Passage

Hebrews 2

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? 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8. Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. 9. But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man. 10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11. For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12. saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, In the midst of the congregation will I sing thy praise. 13. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me. 14. Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15. and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16. For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help to the seed of Abraham. 17. Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:1-18, 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? 7. You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. 8. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t see all things subjected to him, yet. 9. But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. 10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12. saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13. Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.” 14. Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15. and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16. For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. 17. Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:1-18, 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? 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: ^{lower: or, while inferior to} 8. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. ^{for the: or, by the} 10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. ^{took not: Gr. taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold} 17. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:1-18, 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? 7. Thou didst make him some little less than messengers, with glory and honour Thou didst crown him, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands, 8. all things Thou didst put in subjection under his feet,' for in the subjecting to him the all things, nothing did He leave to him unsubjected, and now not yet do we see the all things subjected to him, 9. and him who was made some little less than messengers we see, Jesus, because of the suffering of the death, with glory and honour having been crowned, that by the grace of God for every one he might taste of death. 10. For it was becoming to Him, because of whom [are] the all things, and through whom [are] the all things, many sons to glory bringing, the author of their salvation through sufferings to make perfect, 11. for both he who is sanctifying and those sanctified [are] all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12. saying, 'I will declare Thy name to my brethren, in the midst of an assembly I will sing praise to Thee;' and again, 'I will be trusting on Him;' 13. and again, 'Behold I and the children that God did give to me.' 14. Seeing, then, the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner did take part of the same, that through death he might destroy him having the power of death, that is, the devil, 15. and might deliver those, whoever, with fear of death, throughout all their life, were subjects of bondage, 16. for, doubtless, of messengers it doth not lay hold, but of seed of Abraham it layeth hold, 17. wherefore it did behove him in all things to be made like to the brethren, that he might become a kind and stedfast chief-priest in the things with God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people, 18. for in that he suffered, himself being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:1-18, 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.

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Quoted in

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.