easily beset us, and with patience run the race that is set before us ,
2 looking unto Him Who is the leader and finisher of Faith , even Jesus, Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb. 12:1. toigarou'n kai; hJmei'" ...] Vulg. Ideoque et nos...Therefore assuredly let us also , who are under the New Covenant in the time of our trial... The writer identifies himself with those whose courage he desires to animate: Heb. 10:39.
Toigarou'n occurs again 1 Thess. 4:8 ( toivnun , Heb. 13:13); elsewhere the writer introduces his conclusion with dia; tou'to or o{qen . e[c. perikeivmenon hJmi'n ] Vulg. habentes impositam , literally having spread about us. The competitors feel the crowd towering about and above them. Hence the Apostle does not say simply perikeivmenoi nevfo" (comp. Heb. 5:2) or perikeimevnou nevfou" , but e[conte" perikeivmenon . Believers are conscious of the surrounding host. For e[conte" perik. comp. Heb. 5:14 note.
The words occur in a very different connexion in 2 Clem. 1:6
ajpoqevmenoi ejkei'no o} perikeivmeqa nevfo"
.
nevfo" martuvrwn
] Vulg.
nubem
(d
imbrem
)
testium.
A cloud is used in all languages for a dense mass of living beings from the time of Homer downwards:
Il.
4.274
a{ma de; nevfo" ei{peto pezw'n
.
AEn.
7.793 Insequitur nimbus peditum. Priscill. iii. p. 63 testimoniorum nube.
Chrysostom (followed by others) finds in the cloud the idea of shelter from the scorching heat: hJ mnhvmh tw'n aJgivwn ejkeivnwn w{sper nevfo" to;n flegovmenon uJpo; ajkti'no" qermotevra" skiavzei ... ajnivsthsi kai; ajnakta'tai yuchvn .
(
b
)
The preparation of Christians.
The solemnity of the position of the Christian naturally leads to the consideration of the preparation which he is bound to make for the fulfilment of his arduous duty. This is twofold. He must lay aside natural encumbrances (
o[gkon pavnta
), and also the positive sin by which he is hindered.
o[gkon ajpoqevmenoi p.
] (
let us
)...
lay aside every encumbrance
... Vulg.
deponentes omne pondus.
The word
o[gko"
, which does not occur elsewhere in N. T. or LXX. is used for bulk of body (Galen,
in Hippocr. Aphor.
1 (xvii. (2)
p. 363,
Kuhn
)
th'" tw'n ajqlhtw'n eujexiva" ouj mikro;n tou'tov ejstin e[gklhma to; peribavllesqai peira'sqai mevgeqo" o[gkou kata; to; sw'ma
...), for an arrogant bearing, and for a burdensome load. These several senses have been applied to the interpretation of the word here. The competitor in a race seeks by training to reduce all superfluity of flesh, and in the contest lays aside all undue confidence and every encumbrance of dress. There can be little doubt that the image is taken from the immediate preparation for the decisive effort, so that the first sense is inapplicable, and it is hardly possible that
ajpoqevsqai o[gkon
could be used of the effects of training. The last interpretation is in every way the most appropriate. The writer seems to have in his mind the manifold encumbrances of society and business which would be likely to hinder a Christian convert. The duty of the convert would be to free himself from associations and engagements which, however innocent in themselves, hindered the freedom of his action.
It may however be noticed that Philo says that the soul which would seek God must not remain ejn toi'" swmatikoi'" o[gkoi" ( Leg. Alleg. iii. § 15;