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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 13:3

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Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

3. Remember them that are in bonds ] Comp. Col 4:18.

as bound with them ] Lit., “as having been bound with them.” In the perfectness of sympathy their bonds are your bonds (1Co 12:26), for you and they alike are Christ’s Slaves (1Co 7:22) and Christ’s Captives (2Co 2:14 in the Greek). Lucian’s tract (referred to in the previous note) dwells on the effusive kindness of Christians to their brethren who were imprisoned as confessors.

as being yourselves also in the body ] And therefore as being yourselves liable to similar maltreatment. “In the body” does not mean “in the body of the Church,” but “human beings, born to suffer.” You must therefore “weep with them that weep” (Rom 12:15). The expressions of the verse ( , read like a reminiscence of Philo ( De Spec. Legg. 30) who says “as being yourselves also afflicted in the bodies of others;” but if so the reminiscence is only verbal, and the application more simple. Incidentally the verse shews how much the Christians of that day were called upon to endure.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Remember them that are in bonds – All who are bound; whether prisoners of war; captives in dungeons; those detained in custody for trial; those who are imprisoned for righteousness sake, or those held in slavery. The word used here will include all instances where bonds, shackles, chains were ever used. Perhaps there is an immediate allusion to their fellow-Christians who were suffering imprisonment on account of their religion, of whom there were doubtless many at that time, but the principle will apply to every case of those who are imprisoned or oppressed. The word remember implies more than that we are merely to think of them; compare Exo 20:8; Ecc 12:1. It means that we are to remember them with appropriate sympathy; or as we should wish others to remember us if we were in their circumstances. That is, we are

(1)To feel deep compassion for them;

(2)We are to remember them in our prayers;

(3)We are to remember them, as far as practicable, with aid for their relief.

Christianity teaches us to sympathize with all the oppressed, the suffering, and the sad; and there are more of this class than we commonly suppose, and they have stronger claims on our sympathy than we commonly realize. In America there are not far from ten thousand confined in prison – the father separated from his children; the husband from his wife; the brother from his sister; and all cut off from the living world. Their fare is coarse, and their couches hard, and the ties which bound them to the living world are rudely snapped asunder. Many of them are in solitary dungeons; all of them are sad and melancholy men. True, they are there for crime; but they are men – they are our brothers. They have still the feelings of our common humanity, and many of them feel their separation from wife, and children, and home, as keenly as we would.

That God who has mercifully made our lot different from theirs, has commanded us to sympathize with them – and we should sympathize all the more when we remember that but for his restraining grace we should have been in the same condition. There are in this land of liberty also nearly three millions who are held in the hard bondage of slavery. There is the father, the mother, the child, the brother, the sister. They are held as property; liable to be sold; having no right to the avails of their own labor; exposed to the danger of having the tenderest ties sundered at the will of their master; shut out from the privilege of reading the Word of God; fed on coarse fare; living in wretched hovels; and often subjected to the painful inflictions of the lash at the caprice of a passionate driver. Wives and daughters are made the victims of degrading sensuality without the power of resistance or redress; the security of home is unknown; and they are dependent on the will of another man whether they shall or shall not worship their Creator. We should remember them, and sympathize with them as if they were our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, or sons and daughters.

Though of different colour, yet the same blood flows in their veins as in ours Act 17:26; they are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. By nature they have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness which we and our children have, and to deprive them of that right is as unjust as it would be to deprive us and ours of it. They have a claim on our sympathy, for they are our brethren. They need it, for they are poor and helpless. They should have it, for the same God who has kept us from that hard lot has commanded us to remember them. That kind remembrance of them should be shown in every practicable way. By prayer; by plans contemplating their freedom; by efforts to send them the gospel; by diffusing abroad the principles of liberty and of the rights of man, by using our influence to arouse the public mind in their behalf, we should endeavor to relieve those who are in bonds, and to hasten the time when the oppressed shall go free. On this subject, see the notes on Isa 58:6.

As bound with them – There is great force and beauty in this expression. Religion teaches us to identify ourselves with all who are oppressed, and to feel what they suffer as if we endured it ourselves. Infidelity and atheism are cold and distant. They stand aloof from the oppressed and the sad. But Christianity unites all hearts in one; binds us to all the race, and reveals to us in the case of each one oppressed and injured, a brother.

And them which suffer adversity – The word used here refers properly to those who are maltreated, or who are injured by others. It does not properly refer to those who merely experience calamity.

As being ourselves also in the body – As being yourselves exposed to persecution and suffering, and liable to be injured. That is, do to them as you would wish them to do to you if you were the sufferer. When we see an oppressed and injured man, we should remember that it is possible that we may be in the same circumstances, and that then we shall need and desire the sympathy of others.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Heb 13:3

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them

Sympathy

Reverence is the spirit of the Christian towards that which is above him, and sympathy is his spirit towards that which is about him.

That which is above is summed up in God; that which is about us is summed up in man. We speak of sympathy as a feeling for others, where it is in the fullest sense of the phrase a feeling with others. Sympathy is not from without, not from above, as of one who looks afar off upon some object which moves his pity, but it is from within, and reaches to our whole being. He who really sympathises has in the true language of the heart entered into the feelings of another and made them his own. That which moves him belongs not to a stranger but to himself; he has mastered so far the secret of a true communion of life. And then, for the most part, and very naturally, we understand by sympathy a fellowship in suffering. We are most conscious of our need in moments of sorrow, and in such moments we can most recognise how much we owe to those who help us. But sympathy does not find scope in suffering only or even chiefly. It is co-extensive with human emotion and human experience. No doubt the service of sympathy costs us something. We must bear and feel the burden which we remove. The wonders of Christs infinite compassion were indeed triumphs of human love rather than of Divine authority, and as we study them we dimly discern with something of trembling awe what is meant by the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings; how it is through pain and seeming loss and death that we gain, in Him, for others and for ourselves, the blessings of life. The service of sympathy does cost us something, but it brings abundant compensation. St. Paul has told us the secret of his unmatched influence: I became all things to all men. His influence flowed, that is, from his sympathy, and the transformation wrought in him by sympathy was a reality and not a superficial imitation. It is always so. Just as the great poet lives in the characters which he creates, so the great teacher makes himself the true fellow of his scholars; he regards things with their eyes, he reflects on them with their thoughts; he offers his lessons to them in the form which answers to their condition; he wins to them a larger knowledge because he enables them to see how the new grows from the old, guards their peculiar treasures, and makes these also tributary to the interpretation of his messages. As it is with the great teacher, so it is with the great leader. He who sways men must be one with them, however far removed by his personal gifts. For sympathy is not the communion of like with like, but the power of uniting things different in the embrace of a greater life. Sympathy, therefore, preserves these small differences answering to our individuality, on which the beauty of the whole order of things depends. It does not only give; it receives. He who enters into the feelings of others becomes partaker of their energy. It does not only offer; it claims. He who is seen to sacrifice himself freely for the service of another, can justly demand in return a service corresponding to his own. And both aspects of its working must be observed carefully. Till we have called out the response of action we have not attained the object of our efforts; till we have sunk ourselves in those we wish to help, we have not measured the full extent of our power, for all experience tends to show that self-surrender is the gauge of power. It cannot be otherwise, for self-surrender is the gauge of faith. It is the souls answer to the voice which calls us to become fellow-workers with God. That voice too often is unheard, and when we consider our worst failures and disappointments, we must confess that words which are constantly on our lips express most truly how they have been brought to pass. Even in our highest purposes we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have pursued our ends in our own manner, we have fashioned them according to our own fancies, we have placed our own things and not the things of others in the forefront, we have not used the way of sympathy. So we have gained no entrance to the hearts of those whom we sought, and we have been cast down by the conviction of our weakness. Perhaps during that conviction we have recognised what we needed and found encouragement. For sympathy, which is the source of influence, is also the source of strength. In isolation there can be no experience of the highest human forces. It is through contact with our fellows that we feel the majesty of truth and righteousness. As we move among men, we see that our own best thoughts are shared by others, and we are invigorated by their silent support. Thus common testimony tells us that God is on our side. He has not left us desolate. He Himself works among us by His gifts, and they who have them are said to be ministers of His loving wisdom, trusting not to their own power but to His, confident not in their own foresight but in His sovereign will. So it is that as soon as we see this social destination of our several endowments, sympathy enriches us with the manifold resources of all through whom God is working. We draw strength from the very burdens which we have to bear. (Bp. Westcott.)

