Hebrews 6:10

οὐ γὰρ ἄδικος.… “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye shewed toward His name in that ye ministered and still do minister to the saints.” He recognises in their Christian activities (ἔργου ὑμῶν) and in their practical charities (τῆς ἀγάπης) things that are associated with salvation, because God's justice demands that such service shall not be overlooked. God will bless the field which already has yielded good fruit. He will cherish Christian principle in those that have manifested it. To him that hath shall be given. Cf. especially Philippians 1:6. On the doctrinal bearing of the words, see Tholuck in loc. It is impossible to think of God looking with indifference upon those who serve Him or affording them no help or encouragement. τῆς ἀγάπης ἧς … the love which found expression in personal service (διακονήσαντες) to Christians (ἁγίοις), and of which examples are specified in Hebrews 10:34, was love εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, because it was prompted not by natural relationship or worldly association but by the consideration that they were God's children and people.

Hebrews 6:11. ἐπιθυμοῦμεν δὲ.… You have manifested earnest love, cultivate as earnestly your hope; that is what I desire. The translation should therefore be “ But we desire”. ἕκαστον ὑμῶν, “each one of you,” not merely as Chrysostom interprets πολλὴ ἡ φιλοστοργία · καὶ μεγάλων καὶ μικρῶν ὁμοίως κήδεται, not as Bruce, “The good shepherd goeth after even one straying sheep”; but directly in contrast to the whole body and general reputation of the Church addressed. The writer courteously implies that some already showed the zeal demanded; but he desires that each individual, even those whose condition prompted the foregoing warning, should bestir themselves. Cf. Bengel's “non modo, ut adhuc fecistis, in communi”. τὴν αὐτὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι σπουδὴν … τέλους. The same earnest diligence [σπουδή in exact opposition to νωθροί of Hebrews 5:11; Hebrews 6:12] which had been given to loving ministries, he desires they should now exercise towards a corresponding perfectness of hope a hope which should only disappear in fruition. πληροφορία “hic non est certitudo, sed impletio sive consummatio, quo sensu πληροφ. habemus, Colossians 2:2, et 1 Thessalonians 1:5, πληροφορεῖν 2 Timothy 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:17 ” (Grotius). Alford insists that the subjective sense of the word is uniform in N.T. and therefore translates “the full assurance”. But the objective meaning, “completeness,” certainly suits Colossians 2:2 πᾶν τὸ πλοῦτος τ. πληροφορίας τ. συνέσεως and is not unsuitable in Hebrews 10:22 and 1 Thessalonians 1:5, while the verb πληροφορεῖν, at least in some passages, as 2 Timothy 4:5, has an objective sense. Besides, in the case before us, the one meaning involves the other, for, as Weiss himself says, hope is only then what it ought to be when a full certainty of conviction (eine volle Ueberzeugungsgewissheit) accompanies it. See also Davidson, who says “fulness or full assurance of faith and hope is not anything distinct from faith and hope, lying outside of them and to which they may lead; it is a condition of faith and hope themselves, the perfect condition”. ἄχρι τέλους the hope was to be perfect in quality and was also to be continuous “to the end,” i.e., until it had accomplished its work and brought them to the enjoyment of what was hoped for. The words attach themselves to ἐνδείκνυσθαι σπουδήν.