Last week, I was listening to a sermon where Hebrews 12:1 was referenced. I commited this verse to memory years ago at InterVarsity, back in my college days at good ole’ JMU. (Go Dukes!)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every thing that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” -Hebrews 12:1
So, when the speaker referenced the verse, he used a different translation.
You know how you can hear the same verse a million times, and then a different translation totally opens up the text in a new way?
I’m sort of a die hard NIV-er, I guess. I’m not sure which translation the speaker was quoting, but the verse finished, “…let us run with patience the race marked out for us.” I stumbled over it, of course, since I knew it by heart another way.
Then I stumbled over it again. Patience? What?
I made eyes at my husband, who must think I’m a little nutty. (I am, for the record.)
How come patience shows up in this verse? This passage is all about the race. Perseverance wins the race! Isn’t patience what the people need who are watching on the sidelines? If you’re in the race, you should be in it to win it. When I think of running a race to win, I don’t think about patience. Maybe I should.
Patience sounds so…passive. Perseverance sounds much more like the attribute you should exhibit in a race; more like the word the writer should be using. So, I went into a lexicon and looked it up. What exactly was the writer trying to say in this original text?
Turns out the original Greek word translates as “perseverance, endurance, patience.” So, both translations are entirely right.
How is it that one word can have two very different meanings? And how is it that I’d resigned myself to persevere through this race, but given little thought to running the race with patience, until now?
In case you’re like me, and you’ve memorized this verse in the familiar NIV language, it’s worth noting that we’re exhorted to persevere, endure, and have patience…all at once. I don’t know how that works out in your life, but for me…it’s a tall order.
