Hebreus 12
Ephrem the Syrian · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Hebreus 12:1
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" about the weight of our life, that is, about the fact that we have ahead of us a cloud of sad afflictions, which lead many who trust in Christ and die for him to honor, "let us lay aside everything" from us.… And "let us run with perseverance the race that is set for us" not only by our persecutors but by the devil himself. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Hebreus 12:2
Let us look not toward human beings for the perfection of our faith. In fact, among them one is good for something, but the other is not. Rather let us look into "Jesus Christ, the pioneer of faith," who was made our leader and "the perfecter" of our faith, because he began from the Jordan the fight against the enemy, then continued it in the desert, and finished it in Jerusalem through the cross, which was erected by the persecutors on Golgotha. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Hebreus 12:3
"Consider him who," for our love, "showed such" patience toward sinners, not toward those with whom he was in hostility but toward those who, because of their disbelief, appeared to be in tension within their own souls. Do not regret your afflictions, and do not lose your confidence amid the hour of your temptation. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Hebreus 12:11
They gain a profit from it: their reward is justice. Paul said this in order to prove that even though they gain a profit through discipline, their reward and grace is constituted by justice. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Hebreus 12:12-13
"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees," that is, "make straight paths for your feet" throughout the afflictions caused by your persecutors, so that they may not slip. [Do this] "so that what is lame," that is, those who transgressed through the denial of faith, "may not be put out of joint" and increase the power of sin "but rather be healed," so that, through his healing, sin may be affected by sickness. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12
Hebreus 12:16-17
Even if the door is closed before him, it is not closed in the same manner before us. "Know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent." Moreover, Esau's repentance and his tears did not mean that he wanted to be blessed more than his brother but that he wanted to gain control over his brother. "Even though he sought the blessing with tears," it was not conceded to him. He did not demand blessing, as I said, but the right of the firstborn. In fact, if he had demanded to be superior to his brother in the kingdom of heaven, this would have not been denied to him. But, since he neglected what was useful to his soul and asked for an estate more fertile than that of his brother, he did not receive the blessing that he begged and was deprived of those things that Jacob, by prevailing on him, received through his faith. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Hebreus 12:16-17
Scripture thus shows that Esau did not sell his birthright because of hunger, since it says that after he ate, "Esau rose and went away and despised his birthright." He did not sell it because of hunger, therefore, but because he indeed considered it to be worthless and sold it for nothing. — COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23.2
Hebreus 12:23
In it there are the firstborn, that is, the first ones and the most excellent, and "the spirits of just men," that is, of your ancient fathers who accomplished perfection. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS