Page 53 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

These point toward a synagogue in which believing and unbelieving Jews worshiped and studied
together. The unbelieving Jews have clearly seen the power, glory, and truth of the gospel in the
Scriptures and in the testimony and changed lives of their believing friends.

There seem to be two warnings in Hebrews:

1. To the believing Jews to take their public stand with the persecuted church and not turn back to
Judaism
2. To the unbelieving Jews to embrace Christ.

In many ways the first warning is unique to this book, but the second is very similar to the
unpardonable sin of the Pharisees in the Gospels and the sin unto death of the false teachers in 1 John.

6:5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,

"the powers of the age to come" Another example of the lost involved in the power of the age to come
is in Matt. 7:21-23. They had power without the necessary personal relationship. This same thing could
be said of Judas Iscariot (in the Gospels), Simon Magnus (in Acts), and the false teachers (cf. 1 John
2:18-19).

"have fallen away" This is an AORIST ACTIVE PARTICIPLE. This is the theological climax of the Greek sentence
that begins in v. 4.

6:6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once
again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

NASB "and then"
NKJV "if"
NRSV, TEV "and then"
NJB" And yet in spite of this"

There is a disagreement among Greek scholars whether this is a mild conditional structure or a
consistent parallel structure from verse 4. Those who insist on a conditional structure do so for the
theological purpose of asserting that verse 6a is a hypothetical situation. However, all these grammatical
features imply that all have occurred.

1. The repetitive pattern of AORIST PARTICIPLES (been enlightened, tasted, shared, tasted and fell
away)
2. The repetitive use of "kai" (and) with the last three
3. The one ACCUSATIVE MASCULINE PLURAL ARTICLE in v. 4 which relates to all the PARTICIPLES of verses 4-
6

NASB, TEV,
NJB "impossible" (v. 6)
NKJV, NRSV "impossible" (v. 4)

The term appears in v. 4, but the larger context includes v. 6. This is the Greek term dunatos (able) with
the ALPHA PRIVATIVE (unable). These two terms are used with the connotation of what God does and does
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