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Hebrews

About this book
Chapter 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,⁠ 2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,⁠ the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you.⁠ 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”⁠ 7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits⁠ and receive life?⁠ 10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees,⁠ 13 and make straight paths for your feet,⁠ so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed. 14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord.⁠ 15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble,⁠ and through it many become defiled. 16 And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears. 18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind⁠ 19 and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more. 20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”⁠ 21 In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”⁠ 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly 23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,⁠ 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. 25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.”⁠ 27 Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. 28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 39:9 and Hebrews 12:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Hebrews 12 refers to God as the “Father of spirits,” a divine title used only once in the New Testament but frequently used in 1 Enoch, including the similar title the “Lord of Spirits.”

Passages

1 Enoch 39:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 I saw his dwelling place under the wings of the Lord of Spirits. All the righteous and the elect before Him will be strong as fiery lights, and their mouths will be full of blessing, and their lips will praise the name of the Lord of Spirits, and righteousness before Him will never fail, and uprightness will never fail before Him. 8 There I longed to dwell, and my spirit yearned for that dwelling place; and there my portion has been from before, for so it has been established for me before the Lord of Spirits. 9 In those days I praised and exalted the name of the Lord of Spirits with blessings and praises, because He has destined me for blessing and glory according to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits. 10 For a long time my eyes gazed on that place, and I blessed Him and praised Him, saying: 'Blessed is He, and may He be blessed from the beginning and forever.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Hebrews 12:9

New Testament
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” 7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? 10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hebrews

References

"... Angels serve God in different functions in Jewish literature: they are (a) angelic revealers or heavenly guides for those such as Enoch who visit heaven in apocalyptic visions; (b) they serve in a cultic capacity within the heavenly sanctuary, primarily praising God, but also “standing at his side and serving his will”; and they (c) serve as messengers or helpers of God to humanity. Early Jewish literature understood angels as mere “servants” of God. 1 Enoch speaks frequently of “the Lord of the Spirits” – which reminds strongly of the formulation in Hebrews 12:9: “Father of spirits” (τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευµάτων). Philo refers to ἄγγελοι λειτουργοί (Virtues 74) and so does the Testament of Levi (“there with him are the archangels, who serve and offer propitiatory sacrifices to the Lord,” Testament of Levi 3:5). In the quotation from Psalm 103:4 (LXX) in Hebrews 1:7, it is particularly the λειτουργοί who are made “flames of fire” – which should be understood in a cultic sense as the LXX versions use the term overwhelmingly in a cultic manner ..."
Gert J. Steyn, “Hebrews’ Angelology in the Light of Early Jewish Apocalyptic Imagery,” Journal of Early Christian History 1.1 (2011): 143–164.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Enoch 39:9 and Hebrews 12:9

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