Witnesses] The Gk. word is martyres. The word means primarily 'one who bears witness' to something he has seen or experienced. Here the witnesses are those who have borne testimony to the victorious power of faith. But the word passes easily over to the further sense of 'spectators,' which is also implied in this whole passage. The writer conceives these heroes as surrounding in a cloud, or dense mass, the arena in which the present generation of God's people are running their race. Once they were themselves runners; now they are promoted to the rank of spectators. Their presence and example ought to be a stimulus to those running now.
Every weight] mg. 'all cumbrance.' The word may refer to anything that impedes free running, such as loose garments. But it is used in a special sense to denote the superfluous flesh which an athlete seeks to get rid of by strict training: cp. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
Which doth so easily beset us] The meaning of this phrase, represented in the original by a single adjective, is doubtful, and the Revisers have not seen fit to change the translation in the text. But they give in the margin the two other possible renderings: (1) 'that doth closely cling to us,' i.e. like a clinging garment (cp. the common Oriental phrase, 'to gird up the loins,' i.e. to tack the loose ends of the outer flowing robe under the girdle as a preparation for any exertion); or (2) 'that is admired of many,' lit. 'well-surrounded'. by an admiring throng. The former, which is virtually identical with the accepted rendering of AV, is the easier, and is appropriate to the idea of a runner divesting himself of all impedimenta. It is to be observed that 'the sin' spoken of is not a particular sin (as the common use of the phrase 'besetting sin' suggests), but sin in general, all sin, the definite article being the 'generic' article.