Let us go forward is not a request for permission but an appeal for action. “Moving forward” or “going forward” may not necessarily suggest progress toward any particular goal. Therefore it may be important to say “Let us go to the goal of mature teaching.”
Mature teaching does not mean the teaching that is given by mature people, but the teaching which is appropriate for those who are mature, who are “adults in their faith,” or “like grownups as far as believing is concerned.”
Most translations and commentaries agree with Good News Translation‘s leave behind, but the Greek may also mean “omit,” “pass over” (Bijbel in Gewone Taal). Knox has “We must leave on one side, then, all discussion of our first lessons in Christ, and pass on to our full growth.” The difference of meaning is not great, but the translation should in any case avoid the idea that the readers are being asked to throw away the elementary teaching they had received. The writer means that he will not in this letter repeat the elementary teaching, and does not wish his readers to keep going over the same ground themselves. See verses 1b-2 and also comments on 7.11.
In order to avoid wrong connotations in the expression leave behind, it may be necessary to employ a negative equivalent; for example, “and not keep repeating” or “and not just stay where we are.”
This verse suggests that even the milk mentioned in 5.12 consists of distinctively Christian teaching (Revised Standard Version “the elementary doctrine of Christ”). Otherwise this verse overlaps considerably in meaning with the first lessons of God’s message in 5.12. The Christian message is literally “the word of Christ.” “Word,” probably in contrast to 5.13, takes on the meaning of “message,” that is, the Christian “Good News.” It is a message about Christ rather than a message from Christ. The problem is that the examples of “elementary doctrines of Christ” given in 6.2 have nothing specifically Christian about them. For example, as the TEV footnote shows, the word for “baptisms” in the plural may not refer to Christian baptism, which took place once for all, but to Jewish purification ceremonies. The “elementary doctrines” are unlikely to be the teaching of Jesus during his earthly life. Perhaps “Christ” in this context has the wider meaning “Messiah,” so that the “elementary teaching about the Messiah” could be partly, perhaps even entirely, Jewish teaching, which the readers would have received before they became Christian.
The first lessons may be expressed as “what we were first taught” or “what we first learned.” But if the translation “what we first learned” is combined with the Christian message, it may be necessary to restructure the relationship by saying “what we first learned about Christ.” The meaning of message is, of course, combined in the expression “what we first learned.”
In addition to the general problems discussed in the introduction to this section, these verses contain small problems of text and punctuation of the Greek, though the general sense is clear.
For the problem of punctuation, see the punctuation note in the UBS Greek text. The question is how to arrange the six items which the readers are told they should not lay again. These verses use two Greek words for “and,” one of which may indicate a closer link than the other. If this clue is followed, the grouping would be as follows:
turning away from dead works
and faith in God
baptisms and the laying on of hands and the resurrection of the dead
and the eternal judgment.
However, it is much safer to follow the meaning of the various expressions rather than rely on a small difference in the Greek. If the meaning is followed, the grouping is clearly:
turning away from dead works, and faith in God
baptisms and the laying on of hands
the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment.
The first pair refers to the past, the second perhaps more to worship in the present, and the third to the future.
Most translations keep the metaphor of lay … the foundation, but Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch gives the meaning in a nonfigurative way: “So we do not want to deal once more with elementary concepts”; Translator’s New Testament has “We have already taught you the fundamental things and we need not do it again.” There are not many languages in which one can keep the figurative expression “laying again a foundation” (Revised Standard Version), since a “foundation” normally has nothing to do with “elementary teaching” or “basic facts.” It is possible to render We should not lay again the foundation as “We should not again talk about the first lessons,” “… what you must first learn,” or “… what you first had to learn.”
Turning away is a figure of speech for what is traditionally translated “repentance,” a complete change of mind and direction in life. However, in current English the word “repentance” is little used outside church circles, and “repentance from” something (rather than “for” past sins) is less natural than turning away from. The translation should, however, make it clear that the turning away is both inward and outward; that is, it affects both thought and action.
The foundation mentioned in verse 1b is explained as consisting of two elements, namely, turning away from useless works and believing in God. If foundation is translated as “first lessons” or “initial teaching,” then the teaching consists of the same two elements; in other words, repentance and faith.
The phrase turning away from may be expressed as “no longer performing,” “no longer being involved in,” or “refusing to do any longer.”
“Dead works” may be (a) useless works (so Bible en français courant), actions, or a way of life which does not win God’s favor; or (b) “a life which leads to death” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “conduct which leads to death”; similarly Translator’s New Testament, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Phillips, Barclay). 9.14 suggests that the “dead works” are not only useless, but that they make someone unclean, as contact with a dead body would do.
