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Hebrews 6

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1 Διὸ ἀφέντες τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγον ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα, μὴ πάλιν θεμέλιον καταβαλλόμενοι μετανοίας ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, καὶ πίστεως ἐπὶ θεόν, 2 βαπτισμῶν διδαχῆς, ἐπιθέσεώς τε χειρῶν, ἀναστάσεώς τε νεκρῶν, καὶ κρίματος αἰωνίου. 3 καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσομεν ἐάνπερ ἐπιτρέπῃ ὁ θεός. 4 ἀδύνατον γὰρ τοὺς ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας, γευσαμένους τε τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς ἐπουρανίου καὶ μετόχους γενηθέντας πνεύματος ἁγίου 5 καὶ καλὸν γευσαμένους θεοῦ ῥῆμα δυνάμεις τε μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, 6 καὶ παραπεσόντας, πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς μετάνοιαν, ἀνασταυροῦντας ἑαυτοῖς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παραδειγματίζοντας. 7 γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολλάκις ὑετόν, καὶ τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις δι' οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ: 8 ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν. 9 Πεπείσμεθα δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀγαπητοί, τὰ κρείσσονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας, εἰ καὶ οὕτως λαλοῦμεν: 10 οὐ γὰρ ἄδικος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιλαθέσθαι τοῦ ἔργου ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἧς ἐνεδείξασθε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, διακονήσαντες τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ διακονοῦντες. 11 ἐπιθυμοῦμεν δὲ ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὴν αὐτὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι σπουδὴν πρὸς τὴν πληροφορίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἄχρι τέλους, 12 ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε, μιμηταὶ δὲ τῶν διὰ πίστεως καὶ μακροθυμίας κληρονομούντων τὰς ἐπαγγελίας.

1 We must leave on one side then, all discussion of our first lessons in Christ, and pass on to our full growth; no need to lay the foundations all over again, the change of heart which turns away from lifeless observances, the faith which turns towards God,[1] 2 instructions about the different kinds of baptism, about the laying on of hands, about the resurrection of the dead, and our sentence in eternity.[2] 3 Such will be our plan, if God permits it. 4 We can do nothing for those who have received, once for all, their enlightenment, who have tasted the heavenly gift, partaken of the Holy Spirit, 5 known, too, God’s word of comfort, and the powers that belong to a future life, 6 and then fallen away. They cannot attain repentance through a second renewal. Would they crucify the Son of God a second time, hold him up to mockery a second time, for their own ends?[3] 7 No, a piece of ground which has drunk in, again and again, the showers which fell upon it, has God’s blessing on it, if it yields a crop answering the needs of those who tilled it; 8 if it bears thorns and thistles, it has lost its value; a curse hangs over it, and it will feed the bonfire at last. 9 Beloved, of you we have better confidence, which does not stop short of your salvation, even when we speak to you as we are speaking now. 10 God is not an unjust God, that he should forget all you have done, all the charity you have shewn in his name, you who have ministered, and still minister, to the needs of his saints. 11 But our great longing is, to see you all shewing the same eagerness right up to the end, looking forward to the fulfilment of your hope; 12 listless no more, but followers of all those whose faith and patience are to bring them into possession of the good things promised them.

1 Quapropter intermittentes inchoationis Christi sermonem, ad perfectiora feramur, non rursum jacientes fundamentum pœnitentiæ ab operibus mortuis, et fidei ad Deum, 2 baptismatum doctrinæ, impositionis quoque manuum, ac resurrectionis mortuorum, et judicii æterni. 3 Et hoc faciemus, si quidem permiserit Deus. 4 Impossibile est enim eos qui semel sunt illuminati, gustaverunt etiam donum cæleste, et participes facti sunt Spiritus Sancti, 5 gustaverunt nihilominus bonum Dei verbum, virtutesque sæculi venturi, 6 et prolapsi sunt; rursus renovari ad pœnitentiam, rursum crucifigentes sibimetipsis Filium Dei, et ostentui habentes. 7 Terra enim sæpe venientem super se bibens imbrem, et generans herbam opportunam illis, a quibus colitur, accipit benedictionem a Deo: 8 proferens autem spinas ac tribulos, reproba est, et maledicto proxima: cujus consummatio in combustionem. 9 Confidimus autem de vobis dilectissimi meliora, et viciniora saluti: tametsi ita loquimur. 10 Non enim injustus Deus, ut obliviscatur operis vestri, et dilectionis, quam ostendistis in nomine ipsius, qui ministrastis sanctis, et ministratis. 11 Cupimus autem unumquemque vestrum eamdem ostentare sollicitudinem ad expletionem spei usque in finem: 12 ut non segnes efficiamini, verum imitatores eorum, qui fide, et patientia hæreditabunt promissiones.

13 τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατ' οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ, 14 λέγων: εἰ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε: 15 καὶ οὕτως μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. 16 ἄνθρωποι γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσιν, καὶ πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ὁ ὅρκος: 17 ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, 18 ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι τὸν θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος: 19 ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν καὶ εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος, 20 ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

13 Such was Abraham. God made him a promise, and then took an oath (an oath by himself, since he had no greater name to swear by), 14 in the words, More and more I will bless thee, more and more I will give thee increase;[4] 15 whereupon Abraham waited patiently, and saw the promise fulfilled. 16 Men, since they have something greater than themselves to swear by, will confirm their word by oath, which puts an end to all controversy; 17 and God, in the same way, eager to convince the heirs of the promise that his design was irrevocable, pledged himself by an oath. 18 Two irrevocable assurances, over which there could be no question of God deceiving us, were to bring firm confidence to us poor wanderers, bidding us cling to the hope we have in view,[5] 19 the anchorage of our souls. Sure and immovable, it reaches that inner sanctuary beyond the veil,[6] 20 which Jesus Christ, our escort, has entered already, a high priest, now, eternally with the priesthood of Melchisedech.

13 Abrahæ namque promittens Deus, quoniam neminem habuit, per quem juraret, majorem, juravit per semetipsum, 14 dicens: Nisi benedicens benedicam te, et multiplicans multiplicabo te. 15 Et sic longanimiter ferens, adeptus est repromissionem. 16 Homines enim per majorem sui jurant: et omnis controversiæ eorum finis, ad confirmationem, est juramentum. 17 In quo abundantius volens Deus ostendere pollicitationis hæredibus, immobilitatem consilii sui, interposuit jusjurandum: 18 ut per duas res immobiles, quibus impossibile est mentiri Deum, fortissimum solatium habeamus, qui confugimus ad tenendam propositam spem, 19 quam sicut anchoram habemus animæ tutam ac firmam, et incedentem usque ad interiora velaminis, 20 ubi præcursor pro nobis introivit Jesus, secundum ordinem Melchisedech pontifex factus in æternum.

[1] ‘Lifeless observances’; literally, ‘lifeless works’. This has often been taken to mean ‘sins’; but it probably refers, both here and in 9.14 below, to those actions in conformity with the law of Moses which are unprofitable to us without faith. So faith without charity is called ‘lifeless’ by St James (2.26).

[2] ‘Different kinds of baptism’; literally, ‘baptisms’. It seems likely that the earliest Christian catechists would have had to explain to Jewish converts the difference between our Lord’s baptism and that of St John (cf. Ac. 18.25).

[3] vv. 4-6: The Apostle is not dealing here with the remission of our sins by sacramental penance; he only tells us that baptism cannot be repeated, and therefore the kind of instruction mentioned in verse 2, which was designed for catechumens, would be unsuitable for Jewish Christians, if there are such, who have fallen away from the faith after being fully instructed in it. The enlightenment referred to in verse 4 is almost certainly baptism itself (cf. Eph. 5.14). The ‘heavenly gift’ may well mean the Holy Eucharist. What is meant by ‘knowing’ (literally, ‘tasting’) God’s utterance has been much discussed; it may refer to the Holy Scriptures, or to God’s word as revealed to the prophets, or simply to God’s influence on Christian lives. The suggestion in verse 6 is probably that a Christian soul could not receive baptism a second time unless Christ were crucified a second time in its behalf; but the meaning may be simply, that the soul which falls away from the faith inflicts a fresh Passion, as it were, on our Lord himself.

[4] Gen. 22.16, 17.

[5] ‘Wanderers’; this is generally understood as a metaphor taken from those who flee for refuge to a stronghold, or to the Cities of Refuge mentioned in Numbers, ch. 35. But the allusion to an anchor in the next verse would suggest, rather, the picture of sailors forced by a storm to ‘flee landwards’ at the nearest possible harbour.

[6] For the veil which separated the Holy Place from the inner Sanctuary of the Temple, cf. Ex. 26.33; Mt. 27.51.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd