Text -- Hebrews 10:31-39 (NET)

10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 10:32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 10:33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 10:34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. 10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. 10:37 For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. 10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. 10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Heb 10:34

¹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א D² 1881 Ï), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmoi" mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so Ì⁴⁶ Ψ 104 pc), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmioi"), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.

² tn Grk “you yourselves.”

NET Notes: Heb 10:35

¹ tn Grk “which,” but showing the reason.

NET Notes: Heb 10:36

¹ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

NET Notes: Heb 10:37

¹ sn A quotation from Isa 26:20.

² sn A quotation from Hab 2:3.

NET Notes: Heb 10:38

¹ tn Grk “my soul.”

² sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

NET Notes: Heb 10:39

¹ tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”