What Does Hebrews 5:11 Mean?
Of whom we have much word, and it is hard to make plain, since you have grown slow in hearing.
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
Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.THE KEY
The passage locates the difficulty in the hearing, while there is still much to say.
THE MEANING
This verse names a present mismatch: much can be spoken, yet sluggish hearing makes it difficult to take in and explain. The word is there; receptivity has slowed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a difficult word must be empty or unsayable: sometimes the hearing that receives it has grown sluggish.
THE ROOT
ἀκοή
akoē
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
To hear or listen.
“slow in hearing” in this verse is akoē. The verse describes hearing as a capacity for receiving, not just sound reaching the ear. This word family also gives Greek its word for obedience, making the link between hearing and response visible.
ALSO GROWS
akouō: to hear, listen
ἀκούω
This is the verb behind the hearing named in the verse: the issue concerns how the word is received.
hypakoē: obedience; attentive listening
ὑπακοή
It shares the hearing-family and shows how listening can extend into response.
δυσερμήνευτος
dysermēneutos
GROWS FROM
ἑρμηνευ-
hermēneu-
To interpret or explain; the compound adds δυσ- (dys-), “with difficulty.”
“hard to make plain” in this verse is dysermēneutos. The phrase carries the sense of something difficult to interpret or make clear. Joined to sluggish hearing, it suggests that what is hard to explain may meet a listener who is slow to receive it.
ALSO GROWS
hermēneia: interpretation
ἑρμηνεία
It names the work of making a message intelligible, the very difficulty raised by this phrase.
hermēneutēs: interpreter
ἑρμηνευτής
It names one who makes meaning clear, illuminating the gap between what can be said and what can be understood.
THE PATTERN
Hearing can remain sound alone, or open into understanding, trust, and response.
And he said, Go, and say to this people, Hear and hear again, but do not discern; see and see again, but do not perceive.So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.Romans uses the same Greek hearing-word, ἀκοή (akoē), found in Hebrews. Romans shows trust arriving through hearing; Hebrews names hearing that has grown sluggish, revealing how the condition of reception shapes what the word can become in a person.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us