Hebrews 1-10

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Hebrews 1:1 tn Or “spoke formerly.”
2. Hebrews 1:1 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 (polumerōs) 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 (polutropōs) mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).
3. Hebrews 1:1 tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.
4. Hebrews 1:1 tn Grk “to the fathers.”
5. Hebrews 1:2 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).sn The phrase in a son is the fulcrum of Heb 1:1-4. It concludes the contrast of God’s old and new revelation and introduces a series of seven descriptions of the Son. These descriptions show why he is the ultimate revelation of God.
6. Hebrews 1:2 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.
7. Hebrews 1:3 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.
8. Hebrews 1:3 tn Grk “by the word of his power.”
9. Hebrews 1:3 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.
10. Hebrews 1:4 tn Grk “having become.” This is part of the same sentence that extends from v. 1 through v. 4 in the Greek text.
11. Hebrews 1:4 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.sn This comparison is somewhat awkward to express in English, but it reflects an important element in the argument of Hebrews: the superiority of Jesus Christ.
12. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I have begotten you.”sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
14. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.
15. Hebrews 1:5 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.
16. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”sn A quotation from 2 Sam 7:14 (cf. 1 Chr 17:13).
17. Hebrews 1:6 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.
18. Hebrews 1:6 sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.
19. Hebrews 1:7 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).
20. Hebrews 1:7 tn Grk “He who makes.”
21. Hebrews 1:7 tn Or “spirits” (so KJV, NKJV). The Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) can mean either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context. Since the context here concerns the superiority of the Son to the angels, many interpreters and most modern English translations see the present verse emphasizing the transitory or ephemeral nature of God’s other servants, the angels, and thus underscoring their inferiority to the Son.
22. Hebrews 1:7 sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.
23. Hebrews 1:8 tn Or “to.”
24. Hebrews 1:8 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
25. Hebrews 1:8 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 (theos) 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.
26. Hebrews 1:8 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.
27. Hebrews 1:9 sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.
28. Hebrews 1:9 sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.
29. Hebrews 1:10 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.
30. Hebrews 1:12 tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, hōs himation) are found in excellent and early mss (P⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 M 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.sn The phrase like a garment here is not part of the original OT text (see tc note above); for this reason it has been printed in normal type.
31. Hebrews 1:12 sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.
32. Hebrews 1:13 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).
33. Hebrews 1:13 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
34. Hebrews 1:14 tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”
35. Hebrews 2:2 sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).
36. Hebrews 2:2 tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”
37. Hebrews 2:4 tn Grk “God bearing witness together” (the phrase “with them” is implied).
38. Hebrews 2:4 tn Grk “and distributions of the Holy Spirit.”
39. Hebrews 2:5 sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.
40. Hebrews 2:5 sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.
41. Hebrews 2:6 tn Grk “remember him.”
42. Hebrews 2:7 tc Several witnesses, many of them early and significant (א A C D* P Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat co), have at the end of v 7, “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” Other mss, not quite as impressive in weight, lack the words (P⁴⁶ B D² M). In spite of the impressive external evidence for the longer reading, it is most likely a scribal addition to conform the text of Hebrews to Ps 8:6 (8:7 LXX). Conformity of a NT quotation of the OT to the LXX was a routine scribal activity, and can hardly be in doubt here as to the cause of the longer reading.
43. Hebrews 2:8 tn Grk “you subjected all things under his feet.”sn A quotation from Ps 8:4-6.
44. Hebrews 2:8 sn The expression all things under his control occurs three times in 2:8. The latter two occurrences are not exactly identical to the Greek text of Ps 8:6 quoted at the beginning of the verse, but have been adapted by the writer of Hebrews to fit his argument.
45. Hebrews 2:9 tn Or “who was made a little lower than the angels.”
46. Hebrews 2:9 tn Grk “because of the suffering of death.”
47. Hebrews 2:9 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).
48. Hebrews 2:10 tn Grk “for whom are all things and through whom are all things.”
49. Hebrews 2:10 sn The Greek word translated pioneer is used of a “prince” or leader, the representative head of a family. It also carries nuances of “trailblazer,” one who breaks through to new ground for those who follow him. It is used some thirty-five times in the Greek OT and four times in the NT, always of Christ (Acts 3:15; 5:31; Heb 2:10; 12:2).
50. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “are all from one.”
51. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “for which reason.”
52. Hebrews 2:11 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The context here also indicates both men and women are in view; note especially the collective τὰ παιδία (ta paidia) in v. 14.
53. Hebrews 2:12 tn Here, because of its occurrence in an OT quotation, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (tois adelphois) has been translated simply as “brothers” rather than “brothers and sisters” (see the note on the latter phrase in the previous verse).
54. Hebrews 2:12 sn A quotation from Ps 22:22.
55. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “and again,” as a continuation of the preceding.
56. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).
57. Hebrews 2:13 tn Grk “and.”
58. Hebrews 2:13 sn A quotation from Isa 8:17-18.
59. Hebrews 2:14 tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).
60. Hebrews 2:14 tn Grk “the same.”
61. Hebrews 2:14 tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”
62. Hebrews 2:17 tn Or “he was obligated.”
63. Hebrews 2:17 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
64. Hebrews 2:17 tn Or “propitiation.”
65. Hebrews 3:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
66. Hebrews 3:1 tn Grk “of our confession.”
67. Hebrews 3:2 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
68. Hebrews 3:2 tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (P^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 M 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 (holō, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁸ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
69. Hebrews 3:5 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
70. Hebrews 3:5 sn A quotation from Num 12:7.
71. Hebrews 3:6 sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.
72. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
73. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.
74. Hebrews 3:6 tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in P^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 M latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mechri telous 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 (kauchēma, 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.
75. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”
76. Hebrews 3:7 sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.
77. Hebrews 3:7 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
78. Hebrews 3:9 tn Grk “tested me by trial.”
79. Hebrews 3:10 tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”
80. Hebrews 3:11 tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.
81. Hebrews 3:12 tn Or “take care.”
82. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
83. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”
84. Hebrews 3:12 tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”
85. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”
86. Hebrews 3:14 tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”
87. Hebrews 3:15 tn Grk “while it is said.”
88. Hebrews 3:15 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
89. Hebrews 3:15 sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.
90. Hebrews 3:16 tn Grk “through Moses.”
91. Hebrews 3:17 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
92. Hebrews 3:17 sn An allusion to God’s judgment pronounced in Num 14:29, 32.
93. Hebrews 3:19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate a summary or conclusion to the argument of the preceding paragraph.
94. Hebrews 4:1 tn Grk “let us fear.”
95. Hebrews 4:2 tn Or “they were not united.”
96. Hebrews 4:2 tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmenos, “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (ho logos, “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenous] in 1881 M), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenous), found in P^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinous, “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.
97. Hebrews 4:3 sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.
98. Hebrews 4:3 tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.
99. Hebrews 4:4 sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.
100. Hebrews 4:5 tn Grk “and in this again.”
101. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
102. Hebrews 4:7 sn Ps 95 in the Hebrew does not mention David either in the text or the superscription. The writer of Hebrews might attribute Psalms as a whole to David, though some psalms are specifically attributed to other individuals or groups. Yet the Greek inscription for Ps 95 in the LXX credits the psalm to David, and the author of Hebrews frequently uses the LXX.
103. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “as it has been said before” (see Heb 3:7).
104. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
105. Hebrews 4:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
106. Hebrews 4:10 tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
107. Hebrews 4:13 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
108. Hebrews 4:16 tn Grk “for timely help.”
109. Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) has been translated “people.”
110. Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
111. Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
112. Hebrews 5:4 sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
113. Hebrews 5:4 tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”
114. Hebrews 5:4 tn Grk “being called by God.”
115. Hebrews 5:5 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
116. Hebrews 5:5 tn Grk “I have begotten you”; see Heb 1:5.sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
117. Hebrews 5:6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
118. Hebrews 5:6 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4.
119. Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”
120. Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
121. Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.
122. Hebrews 5:8 sn There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emathen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epathen).
123. Hebrews 5:10 tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.
124. Hebrews 5:10 sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.
125. Hebrews 5:11 tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”
126. Hebrews 5:11 tn Or “dull.”
127. Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “because of the time.”
128. Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
129. Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
130. Hebrews 5:12 tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and significant ones (א² A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 M sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (P⁴⁶ א* B² C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁸ has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
131. Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.
132. Hebrews 6:1 tn Or “basic.”
133. Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”
134. Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”
135. Hebrews 6:1 sn It is clear from the context that the phrase “dead works” are works that need to be repented from and thus are sins. The same phrase occurs in Heb 9:14 in which the author of Hebrews states that our consciences need to be purified from them. As Bruce states, they are works “that belong to the way of death and not the way of life” (F. F. Bruce, Hebrews [NICNT], 138).
136. Hebrews 6:2 sn See Hebrews 9:10 and Mark 7:4 for other references to the Jewish practice of ritual washings.
137. Hebrews 6:3 tn Grk “and we will do this.”
138. Hebrews 6:6 tn Or “have fallen away.”
139. Hebrews 6:6 tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).
140. Hebrews 6:6 tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”
141. Hebrews 6:7 tn Grk “comes upon.”
142. Hebrews 6:8 tn Grk “near to a curse.”
143. Hebrews 6:12 tn Or “dull.”
144. Hebrews 6:14 tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.sn A quotation from Gen 22:17.
145. Hebrews 6:15 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.
146. Hebrews 6:16 tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”
147. Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.
148. Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”
149. Hebrews 6:17 tn Grk “in which.”
150. Hebrews 6:17 tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
151. Hebrews 6:18 tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.
152. Hebrews 6:19 sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
153. Hebrews 6:20 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.
154. Hebrews 7:1 sn A series of quotations from Gen 14:17-19.
155. Hebrews 7:2 tn Grk “to whom,” continuing the description of Melchizedek. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
156. Hebrews 7:2 tn Or “a tenth part.”
157. Hebrews 7:2 sn A quotation from Gen 14:20.
158. Hebrews 7:2 tn Grk “first being interpreted,” describing Melchizedek.
159. Hebrews 7:2 sn These words are repeated from the quotation of Gen 14:18 in the previous verse.
160. Hebrews 7:4 tn Grk “to whom.”
161. Hebrews 7:4 tn Or “a tenth part.”
162. Hebrews 7:5 tn Or “the priesthood.”
163. Hebrews 7:5 tn Grk “from their brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.
164. Hebrews 7:5 tn Grk “have come from the loins of Abraham.”
165. Hebrews 7:6 tn Grk “the one”; in the translation the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified for clarity.
166. Hebrews 7:6 tn Grk “is not descended from them.”
167. Hebrews 7:6 tn Or “a tenth part.”
168. Hebrews 7:6 sn The verbs “collected…and blessed” emphasize the continuing effect of the past actions, i.e., Melchizedek’s importance.
169. Hebrews 7:10 tn Grk “in the loins of his father” (a reference to Abraham). The name “Abraham” has been repeated in the translation at this point (cf. v. 9) in order to clarify the referent (i.e., what ancestor was in view).sn The point of the phrase still in his ancestor’s loins is that Levi was as yet unborn, still in his ancestor Abraham’s body. Thus Levi participated in Abraham’s action when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.
170. Hebrews 7:11 tn Grk “based on it.”
171. Hebrews 7:12 tn Grk “of necessity a change in the law comes to pass.”
172. Hebrews 7:13 tn Grk “shares in.”
173. Hebrews 7:13 tn Grk “from which no one.”
174. Hebrews 7:16 tn Grk “a law of a fleshly command.”
175. Hebrews 7:17 tn Grk “for he/it is witnessed that.”
176. Hebrews 7:17 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4 (see Heb 5:6 and 6:20).
177. Hebrews 7:18 tn Grk “the setting aside of a former command comes to pass.”
178. Hebrews 7:18 tn Grk “because of its weakness and uselessness.”
179. Hebrews 7:20 sn The Greek text contains an elaborate comparison between v. 20a and v. 22, with a parenthesis (vv. 20b-21) in between; the comparison is literally, “by as much as…by so much” or “to the degree that…to that same degree.”
180. Hebrews 7:21 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
181. Hebrews 7:21 tn The words “did so” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
182. Hebrews 7:21 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4 (see Heb 5:6; 6:20, and 7:17).
183. Hebrews 7:22 tn Or “surety.”
184. Hebrews 7:23 tn Grk “they on the one hand” in contrast with “he on the other hand” in v. 24.
185. Hebrews 7:23 tn Grk “they were prevented by death.”
186. Hebrews 7:23 tn Grk “from continuing” (the words “in office” are supplied for clarity).
187. Hebrews 7:28 sn See Heb 5:2 where this concept was introduced.
188. Hebrews 8:1 tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”
189. Hebrews 8:1 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.
190. Hebrews 8:4 tn Grk “there are those who offer.”
191. Hebrews 8:5 tn Grk “who serve in,” referring to the Levitical priests, but focusing on the provisional and typological nature of the tabernacle in which they served.
192. Hebrews 8:5 tn Or “prototype,” “outline.” The Greek word ὑπόδειγμα (hupodeigma) does not mean “copy,” as it is often translated; it means “something to be copied,” a basis for imitation. BDAG 1037 s.v. 2 lists both Heb 8:5 and 9:23 under the second category of usage, “an indication of someth. that appears at a subsequent time,” emphasizing the temporal progression between the earthly and heavenly sanctuaries.sn There are two main options for understanding the conceptual background of the heavenly sanctuary imagery. The first is to understand the imagery to be functioning on a vertical plane. This background is Hellenistic, philosophical, and spatial in orientation and sees the earthly sanctuary as a copy of the heavenly reality. The other option is to see the imagery functioning on a horizontal plane. This background is Jewish, eschatological, and temporal and sees the heavenly sanctuary as the fulfillment and true form of the earthly sanctuary which preceded it. The second option is preferred, both for lexical reasons (see tn above) and because it fits the Jewish context of the book (although many scholars prefer to emphasize the relationship the book has to Hellenistic thought).
193. Hebrews 8:5 tn The word τύπος (tupos) here has the meaning “an archetype serving as a model, type, pattern, model” (BDAG 1020 s.v. 6.a). This is in keeping with the horizontal imagery accepted for this verse (see sn on “sketch” earlier in the verse). Here Moses was shown the future heavenly sanctuary which, though it did not yet exist, became the outline for the earthly sanctuary.
194. Hebrews 8:5 sn A quotation from Exod 25:40.
195. Hebrews 8:6 sn The Greek text indicates a contrast between vv. 4-5 and v. 6 that is difficult to render in English: Jesus’ status in the old order of priests (vv. 4-5) versus his superior ministry (v. 6).
196. Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Jesus) has been specified for clarity.
197. Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “to the degree that.”
198. Hebrews 8:6 tn Grk “which is enacted.”
199. Hebrews 8:6 sn This linkage of the change in priesthood with a change in the law or the covenant goes back to Heb 7:12, 22 and is picked up again in Heb 9:6-15 and 10:1-18.
200. Hebrews 8:7 tn Grk “no occasion for a second one would have been sought.”
201. Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.
