King James Version · Under Rome
Hebrews 6
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of from works, and of toward , Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of , and of of , and of . And this will we do, if permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the gift, and were made partakers of the Ghost, And have tasted the good word of , and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto ; seeing they to themselves the Son of afresh, and put him to an open . For the earth which drinketh in the that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth from : But that which beareth and is rejected, and is nigh unto ; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany , though we thus speak. For is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to , and do minister. And we that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through and the promises. For when made promise to , because he could by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently , he obtained the promise. For men verily by the greater: and an for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein , willing more abundantly to shew unto the of promise the immutability of his , confirmed it by an : That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the set before us: Which we have as an anchor of the , both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within ; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even , made an for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
Christians read this chapter differently
- Can a believer fall away? · Hebrews 6:4-8
Every view at its strongest, with who holds it and what it has to answer for.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.