou'to ejrgavsasqai ajlla; dei' kai; politeiva" ojrqh'" . And Primasius, following him: Festinemus inquit quoniam non sufficit sola fides sed debet addi et vita fidei condigna... Herveius marks the situation of the Hebrews more exactly: Festinemus ingredi nec in his terrenis quae nos impediunt immoremur. Festinemus fide et bonis operibus, quod illi non faciunt qui carnaliter adhuc legem observant et erga fidem et spiritualem conversationem negligentes existunt.

For spoudavzein see Eph. 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:14. eij" ejkeivnhn th;n kat. ] into that rest , that rest of God which is characterised by such absolute blessedness (comp. Matt. 7:22 ejn ejkeivnh/ th'/ hJmevra/ ; John 11:49 note).
i{na mh; ejn tw'/ aujtw'/ ... pevsh/ ...] O. L. ne aliquis eodem exemplo cadat a veritate. Lcf. ne aliqui in idem ex. contumacioe cadant. Vulg. ne in id ipsum quis incidat incredulitatis exemplum. Syr. that we may not fall in the manner of those who did not believe. These two forms of rendering (Lcf., Vulg.; O. L., Syr.;) represent two possible interpretations of the words represented roughly by ‘falling into’ and ‘falling after’ the same example. According to the first interpretation pivptein ejn uJpod. is a compressed expression for ‘falling into the same type of disobedience and thus exhibiting it.’ But pivptein eij" uJpovdeigma , which is involved in this explanation, is, under any circumstances, an extremely strange expression.

Hence it is better to follow the second view, in which pivptein is taken absolutely in the sense of ‘falling’ ‘perishing’ as opposed to ‘standing’ (comp. 1 Cor. 10:12; Rom. 11:11), and ejn uJpod. describes the lesson presented by the fall.

Those who so fall become, in their punishment, an example like that offered by the Jews in the Wilderness, an example, that is, of the fatal consequences of disobedience fitted to alarm others. Unbelief (Heb. 3:12) is here seen in its practical issue (4:6 note). The word uJpovdeigma occurs 2 Pet. 2:6 with gen. pers. (‘an example to deter them’). See also John 13:15; and for a different use of the word Heb. 8:5 note.

The words th'" ajpeiqeiva" are placed at the end and isolated, so that attention is fixed and rests upon them (comp. 9:15; 12:11).

The parallel suggested by the words was the more impressive when the Apostle wrote, because the generation of the Exodus had borne much, like the Hebrew Christians, before they fell at last. And the spiritual trial of Jews and Christians was essentially the same: illi non crediderunt Deum sufficere ad dandam requiem terrae promissionis, et isti similiter Christum ad dandam requiem perpetuam sufficere non credebant sine carnalibus observantiis (Herv.).

4:12. The necessity of earnest effort lies in the character of the divine revelation. It is not ‘a vain thing for us: it is our life.’

The main thought in the description of ‘the word of God’ is not that of punishment, as it is taken by Chrysostom, but of its essential nature as it enters into, permeates, transforms, every element in man. There is no


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