Humanitext Reader

New Testament · Hebrews §6.1-6.20

Call to Maturity and the Certainty of God's Promise

Passage 6 of 13 · Greek

Summary

The author urges believers to progress beyond elementary teachings to spiritual maturity, warning that those who fall away after experiencing divine grace cannot be restored. He encourages them with God's unchangeable promise and oath to Abraham, pointing to hope as a secure anchor of the soul entering the inner sanctuary where Jesus has gone.

§6.1Διὸ ἀφέντες τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ χριστοῦ λόγον ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα, μὴ πάλιν θεμέλιον καταβαλλόμενοι μετανοίας ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, καὶ πίστεως ἐπὶ θεόν, §6.2βαπτισμῶν διδαχὴν ἐπιθέσεώς τε χειρῶν, ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν καὶ κρίματος αἰωνίου.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
§6.3καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσομεν ἐάνπερ ἐπιτρέπῃ ὁ θεός.
And this we will do if God permits.
§6.4Ἀδύνατον γὰρ τοὺς ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας γευσαμένους τε τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς ἐπουρανίου καὶ μετόχους γενηθέντας πνεύματος ἁγίου §6.5καὶ καλὸν γευσαμένους θεοῦ ῥῆμα δυνάμεις τε μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, §6.6καὶ παραπεσόντας, πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς μετάνοιαν, ἀνασταυροῦντας ἑαυτοῖς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παραδειγματίζοντας.
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God on their own account and holding him up to contempt.
§6.7"γῆ" γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολλάκις ὑετόν, καὶ τίκτουσα "βοτάνην" εὔθετον ἐκείνοις διʼ οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ·
For "land" that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a "crop" useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
§6.8"ἐκφέρουσα" δὲ "ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους" ἀδόκιμος καὶ "κατάρας" ἐγγύς, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν.
But if it bears "thorns and thistles," it is worthless and near to being "cursed," and its end is to be burned.
§6.9Πεπείσμεθα δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀγαπητοί, τὰ κρείσσονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας, εἰ καὶ οὕτως λαλοῦμεν·
Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.
§6.10οὐ γὰρ ἄδικος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιλαθέσθαι τοῦ ἔργου ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἧς ἐνεδείξασθε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, διακονήσαντες τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ διακονοῦντες.
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
§6.11ἐπιθυμοῦμεν δὲ ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὴν αὐτὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι σπουδὴν πρὸς τὴν πληροφορίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἄχρι τέλους, §6.12ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε, μιμηταὶ δὲ τῶν διὰ πίστεως καὶ μακροθυμίας κληρονομούντων τὰς ἐπαγγελίας.
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
§6.13Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, "ὤμοσεν καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ," §6.14λέγων "Εἰ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ" σε· §6.15καὶ οὕτως μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας.
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, "he swore by himself," saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
§6.16ἄνθρωποι γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσιν, καὶ πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ὁ ὅρκος·
For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
§6.17ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, §6.18ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος·
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
§6.19ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν καὶ "εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος," §6.20ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, "κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ" ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος "εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. "
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that "enters into the inner place behind the curtain," where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest "forever after the order of Melchizedek."

Notes

  1. §6.2βαπτισμῶν διδαχὴν — The accusative noun διδαχήν is placed either in apposition to θεμέλιον (the object of καταβαλλόμενοι in §6.1) or as another direct object of the participle. The subsequent genitive nouns (ἐπιθέσεώς, ἀναστάσεως, κρίματος) are coordinated to define the specific contents of this foundational instruction.
  2. §6.6ἀνασταυροῦντας — In the complex sentence starting with Ἀδύνατον, the main syntactic framework is Ἀδύνατον ... [ἐστὶν] πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν (it is impossible to restore again). The accusative participle ἀνασταυροῦντας modifies the object of the infinitive, namely τοὺς ... παραπεσόντας (those who have fallen away), rather than the logical subject of the action. It functions circumstantially to express the reason or condition: 'since they are crucifying the Son of God again for themselves and holding him up to contempt.'
  3. §6.18οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι — While the infinitive κρατῆσαι (to hold fast) could be construed as modifying the noun παράκλησιν ('encouragement to hold fast'), it is syntactically and contextually more natural to take it as expressing the purpose of the preceding participle οἱ καταφυγόντες ('we who have fled for refuge to hold fast to the hope set before us').

Cite this passage

New Testament, Hebrews §6.1-6.20. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg019.humanitext-grc2:6.1-6.20

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.