HEB 2:12 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:5–18: Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being

In the previous section, the author stated the seriousness of ignoring the Son’s message of salvation. In this section he gave more reasons why Jesus is greater than the angels and why we should take Jesus’ salvation more seriously than the law that was received through the angels. Some of these reasons are:

Jesus, not the angels, will control the future world (2:5)
Jesus humbled himself in order to make himself like us:
- In our lower position (2:7, 2:9)
- In our suffering and death (2:10, 2:14)
- As his brothers, God’s children (2:11–14, 2:17)
Jesus can:
- Bring us to glory (2:10)
- Bring us to salvation (2:10)
- Make us holy (2:11)
- Break the power of death (2:14)
- Sets us free from the fear of death (2:15)
- Help us (he did not come to help angels) (2:16)
- Be a merciful and faithful high priest before God (2:17)
- Take away the sins of people (2:17)
- Help us when we are tempted (2:18)
- [Angels cannot do this]

Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Son became human to save us

Christ Became like Humans (NCV)

Jesus Became One of Us to Help Us (GW)

Paragraph 2:10–13

In this paragraph the author explained more fully why Jesus became a man and suffered and died for us. He did it so that people may share God’s glory and become part of God’s family. This paragraph is still part of the section which establishes that Jesus is greater than the angels. It implies that no angel provided salvation for us like Jesus did by suffering and dying for us.

Some versions do not begin a new paragraph until 2:11. That is because 2:10 is a verse that links Paragraph 2:5–9 with this new paragraph.

2:12–13

In 2:12–13 the author of Hebrews quotes four statements from the OT. He indicates that these quotations were statements that Jesus said to God or about God. The quotations support what the author said about Jesus not being ashamed to call us his relatives (“brothers and sisters”). He is not ashamed to become human like us and suffer as a human being.

2:12

This verse is a quotation from Psalm 22:22. Psalm 22 is called a “messianic psalm” because it tells about the Messiah whom God promised to send to save people. The author of Hebrews quotes words that the Messiah spoke in the psalm. He indicates that Jesus spoke these words to God.

Verse 12 has two parallel poetic lines. In some languages it may be more natural to combine the two parts of the quotation into one sentence or to change the order of the parts. See the General Comment on 2:12a–b at the end of 2:12b for an example.

2:12a

He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers;

He says, “I will tell my brothers and sisters about your^(sing) name/character.
He says, “I will tell my siblings about you^(sing) and the great/glorious things that you have done.

He says: The words He says introduces another quotation from the OT. In the quotation, Jesus spoke to God. In many languages it may be helpful to begin a new sentence here and introduce the quotation in a fuller way. For example:

He says to God (GNT)

For he said to God (NLT)

I will proclaim Your name to My brothers: This statement is a quotation from Psalm 22. The author of Hebrews quotes it as a poetic way to say that Jesus will tell people about God. He will tell them about God’s character and about what he has done.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

I will tell my people what you have done (GNT)

I will make your fame known to my brothers (REB)

Then, I will tell my fellow Israelites about you (NCV)

to My brothers: The Greek word that the BSB translates as to My brothers includes both male and female siblings here, as it usually does in the New Testament.

In this quotation Jesus referred to believers as his brothers to indicate that they are part of God’s family with him. They are God’s sons and daughters. The word brothers does not refer here to members of Jesus’ physical family while he was on earth.

2:12b

I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”

When I meet with your^(sing) people, I will praise you with songs.”
I will sing praises/songs to you^(sing) when I am in the gathering of your people.”

I will sing Your praises: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as I will sing Your praises is more literally “I will sing praise/hymns to you.” It has a similar meaning to “I will proclaim your name” in 2:12a. It means that Jesus will sing praise to God.

Some other ways to translate the clause are:

I will praise you with songs/hymns.

Your: As in 2:12a, Your refers to God.

in the assembly: The phrase in the assembly is parallel to the phrase “to my brothers” in 2:12a. The word in means “among” or “in the presence of.” The word assembly refers to the group of God’s people who are meeting together. Some other ways to translate in the assembly are:

in their meeting (GNT)

among all your people (NLT)

when they come together (CEV)

assembly: The Greek word which the BSB translates as assembly refers to a group of people who are meeting together. In the New Testament the word is often translated as “church.” In the OT, which is quoted here, it was used for the whole Israelite community. See church, other uses in KBT.

General Comment on 2:12a–b

The two statements in 2:12 have similar (parallel) meanings. The parallel phrases are indicated here with underlining or italics (the order has been adjusted to match the Greek):

^12a I will proclaim your name to my brothers

^12b in the assembly I will sing your praises.

Notice that in Greek, the order of the similar phrases are reversed in 2:12b. This makes the phrase a chiasm, which emphasizes that Jesus claims us as his brothers and sisters. In some languages this order may not have that meaning, and it may be confusing. If that is true in your language, you may need to express this emphasis in a different way. For example, in some languages it may be more emphatic to begin the two clauses with this part of the meaning. For example:

To my brothers, I will declare your name. In the presence of the congregation, I will praise you.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-quotations

λέγων

saying

The author quotes from the Old Testament. He does not introduce it as a quotation but instead as words that Jesus the Son has spoken to God about his brothers. However, the audience would have understood that this was a quotation from the Old Testament, here from [Psalm 22:22](../../psa/22/22.md). Since the author introduces this quotation as words that the Son has spoken to God, you should introduce the quotation as words that someone has said. If your readers would not know that the quotation is from the Old Testament, you could include a footnote or use some other form to identify the quotation. Alternate translation: [as you can see when he says]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου; ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων Ἀπαγγελῶ τό ὄνομα σοῦ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μού ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σέ)

The quotation includes two statements that mean almost the same thing. This was considered good poetry in the author’s culture. If this would not be good poetry in your culture, and if the repetition would be confusing, you could combine the two statements. The author of Hebrews particularly focuses on the word brothers, so be sure to include that term in your translation. Alternate translation: [I will sing praise to you in the midst of my brothers]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

σου & σε

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων Ἀπαγγελῶ τό ὄνομα σοῦ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μού ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σέ)

Since the author of the quotation is speaking to God, here you is singular.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

τὸ ὄνομά σου

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων Ἀπαγγελῶ τό ὄνομα σοῦ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μού ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σέ)

The word name here refers to what the person who has that name is like. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea by referring to what a person is like. Alternate translation: [who you are]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου

˱to˲_the brothers (Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων Ἀπαγγελῶ τό ὄνομα σοῦ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μού ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σέ)

Although the word brothers is masculine, the author of the quotation is using it to refer to all those who worship God, both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word that applies to both men and women or you could refer to both genders. Alternate translation: [to my brothers and sisters]

Note 6 topic: translate-kinship

τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου

˱to˲_the brothers (Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων Ἀπαγγελῶ τό ὄνομα σοῦ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μού ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σέ)

Just as in [2:11](../02/11.md), the author refers to believers as brothers of Jesus, which identifies believers as part of God’s family. This is an important idea in Hebrews, so preserve the language of kinship if possible. See how you translated brothers in [2:11](../02/11.md). Alternate translation: [to the people who are like my brothers]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear HEB 2:12

SR Greek word order

Section 2:5–18: Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being

Paragraph 2:10–13

2:12–13

2:12

2:12a

2:12b

General Comment on 2:12a–b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)