Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ¹  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ³  for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 1:1-14

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ⁴  in various portions ⁵  and in various ways ⁶  to our ancestors ⁷  through the prophets, 1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ⁸  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ⁹  1:3 The Son is ¹⁰  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ¹¹  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹²  1:4 Thus he became ¹³  so far better than the angels as ¹⁴  he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ¹⁵  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ¹⁶  And in another place ¹⁷  he says, ¹⁸  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ¹⁹  1:6 But when he again brings ²⁰  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ²¹  1:7 And he says ²²  of the angels, “He makes ²³  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ²⁴  1:8 but of ²⁵  the Son he says, ²⁶ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ²⁷ 

and a righteous scepter ²⁸  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ²⁹  with the oil of rejoicing.” ³⁰ 

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ³¹ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

1:11 They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ³²  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ³³ 

1:13 But to which of the angels ³⁴  has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? ³⁵  1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those ³⁶  who will inherit salvation?

Hebrews 6:1-20

6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond ³⁷  the elementary ³⁸  instructions about Christ ³⁹  and move on ⁴⁰  to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, 6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 6:3 And this is what we intend to do, ⁴¹  if God permits. 6:4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6:6 and then have committed apostasy, ⁴²  to renew them again to repentance, since ⁴³  they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again ⁴⁴  and holding him up to contempt. 6:7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on ⁴⁵  it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ⁴⁶  its fate is to be burned. 6:9 But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. 6:11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 6:12 so that you may not be sluggish, ⁴⁷  but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

6:13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 6:14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” ⁴⁸  6:15 And so by persevering, Abraham ⁴⁹  inherited the promise. 6:16 For people ⁵⁰  swear by something greater than themselves, ⁵¹  and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. ⁵²  6:17 In the same way ⁵³  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ⁵⁴  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ⁵⁵  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, ⁵⁶  6:20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. ⁵⁷ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ³ tn Or “propitiation.”

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ⁶ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “to the fathers.”

[1:2]  ⁷ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

[1:3]  ¹² sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.

[1:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “having become.” This is part of the same sentence that extends from v. 1 through v. 4 in the Greek text.

[1:4]  ¹⁴ tn Most modern English translations attempt to make the comparison somewhat smoother by treating “name” as if it were the subject of the second element: “as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, CEV). However, the Son is the subject of both the first and second elements: “he became so far better”; “he has inherited a name.” The present translation maintains this parallelism even though it results in a somewhat more awkward rendering.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.

[1:6]  ²⁰ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[1:7]  ²² sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

[1:7]  ²³ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ²⁵ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ²⁶ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ²⁸ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[1:10]  ³¹ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.

[1:12]  ³⁴ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

[1:13]  ³⁷ sn The parallel phrases to which of the angels in vv. 5 and 13 show the unity of this series of quotations (vv. 5-14) in revealing the superiority of the Son over angels (v. 4).

[1:13]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

[1:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”

[6:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.

[6:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “basic.”

[6:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”

[6:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”

[6:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and we will do this.”

[6:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “have fallen away.”

[6:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).

[6:6]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”

[6:7]  ⁵² tn Grk “comes upon.”

[6:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “near to a curse.”

[6:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “dull.”

[6:14]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.

[6:15]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.

[6:16]  ⁶⁷ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

[6:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

[6:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”

[6:17]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ⁷¹ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

[6:18]  ⁷³ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.

[6:19]  ⁷⁶ sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.

[6:20]  ⁷⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.