What Does Hebrews 6:20 Mean?
Where the one running ahead has gone in for us, even Jesus, having become high priest for the ages, along the line of Melchizedek.
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
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.THE KEY
Jesus is the runner ahead whose entry turns God’s hidden presence into a way entered on our behalf.
THE MEANING
Your hope rests on Jesus already entering ahead of you, for you. His priesthood continues through the age, so your access to God rests on his presence rather than your ability to arrive first.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that you must break through to God’s presence by yourself: the verse places Jesus there ahead of you, entering on your behalf.
THE ROOT
πρόδρομος
pródromos
GROWS FROM
δρομ-
Running; a course or runner’s path.
“the one running ahead” in this verse is pródromos. The word pictures someone who runs ahead, not merely someone who holds a title. Jesus enters first, and the phrase “for us” makes his advance a passage that concerns you.
ALSO GROWS
drómos: Course, race, or running path
δρόμος
A runner moves along a course; the image makes the forerunner’s advance a route into which others can follow.
dromeús: Runner
δρομεύς
This branch keeps the image embodied: the one ahead is pictured as moving along the way, not simply waiting at its end.
ἀρχιερεύς
archiereús
GROWS FROM
ἱερ-
Sacred; belonging to sacred service or space.
The word for high priest contains the priestly sacred-service stem. Joined to the image of the forerunner, it presents Jesus as both the one who enters and the one whose priestly presence remains for you.
ALSO GROWS
hiereús: Priest
ἱερεύς
The shared stem links the high priest’s role to priestly service.
hierón: Temple or sacred precinct
ἱερόν
The same stem reaches from the priest to sacred space, sharpening the verse’s movement toward God’s presence.
αἰῶνα
aiōna
GROWS FROM
αἰων-
An age or span of time.
“for the ages” in this verse is aiōna. The Greek phrase speaks of priesthood extending into the age. The forerunner’s role is not a brief opening that closes behind you; its reach continues.
ALSO GROWS
aiṓn: Age or span of time
αἰών
This is the noun from which the verse’s form comes, placing the priesthood within the language of ages.
aiṓnios: Belonging to an age; age-long
αἰώνιος
This related form carries the same age-root into descriptions of what endures across an age.
THE PATTERN
God’s presence is opened to others through a representative who goes ahead and remains for them.
The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.In my Father's house are many places to remain. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to make ready a place for you.A fresh and living way that he opened anew for us through the hanging curtain of his flesh;THE THREAD
A fresh and living way that he opened anew for us through the hanging curtain of his flesh;Here the image becomes explicit: his passage through the veil is a way opened for you. Hebrews 6:20 names him as the one who enters ahead; Hebrews 10:20 shows that passage made accessible through his flesh.
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