1 tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א2 A C D H Ψ 0243 1739 1881 Ï lat sy bo), conclude the letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, there is sufficient testimony (Ì46 א* Ivid 6 33 sa) for the lack of the particle, rendering its omission the preferred reading.
2 tn Grk “for timely help.”
3 tn Grk “by diverse and strange teachings.”
4 tn Grk “foods,” referring to the meals associated with the OT sacrifices (see the contrast with the next verse; also 9:9-10; 10:1, 4, 11).
4 tn Or “who was made a little lower than the angels.”
5 tn Grk “because of the suffering of death.”
6 tn Grk “would taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).
5 tn Grk “tramples under foot.”
6 tn Grk “regarded as common.”
7 tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”
6 tn Grk “that there not be any root of bitterness,” but referring figuratively to a person who causes trouble (as in Deut 29:17 [LXX] from which this is quoted).