English Standard Version
Hebrews 10:31
31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- New International Version (NIV)It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- New King James Version (NKJV)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- New Living Translation (NLT)It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Context of Hebrews 10:31
29How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
Read all of Hebrews 10Hebrews 10:31 word by word
φοβερὸν τὸ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας θεοῦ ζῶντος.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hebrews 10:31
- Hebrews 10:27but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
- Isaiah 33:14The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
- Luke 21:11There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
- Hebrews 12:29for our God is a consuming fire.
- Psalms 50:22"Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
- Psalms 76:7But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?
- Psalms 90:11Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
- Matthew 10:28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Luke 12:5But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Commentaries on Hebrews 10:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God - To fall into the hands of God is to fall under his displeasure; and he who lives for ever can punish for ever. How dreadful to have the displeasure of an eternal, almighty Being to rest on the soul for ever! Apostates, and all the persecutors and enemies of God's cause and people, may expect the heaviest judgments of an incensed Deity: and these, not for a time, but through eternity.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God - There may be an allusion here to the request of David to “fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men,” when it was submitted to him for the sin of numbering the people, whether he would choose seven years of famine, or flee three months before his enemies, or have three days of pestilence; 2 Samuel 24. He preferred “to fall into the hands of the Lord,” and God smote…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 26-31Verses 26-31 The exhortations against apostacy and to perseverance, are urged by many strong reasons. The sin here mentioned is a total and final falling away, when men, with a full and fixed will and resolution, despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour; despise and resist the Spirit, the only Sanctifier; and despise and renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life. Of this destruction God gives some notorious sinners…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30-31“The Lord will judge His people”: Deuteronomy 32:36; compare 1 Peter 4:17–18. That God will repay them and will judge His people shows how serious the situation is for those who have rejected Christ. Once God decides to judge someone, no one can save that person from God's hand (Deuteronomy 32:39).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. fearful ... to fall into the hands--It is good like David to fall into the hands of God, rather than man, when one does so with filial faith in his father's love, though God chastises him. "It is fearful" to fall into His hands as a reprobate and presumptuous sinner doomed to His just vengeance as Judge (He 10:27). living God--therefore able to punish for ever (Mt 10:28).Read the comment
Topics related to Hebrews 10:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hebrews 10
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries