Hebrewschapter 6
20 verses · unknown · AD 60 to 69 · The general letters
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
Introduction
unknown, The general letters, Hebrews Overview.
The writer of this sermon has just scolded his hearers, and now he urges them to press on. He knew them well. He remembered the love they had shown to other believers, and he feared they were sliding back toward what they had left. So he speaks here more sharply than anywhere before, and then more tenderly. Listen for the word impossible, used once in warning and once in comfort. Listen also for the promise made to Abraham and the oath that sealed it. The chapter shows a frightened believer where to fix his hope.
Context
- Who
- Believers under pressure who were considering walking back into the synagogue
- What
- An appeal to go on to maturity, a severe warning against falling away, and an assurance built on God's promise and oath to Abraham.
- Where
- Written to a community of Jewish believers, most likely in or near Rome, who had served other believers and were still serving them.
- When
- Most likely in the 60s AD, while the temple in Jerusalem still stood and its priests still served.
- Why
- To move believers who had stalled to press on, and to give them a hope that rests on God's own word and oath.
Historical context
The list of basics, repentance, faith toward God, instruction about washings, laying on of hands, resurrection, eternal judgment, reads like the introductory course a Jewish believer went through. 'Washings' is plural, and Jewish life was full of them: stone step-down immersion baths have been excavated all over Judea.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The farming picture in the middle is ordinary Mediterranean agriculture. Rain falls on a field regardless; whether it yields a crop or thorns depends on the ground. Fields choked with thorns were burned off, which was a farming method, not an execution.
Oaths worked exactly as the chapter describes. In both Jewish and Roman practice a person swore by something greater than himself to end a dispute, and the oath was the last word a court would hear. God, having nothing greater, swore by himself, which is what Genesis records at Moriah.
The anchor image lands somewhere unexpected. An anchor belongs at sea, but this one reaches inside the curtain, into the inner room of the sanctuary where only the high priest could go, once a year. The hearers' security is tied to a place they were never allowed to enter.
Significance
The warning about those who fall away is the hardest passage in the sermon, and the hearers were the ones it was aimed at. Whether it describes losing salvation, exposing a faith that was never real, or a warning God uses to keep his own from falling, has been argued ever since; the sermon itself immediately says it is convinced of better things concerning them.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
That is the point of the structure. The warning is severe and the assurance that follows it is unconditional, and the same hearers were meant to receive both without choosing between them.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Leave the Elementary Ground and Press On
Hebrews 6:1-3
go on to maturity: After the dullness of 5:11 to 14, the remedy is to go on to maturity, teleiotes, the goal the whole letter presses toward. The foundation left behind has six items in three pairs: repentance and faith, baptisms and laying on of hands, resurrection and eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:1
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ - That is, saying no more of them for the present. Let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works - From open sins, the very first thing to be insisted on. And faith in God - The very next point.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Hebrews 6:1
“This accounts for the omission of distinct specification of some essential first principle of Christian truth. Hence, too, he mentions "faith toward God," and not explicitly faith toward Christ (though of course included).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 6:1
“Therefore - “Since, as was stated in the previous chapter, you ought to be capable of comprehending the higher doctrines of religion; since those doctrines are adapted to those who have been for a considerable time professors of Christianity, and have had opportunities of growing in knowledge and grace - as much as strong meat is for those of mature years - leave now the elements of Christian doctrine, and go on to understand its higher mysteries.””
instruction about baptisms: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the plural baptisms takes in the Jewish washings of 9:10, the baptism of proselytes and John's baptism, beside Christian baptism. Laying on of hands followed baptism, with the gift of the Spirit. John Wesley calls the judgment eternal because its sentence is irreversible.
Hebrews 6:2
“Of the doctrine of baptisms - “There were two things,” says Dr. Owen, “peculiar to the Gospel, the doctrine of it and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Doctrine is called baptism, Deu 32:2; hence the people are said to be baptized to Moses, when they were initiated into his doctrines, 1Co 11:2. The baptism of John was his doctrine, Act 19:3; and the baptism of Christ was the doctrine of Christ, wherewith he was to sprinkle many nations, Isa 52:15. This is the first baptism of the Gospel, even its doctrine.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:2
“Greek, "baptismoi," plural, including Jewish and Christian baptisms, are to be distinguished from baptisma, singular, restricted to Christian baptism.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
if God permits: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown report two readings in the oldest manuscripts, one a promise and the other an exhortation. They tie the condition to Philippians 2:13, since even a good resolution succeeds only as God works it. John Wesley takes the resolve as pressing on to perfection.
Hebrews 6:3
“The "for" in Heb 6:4 refers to this: I say, if God permit, for there are cases where God does not permit, for example, "it is impossible," &c. Without God's blessing, the cultivation of the ground does not succeed (Heb 6:7).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:3
“And this will we do - We will make these advances toward a higher state of knowledge and piety. Paul had confidence that they would do it (see Heb 6:9-10), and though they had lingered long around the elements of Christian knowledge, he believed that they would yet go on to make higher attainments.”
The Sobering Warning: Ground That Bears Thorns
Hebrews 6:4-6
It is impossible for those: Verses 4 and 5 list five things these people have known. For those who have fallen away, it is impossible to be restored to repentance, because they are crucifying the Son of God all over again. The bar stands while they keep subjecting Him to open shame.
Hebrews 6:4
“It is impossible for those who were once enlightened - With the light of the glorious love of God in Christ. And have tasted the heavenly gift - Remission of sins, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:4
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened - Before I proceed to explain the different terms in these verses, it is necessary to give my opinion of their design and meaning: 1. I do not consider them as having any reference to any person professing Christianity. 2. They do not belong, nor are they applicable, to backsliders of any kind. 3. They belong to apostates from Christianity; to such as reject the whole Christian system, and its author, the Lord Jesus.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hebrews 6:4
“Could Paul teach in opposition to his own act? He had at Corinth forgiven sin through penance; how could he himself speak against his own decision? Since, then, he could not destroy what he had built, we must assume that what he says was different from, but not contrary to, what had gone before. For what is contrary is opposed to itself; what is different has ordinarily another meaning. Things that are contrary are not such that one can support the other.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Concerning Repentance 2.2.7-12patristic
Hebrews 6:4
“Very few instances can be given of those who have gone so far and fallen away, and yet ever have been brought to true repentance, such a repentance as is indeed a renovation of the soul. Some have thought this is the sin against the Holy Ghost, but without ground. The sin here mentioned is plainly apostasy both from the truth and the ways of Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the powers of the coming age—: John Wesley compares these words to a newborn child, who first sees the light and then tastes its food. So the one born of the Spirit tastes the coming age. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read that age as already begun in grace and fully revealed at Christ's coming.
Hebrews 6:5
"The world to come," is the Christian dispensation, viewed especially in its future glories, though already begun in grace here. The world to come thus stands in contrast to course of this world, altogether disorganized because God is not its spring of action and end. By faith, Christians make the world to come a present reality, though but a foretaste of the perfect future.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
subjecting Him to open shame: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read open shame as making Christ a public example, like a criminal hung on a tree. The Montanists and Novatians used this verse to bar the lapsed from the church for good. The wider church readmitted them on repentance.
Hebrews 6:6
“If they shall fall away - Και παραπεσοντας And having fallen away. I can express my own mind on this translation nearly in the words of Dr. Macknight: “The participles φωτισθεντας, who were enlightened, γευσαμενους, have tasted, and γενηθεντας, were made partakers, being aorists, are properly rendered by our translators in the past time; wherefore, παραπεσοντας, being an aorist, ought likewise to have been translated in the past time, Have fallen away.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:6
“Therefore the apostate withal will recover his former "garment," the robe of the Holy Spirit; and a renewal of the "ring," the sign and seal of baptism; and Christ will again be "slaughtered; " and he will recline on that couch from which such as are unworthily clad are wont to be lifted by the torturers, and cast away into darkness, -much more such as have been stripped.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Modestypatristic
Hebrews 6:6
“He who abides not in Christ, is cast forth as a withered branch; but he who abides in Him becomes more and more free from sin; the wicked one cannot touch him; and he by faith overcomes the world. A temporary faith is possible, without one thereby being constituted one of the elect (Mr 4:16, 17).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 6:7-8
land that drinks in the rain: One rain falls on two fields: one yields a useful crop, and the other produces thorns and thistles, the curse at Genesis 3:17 to 18. The rain answers to the gifts of verses 4 and 5, and the crop shows what the ground is.
Hebrews 6:7
Would you like to know in what way the faithful are compared with clouds in holy writ? Isaiah says, "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon them." Moses was speaking as if he were a cloud when he said, "May my teaching drop as the rain." The letters of the apostles are spiritual rain for us. As a matter of fact, what does Paul say in his letter to the Hebrews?: "For land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it," and again, "I planted, Apollos watered."
Jerome · written before 420 · Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series 73 (Psalm 96)patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:7
“For the earth - The design of the apostle by this comparison is apparent. It is to show the consequences of not making a proper use of all the privileges which Christians have, and the effect which would follow should those privileges fail to be improved. He says, it is like the earth. If that absorbs the rain, and produces an abundant harvest, it receives the divine blessing. If not, it is cursed, or is worthless. The design is to show that “if” Christians should become like the barren earth they would be cast away and lost.”
Hebrews 6:7
“Such as the master of the soil wishes. The opposite of "rejected," Heb 6:8. by whom--rather as Greek, "for (that is, on account of) whom," namely, the lords of the soil; not the laborers, as English Version, namely, God and His Christ (1Co 3:9).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
its curse is imminent: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that imminent softens the earlier word impossible, for the ground stands near the curse and has not yet received it. John Wesley sees Jerusalem in the burning. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agree, pointing to Matthew 22:7.
Hebrews 6:8
“That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected - That is: The land which, notwithstanding the most careful cultivation, receiving also in due times the early and latter rain, produces nothing but thorns and briers, or noxious weeds of different kinds, is rejected, αδοκιμος, is given up as unimprovable; its briers, thorns, and brushwood burnt down; and then left to be pastured on by the beasts of the field. This seems to be the custom in husbandry to which the apostle alludes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:8
“That which beareth thorns and briers - Only or chiefly. Is rejected - No more labour is bestowed upon it. Whose end is to be burned - As Jerusalem was shortly after.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
We Are Persuaded Better Things of You
Hebrews 6:9-10
After the warning the writer calls the readers beloved and says we are convinced of better things in your case. He grounds that judgment on their service to the saints and on God's character, for God is not unjust.
Hebrews 6:9
“But, beloved - in this one place he calls them so. he never uses this appellation, but in exhorting. We are persuaded of you things that accompany salvation - We are persuaded you are now saved from your sins; and that ye have that faith, love, and holiness, which lead to final salvation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:9
“Greek "the things which are better"; that ye are not thorn-bearing, or nigh unto cursing, and doomed unto burning, but heirs of salvation in accordance with God's faithfulness (Heb 6:10). we are persuaded--on good grounds; the result of proof.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 6:9
“There are things that accompany salvation, things that are never separated from salvation, things that show the person to be in a state of salvation, and will issue in eternal salvation. The things that accompany salvation are better things than ever any hypocrite or apostate enjoyed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
God is not unjust: The verse grounds its comfort in God's character: He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name. Love here, hope in verse 11 and faith in verse 12 form the triad of 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Hebrews 6:10
“Good works and labour proceeding from love to God are commendable; and what is done to any in the name of God shall not go unrewarded. What is done to the saints, as such, God takes as done to himself.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:10
“God is not unrighteous - God is only bound to men by his own promise: this promise he is not obliged to make; but, when once made, his righteousness or justice requires him to keep it; therefore, whatever he has promised he will certainly perform. But he has promised to reward every good work and labor of love, and he will surely reward yours; God’s promise is God’s debt.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hebrews 6:11-12
to make your hope sure: The writer wants diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure, plerophoria, full assurance. Its opposite is sluggish, nothros, the word for their dullness at 5:11. The cure is to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 6:11
"We," according to the good apostle, "wait for the hope of righteousness, for in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love." "We desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope," and so on to, "having become a high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." Wisdom, full of every virtue, uses similar words to Paul's: "Anyone who listens to me will live safely, trusting in hope." The establishment of hope and hope itself are spoken of interchangeably.
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 2patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:11
“And we desire that every one of you - We wish that every member of the church should exhibit the same endeavor to do good until they attain to the full assurance of hope. It is implied here that the full assurance of hope is to be obtained by a persevering effort to lead a holy life. The same diligence - The same strenuous endeavor, the same ardor and zeal. To the full assurance of hope - In order to obtain the full assurance of hope.”
Hebrews 6:11
“The full assurance of faith relates to present pardon; the full assurance of hope, to future glory. The former is the highest degree of divine evidence that God is reconciled to me in the Son of his love; the latter is the same degree of divine evidence (wrought in the soul by the same immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost) of persevering grace, and of eternal glory.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
inherit what has been promised: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the verb as present, for those whose inheritance is the promises in every age. The saints of chapter 11 have yet to receive the full inheritance, as 11:13 and 11:39-40 state. John Wesley names what is promised as the rest of paradise.
