the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Revised Standard Version
Hebrews 2:3
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So surely we also will be punished if we don't pay attention to the salvation we have that is so great. It was the Lord Jesus who first told people about it. And those who heard him proved to us that it is true.
how shall we escape yf we despyse so great saluacio which at ye fyrst bega to be preached of ye lorde him silfe and afterwarde was cofermed vnto vs warde by the ye hearde it
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;
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
So surely we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. The Lord himself first told about this salvation, and those who heard him testified it was true.
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those that heard;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that heard [him];
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
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;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that had heard him?
how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made sure to us by those who heard Him,
hou schulen we ascape, if we despisen so greet an heelthe? Which, whanne it hadde takun bigynnyng to be teld out by the Lord, of hem that herden is confermyd in to vs.
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard;
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true.
how will we escape [the penalty] if we ignore such a great salvation [the gospel, the new covenant]? For it was spoken at first by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us and proved authentic by those who personally heard [Him speak],
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;
What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;
then how will we escape if we ignore such a great deliverance? This deliverance, which was first declared by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him;
how shall *we* escape if we have been negligent of so great salvation, which, having had its commencement in being spoken [of] by the Lord, has been confirmed to us by those who have heard;
how will we escape if we neglect a salvation as great as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him,Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14; Luke 1:2; Hebrews 1:2; 10:28-29; 12:25;">[xr]
how shall we escape if we despise those (words) which themselves are our salvation? Those [fn] which began by our Lord to be spoken, and by them who from him heard them in us were confirmed,
how shall we escape, if we despise the things which are our life, things which began to be spoken by our Lord, and were confirmed to us by them who heard from him,
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great saluation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed vnto vs by them that heard him,
So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?
God was so good to make a way for us to be saved from the punishment of sin. What makes us think we will not go to hell if we do not take the way to heaven that He has made for us? The Lord was the first to tell us of this. Then those who heard Him told it later.
how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him,
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great saluation, which at the first began to be preached by the Lorde, and afterward was confirmed vnto vs by them that heard him,
How shall we escape, if we neglect the very things which are our salvation and which were first spoken by our LORD, and were proved to us by those who had heard him,
how shall, we, escape, if, so great a salvation as this, we have neglected, - which, indeed, having received, a beginning, of being spoken through the Lord, by them who heard, unto us was confirmed,
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Which, having begun to be declared by the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
Howe shall we escape, yf we neglect so great saluation? which at the first began to be preached of the Lorde, and was confirmed vnto vswarde, by them that hearde it:
How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation? The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true.
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
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;
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which had its beginning when it was spoken through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which having received a beginning to be spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by the ones hearing,
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,
how shal we escape, yf we despyse so greate a saluacion: which after that it beganne to be preached by the LORDE himselfe, was confirmed vpon vs, by them that herde it,
how shall we escape, if we neglect that salutary doctrine? which was first published by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those that heard him;
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
do you suppose we can ignore the message delivered by someone far greater, that being Jesus Christ himself?
