English Standard Version
Hebrews 6:8
8But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
Context of Hebrews 6:8
6and 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. 7For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. 9Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Read all of Hebrews 6Hebrews 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 afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
- Genesis 3:17And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat 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 blood from your hand.
- Genesis 5:29and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands."
- Deuteronomy 29:28and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.'
- Job 31:40let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
- Psalms 107:34a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
- Isaiah 5:1Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
- Jeremiah 17:6He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
- Jeremiah 44:22The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
- Mark 11:14And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.
- Luke 13:7And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?'
- Hebrews 10:27but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
- Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches.
- Ezekiel 15:2"Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest?
- Ezekiel 20:47Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched 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
In the dictionaries
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
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