looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it,
Parallel Translations
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looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it,
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And looke to that no man be destitute of the grace of God and that no rote of bitternes springe vp and trouble and therby many be defiled:
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Take heede, that no man fall away from the grace of God: let no roote of bitternes spring vp and trouble you, lest thereby many be defiled.
Cross-references (39)
Passages linked to Hebrews 12:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
- Deuteronomy 29:18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;
- Galatians 5:4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain,
- 2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
- Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
- Jeremiah 2:21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
- 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
- Hebrews 4:1 Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
- 2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
- Hebrews 4:11 Let’s therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.
- Jude 1:20-21 But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
- 1 Kings 14:16 He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.
- 2 Timothy 2:16-17 But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness, and those words will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus:
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children—
- Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.
- Hebrews 6:11 We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
- Hebrews 10:23-35 let’s hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings; partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens. Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.
- Exodus 32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
- Joshua 7:25-26 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.
- Joshua 22:17-20 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar. Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”
- Matthew 7:16-18 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
- 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
- Galatians 2:13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
- Ephesians 5:3 But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
- Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
- 2 Peter 2:1-2 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
- 2 Peter 2:18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
- Joshua 6:18 But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.
- Isaiah 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
- Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
- Acts 20:30-31 Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
- Hebrews 2:1-2 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,
- 2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
- 2 Peter 3:11 Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. Looking diligently, or, taking care, or, attentively providing,…
15. Looking diligently, or, taking care, or, attentively providing, etc. By these words he intimates that it is easy to fall away from the grace of God; for it is not without reason that attention is required, because as soon as Satan sees us secure or remiss, he instantly circumvents us. We have, in short, need of striving and vigilance, if we would persevere in the grace of God.
Moreover, under the word grace, he includes our whole vocation. If any one hence infers that the grace of God is not efficacious, except we of our own selves cooperate with it, the argument is frivolous. We know how great is the slothfulness of our flesh; it therefore wants continual incentives; but when the Lord stimulates us by warning and exhortation, he at the same time moves and stirs up our hearts, that his exhortations may not be in vain, or pass away without effect. Then from precepts and exhortations we are not to infer what man can do of himself, or what is the power of freewill; for doubtless the attention or diligence which the Apostle requires here is the gift of God.
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Lest any root, etc. I doubt not but that he refers to a passage written by Moses in Deuteronomy 29:18; for after having promulgated the Law, Moses exhorted the people to beware, lest any root germinating should bear gall and wormwood among them. He afterwards explained what he meant, that is, lest any one, felicitating himself in sin, and like the drunken who are wont to excite thirst, stimulating sinful desires, should bring on a contempt of God through the alluring of hope of impunity. The same is what the Apostle speaks of now; for he foretells what will take place, that is, if we suffer such a root to grow, it will corrupt and defile many; he not only bids every one to irradiate such a pest from their hearts, but he also forbids them to allow it to grow among them. It cannot be indeed but that these roots will ever be found in the Church, for hypocrites and the ungodly are always mixed with the good; but when they spring up they ought to be cut down, lest by growing they should choke the good seed.
He mentions bitterness for what Moses calls gall and wormwood; but both meant to express a root that is poisonous and deadly. Since then it is so fatal an evil, with more earnest effort it behooves us to check it, lest it should rise and creep farther.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That no heresy, or backsliding be an offense.
That no heresy, or backsliding be an offense.
We must study to edify one another, both in doctrine and example of life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the…
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;
Ver. 15. Lest any man fail] Or, fall short, as Heb 4:1; see the note there. Short shooting loseth many a game. He that in a race lieth down ere he come to the goal, gets not the garland. Perseverance crowns all our virtues. But it is an easy thing to fall a napping with the foolish virgins (yea, the wise also slumbered), which will prove to our cost when God shall send forth summons for sleepers.
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Lest any root of bitterness] Any scandalous sin, to the corrupting of others and the corroding of our own consciences, and out of which we recover not without much ado, till we have felt what an evil and bitter thing sin is, as David did, Psa 51:1-19.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To further their pursuit of peace and holiness, he…
To further their pursuit of peace and holiness, he metaphorically proposeth a caution against what might stop them in it, which he properly specifieth and exemplifieth in Esau, Heb 12:15-17.
