New Testament
Hebrews
Hebrews was written to weary believers tempted to give up, and it answers them by showing that Jesus is better: a greater priest, a better sacrifice, a surer hope. It is the great New Testament call to keep going by fixing our eyes on him.
Hebrews 1
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 1:3
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Read the passage article - Hebrews 1:10-12
And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.”
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Hebrews 2
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 2:6-9
But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honour. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t yet see all things subjected to him. But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.
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Hebrews 4
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 4:9
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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Hebrews 5
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 5:8
though he was a Son, yet learnt obedience by the things which he suffered.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 5:8-9
though he was a Son, yet learnt obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
Discussed in: - Hebrews 5:12-14
For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 5:13-14
For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
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Hebrews 6
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 6:19
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil,
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Hebrews 7
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.
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Hebrews 10
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 10:12-13
but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 10:24-25
Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 10:32-34
But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions, and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. For you both had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 10:39
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
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Hebrews 11
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
Read the passage article - Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:6
Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:13
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his only born son, to whom it was said, “Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,” concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:35-38
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:35-39
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise,
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:36-38
Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 11:39-40
These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
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Hebrews 12
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 12:1
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
Discussed in: - Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 12:2
looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Discussed in: - Hebrews 12:11
All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
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Hebrews 13
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Hebrews 13:5
Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”
Discussed in: - Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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More about Hebrews
Hebrews is one of the great mysteries of the New Testament, because we do not know who wrote it. Down the centuries people have guessed at Paul, or Apollos, or Barnabas, or others, but the honest answer is that the writer never signs the work, and we cannot say with confidence who held the pen. What we can see clearly is the situation it speaks into. It is written to believers, probably from a Jewish background, who were growing weary and were tempted to slip back from following Jesus to something that felt safer and more familiar. The whole letter is one long, passionate argument that going back would be a tragedy, because Jesus is better.
That word, better, runs through the book like a refrain. Jesus is better than the angels, better than Moses, a better priest than any who came before, offering a better sacrifice and securing a better hope. The writer knows the old worship system inside out and uses it to make a single point: everything it pointed towards has arrived in Christ, so why turn back to the shadow when the substance has come? The opening lines set the height of it, calling the Son the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, the one who upholds all things by his powerful word.
It is also a deeply pastoral letter, and that is easy to miss behind the theology. The writer keeps interrupting the argument to plead with the readers directly: do not drift, do not harden your hearts, do not throw away your confidence, hold fast. Then comes the famous chapter eleven, the great gallery of faith, beginning in 11:1 with the description that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is a roll call of ordinary and extraordinary people who trusted God without seeing the end, written to remind weary readers that they stand in a very long line.
If you are tired in your faith, tempted to quietly give it up because it has cost more than you expected, Hebrews was written for exactly that moment. Its remedy is not to try harder by yourself but to look harder at Jesus, to fix your eyes on the one who ran the same race ahead of you and finished it. Read it when you are weary, not just when you are studious. It does not shame the struggling. It takes them by the arm and points them, again and again, to the One who is better, and tells them to keep going.
Questions about Hebrews
- Who wrote the book of Hebrews?
- We do not know, and we would rather be honest about that than guess. The letter does not name its author, and unlike most of Paul's letters it does not open with a greeting that identifies who is writing. Over the centuries people have suggested Paul, Apollos, Barnabas and others, but none of these can be proven, and the early church itself was uncertain. What matters far more is what the letter says, and there it is wonderfully clear. The writer's identity is hidden; their message about the greatness of Jesus is not.
- Who was Hebrews written to and why?
- It was written to a community of believers, very likely from a Jewish background, who were under pressure and growing weary in their faith. The real danger the writer keeps addressing is drift: the temptation to slip away from following Jesus and fall back into something more familiar and less costly. So the whole letter argues, patiently and passionately, that Jesus is better than anything they might return to, a greater priest offering a better sacrifice and a surer hope. Woven through the argument are urgent appeals to hold on, not to harden their hearts, and to keep going together.
- What does Hebrews 11:1 mean by 'faith is the substance of things hoped for'?
- It is the Bible's closest thing to a definition of faith. The writer says faith is the substance, or assurance, of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. In other words, faith gives a present reality and confidence to things that lie in the future or out of sight. It is not wishful thinking but a settled trust that what God has promised is real, even before we can see it. The chapter then fills out the idea with example after example of people who lived and acted on God's promises without seeing the full outcome, which is the point.
Topics in Hebrews
The themes these verses speak to. Follow one to find related verses from right across the Bible.