--- title: "Hebrews 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Hebrews 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 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 u" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12" --- [ Read](/kjv/hebrews/12)[ Commentary](/study/hebrews/12)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/hebrews/12) Audio 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, 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. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 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? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened *us* after their own pleasure; but he for *our* profit, that *we* might be partakers of his holiness. 11 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. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14 Follow peace with all *men*, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble *you*, and thereby many be defiled; 16 Lest there *be* any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which *voice* they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21 And so terrible was the sight, *that* Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than *that of* Abel. 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more *shall not* we *escape*, if we turn away from him that *speaketh* from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this *word*, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God *is* a consuming fire. [Hebrews 11](/study/hebrews/11) [Hebrews 13](/study/hebrews/13) ## Commentary To verse 1 Verse [Hebrews 12:1](/kjv/hebrews/12/1). ***Wherefore*** — This is an inference drawn from the examples produced in the preceding chapter, and on this account both should be read in connection. ***Compassed about*** — Here is another allusion to the *Olympic games*: the *agonistae*, or contenders, were often greatly animated by the consideration that the eyes of the *principal men* of their country were fixed upon them; and by this they were induced to make the most extraordinary exertions. ***Cloud of witnesses*** — νεφος μαρτυρων. Both the *Greeks* and *Latins* frequently use the term *cloud*, to express a *great number* of persons or things; so in *Euripides*, Phoeniss. ver. 257: νεφος ασπιδων πυκνον, a *dense cloud of shields*; and *Statius*, Thebiad., lib. ix., ver. 120: *jaculantum nubes*, a cloud of spearmen. The same metaphor frequently occurs. ***Let us lay aside every weight*** — As those who ran in the Olympic races would throw aside every thing that might impede them in their course; so Christians, professing to go to heaven, must throw aside every thing that might hinder them in their Christian race. Whatever weighs down our hearts or affections to earth and sense is to be carefully avoided; for no man, with the love of the world in his heart, can ever reach the kingdom of heaven. ***The sin which doth so easily beset*** — ευπεριστατον αμαρτιαν. *The* *well circumstanced sin*; that which has every thing in its favour, *time*, and *place*, and *opportunity*; the *heart* and the *object;* and a sin in which all these things frequently occur, and consequently the transgression is frequently committed. ευπεριστατος is derived from ευ, *well*, περι, *about*, and ιστημι *I stand*; the sin that stands well, or is favourably situated, ever surrounding the person and soliciting his acquiescence. What *we* term the *easily besetting sin* is the sin of our constitution, the sin of our trade, that in which our worldly honour, secular profit, and sensual gratification are most frequently felt and consulted. Some understand it of *original* *sin*, as that by which we are enveloped in body, soul, and spirit. Whatever it may be, the word gives us to understand that it is what meets us at every turn; that it is always presenting itself to us; that as a pair of compasses describe a circle by the revolution of one leg, while the other is at rest in the centre, so this, springing from that point of corruption within, called the *carnal mind*, surrounds us in every place; we are *bounded* by it, and often hemmed in on every side; it is a circular, well fortified wall, over which we must leap, or through which we must break. The man who is addicted to a particular species of sin (for every sinner has *his way*) is represented as a prisoner in this strong fortress. In laying aside the weight, there is an allusion to the long garments worn in the eastern countries, which, if not laid aside or tucked up in the girdle, would greatly incommode the traveller, and utterly prevent a man from running a race. The easily besetting sin of the Hebrews was an aptness to be drawn aside from their attachment to the Gospel, for fear of persecution. ***Let us run with patience the race*** — Τρεχωμεν τον προκειμενον ἡμιν αγωνα· Let us *start, run on*, and *continue running*, till we get to the goal. This figure is a favourite among the Greek writers; so *Euripides*, Alcest,, ver. 489: Ου τον δ' αγωνα πρωτον αν δραμοιμ' εγω· *This is not the first race that I shall run*. Id. Iphig. in Aulid., ver. 1456: Δεινους αγωνας δια σε κεινον δει δραμειν· *He must run a hard race for thee*. This is a race which is of infinite moment to us: the prize is ineffably great; and, if we lose it, it is not a simple loss, for the whole soul perishes. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12","name":"Hebrews 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Hebrews 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 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 u","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews","name":"Hebrews"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/hebrews/12","name":"12"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```