Looking diligently: επισκοπουντες notes a very strict and severe inspecting themselves; its primitive, σκοπειν, signifieth such a looking to a thing, as those who, in shooting, aim at the mark; and the preposition adds intention to the action, signifying a most earnest care in Christians over themselves, in them over others, and in ministers over them all.
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Lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any person among them should fail of grace offered in the gospel to it, and never have it, Tit 2:11,12; or apostatize from the profession of it, by seduction or persecution, Heb 4:1; 10:38; 2Co 6:1; compare Gal 1:6; 3:3.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you; a metaphor borrowed from plants, to which roots are proper, and which was used by Moses before, Deu 29:18; a root bearing a poisonful herb; intending by it such persons, whose nature, words, and works, are so bitter unto God, as gall and wormwood are to men; such as apostatized from God to idols. The apostle intending hereby the hindering the springing up and growing of errors, heresies, or immoralities, as profaneness, filthiness, &c., which are apt to infect churches, and, as they spread, to molest, trouble, and disturb them, and to keep them from pursuing holiness, Heb 3:8; Hos 12:14; Gal 1:;7 Jam 3:14.
And thereby many be defiled; lest by but one such poisonous root, a whole church of Christians may be infected and poisoned, their sin being as apt to spread and diffuse itself, as leaven, 1Co 5:6, to taint the whole lump, Gal 5:9; and how early, even in the apostles’ time, for want of obeying this caution, were the primitive churches corrupted, both in doctrine and morals, by loose, filthy heretics among them!
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our apostle having declared what our duty is with…
Our apostle having declared what our duty is with respect to ourselves, in the the foregoing verses, here acquaints us, how much it is our duty to take care of, and watch over others, to do what in us lies, that none may fall short of the grace of God, that is, fall from the grace of God, and the profession of Christianity; so that it is very plain, that apostasy is the sin here pointed at, their falling back from Christianity to Judaism, for fear of persecution: This is deservedly called a root of bitterness springing up, according to Deu 29:18 A root that beareth gall and wormwood.
Learn hence, 1. That looking diligently unto the good of others, and to prevent their falling into sin, especially into the sin of apostasy, is a duty we are obliged to by the light of nature and the royal law of love.
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Learn, 2. That the root of apostasy from God, and the profession of Christianity, may abide invisibly in and among eminent professors of religion. It is here called a root, because at the beginning it is hidden in the hearts of men, and cannot be discovered until it springs up; and it is called a root of bitterness, because of its noxious and poisonous qualities, its bitter effects and fruits.
Learn, 3. That there is no man professing the gospel who comes short of the grace of God, but it is by reason of himself and his own sin. Unbelief, negligence and sloth are the true causes why such persons do fail of the grace of God: Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Lest there be any fornicator or profane person,.... The…
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person,.... The first of these is guilty of a sin against the second table of the law, as well as against his own body; and which is opposed to the holiness the apostle had before exhorted to; such who are guilty of it, are not to be continued in the communion of the church; and it is a sin, which, lived in not repented of, excludes from the kingdom of heaven: the latter is one who is a transgressor of the first table of the law; who is an idolater, a swearer, a despiser of public worship and ordinances, and who behaves irreverently in divine service, and mocks at the future state, as Esau; to whom both these characters seem to belong: and this agrees with what the Jews say concerning him: they have a tradition (w), that he committed five transgressions on the day he came out of the field weary.
"He committed idolatry: he shed innocent blood; and lay with a virgin betrothed; and denied the life of the world to come (or a future state); and despised his birthright.''
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It is elsewhere (x) a little differently expressed.
"Esau, the wicked, committed five transgressions on that day: he lay with a virgin betrothed; and killed a person; and denied the resurrection of the dead; and denied the root, or foundation, (i.e. that there is a God,) and despised his birthright; and besides, he desired his father's death, and sought to slay his brother.''
