The problem in Heb 10:34 is not just with the last word in the verse but also with one of the other central words. Here is the version from BLB -
For both you sympathized with the prisoners and you accepted the
plundering of your possessions with joy, knowing yourselves to
have a better and abiding possession.
- The first highlighted word, ὑπαρχόντων, is plural (from ὑπάρχω), which many versions translate in the singular
- The second highlighted word, ὕπαρξιν, is singular (from ὕπαρξις), which many translate in the plural
Perversely, some reverse both and some make both plural and some make both singular. I can justify none of this - I prefer the literal version above in this case.
The first highlighted word above appears to be referring to many household items (hence the plural) as "possessions"; the second highlighted word appears to be referring to a property or estate - the totality of one's home - a reference to the heavenly home provided by God, although it may also refer to the possession of the truth of the Gospel in Jesus which cannot be confiscated. [The "in heaven" of the KJV, TR, Majority and Byzantine texts is questionable.]
The Cambridge Bible commentary has this:
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven The “in heaven” is almost certainly a spurious gloss, and the “in” before “yourselves”
should be unquestionably omitted. If the true reading be ἐαυτοῖς, the
meaning is “recognising that ye have for yourselves,” but if we may
accept ἑαυτούς, the reading of א, we have the very beautiful and
striking thought, “recognising that ye have yourselves as a better
possession and an abiding.” He points them to the tranquil
self-possession of a holy heart (Luke 9:25; Luke 21:19), the
acquisition of our own souls, as a sufficient present consolation for
the loss of earthly goods (Hebrews 11:26), independently of the
illimitable future hope (Matthew 6:20; Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 1:4-8).
Ellicott appears to agree -
for a better possession and one that abideth They had been taught the meaning of the words spoken by Jesus of the man who gains the
world and loses himself (Luke 9:25), and of those who win their souls
by their endurance (Luke 21:19); so in Hebrews 10:39 the writer speaks
of “the gaining of the soul.” Thus trained, they could accept with joy
the loss of possessions for the sake of Christ, perceiving that in Him
they had received themselves as a possession, a better and a lasting
possession. (It would be possible to render the clause, “knowing that
ye yourselves have a better possession,” &c.; but the parallelism of
Hebrews 10:39 renders it almost certain that the former view of the
words is correct.)
