Hebrews 12:7

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

Hebrews 12:7 in Other Translations

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

7 God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training,

7 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father chasteneth not?

7 Endure your discipline. God corrects you as a father corrects his children. All children are disciplined by their fathers.

7 Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?

7 Put up with hard times. God uses them to train you. He is treating you as children. What children are not trained by their parents?

Hebrews 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 12:7

If ye endure chastening
In faith, with patience, with courage and constancy, with humility and reverence: there are many things which may encourage and animate the saints to endure it in such a manner; as that it is but a chastening, and the chastening of a father; it should be considered from whence it comes, and for what ends; that it comes from the Lord, and is for his glory, and their good; the example of Christ, and of other saints, should excite unto it. The Jews have a saying ^F17, that

``the doctrine of chastisements is silence;''

that is, they are to be patiently bore, and not murmured at. The Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read the words as an exhortation; the former of these renders it, "persevere in discipline"; the Syriac version, "endure correction"; the Arabic version, "be ye patient in chastisement"; and the Ethiopic version, "endure your chastening": but then the word, "for", should be supplied in the next clause, as it is in the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, making that to be a reason, enforcing this,

for God dealeth with you as with sons:
chastening is owning of them for his children, and it discovers them to be so, and shows that they continue such; he does not chasten them but when it is necessary; and whenever he does, it is in love and mercy, and for good, and in the best time, seasonably, and in measure:

for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
no one can be named, not the Son of God himself; he had the chastisement of our peace upon him; nor the more eminent among the children of God, as Abraham, David, and others; nor any in any catalogue, or list of them, such as in the preceding chapter; not one in any age or period of time whatever, in any bodies, societies, or communities of them, either under the Old or New Testament.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 62. 1.

Hebrews 12:7 In-Context

5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 8:5; 2 Samuel 7:14; Proverbs 13:24