Hebrews 12:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“Lest there be among you a root producing poison and wormwood.” This is said in Deuteronomy (Deut 29:18), and the very expression is taken metaphorically from plants.

“Lest there be among you a root,” he says, “producing poison and wormwood,” just as elsewhere he says, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor 5:6).

I desire this, he says, not for this reason only, but also because of the harm that comes from it. If there is such a root, do not allow it to send up shoots, but uproot it.

Do this so that it may not bring forth its proper fruits, and may not infect and defile others. “Lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

He rightly calls sin bitter. Truly, there is nothing so bitter as sin. Those who after evil deeds are bitten by conscience and experience great bitterness know this.

Being exceedingly bitter, sin disturbs the very reason. The property of what is bitter is to be harmful.

He expressed it well: “a root producing poison and wormwood.” He did not say “bitter,” but “producing poison and wormwood.” A bitter root may produce sweet fruits.

But a root, source, and foundation of bitterness can never produce sweet fruit. In it everything is bitter. There is nothing sweet, everything is tasteless, everything unpleasant, everything filled with hatred and aversion.

“Lest by this,” he says, “many become defiled.” That is, lest this happen, separate corrupt people from yourselves.

What he says elsewhere, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Gal 5:9), he also says here. Let no wicked person be admitted to the destruction of the majority.

Cut off the root of bitterness, that is, of sin, so that it does not sprout. This means that it must not make others like itself.

Those who, after committing sin, are bitten by conscience know that sin is bitter, and that nothing is more bitter. Notice that he did not say “bitter root,” but “root of bitterness.”

A bitter root may produce sweet fruits. But a root of bitterness, that is, the source and cause of that very bitterness, can never produce sweet fruit.

“And by this many become defiled.” Seeing the impious, the frivolous begin to imitate them and thus defile their souls. Therefore let such roots be cut down.

Or it may be understood otherwise. By “root of bitterness” he means sin, as the cause of bitterness. Indeed, although at the moment of committing sin the sinner feels pleasure, afterward he pays bitterly for it.

Those who, after committing sin, are cruelly tormented and oppressed by conscience know this. The Apostle did not say “bitter root,” but “root of bitterness.” A bitter root may produce fruits that are sweet and pleasant.

But a root of bitterness, as the source and cause of bitterness, never can. Everything that comes from it is bitter and unpleasant.

“And by this many become defiled.” That is, those who become partakers of the infection that comes from it. Therefore such roots, when found, must be pulled up and cast away, so that, by producing branches from themselves, they may not harm many.

“Lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble,” as he also says elsewhere, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor 5:6). If there is such a root, do not allow it to send up shoots, but uproot it.

Do this so that it may not bring forth its proper fruits, and may not infect and defile others. He expressed it well: “a root of bitterness.” A bitter root may produce sweet fruits. But a root, source, and foundation of bitterness can never produce sweet fruit.

In it everything is bitter. There is nothing sweet, everything is tasteless, everything unpleasant, everything worthy of hatred and aversion.

“And by this,” he says, “many become defiled.” That is, lest this happen, separate corrupt people from yourselves.

According to the explanation of blessed Theodoret, “The Apostle called chastity holiness. Those who live in marriage can also advance in it. By the bitter root he meant both evil teachings and a corrupt life.”

“Here purity and holiness are not understood in the sense that cohabitation, marriage, is impure. Rather, contentment with one’s lawful wife is chastity, and abstinence from every other union is purity and chastity.

Truly, purity and chastity are freedom from every passion. Therefore, if you are unmarried, preserve purity by abstaining from union. If you are married, be content with marriage and turn away from any other union.”

Without purity and holiness of soul no one will see the Lord, says the Apostle (see 1 Cor 6:9-10; Eph 5:5). Meanwhile, the pure in heart, according to the unchanging word of Jesus Christ Himself, will see God (see Mt 5:8).

Thus even a simple, undeveloped common man, if he has purity of soul, can see God. He will see Him even here on earth with the eyes of the soul in his prayerful turning to Him. After his death he will see Him face to face (see 1 Cor 13:12).

The example of Esau clearly showed the fate of such people. Though he wished to receive the blessing from his father as the firstborn, he was rejected. He no longer found any place for repentance.

That is, no place for true repentance was found in his heart, which could have led him back into possession of the rights of the firstborn, although he begged his father for the blessing with tears.

The Apostle plainly wishes to say to Christians that their adoption by God was for them what birth as the firstborn was for Esau.

If now many Christians sell the good things of the eternal inheritance in heaven for the lentil stew of the earth, that is, for earthly joys and rest, then, like Esau, they will in no way receive the heavenly good things.

Like Esau, they will feel only fear and grief over the loss, and not actual repentance.