in prophecy: the Hebrews could look to a Christ Who had come in the flesh (Jesus). Thus the writer marks ( a ) the position, ( b ) the preparation, ( g ) the effort, ( d ) the aim, of Christians looking to One Who had Himself conquered through suffering.
( a ) The position of Christians. The writer regards himself and his fellow Christians as placed in an arena and contending for a great prize. The image of the amphitheatre with the rising rows of spectators seems to suggest the thought of an encircling cloud. The witnesses of whom the cloud is composed are unquestionably the countless heroes of faith whose deeds have been summarised in ch. 11. The testimony which they bear can only be the testimony which they bear to God, either by victorious achievements or by courageous sufferings, answering to that which He has wrought for and in them. In both respects, as conquerors and as sufferers, they witness to His power and faithfulness; and those who regard them cannot but be strengthened by their testimony.
There is apparently no evidence that mavrtu" is ever used simply in the sense of a spectator. Even in such a passage as Wisd. 1:6 tw'n nefrw'n aujtou' mavrtu" oJ qeo;" kai; th'" kardiva" aujtou' ejpivskopo" ajlhqh;" kai; th'" glwvssh" ajkousthv" there is the thought of the open testimony to be given: comp. 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:2; Acts 10:41.
At the same time it is impossible to exclude the thought of the spectators in the amphitheatre. The passage would not lose in vividness though it would lose in power if qeatw'n were substituted for martuvrwn . These champions of old time occupy the place of spectators, but they are more than spectators. They are spectators who interpret to us the meaning of our struggle, and who bear testimony to the certainty of our success if we strive lawfully (2 Tim. 2:5).
There is no confusion in this fulness of sense. The word perikeivmenon gives the thought of the great company to whom the Christian athlete is made a spectacle (1 Cor. 4:9 qevatron ejgenhvqhmen : Heb. 10:33 qeatrizovmenoi ); and martuvrwn explains what the true nature of this host is, widely different from the pitiless throng visible to the bodily eye at the heathen games.
Tertullian describes the scene which actually met the eye (
ad Martyras
,
c. 1): nec tantus ego sum ut vos alloquar, verumtamen et gladiatores perfectissimos non tantum magistri et praepositi sui sed etiam idiotae et supervacue (-cui?) quique adhortantur de longinquo, ut saepe de ipso populo dictata suggesta profuerint.
In a cognate passage of Longinus ( de sublim. § xiv.), quoted by Wetstein, the witnesses are regarded as those who will bear testimony of what they see in the trial: tw'/ ga;r o[nti mevga to; ajgwvnisma ... ejn thlikouvtoi" h{rwsi kritai'" te kai; mavrtusi uJpevcein tw'n grafomevnwn eujquvna" .
The true idea of the witnesses is given by the Fathers, as by Chrysostom: Mavrtura" de; oujci; tou;" ejn th'/ kainh'/ levgei movnon ajlla; kai; tou;" ejn th'/ palaia'/ : kai; ga;r kai; aujtoi; ejmartuvrhsan th'/ tou' qeou' megaleiovthti : and Primasius: Nubem testium appellat multitudinem patriarcharum ac prophetarum reliquorumque fidelium qui testes fuerunt perfectae fidei.
Epictetus uses the image of the games to support a spirit of effort and endurance: Dissert. 3.25; Enchir. 51.2.
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we have so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which doth so