Hebrews 6:8

Hebrews 6:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
• New International Version (NIV)But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
• New King James Version (NKJV)but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

Context of Hebrews 6:8

6and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace. 7For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. 9But, beloved, even though we speak to you in this way, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation. 10For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for His name in ministering to [the needs of] the saints (God’s people), as you do.

Hebrews 6:8 word by word

ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• that which bearethἐκφέρωekpherō · to bring/carry outG1627
• thornsἄκανθαakantha · a thornG173
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• briersτρίβολοςtribolos · thistleG5146
• rejectedἀδόκιμοςadokimos · failingG96
• nigh untoἐγγύςeggus · nearG1451
• cursingκατάραkatara · curseG2671
• whoseὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• endὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• endτέλοςtelos · goal/taxG5056
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• be burnedκαῦσιςkausis · burningG2740

Cross-references for Hebrews 6:8

• Hebrews 12:17For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.
• Genesis 3:17Then to Adam the Lord God said, “Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’; The ground is [now] under a curse because of you; In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it All the days of your life.
• Genesis 4:11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.
• Genesis 5:29He named him Noah, saying, “This one shall bring us rest and comfort from our work and from the [dreadful] toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord cursed.”
• Deuteronomy 29:28and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
• Job 31:40Let thorns grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed and cockleburs instead of barley.” So the words of Job [with his friends] are finished.
• Psalms 107:34A productive land into a [barren] salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
• Isaiah 5:1Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord] A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people). My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).
• Jeremiah 17:6For he will be like a shrub in the [parched] desert; And shall not see prosperity when it comes, But shall live in the rocky places of the wilderness, In an uninhabited salt land.
• Jeremiah 44:22The Lord could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your acts and the repulsive acts which you have committed; because of them your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
• Mark 11:14He said to it, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening [to what He said].
• Luke 13:7so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’
• Hebrews 10:27but a kind of awful and terrifying expectation of [divine] judgment and the fury of a fire and burning wrath which will consume the adversaries [those who put themselves in opposition to God].
• Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city is isolated, A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert; There the calf will graze, And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
• Ezekiel 15:2“Son of man, how is the wood of the grapevine (Israel) better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
• Ezekiel 20:47and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every one of your green trees, as well as every one of your dry trees. The blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from the south to the north will be burned by it.

Commentaries on Hebrews 6:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected - That is: The land which, notwithstanding the most careful cultivation, receiving also in due times the early and latter rain, produces nothing but thorns and briers, or noxious weeds of different kinds, is rejected, , is given up as unimprovable; its briers, thorns, and brushwood burnt down; and then left to be pastured on by the beasts of the field. This seems to be the custom in husbandry to which the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected - That is, by the farmer or owner. It is abandoned as worthless. The force of the comparison here is, that God would thus deal with those who professed to be renewed if they should be like such a worthless field. And is nigh unto cursing - Is given over to execration, or is abandoned as useless. The word “cursing” means devoting to destruction. The sense is not that the owner would curse it “in words,”…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8land: Fertile land symbolizes blessing, while barren land with thorns and thistles represents a curse. Burning such a field symbolizes judgment (2 Samuel 23:4–7; Isaiah 10:17; 33:12; Ezekiel 19:12–13; Matthew 3:10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. that which--rather as Greek (no article), "But if it (the 'land,' He 6:7) bear"; not so favorable a word as "bringeth forth," He 6:7, said of the good soil. briers--Greek, "thistles." rejected--after having been tested; so the Greek implies. Reprobate ... rejected by the Lord. nigh unto cursing--on the verge of being given up to its own barrenness by the just curse of God. This "nigh" softens the severity of the previous "It is impossible," &c. (He…Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 6:8

• Apostasy
• Backsliders
• Reprobacy
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Afresh
• Anchor
• Brier
• Castaway
• Counsel
• Crucify
• Enlighten
• Immutable
• Nigh
• Persuade

Commentaries on Hebrews 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings