Hebrews 10:34

34 For you both sympathized with the prisoners and put up with the seizure of your belongings with joy [because you] knew that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.

Hebrews 10:34 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 10:34

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds
When he was bound at Jerusalem, by the chief captain Lysias, with two chains, ( Acts 21:33 ) or when he was in bonds elsewhere; which they did by sympathizing with him in their hearts; by their prayers for him, and in their letters to him; and by sending presents to him for his relief and support. The Alexandrian copy, and two of Stephens's, the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions, read, "had compassion on the prisoners"; or "them that were bound"; meaning prisoners in general, remembering them that were in bonds, as bound with them; or particularly such as were prisoners for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; and it may be some of them, which the apostle himself committed to prison, in his state of unregeneracy:

and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods;
the furniture of their houses, their worldly substance, of which they were stripped by their persecutors; and this they took quietly and patiently, yea, joyfully; rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer the confiscation of their goods for the sake of Christ: the reason of which joy was,

knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an
enduring substance:
that which is laid up for the saints in heaven is "substance"; it is signified by an house, a city, a kingdom; and so it is rendered here in the Ethiopic version; and by riches, true, glorious, and durable; and by a treasure and an inheritance: and this is "better" than anything in this world; as to the quality of it, it being celestial; and as to the quantity of it, it being all things; and as to the place where it is, "in heaven"; though this clause is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; and as to the company with whom it is enjoyed, saints in light; yea, God himself is the portion of his people: and this is an "enduring" substance; it cannot be wasted by the saints themselves; nor taken away from them by others; nor can it decay in its own nature; and the saints will always endure to enjoy it: and this they may be said to "have": it is promised to them, and prepared for them; they have a right unto it, and the earnest of it; and they have it already in Christ, their head and representative; so that it is, upon all accounts, sure unto them: and this they know in themselves; from what they find and feel in their own hearts; from the sealing testimony and earnest of the Spirit, and from the promise of Christ, ( Matthew 5:10 ) .

Hebrews 10:34 In-Context

32 But remember the former days in which, [after you] were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings,

33 sometimes being publicly exposed both to insults and to afflictions, and sometimes becoming sharers with those who were treated in this way.

34 For you both sympathized with the prisoners and put up with the seizure of your belongings with joy [because you] knew that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.

35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward.

36 For you have need of endurance, in order that [after you] have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("knew") which is understood as causal