What Does Hebrews 6:3 Mean?
And this we will do, if God hands it over to us.
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
And this will we do, if God permit.THE KEY
The move toward maturity is a real human intention held open to God’s permission.
THE MEANING
You can intend to move forward without claiming control over how that movement unfolds. The verse holds your action and God’s permission together in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that commitment requires certainty of outcome: intention can be real even when its completion is not yours to command.
THE ROOT
ἐπιτρέπῃ
epitrepē
GROWS FROM
τρέπω
trepō
To turn or direct; with ἐπί (epi), the verb can mean to turn over, allow, or entrust.
“hands it over to us” in this verse is epitrepē. The verb translated “permit” also belongs to a word family of allowing and entrusting. The verse places that permission beside “we will do”: the action remains real, while its unfolding is entrusted to God.
ALSO GROWS
epitrepō: To allow, permit, or entrust.
ἐπιτρέπω
This is the verb used here: the intended action proceeds within what God allows.
epitropos: A steward or guardian entrusted with responsibility.
ἐπίτροπος
The related word carries the sense of responsibility being placed in another’s care.
tropē: A turning or change.
τροπή
This branch makes the underlying image of turning visible beneath the word translated “permit.”
ποιήσομεν
poiēsomen
GROWS FROM
ποιέω
poieō
To do or make.
The sentence gives “we” an active role: “we will do this.” Dependence on God’s permission does not erase human action; both are held in the same sentence.
ALSO GROWS
poiētēs: A doer or maker.
ποιητής
The related noun names the one who acts, reinforcing that the verse speaks of participation rather than passivity.
poiēma: A thing made or workmanship.
ποίημα
This branch shows the same root extending from doing to what is brought about.
THE PATTERN
Human action is real, while its direction and completion remain within God’s will.
For I do not wish to see you now in passing along the road, but I hope to remain with you a while, if the Lord allows.Instead, you ought to say, "If the LORD wills, we will live, and do this or that."A person's heart plans his way, but the LORD sets his steps firm.THE THREAD
For I do not wish to see you now in passing along the road, but I hope to remain with you a while, if the Lord allows.Hebrews uses ἐπιτρέπῃ, “permits”; 1 Corinthians uses the same Greek verb in “if the Lord permit.” Both hold human intention together with an outcome entrusted to God’s allowance.
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