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Selected Verse: Hebrews 12:11 - Basic English
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Heb 12:11 |
Basic English |
At the time all punishment seems to be pain and not joy: but after, those who have been trained by it get from it the peace-giving fruit of righteousness. |
| |
King James |
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
joyous . . . grievous--Greek, "matter of joy . . . matter of grief." The objection that chastening is grievous is here anticipated and answered. It only seems so to those being chastened, whose judgments are confused by the present pain. Its ultimate fruit amply compensates for any temporary pam. The real object of the fathers in chastening is not that they find pleasure in the children's pain. Gratified wishes, our Father knows, would often be our real curses.
fruit of righteousness--righteousness (in practice, springing from faith) is the fruit which chastening, the tree yields (Phi 1:11). "Peaceable" (compare Isa 32:17): in contrast to the ordeal of conflict by which it has been won. "Fruit of righteousness to be enjoyed in peace after the conflict" [THOLUCK]. As the olive garland, the emblem of peace as well as victory, was put on the victor's brow in the games.
exercised thereby--as athletes exercised in training for a contest. Chastisement is the exercise to give experience, and make the spiritual combatant irresistibly victorious (Rom 5:3). "Oh, happy the servant for whose improvement his Lord is earnest, with whom he deigns to be angry, whom He does not deceive by dissembling admonition" (withholding admonition, and so leading the man to think he needs it not)! [TERTULLIAN, Patience, 11]. Observe the "afterwards"; that is the time often when God works. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous - It does not impart pleasure, nor is this its design. All chastisement is intended to produce pain, and the Christian is as sensitive to pain as others. His religion does not blunt his sensibilities and make him a stoic, but it rather increases his susceptibility to suffering. The Lord Jesus, probably, felt pain, reproach, and contempt more keenly than any other human being ever did; and the Christian feels the loss of a child, or physical suffering, as keenly as anyone. But while religion does not render him insensible to suffering, it does two things:
(1) it enables him to bear the pain without complaining; and,
(2) it turns the affliction into a blessing on his soul. "Nevertheless afterward." In future life. The effect is seen in a pure life, and in a more entire devotedness to God. We are not to look for the proper fruits of affliction while we are suffering, but "afterward."
It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness - It is a tree that bears good fruit, and we do not expect the fruit to form and ripen at once. It may be long maturing, but it will be rich and mellow when it is ripe. It frequently requires a long time before all the results of affliction appear - as it requires months to form and ripen fruit. Like fruit it may appear at first sour, crabbed, and unpalatable; but it will be at last like the ruddy peach or the golden orange. When those fruits are ripened, they are:
(1) fruits of "righteousness." They make us more holy, more dead to sin and the world, and more alive to God. And they are
(2) "peaceable." They produce peace, calmness, submission in the soul. They make the heart more tranquil in its confidence in God, and more disposed to promote the religion of peace.
The apostle speaks of this as if it were a universal truth in regard to Christians who are afflicted. And it is so. There is no Christian who is not ultimately benefited by trials, and who is not able at some period subsequently to say, "It was good for me that I was afflicted. Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept thy word." When a Christian comes to die, he does not feel that he has had one trial too many, or one which he did not deserve. He can then look back and see the effect of some early trial so severe that he once thought he could hardly endure it, spreading a hallowed influence over his future years, and scattering its golden fruit all along the pathway of life. I have never known a Christian who was not benefited by afflictions; I have seen none who was not able to say that his trials produced some happy effect on his religious character, and on his real happiness in life. If this be so, then no matter how severe our trials, we should submit to them without a complaint. The more severe they are, the more we shall yet be blessed - on earth or in heaven. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
righteousness
(See Scofield) - (Jo1 3:7). |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
No chastening for the present seemeth (πᾶσα μὲν παιδεία πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐ δοκεῖ)
Lit. all chastening - doth not seem. Πᾶσα of all sorts, divine and human. The A.V., by joining οὐ not to πᾶσα all, and rendering no chastisement, weakens the emphasis on the idea every kind of chastisement. Πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν for the present. For the force of πρὸς see on Heb 12:10. Not merely during the present, but for the present regarded as the time in which its application is necessary and salutary. Μὲν indicates that the suffering present is to be offset by a fruitful future - but (δὲ) afterward.
