What Does Hebrews 3:14 Mean?
For we have become sharers of the Anointed One, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence, firm to the end.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;THE KEY
The Greek root ἔχω (echō, “have/hold”) lies beneath both “partakers” and “hold fast,” binding participation to what is kept firmly.
THE MEANING
Your share in the Anointed One is described alongside holding the confidence of the beginning firm through the end. The verse joins what first opens that confidence with the continuing steadiness that carries it forward.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that an early moment of confidence, by itself, is the whole story of sharing in the Anointed One; the verse joins the beginning and the end.
THE ROOT
μέτοχοι
metochoi
GROWS FROM
ἔχω
echō
To have, hold, or possess.
The noun μέτοχοι (metochoi: sharers, partakers) belongs to the same ἔχω (echō: have, hold) family as κατέχω (katechō: hold fast, retain), the verb behind “hold” in this sentence. The wording folds participation and persistence together: sharing is described alongside holding confidence firm through the end.
ALSO GROWS
metechō: Share in, participate in.
μετέχω
This related verb expresses having a share, illuminating the participatory sense of “partakers.”
katechō: Hold fast, retain.
κατέχω
This related verb supplies the “hold” action in the verse, linking sharing with continued steadiness.
ὑποστάσεως
hypostaseōs
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand, set, or make firm.
The noun ὑπόστασις (hypostasis: confidence, assurance, underlying reality) carries the image of an underlying stand, what supports or stands beneath. That root-level picture gives confidence structural weight: the beginning is a footing held firm through the end, not simply a passing feeling.
ALSO GROWS
stasis: A standing, position.
στάσις
This related noun makes visible the standing beneath the verse’s “confidence.”
anastasis: A rising, resurrection.
ἀνάστασις
Built from the same standing family, it echoes the movement from a firm base toward standing up.
THE PATTERN
A share in what is received remains active through steady attachment to it.
Stand in awe of the LORD your God; him you serve, and to him you cling, and by his nature you swear.I cling to your testimonies, LORD. Do not put me to shame.Through which you are also being delivered, if you hold fast to the word I brought you, unless you leaned your full weight on it for nothing.THE THREAD
Through which you are also being delivered, if you hold fast to the word I brought you, unless you leaned your full weight on it for nothing.Here, too, κατέχω (katechō: hold fast, retain) is rendered “keep in memory,” from the same verb family as “hold” in Hebrews 3:14. English separates memory from a firm grip, while the shared root links holding the received message with holding confidence through to the end.
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