Verses 12-13 are a single complex sentence in Greek and bring the section 3.7–4.13 to a moving climax. Translators will probably divide the sentence but should find other ways of expressing emotion.
What is the word of God in this context? The only other place where the writer uses this phrase, 13.7, shows that it can be either a written message or a spoken message. It is God speaking (Phillips “the Word that God speaks,” Translator’s New Testament “God’s message”), both through the Old Testament and in Christ (1.1-2).
The Old Testament often speaks of a message (especially a message from God, Isa 55.11) taking on a life of its own. When a prophet spoke in God’s name, something happened as a result. Indeed, God’s speech was itself an event. This is what is meant by saying that God’s word is alive. The writer confirms this by adding active (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “lives and has power”). Older French translations have “effective,” and this is to be preferred to Traduction œcuménique de la Bible‘s “energetic” (Knox “full of energy”), which describes the word rather than indicating the results it achieves. A literal rendering of The word of God may be misunderstood to refer only to the Scriptures. Therefore, it may be better to speak of “What God has said” or “What God has declared.”
The bold figure of speech, namely, The word of God is alive, is sometimes difficult to render literally, since an adjective such as alive may refer only to animate beings, that is, people or animals. It may be possible, however, to use this figurative expression if one employs a simile; for example, “What God has said is, as it were, alive” or “… is as though it were alive.” The expression active may be expressed as “has power,” “can do things,” or “accomplishes whatever it is intended to accomplish.”
Jerusalem Bible translates the Greek adjective for sharper by a verbal expression: “it cuts better.”
In New Testament times, the Greek word for sword could also mean “dagger,” and this may be its meaning here. The tongue was compared to a dagger because they look similar (see also Prov 5.4). It may be more natural to translate sharper than any double-edged sword as a simile; for example, “it is even sharper, as it were, than any double-edged sword.” However, in some languages the phrase double-edged sword may be a figure of speech referring to a liar or a hypocrite. If so, a different metaphor or simile may be used to express the meaning more clearly, provided the adjustment will fit in well with the rest of verse 12. In some cases it may even be necessary to use a marginal note to explain the basis for the biblical expression.
The pronoun It may need to be identified as “the word of God” or “what God says,” in either one or both places where it occurs.
It is difficult to be sure exactly what the next figure of speech means. Cuts all the way through may imply piercing with the point of a sword or dagger, but more probably it means cutting with a blade. The verb can refer to going right through fortifications or armor so as to come out on the other side; but the rest of the verse suggests cutting into the middle of a body.
Joints and marrow is a figurative expression meaning the same thing as soul and spirit; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch first edition made this clear with “where marrow and bone, that is, soul and spirit, meet.” Come together is literally “dividing” (see Revised Standard Version). Biblical thought, in both the Old and the New Testament, thinks of the human being as a unity; it does not usually distinguish precisely between spirit, soul, or even body. However, come together would be an unusual meaning of the Greek. The meaning is more probably that God’s word cuts through and separates soul from spirit and joints from marrow.
The statement which characterizes the word of God as being like a double-edged sword and thus being able to cut through to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together is extremely difficult. In fact, the joints and marrow do not come together. Joints refers to the place where the bones meet, while marrow is the portion which is in the center of the bone itself. Similarly, there is no particular place in the body where the soul and the spirit join together. What is intended by this figure of speech is to emphasize that the word of God penetrates deeply, so that there is nothing in the total personality which can possibly be hidden from the revealing nature of what God says. If necessary, one may translate the second sentence of verse 12 in a strictly literal fashion, and then explain briefly in a marginal note that this is a reference to the extent to which the word of God penetrates to the very interior of a person. But it may also be possible to render the last part of this sentence as “to where the soul and spirit are and to where the joints and marrow are.”
The terms for soul and spirit are even more difficult to translate. In some languages soul is equivalent to “that which causes life,” and in many instances one may render soul as “life itself.” In some languages the closest equivalent of soul is “breath,” since breath is associated with life. If possible, the term for spirit should be the same as that which is used in speaking of God’s Spirit. It is important to avoid a term for spirit which will suggest some disembodied spirit or ghost. An appropriate term for the spirit of a person should be that particular aspect of man which can respond to God’s Spirit. In some instances soul is simply “that which causes life” and spirit is “that which reaches out to God.”
To say that the word of God … judges is to say that God judges, and it may be necessary to make this explicit. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “calls to account,” but there is no suggestion that this judgment is limited to the last days (see also discussion on give an account in verse 13).
Judges may need to be expressed in this context as “determines what is good or bad about.” This is not the use of judges in a sense of “to condemn,” nor is there any suggestion of courtroom procedure. The idea is that the word of God reveals the true nature of people’s desires and thoughts.
The words for desires and thoughts suggest their hidden nature; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the most secret desire and thoughts of men.” On heart, see 3.12 and discussion on 3.8.
The desires and thoughts of man’s heart may be expressed as “what people think and what they want.”
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 .