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
How: Hebrews 4:1, Hebrews 4:11, Hebrews 10:28, Hebrews 10:29, Hebrews 12:25, Isaiah 20:6, Ezekiel 17:15, Ezekiel 17:18, Matthew 23:33, Romans 2:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:3, 1 Peter 4:17, 1 Peter 4:18, Revelation 6:16, Revelation 6:17
so: Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 7:26, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 51:5, Isaiah 51:8, Isaiah 62:11, Luke 1:69, John 3:16-18, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 1:15, Titus 2:11, Revelation 7:10
began: Hebrews 1:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14, Luke 24:19, Acts 2:22
and was: Mark 16:15-19, Luke 1:2, Luke 24:47, Luke 24:48, John 15:27, Acts 1:22, Acts 10:40-42
Reciprocal: Genesis 19:17 - Escape Exodus 32:28 - there fell Exodus 35:2 - whosoever Leviticus 24:23 - General Numbers 9:13 - forbeareth Numbers 19:13 - purifieth Deuteronomy 4:9 - keep thy soul Deuteronomy 18:19 - General 1 Samuel 19:5 - wrought Job 11:20 - they shall not escape Job 36:18 - then Psalms 50:3 - a fire Proverbs 8:36 - he Isaiah 55:6 - Seek Jeremiah 4:30 - And when Jeremiah 44:14 - shall escape Ezekiel 33:9 - if he Daniel 10:14 - the vision Micah 5:8 - and none Zephaniah 1:6 - and those Zechariah 11:6 - and out Matthew 11:22 - It shall Matthew 13:37 - is Matthew 21:41 - He will Matthew 21:44 - but Matthew 22:5 - they Luke 9:2 - General Luke 9:35 - hear Luke 14:21 - being John 3:18 - he that believeth not John 3:36 - but John 8:24 - for John 8:28 - and that John 10:25 - the works John 12:48 - rejecteth John 15:24 - If John 19:35 - he that Acts 3:23 - that every Acts 4:20 - the things Acts 5:32 - are Acts 13:31 - who Acts 13:40 - Beware Acts 17:26 - hath determined Acts 20:24 - to testify 1 Corinthians 1:6 - was 2 Corinthians 13:8 - General Ephesians 1:13 - the gospel 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - in much 2 Thessalonians 1:8 - and that Hebrews 6:9 - things Hebrews 10:15 - General Hebrews 10:27 - a certain Hebrews 11:1 - substance James 1:21 - which 2 Peter 2:13 - the reward 1 John 5:7 - the Holy Revelation 20:15 - whosoever
Cross-References
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush.
And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
How shall we escape,.... The righteous judgment of God, and eternal punishment:
if we neglect so great salvation? as the Gospel is, which is called salvation; in opposition to the law, which is the ministration of condemnation; and because it is a declaration of salvation by Christ; and is the means of bringing it near, and of the application of it in conversion, and so is the power of God unto it: and it is a "great" salvation; the Gospel which reveals it is great, for the author of it is Christ; it has been confirmed by miracles, and attended with great success; and has in it great things, great mysteries, and exceeding great and precious promises: and the salvation which it declares is great; it is the produce of great wisdom; it is wrought by a great person, by a Saviour, and a great one, and who is the great God, and our Saviour; it has been procured at great charge and expense, even at the expense of the blood and life of the Son of God; and has been obtained through great difficulties; and is the salvation of the soul, the more noble part of man; and it is a complete and everlasting one: to "neglect" this, is to be careless of it; to condemn it, and to despise the ministers of it; and to make anything else but Christ the way of salvation: and the danger such are in is very great; it is not possible that they should escape divine vengeance, since their sin is so great, and attended with such aggravating circumstances; for it is a contempt of the grace and wisdom of God in providing such a Saviour, and a trampling under foot the Son of God, and a counting his blood as a common thing; and besides, there is no more sacrifice for sin, they can have nothing to atone for it; and that God, whom they offend hereby, is both omniscient and omnipotent, and there will be no escaping out of his hands: to which must be added, that this Gospel of salvation is that
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord; by the Lord Jesus Christ himself; the Gospel was preached by him, and he was extraordinarily qualified for it; and he spake it as never man did: it was preached by John indeed, and by all the prophets before him, and to the Israelites in the wilderness, and to Abraham before them, and even to Adam in Eden's garden, which was the first time it was spoken; but then it was spoken to him by the Lord; by the Word of the Lord, the essential Word, the Son of God, as the ancient Chaldee paraphrases, which express the sense of the old Jewish church, show c: besides, it began most fully and clearly to be preached by him in the days of his flesh, so as it never was preached before, nor since; grace and truth, the doctrines of grace and truth came by him, in all their fulness and glory: and
was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; the Gospel is in itself firm and stable; nor did the words of Christ need any confirmation, who is truth itself, the "Amen", and faithful witness; but in condescension to human weakness, and by reason that Christ, as man, was not everywhere, and that by the mouth of more witnesses it should be established, he sent forth his apostles to preach it; who heard it from him, and they published it to the Jews first, as these were to whom the apostle writes, and then to the Gentiles. And though the apostle had it first by revelation from Christ himself, Galatians 1:11 it was confirmed to him by Ananias.
c Targum Onkelos & Jon. in Gen. iii. 8. & Hieros. in v. 9.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
How shall we escape - How shall we escape the just recompense due to transgressors? What way is there of being saved from punishment, if we suffer the great salvation to be neglected, and do not embrace its offers? The sense is, that there is no other way of salvation, and the neglect of this will be followed by certain destruction. why it will, the apostle proceeds to show, by stating that this plan of salvation was proclaimed first by the Lord himself, and had been confirmed by the most decided and amazing miracles.
