Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 9 Feb. 2019
Omitting greyed-out text should bring presentation time down around 45 minutes.
There is a saying that “familiarity breeds contempt.” Things that a baby finds wonderful to stare at - like clouds, and bugs, and the movement of your mouth when you speak - become things we stop paying attention to as adults because they are so commonplace.
Furthermore, things that are commonplace can easily be taken for granted.
The sun rises every day until we no longer think about how catastrophic it would be if it didn’t rise – it doesn’t occur to us to be thankful for it.
The word of God is always there on the booktable; it will always be preached on Sunday morning, so what’s the big deal if I read it more or less? - if I listen more or less? - if I believe it more or less?
The passage we’re about to study attacks this kind of cavalier attitude toward the things of God head-on to wake us up to what is eternally, unshakeably important, so listen!
Who is “the One who is speaking”? In the book of Hebrews, Moses and the prophets and the apostles are said to “utter” messages, but ultimately the book of Hebrews is framed from the first two verses in terms of God Himself making utterance to us: Hebrews 1:1-2 "God, after speaking to our forefathers in various amounts and in various forms long ago by means of the prophets, has spoken to us at the last of these days by means of a Son, whom He appointed to be the one to inherit all things, through whom also He made the universe." (NAW) This God is the One who is speaking, and it is God whom we must not put off/defer/refuse.
This ties back to chapter three where it says, “And, while Moses was faithful in the entirety of his administration as a minister for the purpose of a witness of the things that will be uttered, Christ, on the other hand [is faithful] as Son over His administration, which administration we ourselves are, if indeed we hold on to the confirmed open practice and confident expression of THE hope until the end. On account of this, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if y'all hear His voice, don't start hardening your hearts...’ Keep watch, brothers, otherwise there will be in some of y'all an evil heart of unbelief in the act of apostatizing from the Living God, rather encourage one another throughout each day – as long as it is called ‘today,’ in order that some of y'all might not be hardened by means of the deceitfulness of his sin. For we have become companions of the Anointed One if indeed we hold on to the beginning of our confirmed understanding until the end." (Heb. 3:5-14, NAW)
It also ties back to the beginning of chapter two, where it says: "On account of this, it is more abundantly necessary for us to keep holding on to the things we have heard in order that we might not drift aside. For, since the word spoken through messengers got confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received a just payback, how would we ourselves escape after showing apathy for such a great salvation? Which, after it received its beginning by being uttered by the Lord; it was confirmed to us by those who heard..." (Hebrews 2:1-3, NAW)
The last time this word “inform/warn” occurred in this book was in chapter 11, verse 7, when God “informed” Noah of His intent to judge the world with a flood.
Everyone who ignored God’s voice at that time drowned.
Only Noah, who “heeded” God’s voice and “constructed an ark” was “saved” together with “his household.”2
The Greek wording in this sentence – particularly in the second half – is unusually obscure.
Literally it reads: “if for those not escaped the upon earth deferring instructing in many rather we the the from heavens being turned away.”
All the standard English versions add a couple of words and remove a couple of words3 and even change the meaning4 of a word to make sense of it, and this is just what you have to do sometimes in making a translation, but it also means that different translations are possible.
Most English versions read something like: “if they did not escape who refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven”
That works, but I think that the translation of the second part of the if-then statement can be improved by stringing together (with a verb of being) the nominative subject “we” with the definite article and nominative participle “those being turned away.”
I’m also translating the middle/passive spelling of the participle “being turned away/ rejected” as passive rather than changing it to active voice like most of the English versions did, so, instead of “much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven,” I read, “much more will we be those who are turned away5 by him from the heavens… if they didn’t escape.”
Also, the contrast between “on earth” and “from heaven” is not entirely clear in this passage, so it is variously interpreted. I think it underscores how much higher the stakes are now than they were then.
Then it was much more about earthly things, now it is much more about heavenly things.
Rejecting faith in Jesus, now that He has appeared, is to lose everything with God.
God spoke from the heavens, and will speak from the heavens, and will make the final judgment as to whether you are called up to heaven or not.
But despite the room for differences in translation, the general idea is the same:
There is a clear parallel going on between past and present opportunities to hear God speak:
First there’s a time in the past when God informed people of their sin and warned them of their need to get right with Him or else be punished by Him,
and then there’s the time of this epistle, after God had spoken again, in the incarnate Jesus (and through His apostles), the message to repent and believe in Jesus to be saved from the wrath to come.
There is a second parallel between past and present response to God’s message:
Those people in the past chose to ignore the warning, excusing themselves from accountability with God, and refusing to believe.
(The Greek word translated “Those who turn away” is used exclusively of Jews who would not follow Jesus, all six times it occurs in the New Testament epistles6.)
But now there’s this moment of decision placed before the persecuted Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who were wavering in their faith in Jesus. How will they respond?
Third, there is a parallel drawn in what the result of deferring this message will be:
In the past, God brought judgment upon those who didn’t heed Him, in such a way that they could not escape. It brings to mind the histories of
Adam and Eve banished from the garden,
Cain banished from civilization,
the world flooded in Noah’s day,
Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire and brimstone,
the Jews at the height of their idol-worship decimated by Assyria and exiled by Babylon,
and you may be able to think of more historical examples.
This principle of God’s justice is extrapolated, in the final phrase of the verse, to us in our time, with the statement that we will be all the more accountable to God if we defer faith in His own Son revealed from heaven.
Surely, we who know more about Christ than any of those Old Testament saints did, will not escape judgment if we reject Him.
Surely we will be rejected by Him, for, did not Jesus say, “[W]hoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven”? (Matthew 10:32-33, NKJV).
The main point, though is to “keep watch/see to it” so that you don’t miss out on God’s word when it comes. How can we do that today?
The initial application was that believers in God need to believe God’s revelation through Jesus, that He is the one anointed to be king forever over us, high priest forever to reconcile sinners to God, and prophet to tell us God’s word.
Maybe you’ve known since you were a child that there is a God, but are you daily trusting Jesus to take away your sin and make you right with God?
Have you become a follower of Jesus who actually studies what He said and actually copy-cats the way He lived?
Do you live, moment-by-moment with a sense that Jesus is with you spiritually and that you are accountable to Him as the owner of your soul and your master to do His will rather than your own?
Anything less is an insult to His majesty.
In addition to the person of Jesus, who is the Word of God, we also have the Bible, the written word of God which speaks and warns and informs us. To this objective word we must also give close attention.
I’ll never forget attending a ceremony at Fort Riley shortly after I moved here, when, all of a sudden, a messenger walked into the ceremony and handed an envelope to the person in charge. I didn’t know what was going on, but apparently every soldier there knew, and they snapped to attention. All casual conversation that had been going on ceased. Everyone who had been sitting, stood up. Everyone who had been looking elsewhere focused their eyes on that envelope. As the M.C. opened and read the letter, I found out why everyone had suddenly become so much more attentive and respectful: It was a letter from the General to those gathered at this ceremony! The sudden increase in attention was their way of showing respect to the highest-ranking officer on post – even in his physical absence.
That was a powerful picture to me of what should happen when the word of God is read. When the Bible is opened, you should stop surfing, stop texting, stop talking with others, stop milling around, and rivet your attention to God’s word! Nothing more authoritative exists in this world. There is nothing more true than God’s word. Demonstrate by faith that you believe this by lasso’ing your restless mind and body and tying it down to listen when the word of God is read.
And this attentiveness to God’s word doesn’t stop with mere hearing; it results in obedience to what we hear.
What proof exists in your life that you have heeded and acted upon the many sermons you have listened to? (You can say “Ouch” if you can’t say “Amen,” but don’t leave it there!)
Will you come to absolute, military attention the next time your Dad - or your husband or your Bible study leader - opens his Bible? That would be a good action point from this sermon that could be with you for the rest of your life as a way to show respect to your Lord and Savior Jesus.
God’s voice shook7 the earth “back then” when He gave the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai. Several of the Psalms refer to this in poetic language, such as Psalm 77:14-20 "Thou art the God that doest wonders [referring to the 10 plagues on Egypt]...Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph... The waters saw thee, O God [those would be the waters of the Dead Sea that parted], the waters saw thee, and feared; and the depths were troubled... [the next event, of course was the covenant renewal at Mount Sinai] The voice of thy thunder was abroad, and around thy lightnings appeared to the world; the earth trembled and quaked... Thou didst guide thy people as sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron." (Brenton, cf. Ps. 17:8, 45:7, 97:4)
The Prophet Amos spoke of another shaking of the earth that would come when God punished the unfaithful Israelites with banishment and exile from the Promised Land: "I saw the Lord standing on the altar: and he said, 'Smite the mercy-seat, and... and I will slay the remnant of them with the sword: no one of them fleeing shall escape, and no one of them, striving to save himself shall be delivered... And if they... go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword... the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, is he that takes hold of the land, and causes it to shake, and all that inhabit it shall mourn..." (Amos 9:1-5, Brenton, cf. Nah. 1:5) And that’s exactly what happened in 586 B.C.
But when the New Covenant (Jer. 31) came into force under Zerubbabel’s reconstruction of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, the Prophet Haggai relayed a promise from God to shake – not only the earth, but also heaven, and this is what the Apostle to the Hebrews quotes: "Yet now be strong, O Zorobabel, saith the Lord; and strengthen thyself, O Jesus [Joshua] the high priest, the son of Josedec; and let all the people of the land strengthen themselves, saith the Lord, and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord Almighty; and my Spirit remains in the midst of you; be of good courage. For thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet once I will8 shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the [chosen] of all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord Almighty..." (Haggai 2:5-10, Brenton)
This was a prophecy of the coming of Jesus, whose second coming will bring the fulfillment of the part about shaking the heavens. Jesus Himself said it in Matthew 24:29-31 “And immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give off her glow, and the stars will fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will be revealed in the sky, and then all the families of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heavens with power and much glory, and He will commission His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His chosen ones out of the four winds from [one] end of the heavens over to [the other] end of them." (NAW)
“The things which have been made” are equated with “the things being shaken” in this verse, and, of course, the verb “made” is interchangeable with “created” -
The Greek verb poiew is what you find in the Greek translation of Genesis 1, “In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth”
and it’s in the beginning of Hebrews 1: “God... has spoken... by means of a Son... through whom also He made the world.” The things that can shake are in physical creation.
More specifically, the book of Hebrews shows that what was removed was the Levitical system of getting right with God through animal sacrifices:
Look at the previous use of this word translated “replacement/ removal” in Heb. 7:12 "Indeed, while that priesthood is being replaced, out of necessity a replacement of law is also happening" (NAW) When Jesus came, the key thing shaken and removed was the ceremonial law with its animal sacrifices; they were replaced by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.
Remember also that the same verb poiew was used of Moses “making” the tabernacle in Hebrews 8:5, and in Hebrews 10:8-9, we had the statement that God "… ‘neither desired nor delighted in sacrifices and offerings and whole-burnt-offerings and those concerning sins,’ which are being offered according to the Law,” so Jesus “arrived” to “do” what God actually does “desire... annihilating the first in order that He may officiate the second!”
The book of Hebrews has also detailed already for us what the things are which will “remain,” and they include9:
The priestly order of Melchizedek, by which Christ ministers forever to us as our high priest. This relationship will never be removed: Heb. 7:3 “...He remains a priest in perpetuity."
Our confidence in open access to God through the priesthood of Christ is another thing which will never be removed: Hebrews 12:34-35 "...y'all have for yourselves a possession that is better and that remains. Therefore, don't throw away your open-access which has [such] a great reward…" (NAW)
Then, in Hebrews 13:1, we will see that our love for one another also “remains,”
and in Hebrews 13:14, we’ll see that, although the earthly city of Jerusalem was to be destroyed, the heavenly Jerusalem of God’s kingdom will remain (cf. Isa. 51:6).
These are the things which are unshakeable!
I think it is also worthy of mention that the way this passage is worded in Greek10 does not emphasize whether or not things CAN be shaken but whether or not they ARE being shaken.
God is always doing things to shake us out of our idolatrous fixation on things we can see - and touch and hear and taste and smell - to get us to hold on to the intangiable - but eternal - things like: trusting Jesus, loving one another, and looking forward to heaven.
That was going on in the lives of the original recipients of this letter whose possessions had been stolen from them by people from a hostile religion and who had lost social status due to slander. Many would go on to lose their lives in the coming persecution.
But at the same time, the Roman armies were already forming that would tear the city of Jerusalem apart stone-by-stone and leave nothing of the seemingly-unshakeable fortress of Judaism. The number of years between the writing of this letter and the removal of Judaism’s capitol could probably be counted on one hand.
And God still shakes things up today to turn the eyes and hearts of His people away from the things of this world unto the eternal relationship we were made to share with Him.
Are you ready for this shaking?
When you experience a financial loss, a loss of time, loss of ability, loss of health, loss of a loved one, can you accept it as God mercifully shaking it out of your life so that more eternal things will remain in your life?
Have you accepted God’s reason for the shaking He has already done in your past to remove the shaky things in order that the unshakeable may remain? How easy it is to complain that it is unfair and to become bitter; but here God reveals what He is doing behind the scenes and gives us a reason to trust Him even when the losses we experience feel devastating.
In 1 John 3:22-23 we are told what is “acceptable” to God: "...the acceptable things before Him... that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and that we should be loving one another, just as He commanded us." (NAW)
But Heb. 12:28 goes a step further and tells us what is not just arestos (“acceptable”) but euarestos “well-pleasing/most-acceptable.” Three words characterize this over-the-top acceptance:
ἔχωμεν χάριν = having gratefulness/thankfulness/lit. “Have grace”
This gratefulness is said to be the “means by which” [δι᾿ ἧς] we minister/serve/worship God. (cf. Eph. 5:20, Col. 1:12, 1 Thess. 5:18, etc.)
We must cultivate an attitude that receives God’s grace with thankfulness rather than taking forgiveness of sin for granted, rather than complaining about not getting the worldly luxuries our neighbor enjoys, rather than pouting when persecution comes.
One practical way to cultivate thankfulness is to start every prayer by thinking of something you can thank God for. (And not like the pharisee in Jesus’ parable who prayed, “Lord, thank you that I am not a scumbag like that publican on the other side of the church!” Rather, it was the publican who was thankful just to be allowed in the door of church and who humbled himself before God who received grace.)
Not only are we to offer our service/ministry/worship to God motivated by grace and gratitude, we are to offer this ministry of worship to God “with/μετα” reverence (or godly fear) and with devotion (or awe).
Devotion/godly fear/reverence is the Greek word εὐλαβείας – literally meaning, “receiving [God] well”
Heb. 5:7b tells us that Jesus "... was listened-to as a result of His devotion" (NAW)
Following Jesus’ example, the proper attitude toward God is reverent respect, having a healthy fear of His power to punish sin, loyal commitment to Him as the only king worthy of total devotion, careful attention to every detail of what He says, and prompt obedience to His every command.
αἰδοῦς (or its synonym δεοῦς, depending on the manuscript), meaning “reverence, modesty, decorum, or awe.”
In 1 Timothy 2:9, women are instructed that it is NOT aidous to wear elaborate hairstyles, flashy jewelry, or extravagant clothes to church,
and in the Apocrypha, it was not aidous for bridesmaids to run riotusly through the city, nor was it aidous for old men to have to run anywhere12.
A friend once told me that he picked up his kids from a youth group meeting at a church and found the kids running around the foyer flapping their arms and “bahk-ing” like chickens. The pastor had told them that was how to be filled with the Spirit. My friend knew that was not appropriate decorum for the worship of God, so he didn’t send his kids back to that youth group.
It is also not fitting to fake being a respectable person when you stand before the God of truth. Reverence demands honesty.
As we come before God’s presence in corporate worship - and as we serve Him in our everyday living, let us find our motivation from thankfulness to Him for the unshakeable kingdom13 He is graciously giving us, and let us worship and serve Him reverently and devotedly...
I tell my kids not to play with matches and not to pull flaming brands out of the wood stove and run around the house with them (Yeah, we actually have had to tell our boys that!) Why? Because fire is not safe to play with; it is destructive! One little spark in the wrong place and your whole house could go up in flames. We don’t want to risk that, so we treat fire with great carefulness. Sure we enjoy the comfort of the fire in the wood stove or fireplace, but we can’t get careless with it; it’s not safe.
The Bible tells us that God is just as dangerous – if not more so! (viz. Heb. 10:27)
Our author conveys this truth with a quote from Deuteronomy 4:23-27, where Moses tells the Hebrews as they are just about to enter the Promised land, "Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord our God, which he made with you, and ye transgress, and make to yourselves a graven image of any of the things concerning which the Lord thy God commanded thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. And when thou shalt have begotten sons, and shalt have sons' sons, and ye shall have dwelt a long time on the land, and shall have transgressed, and made a graven image of any thing, and shall have done wickedly before the Lord your God to provoke him; I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off. And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you."
Later, after the Israelites had settled on the Promised Land and worshipped idols anyway, God warned them, through the Prophet Zepheniah, that the dire consequences He had threatened back in Moses’ day were going to come upon them if they didn’t repent of their disrespect toward God, "...It will come to pass in that day, that I will search Jerusalem with a candle, and will take vengeance on the men that despise the things committed to them... For the great day of the Lord is near... A mighty day of wrath... because they have sinned against the Lord... the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealously; for he will bring a speedy destruction on all them that inhabit the land.” (Zephaniah 1:12-18, Brenton)
The jealousy of God which tolerates no competitors and burns up all who will not worship Him alone will also consume all the pagan nations as well who refuse to worship His Son Jesus (Deut. 7:22, 9:3, Zeph. 3:8, Zech. 9:4, cf. Ps. 2).
It is not safe to be cavalier or casual about your commitment to Jesus. Pay attention to God’s word so that you don’t miss out on anything, but rather cultivate “gratefulness, by means of which we may minister most-acceptably to God with reverence and devotion!”
Greek NT |
NAW |
KJV |
25 Βλέπετε μὴ παραιτήσησθεB τὸν λαλοῦντα, εἰC γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἔφυγονD τὸν ἐπὶE γῆς παραιτησάμενοι χρηματίζοντα, πολλῷF μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ᾿G οὐρανῶν ἀποστρεφόμενοιH· |
25 Keep watch so that y’all don’t defer the One who is speaking, for, if those guys did not escape on earth after they deferred the [Divine] Informer, much more will we be those who are turned away [by] Him from the heavens - |
25
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not
[who]
refused him that
|
26 οὗ ἡ φωνὴ τὴν γῆν ἐσάλευσε τότε, νῦν δὲ ἐπήγγελται λέγων· ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σεί[σI]ω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν. |
26 the voice of whom shook the earth back then, but now He has promised saying, “Once more I myself am shaking {not only} the earth {but} also heaven.” |
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once [more] I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. |
27 τὸJ δέ ἔτι ἅπαξ δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων μετάθεσινK ὡςL πεποιημένων, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα. |
27 Now, the ‘Once more’ shows the replacement of the things being shaken (in this case, of things which have been created) such that the things which are not being shaken may remain. |
27 And this word, Yet once [more], signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which [can]not be shaken may remain. |
28 Διὸ βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες ἔχωμενM χάριν, δι᾿ ἧςN λατρεύωμενO εὐαρέστωςP τῷ Θεῷ μετὰ αἰδοῦςQ καὶ εὐλαβείαςR· |
28 Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom, let us continue to be grateful, by means of which we may minister most-acceptably to God with reverence and devotion, |
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: |
29 καὶ γὰρS ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον. |
29 for indeed, our God is a consuming fire. |
29 For our God is a consuming fire. |
1Vincent arrived at the same conclusion I did: “upon earth should not be construed with refused nor warned, but with the whole clause. “If on earth they escaped not, refusing him that warned.”
2Hebrews 11:7 “With faith, Noah, after being informed concerning the things which were not yet seen, taking good heed, constructed an ark for the purpose of saving his household, through which he condemned the world and became an inheritor of the righteousness according to faith."
3Particularly the definite article before ἀποστρεφόμενοι and the passive voice of that verb
4“warned/informed” is translated “spoke” in the KJV, as though it were the same as the verb lalew earlier in the verse, and Mallon (literally “rather/more”) is often re-translated “less” to fit English idiomatic expression.
5A.T. Robertson came to a similar conclusion that this was a substantive participle, but he translated it in the middle voice “we who turn ourselves away from”
6Viz. Acts 3:26; Rom. 11:26; 2 Tim. 1:15; 4:4; Tit. 1:14
7John Brown of Edinborough noted that “shaking” was “emblematical of change.” He also used the following illustration: “Just as, in building a bridge across a wide ravine or mighty river, there is a cumbrous and unsightly mass of scaffolding and enginery erected, till the work is completed and the keystone fixed; then there is a shaking among the scaffolding, till it gives way, and is entirely removed. It seems a work of entire destruction; but it is but the removal of what was never anything better than necessary preparation – what, now that the end is gained, is unsightly encumbrance. And now the work of art, which had been but obscurely seen when rising to perfection, bursts on the delighted eye, self-supported...”
8Brenton translated from the Septuagint, which renders this word in the future tense, whereas in the Hebrew Masoretic text, it is a participle, so, more like a present tense.
9P. E. Hughes also noted future results: “[T]he removal of all that is insecure and imperfect is something to be eagerly anticipated; for this final shaking of both heaven and earth is necessary for the purging and eradication from the universe of all that is hostile to God and His will... and for the inauguration of the new haven and the new earth...”
10"τῶν σαλευομένων... τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα" not τῶν δύνατων σαλευθῆναι... τὰ μὴ δύνατα σαλευθῆναι" - another point in favor of the present rather than the future tense of "shake" in v.26.
11This was Chrysostom’s and Brown’s and Vincent’s and Hughes’ and the NASB, NIV, and ESV’s translation of εχωμεν χαριν, but Calvin and Owen, following the Vulgate and the Arabic versions (as did Henry, the KJV, and Gill), expressed a different and plausible view: “When χαριν means gratitude, it is ever followed by a dative case, which is not the case here. To have faith, echein pistin is to possess it, (Matthew 17:20;) to have eternal life is to possess it, to have hope is to enjoy or possess it, (Romans 15:4;) and so to have grace is to possess it. And this alone comports with what follows; it is the possession of that by which we may “serve God acceptably.” By “grace” we are to understand the gracious help and assistance which God promises to all who seek it. To receive a kingdom is to obtain a right or a title to it; and having the promise of this kingdom we ought to seek, attain, and possess that grace, that divine help, by which we may in the meantime serve God acceptably.” Robertson went both ways. cf. Endnote M.
123 Maccabees 1:19; 4:5
13John Brown noted that “to ‘receive a kingdom which cannot be moved,’ is permanently to be invested with royalty – to be made a king forever.” Others saw this as citizenship in heaven where Christ is the king: “a kingdom, that is to say, an ordered and harmonious society governed by him who is the Sovereign Lord of all...” (Hughes)
AThe
Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority
of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript
evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes
notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but
since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online
document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a
standalone difference from all other English translations of a
certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the
English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of
meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a
Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word
translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added
in English not in the Greek. {Pointed Braces} indicate words added
in Greek to the original. Key words are colored consistently across
the chart to show correlations.
BRobertson's
Grammar (810): Παραιτησησθε
is used as an indirect middle verb, meaning “beg off from
yourselves” (i.e., “reject”).
Burton's Moods
& Tenses of N.T. Greek (209): Μη with the subjunctive
verb παραιτησησθε
may be co-ordinate with βλεπετε
and consequently would be regarded as a prohibitory subjunctive.
Hanna: The negative μη with a subjunctive verb
generally occurs with an imperative form of βλεπετε
to denote the content of that imperative (cf. Luke 21:8; Acts 13:40;
1 Cor. 8:9; 10:12 and Gal. 5:15). Thus, in essence, it has a
prohibitory sense, “See that you do not refuse.”
CThe first class conditional ei + indicative verb in the protasis (repeated by elipsis in the apodosis) indicates that the author believed the condition was, in fact, true. (cf. ATR’s Word Pictures)
DThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (including P46, the oldest-known one), followed by the traditional editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT). Contemporary critical GNT’s follow about 8 Greek manuscripts (including 3 of the 6 known first-millennium manuscripts) adding the prefix εξ which would add emphatic-ness to the verb. It makes no significant difference, however, in meaning, as evidenced by the fact that the NASB and NIV, which typically follow the newer critical Greek text, translated this Greek word with the exact same English word that the KJV, which typically followed the traditional Greek text, did.
EThe Textus Receptus and the Patriarchal Greek Orthodox editions of the Greek New Testament include a definite article here, but, as far as I can tell, no extant manuscript actually contains it, so it appears spurious. It makes no difference in meaning, however, whether it is “earth” or “the earth,” for there is only one earth to speak of.
FThe majority of Greek manuscripts (including P46 – the oldest-known), followed by the traditional editions of the Greek New Testament, spelled this word in the dative case (πολλω), but contemporary critical editions of the GNT spell it in the accusative case (πολυ), following 5 manuscripts (all of which, curiously, are first millennium). It makes no difference in meaning, however, for all the English versions render it “much.”
G“...the ones who turn away from the one who [speaks] from (L&N #84.3 - ‘extension from’) heaven,” not “the ones turning away from (L&N #89.122 - ‘dissociation from’) the heavens.” The parallel construction with ton lalounta in the imperative introduction to the verse calls for the former interpretation rather than the latter one. The Wycliffe team that tagged the GNT with L&N semantic domains, however, chose L&N #90.15 - ‘from source’).
HFew translations seem to take into account that this is a middle/passive spelling and that this participle is a substantive with its own nominative definite article. It appears to me therefore, to be in a predicate nominative position after the nominative “we.”
IThe majority of Greek manuscripts, followed by the Textus Receptus edition of the Greek New Testament, do not spell this word with the future-tense sigma, following the Masoretic Hebrew original which employs a participle for the verb. On the other hand, the Patriarchal Greek Orthodox and contemporary critical editions, following about 10 Greek manuscripts (including the four oldest-known), spell this word with a future-tense sigma, following the Septuagint translation of the original verse in Haggai. Thus the KJV, “yet once more I shake,” as opposed to the Vulgate, NAS, NIV, & ESV, “I will shake.” Compare with the MT of Hag. 2:6 (greyed-out words are omitted in the LXX translation and in the Hebrews quote: ע֥וֹד אַחַ֖ת מְעַ֣ט הִ֑יא וַאֲנִ֗י מַרְעִישׁ֙ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ
JTurner's Grammar (182): The article το is used to introduce the quotation in the initial part of this verse. The Wycliffe team which tagged the GNT with Louw & Nida’s semantic domain numbers labeled this a pronoun (#92.11a - “it”), followed by #91.3b (parenthetical/introduction of explanation) for the next word δε.
KIn the Greek Bible, this noun only occurs in Hebrews: here, 7:12, and 11:5.
LIn Louw & Nida’s semantic domains, this is #58.67a ("to be/belong to a class")
M"Have" as in, "accept as true" (paralambanw being the previous word) and "maintain belief in" (L&N #31.1). Alternately, the NAS, NIV, and ESV followed John Brown’s assertion that “εχω χαριν” is a unit that means “hold gratitude” (note similarity between charis “grace” and eucharistw “give thanks”) This phrase is translated "give thanks" in all the English translations in three of the passages where it occurs in the New Testament (Luke 17:9, 1 Tim. 1:12, and 2 Tim. 1:3 - the latter two of which switch the Greek word order). In the other three occurrences of the phrase in the N.T., it is translated different ways ("having favor" Acts 2:47; "receive a benefit/blessing" 2Cor. 1:15; "have joy" Philemon. 1:7. cf. Ex. 33:12 "have/find favor").
N"Which" matches “grace.” “On account of” (L&N #92.27) God showing grace to us, we worship Him reverently.
OWhile the Textus Receptus and Patriarchal and contemporary critical GNT editions agree on the subjunctive spelling (which may be translated subjunctively – as the KJV & NAS did: “we may serve,” or hortitatively – as the ESV did: “let us serve,” the latter of which was the label put on it by both A.T. Robertson and Blass & Debrunner in their GNT Grammars), Byzantine text editions of the GNT (reflecting Family 35 of the miniscule manuscripts, but apparently not a majority of the manuscripts) read without the subjunctive vowel lengthening (and so would be translated indicatively – as the NIV did: “and [so] worship”).
PHapex Legomenon. Derivative of αρεστος NAS & ESV confuse this with the adjective form (which is found in Rom. 12:1,2; 14:18; 2Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10; Philp. 4:18; Col. 3:20; Tit. 2:9; Heb. 13:21)
QAidous (“modesty/reverence/propriety” - also found in 1 Tim. 2:9 & 3 Mac. 1:19; 4:5) is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest of which has been dated to the 9th century), followed by the traditional Greek editions of the New Testament, but Contemporary critical Greek editions of the GNT, following the five oldest-known Greek manuscripts (plus 5 more) switch it out with a synonym δεους (“fear/awe” - found nowhere else in the Greek Bible, but in 2 Mac. 3:17, 30; 12:22; 13:16; 15:23). It makes no substantial difference in the meaning.
RThis word occurs in only three other places in the Greek Bible: Josh. 22:24; Prov. 28:14; and Heb. 5:7 (plus the apocryphal Wis. 17:8)
SBlass & Debrunner's Grammar (452): Και γαρ in this verse simply means “for” (cf. 5:12). The Wycliffe team that tagged the GNT with Louw & Nida semantic domain numbers pegged this use of the copula as “ascensive” (89.93a)