6:12 sluggish. This term (translated “dull” in 5:11) marks the beginning and end of the exhortation.

through faith and patience inherit the promises. Abraham is the preeminent example (vv. 15, 17; 11:8–19); but biblical history is full of witnesses who have run the course of patient faith ahead of us (11:4–38), and have now received the promised inheritance through Christ’s perfecting work (11:13, 39, 40).