Hebrews 3:4-6

Context
3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 3:5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s¹ house² as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 3:6 But Christ³ is faithful as a son over God’s⁴ house. We are of his house,⁵ if in fact we hold firmly⁶ to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.⁷

[3:5] ¹tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:5] ²sn A quotation from Num 12:7.

[3:6] ³sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.

[3:6] ⁴tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:6] ⁵tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.

[3:6] ⁶tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mecri telou" bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.

[3:6] ⁷tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”