After ye were illuminated,— The Hebrews, to whom this epistle was addressed, were Christian converts, long since illuminated, (ch. Hebrews 5:12 Hebrews 6:4.) had suffered great persecutions, and seem not yet to have been free from them. What were the particular persecutions hinted at, we are not positively told; but the words former days imply a series of troubles which they had met with, and most probably very many insults from private persons. The words a great fight, contest, or conflict of afflictions, (αθλησιν,) alludes to the athletic contests in the Grecian and Roman games, especially those of the gladiators, and gives us a high ideaof their courage and bravery. By this term, says Theophylact, he declared their courage and bravery; and doubtless, when he was encouraging them to hold out by their own example, it was veryproper for him to choose aword which carried with it praise and commendation.
Related Commentaries of Hebrews 10:32
Hebrews 10:32
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;