Hebrews 3:17

Hebrews 3:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
• New International Version (NIV)And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?
• English Standard Version (ESV)And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

Context of Hebrews 3:17

15We have seen what the Bible says: ‘You must listen when you hear God speak today. Do not refuse to obey him. Do not be like God's people many years ago, when they turned against God.’ 16Who were those people who heard God speak? All of them were the people that Moses led away from Egypt. They heard God's message, but they refused to obey him. Who was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those same people. They did what was wrong. So they died and their bodies remained in the wilderness. 18God promised to punish them, because they refused to obey him. He said, ‘They will never arrive in my special place of rest.’ 19So we must be careful ourselves! Those people did not trust God. As a result, they never arrived in God's special place.

Hebrews 3:17 word by word

τίσιν δὲ προσώχθισεν τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη; οὐχὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν ὧν τὰ κῶλα ἔπεσεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• with whomτίςtis · which?G5101
• was he grievedπροσοχθίζωprosochthizō̄ · be angryG4360
• fortyτεσσαράκονταtessarakonta · fortyG5062
• yearsἔτοςetos · yearG2094
• notοὐχίouchi · not!G3780
• with them that had sinnedἁμαρτάνωhamartanō · to sinG264
• whoseὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• carcasesὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• carcasesκῶλονkōlon · corpseG2966
• fellπίπτωpiptō petō · to collapseG4098
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the wildernessἔρημοςerēmos · desertedG2048

Cross-references for Hebrews 3:17

• Hebrews 3:10That is why I became angry with them. I said, “They always want to do what is wrong. They refuse to understand my message.”
• Numbers 26:64None of the men that Moses and Aaron had counted in the Sinai desert were still alive.
• 1 Corinthians 10:1My Christian friends, remember what happened to our Israelite ancestors. Moses led them out of Egypt long ago. While they followed Moses, they all walked under the same cloud. All of them walked across the Red Sea.
• Numbers 14:22All these people have seen my glory. They have seen the miracles that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they have tested me many times now to see if I would punish them. They still do not obey me.
• Deuteronomy 2:15The Lord himself removed them so that they all died, one by one.
• Jeremiah 9:22The Lord says this: Dead bodies of people will lie everywhere on the ground. They will lie there like dung that a farmer puts on his fields. They will lie there like crops at harvest time that nobody has picked up.’
• Jude 1:5Remember that the Lord brought Israel's people out of Egypt where they had been slaves. But later he destroyed all those same people who did not trust him. I want you to remember these important things. You should already know all about them, but you must never forget them.

Commentaries on Hebrews 3:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17But with whom was he grieved forty years? - I believe it was Surenhusius who first observed that "the apostle, in using the term forty years, elegantly alludes to the space of time which had elapsed since the ascension of our Lord till the time in which this epistle was written, which was about forty years." But this does not exactly agree with what appears to be the exact date of this epistle. However, God had now been a long time provoked by that race…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17But with whom was he grieved forty years? - With whom was he angry; see the notes at Hebrews 3:10. Was it not with them that had sinned - That had sinned in various ways - by rebellion, murmuring, unbelief. As God was angry with them for their sins, we have the same reason to apprehend that he will be angry with us if we sin; and we should, therefore, be on our guard against that unbelief which would lead us to depart from him; Hebrews 3:12. Whose…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-19Verses 14-19 The saints' privilege is, they are made partakers of Christ, that is, of the Spirit, the nature, graces, righteousness, and life of Christ; they are interested in all Christ is, in all he has done, or will do. The same spirit with which Christians set out in the ways of God, they should maintain unto the end. Perseverance in faith is the best evidence of the sincerity of our faith. Hearing the word often is a means of salvation, yet, if not…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-19These verses use a series of quick questions and answers, a common rhetorical method. The three questions follow the ideas in Psalm 95:8–11: The people of Israel rebelled against God, God was angry, and God swore they would never enter his rest. The answers come from other Old Testament passages about the Israelites' rebellion in the wilderness (Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 9; Psalm 106). The author emphasizes the severe consequences of disobeying God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. But--Translate, "Moreover," as it is not in contrast to He 3:16, but carrying out the same thought. corpses--literally, "limbs," implying that their bodies fell limb from limb.Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 3:17

• Anthropomorphisms
• Backsliders
• Grief
• Procrastination
• Reprobacy
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• Apostle
• Moses
• Unbelief
• Congregation
• Faint
• Faithful; Faithfulness
• Grief; Grieve
• Hebrews, Epistle to the
• Mark
• Papyrus

Commentaries on Hebrews 3

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings