Hebrews 1:12

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ¹  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ² 

Hebrews 4:2

4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ³  with those who heard it in faith. ⁴ 

Hebrews 6:6

6:6 and then have committed apostasy, ⁵  to renew them again to repentance, since ⁶  they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again ⁷  and holding him up to contempt.

Hebrews 8:8

8:8 But ⁸  showing its fault, ⁹  God ¹⁰  says to them, ¹¹ 

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Hebrews 9:15

9:15 And so he is the mediator ¹²  of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, ¹³  since he died ¹⁴  to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 10:8

10:8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” ¹⁵  (which are offered according to the law),

Hebrews 11:16

11:16 But as it is, ¹⁶  they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 12:9

12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ¹⁷  our earthly fathers ¹⁸  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 12:25

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

Hebrews 13:9

13:9 Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings. ²⁰  For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, ²¹  which have never benefited those who participated in them.

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¹ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï 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.

² sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

³ tn Or “they were not united.”

⁴ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.

⁵ tn Or “have fallen away.”

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”).

⁷ tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”

⁸ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ 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 [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", 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.

¹² tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “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.

¹³ tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “a death having occurred.”

¹⁵ sn Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5-6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.

¹⁶ tn Grk “now.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.

¹⁹ tn Grk “and live.”

sn Submit ourselves…to the Father of spirits and receive life. This idea is drawn from Proverbs, where the Lord’s discipline brings life, while resistance to it leads to death (cf. Prov 4:13; 6:23; 10:17; 16:17).

²⁰ tn Grk “by diverse and strange teachings.”

²¹ tn Grk “foods,” referring to the meals associated with the OT sacrifices (see the contrast with the next verse; also 9:9-10; 10:1, 4, 11).