Hebrews 12:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"And you have forgotten the consolation," that is, you have let your hands fall and have grown weak. Having set forth consolation from deeds, he now adds besides this consolation from sayings, from the testimony cited: "Do not grow faint," he says, "when He rebukes you." Therefore this is the work of God. It gives no small consolation when we are persuaded that what happened could have come about by God's action, by His permission. Thus Paul also says, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord that it might depart from me. But the Lord said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Cor 12:8-9). Therefore He Himself permits this.

And you have forgotten the consolation. You have fallen so low and become so weak that you have forgotten even the words that summon you to courage, although you have not yet endured anything great. Great sufferings worthy of praise often cause forgetfulness of what is necessary.

“Which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord” (Prov 3:11). Solomon is not speaking to his own sons, but to all who are able to hear, and therefore also to you. For this reason he adds, “as.”

On verses 5-6. Indeed, afflictions are, for those well prepared, like strengthening food and training in combat, bringing the athlete near to paternal glory. When we are reviled, we bless. When we are slandered, we entreat. When wearied, we give thanks. When sorrowful, we glory in afflictions. It is shameful for us to bless in prosperity and keep silence in sad and difficult circumstances. On the contrary, precisely then we must give greater thanks, knowing that "whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb 12:6). Here and below there is a quotation and paraphrase from 1 Cor 4:12-13.

Although you have had persecutions until now, you have not yet been killed. Although you have contended in a lesser contest, until now you have not yet striven against sin to the point of blood. He said this because they were devoted to the world and the law, were being circumcised, and still continued to fulfill the prescriptions of the law. He brings them a proverb as an example from the Wisdom of Solomon, saying, "My son, do not despise the instruction of the Lord, and do not grow faint, for whom the Lord loves, He chastens" (Prov 3:11-12).

This is not contrary to what was said before. There the Apostle testified of them that they received the plundering of their possessions with joy and bravely endured reproaches for piety (Heb 10:33-34). Here he reproves them as growing weak. He fittingly said, "You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin," showing by comparison what they lack in relation to those who "were stoned, were sawn in two, and died by the murder of the sword." Then, after recalling an exhortation taken from Proverbs (Prov 3:11-12), the Apostle added:

"And you have forgotten the consolation." Solomon consoles us to patience and firmness in the book of Proverbs. "Which speaks to you as to sons." What does it say? "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord" (Prov 3:11). For temptations come from God, who permits them to visit us for our benefit and correction. Explaining his saying further, Solomon adds, "Nor grow weak when rebuked by Him." Do not lose heart when "rebuked by Him," that is, when instructed. For instruction is a rebuke of the imperfection of thoughts.

All the more, we must not grow faint under the action of the various calamities of our life. God sends these calamities to us as a loving Father, for our strengthening in the good. The Apostle speaks with amazement that the readers have not yet endured the extreme calamity, and yet have already managed to forget the encouraging words of Holy Scripture (Prov 3:11-12). From the words of Scripture, the readers should have drawn the conclusion that those who are not chastened by God are not acknowledged by Him as sons.