It is common for them to say of him, that he was an ungodly man; and particularly, that he was a murderer, a robber, "and an adulterer" (y); and that he has no part in the world to come (z): who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright; the account of which is in Gen 25:29 this includes all the privileges which he had a right unto by being the firstborn; as a peculiar blessing from his father; a double portion of goods; and dominion over his brethren: and it is commonly said by the Jews, that the priesthood belonged to the firstborn, before the Levitical dispensation; and that for this reason, Jacob coveted the birthright (a), Esau being a wicked man, and unfit for it. The birthright was reckoned sacred; it was typical of the primogeniture of Christ; of the adoption of saints, and of the heavenly inheritance belonging thereunto; all which were despised by Esau: and so the Jewish paraphrases (b) interpret the contempt of his birthright, a despising of his part in the world to come, and a denial of the resurrection of the dead: and his contempt of it was shown in his selling it; and this was aggravated by his selling it for "one morsel of meat"; which was bread, and pottage of lentiles, Gen 25:34. The Jewish writers speak of this bargain and sale much in the same language as the apostle here does; they say (c) of him, this is the man that sold his birthright , "for a morsel of bread"; and apply to him the passage in Pro 28:21 "for a piece of bread that man will transgress".
(w) Targum Jon. ben Uzziel in Gen. xxv. 29. (x) Shemot Rabba, sect. I. fol. 89. 3. T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 2. (y) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 27. 1. (z) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 26. 3. (a) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 56. 2. (b) Targum Hieros. & Jon. in Gen. 25. 34. Bereshit Rabba, ib. (c) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 26. 4. & 27. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Looking diligently, lest any one - If he do…
Looking diligently, lest any one - If he do not lift up the hands that hang down. Fall from the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness - Of envy, anger, suspicion. Springing up - Destroy the sweet peace; lest any, not following after holiness, fall into fornication or profaneness. In general, any corruption, either in doctrine or practice, is a root of bitterness, and may pollute many.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Looking diligently] επισκοπουντες. Looking about, over, and…
Verse 15. Looking diligently] επισκοπουντες. Looking about, over, and upon; being constantly on your guard.
Lest any man fail of the grace of God] Μη τις ὑστερων απο της χαριτος του Θεου· Lest any person should come behind, or fall off from, this grace or GIFT of God; this state of salvation, viz. the Gospel system or Christianity; for this is most evidently the meaning of the apostle. It is not the falling from a work of grace in their own souls, but from the Gospel, to apostatize from which they had now many temptations; and to guard them against this, the whole epistle was written.
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Lest any root of bitterness springing up] A root of bitterness signifies a poisonous plant. The Hebrews call every species of poison a bitter, and with considerable propriety, as most plants are poisonous in proportion to the quantum of the bitter principle they possess. The root of bitterness is here used metaphorically for a bad man, or a man holding unsound doctrines, and endeavouring to spread them in the Church.
Trouble you] This alludes to the effects of poison taken into the body: the whole animal system is disturbed, sometimes violent retchings, great disturbances through the whole alimentary canal, together with the most fatal changes in the whole sanguineous system, are the consequences of poison taken into the stomach. The blood itself (the principle, under God, of life) becomes putrescent; and probably to this the intelligent apostle alludes when he says, and thereby many be defiled, μιανθωσι, corrupted or contaminated.
Bad example and false teaching have corrupted thousands, and are still making desolation in the world and in the Church.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Heb 12:15-16. Looking diligently — With the greatest attention,…
Heb 12:15-16. Looking diligently — With the greatest attention, watchfulness, and care, for yourselves and each other; for Christ hath ordained that the members of the same church or society should mutually watch over one another, and the whole body over all the members, to their mutual edification; lest any man fail of the grace of God — That is, come short of it, or do not obtain it, as the same verb is rendered, Rom 3:23. It means also to be deficient in any thing, Mat 19:20; sometimes to come behind, 1 Corinthians 1-7; and sometimes to be destitute, Heb 11:37; which different senses of the expression are nearly allied to each other, and seem all to be here included; lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you — The apostle here alludes to Deu 29:18, Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away from the Lord, lest there should be a root that beareth gall and wormwood; and he primarily intends, lest there be any person whose heart is inclined to apostacy from the gospel. He may mean, however, also, lest any evil disposition, such as covetousness, ambition, anger, malice, envy, revenge, should spring up in any person or number of persons, and destroy the peace and harmony of the Christian society. In general, any corruption, either in doctrine or practice, is a root of bitterness, which, springing up, would trouble others, and might defile many. See note on Deu 29:18. Lest there be any fornicator — Lest any, not following after universal holiness, should be suffered to fall even into gross sin, particularly that of fornication, a sin