pt2;
ND THEN HAVE FALLEN AWAY: kai parapesontas (AAPMPA):
And then (
2532) (
kai) indicates connection to the prior passage, mostly as a simple continuative, marking the progress of a continued discourse.
Kai does not mark the beginning of a conditional statement as is suggested by several translations that begin the sentence with "
if". The King James translation, NIV and RSV have chosen to translate this passage with
if but this is not an accurate rendering of the Greek text and is potentially misleading.
Fallen away (
3895) (
parapipto from
pará = to side of or from +
pípto= fall) means to fall aside or fall away. Figuratively it means to apostatize or to fall away from adherence to realities and facts of the true faith. This is the only use in the NT (6 uses in Septuagint - Esth 6:10; Ezek 14:13; 15:8; 18:24; 20:27; 22:4).
Contrast the writer's repetitive call for the readers to
hold fast (He 3:6, 14, 4:14, 10:23 - See
notes Hebrews 3:6,
3:14,
4:14,
10:23, Cp Hebrews 3:12-
note)
From the context of the rest of Hebrews, those who
fall away are not genuine believers.
John gives a parallel description in his first letter writing that...
They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. (1Jn 2:19)
How is it possible for one to experience all of the spiritual truths outlined in this section and yet not be regenerated? As discussed earlier, Judas Iscariot experienced Jesus Himself, God in the flesh and yet he was never born again. Jesus even called him “
devil” (Jn 6:70), “
son of perdition” (Jn 17:12, and one for whom it “
would be better… if he had not been born” (Mk 14:21). Jesus knew Judas’ condition from the beginning, though Judas fooled the disciples to the last!
Parapipto is used in the
Septuagint (LXX) of the following passage...
Ezekiel 20:27 "Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against (
LXX = parapipto) Me."
Note that the "
falling away behavior" of Israel as described by Ezekiel had virtually the same impact as did the falling away in Hebrews 6:6; i.e., it resulted in Christ being "put to open shame" which is similar to God being blasphemed in the OT.
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE: adunatos:
F B Hole notes that...
We may well ask if it is possible for anyone to share in this way without being truly converted; and this question may well be specially urgent as regards the third of the five. Can it be possible to be a partaker of the Holy Ghost" without being born again?
The answer to that question is, that it is quite possible. Only a true believer can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but all within the circle of Christian profession, whether truly converted or not, partake or share in the benefits of the presence of the Spirit. A man may be enlightened without being saved. He may taste the heavenly gift without receiving it. He may taste the good word of God without digesting it in his inward parts. He may share in "the powers of the world to come." (i.e. miraculous powers) without experiencing the real power of the world to come.
The terrible case of Judas Iscariot furnishes us with an illustration of this very thing. He walked for over three years in the company of the Son of God. What floods of light fell upon his path! What tastes he had of the heavenly gift and of the good Word of God! It could not be said of course that he was a partaker of the Holy Ghost, but he was a partaker of the benefits of the presence of Christ upon earth; and he shared, in common with the other apostles, in those miraculous powers which are here called "the powers of the world to come." He was one of the twelve to whom the Lord gave power over unclean spirits, and of whom it is said, "They cast out many devils and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." (Mark 6:13). Yet the miracle-working Judas was all the while a "son of perdition" and not a saved man at all. He fell away and it proved impossible to renew him unto repentance.
You will notice that the word here, is "
impossible" and not "
improbable." This one word is quite sufficient to show that there is no support in this scripture for the idea of a true believer falling away and being lost for ever. ALL those who "fall away" in the sense spoken of in this passage are for ever lost. It is not that they may be, but that they must be; and there would not be a single ray of hope for any back-slider, did it refer to such.
It refers then to the sin of apostasy — a sin to which the Jew, who embraced the Christian religion without being really converted, was peculiarly liable. By turning back to his ancient and worn out religion, thereby utterly condemning and disowning the Lord Jesus, he proved himself to be utterly bad and worthless ground. (
Hebrews Commentary Notes)
Impossible (
102) (
adunatos [word study]from
a = without +
dunatós = possible, able, or powerful from
dunamai = to be able or have power by virtue of inherent ability and resources. Note the stem
duna- or
dyna- conveying the basic sense of ability or capability, power, strength, might) means impossible, incapable of being or of occurring, incapable of being done.
Adunatos is used twice to convey the idea of one who is impotent, has no strength or lacks capability in functioning adequately, once in a literal sense (Acts 14:8 below = powerless) and once in a spiritual sense (
Romans 15:1 = of those who do not "strongly" believe).
Note that
adunatos is not present in this verse in the Greek but is found in
Hebrews 6:4 where it is place first in the Greek sentence for
emphasis. It's as if the author wants to make it blazingly, blatantly clear...."
Impossible it is..."! One can hardly miss his point. In regard to man’s moral offense, there is no "permanent cure" effected by the physical blood of animals.
There are 26 uses in the
Septuagint (LXX)(Job 5:15, 16; 20:19; 24:4, 6, 22; 29:16; 30:25; 31:16, 20, 34; 34:20; 36:15, 19; Pr 30:18; Joel 3:10) and 10 uses in the NT. Note the obvious concentration of "impossibilities" in the book of Hebrews!
Some compare this verse with the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit Jesus referred to in Mt 12:31,32. For example,
John Calvin espouses this view but still thinks they are believers!
Some translate
adunatos (impossible) with the English word “
difficult.”, something that is difficult to do if one adheres to normal rules of Biblical interpretation (hermeneutics). Specifically as noted above every other use of
adunatos translated
impossible! Thus it is clear from these other passages that such a translation is unjustified.
!