Useless works may be expressed as “what one does which does no good” or “the way in which one lives which is of no help.” If, however, one adopts the meaning of “behavior which leads to death,” it may be possible to speak of “the way in which one lives which results in death” or “… which causes one’s death.” This death, however, is essentially a spiritual death, and therefore it may be possible to speak of “which causes death to one’s spirit.”
Revised Standard Version‘s “faith toward God” is awkward in English but shows that it is the opposite of turning away from “dead works.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “and turning to God,” implying trust in or reliance on him. Believing in God is the second part of the foundation or “first lessons.” It may be necessary to render believing in God as “how we should believe in God” or “what trusting in God really means.”
A textual problem affects the word translated teaching. Most manuscripts, like the UBS Greek text, have “of teaching,” but two early manuscripts do not have the form corresponding to “of.” This would mean that the “foundations” and the “teaching” were the same. It would probably also suggest that the “teaching” is not just about baptisms, but about the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment as well. Good News Translation, like Revised Standard Version and most translations, agrees with the UBS Greek New Testament.
Good News Translation‘s the before teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, etc. is not in the Greek. It is added because the is natural in English, where a noun such as teaching is qualified by a phrase such as about baptisms, and partly in order to suggest that these subjects are already familiar to the readers. However, this is the first time that these matters have been mentioned in this passage. Except for believing in God (compare 4.2), this is also the first time these doctrines have been mentioned in the whole letter. Therefore there is some advantage in treating them all as “new information.” This would be done by omitting the in English.
Teaching is probably not only about baptism (King James Version “the doctrine of baptisms”) but also about laying on of hands, as well as about resurrection and judgment. Since the teaching is also a part of the foundation, it may be necessary to make this clear: “this foundation involves the teaching about…” or “these first lessons include teaching about….”
For many readers, the plural baptisms is puzzling, since in the church today there is only one rite which is called baptism, and people are not usually baptized more than once. Knox‘s “different kinds of baptism” and Translator’s New Testament‘s “various baptisms” (see also Translator’s New Testament‘s Translational Note) show the reader that there is a problem but do not give him the information he needs to solve it. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Phillips avoid the problem by translating “baptism.” This, though clear, is perhaps not enough to give the meaning without a note. (See Note (1) on page 109 [footnote in HBKENG for 6.1a], and compare 10.22.) The plural baptisms may refer simply to multiple events of people being baptized. If it is understood in this collective sense, the translation “baptism” could be used, since the phrase “teaching about baptism” would certainly imply a number of persons being baptized. However, if the plural designates various purification ceremonies (see the footnote in TEV, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), it would be possible to give the meaning of “rituals for purifying people.”
The laying on of hands is a traditional phrase still used by most modern translations. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has the rather heavy phrase “the ceremony of laying the hands on believers,” which makes it clear that the laying on of hands is linked with baptism, not, as elsewhere in the New Testament, with ordination or healing. If there is any danger that the phrase could be wrongly understood as meaning ordination, the translator should consider giving the correct information in a footnote or glossary note. More simply, “in baptism” could be added in the text of the translation.
A literal translation of the laying on of hands could be badly misinterpreted, since in some languages this is a common expression for arresting someone. It may therefore be necessary to use some such qualification as “ceremony involving laying on of hands,” or even “ceremony of blessing by putting hands on someone,” or “… by putting hands on believers.”
Resurrection is literally “rising again,” but the action of God is implied. Bible en français courant has a glossary note. It may be necessary to repeat a reference to teaching when mentioning the resurrection of the dead. Because the teaching involves a whole series of elements, this part of verse 2 may be introduced as “also teaching about the fact that the dead will rise,” “… the dead will come back to life,” or “… will live again.”
The word translated judgment may refer either to the process of judging or to the verdict itself. In this verse it is clearly the verdict which is eternal in the sense of remaining valid forever. Knox has “our sentence in eternity”; “the verdict for eternity” would also be possible. In 10.27 and elsewhere in the New Testament, stress is laid on the negative aspect of judgment as condemnation, but this is not the case here or in 9.14.
The phrase the eternal judgment may require considerable expansion if the essential components of meaning are to be clearly indicated. It may even be necessary to specify that this is also part of the teaching; for example, “the teaching about how God will pass judgment on people and how his verdict will always remain” or “the teaching how God’s judgment of people will always remain just that way.”
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 .