§26 An Exhortation to Endurance and Faithfulness (Heb. 10:32–39)
Our author again turns to exhortation. But now he bases his encouragement on the past successes of the readers during the most trying of circumstances. In this description of their history we obtain the letter’s most explicit information concerning the addressees. We learn that they endured persecution in the past and came through it victoriously. Now they apparently face difficult times again, to the extent that (as we have previously noted) they are tempted to abandon their Christian faith (cf. 2:1–3; 3:12–14; 4:1, 11; 6:4–6; 12:3–11; 13:13). In his exhortation the author reminds the readers of their faithfulness in the past. They should not throw away that former success by yielding to the present pressures. If they endured in the past, they can endure both in the present and in the future, whatever it may hold. Past experience should be motivation for faithfulness in the present. The same faithful God will supply the needed resources—now, as then.
10:32–33 / The readers are reminded of those earlier days. The memories of the sufferings now to be mentioned must have been vivid, although we have no way of knowing precisely how much earlier these events had taken place. This persecution was more probably that under Claudius in A.D. 49 than that suffered by the Roman community under the mad Nero in A.D. 64. If we are right that Hebrews was written in the early sixties, the events remembered may have occurred more than ten years earlier. This was clearly sometime after the Jewish readers had become believers in Christ, that is, after you had received the light (lit., “having been enlightened”; cf. the same expression in 6:4). The victory of the readers is stressed in the rest of the verse: you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering (lit., “you endured a great struggle with sufferings”). What is described generally as a “great struggle” is given some detail in the following verses. They were made a public spectacle of, suffering verbal abuse and physical punishment. Apparently, however, the persecution had not resulted in martyrdom and thus cannot be the persecution under Nero in A.D. 64, when many in the Roman church were martyred. (The statement of 12:4, although referring to the present situation of the readers, presumably holds true for the past also.) And when the readers did not suffer directly, they stood side by side with those experiencing similar sufferings. The way in which they were “sharers” (as the text literally reads) is not altogether clear, but it apparently involved the support of others who suffered, at considerable personal sacrifice, as we see from the following verse.
10:34 / You sympathized with those in prison (lit., “you suffered with the prisoners”) seems to indicate that the readers were not themselves prisoners but nevertheless suffered because of the imprisonment of others. The exhortation of 13:3 reminds the readers of this very responsibility: “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners.” One aspect of the persecution involved the confiscation of their property. This they joyfully accepted because they kept in mind that they had better and lasting possessions (lit, “a better and abiding possession”). This reference to the superiority of an unseen, eternal reality will become an important motif in chapter 11 (cf. 11:10, 16, 40). The readers, in the midst of difficult circumstances, were thus able to make an unseen reality their priority and in light of it to endure great personal hardship and loss. Possibly it is the sharing of the sufferings of others referred to in these verses that was in the author’s mind when he wrote in 6:10 that God “will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” In 13:3 the author exhorts the readers to continue this identification with those who suffer.
10:35–36 / It is precisely this that the readers are now to remember and to take to heart. The author exhorts them not to throw away their confidence (or “courage” or “boldness”). This boldness, if it is exercised in the present situation, will enable the readers to endure as they have done in the past, and it will be richly rewarded. Above all, the readers need to persevere (lit., “endure”). This noun is formed from the same root as the verb “endured” (stood your ground) in verse 32. They endured in the past times of hardship; they must endure now. Endurance is the will of God and is necessary in order to receive “the promise.” The promise is left unspecified here, but it is obviously that eschatological hope of the final realization of God’s saving purpose. It is what has been described in verse 34 as “better and lasting possessions” and what will be described in chapters 11 and 12 with different metaphors.
10:37–38 / A quotation from Habakkuk 2:3–4 is now offered without introduction except for the word for. Its appropriateness is evident. The time of suffering is a limited one and the return of the Lord is imminent. The author may understand Habakkuk’s words concerning imminence quite literally, especially if persecution were increasing. The end of the age, it had been promised, would see an increase in the persecution of the righteous (cf. Matt. 24:9–14). But with the Lord’s return in view, faithfulness becomes a special consideration. Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted here, but not with the same meaning as when Paul cites it in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 (cf. RSV’s effective translation of Hab. 2:4 in these verses). In these passages the stress is upon how a person becomes righteous, namely, by faith. Here, however, the stress is upon the faithfulness of the righteous person: my righteous one will live by faith. That is, righteous people will live faithfully, their lives will be lived in accordance with their faith. These two emphases are complementary rather than contradictory. The possibility of our faith (whereby we are accounted righteous) and our faithfulness (whereby we live according to God’s will) are both based upon the faithfulness of God on our behalf. It is clear from the context and from the chapter to follow that our author’s stress here is on the necessity of faithfulness. It is this to which he calls his readers, lest they fall away in the midst of tribulation. If the righteous one should shrink back, even though under pressure, the Lord will not be pleased. The simple point is that God requires faithfulness or endurance of his people. This is the message the readers need desperately to hear and to heed. The displeasure of the Lord is equivalent to his wrath, already alluded to in verses 27–31.
10:39 / A brief one-sentence commentary on the meaning of the passage is now given in midrashic form, utilizing two key words from the quotation. The author here, as in 6:9, encourages the readers by believing not the worst, but the best, concerning them. He furthermore speaks of himself together with them in the plural and emphatic we, introduced by the strong adversative “but” at the beginning of the verse. We are not, says the author tersely, of those who shrink back [alluding to the word in Habakkuk] and are destroyed, but of those who believe [using the same word as in Habakkuk] and are saved. This is his way of encouraging his readers to positive thinking. If they are but true to their identity and take advantage of the resources God has provided, being motivated by the reality and imminence of their hope, they will find strength to endure the present crisis without falling away from the truth. The connection between endurance and the gaining of one’s life is referred to in the context of persecution in Luke 21:19, where Jesus says: “By standing firm [lit., “by your endurance”] you will gain life.”
10:32–33 / For “enlightened” phōtizō), see note on 6:4. The word for “struggle” (athlēsis) occurs only here in the NT and is used figuratively to refer to the adversity which people must battle. The verb “endured” (hypomenō) occurs again in 12:2, 3, and 7 (the cognate noun occurs in 10:36 and 12:1). This word is very important in the author’s message to his readers. See F. Hauck, TDNT, vol. 4, pp. 581–88. The noun suffering (pathēma) is used elsewhere in Hebrews only in referring to Christ’s death (2:9, 10). Underlying NIV’s insult is the noun “reproaches” (oneidismos), which the author uses again in 11:26 and 13:13, where it is explicitly the Christian’s bearing of the reproach of Christ. Persecution is lit., “tribulations” (thlipsis), which although a common word in the NT, occurs in Hebrews only here. NIV’s publicly derives from theatrizō, a verb occurring only here in the NT that means “to make a public show” (NEB). Cf. the cognate noun “spectacle” (theatron) in 1 Cor. 4:9, describing the experience of the apostles. Stood side by side with translates the noun “sharers” (koinōnos), a word occurring in Hebrews only here. For a parallel concept, “sharers in sufferings,” see 2 Cor. 1:7, where the idea depends on Paul’s doctrine of participation in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:4–5, 26).