Christian sympathy:

There are, as we think, two very different, but both highly important principles here asserted: the principle of fellowship, and the principle of forethought. That of fellowship, for we are to feel as though bound with them in bonds: that of forethought, for we are to remember that we ourselves are also in the body, and therefore exposed to the adversities which claim our sympathy in others. Or to expound our text by the motive rather than the principle it puts forth, there are here two reasons or inducements suggested by the apostle, why Christians should be earnest in works of Christian love; the one is derived from their intimate connection with the suffering, the other from their own liability to similar visitations.

St. Paul may here be said to go even beyond what he has laid down in Rom 12:15. He requires something more than sympathy as commonly understood. One man is said to sympathise with another, who is pained when and because theft other is pained: and sympathy, as thus understood, is little more than pity or commiseration. But to suffer with another, which is actually to sympathise, goes much beyond the weeping with another; it is making the griefs of that other mine own, so that the wound is in my heart as well as in his. The members of one family actually sympathise and suffer themselves, when death has come in and snatched away one from their circle; the loss is a common loss, attecting all equally, and the sorrow of each is literally the sorrow of every other. According to the Scriptural idea Christians constitute but one body, the mystical body of Christ; and if this be the application of the acknowledged principle, that if one member suffer all the members suffer with it, it follows that every Christian, in the measure which he has attained towards perfection, would seem to bear in his own person the very sufferings, and to receive in his own person the very blessings allotted to those who have like precious faith with himself. And when we think how deficient we are even in such sympathy as is generally understood by the world, and which would result from universal brotherhood, we may well be staggered at finding, that the Christian standard is yet vastly higher, and that universal brotherhood would be but a stage towards universal membership. But what an image does it give us of the condition of the world, to suppose all men actuated by the consciousness of being members one of another. Beyond nature, we confess it, but not beyond grace; and the Christian is not to be content, until in relieving the distressed lie can feel that he acts on the great principle of membership. He must see to it, that he has part in the bearing, as well as in the relieving the calamity. His relieving is to be the result of his bearing; he is to relieve, that is, as one who is relieving himself, with all that activity and all that perseverance which our own personal interests are sure to elicit.

II.
St.
Paul descends to a lower and yet not wholly different ground: he descends from Christian membership, and takes his position on that of our own exposure to misfortunes.
As being yourselves also in the body! What an amount of motive is gathered into these simple words! It has been one of the natural, and, we might almost say, necessary consequences on the combination of men into societies, presenting almost every possible variety of condition and circumstances, that there has been a comparative losing sight of the equal liability of all, to the several ills to which flesh is heir.
It is very difficult not to fancy that the man of large ancestral revenues has an exemption from the contingencies and changes of want, which beset the poor peasant that tills one of its fields.
It might sound to him as a threat, whether of ignorance or insult, that it should thus be implied, that notwithstanding all his state, and all his abundance, he might come to want the morsel which we ask him to bestow. And, of course, it does need a very thorough and practical recognition of the truth, that The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof, to be able to put aside all the appearances of security and independence, which hoarded wealth furnishes, and to view in every man, whatsoever his circumstances, a pensioner on the bounty of that omnipotent Parent, who openeth His hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. I would rather have the security against want, which the meanest of our villagers enjoys, whose daily bread is the subject of daily prayer and daily toil, than that of the foremost of our capitalists, who in any way gives indulgence to the sentiment of the rich man in the parable; Soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years. The one, indeed, has a security–the security of a prayerful dependence on God; whereas the other has no security whatever, but lies exposed to the peril of being punished for presumption. And it matters not to us, what may be the worhtly circumstances of any, nor how far they may seem to remove him from liability to poverty. If he be a man, he may come to be a starving man; and that, too, without any of those explicable occurrences and reverses, which seem to mark Gods special interference to bring round an unlooked-for catastrophe. There ought, therefore, to be to him as much cogency as to the man whose property seems jeopardised, in the motive of being himself in the body, when it is for the relief of the actually destitute that we appeal to his bounty. And this is, perhaps, the only case in which there is even the appearance of exemption from liability to the misfortunes with which we see others oppressed. It cannot be said that any one form of sorrow is appropriated to this class of men, and warded off from that; all are accessible through the same channels, and all are capable of the same ills. And is there not in consequence the greatest cogency, whosoever be the party addressed and whatsoever the affliction which asks to be remembered, in the motive of being in the body? It is the enlisting of selfishness on the side of the afflicted, and calling on us to be merciful if we would have mercy ourselves. Inexpressibly bitter would it be if living to be oppressed and deserted ourselves and to ask in vain for succour and for sympathy, we should have to remember how in our own sunshine we had cared nothing for those over whom darkness had gathered, and to feel that we were but reaping the harvest of which our own want of charity had sown all the seeds. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

The fellow of suffering:

We feel our own burdens distinctly enough and our own limitations and sorrows. Now if we felt those of other people a tenth part as distinctly, we could do almost anything with them and for them. To Christ other people were real: just as real as He. God was interested in men because to Him they were lovable. God so loved the world; that was where redemption began. And it was not a general, diffusive kind of thing, His love was not. It was not like some great sea of translucent fog which sometimes inundates our city of a warm morning, which only has a kind of general reference to everything and no particular reference to anything. His love was rather like a sunbeam, which drops down ninety million miles upon one specific grass-blade, into one particular birds eye. People, indeed, are interesting as soon as we get near enough to them to feel that they are people, not things, and as soon as we get far enough into the secret of their life to discover its workings, its difficulties, its disappointments, its ambitions, its defeats, its penitences, its remorses. I believe we would love everybody we came near to if we realised what a hard time they are having. No two people would ever quarrel if they could be each other for a little while. If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each mans life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. Then, besides that, if we could feel the sorrow and suffering that is in a mans life, no matter how wicked or degraded he might be, his degradation would be no barrier to kindly regard for him. If we came near enough to a bad mans history to understand it, to see how unfortunate influences tell upon him, what susceptibilities to evil were in him, entirely independent of any choice of his own in the matter, we should find that circumstances were what made a large:part of the mischief, and that the poor fellow has had just as hard and sad a time in keeping from being worse than he is, as we have had in keeping from being worse than we are. We are sometimes surprised that Christ, who as we are told knew what was in man, nevertheless was able to love man, to love all men. But that was exactly the reason why He was able. Tragedy is all about us–a good deal more tragedy than comedy; and any life becomes inter-resting as soon as, with a key wrought out of love, you unlock it and begin so to be yourself closeted on the inside of it as to feel yourself somehow involved in it, and all its difficulties to be your difficulties, and all its weaknesses and sins even to be so taken upon yourself that you commence to feel the burden of them as your burden. That is what Christ did. That is the meaning of His life; that is the distinctive quality in His redemptive work. He carried people. By becoming like them He helped them to become like Him. And as Christ can do this for each of us, because in His loving way He so perfectly understands all the ins and outs of each of us, so we, in order to make our own lives redemptive in anothers behalf, have to make a distinct and affectionate problem of his life, get on to the interior side of it, discover the impulses that play in it, the history that lies back of it, the circumstances that encompass and dominate it. These things quicken in interest as we go on. If you have commenced to read a book, and some one says to you, Do you like it? you will very probably answer, I can hardly say, for I have not yet got fairly into it. So the characters and lives of people only then begin to be interesting, when we have fairly got into them. They are then sure to be of interest, even when we treat them merely as problems to be mentally solved; how much more when we bring to them a heart fraught with personal regard and Christian sympathy. It is in this way, then, that people must be saved and lifted. I do not believe we are going to solve the problem of city and country evangelisation till we get over lumping people. When, at this season of the year, you look up into the sky of an evening, you discern a nebulous belt of light, an indiscriminate mass of stars, lying up and down the sky like a vast white cosmic rainbow. Now, telescopes, as they are directed to that great nebulae, are showing themselves competent to crumble up that mass of stellar uncertainty into myriads of little diamond-like stellar individualities, and as, year by year, the penetrating powers of telescopes are increased, this crumbling, individualising process goes steadily on, so that now we do not any longer think of the Milky Way as a mass of star stuff, but as a host of brilliant worlds, each as distinct from the rest, and as complete in itself as our own great sun, which is indeed thought to be one single flaming member of that superb host. Now, what lenses of enhanced power do for the human eye in the way of splitting up a world of filmy splendour into keen-edged points of individual light and lustre, the same thing love does for human discernment when exercised upon the mass of humanity by which, in a great city, we are environed. It crumbles the mass up into glittering individualities, each a little distinct personal world all in himself. When the sun melts the snow in the spring it tackles each little snow crystal by itself. Each sunbeam picks out its own crystal and turns it into a tear, and so is able to do a great deal in its little way and saves itself the embarrassment and weariness of thinking how many flakes there are that it can never reach; and the snow goes off. How much better that is than it would be for the sunbeams to spend all their time holding conventions in order to devise means for melting the masses of snow. The next thing, therefore, for you and me to do, is to go into the Snow-bank, if we have not already done so, and pick out our particular snow crystal, and commence melting it. (C. H.Parkhurst, D. D.)

