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Selected Verse: Hebrews 12:9 - Basic English
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Heb 12:9 |
Basic English |
And again, if the fathers of our flesh gave us punishment and had our respect, how much more will we be under the authority of the Father of spirits, and have life? |
| |
King James |
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? |
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] |
fathers . . . which corrected us--rather as Greek, "We had the fathers of our flesh as correctors."
subjection--See the punishment of insubordination, Deu 21:18.
Father of spirits--contrasted with "the fathers of our flesh." "Generation by men is carnal, by God is spiritual" [BENGEL]. As "Father of spirits," He is both the Originator, and the Providential and Gracious Sustainer, at once of animal and spiritual life. Compare "and LIVE," namely, spiritually; also Heb 12:10, "that we might be partakers of His holiness" (Pe2 1:4). God is a spirit Himself, and the Creator of spirits like Himself, in contrast to men who are flesh, and the progenitors of flesh (Joh 3:6). Jesus our pattern "learned obedience" experimentally by suffering (Heb 5:8).
and live--and so, thereby live spiritually and eternally. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Furthermore - As an additional consideration to induce us to receive chastisement with submission. The argument in this verse is derived from the difference in the spirit and design with which we are corrected by God and by an earthly parent. In God everything is without any intermingling of passion or any improper feeling. In an earthly parent there is often much that is the result of hasty emotion, of an irascible temper, perhaps of the mere love of power. There is much that is inflicted without due reflection, and that produces only pain in the bosom of the parent himself in the recollection. Yet with all this imperfection of parental government, we were patient and unmurmuring. How much more should we submit to one whose paternal discipline is caused by no excited feeling; by no love of power; by no want of reflection, and which never furnishes occasion for regret!
Fathers of our flesh - Earthly fathers; those from whom we have derived our being here. They are contrasted here with God, who is called "the Father of spirits," not because the father does not sustain the paternal relation to the soul as well as the body, but to designate the nature of the dominion over us. The dominion of God is what pertains to a spiritual kingdom, having more direct reference to the discipline of the soul, and being designed to prepare us for the spiritual world; that of the earthly father pertains primarily to our condition here, and the discipline is designed to subdue our unruly passions, to teach us to restrain our appetites, to inculcate maxims of health and prosperity, and to prevent those things which would impede our happiness in the present world. See, however, many curious instances of the manner in which these phrases were used by the Jewish writers, collected by Wetstein.
We gave them reverence - We submitted to them; honored them; loved them. Painful at the time as correction may have been, yet when we have fully understood the design of it, we have loved them the more. The effect of such discipline, properly administered, is to produce real veneration for a parent - for he who in a timely and appropriate manner restrains his child is the only one who will secure ultimate reverence and respect.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection - Since God's government is so much more perfect; since he has so much better right to control us; and since his administration is free from all the defects which attend parental discipline on earth, there is a much higher reason for bowing with submission and reverence to him.
The Father of spirits - Thus, in Num 16:22, God is called "the God of the spirits of all flesh;" so also Num 27:16; compare Job 33:4. The idea seems to be that, as the soul is the most important part of man, this name is given to God by way of eminence, or he is eminently and supremely our Father. It was his to create the immortal part, and to that spirit which is never to die he sustains the relation of Father. The earthly father is parent to the man as mortal; God is the Father of man as immortal. God is himself a spirit. Angels and human souls, therefore, may be represented as especially his offspring. It is the highest designation which could be given to God to say that he is at the head of the universe of mind; not implying that he is not also at the head of the material universe, but designing to bring into view this high characteristic of the Almighty, that all created minds throughout the universe sustain to him the relation of children. To this Great Being we should, therefore, more cheerfully subject ourselves than to an earthly parent.
And live - Meaning that his fatherly chastisements are adapted to secure our spiritual life. He corrects us that he may promote our final happiness, and his inflictions are the means of saving us from eternal death. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Furthermore (εἷτα)
Everywhere else in N.T. this particle marks a succession of time or incident. See Mar 4:17; Mar 8:25; Luk 8:12; Co1 15:5, Co1 15:7. Here it introduces a new phase of the subject under discussion.
Fathers of our flesh (τοὺς μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν πατέρας)
Up to this point the suffering of Christians has been explained by God's fatherly relation to them. Now the emphatic point is that their fathers, with whom God is compared, were only earthly, human parents. The phrase πατέρας τῆς σαρκὸς N.T.o , but kindred expressions are found Rom 4:1, Rom 9:3; Gal 4:29; Heb 2:14.