which is most directly and particularly opposed to that holiness which the apostle has been exhorting the believing Hebrews to press after, as an attainment without which they should not see the Lord; or profane person — One who treats sacred things with contempt, or who despiseth or makes light of spiritual blessings; who neglects God’s worship, speaks irreverently of him, and of his word and ordinances; and who, in the whole of his behaviour, shows that he has no just sense of God and his attributes, or of religion, and therefore is ranked among the most flagitious sinners, 1Ti 1:9. As Esau — “We do not read that Esau was a fornicator, nor does the apostle say that he was addicted to that vice. By putting a comma after the word fornicator, and by connecting the words, or profane person, with what follows, Esau will be called only a profane person: this he showed himself to be by selling his birthright for a mess of pottage. It is true, Jacob proposed to him to sell these, not, however, as taking advantage of his necessity, but,” as Macknight thinks, “because he had heard him on former occasions speak contemptuously of his birthrights. For what else could put it into Jacob’s mind to make the proposition? Therefore, when, instead of going into his father’s tent, where he might have got food, Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, he showed the greatest profanity; for in the family of Abraham the birthright entitled the eldest son to spiritual as well as temporal privileges; he had a right to the priesthood, Exo 19:22; and to a double portion, Deu 21:17; and was lord over his brethren, Gen 27:29; Gen 27:37; Gen 49:3. Further, in that family the firstborn, as the root of the people of God, conveyed to his posterity all the blessings promised in the covenant: such as a right to possess the land of Canaan, and to be the father of him in whom all nations were to be blessed, and to explain and confirm these promises to his children in his dying blessing to them, of which we have a remarkable example in Jacob, Genesis 49.” See note on Gen 25:29-34.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Looking diligently - This phrase implies close attention. It…
Looking diligently - This phrase implies close attention. It is implied that there are reasons why we should take special care. Those reasons are found in the propensities of our hearts to evil; in the temptations of the world; in the allurements to apostasy presented by the great adversary of our souls.
Lest any man fail - As every man is in danger, it is his personal duty to see to it that his salvation be secure.
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Fail of the grace of God - Margin, “fail from.” The Greek is, “lest any one be wanting or lacking” - ὑστερῶν husterōn. There is no intimation in the words used here that they already had grace and might fall away - whatever might he true about that - but that there was danger that they might be found at last to be deficient in that religion which was necessary to save them. Whether this was to be by losing the religion which they now had, or by the fact that they never had any however near they may have come to it - the apostle does not here intimate, and this passage should not be used in the discussion of the question about failing from grace. It is a proper exhortation to be addressed to any man in the church or out of it, to inquire diligently whether there is not reason to apprehend that when he comes to appear before God he will be found to be wholly destitute of religion.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up - Any bitter root. There is doubtless an allusion here to Deu 29:18. “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood.” The allusion there is to those who were idolaters, and who instead of bearing the fruits of righteousness, and promoting the piety and happiness of the nation, would bear the fruits of idolatry, and spread abroad irreligion and sin. The allusion, in both cases, is to a bitter plant springing up among those that were cultivated for ornament or use, or to a tree bearing bitter and poisonous fruit, among those that produced good fruit. The reference of the apostle is to some person who should produce a similar effect in the church - to one who should inculcate false doctrines; or who should apostatize; or who should lead an unholy life, and thus be the means of corrupting and destroying others. They were to be at especial pains that no such person should start up from among themselves, or be tolerated by them.
Trouble you - By his doctrines and example.
And thereby many be defiled - Led away from the faith and corrupted. One wicked man, and especially one hypocrite in the church, may be the means of destroying many others.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Be wanting to the grace of God, by resisting…
Be wanting to the grace of God, by resisting and abusing his favours, or by falling from the grace of God received. --- Lest any root of bitterness, &c. He means scandalous wicked persons, by whom others are infected, defiled, and corrupted. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain lest any . . . fall--Greek, "lest any (namely,…
lest any . . . fall--Greek, "lest any (namely, through sloth in running) failing," or "falling short of the grace of God . . . trouble you." The image is taken from a company of travellers, one of whom lags behind, and so never reaches the end of the long and laborious journey [CHRYSOSTOM].
root of bitterness--not merely a "bitter root," which might possibly bring forth sweet fruits; this, a root whose essence is "bitterness," never could. Paul here refers to Deu 29:18, "Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (compare Act 8:23). Root of bitterness comprehends every person (compare Heb 12:16) and every principle of doctrine or practice so radically corrupt as to spread corruption all around. The only safety is in rooting out such a root of bitterness.