Sympathy not scared by suffering

Sympathy for each other in suffering is not confined to mankind. There is one trait, says Mr. Jesse, in the character of rooks, which is, I believe, peculiar to that sort of bird, and which does them no little credit. It is the distress which they exhibit when one of them has been killed or wounded by a gun while they have been feeding in a field or flying over it. Instead of being scared away by the report of the gun, leaving their wounded or dead companion to his fate, they show the greatest anxiety or sympathy for him, uttering cries of distress, and plainly proving that they wish to render him assistance, by hovering over him, or sometimes making a dart from the air close up to him, apparently to try and find out the reason why he did not follow them

While circling round and round,

They call their lifeless comrade from the ground.

If he is wounded, and can flutter along the ground, the rooks appear to animate him to make fresh exertions by incessant cries, flying a little distance before him, and calling to him to follow them. (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)

Remembering the needs of others:

In one of Dickenss letters referring to a notice of Tom Hoods book which he had written for the Examiner, he says: Rather poor, but I have not said so, because Hood is poor too, and ill besides. (H. O. Mackey.)

Value of sympathy:

Every man rejoices twice when he has a partner of his joy; a friend shares my sorrow and makes it but a moiety; but he swells my joy and makes it double. For so two channels divide the river and lessen it into rivulets, and make it fordable and apt to be drunk up by the first revels of the Syrian Star; but two torches do not divide but increase the flame; and though my tears are the sooner dried up, when they run on my friends cheeks in the furrows of compassion, yet when my flame hath killed his lamp, we unite the glories and make them radiant, like the golden candlesticks that burn before the throne of God, because they shine by numbers, by unions, and confederations of light and joy. (Bp. Taylor.)

Nature of sympathy:

It is by sympathy we enter into the concerns of ethers, that we are moved as they are moved, and are never suffered to be indifferent spectators of almost anything which men can do or suffer. For sympathy may be considered as a sort of substitution, by which we are put into the place of another man, and affected in many respects as he is affected. (E. Burke.)

Practical sympathy:

We must not make too much of sympathy, as mere feeling We praise feeling and praise its possessor. But feeling is only a sickly exotic in itself–a passive quality, having in it nothing moral, no temptation, and no victory. A man is no more a good man for having feeling, than he is for having a delicate ear for music, or a far-seeing optic nerve. The Son of Man had feeling–He could be touched. The tear would start from His eyes at the sight of human sorrow. But that sympathy was no exotic in His soul, beautiful to look at, too delicate for use. Feeling with Him led to this, He went about doing good. Sympathy with Him was this, Grace to help in time of need. (F. W. Robertson.)

Helpful sympathy self-remunerative:

It is said of the saintly George Herbert, the quaint old English church poet, that once in a walk to Salisbury, to join a musical party, he saw a poor man with a poorer horse that was fallen under his load. They were both in distress and needed present help, which Mr. Herbert perceiving, put off his canonical coat, and helped the poor man to unload, and afterwards load his horse. The poor man blessed him for it and he blessed the poor man, and was so like the Good Samaritan, that he gave him money to refresh both himself and his horse. Thus he left the poor man; and at his coming to his musical friends at Salisbury, they began to wonder that Mr. Herbert, who used to be trim and clean, so soiled and discomposed. But he told them the occasion; and when one of the company told him he had disparaged himself by so dirty an employment, his answer was, that the thought of what he had done would prove music to him at midnight, and that the omission of it would have upbraided and made discord in his conscience whensoever he should pass by that place; for if I be bound to pray for all that be in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power, to practise what I pray for; and let me tell you, I would not willingly pass one day of my life without comforting a sad soul, or showing mercy, and bless God for this occasion. Oh, how many might have anxious thoughts which often infest their midnight hours changed into sweet music, if they would only be more frequently seen with full hands and friendly words in the abodes of poverty and suffering! These are the places in which to attune ones conscience to midnight harmonies.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 3. Remember them that are in bonds] He appears to refer to those Christian’s who were suffering imprisonment for the testimony of Jesus.

As bound with them] Feel for them as you would wish others to feel for you were you in their circumstances, knowing that, being in the body, you are liable to the same evils, and may be called to suffer in the same way for the same cause.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them: a further duty of the subjects of Christs kingdom, is sympathy with their Christian brethren, to remember to pray for, visit, and minister all necessary refreshment to those in bonds, fettered, manacled, and imprisoned for Christs sake and the gospel; being straitened for them, and partaking of their bonds, bearing them with them, and seeking their deliverance out of them by all just means, Mat 25:36; Eph 6:19,20; Col 4:18; 2Ti 1:16-18.

And them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body; be mindful of those suffering any evil for Christs sake and the gospel, persecuted, oppressed, or afflicted, who have not deserved any of this from man, so as to carry it suitably to them in these conditions, Heb 11:36-38; so feelingly, as if we were the persons in their conditions; carefully, knowing we are in bodies capable and liable to the same, and are ignorant how soon it may be our own case; conscientiously, as knowing we are members in the same body of Christ with them, and of them in particular, 1Co 12:25-27.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. Rememberin prayers andacts of kindness.

bound with thembyvirtue of the unity of the members in the body under one Head, Christ(1Co 12:26).

suffer adversityGreek,“are in evil state.”

being yourselves also in thebodyand so liable to the adversities incident to the naturalbody, which ought to dispose you the more to sympathize with them,not knowing how soon your own turn of suffering may come. “Oneexperiences adversity almost his whole life, as Jacob; another inyouth, as Joseph; another in manhood, as Job; another in old age”[BENGEL].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Remember them that are in bonds,…. Not for criminal actions, or for debt, though such should be remembered, and pity showed them, especially the latter; but such as are in bonds for the sake of Christ, and the Gospel. This has been often the lot of God’s people, who should be remembered, by praying for them, sending comfortable letters to them, personally visiting them, and relieving them under their distresses:

as bound with them; as if it were so, as if in the same condition, and circumstances; by sympathizing with them; by considering themselves liable to the same bonds; by dealing with them as it would be desirable to be dealt with in the same case: and

them which suffer adversity; outward afflictions of body, distress for want of temporal mercies, food and raiment, and persecution by enemies; or spiritual adversity, as the prevailings of corruptions, and particularly unbelief, the hidings of God’s face, and the temptations of Satan.

As being yourselves also in the body; as if in their bodies, enduring the same things; or as being afflicted in the body with diseases, necessities, and persecutions; or as being in the body, the church, of which these afflicted ones are a part, and therefore should have a fellow feeling with them; or rather as being in this world, in the flesh, or in a body and state subject to the like adversities, temporal and spiritual.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Them that are in bonds [ ] . See on ch. Heb 10:34. As bound with them [ ] . N. T. o. As if you were fellow – prisoners. Comp. 1Co 12:14 – 26; 2Co 11:29. Public intercession for prisoners has formed a part of the service of the church from the earliest times. See the prayer at the close of Clem. Rom Ad Corinth. 59. It also occurs in the daily morning service of the synagogue.

Which suffer adversity [] . Rend. are evil entreated. See on ch. Heb 11:37.

