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Hebrews Chapter 6

Hebrews Chapter 6

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Press on to perfect maturity
  1. Therefore, having left the elementary teaching of the Anointed, we should press on toward perfect maturity, not again laying a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God,
  2. or instruction about washingsfn“washings” could also be translated “baptisms”, and the laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and the judgement of ages.
  3. And we will do this if God allows.
  4. For it’s impossible for the men who were once enlightened – who tasted both the heavenly gift and became partakers of the Holy Spirit,
  5. and tasted both God’s good word and the powers of the coming age
  6. and then defectedfn“defected” this Greek word literally means to “fall away” with the implication of an intentional turning away, possibly with treachery involved. – it’s impossible to restore them to repentance again whilefn“while” could also be translated “since” because neither is explicit in Greek, and either could be implied from the participle “re-crucifying”.  The “since” understanding takes it in a causal sense, which explains the reason that restoration is impossible, which by entailment makes it impossible for such a person to repent.  The “while” understanding says that repentance is impossible during the time that the person has defected, which leaves open the possibility (though not the certainty) that repentance is possible if the person ceases their defection.  Notably, the temporal sense (“while”) is considered the default sense of participles like this one, giving “while” a slightly stronger claim, though not a certain one.  The allowance for repentance also appears to better fit the multitude of forgiveness verses in scripture (such as Isaiah 55:7).  The temporal sense (“while”) was chosen for those reasons, though the causal sense is still entirely legitimate. they’re re-crucifying the Son of God for themselves and publicly shaming Him.
  7. For the land which drank the rain often coming upon it, and producing forage useful for the men for whom it’s also tilled, partakes of a blessing from God.
  8. But the land bearing thorns and thistles is worthless and near a curse,fnquotation/allusion to Genesis 3:17-18 the end of which leads into burning.
  9. But beloved, we are *convinced of better things concerning you, and of you having salvation, even though we speak like this.
  10. For God isn’t unjust, so as to overlook your work and the ^love that you showed toward His name, having served the holy ones and still serving them.
  11. Now we yearn for each of you to show the same diligent zeal toward the full assurance of the hope until the end,
  12. so you might not become dull, but imitators of the men inheriting the promises through faith and patience.
God’s promises are sure
  1. For having made the promise to Abraham – since God had no one greater to swear by – He swore by Himself,
  2. saying: “I will surely bless you exceedinglyfn“exceedingly” is literally “blessing”, using Hebraic repetition for emphasis and magnitude and I will multiply you exceedinglyfn“exceedingly” is literally “multiplying”, using Hebraic repetition for emphasis and magnitude.”fnquotation/allusion to Genesis 22:17
  3. And having patiently endured in this way, he obtained the promise.
  4. For men swear an oath by one who’s greater, and confirmation of the oath brings every dispute of theirs to an end.
  5. In this way – being abundantly determined to prove the unchangeableness of His plan to the heirs of the promise – God guaranteed it with an oath,
  6. so that through two unchangeable matters in which it’s impossible for God to lie, we – the men who fled to Him for refuge – might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,
  7. which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, even entering into the inner veil,fn“veil” this Greek word is used in other places to refer to the veil in the temple which separated the Holy place from the Most Holy Place.
  8. where our forerunner – Jesus – entered for our sake, having become a high priest through the agesfn“ages” is literally “age” according to the order of Melchizedek.fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 110:4

 

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