A Hermeneutical Study of Hebrews 10:26-27 {1,178 words}

Hebrews 10:26-27 says:

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. " (KJV)

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (NIV)

I. Historical Analysis (looking at the world outside the Bible): x

A. Geography: x

B. Political History: Israel was under Roman rule, the church was in its first century, the Old Testament believers up to that point had been practicing the Jewish sacrificial form of worship, and the author of Hebrews was writing this epistle to teach the readers about Christ and the doctrine of grace.

C. Wars: x

D. Economy: x

E. Pagan Cultures: x

F. Manners and Customs: x

G. Culture-based or Trans-cultural:

II. Grammatical Analysis (looking at the words in a sentence): x

A. Words: The Greek word, hekousios, was translated "willfully" in the KJV, but by definition it could also have been translated willingly. Willfully is a stronger word because it suggests a person's intent to disobey God. Willingly is not as strong because it considers the possibility that people sin through ignorance, through their personal weaknesses, as well as through a sinful intent.

The Greek word, lambano, which has been translated "received", might be the most important word in the verse. That word can also be translated to take, to hold, or to remove. If the word can mean that a person hears but rejects the truth, which is also a form of receiving, then that person would have a head knowledge of salvation but not a heart knowledge. People hear or receive the gospel message at their conscious level all the time and simply go their own way without ever internalizing what they have heard. It is important to note that such people are not saved. On the other hand, if lambano must mean to receive with the idea of accepting and internalizing the truth, then that would suggest that the people in Hebrews 10:26 were saved, and the interpretation of the verse becomes much more problematic.

1. Lexical Analysis: x

2. Figures of Speech: x

3. Different Translations: The NIV shows that this condition applies to those that keep on sinning as opposed to someone that simply commits a sin. The mood of the Greek word for sin is participle, so the NIV contains the more accurate interpretation. If a person keeps on sinning, then that suggests a lifestyle choice rather than simply making a mistake. It also suggests that the person was never saved in the first place rather than having been saved and then turned away. That being the case, the stronger translation for hekousios also seems more correct. Therefore, what this part of the verse seems to be literally saying is that the person has received the truth at a conscious level but has made a conscious, deliberate choice to reject the truth and to live apart from the Lord.

The use of mood when talking about sin was not unique to the writer of Hebrews. The Apostle John also used mood in his epistles when he spoke about someone committing sins. I John 5:2-3 says, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." When he wrote about someone keeping God's commandments, he was using the subjunctive mood, which speaks of a type of person rather than a specific incident. John was literally saying that people that love God are the types of people that do not keep on sinning. He was not saying that they would never sin.

This writer and John both used moods and tenses to show that people, who keep on sinning, are not saved and have never been saved. To try to use Hebrews 10:26-27 and I John 5:2-3 to invoke fear in Christians about losing their salvation is not good exegesis.

B. Level of Words: x

C. Syntax: x

D. Verb Tenses: x

E. Use of Book Endings: x

III. Literary Analysis (looking at the whole thought or concept): x

A. Exegesis: In the Book of Hebrews, the writer compared things that Israel considered sacred and then showed that Jesus was greater than each one. In chapter one, he wrote that Jesus was greater than the angels. In chapter three, he wrote that Jesus was greater than Moses, and in chapters five and seven, he wrote that Jesus' priesthood was greater than that of Melchizedek.

In chapter ten, he continued making such comparisons by effectively writing that Jesus' sacrifice was better than the Mosaic animal sacrifices that had to be offered every year. In Hebrews 10:1-4, he emphasized that those Old Testament sacrifices could not make perfect the people that offered them. In Hebrews 10:10-14, he wrote that Jesus was offered once and that He will never be offered again. He indicated that Jesus' sacrifice "has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Then, in Hebrews 10:26, he indicated once again that Jesus' sacrifice was the final sacrifice. There will not be and cannot be another sacrifice by anyone else, and Jesus will not be offered again.

1. The passage as "world literature": x

2. Genre of the passage: x

3. The author’s emphasis: x

4. The author’s intended meaning: The writer was not teaching in Hebrews 10:26 that a person could lose his or her salvation. He was teaching that Christ is the only valid sacrifice, that He was only to be sacrificed once, and that the Jews have to depart from the ritualistic worship that they had practiced for centuries. To have continued making their annual sacrifices would have been to deny the deity of Christ, and that would have been paramount to being lost. The writer was telling his readers that people, who intentionally deny and reject the sacrifice of Christ after having been told the truth, only have a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation in the future.

B. Application of the passage: The application of Hebrews 10:26-27, of Hebrews, chapter ten, and of the Book of Hebrews in its entirety is to see the truth about Christ. He is the Lord, and His sacrifice on the cross is the only sacrifice that matters. For those that have never received Christ as Savior, the writer's message is to receive Him today. For those that have received Him, the message is to better understand exactly what we have through Him.