10:34 / This verse contains two textual uncertainties. In the first, some manuscripts read “those in bonds” (desmos) instead of those in prison (desmios), some containing “my bonds” or “their bonds.” Metzger attributes the loss of the Greek letter iota, producing “bonds,” to a transcriptional error. Thus those in prison is to be preferred (cf. 13:3). See Metzger, TCGNT, p. 670. The second question involves the case of the reflexive pronoun yourselves. It is probably accusative (heautous), thus producing NIV’s you yourselves had … possessions, rather than dative (heautois), which would produce “possessing for yourselves,” or “in yourselves.” See Metzger, TCGNT, p. 670. The verb underlying sympathized with (sympatheō, lit., “suffered with”) occurs only here and in 4:15 in the entire NT. For the concept, see the preceding note. The idea of “joy” (chara) in the face of personal suffering is reminiscent of James 1:2 and 1 Pet. 4:13f. (cf. Matt. 5:11). The same word occurs again in 12:2, 11, and 13:17. See H. Conzelmann, TDNT, vol. 9, pp. 359–72. For the importance of better (kreissōn) in Hebrews, see note on 1:4. Although the language of an “abiding possession” is unique, the concept is very close to the reference in Matt. 6:20 to treasures in heaven “where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” The participle “abiding” is used with the same significance in 13:14: “For here we do not have an enduring city” (cf. 12:27, “remain”).
10:35–36 / For confidence or “boldness,” see note on 3:6. The word for rewarded (misthapodosia) occurs in the NT only in Hebrews: in 11:26 it has a positive sense, as it does here (cf. 11:6 for almost the same word); in 2:2 it occurs in the negative sense of “retribution.” Concerning the importance of “endurance” (hypomonē), see note on the verbal form of the same word in v. 32. Reference to the readers doing the will of God is again made in the great benediction of 13:20–21. The expression “receive the promise” occurs in 11:13 and 39, where it is denied that the patriarchs had already received it. For “promise” (epangelia) in Hebrews, see note on 6:15.
10:37–38 / The opening line in the quotation, in just a very little while, is not from Habakkuk, but is probably drawn from Isa. 26:20, unless it is simply a common, stereotyped expression. (Isa. 26:11 may have been alluded to in v. 27. See above.) The author takes some liberties in his citation of Hab. 2:3–4, which follows the LXX rather than the Hebrew. He adds a definite article to turn a participle into a substantive, he who is coming. “The coming one” was a title of the Messiah, Jesus, in the early church (cf. Matt. 3:11; 11:3). The author also transposes the clauses of Hab. 2:4 (which in the LXX begins with the words, “But if any of them turns back”) so that it is the righteous one who must directly confront the possibility of turning back and experiencing the displeasure of the Lord. The author thus accepts the messianic understanding of the passage (as in the LXX) but applies Hab. 2:4 to the Christian believer (despite the singular, my righteous one). This passage was commonly used in Jewish literature to strengthen belief in the realization of the promises to Israel. The Greek word “faith” (pistis) can also be translated “faithfulness.” Some manuscripts of Hebrews have the pronoun “my” in another place, producing the reading “the righteous one will live by my faithfulness,” as it is found in an important manuscript of the LXX (B). Some manuscripts of Hebrews (e.g., P13) omit the pronoun “my” altogether (as does Paul in his use of Hab. 2:4). The better manuscripts of Hebrews, however, favor placement of the “my” with “righteous one” (e.g., P46, Sinaiticus, A). See Metzger, TCGNT, pp. 670f. The verb underlying shrinks back (hypostellō; cf. v. 39) may connote doing so “in concealment” (cf. the emphasis in 4:12–13). See K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT, vol. 7, pp. 597–99; T. W. Lewis, “ ‘… And if he shrinks back’ (Heb. 10:38b),” NTS 22 (1975), pp. 88–94.
10:39 / Are destroyed is derived from apōleia, a common NT word for “destruction,” which in Hebrews occurs only here. The idea recalls the argument in vv. 27–29. And are saved translates lit., “unto the preserving (peripoiēsis) of life.” The word “life” here is psychē (lit., “soul”). This word is used in a similar way in 12:3 and 13:17 (contrast 4:12; 6:19). What is meant here is obviously the opposite of “destruction.” Thus the phrase may well connote the realization of new life in the eschaton. See E. Schweizer, TDNT, vol. 9, pp. 637–56.