202. Hebrews 8:8 sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.
203. Hebrews 8:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
204. Hebrews 8:8 tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memphomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autois), supported by P⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 M, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memphomenos, here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.
205. Hebrews 8:9 tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.
206. Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
207. Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “mind.”
208. Hebrews 8:10 tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.
209. Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”
210. Hebrews 8:11 tn Grk “from the small to the great.”
211. Hebrews 8:12 sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.
212. Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “when he says, ‘new,’” (referring to the covenant).
213. Hebrews 8:13 tn Grk “near to disappearing.”
214. Hebrews 9:1 tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.
215. Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “the first,” in order of approach in the ritual.
216. Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “in which [were].”
217. Hebrews 9:2 tn Grk “which,” describing the outer tent.
218. Hebrews 9:4 tn Grk “in which”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.
219. Hebrews 9:5 tn Grk “above it”; in the translation the referent (the ark) has been specified for clarity.
220. Hebrews 9:5 sn The cherubim (pl.) were an order of angels mentioned repeatedly in the OT but only here in the NT. They were associated with God’s presence, glory, and holiness. Their images that sat on top of the ark of the covenant are described in Exod 25:18-20.
221. Hebrews 9:6 tn Grk “the first tent.”
222. Hebrews 9:7 tn Grk “the second tent.”
223. Hebrews 9:7 tn Or perhaps “the unintentional sins of the people”; Grk “the ignorances of the people.” Cf. BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνόημα, “sin committed in ignorance/unintentionally.” This term seems to be simply a synonym for “sins” (cf. Heb 5:2) and does not pick up the distinction made in Num 15:22-31 between unwitting sin and “high-handed” sin. The Day of Atonement ritual in Lev 16 covered all the sins of the people, not just the unwitting ones.
224. Hebrews 9:8 tn Grk “the first tent.” The literal phrase “the first tent” refers to either (1) the outer chamber of the tabernacle in the wilderness (as in vv. 2, 6) or (2) the entire tabernacle as a symbol of the OT system of approaching God. The second is more likely given the contrast that follows in vv. 11-12.
225. Hebrews 9:10 tn Grk “only for foods and drinks.”
226. Hebrews 9:10 tc Most witnesses (D¹ M) have “various washings, and external regulations” (βαπτισμοῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν, baptismois kai dikaiōmasin), with both nouns in the dative. The translation “washings; they are…regulations” renders βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα (baptismois, dikaiōmata; found in such significant mss as P⁴⁶ א* A I P 0278 33 1739 1881 al sa) in which case δικαιώματα is taken as the nominative subject of the participle ἐπικείμενα (epikeimena). It seems far more likely that scribes would conform δικαιώματα to the immediately preceding datives and join it to them by καί than they would to the following nominative participle. Both on external and internal evidence the text is thus secure as reading βαπτισμοῖς, δικαιώματα.
227. Hebrews 9:10 tn Grk “until the time of setting things right.”
228. Hebrews 9:11 tn Grk “But Christ, when he came,” introducing a sentence that includes all of Heb 9:11-12. The main construction is “Christ, having come…, entered…, having secured…,” and everything else describes his entrance.
229. Hebrews 9:12 tn This verb occurs in the Greek middle voice, which here intensifies the role of the subject, Christ, in accomplishing the action: “he alone secured”; “he and no other secured.”
230. Hebrews 9:13 tn Grk “for the purifying of the flesh.” The “flesh” here is symbolic of outward or ritual purity in contrast to inner purity, that of the conscience (cf. Heb 9:9).
231. Hebrews 9:14 tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D² 0278 33 1739^c 1881 M lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.
232. Hebrews 9:15 tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesitēs, “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.
233. Hebrews 9:15 tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
234. Hebrews 9:15 tn Grk “a death having occurred.”
235. Hebrews 9:16 tn Grk “there is a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven.”
236. Hebrews 9:18 sn The Greek text reinforces this by negating the opposite (“not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood”), but this double negation is not used in contemporary English.
