Hebrews 10:29 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hebrews 10:29
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Hebrews 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an ope…
Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Luke 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it s…
1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
Matthew 12:31-32 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be…
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 10:19–end
I. Here the apostle sets forth the dignities of the gospel state. It is fit that believers should know the honours and privileges that Christ has procured for them, that, while they take the comfort, they may give him the glory of all. The privileges are, 1. Boldness to enter into the holiest. They have access to God, light to direct them, liberty of spirit and of speech to conform to the direction; they have a right to the privilege and a readiness for it, assistance to use and improve it and assurance of acceptance and advantage. They may enter into the gracious presence of God in his holy oracles, ordinances, providences, and covenant, and so into communion with God, where they receive co…
sorer--Greek, "worse," namely, "punishment" (literally, "vengeance") than any mere temporal punishment of the body.
suppose ye--an appeal to the Hebrews' reason and conscience.
thought worthy--by God at the judgment.
trodden under foot the Son of God--by "wilful" apostasy. So he treads under foot God Himself who "glorified His Son as an high priest" (Heb 5:5; Heb 6:6).
an unholy thing--literally, "common," as opposed to "sanctified." No better than the blood of a common man, thus involving the consequence that Christ, in claiming to be God, was guilty of blasphemy, and so deserved to die!
wherewith he was sanctified--for Christ died even for him. "Sanctified," in the fullest sense,…
Of how much sorer punishment - Such offenses were trifling in comparison of this, and in justice the punishment should be proportioned to the offense.
Trodden under foot the Son of God - Treated him with the utmost contempt and blasphemy.
The blood of the covenant - an unholy thing - The blood of the covenant means here the sacrificial death of Christ, by which the new covenant between God and man was ratified, sealed, and confirmed. And counting this unholy, or common, κοινον, intimates that they expected nothing from it in a sacrificial or atoning way. How near to those persons, and how near to their destruction, do they come in the present day who reject the atoning blood, and say, "that…
The Church Fathers
But if you sin again, again the old reproaches are rolled back upon you, all the more so as it is a much greater crime "to trample the Son of God underfoot and to count the blood of the covenant a polluted thing" than to neglect the law of Moses.
He who honours the bishop shall be honoured by God, even as he that dishonours him shall be punished by God. For if he that rises up against kings is justly held worthy of punishment, inasmuch as he dissolves public order, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who presumes to do anything without the bishop, thus both destroying the [Church's] unity, and throwing its order into confusion? For the priesthood is the very highest point of all good things among men, against which whosoever is mad enough to strive, dishonours not man, but God, and Christ Jesus, the First-born, and the only High Priest, by nature, of the Father.
"who has trampled the Son of God."How does one trample on the Son of God? When he does not listen to Him, when he who shares in Him commits sins: for that is to trample, namely to despise. "in the blood of the covenant." He refers to the blood of Christ: for through it we have received the new covenant. "and having shared." Having shared, as having nothing more excellent than the others, just as those who say that he is a naked man. For they say that he is nothing but blood, in which he differs from ours as far as honor is concerned. Then, showing their ingratitude, he says: by which he was sanctified. "and insulted the Spirit of grace? " For he who has not received the benefit of the gift insulted the one who gave it. He made you a son of God, but you prefer to become a servant. He came to dwell in you, yet you introduce the Devil within yourself. Are these not injuries and insults against the Spirit?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
High priest — Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office (Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30). Besides…
Apostasy · Guilt and punishment of — Guilt and punishment of
Apostates · Guilt and punishment of — Guilt and punishment of
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Blasphemy · 3:2; — 3:2;
Covenant, The · Punishment for despising — Punishment for despising
Grace · The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of — The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of
Hatred To Christ · No escape for those who persevere in — No escape for those who persevere in
Of how much sorer punishment,.... Than a mere corporeal death, which was the punishment inflicted on the transgressors of the law of Moses.
Suppose ye; the apostle appeals to the Hebrews themselves, and makes them judges of what punishment
shall he be thought worthy; who is described as follows:
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God: this seems to be a stronger expression than crucifying him again, Hebrews 6:6 and is to be understood, not of what was in fact committed, but in will by persons; who, could they have had their will of him, would have pulled him from his throne, and trampled upon him: it is a phrase expressive of the utmost scorn, contempt, and ill usage; and which such a…
Hebrews 10:28-31
28. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
28. Qui abjecerit legem Mosis, sine misericordia sub duobus vel tribus testibus moritur:
29. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
29. Quanto putatis graviore dignus judicabitur supplicio qui Filium Dei conculcaverit, et sanguinem Testamenti, per quem fuerat sanctificatus, profanum duxerit, et Spiritum gratiae contumelia affecerit?
30. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance bel…
The author argues from lesser to greater (see study note on 9:14). The lesser situation is the old punishment of death for a person who refused to obey the law of Moses (see Deut 13:6-11). The greater situation concerns those who reject Christ and treat him with contempt. • how much worse the punishment: Eternal damnation is the fate awaiting those who have rejected Christ. • The blood of the covenant, which made us holy, is Christ’s perfect sacrifice (9:11–10:18). • insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit: Those who reject the Spirit’s prompting and mercy deny the validity of the Good News and the superiority of Christ and his saving work (cp. Mark 3:22-30).
Titles And Names Of The Holy Spirit · Spirit of grace — Spirit of grace
Types · .The sacrifices — .The sacrifices
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
