Also, the great cloud of witnesses. That cloud must be comprised of humans
Also, the great cloud of witnesses. That cloud must be comprised of humans
A valid point-some here choose to answer-which is good- but the majority are "thread chasers" and beware if you don't "agree" with them!
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Therefore (toigaroun). Triple compound inferential participle (toi, gar, oun) like the German doch denn nun, a conclusion of emphasis, old particle, in N.T. only here and 1Th_4:8. There should be no chapter division here, since Heb_12:1-3 really is the climax in the whole argument about the better promises (10:19-12:3) with a passionate appeal for loyalty to Christ.
Us also (kai hēmeis). We as well as “these all” of Heb_11:39 and all the more because of the “something better” given us in the actual coming of Christ.
Compassed about (echontes perikeimenon). Literally, “having (echontes, present active participle of echō) lying around us” (perikeimenon, present middle participle of perikeimai, old verb as in Luk_17:2).
Cloud of witnesses (nephos marturōn). Old word (Latin nubes),
here only in the N.T., for vast mass of clouds. Nephelē is a single cloud. The metaphor refers to the great amphitheatre with the arena for the runners and the tiers upon tiers of seats rising up like a cloud.
The martures here are not mere spectators (theatai), but testifiers (witnesses) who testify from their own experience (Heb_11:2, Heb_11:4, Heb_11:5, Heb_11:33, Heb_11:39) to God’s fulfilling his promises as shown in chapter Heb 11.
Laying aside (apothemenoi). Second aorist-middle (indirect, from ourselves) participle of apotithēmi, old verb as in Col_3:8 (laying off old clothes). The runners ran in the stadium nearly naked.
Every weight (ogkon panta). Old word (kin to enegkein, pherō) like phortos, baros. Here every encumbrance that handicaps like doubt, pride, sloth, anything. No trailing garment to hinder or trip one.
The sin which doth so easily beset us (tēn euperistaton hamartian). “The easily besetting sin.” There are a dozen possible renderings of this double compound verbal from eu, well, and periistēmi, to place around or to stand around (intransitive). The Vulgate has circumstans nos peccatum (the sin standing around us). Probably this is the true idea here, “the easily encompassing (or surrounding) sin.” In this case apostasy from Christ was that sin. In our cases it may be some other sin. The verbal adjective reminds one of the ring of wild beasts in the jungle that encircle the camp-fire at night each ready to pounce upon a careless victim.
Let us run (trechōmen). Present active volitive subjunctive of trechō, “let us keep on running.”
With patience (di' hupomonēs). Not with impatience, doubt, or despair.
The race that is set before us (ton prokeimenon hēmin agōna). Note the article and the present middle participle of prokeimai, old compound (already in Heb_6:18, and also in Heb_12:2). Dative case (hēmin) of personal interest.
Robertson
Cloud--
12:1 A common way in Greek literature of metaphorically referring to a group of people. The models of faith in ch. 11 are included in this group (11:2, 39).
The footrace was one of the longest and most significant events in the Greek games (compare Phil 1:30; Col 2:1; 1 Thess 2:2; Heb 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7).
Circuses and Games DNTB
12:2 Although Heb 11 included a long list of worthy exemplars, Jesus is ultimately the focus. In light of the footrace metaphor, the idea here might be that Jesus, who pioneered the course of the faith, awaits believers at the finish line.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Heb 12:1–2.
Heb_12:1. Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς.… “Wherefore, as we have so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, let us likewise lay aside every encumbrance and sin that clings so close and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to the leader and perfecter of faith, even Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured a cross despising shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” τοιγαροῦν, “wherefore then” more formal and emphatic than the usual, διὰ τοῦτο, διὸ, ὅθεν, οὖν. καὶ ἡμεῖς, we in our turn, we as well as they, and with the added advantage of having so many testimonies to the good results of faith. νέφος used frequently in Homer and elsewhere, as “nubes” in Latin and “cloud” in English to suggest a vast multitude.
