Hebrews 12:1-13 portrays the suffering of its readers with two images: an athletic contest, and God's fatherly discipline. N. Clayton Croy places this important passage in the context of Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions. He argues that the idea of "training" unites the passage, which presents Jesus as the supreme athlete. It also supports a non punitive understanding of discipline, in which God's children undergo a positive process of education. These ideas combine to support a call in Hebrews to faithful endurance rather than repentance.

"...a careful and sound analysis...about the meaning and purpose of suffering. This work is a model dissertation in its formulation of the question, its critical interaction with the history of interpretation, its detailed examination of both the Greco-Roman and Jewish backgrounds informing a New Testament text, its methodological rigor, and its commitment to bring the fruits of exegetical work to bear on theological and pastoral applications of the text. It will become necessary reading for all future interpretations of Heb 12:1-13."