OET interlinear HEB 2:6

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-quotations

διεμαρτύρατο & πού τις λέγων

testified & somewhere someone saying

Here and in the next two verses, the author quotes from the Old Testament. He intentionally uses vague words to introduce the quotation, and he does not identify who wrote the words or where they could be found. The quotation comes from Psalm 8:4–6. Since the author intentionally avoids giving information about where the quotation comes from, you should not include such information in your translation. If your readers would not know where the quote comes from, you could include the reference in a footnote. Alternate translation: “you can read these words in the Scriptures:”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν?

what is mankind that ˱you˲_/are/_remembering ˱of˲_him or /the/_son ˱of˲_man that ˱you˲_/are/_noticing him

The author does not include this question because he is looking for information. Rather, he includes it to involve the audience in what he is arguing. The question assumes that the answer is “nothing,” for nothing about man or a son of man is significant enough for God to remember or watch over him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea with a strong negation. Alternate translation: “Man has nothing that should make you remember him, and a son of man has nothing that should make you watch over him.”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν

what is mankind that ˱you˲_/are/_remembering ˱of˲_him or /the/_son ˱of˲_man that ˱you˲_/are/_noticing him

Here, the quotation includes two questions 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. Alternate translation: “What is man, that you care about him” or “What is a son of man that you remember him”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

ἄνθρωπος & αὐτοῦ & υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου & αὐτόν

mankind & ˱of˲_him & /the/_son ˱of˲_man & him

The quotation refers to man and son of man, which are both singular and masculine. The author could intend these words primarily to identify: (1) humans in general. While he goes on to identify Jesus as the only human who currently fulfills these words (See: 2:9), he intends the words first of all to refer to humans in general. Alternate translation: “a human … him or her … a child of a human … him or her” (2) Jesus, who calls himself a son of man. In this case, you should preserve the singular and masculine language. Alternate translation: “Man … him … the Son of Man … him”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

μιμνῄσκῃ & ἐπισκέπτῃ

˱you˲_/are/_remembering & ˱you˲_/are/_noticing

Since the author of the quotation is speaking to God, the word you in this verse is singular.

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου

/the/_son ˱of˲_man

In the culture of the quotation’s author, the phrase son of man was a way to refer to a person who was descended from other humans. In other words, it is another way to say man or “human.” Jesus used this phrase to refer to himself during his earthly life, so it is possible that the author of Hebrews intended son of man to refer to Jesus directly. However, the author never uses son of man to refer to Jesus anywhere else. If it would be helpful in your language, you could: (1) use a word or phrase that refers to humans in general. Alternate translation: “a human being” (2) use the same phrase that Jesus used to refer to himself. Alternate translation: “the Son of Man”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου

/the/_son ˱of˲_man

The author is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. He does not include “what is” because he used these words in the first part of the sentence. If it would be helpful in your language, you could include these words here. Alternate translation: “what is a son of man”