Hebrews 6:12
“That ye be not slothful - This shows how the full assurance of hope is to be regulated and maintained. They must be diligent; slothfulness will deprive them both of hope and faith. That faith which worketh by love will maintain hope in its full and due exercise. Followers of them - Μιμηται δε - κληρονομουντων τας επαγγελιας· That ye be mimics or imitators of them who are inheriting the promises.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
God's Oath and the Anchor Behind the Veil
Hebrews 6:13-15
He swore by Himself: The oath is Genesis 22:16 to 17: since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself. The words I will surely bless you keep the doubled Hebrew verb. Abraham obtained the promise after waiting patiently, makrothumesas, the long wait for Isaac.
Hebrews 6:13
“For when God made promise to Abraham - That he would bless him, and multiply his seed as the stars of heaven; Gen 22:16-17. The object of introducing this example here is, to encourage those to whom the apostle was writing to persevere in the Christian life, This he does by showing that God had given the highest possible assurance of his purpose to bless his people, by an oath.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:13
"He now gives consolation, by the oath of God's grace, to those whom, in the second, third, and fourth chapters, he had warned by the oath of God's 'wrath.' The oath of wrath did not primarily extend its force beyond the wilderness; but the oath of grace is in force for ever" [BENGEL].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cross references
Hebrews 6:13
- QuotingGenesis 22:16“saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,”
'Surely blessing I will bless thee' (God's oath to Abraham)
ConnectionsGenesis 15:17
This oath of grace stands in the letter beside the oath of wrath in chapters 3 and 4 that barred Israel from God's rest. The oath of wrath reached only the wilderness generation, and the oath of grace reaches Abraham's heirs.
Hebrews 6:14
“Saying, surely blessing I will bless thee,.... Which is expressive of the certainty of the blessings; the reality and substantiality of them; the abundance of them, and the continuance of the same: and of this nature are all spiritual blessings; as to be chosen of God; to have God to be a covenant God and Father; to be justified, pardoned, adopted, and sanctified, and so have a right and title to eternal happiness: and multiplying I will multiply thee; meaning both in his natural and spiritual seed, which has had its accomplishment.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:14
“Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee - I will continue to bless thee. Multiplying I will multiply thee - I will continue to increase thy posterity. In the most literal manner God continues to fulfill this promise; genuine Christians are Abraham’s seed, and God is increasing their number daily. See the notes on Gen 22:12-18 (note); and Gen 23:1 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
after waiting patiently: John Wesley counts thirty years of waiting and names Isaac as the promise obtained, the pledge of all the promises. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call this the patient endurance of faith. They set it beside the patience of love at 1 Corinthians 13:4.
Hebrews 6:15
“And so, after he had patiently endured,.... He waited long for a son, from whom the Messiah was to spring, after he had had the promise of one; and he endured many afflictions with patience, in his journeys from place to place, throughout his life to the end: he obtained the promise; he was greatly blessed in temporal things; he lived to see the son of the promise, and his sons; he saw the day of Christ by faith, and now inherits the heavenly glory, which is the thing chiefly designed.”
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:15
“And so, after he had patiently endured - After he had waited for a long time. He did not faint or grow weary, but he persevered in a confident expectation of the fulfillment of what God had so solemnly promised. He obtained the promise - Evidently the promise referred to in the oath - that he would have a numerous posterity. The apostle intimates that he had waited for that a long time; that his faith did not waver, and that in due season the object of his wishes was granted.”
Hebrews 6:15
“After he had waited - Thirty years. He obtained the promise - Isaac, the pledge of all the promises. Men generally swear by him who is infinitely greater than themselves, and an oath for confirmation, to confirm what is promised or asserted, usually puts an end to all contradiction.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Hebrews 6:16-18
oath serves as a confirmation: Men end argument with an oath, and God guaranteed it with an oath. His word and His oath are the two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. This second impossible answers the first at verse 4.
Hebrews 6:16
Men verily swear by the greater - One who has greater authority; who can take cognizance of the obligation, and punish the breach of it. An oath for confirmation - “This observation teaches us,” says Dr. Macknight, “that both promissory oaths concerning things lawful and in our power, and oaths for the confirmation of things doubtful, when required by proper authority, and taken religiously, are allowable under the Gospel.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:16
“For men verily swear by the greater,.... These words contain a reason why God swore by himself, and why his promises, having an oath annexed to them, ought to be believed.”
He guaranteed it with an oath: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown render the verb as God interposing with an oath, acting as a mediator between himself and his people. The heirs include Abraham's spiritual seed, as in Galatians 3:29. Bengel presses the point on the reader, asking whether he still refuses to believe.
Hebrews 6:17
“Wherein God - On account of which; or since an oath had this effect, God was willing to appeal to it in order to assure his people of salvation. Willing more abundantly - In the most abundant manner, or to make the case as sure as possible. It does not mean more abundantly than in the case of Abraham, but that he was willing to give the most ample assurance possible.”
2 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:17
“God interposed by an oath - Amazing condescension! He who is greatest of all acts as if he were a middle person; as if while he swears, he were less than himself, by whom he swears! Thou that hearest the promise, dost thou not yet believe?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Hebrews 6:17
“Wherein--that is, Which being the case among men, God, in accommodation to their manner of confirming covenants, superadded to His sure word His oath: the "TWO immutable things" (Heb 6:18). willing . . . counsel--Greek, "willing . . . will"; words akin.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the hope set before us: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the hope as a prize set before runners, the race of 12:1-2. God's inability to lie is a mark of incomparable strength. John Wesley takes the hope as Christ himself and the glory hoped for through him.
Hebrews 6:18
“That by two unchangeable things - His promise and his oath, in either, much more in both of which, it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation - Swallowing up all doubt and fear. Who have fled - After having been tossed by many storms. To lay hold on the hope set before us - On Christ, the object of our hope, and the glory we hope for through him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:18
“That by two immutable things - The promise and oath of God: the promise pledged his faithfulness and justice; the oath, all the infinite perfections of his Godhead, for he sware by himself. There is a good saying in Beracoth on Exo 32:13, fol. 32: Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self. “What is the meaning of by thine own self? Rab. Eleazar answered, Thus said Moses to the holy blessed God, Lord of all the world.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hebrews 6:18
“Ramoth, that is, high, for Him hath God exalted with His right hand (Ac 5:31). Golan, that is, joy, for in Him all the saints are justified and shall glory. lay hold upon the hope--that is, the object of our hope, as upon a preservative from sinking. set before us--as a prize for which we strive; a new image, namely, the race course (Heb 12:1, 2).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hebrews 6:18
“WHEN we read such a choice verse as this we are apt, at once, to conclude that it "belongs to them that are of full age, even to those who by reason of use have had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We set this aside as a choice morsel reserved for those who have worn well and borne the burden and heat of the day—for those who have attained to full assurance of faith and, therefore, are able to lay hold upon rich Covenant provisions.”
Hebrews 6:19-20
an anchor for the soul: The hope is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, and it enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus entered there as our forerunner, prodromos, pledging that His people follow. The title of 5:10 returns here, a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19
“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul - Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger. So with the soul of the Christian. In the tempests and trials of life, his mind is calm as long as his hope of heaven is firm.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hebrews 6:19
“Jesus Christ is the object and ground of the believer's hope, and so it is a stedfast hope. Jesus Christ is the object and ground of the believer's hope in several respects. As he has entered within the veil, to intercede with God, in virtue of that sacrifice which he offered up without the veil: hope fastens upon his sacrifice and intercession.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
our forerunner: John Wesley notes that a forerunner was usually lower in rank than those who followed him, and here the forerunner is infinitely greater. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown compare John the Baptist, who went before Christ on earth. Christ now goes before his people into heaven.
Hebrews 6:20
“THE Jewish high priest went within the veil once a year and represented the people there, but he was never their forerunner, for no one followed him into the Most Holy Place. His entrance within the veil did not admit another human being—and when he came forth, the veil again concealed the secret glories of the Most Holy Place even from him for another year and from all others at all times—so that neither Aaron, nor any other high priest of his line could ever be called a forerunner within the veil.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3102: “The Forerunner” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Hebrews 6:20
“A forerunner used to be less in dignity than those that are to follow him. But it is not so here; for Christ who is gone before us is infinitely superior to us. What an honour is it to believers, to have so glorious a forerunner, now appearing in the presence of God for them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Hebrews 6:20
“Whither the forerunner - The word προδρομος, prodromos, does not merely signify one that goes or runs before another, but also one who shows the way, he who first does a particular thing; also the first fruits. So in the Septuagint, Isa 28:4, προδρομος συκου signifies the first fruits of the fig tree, or the first ripe figs. To this meaning of the word Pliny refers, Hist. Nat., lib. xvi., c.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hebrews 6:20
“The first-fruits of our nature are ascended, and so the rest is sanctified. Christ's ascension is our promotion: and whither the glory of the Head has preceded, thither the hope of the body, too, is called. We ought to keep festal day, since Christ has taken up and set in the heavens the first-fruit of our lump, that is, the human flesh [CHRYSOSTOM].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A persuasion to make better progress in religion as the best way to prevent apostasy, whose dreadful nature is set out in verses 1 to 8, followed by good hopes of the hearers' perseverance and the great encouragement they had from God, from verse 9 to the end, as Henry classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The warning of the impossible | Verses 4 to 6 describe those who were enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit and tasted the goodness of God's word, and then fell away. The word tasted appears twice in the Berean text, at verses 4 and 5. The sentence turns on the word impossible. Theophylact of Ohrid notes that the writer chose impossible over milder words such as unprofitable or unseemly.Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews, on Hebrews 6:4. | Hebrews 6:4, Hebrews 6:5, Hebrews 6:6 |
| Two kinds of land | Verses 7 and 8 set two fields under the same rain. One produces a useful crop and receives God's blessing, and the other produces thorns and thistles and ends in burning. Theodoret of Cyrus reads the rain as a picture of instruction, so the two fields stand for two ways of receiving the same teaching.Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretation of Hebrews 6, on Hebrews 6:7. | Hebrews 6:7, Hebrews 6:8 |
| The turn from warning to confidence | Verse 9 turns at once from the burning field to the word beloved, the only time it appears in the chapter, and to the writer's confidence of better things in their case. John Chrysostom observes that the writer wounds a little and then applies much to heal, so as to leave the hearers neither careless nor crushed.John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews 10, on Hebrews 6:9. | Hebrews 6:8, Hebrews 6:9, Hebrews 6:10 |
| The promise and the oath | Verse 16 states how people use an oath, to confirm a matter and end argument. Verses 17 and 18 apply it to God, who added an oath to His promise, so that two unchangeable things stand behind the hope. Verse 13 uses swear twice, since God had no one greater to swear by. Adam Clarke names the two things as the promise and the oath of God.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on Hebrews 6:18. | Hebrews 6:13, Hebrews 6:16, Hebrews 6:17, Hebrews 6:18 |
Where the chapter stands in the letter
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 5 broke off at verse 11 to rebuke the hearers, and chapter 6 carries that digression on until verse 20 returns to Melchizedek. Matthew Henry reads verses 1 to 8 as a persuasion to progress, with the danger of apostasy set out, and verses 9 to 20 as good hopes of the hearers and encouragement from God (Complete Commentary, on Hebrews 6). John Calvin reads verse 1 through the picture of a house, where the foundation is never left and yet no builder keeps laying it (Commentaries, on Hebrews 6:1).
Who speaks
The writer speaks throughout, and he joins himself to the hearers with let us in verse 1 and we in verse 3. At verse 9 he calls them beloved. God speaks once, in the promise to Abraham quoted at verse 14.
The debated reading: those who have fallen away
Verses 4 to 6 have been read in several ways, and Albert Barnes notes that interpreters have long divided over them, each side reading them by its view of falling from grace (Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Hebrews 6:4). John Chrysostom read them of a second baptism, which is impossible, while repentance remains open to the one who has fallen (Homilies on Hebrews 9, on Hebrews 6:6). John Wesley read them as a plain account of fact, describing those who have wilfully lost their faith, hope and love (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Hebrews 6:6), and Adam Clarke read the Greek as a completed act, having fallen away (Commentary on the Bible, on Hebrews 6:6). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown held that a temporary faith is possible without one being of the elect, and that the one who abides in Christ overcomes the world by faith (Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 6:6). Albert Barnes read the case as a supposition that in fact might never occur (Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Hebrews 6:6). Matthew Henry read the sin as apostasy from the truth and ways of Christ, and denied that it is the sin against the Holy Spirit (Complete Commentary, on Hebrews 6:4 to 5). The writer himself follows the warning at verse 9 with his confidence of better things in the hearers' case.
What the chapter hands forward
Verse 20 names Jesus a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, and chapter 7 opens with Melchizedek at once. The inner sanctuary behind the curtain at verse 19 returns at 9:3 and 10:20.
Keep studying
Studies11
People and groups2
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, on Hebrews 6, the chapter heading and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, on Hebrews 6, the chapter summary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown; John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; John Wesley; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.