μαρτύρων, “witnesses,” persons who by their actions have testified to the worth of faith. The cloud of witnesses are those named and suggested in chap. 11; persons whose lives witnessed to the work and triumph of faith, and whose faith was witnessed to by Scripture, cf. Heb_11:2; Heb_11:4-5. This cloud is περικείμενον, because, as the writer has just shown, look where they will into their history his Hebrew readers see such examples of faith.
It is impossible to take μάρτυρες as equivalent to θεαταί. If the idea of “spectator” is present at all, which is very doubtful, it is only introduced by the words τρέχωμεν … ἀγῶνα. The idea is not that they are running in presence of spectators and must therefore run well; but that their people’s history being filled with examples of much-enduring but triumphant faith, they also must approve their lineage by showing a like persistence of faith. ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα, ὄγκος, a mass or weight or burden (= φόρτος), hence a swelling or superfluous flesh [cf. especially Longinus, iii. 9, κακοὶ δὲ ὄγκοι καὶ ἐπὶ σωμάτων καὶ λόγων. and from Hippocrates in Wetstein, καὶ γὰρ δρόμοι ταχεῖς, καὶ γυμνάσια τοιαῦτα, σαρκῶν ὄγκον καθαίρει.]
The allusion therefore is to the training preparatory to a race by which an encumbering superfluity of flesh is reduced. The Christian runner must rid himself even of innocent things which might retard him. And all that does not help, hinders. It is by running he learns what these things are. So long as he stands he does not feel that they are burdensome and hampering. καὶ f1τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν. Of the difficult word εὐπερ.
Chrysostom gives two interpretations; “which is easily avoided,” and “which easily encompasses or surrounds us”. In the sense of “avoid” the verb περιϊστάσθαι occurs in 2Ti_2:16 and Tit_3:9, but it is scarcely credible that in the present context such an epithet could be applied to sin. The second interpretation has been generally accepted [“circumstans nos peccatum” (Vulg.); “qui nous enveloppe si aisément”; “die Sünde, die immer zur Hand ist” (Weizsäcker)]. This meaning suits the context and the action enjoined in ἀποθέμενοι, suggesting, as it does, the trailing garment that encumbers the runner. The article τὴν does not point to some particular sin, but to that which characterises all sin, the tenacity with which it clings to a man. We might suppose from the word itself that it alluded to sin as an enemy encompassing from well-chosen points of vantage, but this does not suit the figure of the race nor the ἀποθέμενοι.
[Porphyry, de Abstin., says γυμνοὶ δὲ καὶ ἀχίτωνες ἐπὶ τὸ στάδιον ἀναβαίνωμεν ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς Ὀλύμπια ἀγωνισόμενοι. “Ut cursores vestimenta non solum abjiciunt, nudique currunt, verum etiam crebris exercitationibus, ne corpus nimis obesum et ineptum reddatur, efficiunt: ita et vos omnia impedimenta in studio virtutis, et tarditatem vestram crebris meditationibus vincite” (Wetstein).] διʼ ὑπομονῆς, after the negative preparation comes the positive demand for endurance, cf. Heb_10:36. τρέχωμεν … ἀγῶνα, as in Herod, viii. 102, πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας δραμέονται οἱ Ἕλληνες. προκείμενον, [frequent with ἀγών, as in Arrian’s Epict., iii. 25, οὐ γὰρ ὑπὲρ πάλης καὶ παγκρατίου ὁ ἀγὼν πρόκειται. Cf. Orestes of Eurip., 845, and Ignatius to Eph., c. 17. τοῦ προκειμένου ζῆν.] appointed, lying before us as our destined trial.
This let us run, not waiting for a pleasanter, easier course, but accepting that which is appointed and recognising the difficulties as constituent parts of the race. Success depends on the condition attached ἀφορῶντες … Ἰησοῦν, fixing our gaze on Him who sets us the example (ἀρχηγὸν) of faith, and exhibits it in its perfect form (τελειωτής), who leads us in faith and in whom faith finds its perfect embodiment. ἀρχηγός properly means one to whom anything owes its origin (cf. Heb_2:10), but here it rather indicates one who takes the lead or sets the example most worth following. Jesus is the ἀρχηγὸς τῆς πίστεως because he is its τελειωτής. In Him alone do we see absolute dependence on God, implicit trust, what it is, what it costs, and what it results in.