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many--rather, "the many," that is, the whole congregation. So long as it is hidden under the earth it cannot be remedied, but when it "springs up," it must be dealt with boldly. Still remember the caution (Mat 13:26-30) as to rooting out persons. No such danger can arise in rooting out bad principles.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. Looking diligently—The Greek might be rendered episcopizing; the…
15. Looking diligently—The Greek might be rendered episcopizing; the word from which bishop is derived. Every Christian should be bishop in this respect, watching for the purity of the Church.
Root of bitterness— Not a principle or an event, but a person, who springs up like a poisonous plant in a garden, and whose noxious quality is contagious. So Christ is beautifully called the “root of David;” and, in the Apocrypha, Antiochus Epiphanes is called “a sinful root.” But the allusion here is to Deu_29:18 : “Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood.”
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Trouble—By a curious coincidence the Greek words in Deu_29:18, “in gall,” εν χολη, are the same as this trouble, ενοχλη, with one letter transposed. This is, perhaps, a slight word-play by our author. The Alexandrian text of the Septuagint has more nearly the precise words of Paul, but Delitzsch thinks that text to have been changed into conformity with his words.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. lest any man fail of the grace of…
15. lest any man fail of the grace of God] Lit. “whether there be any man who is falling short of,” or possibly “falling back from the grace of God.” We have already noticed that not improbably the writer has in view some one individual instance of a tendency towards apostasy, which might have a fatal influence upon other weary or wavering brethren (comp. Heb_3:12).
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you] The words “root of bitterness” are a reference to Deu_29:18, “a root that beareth gall and wormwood,” or, as in the margin, “a poisonful herb.” Here the LXX. in the Vatican MS. has ἐν χολῇ, “in gall,” for ἐνοχλῇ, “should trouble you.” But the Alexandrian ms., which the writer habitually follows in his quotations, has ἐνοχλῇ. Some have supposed that there is a curious allusion to this verse, and to the reading “in gall” in the apparent reference to this Epistle by the Muratorian canon as “the Epistle to the Alexandrians current under the name of Paul, but forged in the interests of Marcion’s heresy,” which adds that “gall ought not to be mixed with honey.” The allusion is, however, very doubtful.
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many be defiled] Rather, “the many.” Comp. 1Co_5:6 (“a little leaven”); 1Co_15:33 (“evil communications”); Gal_5:9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) Lest any man fail.—Rather, whether any one be…
(15) Lest any man fail.—Rather, whether any one be falling back from the grace of God. The defection of one member of the community brings loss and danger to the whole body. The last words of Heb_10:26 will show what is implied in this “falling back from the grace of God.”
Any root of bitterness.—It is clear that Deu_29:18, though not formally quoted, is before the writer’s mind. In that chapter Moses had again brought before the people the covenant which, nearly forty years before, had been made and ratified “in Horeb” (see Heb_9:18-20). With especial solemnity he sets before them the sin and terrible punishment of idolatry, “Lest there should be among you man or woman . . . whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood.” The marginal note on the last words (“poisonful herb”) explains their true meaning—that which springs from the root is not merely bitter, it is also poisonous. Again, therefore (see Heb_10:27-28; Heb_10:30), the apostasy to which the Hebrew Christians were tempted is compared with the sin committed by those who by idolatry fell away from God’s ancient covenant; and as one idol-worshipper in a community might bring into it a root of bitter poison, so one apostate from the Christian faith would bring trouble and defilement on the Church. In Act_8:23 St. Peter makes reference to the same chapter of Deuteronomy as he speaks to Simon Magus, who, above all other men, proved a root of bitter poison in the early Church.