237. Hebrews 9:20 tn Grk “which God commanded for you (or in your case).”sn A quotation from Exod 24:8.
238. Hebrews 9:23 tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.
239. Hebrews 9:23 tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.
240. Hebrews 9:23 tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”
241. Hebrews 9:24 tn Or “prefiguration.”
242. Hebrews 9:24 tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.
243. Hebrews 9:25 tn Grk “and not that he might offer,” continuing the previous construction.
244. Hebrews 9:27 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
245. Hebrews 9:27 tn Grk “and after this—judgment.”
246. Hebrews 9:28 sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.
247. Hebrews 9:28 tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.
248. Hebrews 9:28 tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.
249. Hebrews 10:1 tn Grk “those who approach.”
250. Hebrews 10:2 tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”
251. Hebrews 10:3 tn Grk “in them”; the referent (those sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
252. Hebrews 10:7 tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).
253. Hebrews 10:7 sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”
254. Hebrews 10:8 sn Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5-6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.
255. Hebrews 10:9 tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א² 0278^vid 1739 M lat), have ὁ θεός (ho theos, “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so P⁴⁶ א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.
256. Hebrews 10:9 tn Or “abolishes.”
257. Hebrews 10:10 tn Grk “by which will.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
258. Hebrews 10:11 tn Or “daily,” “every day.”
259. Hebrews 10:12 tn Grk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.
260. Hebrews 10:12 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
261. Hebrews 10:13 tn Grk “from then on waiting.”
262. Hebrews 10:13 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
263. Hebrews 10:15 tn Grk “after having said,” emphasizing the present impact of this utterance.
264. Hebrews 10:16 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
265. Hebrews 10:16 sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.
266. Hebrews 10:17 tn Grk “and.”
267. Hebrews 10:17 sn A quotation from Jer 31:34.
268. Hebrews 10:19 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
269. Hebrews 10:20 tn Grk “that he inaugurated for us as a fresh and living way,” referring to the entrance mentioned in v. 19.
270. Hebrews 10:20 sn Through his flesh. In a bold shift the writer changes from a spatial phrase (Christ opened the way through the curtain into the inner sanctuary) to an instrumental phrase (he did this through [by means of] his flesh in his sacrifice of himself), associating the two in an allusion to the splitting of the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Just as the curtain was split, so Christ’s body was broken for us, to give us access into God’s presence.
271. Hebrews 10:21 tn Grk “and a great priest,” continuing the construction begun in v. 19.
272. Hebrews 10:22 tn Grk “in assurance of faith.”
273. Hebrews 10:22 sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).
274. Hebrews 10:24 tn Grk “let us consider one another for provoking of love and good deeds.”
275. Hebrews 10:25 sn The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.
276. Hebrews 10:25 tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).
277. Hebrews 10:26 tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.
278. Hebrews 10:27 tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).sn An allusion to Zeph 1:18.
279. Hebrews 10:27 tn Grk “the enemies.”sn An allusion to Isa 26:11.
280. Hebrews 10:28 tn Grk “dies.”
281. Hebrews 10:28 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
282. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “tramples under foot.”
283. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “regarded as common.”
284. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”
285. Hebrews 10:30 sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.
286. Hebrews 10:30 sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.
287. Hebrews 10:34 tc Most witnesses, including some significant ones (א D² 1881 M), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmois mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so P⁴⁶ Ψ 104), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmiois), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western text-forms (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.
288. Hebrews 10:34 tn Grk “you yourselves.”
289. Hebrews 10:35 tn Grk “which,” but showing the reason.
290. Hebrews 10:36 tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.
291. Hebrews 10:37 sn A quotation from Isa 26:20.
292. Hebrews 10:37 sn A quotation from Hab 2:3.
293. Hebrews 10:38 tn Grk “my soul.”
294. Hebrews 10:38 sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.
295. Hebrews 10:39 tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”