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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 future—which 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


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