If we neglect - It is not merely if we commit great sins. Not, if we are murderers, adulterers, thieves, infidels, atheists, scoffers. It is, if we merely “neglect” this salvation - if we do not embrace it - if we suffer it to pass unimproved. “Neglect” is enough to ruin a man. A man who is in business need not commit forgery or robbery to ruin himself; he has only to “neglect” his business, and his ruin is certain. A man who is lying on a bed of sickness, need not cut his throat to destroy himself; he has only to “neglect” the means of restoration, and he will be ruined. A man floating in a skiff above Niagara, need not move an oar or make an effort to destroy himself; he has only to “neglect” using the oar at the proper time, and he will certainly be carried over the cataract. Most of the calamities of life are caused by simple “neglect.” By neglect of education children grow up in ignorance; by neglect a farm grows up to weeds and briars; by neglect a house goes to decay; by neglect of sowing, a man will have no harvest; by neglect of reaping, the harvest would rot in the fields. No worldly interest can prosper where there is neglect; and why may it not be so in religion? There is nothing in earthly affairs that is valuable that will not be ruined if it is not attended to - and why may it not be so with the concerns of the soul? Let no one infer, therefore, that because he is not a drunkard, or an adulterer, or a murderer, that, therefore, he will be saved. Such an inference would be as irrational as it would be for a man to infer that because he is not a murderer his farm will produce a harvest, or that because he is not an adulterer therefore his merchandise will take care of itself. Salvation would be worth nothing if it cost no effort - and there will be no salvation where no effort is put forth.
So great salvation - . Salvation from sin and from hell. It is called “great” because:
(1) Its author is great. This is perhaps the main idea in this passage. It “began to be spoken by the Lord;” it had for its author the Son of God, who is so much superior to the angels; whom the angels were required to worship Hebrews 1:6; who is expressly called God Hebrews 1:8; who made all things, and who is eternal; Hebrews 1:10-12. A system of salvation promulgated by him “must” be of infinite importance, and have a claim to the attention of man.
(2) It is “great” because it saves from great sins. It is adapted to deliver from all sins, no matter how aggravated. No one is saved who feels that his sins are small, or that they are of no consequence. Each one sees his sins to be black and aggravated, and each one who enters heaven, will go there feeling and confessing that it is a great salvation which has brought such a sinner there. Besides, this salvation delivers from all sin - no matter how gross and aggravated. The adulterer, the murderer, the blasphemer, may come and be saved, and the salvation which redeems such sinners from eternal ruin is “great.”
(3) It is great because it saves from great dangers. The danger of an eternal hell besets the path of each one. All do not see it; and all will not believe it when told of it. But this danger hovers over the path of every mortal. The danger of an eternal hell! Salvation from everlasting burnings! Deliverance from unending ruin! Surely that salvation must be great which shall save from such a doom! If that salvation is neglected, that danger still hangs over each and every man. The gospel did not create that danger - it came to deliver from it. Whether the gospel be true or false, each man is by nature exposed to eternal death - just as each one is exposed to temporal death whether the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and of the resurrection be true or false. The gospel comes to provide a remedy for dangers and woes - it does not create them; it comes to deliver people from great dangers - not to plunge them into them. “Back of the gospel,” and before it was preached at all, people were in danger of everlasting punishment, and that system which came to proclaim deliverance from such a danger, is great.
(4) The salvation itself is great in heaven. It exalts people to infinite honors, and places on their heads an eternal crown. Heaven with all its glories is offered to us; and such a deliverance, and such an elevation to eternal honors, deserves to be called great. If that is neglected, there is no other salvation; and man must be inevitably destroyed.