As being yourselves also in the body [ ] . As subject like them to bodily sufferings. Not in the body – the church, which would require the article. The expression ejn swmati in the sense of being still alive, only in 2Co 12:2

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Remember them that are in bonds,” (mimneskesthe ton desmion) “You all be mindful of the prisoners,” empathize with, enter into compassion for those who are in shackles, chains or imprisoned for the cause of Christ, Mat 12:36; Rom 12:15; “Rejoicing with those that rejoice and weeping with those that weep,” Go to visit, console, give assurance that you care for those in trouble, even in prison, Psa 142:4.

2) “As bound with them; (hos sundedemenoi) “As if bound with them; Be more than a fair weather friend to those who you know can return your favor. Show compassion, never expecting a returned favor, to those who may never be able to do the same for you and do it for love, because Jesus has done it for you, Col 4:18; 1Pe 3:18.

3) “And them which suffer adversity,” (ton kskouchoumemon) “Of those being ill-treated or abused,” remember with concern, compassion and comfort; Our God shows compassion and comforts us in all our troubles, that we may be able to show the same in a physical way, 2Co 1:3-11.

4)“As being yourselves also in the body; (hos kai autoi ontes en somati) “As if even you yourselves were in a body,” bound, ill-treated as they are. Do you try to help or avoid those in trouble? Never is the “golden rule” of more pragmatic or practical value than in a time of trouble or adversity. “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is (the essence of) the law and the prophets,” Mat 7:12; Luk 6:31-36.

Help others to the extent you should like to be helped under the same affliction or adversity, expecting nothing in return, as the Pharisees did, our Lord advised.

CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY

During the prevalence of the small-pox in Greenland, which proved very fatal, the Moravian missionaries showed the greatest kindness and attention to the poor inhabitants; they accommodated as many as their house would contain, surrendering to the afflicted even their own sleeping chambers; and thus, though unable to make themselves distinctly understood by words, they preached by their conduct, without effect. One man who always derided them when in health expressed his obligation to the minister shortly before he died: “Thou hast done for us what our own people would not do; for thou hast fed us when we had nothing to eat – thou hast buried our dead, who would else have been consumed by the dogs, foxes, and ravens, thou hast also instructed us in the knowledge of God, and hast told us of a better life.”

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

3. Remember them that are in bonds, or, Be mindful of the bound, etc. There is nothing that can give us a more genuine feeling of compassion than to put ourselves in the place of those who are in distress; hence he says, that we ought to think of those in bonds as though we were bound with them. What follows the first clause, As being yourselves also in the body, is variously explained. Some take a general view thus, “Ye are also exposed to the same evils, according to the common lot of humanity;” but others give a more restricted sense, “As though ye were in their body.” Of neither can I approve, for I apply the words to the body of the Church, so that the meaning would be this, “Since ye are members of the same body, it behooves you to feel in common for each other’s evils, that there may be nothing disunited among you.” (276)

(276) What Beza says of this opinion is, “I by no means reject it, though I regard the other (first mentioned here) as the most obvious.” It has been said that whenever Paul mentions the mystical body, it is in connection with Christ, Rom 12:5, and that “in the body” is to be understood literally, 2Co 5:6. It is so taken here by Grotius, Doddridge, Scott, and Stuart. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(3) As bound with them.Either (1) As if ye yourselves were in bonds (see Heb. 10:33-34; 1Co. 12:26)by true fellow-feeling make yourselves sharers in their lot; or, (2) mindful that ye too are in bondslike them ye are Christs prisoners, and their bonds are but one of the tokens of that service in which all Christians are bound. (Comp. 1Co. 7:22.)

As being yourselves also in the body.Mindful that you, like them, still dwell in a body liable to pain, and may therefore suffer ill-treatment in the cause of Christ.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

3. Remember them that are in bonds From the travelling brother to be entertained, transition is easily made to the brethren in prison.

As bound with them As if their bonds were your bonds, since ye are one in Christ, liable to the same persecutions.

Suffer The common lot of all in the body, and so demanding a common sympathy between those in common lot. To learn from our own sufferings to sympathize with sufferers is a very valuable piece of education an education of the heart.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them;

Those who are ill-treated, as being yourselves also in a body.’

The second practical example of Christian love is that of caring for, and watching out for, those who are in bonds for Christ’s sake (compare again Mat 25:26; Mat 25:40). See Heb 10:33 which suggests that they had already done so. They are to remember such people as though it were themselves who were bound. This was especially important in that prisoners were expected to find their own means of sustenance at the hands of friends and relatives, and such Christian prisoners would need encouragement in facing the consequences of persecution. It was, of course, always a risky business giving such help, for it might also brand the helper as being a Christian.

Onesiphorus was a living example of this principle. In 2Ti 1:16 Paul says of him, ‘He often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome he sought me diligently, and found me.’ Not only did he provide Paul with food and sustenance, but he gave him company in his imprisonment and went to great trouble to find out where he was being held so that he could do so, and could continue to do so.

And just as they were to imagine themselves as bound with them, so were they also to remember that they are in a body like that of those prisoners who are being ill-treated; they are thus to empathise with them in their sufferings and seek to help them in any way possible, just as they would wish for the same if they were in that situation. Being human as they are, we should feel along with them.

It is doubtful if this is a reference to the body of Christ. The context gives no hint of such an idea, and the lack of article is almost conclusive against it (‘a body’ not ‘the body’).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Heb 13:3 . Exhortation to have a care for the prisoners and distressed.

] Be mindful ( sc . in order to aid them with ministering love) of the prisoners .

] as fellow-prisoners, i.e. with as much devotion to them as though the captivity had fallen upon yourselves. For the Christians are members of the same body; as in the prosperity, so also are they to share in the sufferings one of the other. Comp. 1Co 12:26 . Bhme (in like manner Heinrichs too) explains: “quippe ejus naturae et conditionis homines, qui ipsi quoque pro captivis sint, nimirum in ecclesia pressa degentes.” Upon this interpretation, it is true, the twofold retains its full significance; but in order to represent the readers as “in ecclesia pressa degentes,” an addition to could not have been dispensed with.

] of those who suffer evil treatment . is the genus , under which the foregoing are ranged as a particular species .

] as sojourning yourselves in a body , thus likewise still subjected to the earthly order of the world, and not secured against the like ill-treatment. According to Calvin and others, the sense is: since ye indeed are members of the same body (to wit, the church), which, however, must have been indicated by . According to Beza: as though in your own person ye were , a sense which can only with violence be put upon the words.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2342
COMPASSION TO THE DISTRESSED INCULCATED

Heb 13:3. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

IN the first ages of Christianity persecution raged to a degree that we at this time have little conception of: bonds and imprisonment were no uncommon lot, especially amongst those who were active in the service of their Lord. The loss of all things was also not unfrequently added to the other trials of the saints; so that their afflictions were greatly multiplied and exceeding heavy. At such a season, it was incumbent on every member of the Church to compassionate the distresses of his afflicted brethren, and by a participation of their burthens to lighten their pressure, and to alleviate the sorrows occasioned by them. To this they might well be stimulated by the consideration that they themselves were constantly exposed to the same trials, and might soon need the same relief which they were administering to others. Through the goodness of God we know but little of these trials. The persecutions of the present day amount to little more than contempt and hatred, and in some few instances a little outward opposition to our worldly interests. Still however there are afflictions of other kinds in abundance to which we all are subject; and under which it becomes us all to manifest the tenderest compassion towards each other, not knowing how soon it may become our own lot to need the sympathy which we ourselves have exercised. In this view, the exhortation in our text deserves the attention of every child of man. Let us notice in it,

The duty inculcated

Compassion towards our suffering fellow-creatures is a duty universally acknowledged. If the household of faith are entitled to a preference in our regards, as certainly they are [Note: Gal 6:10.], our benevolence is not to be restricted to them: it is to be exercised generally towards all the sons and daughters of affliction; and that too in a way of,

Tender sympathy

[We should remember them that are in bonds or afflictions of any kind, not with a transient sigh, or a few customary expressions of condolence, but as actually bound with them, and as being ourselves partakers of their sorrows. We can read of the desolations and ravages of war, or of the miseries occasioned by storms and tempests, and pass them over almost without any emotion, and in a few minutes utterly forget them. But, if we felt aright, we should enter into all the troubles of the sufferers, just as if we ourselves were in their very state and condition. Paint to yourselves the anguish of shipwrecked mariners, expecting every moment to be their last: or, if their feelings may be supposed to be so acute as not to be capable of being transfused into the bosom of one who is not exposed to such perils, conceive of persons immured in dungeons, or racked with pains and destitute of all needful succour; or contemplate the widow bereaved of all that she held dear in this world, and of all that she relied on for the support of herself and her helpless offspring; I say, conceive of sorrows as brought home to your own bosom, and as experienced in your own soul; and then you will see how you ought to realize in your minds the miseries of others, and to pant for an opportunity to relieve them.]

