Charles Ellicott Commentary Hebrews 6:12

"that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." — Hebrews 6:12 (ASV)

That you be not slothful.—Rather, that you become not sluggish. The same word is used as in Hebrews 5:11; there it is applied to the apprehension of truth, here to the Christian hope and life. If the truth is not welcomed, there will be no vigor in the life.

Followers.—Better, imitators. (1 Corinthians 11:1, and others). They are not the first to whom “hope” has been given, and who have needed zeal so that they might not fail in their hope.

As in Hebrews 11, the writer appeals to precursors of faith, so here of hope—to those who, having lived in hope, passed to the actual possession of the promised blessings by means of faith (which accepted and clung to the promise) and patience.

The last word, “patience,” is not the same as the word that occurs in the similar exhortation in Hebrews 10:36. That word signifies a brave endurance. This word, by contrast, is usually rendered “long-suffering,” which here and in James 5:7 signifies patient waiting.