Passage

Hebrews 4.14

Book: Hebrews · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

"14. Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."

"15. For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need." (Hebrews 4:12-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13. There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account."

"14. Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession."

"15. For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16. Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:12-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

"14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession."

"15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:12-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. for the reckoning of God is living, and working, and sharp above every two-edged sword, and piercing unto the dividing asunder both of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart; 13. and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things [are] naked and open to His eyes, with whom is our reckoning."

"14. Having, then, a great chief priest passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, may we hold fast the profession,"

"15. for we have not a chief priest unable to sympathise with our infirmities, but [one] tempted in all things in like manner, apart from sin; 16. we may come near, then, with freedom, to the throne of the grace, that we may receive kindness, and find grace, for seasonable help." (Hebrews 4:12-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: the author of Hebrews
Audience: Jewish-Christian readers under pressure to retreat from Christian confession back into Second-Temple Judaism
Location: unknown
Time period: composed c. AD 60-70
Narrative context: the transition out of the wilderness-warning (3:7-4:13) into the high-priestly theology that occupies chapters 5-10. After the heavy warning against unbelief that disqualifies from the rest (4:11-13), the author pivots to the encouragement-side: precisely because we have Jesus the Son of God as a great high priest who has passed through the heavens (entered the heavenly Holy of Holies), we have grounds to hold fast our confession.

Theological reading

Hebrews 4:14 is the central Hebrews-deployment of homologia and the structural-bridge between the wilderness-warning section (3:7-4:13) and the high-priestly exposition (4:14-10:18). The exhortation "let us hold fast our confession" (kratōmen tēs homologias) is grounded on the high-priestly Christology of the verse's first clause: it is because Jesus is a great high priest (the megan is emphatic) who has passed through the heavens (the heavenly counterpart of the Aaronic high priest passing through the curtain into the earthly Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur), and because He is Jesus the Son of God (uniting His human historical name and His divine identity in one address), that the readers have warrant to keep gripping the confession they have publicly made. The verb kratōmen ("let us hold fast") is present subjunctive, continuous-ongoing-action, suggesting the homologia is not a one-time recitation but a sustained-public-stance. The verse establishes the Hebrews-pattern that will recur at 10:23: confession is not a private mystical experience but a publicly-deposited stance that the church grips against pressure to abandon it. The patristic baptismal-creedal tradition reads this verse as a direct warrant for the regula fidei and the deposited apostolic confession against heresy.

Key words

G3669 - homologia, homologia (Strong's G3669), our confession; the second of three Hebrews-uses (3:1; 4:14; 10:23), the structural-central instance.

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.