12:1 (THGNT): Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα καὶ τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν, δι᾽ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα
NET: "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,"
KJV: "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,"
J.B. Phillips NT: "Surrounded then as we are by these serried ranks of witnesses, let us strip off everything that hinders us, as well as the sin which dogs our feet, and let us run the race that we have to run with patience"
Donald Guthrie (Hebrews, 319-320): The writer next turns his attention to the preparation necessary before the contestants begin the race. The imagery is drawn from the rigorous approach of Greek athletes to training. Nothing which adds weight is retained; all but the bare essentials must be laid aside. As the writer goes on to give a spiritual interpretation of possible encumbrances by referring to sin which clings so closely, there can be no doubt that the weight (onkon, found only here in the New Testament) is also intended to be applied metaphorically of any affairs which would impede a Christian convert in his new faith. The nature of the clinging sin is not defined, so as to have the widest possible application. The word translated clings (euperistaton) occurs here only in the New Testament and is of uncertain meaning. Moulton¹⁵ lists four possibilities: (i) easily avoided, (ii) admired, (iii) easily surrounding, i.e. besetting, (iv) dangerous (from the sense, ‘having easy distress’). The RSV approximates to the third. Whatever the precise meaning it is evident that the writer regards sin as a major impediment in the spiritual race. It must not be supposed that any particular sin – a besetting sin – is in mind. It is rather sin itself which is the hindrance.
I've found that I understand most of the material in the New Testament that addresses the ransom/atonement in a theological manner much better when I think of "Sin" as a force, a kind of power that rules over mankind (Beverly Geventa, one of my favorite scholars from the apocalyptic Paul school of thought, posits the three powers overcome by Christ in Paul's theology are Sin, Death, and Satan, and that these are all in a certain sense, personal, but are all powers that enslave man.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how well that model fits with Hebrews (and I don't agree with her on all the details), but I think sin as a power that enslaves mankind, that causes individual sins, and which individual sins also empower, is the best way to look at, at least the Pauline, atonement.
I've not gone into the scholarship on Hebrews much, it might be the most difficult book in the New Testament (you gotta pick your battles :))... for me at least.
Those are some interesting thoughts and I don't have major issues wqith portraying sin that way although I'm inclined to conceive sin as having a subjective and objective side: i.e., the law of sin and death operating within us versus sin as breach of the divine covenant. See Romans 8 and Galatians 3:19ff. Romans 3-4 touch on these issues as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Hebrews , chapters 8-10 contain some penetrating statrements about sin. The letter to the Hebrews is a fascinating and challenging work: George Guthrie compared the writer of Hebrews to a spiritual Mozart.
I understand what you mean about picking your battles :)
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