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Many.—Rather, the many (according to the best reading)—i.e., the whole community.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace…
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God (i.e. fall short of it; or, usterwn being here followed by apo , the idea may be rather that of falling back from it); lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many (or, according to the more probable reading, the many, i.e. the general community) be defiled. In this, the usual rendering of the verse, h is supplied, so as to make mhtiv usterwn mean "lest there be any one that fails." But this is not necessary; the verb enoclh ("trouble you") may be common both to the first mhtiv and to mhtiv riza , thus: "Lest any one failing... lest any root... trouble you. " The sentence may have been broken off after its first clause in order to bring in the appropriate quotation from Deu_29:18, which in our A.V runs thus: "Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood." The Vatican text of the LXX has Mhtiv estiza anw fuousa en colh kai pikria : the Alexandrian, which seems to be followed here, has Mhtiv estiza pikoiav anw fuousa ekoglh kai pikria . The reference in the speech of Moses is to the future possibility of any "man, or we man, or family, or tribe" turning from the LORD to go and serve the gods of the nations, and so involving, not only themselves, but even the whole people in a curse. The figure is that of a plant being allowed to grow of such a nature at its root as to bear bitter and pernicious fruit. There is no special allusion in the word "bitterness" to disturbance of "peace" by dissensions; for this is not the idea in the original passage, nor is it carried out in the following verses of the Epistle. (Cf. Act_8:23, "Thou art in the gall of bitterness (eiv colhav)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Lest any man fail of the grace of God
Heb_12:15-17
Lest any man fail of the grace of God
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Are you a failure?
The wish to succeed is natural. It is seen in a little child, who will sometimes shed tears if he happen to lose the race which he runs with other children. The desire not only to do well, but to excel is the prevailing aspiration with all sane men and women. But the best men always feel as if they came short of the excellence they desire. One of the most eminent and beloved bishops of the Church of England had a book which he intended no one to see but himself, but he omitted to destroy it before he died; and in this book he had written under his name this sentence, A man who has failed to accomplish his ideal. Yet he was, indeed, a good man. When John Knox was on his death-bed, his friends said of him in his presence, How pleasing for him now to remember the great deeds he has done for the gospel of Christ! He replied, I bid yon hush. Do not by such remarks add to the reproaches of my conscience, which upbraids me for the many things I have left undone, and the numberless things I ought not to have done; God be merciful to me a sinner! When wise and good men do succeed, they feel that the result is scarcely due to their efforts, but to the working of the Spirit of God within them. A true artist forgets himself, thinking only of his work, and when he receives praise feels that he is merely the hand used by the spirit of art. In his finest strains the poet feels that it is not his own mind but the Divine muse, which possesses and inspires him to write glowing words. The sculptor, when be has chiselled the most beautiful specimen of his plastic art, feels how greatly distant he is from achieving his ideal of perfection. I have spoken thus to encourage those of you who I believe are truly great, and who feel that the work you do is imperfectly done. All divinely directed men of true genius feel as you do. Be cheered! Persevere in your work, and let not the consciousness of failure distress you too much; for that feeling is the evidence of genius--it is a blessed genius that can detect a flaw or an inferiority in your own work and stimulate you to continued effort. Let me now address those who are satisfied with their efforts, or who fail in them through some wilful fault of their own. Looking diligently lest any man fail, or come short, of the grace of God.
1. It may be that some of us fail through our want of continued effort. In nay garden there is a cherry tree. It bore no fruit the first year, but we took great pains with it, and the second year it brought forth one splendid cherry, and that was all. It made its effort and succeeded. Likewise, every tree, every flower, and even the common grass by the wayside makes strenuous efforts to put forth beauty and fruit after its kind. But unfortunately some of us men are not like trees and flowers; we do not make continued efforts.
2. Another reason your life is a failure is because you do not depend upon God, and you live more for yourself than for your fellow-men. What do I mean by depending upon God? Well, this. See that ship. The captain has put up the sails, and has done all he can. The ship is trimmed, the sails are set, and the captain waits upon the wind; he feels he is dependent Upon it. In the same way we should be dependent upon God. We should wait for Him. We should do what we can to make ourselves ready for His coming, and then wait for Him to do the rest, and be willing to be guided by Him. There is too much self with many of us, that is why, comparatively speaking, our lives are failures.
3. The reason why others of us fail is because we take not advantage of Gods grace.
4. Another reason for your failure may be that you delay doing your present duty. You do not do the thing that lies nearest you, but wait to do something great in the future. This habit of procrastination not only robs you of present good but of future blessing. In the same way, you are waiting for some great work to do instead of doing the thing at your right hand. Doing little things well is the best preparation for the achievement of great things. (W. Birch.)
Falling short of the grace of God:
To prevent this danger they must look diligently. To this end
1. Every man must have a care of himself, and look to his own soul.
2. They must watch one over another, and if they see any inclining to apostasy, or beginning to doubt of, or decline his profession, they must, by good example, instruction, admonition, reproof, and exhortation, seek to reform him.
