Hebrews 6:1-8
New English Translation
6 Therefore we must progress beyond[a] the elementary[b] instructions about Christ[c] and move on[d] to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works[e] and faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings,[f] laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this is what we intend to do,[g] if God permits. 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, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy,[h] to renew them again to repentance, since[i] they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again[j] and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on[k] it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed;[l] its fate is to be burned.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Or “basic.”
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”
- 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).
- Hebrews 6:2 sn See Hebrews 9:10 and Mark 7:4 for other references to the Jewish practice of ritual washings.
- Hebrews 6:3 tn Grk “and we will do this.”
- Hebrews 6:6 tn Or “have fallen away.”
- 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”).
- Hebrews 6:6 tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”
- Hebrews 6:7 tn Grk “comes upon.”
- Hebrews 6:8 tn Grk “near to a curse.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.