Hebrews — Greek text and reception
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
SAINTS TRANSLATION
Hebrews
V2 working draft • Sep 13, 2026
Complete working translation draft V1, chapters 1–13. Source coverage and a first editorial pass are complete; independent specialist linguistic review and the listed open questions remain outstanding.
13 chapters • 303 verse rows
Reader’s guide
The three columns identify the verse, give its literal-smooth English translation from the declared Greek, and distinguish textual observations from attributed reception.
All 303 verse entries in the accessed Greek running text are represented in source order. The infinitive in 6:6 is brought forward into 6:4 for English syntax, with an explicit note; its content is not duplicated or omitted. No five-class Hebrew–Greek comparison is applied to this Greek-only book.
Source basis and review scope
SBLGNT Greek running main text, Michael W. Holmes, ed. (2010), official Faithlife electronic file.
Sources, Method & Decisions
Source register
[G] SBL Greek New Testament, Michael W. Holmes, ed. (2010), official Faithlife electronic running text: Hebrews. All Greek running-text entries 1:1–13:25 directly read before independent English drafting. Editorial comparison sigla were not translated as words. Primary Greek source; full book accessed. Source [G]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[A] SBLGNT apparatus: Hebrews, official Faithlife electronic edition-comparison file. Selected entries in chapters 1–4 and 9–13 directly inspected, including 1:3; 2:9; 3:6; 4:2; 9:11,14,19; 10:17,34,38; 11:11,15,37; 12:3,18; 13:21,25. This is comparison of published/reconstructed edition readings, not independent manuscript collation. Primary published edition-comparison apparatus; selective consultation. Source [A]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[CHR9] John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Hebrews, §§5–8; English translation by Frederic Gardiner, NPNF first series, volume 14 (1889), New Advent. Directly read treatment of Hebrews 6:4–6, repentance, and the unrepeatability of baptism. Selective reception paraphrase only, not a source for the biblical English. Patristic reception accessed in published English translation; Greek homily not collated. Source [CHR9]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[CHR12] John Chrysostom, Homily 12 on Hebrews, §§2–3; English translation by Frederic Gardiner, NPNF first series, volume 14 (1889), New Advent. Directly read typological explanation of Melchizedek and the unrecorded genealogy/lifespan in Hebrews 7:1–3. Selective reception paraphrase only. Patristic reception accessed in published English translation; Greek homily not collated. Source [CHR12]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[LIC] SBLGNT publisher license and attribution. Greek source copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software; publisher states Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. This English working translation is a new adaptation and is not a publisher translation or endorsement. Publisher rights statement directly accessed. Source [LIC]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
Contextual term record
aiōn / aiōnes → age / ages. Temporal and cosmic scope retained; the idiom for the age can express perpetuity.
hypostasis → being; assurance. Underlying being in 1:3 and assurance in 11:1 reflect context; substance remains an alternative at 11:1.
archēgos → pioneer. Leader or originator; used of Jesus in 2:10 and 12:2.
teleioō / teleios → perfect; mature. Completion and qualification in priestly contexts, maturity in the exhortation; no unexpressed prior sin is added.
diathēkē → covenant; testament. Testament chosen at 9:16–17 with an explicit note on the semantic shift.
skēnē / ta hagia → tent / holy places. Tabernacle and sanctuary language retained; compartment identification is stated only where clear.
hilastērion → propitiatory cover. The ark object in 9:5; atonement cover and mercy seat are familiar equivalents. Context distinguishes this object from other uses of propitiation language.
baptismos → washing. Plural ritual washings at 6:2 and 9:10; possible baptismal reference discussed without expansion.
sabbatismos → Sabbath rest. Kept distinct from the general rest word katapausis at 4:9.
paideia → discipline. Formative training and correction in chapter 12.
adelphoi / hagioi → brothers / saints. Community address and holy people; saints does not designate only later canonized individuals.
Material decisions
Independent English was drafted from the actually accessed Greek file, not by revising a modern English Bible. Source-specific readings are retained even where unfamiliar.
The short working title Hebrews does not assign an author; the source text does not name one. Chrysostom’s traditional attribution is reception, not adopted as a newly established textual fact.
Quoted Scripture is translated as it appears in Hebrews. It is not harmonized to Hebrew wording in another book; this is especially visible at 8:9, 10:5, and 11:21.
The unusual main-text readings apart from God (2:9), dative Sarah (11:11), and against themselves (12:3) are disclosed with apparatus scope and unresolved interpretation.
Greek-only three-column presentation: verse, Greek–English Saints Priority, textual and reception notes. Hebrew comparison categories are not fabricated.
Divine pronouns are capitalized when the referent is clear; numbers in running translation are spelled out and verse references retain digits. Pericope headings are editorial.
Reception notes are selective and distinguish directly accessed patristic commentary from the biblical translation. No comprehensive patristic consensus or manuscript collation is claimed.
Open questions and remaining review
Qualified independent Greek review is still needed before publication as a settled translation, particularly the difficult constructions and the edition’s unusual readings.
Review the attachment and interpretation of apart from God at 2:9, the nominative relative at 3:6, the dative Sarah and implicit subject at 11:11, and the plural reflexive at 12:3.
Review the referents and aspect in 6:4–6; the source warning remains intact and the patristic baptismal interpretation is separately labeled.
Review incense altar/censer at 9:4, the eternal Spirit at 9:14, and testament/covenant in 9:16–17.
Review hypostasis at 11:1, Esau’s repentance/change of mind and pronoun at 12:17, and the grouping of festal gathering at 12:22–23.
Version record
V1: First working translation of the declared scope under the updated Saints Translation reference.
first editorial pass: All chapters directly read and independently drafted; explicit check of unusual edition readings and final endings.
independent review: Pending; no specialist sign-off claimed.
source coverage: 303 of 303 Greek source verse entries in exact source order; no duplicate or absent entries.
Final reference review
Reviewed: Sep 11, 2026
All three hundred and three Greek and English verse units and the existing notes were reviewed. Hebrews 2:17 now uses make propitiation for; 9:5 names the propitiatory cover. The affected notes and term record were synchronized. Hebrews 10:5 now explicitly distinguishes the selected Greek Psalm’s ears from Hebrews’ body.
The complete official SBLGNT running text and edition-comparison apparatus were consulted. Both publisher files were freshly retrieved on 11 September 2026 and matched the recovered files exactly. The unusual selected readings and documented translation qualifications remain. Independent specialist review is still outstanding.
The updated reading document contains a textual observation for every verse and a register of forty-six verified Christian reception entries. Shared passage exposition is identified as such; comprehensive historical reception is not claimed.
Complete verse notes and reception register: Saints Translation — Hebrews — Liturgical V1
Collation against Nestle–Aland 28
On 13 September 2026 every verse of this book where the SBLGNT and NA28 differ was identified from the edition marks of Tyndale House's Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0) and the SBLGNT apparatus, and the rendering above was read at each one. 23 verses differ; 18 of them would read differently in English if NA28 were translated instead of the SBLGNT, and each of those carries a note above beginning "NA28". The collation is against TAGNT's edition marks and the SBLGNT apparatus; a printed NA28 apparatus has not been consulted, and NA28's square brackets are inferred, not recorded.
At 1 place the rendering follows a reading other than the SBLGNT it declares: 6:2 (NA28). Each is marked in its note.