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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 Numbers 27:16 and Hebrews 12:9

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Numbers, Moses calls God “the God of the spirits of all humankind” when asking for a successor to lead Israel. Later texts interpreted this in many different ways, and Hebrews follows one interpretive tradition by calling God the “Father of spirits.”

Passages

Numbers 27:16

Hebrew Bible
14 For in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you rebelled against my command to show me as holy before their eyes over the water—the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.” 15 Then Moses spoke to the Lord: 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, appoint a man over the community, 17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Hebrews 12:9

New Testament
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

"... There are only 3 occasions in the NT where a concept of God's fatherhood appears which is without a Christological anchor. In Ephesians 3:14 God in his capacity as creator of the world is called "the Father ... (of) every family (patria) in heaven and on earth." In Hebrews 12:9 in his capacity as the creator of men's souls he is called 'Father of spirits.' In James 1:17 as creator of the stars, he is called 'Father of lights' (compare Apocalypse of Moses 36:3). It is possible that in these passages we see a trace of the Greek concept of the universal fatherhood of God ... The saying in Mark 14:38 that 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak' is not an OT quotation, and is thought by some to be Pauline or to come from Hel. Wisdom literature. But Taylor sees it anticipated by Numbers 27:16; Isaiah 31:3 ..."
Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 1:621, 677.

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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Numbers 27:16 and Hebrews 12:9

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