(5) It is “great” because it was effected by infinite displays of power, and wisdom, and love. It was procured by the incarnation and humiliation of the Son of God. It was accomplished amidst great sufferings and self-denials. It was attended with great miracles. The tempest was stilled, and the deaf were made to hear, and the blind to see, and the dead were raised, and the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent. The whole series of wonders connected with the incarnation and death of the Lord Jesus, was such as the world had not seen elsewhere, and such as was suited to hold the race in mute admiration and astonishment. If this be so, then religion is no trifle. It is not a matter of little importance whether we embrace it or not. It is the most momentous of all the concerns that pertain to man; and has a claim on his attention which nothing else can have. Yet the mass of people live in the “neglect” of it. It is not that they are professedly atheists, or deists, or that they are immoral or profane; it is not that they oppose it, and ridicule it, and despise it; it is that they simply “neglect” it. They pass it by. They attend to other things. They are busy with their pleasures, or in their counting-houses, in their workshops, or on their farms; they are engaged in politics, or in bookmaking, and they “neglect” religion now as a thing of small importance - proposing to attend to it hereafter, as if they acted on the principle that everything else was to be attended to before religion.
Which at the first - Greek “Which received the beginning of being spoken.” The meaning is correctly expressed in our translation. Christ “began” to preach the gospel; the apostles followed him. John prepared the way; but the Saviour was properly the first preacher of the gospel.
By the Lord - By the Lord Jesus; see notes on Acts 1:24.
And was confirmed unto us ... - They who heard him preach, that is, the apostles, were witnesses of what he said, and certified us of its truth. When the apostle here says “us,” he means the church at large. Christians were assured of the truth of what the Lord Jesus spake by the testimony of the apostles; or the apostles communicated it to those who had not heard him in such a manner as to leave no room for doubt.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Hebrews 2:3. How shall we escape — If they who had fewer privileges than we have, to whom God spoke in divers manners by angels and prophets, fell under the displeasure of their Maker, and were often punished with a sore destruction; how shall we escape wrath to the uttermost if we neglect the salvation provided for us, and proclaimed to us by the Son of God? Their offence was high; ours, indescribably higher. The salvation mentioned here is the whole system of Christianity, with all the privileges it confers; properly called a salvation, because, by bringing such an abundance of heavenly light into the world, it saves or delivers men from the kingdom of darkness, ignorance, error, superstition, and idolatry; and provides all the requisite means to free them from the power, guilt, and contamination of sin. This salvation is great when compared with that granted to the Jews:
1. The Jewish dispensation was provided for the Jews alone; the Christian dispensation for all mankind.
2. The Jewish dispensation was full of significant types and ceremonies; the Christian dispensation is the substance of all those types.
3. The Jewish dispensation referred chiefly to the body and outward state of man-washings and external cleansings of the flesh; the Christian, to the inward state-purifying the heart and soul, and purging the conscience from dead works.
4. The Jewish dispensation promised temporal happiness; the Christian, spiritual.
5. The Jewish dispensation belonged chiefly to time; the Christian, to eternity.
6. The Jewish dispensation had its glory; but that was nothing when compared to the exceeding glory of the Gospel.
7. Moses administered the former; Jesus Christ, the Creator, Governor, and Saviour of the world, the latter.
8. This is a great salvation, infinitely beyond the Jewish; but how great no tongue or pen can describe.
Those who neglect it, αμελησαντες, are not only they who oppose or persecute it, but they who pay no regard to it; who do not meddle with it, do not concern themselves about it, do not lay it to heart, and consequently do not get their hearts changed by it. Now these cannot escape the coming judgments of God; not merely because they oppose his will and commandment, but because they sin against the very cause and means of their deliverance. As there is but one remedy by which their diseased souls can be saved, so by refusing to apply that one remedy they must necessarily perish.
Which at the first began to be spoken — Though John the Baptist went before our Lord to prepare his way, yet he could not be properly said to preach the Gospel; and even Christ's preaching was only a beginning of the great proclamation: it was his own Spirit in the apostles and evangelists, the men who heard him preach, that opened the whole mystery of the kingdom of heaven. And all this testimony had been so confirmed in the land of Judea as to render it indubitable; and consequently there was no excuse for their unbelief, and no prospect of their escape if they should continue to neglect it.