Fervent prayer

[Intercession, we are told, should be made for all men; but more especially should it be so in behalf of those, whose troubles render them objects of more than ordinary compassion. St. James says, Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick: and, if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him [Note: Jam 5:14-15.]. You well know how a man will plead with God for the wife of his bosom, or for his beloved child, whose dissolution he apprehends to be fast approaching. Thus should we enter into the distresses of others also, and should plead with God in their behalf. David did thus even in behalf of his very enemies: When they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, and I humbled my soul with fasting [Note: Psa 35:13.]: and in this way should we also make our prayer unto God, in the hope that he will interpose effectually in their behalf, and bestow on them the blessings, which it is not within the power of any finite creature to impart.]

Active services

[We are not to say, Be ye warmed, and be ye filled, and at the same time withhold from our brethren the aid which we are able to bestow [Note: Jam 2:15-16.]: such compassion as that is mere hypocrisy. Our Lord tells us in what way our sympathy should display itself; I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me [Note: Mat 25:35-36.]. All indeed have it not in their power to exert themselves to the same extent: some have more leisure, and more ability, than others: but all can do something for their poor neighbours: some friendly service they can render; some word of comfort they can speak: and what they cannot administer in their own persons, they may procure through the instrumentality of others [Note: If this were in aid of a Benevolent Society, or any other Charity, the particular benefits of the Institution, as imparting what no mere individual could impart, may be stated here.] At all events, if it be only a cup of cold water that we can bestow, it should be given with a zeal and tenderness that shall evince the strength of an internal principle, and the wish that our means were more adequate to the occasion.

The proper example for us to follow, is that of the Macedonians, of whom the Apostle testifies, that, notwithstanding they were themselves in a great trial of affliction, and in deep poverty, yet abounded unto the riches of liberality: and that to their power, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves; and prayed the Apostle with much entreaty to take upon himself the ministration of their bounty to the saints [Note: 2Co 8:1-4.]. This is the point to be aimed at: there must first be a willing mind: and, where that is, God will accept the offering, however small [Note: 2Co 8:12.].]

Such is the duty here inculcated. Let us now attend to,

II.

The consideration with which it is enforced

When the Apostle says, Do this, as being yourselves also in the body, he must be understood as intimating,

That we ourselves are exposed to the same afflictions as others

[And this is true respecting every living man. No one is exempt from trouble. If any man was ever justified in saying, I shall die in my nest, it was Job: yet behold he, with all his wealth and power, was in a few days reduced to the most abject state that can he imagined. There are ten thousand sources of affliction which God may open, and cause our souls to be deluged with it in an instant. Our bodies may be racked with disease, or our spirits be overwhelmed with domestic troubles: or, whilst all external things are prospering, our souls may be so bowed down with a sense of sin, and so agitated with a dread of Gods judgments, that we may hate our very existence, and choose strangling rather than life. Indeed whoever he be that thinks with David, My mountain stands strong, I shall not be moved; he may expect, that God will speedily hide his face from him; and that trouble shall ere long come upon him, as the punishment of his iniquity.]

That what measure we mete to others, we may expect to have meted to ourselves

[Mankind at large feel a far greater disposition to exert themselves in behalf of a man of active benevolence, than they do for one whose regards have terminated on himself alone. But it is not on the good dispositions of men that we are called to rely. God himself has engaged, that what we do for others, he will accept as done to himself; and that what we lend to him, he will repay us again. Very remarkable are his promises to this effect: Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive: and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; and wake all his bed in his sickness [Note: Psa 51:1-3.]. The language of the Prophet Isaiah is yet stronger still: If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, (observe, it is not our money only, but our soul, with all its tenderest emotions, that is to be drawn forth,) and if thou satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not [Note: Isa 58:10-11.]. Here Almighty God himself is pledged to recompense into our bosom the kindness which we shew to others: and he will recompense it in full measure, pressed down, and running over. If then we would have consolations ministered to us in our troubles, let us labour to impart them to our afflicted brethren: for what we sow, we shall reap; if we supply the wants of others, God will supply ours [Note: Php 4:14; Php 4:19.]; and if we cast our bread upon the waters, we shall be sure to find it after many days.]

For your direction in reference to this duty, we beg leave to offer the following hints:
1.

Do not undervalue the grace of charity

[It is too often overlooked, not only by the world at large, but also by many who profess godliness; who imagine, that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is all that is needful for their best interests. But let me say, that, whatever faith a man may have, if he have not love also, real, active, self-denying love, he is no better than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Only recollect how great a stress St. James lays on visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction, when he declares, that pure and undefiled religion mainly consists in such offices; and you will never be satisfied till you attain this heavenly disposition, nor ever think that you can exercise it too much.]

Do not overvalue it

[If you put your own benevolence in the place of Christ, and rely on that to purchase the remission of your sins, you will then indeed build on a foundation of sand. Know, that however much you may abound in acts of benevolence, you are still unprofitable servants, who have done only what it was your duty to do. If you really seek the glory of God in what you do, your services will come up with acceptance before him, and they will be to him as an odour of a sweet smell. But you must never forget that your goodness extendeth not to God, nor can confer any obligation upon him. On the contrary, the more you do for him, the more you are indebted to him; because all your power either to will or do what is good, is from him alone. It is not you that do it, but the grace of God that is with you.]

Endeavour to abound in it more and more

[See the character of holy Job: When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him: the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widows heart to sing for joy [Note: Job 29:11-13.]. O what a lovely character was that! What a bright resemblance of the Saviour, who went about doing good! Dear brethren, set this example before you, and strive to imitate it to the utmost of your power. Thus will you shine as lights in the world; and thus fulfilling the law of Christ [Note: Gal 6:3.], you will ensure his approbation in the day of judgment [Note: Heb 6:10. 1Ti 6:17-19.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Ver. 3. Remember them that, &c. ] Learn hence, saith one, that it is no new thing for the world to put bonds on them, who seek to bring them out of bondage. It is very probable that Micaiah was that disguised prophet, who brought to Ahab the fearful message of displeasure and death for dismissing Benhadad, for which he ever after hated him, and held him in prison.

As being yourselves also in the body ] Not the body of Christ, or the Church, as Calvin senseth it, but in the body of flesh and frailty, subject to like afflictions; so Erasmus, Beza, Pareus, and others. Now such as these must be remembered, soHeb 13:7Heb 13:7 ; Heb 13:16 . Hence this chapter is called by a divine, the Chapter of Remembrances, or the Remembrancer’s Chapter.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

3 .] Remember (cf. ch. Heb 2:6 ) them that are in bonds, as if bound with them (cf. 1Co 12:26 ; as fully sympathizing with them in their captivity: not, as Bhme, al., “quippe ejus natur et conditionis homines, qui ipsi quoque pro captivis sint, nimirum in ecclesia pressa degentes,” which is travelling too far from the context): those in distress ( is the general idea, including captives and any other classes of distressed persons: as c. and Thl., ), as also yourselves being in the body (i. e. as in reff., bound up with a body which has the same capacity of suffering. The words have been differently rendered. Calvin says, “Refero ad ecclesi corpus, ut sit sensus, Quandoquidem estis ejusdem corporis membra, communiter vos affici decet alios aliorum malis:” and so Braun, al. But this cannot be extracted from the words , without the article. Beza renders, “ac si ipsi quoque corpore adflicti essetis:” and says, “ prorsus videtur illud declarare quod in vernaculo sermone dicimus en personne :” in other words, says Bleek, as Philo expresses it, De Spec. Legg. ad 6. 7, 30, vol. ii. p. 326, . But this is equally out of the question: and there can be no doubt that the simple meaning is the true one. So c. ( , , ), Thl., and most Commentators).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Heb 13:3 . (Heb 2:6 ) (Heb 10:34 ), “Be mindful of those in bonds” (Mat 25:36 ). This also they had already done (Heb 10:34 ). The motive now urged is contained in the words , “as having been bound with them,” as fellow-prisoners. The of the next clause might invite the interpretation, “for we also are bound as well as they,” and colour might be given to this by the Epistle to Diognetus, chap. 6. ; but more likely the expression is merely a strong way of saying that all the members of Christ’s body suffer with each, 1Co 12:26 . , “the maltreated,” cf. Heb 11:37 ; you must be mindful of these “as being yourselves also in the body,” i.e. , not emancipated spirits, and therefore liable to similar ill-usage and capable of sympathy. [A striking illustration of the manner in which the early Christians obeyed these admonitions may be found in the Apology of Aristides: , , . The Syriac Apology adds “If they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs”. Accordingly in the Martyrdom of Perpetua we read that two deacons were appointed to visit her and relieve the severity of her imprisonment.] It is interesting to find that Philo claims for Moses a towards strangers, enjoining sympathy, , as being all one living creature though in diverse parts; and in De Spec. Legg . 30 he has . Westcott gives from early Christian documents a collection of interesting prayers for those suffering imprisonment.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Remember. Greek. mimneskomai. Compare Heb 2:6.

them, &c. = the bound ones. Greek. desmios.

bound, &c. Greek. sundeomai. Only here.

them which, &c. Greek. kakoucheomai. See Heb 11:37. Pagan writers notice the kindness of “Christians” to their brethren in affliction.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

3.] Remember (cf. ch. Heb 2:6) them that are in bonds, as if bound with them (cf. 1Co 12:26; as fully sympathizing with them in their captivity: not, as Bhme, al., quippe ejus natur et conditionis homines, qui ipsi quoque pro captivis sint, nimirum in ecclesia pressa degentes, which is travelling too far from the context): those in distress ( is the general idea, including captives and any other classes of distressed persons: as c. and Thl., ), as also yourselves being in the body (i. e. as in reff., bound up with a body which has the same capacity of suffering. The words have been differently rendered. Calvin says, Refero ad ecclesi corpus, ut sit sensus, Quandoquidem estis ejusdem corporis membra, communiter vos affici decet alios aliorum malis: and so Braun, al. But this cannot be extracted from the words , without the article. Beza renders, ac si ipsi quoque corpore adflicti essetis: and says, prorsus videtur illud declarare quod in vernaculo sermone dicimus en personne: in other words, says Bleek, as Philo expresses it, De Spec. Legg. ad 6. 7, 30, vol. ii. p. 326, . But this is equally out of the question: and there can be no doubt that the simple meaning is the true one. So c. ( , , ), Thl., and most Commentators).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Heb 13:3. , remember) in your prayers and in your acts of kindness.- , as bound with them) on account of the unity of the body under the one head, Christ.- , in the body) in the natural body, which is not yet withdrawn from adversities, and the dangers which have befallen them. One man experiences great adversity during the whole period of his life, as Jacob: another in youth, as Joseph: another in manhood, as Job: another, finally, in old age; and this admonition is of especial advantage against such an event.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

The first branch of the exercise of brotherly love, enjoined Heb 13:1, is towards strangers, Heb 13:2; the next is towards sufferers, Heb 13:3.

Heb 13:3 , .

, mementote. Vulg. memores estote, be mindful of; it is more than a bare remembrance that is intended.

. Vulg. laborantium, of them that labor; that is, under distresses. But the word is of the passive voice, and not well rendered by the active. Eorum qui malli premuntur, Bez.; malis afficiuntur; that are pressed or affected with evils or sufferings. See Heb 11:37, where the same word is used in the same sense.

. Syr., as men who are clothed with flesh; not amiss. Ae si ipsi quoque corpoe afflieti essctis, Bez.; as if ye yourselves were afflicted in the body: which interpretation we must afterwards examine. Tanquam et ipsi in corpore existentes, as being yourselves in the body.

Heb 13:3. Remember [be mindful of] them that are in bonds [or bound,] as bound with them; [and of] them which suffer adversity, [are pressed with evils,] being yourselves also in the body.

This is the second branch of the duty of brotherly love, enjoined in the first verse: the first concerned strangers; this concerns sufferers. And because strangers are unknown as unto their persons, before the exercise of the duty of love towards them, the injunction respects the duty in the first, place, Forget not the duty of entertaining strangers. But sufferers were known, and therefore the immediate object of the command is their persons: Be mindful of them that are bound of them that suffer.

By Then that are bound and suffer, not all that are so, or do so are intended; there are those who are bound for their crimes; and suffer as evil- doers. There is a duty required towards them also, as we have occasion; but, not that here intended by the apostle. They are those only which are bound and suffer for the gospel whom he, recommends unto our remembrance in this place.

Those who then suffered for the gospel, (as it is now also,) were in a twofold outward condition. Some were in prisons, or bonds, the devil had cast them into prison; and some were variously troubled, in their name, reputation, goods, and enjoyments, some being deprived of all, all of some of these things. And so it is at this day. The apostle mentions them severally and distinctly, varying his charge concerning them, as the consideration of their several conditions was meet to influence the minds of those who did not yet so suffer unto their duty towards them, as we shall see.

In the first clause of the verse there is,

1. The object of the duty enjoined; that is, those that are bound, or in bonds.

2. The duty itself; which is, to be mindful of them. And,

3. The manner of its performance; as bound with them.

1. The object of the duty required, is those that are bound. The word signifies any that are in prison, whether they are actually bound with chains or no, because in those days all prisoners were usually so bound, Act 16:26. To be thus in bonds, or a prisoner, was esteemed a thing shameful, as well as otherwise penal; for it was the estate of evil-doers. But the introduction of a new cause made it an honorable title; namely, when any were made prisoners of Christ, or prisoners for Christ. So this apostle, when he would make use of a title of especial honor, and that which should give him authority among those with whom he had to do, so styles himself, and that emphatically, Eph 3:1, , I Paul, vinctus ille, that prisoner of Christ Jesus; and so again, Eph 4:1. See 2Ti 1:8; Phm 1:9.

This kind of punishment for the profession of the gospel began early in the world, and it hath continued throughout all ages, being most frequent in the days wherein we live. But the word of God, as the apostle speaks, is not bound, 2Ti 2:9. The devil was never able by this means to obscure the light, or stop the progress of the gospel; nor ever shall be so. He and his agents do but labor in vain. Men may, but the word of God cannot, be bound. Those therefore that were in bonds, were all that were in prison for the profession of the gospel. And observe,

Obs. 1. Are we called unto this kind of suffering? let us not think strange of it, it is no new thing in the world.

Obs. 2. Bonds and imprisonment for the truth were consecrated to God and made honorable by the bonds and imprisonment of Christ himself; and commended unto the church in all ages by the bonds and imprisonment of the apostles and primitive witnesses of the truth.

Obs. 3. It is better, more safe and honorable, to be in bonds with and for Christ, than to be at liberty with a brutish, raging, persecuting world.

2. The duty enjoined with respect unto those that are bound is, that we remember them, or be mindful of them, It seems those that are at liberty are apt to forget Christs prisoners, that they had need to be enjoined to be mindful of them; and for the most part they are so. And we are said to remember them, as we are desired to remember the poor; that is, so to think of them as to relieve them according to our ability. It is better expressed by being mindful of them, which carries a respect unto the whole duty required of us, and all the parts or acts of it. And they are many; I shall name the principal of them.

(1.) The first is care about their persons and concernments; opposed to that regardlessness which is apt to possess the minds of those that are at ease, and, as they suppose, free from danger. This the apostle commends in Php 4:10.

(2.) Compassion; included in the manner of the duty following, As if ye were bound with them. This he commends in these Hebrews with respect unto himself, Heb 10:34, Ye had compassion of me in my bonds. See the exposition. And this he enjoins them with respect unto others in the same condition. It is a great relief unto innocent sufferers, that there are those who really pity them, and have compassion on them, although they have no actual help thereby. And the want of it is expressed as a great aggravation of the sufferings of our Savior himself, Psa 69:20, I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. (3.) Prayer; as it was in the case of Peter when he was in bonds, Act 12:12. And indeed this is the principal way wherein we ought to be mindful of them that are in bonds; that which testifies our faith, sincerity, and interest in the same common cause with them; which gives life and efficacy unto every other thing that we do in their behalf.