Which corrected (παιδευτὰς)
Lit. "we have had fathers of our flesh as chasteners." Only here and Rom 2:20. In lxx, Sir. 37:19; Hos 5:2; 4 Macc. 5:34; 9:6.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection (οὐ πολὺ μάλλον ὑποταγησόμεθα)
The comparison is between the respect paid to a fallible, human parent, which may grow out of the natural relation, or may be due to fear, and the complete subjection to the divine Father.
To the Father of spirits (τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων)
Contrasted with fathers of the flesh. Their relation to us is limited; his is universal. They are related to us on the fleshly side; he is the creator of our essential life. Our relation to him is on the side of our eternal being. Comp. Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24; Zac 12:1; Isa 57:16. The phrase N.T.o. Comp. lxx, Num 16:22; Num 27:16; Rev 22:6. Clement of Rome styles God the benefactor (εὐεργέτης) of spirits, the creator and overseer (κτίστης, ἐπίσκοπος) of every spirit, and the Lord (δεσπότης) of spirits. Ad Corinth. lix, lxiv.
And live (καὶ ζήσομεν)
Have true life; not limited to the future life. Comp. Joh 5:26; Joh 6:57; Jo1 5:11; Rev 11:11; Act 16:28; Rom 6:11; Rom 14:8; Jo1 4:9, and see on living God, Heb 3:12. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| And we reverenced them - We neither despised nor fainted under their correction. Shall we not much rather - Submit with reverence and meekness To the Father of spirits - That we may live with him for ever. Perhaps these expressions, fathers of our flesh, and Father of spirits, intimate that our earthly fathers are only the parents of our bodies, our souls not being originally derived from them, but all created by the immediate power of God; perhaps, at the beginning of the world. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| We have had fathers of our flesh - The fathers of our flesh, i.e. our natural parents, were correctors; and we reverenced them, notwithstanding their corrections often arose from whim or caprice: but shall we not rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits; to him from whom we have received both body and soul; who is our Creator, Preserver, and Supporter; to whom both we and our parents owe our life and our blessings; and who corrects us only for our profit; that we may live and be partakers of his holiness? The apostle in asking, Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? alludes to the punishment of the stubborn and rebellious son, Deu 21:18-21 : "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and mother lay hold on him and bring him to the elders of the city, and they shall say, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice: and all the men of the city shall stone him with stones that he Die." Had he been subject to his earthly parents, he would have lived; because not subject, he dies. If we be subject to our heavenly Father, we shall Live, and be partakers of his holiness; if not, we shall Die, and be treated as bastards and not sons. This is the sum of the apostle's meaning; and the fact and the law to which he alludes. |
8 And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God's orders;
6 That which has birth from the flesh is flesh, and that which has birth from the Spirit is spirit.
4 And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in the world through the desires of the flesh.
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.
18 If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:
4 The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.
16 Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, put a man at the head of this people,
22 Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
12 My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God:
9 And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
8 As long as we have life we are living to the Lord; or if we give up our life it is to the Lord; so if we are living, or if our life comes to an end, we are the Lord's.
11 Even so see yourselves as dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.
28 But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here.
11 And after three days and a half the breath of life from God went into them, and they got up on their feet; and great fear came on those who saw them.
11 And his witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
57 As the living Father has sent me, and I have life because of the Father, even so he who takes me for his food will have life because of me.
26 For even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself.
6 And he said to me, These words are certain and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to make clear to his servants the things which are now to come about.
16 Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, put a man at the head of this people,
22 Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
16 For I will not give punishment for ever, or be angry without end: for from me breath goes out; and I it was who made the souls.
1 The word of the Lord about Israel. The Lord by whom the heavens are stretched out and the bases of the earth put in place, and the spirit of man formed inside him, has said:
24 God is Spirit: then let his worshippers give him worship in the true way of the spirit.
23 But the time is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will give worship to the Father in the true way of the spirit, for these are the worshippers desired by the Father.
2 They have gone deep in the evil ways of Shittim, but I am the judge of all.
20 A teacher of the foolish, having in the law the form of knowledge and of what is true;
14 And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;
29 But as in those days he who had birth after the flesh was cruel to him who had birth after the Spirit, even so it is now.
3 For I have a desire to take on myself the curse for my brothers, my family in the flesh:
1 What, then, may we say that Abraham, our father after the flesh, has got?
7 Then he was seen by James; then by all the Apostles.
5 And he was seen by Cephas; then by the twelve;
12 Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.
25 Then again he put his hands on his eyes; and looking hard, he was able to see, and saw all things clearly.
17 And they have no root in themselves, but go on for a time; then, when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, they quickly become full of doubts.
18 If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:
19 Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place;
20 And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.
21 Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear.