Passage

Hebrews 2.3-4

Book: Hebrews · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them. 2. For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;"

"3. how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; 4. God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will."

"5. For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak. 6. But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Hebrews 2:1-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. 2. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;"

"3. how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard; 4. God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?"

"5. For he didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels. 6. But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him?" (Hebrews 2:1-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. ^{let: Gr. run out as leaking vessels} 2. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;"

"3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? ^{gifts: or, distributions}"

"5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. 6. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Hebrews 2:1-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Because of this it behoveth [us] more abundantly to take heed to the things heard, lest we may glide aside, 2. for if the word being spoken through messengers did become stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience did receive a just recompense,"

"3. how shall we escape, having neglected so great salvation? which a beginning receiving, to be spoken through the Lord, by those having heard was confirmed to us, 4. God also bearing joint-witness both with signs and wonders, and manifold powers, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His will."

"5. For not to messengers did He subject the coming world, concerning which we speak, 6. and one in a certain place did testify fully, saying, 'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or a son of man, that Thou dost look after him?" (Hebrews 2:1-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Argument from Miracles

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.