Message is better in this context than King James Version‘s and New English Bible‘s “word.” The message given … by the angels is the Law of Moses. Jews believed that the Law had been given by God to Moses through angels. The writer is not referring to an individual word or even to a particular statement, but he is comparing the Old Testament Law and the Christian message. Most modern readers will not know this unless they are Jews, so some translations refer explicitly to the Law: Knox “The old law, which only had angels as its spokesmen” and Translator’s New Testament “the word of the Law, spoken through angels.” If it is necessary to indicate the nature of this message, one can speak of “The message of how we are saved” or “… of how we are to live.”
To our ancestors is not in the Greek, in earlier editions of Good News Translation, or in other common language translations. The writer of Hebrews avoids expressions which suggest that all his readers were Jews, perhaps because they were in fact a mixed community. However, in some languages it may be essential to state to whom the message was proclaimed. Furthermore, in some languages it may be important to change the passive expression The message given to our ancestors by the angels into an active one; for example, “The angels proclaimed the message to our ancestors.” An expression for ancestors is often literally “grandfathers,” but in some instances the reference is primarily one of time, not of family or racial relationship, for example, “those who lived long ago,” though in some cases an idiomatic expression may be employed: “those who are our roots” or “those who traveled here ahead of us.”
True (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “reliable,” Phillips “authentic,” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “came into effect”): some translations link this word with what follows, making explicit a relation of reason and result (see introduction to this section); for example, Jerusalem Bible “so true that every infringement and disobedience brought its proper punishment” and Translator’s New Testament “so binding that anyone who broke it or disobeyed it was duly punished.”
Though many languages speak of true as “that which really is,” the concept of “being true” is more often expressed in terms of that which can be relied upon or trusted. Accordingly, was shown to be true may be expressed as “proved to be what people can trust” or “… what we can trust.”
Follow it and obey it have practically the same meaning, as Good News Translation‘s or suggests. Good News Bible and Revised Standard Version are therefore right to avoid the literal translation “and.” Two equivalent words are used in Greek, perhaps for emphasis. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines them: “whoever did not follow it received the deserved punishment.” Quite frequently it is possible to use a figurative meaning of follow in a sense of adhering to or being loyal to a person, but it is difficult to speak of “not following a message.” It is usually possible to say “did not do what they were told,” but this is simply another way of saying “did not obey what they were told.” Therefore in some instances the meaning of follow it and obey it can perhaps best be combined into a single expression, namely, “did not at all do what they were told” or “… what the message said they should do.”
The rare word translated punishment sometimes has the positive meaning “reward” (as in 10.35; 11.26), but the context here demands a negative meaning. (Compare the expression “he got what he deserved,” which may take on positive or negative overtones, depending on the context.) The expression received the punishment is a type of substitute passive, for the subject of such an expression is the goal of the action, while the one who punishes is left implicit. The equivalent may be expressed in some languages as “they were punished” or “God punished them,” and the qualification of the punishment, namely, “what they deserved” may be rendered as “as they should have been” or “as was right because of what they did.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .