SUMMARY
The letter recalls faithfulness in persecution that readers have shown in the past as a way of encouraging them.
ANALYSIS
This passage offers the letter’s most specific information concerning the particular Christian community receiving it. After they came to faith, they endured opposition and suffering. The author names two ways readers have been directly affected (the public exposure to abuse and the plundering of their goods) and two ways that they have been indirectly affected (standing in solidarity with others persecuted and having compassion on those imprisoned).
Without this passage and 6:10, readers of Hebrews might conclude that the community had always been lukewarm in its commitment to “run with perseverance the race that is set before” them (12:1). Such complacency is not the full story of this community. The author calls to mind the past boldness, endurance, and faith of his readers as a way of saying, “You can do this!” about continued faithful following.