3. The minister of the gospel being trusted with mans soul, must be very watchful above all other; must exhort, reprove, and by his wholesome doctrine, inform the ignorant, strengthen the weak, reform the erroneous, encourage the faint, and suffer no such bitter root to spring up amongst his people.
4. They that have the power of discipline, upon information, must by admonition and lighter censures first seek to reclaim a sinning brother; and if so, they cannot rectify him, they must cast him out, lest others be infected. (G. Lawson.)
Anxiety for souls:
Fleming mentions one John Welsh, often, in the coldest winter nights, found weeping on the ground, and wrestling with the Lord, on account of his people, and saying to his wife when she pressed him for an explanation of his distress, I have the souls of three thousand to answer for, while I know not how it is with many of them.
Piloting stalls
As the pilot-boats cruise far out, watching for every whitening sail, and hover, through day and night, all about the harbour, vigilant to board every ship, that they may bring safely through the narrows all the wanderers of the ocean; so should we watch off the gate of salvation for all the souls, tempest-tossed, beating in from the sea of sin, and guide them through the perilous straits, that at last in still waters they may east the anchor of their hope. (H. W. Beecher.)
Grace should permeate the entire man:
In the camphor-tree every part is impregnated with the precious perfume; from the highest twig to the lowest root the powerful gum will exude. Thus grace should permeate our whole nature, and be seen in every faculty, every word, every act, and even every desire. If it be in us and abound, it will be so. An unsanctified part of our frame must surely be like a dead branch, deforming and injuring the tree.
Root of bitterness springing up
Roots of bitterness:
Sin, whether in men or among them--whether viewed as inherent in the individual, or spread through the community--sin may well be compared to a root. This analogy does much to point out the nature, and the origin, and the consequences, and the cure of that one evil which offends God and afflicts men.
I. The analogy of a root serves to illustrate the NATURE of the evil. An accurate knowledge of the danger goes far to constitute a defence. The figure directs our thoughts at once to the heart as the seat of the affections. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, and words, and actions. Our care must not be exclusively directed to the deeds--the fruit above ground--we must seek to reach that hidden root which grows in the soul unseen, generating actual transgression in the life of men. There are many points in which the analogy holds good between a root and the sinful disposition of soul which gives birth to unrighteous action.
1. The root is below ground--unseen. The surface of the field, when you pass by, may be naked, and clean, and smooth--not a green blade to be seen, far less an opening flower, or ripening fruit; yet there may be in that field a multitude of thriving, vigorous roots, that will soon cover and possess its surface with thorns and thistles. So in a church, or a family, or a single member of it, though for the time all that meets the eye be fair, there may be in the soul within a germ of evil already swelling, and ready to burst out into open wickedness.
2. The root not only is, but grows. It has a vital self-increasing principle. Unless you kill it, you cannot keep it down. So with the sinful disposition in the heart. It is not the existence of the thing merely that we have to dread, but its vitality. The Scripture (Eph_2:2-3) speaks of men being dead in sins, and yet walking according to the course of this world. In like manner, though the guilty state of the soul be called death, yet it is a death that lives and grows. It not only bears fruit upward, but strikes root downward; and the more vigorously it shoots its fibres down into the soil, the heavier a harvest of wickedness it bears.
3. Though you may be able to destroy the fruit, and cut down the branches, the root may be beyond your reach. Though the branches be lopped off, and the stem cut down close by the ground, yet the root left in the soil will keep its hold, and send up another stem, and spread out other branches. So with this sin. Much may be done to check its outward exhibition. Many agencies may be brought to bear upon it, which will not only prevent the ripening of the fruit, but will blight the opening blossom, and maim the spreading branches. Many schemes may be tried, and tried successfully, to stop the committing of sins, while the disposition to sin lives as vigorous, and grows as rank as ever in the soul.