(4.) Assisting of them, as unto what may be wanting unto their relief, unto the utmost of our ability and opportunity. Those who are prisoners for the gospel do not usually suffer only in their restraint. Wants and straits, with respect unto their relations and families, do usually accompany them. To be mindful of them as we ought to be, is to supply their wants according to our ability.

(5.) Visiting of them is in an especial manner required hereunto; which the; Lord Christ calls the visiting of himself in prison, Mat 25:36; Mat 25:43. And in the primitive times there were some designed to visit those who were in prison; which they did frequently unto the danger, sometimes unto the loss, of their lives.

These and the like duties, in particular, are contained in the present injunction. And it is a signal evidence of grace in the church, and in all professors in their particular capacities, when they are thus mindful of those that are in bonds on the account of the gospel; as it is an argument of a hypocritical state, when men, being satisfied with their own liberties and enjoyments, are careless of the bonds of others. See 1Co 12:25-26. And,

Obs. 4. Whilst God is pleased to give grace and courage unto some to suffer for the gospel unto bonds, and to others to perform their duty towards them, the church will be no loser by suffering.

Obs. 5. When some are tried as unto their constancy in bonds, others are tried as unto their sincerity in the discharge of the duties required of them. And,

Obs. 6. Usually more fail in neglect of their duty towards sufferers, and so fall from their profession, than do so fail under and on the account of their sufferings.

3. We are thus to be mindful of them that are bound, as bound with them. To be mindful of them, as bound with them is an act of union with them. And this is three-fold between suffering believers and those that are at liberty:

(1.) Mystical; a union of conjunction in the same mystical body. Being both sorts members of the same body, when one suffers, the other doth so also, as the apostle disputes, 1Co 12:25-26. And this, some think, is intended peculiarly by the next clause, of being in the body. But this union alone will not answer the expression; for men may be in the same body, and yet be neglective of their duty.

(2.) A union of sympathy or compassion; a union by spiritual affection, from a spiritual cognation. Hereby our minds are really affected with grief, sorrow, and trouble, at their sufferings, as if they were our own; as if we felt their chains, were restrained in their durance.

(3.) A union of interest in the same cause. Those who are free are equally engaged in the same cause, in all the good and evil of it, with them that are in bonds. These things give us the pleasure of our suffering with others, the frame of our minds, and the principle of our acting toward them, Wherefore,

To suffer with them that are bound, as if we were ourselves in bonds with them, requires,

(1.) A union in the same mystical body, as fellow-members of it with them.

(2.) The acting of the same common principle of spiritual life in them and us.

(3.) A compassion really affecting our minds with that kind of trouble and sorrow which are the effect of suffering.

(4.) A joint interest with them in the same common cause for which they suffer.

(5.) A discharge of the duties towards them before mentioned.

And where it is not thus with us, it argues a great decay in the power of religion. And there are none who are more severely reflected on than those who are at ease while the church is in affliction, Psa 123:4; Zec 1:15.

Having given an especial instance of the, exercise of brotherly love towards sufferers for the gospel, namely, the prisoners of Christ, towards whom especial duties are required; that we may not suppose our love and duty with respect unto suffering to be confined unto them alone, he adds unto them under the charge of our mindfulness, all that undergo evil, or trouble of any sort, for the profession of the gospel: And of them which suffer adversity, etc.

And there is in the remaining words of this verse,

1. A designation of the persons in general whom we ought to be mindful of; and,

2. A motive unto the duty required of us.

1. The persons designed are those that suffer adversity; those that are, vexed, pressed, troubled with things evil, grievous, and hard to be borne. For the word includes both the things themselves undergone, they are evil and grievous; and the frame of mens minds in the undergoing of them, they are pressed, vexed, and troubled with them.

The word is of a large signification, as large as we interpret it, that suffer adversity; extending itself unto all that is adverse or grievous unto us, as sickness, pain, losses, want and poverty, as well as other things. But it is here to be restrained unto those evils which inert undergo for the profession of the gospel; and unto all sorts of them it is to be extended: such are reproaches, contempt, scorn, turning out of secular employments, spoiling of goods, stigmatizing, taking away of children, banishment, every thing which we may undergo in and for our profession. Of all who are pressed or distressed with any of these we are enjoined to be, mindful, and that as unto all the ends and purposes before mentioned, according to our ability and opportunity. And by the distinction here used by the apostle between those that are in bonds, and those who suffer other adversities, yet both laid under the same charge as unto our remembrance, we are taught, that,

Obs. 7. Although there are peculiar duties required of us towards those who suffer for the gospel in an eminent manner, as unto bonds, yet are we not thereon discharged from the same kind of duties towards those who suffer in lesser degrees, and other things. We are apt to think ourselves released from any consideration of sufferings seeming of an inferior nature, if it may be we have had regard unto some prisoners, or the like. And,

Obs. 8. Not only those who are in bonds for the gospel, or suffer to a high degree in their persons, are under the especial care of Christ, but those also who suffer in any other kind whatever, though the world may take little notice of them; and therefore are they all of them commended unto our especial remembrance.

Obs. 9. Professors of the gospel are exempted from no sorts of adversity, from nothing that is evil and grievous unto the outward man in this world; and therefore ought we not to think it strange when we fall into them.

2. The motive added unto the diligent discharge of the duty enjoined, is, that we ourselves are also in the body. There is a threefold probable interpretation of these words. The first is, that by the body, the mystical body of Christ, or the church, is intended. Whereas we are members of the same mystical body with them that suffer, it is just, equal, and necessary, that we should be mindful of them in their sufferings. This is the exposition of Calvin; and it seems to have great countenance given unto it by the discourse of the apostle unto this purpose, 1Co 12:13; 1Co 12:26, etc., Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. There is therefore a truth in this exposition, though I conceive it be not directly intended in this place. Another is that of Beza, both in his translation and annotations. For in his translation he adds to the text, for its exposition, afflicti; as if ye yourselves were afflicted in the body.And he expounds it, as if we suffered the same calamity. And he gives this reason of his interpretation, namely, that whereas in the former clause we are enjoined to be mindful of them that are in bonds, as if we were bound with them; so in this, to be mindful of them that suffer adversity, as if we suffered in our own bodies with them. But neither do I think this reason cogent. For it is indeed those who are bound that suffer in the body in an especial manner; and in this latter exposition those are intended who suffer in any other way. Wherefore the common interpretation of the words is most suited unto the scope of the place: The apostle minds those who are yet at liberty, and free from troubles or afflictions, such as others are pressed and perplexed withal, of what is their own state and condition, namely, that as yet they are in the body; that is, in that state of natural life which is exposed unto the same calamities which others of their brethren do undergo. Whence is it that Satan and the world have this advantage against them, as to load, oppress, and vex them with all manner of evils, as they do? It is from hence alone, that they are yet in that state of being in this life natural which is subject and obnoxious unto all these sufferings. Were they once freed from the body, the life which they lead in it in this world, none of these things could reach unto them, or touch them.

Whereas, therefore, ye are yet in the same state of natural life with them, equally exposed unto all the sufferings which they undergo, be they of what kind they will, and have no assurance that ye shall be always exempted from them, this ought to be a motive unto you to be mindful of them in their present sufferings. And this is the sense of the place. And we may observe from hence,

Obs. 10. That we have no security of freedom from any sort of suffering for the gospel whilst we are in this body, or during the continuance of our natural lives Ante obitum nemo. Heaven is the only state of everlasting rest. Whilst we have our bodily eyes, all tears will not be wiped from them.

Obs. 11. We are not only exposed unto afflictions during this life, but we ought to live in the continual expectation of them, so long as there are any in the world who do actually suffer for the gospel. Not to expect our share in trouble and persecution, is a sinful security, proceeding from very corrupt principles of mind, as may be easily discovered on due examination.

Obs. 12. A sense of our own being continually obnoxious unto sufferings, no less than those who do actually suffer, ought to incline our minds unto a diligent consideration of them in their sufferings, so as to discharge all duties of love and helpfulness towards them.