To be joyous but grievous (χαρᾶς εἶναι ἀλλὰ λύπης)
Lit. to be of joy but of grief.
It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness (καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν ἀποδίδωσιν δικαιοσύνης)
Perhaps with a suggestion of recompense for the long-suffering and waiting, since ἀποδιδόναι often signifies "to give back." The phrase ἀποδιδόναι καρπὸν only here and Rev 22:2. Καρπὸν fruit with διδόναι to give, Mat 13:8; Mar 4:8 : with ποιεῖν to make or produce, often in Synoptic Gospels, as Mat 3:8, Mat 3:10; Mat 7:17; Luk 3:8; Luk 6:43, etc.: with φέρειν to bear, always and only in John, Joh 12:24; Joh 15:2, Joh 15:4, Joh 15:5, Joh 15:8, Joh 15:16 : with βλαστάνειν to bring forth, Jam 5:18. Ἑιρηνικός peaceable, in N.T. Only here and Jam 3:17, as an epithet of wisdom. Quite often in lxx of men, the heart, especially of words and sacrifices. The phrase καρπός εἰρηνικός peaceable fruit (omit the), N.T.o , olxx. The phrase fruit of righteousness, Phi 1:11; Jam 3:18, and lxx, Pro 3:9; Pro 11:30; Pro 13:2; Amo 6:13 : comp. Psa 1:3; Psa 57:11. The genitive of righteousness is explicative or appositional; fruit which consists in righteousness or is righteousness.
Unto them which are exercised thereby (τοῖς δἰ αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις)
Who have been subjected to the severe discipline of suffering, and have patiently undergone it. For the verb see on Ti1 4:7. Rend. "it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness." This preserves the Greek order, and puts righteousness in its proper, emphatic position. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Now all chastening - Whether from our earthly or heavenly Father, Is for the present grievous, yet it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness - Holiness and happiness. To them that are exercised thereby - That receive this exercise as from God, and improve it according to his will. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous - Neither correction, wholesome restraint, domestic regulations, nor gymnastic discipline, are pleasant to them that are thus exercised; but it is by these means that obedient children, scholars, and great men are made. And it is by God's discipline that Christians are made. He who does not bear the yoke of Christ is good for nothing to others, and never gains rest to his own soul.
The peaceable fruit of righteousness - i.e. The joyous, prosperous fruits; those fruits by which we gain much, and through which we are made happy.
Exercised thereby - Γεγυμνασμενοις· To the trained. There is still an allusion to the Grecian games; and in the word before us to those gymnastic exercises by which the candidates for the prizes were trained to the different kinds of exercises in which they were to contend when the games were publicly opened. |
3 And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of an upright rule will be to take away fear for ever.
11 Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
7 My little children, let no man take you out of the true way: he who does righteousness is upright, even as he is upright;
7 But have nothing to do with unclean and foolish stories. Give yourself training in religion:
11 Be lifted up, O God, higher than the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth.
3 He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings.
13 You whose joy is in a thing of no value, who say, Have we not taken for ourselves horns by the strength which is ours?
2 A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.
30 The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life, but violent behaviour takes away souls.
9 Give honour to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first-fruits of all your increase:
18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace for those who make peace.
11 Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
17 But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy, then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not seeming other than it is.
18 And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.
16 You did not take me for yourselves, but I took you for myself; and I gave you the work of going about and producing fruit which will be for ever; so that whatever request you make to the Father in my name he may give it to you.
8 Here is my Father's glory, in that you give much fruit and so are my true disciples.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches: he who is in me at all times as I am in him, gives much fruit, because without me you are able to do nothing.
4 Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me.
2 He takes away every branch in me which has no fruit, and every branch which has fruit he makes clean, so that it may have more fruit.
24 Truly I say to you, If a seed of grain does not go into the earth and come to an end, it is still a seed and no more; but through its death it gives much fruit.
43 For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit.
8 Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.
17 Even so, every good tree gives good fruit; but the bad tree gives evil fruit.
10 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire.
8 Let your change of heart be seen in your works:
8 And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, coming up and increasing, and giving thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.
8 And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.
2 In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations.
10 For they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.