II. In the text the root is significantly called A hoot OF BITTERNESS. The analogy of a root suggests the existence, and the life, and the growth, and the power of a principle, without determining whether it be good or bad; but the distinguishing characteristic of the root spoken of is bitterness. Everything depends on the nature of the root that is bedded in the soil. There is a plant called the nightshade, which is in some respects like a vine. Like the vine, its branches are slender, and unless supported, they trail upon the ground. Its bunches of fruit, too, are very similar, both in form and colour, to clusters of grapes. Its fruit is a poison. From its nature, it gets the name of the deadly nightshade. Now, this plant may grow beside a vine--may cling to the branches of a vine, and intermingle its clusters of fruit, so that you could scarcely distinguish the one from the other. Nay, more; in such a case the roots of the two plants will shoot down into the same soil--they will intertwine with each other in the earth--they will drink up the same sap at the same place. It would require a very close examination to distinguish the fibres that belong to each; yet this root converts the sap into delicious food--that into deadly poison. The result does not depend on air and sun, and moisture and earth--these were all the same in this case. The fruit takes its character from the root. If it be a root of bitterness, it turns everything into poison. Such is the distinguishing characteristic of a sinful affection. Our living souls are the seat of many thoughts and emotions they constitute the soil which nourishes many roots. Some roots grow there bearing sweet fruit to the glory of God and the good of men; but they are the planting of the Lord. It is the root of bitterness that springs first, and spreads farthest. There are the shattered remnants of much good in the human soul. There are in it many materials which may be turned to good account, when a new heart has been given--a new spirit created. But in all at first, and in many still, a strong one has possession. A bitter root occupies and sucks the soil, wasting its strength in bringing forth death. Pride, envy, worldliness, ungodliness--these, and other roots, pervade the ground, and drain off all its fatness. The natural powers and emotions of the soul--the sap which these roots feed upon--would nourish trees of righteousness, if they were but planted there. There are many precious qualities of mind, efficient for good or for evil, just as they are employed. You have known a man possessed of many good qualities--such qualities as attract and bind to their possessor a wide circle of friends. He is, in the common sense of the term, a good-hearted man. He is generous, and kind, and honest. He will not maliciously resent an injury--he gives liberally of his goods to feed the poor--he renders to every man his due; but he is a drunkard. A bitter root has fastened in that generous soil, and drinks up all its riches. Oh! it is sad to see that strong one keeping possession of a wealthy place. It is sad to see so promising a field exhausted in bearing the filthiest fruit. Avarice is another root of equal bitterness. There is no more pitiable creature on earth than a man whose hearts warm affections have been sucked out by the lust of gold. The power of understanding and judging, of liking and disliking, of hoping and fearing--all these, as natural capabilities of the human soul, are wielded by the presiding will either on the side of righteousness or the side of sin. The same learning and ardour which Saul of Tarsus employed to waste the Church, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, plied as the instruments of extending and establishing it. Paul had met the Lord in the way, and received into his heart the seed of a new life. This is the one needful thing. These understandings and memories, and all these natural powers that are now wasted on sin, the same instruments will do for serving God, when the quickening Spirit has implanted the new life within Deu_29:14-18). The root that beareth gall and wormwood is a heart that turneth away from God; and to that spring of evil must the cure be applied. Although it be a root out of a dry ground, all will be well, if it be not a root of bitterness. If the root be holy, so also will the branches be. (W. Arnot.)
How bitterness grows
A young girl had but few social opportunities. She fell into habits of excessive self-inspection, and a morbid sensitiveness to criticism. With good gifts, and refined tastes, and careful culture, she began to grow conscious of a kind of superiority to most of those about her. But the absence of lively sympathies fostered reserve and taciturnity, so that few found out or appreciated her real attainments. While her own standard of character was rising, others ceased to care what so indifferent and haughty a spirit might know or be. Presently a sense of injustice began to spring up in her. Each new acquirement only seemed to separate her more and more from her neighbours. Even her equals failed to appreciate the hidden merit. Gradually, as years went on, a silent resentment was kindled. Temper was a little soured; speech grew sarcastic; judgment grew bitter. She revenged herself for neglect by withdrawing further and further from the world. Those of her own sex were alienated, and as to those of the other, they were a little frightened. Very few men value criticism enough to marry it. And so, every way, society loses in the person of this fine capable young woman an ornament and a strength. (T. D.Huntingdon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 15. Looking diligently. Being careful that no one lags…
15. Looking diligently. Being careful that no one lags behind and falls by the way so as not to reach the final reward. Lest any root of bitterness. Any bitter opposition, or element of disturbance causing members to sin.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:15 The poisonous root of bitterness alludes to people…
12:15 The poisonous root of bitterness alludes to people turning their backs on God’s covenant to serve other gods (Deut 29:18). Bitterness can corrupt the church.
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