Obs. 13. Unless it do so, we can have no evidence of our present interest in the same mystical body with them, nor just expectation of any compassion or relief from others, when we ourselves are called unto sufferings. When we are called to suffer, it will be a very severe self-reflection, if we must charge ourselves with want of due compassion and fellow-suffering with those who were in that condition before us.

These are some instances of the acts and duties of that brotherly love which is required among Christians; that love which is so much talked of, so much pretended unto, by some who would have it consist in a compliance with all sorts of men, good and bad, in some outward rites of religion, unto the ruin of it, which is almost lost in the world.

Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews

Matters Relating to Brotherly Love

In Heb 13:1-7 the Apostle Paul is urging us to make it our habit of life to walk in the exercise of brotherly love. We read in Heb 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. In Heb 13:3-7 he continues with the same subject, reminding us of specific matters relating to the exercise of brotherly love.

Brethren in Need

Brotherly love expresses itself by tenderly caring for brethren in need. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body (Heb 13:3). This is not talking about prison ministries and caring for legally incarcerated criminals. It is talking about those who are in bonds for the gospels sake and those who suffer adversity (particularly Gods suffering people in their adversities), because we are in the same body with them. We are in the same body of this flesh, the same body of Christ, and the same spiritual body, the church of God with them. As members one of another, as brethren in the same family, we ought to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice.

If we love as brothers and sisters in Christ, we will see that missionaries, old people, needy people, sick people, and people out of work have their needs supplied, as we are able to supply them.

Marriage Honorable

In Heb 13:4, Paul seems to throw in something that is unrelated to this matter of brotherly love. He speaks of the honor of marriage. But what he has to say is very much related to brotherly love. He says, Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Brotherly love flourishes when home love flourishes. If I do not love my wife and care for her, if I do not devote myself to her, I do not love you or Christ and will not care for you and the things of Christ. So Paul says, Take your marriage vows seriously. Let marriage be held honorably and highly esteemed in all things. Your marriage bed is honorable. And there is never an excuse (religious or otherwise) for a husband neglecting his wife, or a wife her husband. Love means you keep yourself from sexual promiscuity! Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Contentment and Assurance

Heb 13:5-6 speak of contentment rising from assurance. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Here again, Paul is still taking about brotherly love. Covetousness destroys it. Contentment promotes it. Let us live free from love of money, free from craving wealth and worldly possessions, free from greed and lust for material things. Be content with what God has given you. Be content with your present position and circumstance.

Such contentment arises from the assurance spoken of in verse six. God has said, I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support.” The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Mat 6:25-34; Php 4:6; Php 4:11-12; 1Ti 6:6-8). Because we are so slow to believe him, our God has given this promise to us five times in his Word (Gen 28:15; Deu 31:6-8; Jos 1:5; 1Ch 28:20; Heb 13:5).

This is Gods promise to every believing sinner in this world. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. It is given to us that we may, as Isaiah puts it, Suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. (Isa 66:11; Psa 37:25; Php 4:6; Php 4:11-12; 1Ti 6:6-8).

Pastors

In Heb 13:7 the Holy Spirit calls for us to remember Gods servants as rulers worthy of allegiance. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (Heb 13:7).

This is not talking about political rulers, but spiritual rulers, those men who are given the responsibility for ruling Gods house, pastors. The word would be better translated guides or governors. Gospel preachers are men who rule the house of God by the Word of God and the example of faith, by which they guide Gods people to glory (Jer 3:15).

Remember them, respect them, follow them, pray for them, provide for them, and honor them for Christ’s sake, as his servants by which he serves you (1Th 5:12-13; Eph 4:1-13). Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you (Heb 13:7).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

them that: Heb 10:34, Gen 40:14, Gen 40:15, Gen 40:23, Jer 38:7-13, Mat 25:36, Mat 25:43, Act 16:29-34, Act 24:23, Act 27:3, Eph 4:1, Phi 4:14-19, Col 4:18, 2Ti 1:16-18

which suffer: Neh 1:3, Neh 1:4, Rom 12:15, 1Co 12:26, Gal 6:1, Gal 6:2, 1Pe 3:8

Reciprocal: 1Sa 11:4 – lifted up 2Sa 19:24 – dressed his feet Job 2:11 – to come Job 6:14 – To him Job 19:21 – have pity Job 42:11 – they bemoaned Ecc 11:2 – for Isa 58:7 – bring Mat 18:31 – they Mat 27:2 – bound Act 12:5 – prayer was made without ceasing Act 20:35 – how that Act 28:15 – when Phi 2:7 – made 1Th 3:6 – and that 1Th 5:14 – be Heb 10:24 – consider 2Pe 1:13 – as long

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Heb 13:3. The bonds were the chains fastened upon disciples because of their devotion to Christ. Those who are fortunate enough not to be in chains as yet, should consider themselves as partakers of the same persecutions. Also in the body refers to the body of Christ ( the church); being in the same body with the persecuted ones should create a feeling of brotherly sympathy.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Hospitality towards strangers was expressed in the forgoing verse; here, compassion towards sufferers, such as are captives, prisoners in bonds, either upon a religious or civil account.

Here note, 1. That bodily bondage is a bitter bondage; captivity is a most grievous calamity.

2. That we are very prone to forget other’s captivity, when we ourselves are in prosperity.

3. That such as are in bonds for Christ’s sake especially, and his holy gospel, ought particularly to be remembered by us, they are and ought to be the peculiar objects of our compassion; although, considering the cause in which they suffer; it is better, and more honourable, to be in bonds for Christ, than to be at liberty with a raging persecuting world; for bonds and imprisonments for the truth, were consecrated to God, and made honourable by the bonds and imprisonment of Christ himself, and commended to the church in all ages, by the bonds and imprisonments of the apostles, and the primitive witnesses to Christianity.

Note farther, How we are to be mindful of them, and in what manner, by visiting of them, administering to them, sympathizing with them, praying for them, and all this as bound with them, which implies and act of union, as members of the same mystical body, and suffering in and for the same common cause; remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; it follows, and those that suffer adversity, as being in the body.

This implies, that there are many kinds of afflictions besides bonds; that we are prone to forget those who suffer lighter and lesser afflictions; if they be not in bonds, we are ready to forget them, thought they suffer much adversity; but the command is more general, to remember all that are in any kind of adversity, whether they suffer in body, name, or estate, by sickness, pain, losses, reproaches, or any kind of calamity; the professors of religion are exempted from no sorts of adversity, and under ever kind of it we must remember them, and sympathize with them, because we ourselves are in the body with them; that is, say some, we are members of the same mystical body with them, and therefore when one member suffers, all the members are to suffer with it. Yourselves are in the body; that is say others, in the same state of natural life, subject and obnoxious to the same sufferings, and within the reach of the same adversities.

Learn hence, That a sense of our own being continually obnoxious unto sufferings during this life, ought to incline our minds to a diligent consideration of others in their sufferings, so as to discharge all duties of love and helpfulness towards them, as an evidence of our interest in the same mystical body with them, and as a ground of just expectation of the like relief and compassion from them; Remember them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Heb 13:3. Remember In your prayers and by your help; them that are in bonds Thrown into prison for the sake of Christ, as if you yourselves were bound with them Seeing ye are members one of another; and them which suffer adversity , who are ill-treated, or afflicted with evil; as being yourselves also in the body And consequently liable to similar sufferings.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Verse 3

Also in the body; and so liable to the same sufferings.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as {a} being yourselves also in the body.

(a) Be so touched, as if their misery were yours.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The prisoners in view were evidently Christians who were suffering for their testimonies (cf. Heb 10:34; Mat 25:36; Mat 25:40). Often prisoners in the Roman world had to depend on friends outside the prison to provide them with food and other necessities. The existence of a significant number of prisoners supports a date for writing after A.D. 64, when an empire-wide persecution of Christians began. In July of that year, Emperor Nero set fire to Rome and blamed the Christians, resulting in much persecution of Christians. The readers might suffer the same fate as these prisoners themselves one day since they were still leading a mortal existence. Paul urged Timothy not to be ashamed of him when he was a prisoner (2Ti 1:8). All the Christians in the province of Asia had abandoned Paul then except for those in Onesiphorus’ household (2Ti 1:15-18).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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