Hebrews 3:7-8

Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith

3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ¹ 

“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ² 

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

Hebrews 3:2

3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ³  house. ⁴ 

Hebrews 1:1-2

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ⁵  in various portions ⁶  and in various ways ⁷  to our ancestors ⁸  through the prophets, 1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ⁹  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 22:43

22:43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

Mark 12:36

12:36 David himself, by the Holy Spirit, said,

‘The Lord said to my lord, ¹¹ 

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ ¹² 

Luke 20:42

20:42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘The Lord said to my ¹³  lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

Acts 2:29

2:29 “Brothers, ¹⁴  I can speak confidently ¹⁵  to you about our forefather ¹⁶  David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Acts 2:31

2:31 David by foreseeing this ¹⁷  spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, ¹⁸  that he was neither abandoned to Hades, ¹⁹  nor did his body ²⁰  experience ²¹  decay. ²² 

Acts 28:25

28:25 So they began to leave, ²³  unable to agree among themselves, after Paul made one last statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly to your ancestors ²⁴  through the prophet Isaiah

[3:7]  ¹ sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:2]  ³ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁴ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “to the fathers.”

[1:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[12:36]  ¹¹ sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.

[12:36]  ¹² sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

[20:42]  ¹³ sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn Since this represents a continuation of the address beginning in v.14 and continued in v. 22, “brothers” has been used here rather than a generic expression like “brothers and sisters.”

[2:29]  ¹⁵ sn Peter’s certainty is based on well-known facts.

[2:29]  ¹⁶ tn Or “about our noted ancestor,” “about the patriarch.”

[2:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “David foreseeing spoke.” The participle προϊδών (proidwn) is taken as indicating means. It could also be translated as a participle of attendant circumstance: “David foresaw [this] and spoke.” The word “this” is supplied in either case as an understood direct object (direct objects in Greek were often omitted, but must be supplied for the modern English reader).

[2:31]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:31]  ¹⁹ tn Or “abandoned in the world of the dead.” The translation “world of the dead” for Hades is suggested by L&N 1.19. The phrase is an allusion to Ps 16:10.

[2:31]  ²⁰ tn Grk “flesh.” See vv. 26b-27. The reference to “body” in this verse picks up the reference to “body” in v. 26. The Greek term σάρξ (sarx) in both verses literally means “flesh”; however, the translation “body” stresses the lack of decay of his physical body. The point of the verse is not merely the lack of decay of his flesh alone, but the resurrection of his entire person, as indicated by the previous parallel line “he was not abandoned to Hades.”

[2:31]  ²¹ tn Grk “see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”

[2:31]  ²² sn An allusion to Ps 16:10.

[28:25]  ²³ tn The imperfect verb ἀπελύοντο (apeluonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[28:25]  ²⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”