Hebrews 4:13

 

 

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Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do  (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: kai ouk estin (3SPAI) ktisis aphanes enopion autou, panta de gumna kai tetrachelismena (RPPNPN) tois ophthalmois autou, pros on hemin ho logos.
Amplified
: And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: No created thing can ever remain hidden from his sight; everything is naked to him and is compelled to meet the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.  (
Westminster Press)
NLT: Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.  (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips:  No creature has any cover from the sight of God; everything lies naked and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: And there is not a thing created which is hidden from His sight. But all things are naked and laid bare to His eyes, to whom we must give account. (
Erdmans)
Young's Literal: and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things are naked and open to His eyes—with whom is our reckoning.

References

Albert Barnes
John Calvin
Adam Clarke
Thomas Constable
Dan Fortner
Dan Fortner
Scott Grant
Dave Guzik
Matthew Henry
Jamieson, F, B
S Lewis Johnson
John MacArthur
Phil Newton
A W Pink
John Piper
A T Robertson
Ray Stedman
Ray Stedman
Marvin Vincent
Drew Worthen
Precept Ministries
Rest in Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4:1-16 Let Us - Entering into Rest
Hebrews 4:12-13 The Word Of God Is
Hebrews 4:1-13 Resting With God
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4:1-13 God's Rest and Man's Rest (audio)
Hebrews 4:1-13 Entering God's Rest
Hebrews 4:12-13 The Sharp, Two-Edged Sword
Hebrews 4:11-16 Christ Superior to Joshua

Hebrews 4:12,13 The word of God : living, active, sharp

Hebrews 4 Word Pictures
Hebrews 4:1-13 Greater Than Joshua
Hebrews 4:12-13 God's Word
Hebrews 4: Word Studies
Hebrews 4:11-16 In His Rest
Hebrews Inductive Study Pt 1
Rest in Hebrews 4

AND THERE IS NO CREATURE HIDDEN FROM HIS SIGHT: kai ouk estin (3SPAI) ktisis aphanes enopion autou: (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 6:30; Psalms 7:9; 33:13-15; 44:21; 90:8; 139:11; Psalms 139:12; Proverbs 15:3,11; Jeremiah 17:10,23,24; John 2:24; 21:17; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Revelation 2:23)

No (3756) (ou) means absolutely no. No exceptions here!

Creature (2937) (ktisis from ktízo = create, form or found) stresses work of original formation of object and represents something which has undergone a process of creation.

Hidden (852) (aphanes from a = without + phaíno = to appear) means literally not appearing and so not manifest or non-apparent, concealed, invisible. Unable to be known about. God's microscope can lay bare the smallest microbe of doubt and sin.

Sight (1799) (enopion from en = in + ops = ace, eye, countenance) means in the face of, in front of,  before, in the sight of

BUT ALL THINGS ARE OPEN AND LAID BARE: panta de gumna kai tetrachlismena (RPPNPN): (Job 26:6; 34:21; 38:17)

All (pas) means all without exception and amplifies "no" exceptions mentioned in the first part of this verse.

Open (1131) (gumnos) means not covered, nude or naked but  not necessarily descriptive of absolute nakedness as it was used of a person wearing only an undertunic. As such it could mean one who was comparatively naked or scantily dressed. It was used of one poorly dressed (James 2:15). Figuratively in this verse it means uncovered, manifest, disclosed, exposed, not hidden and easy to be known.

Both soul and body are naked to the eye of God. As it is the same sun that melts the wax which hardens the clay, so it is the same Word of God that leads some on to salvation, and turns others who will have none of it away into outer darkness.

Barclay explains that...

What he is saying is that as far as men are concerned we may be able to wear our outward trappings and disguises; but in the presence of God these things are stripped away and we have to meet him as we are. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

Guzik writes that open or...

Naked reminds us of the way God saw through Adam’s feeble hiding. God sees through our hiding the same way. (David Guzik. The Enduring Word Commentary Series)

Laid bare (5136) (trachelizo from trachelos = neck) means to bend back the neck as the surgeon does for operating, as the anesthesiologist does that he might be able to see the vocal cords thus enabling him to insert the tube that conducts life giving oxygen thru the airway!

It may refer to the wrestler’s art of seizing one by the throat, rendering him limp and powerless.

Trachelizo was also used to describes the bending back of the neck of an animal to be slaughtered for an offering in order to expose the throat.

Figuratively as used here trachelizo means to lay bare or open.

Wuest writes that trachelizo

means “to seize and twist the neck or throat.” It was used of combatants who handled their antagonists in that way. It meant also “to bend back the neck of the victim to be slain, to lay bare or expose by bending back.” Hence the verb came to mean “to lay bare, to uncover, to expose.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

Vincent adds that...

The exact metaphor, however, it is impossible to determine. The following are the principal explanations proposed: taken by the throat, as an athlete grasps an adversary; exposed, as a malefactor’s neck is bent back, and his face exposed to the spectators; or, as the necks of victims at the altar are drawn back and exposed to the knife. The idea at the root seems to be the bending back of the neck, and the last explanation, better than any other, suits the previous figure of the sword. The custom of drawing back the victim’s neck for sacrifice is familiar to all classical students. See Hom. Il. i. 459; ii. 422; Pindar, Ol. xiii. 114. The victim’s throat bared to the sacrificial knife is a powerful figure of the complete exposure of all created intelligence to the eye of him whose word is as a two-edged sword. (Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word Studies in the New Testament 4:429)

Friberg writes that trachelizo means...

strictly take hold of by the neck; only passive in the NT, as a metaphor drawn from ancient custom, either of making an enemy face his conquerors by a sword fixed under his chin, of fastening a lock grip on an opponent in wrestling, or of bending back the head of a sacrificial victim, ready for the knife be exposed, i.e. be easily known. (Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker Academic)

Vine writes that trachelizo...

literally means to have the throat exposed. It is taken from the games, and signified to bend back the neck. Here the metaphor may be taken either from the sacrifice of a victim or from a mode of punishment. Whatever the metaphorical sense is, the warning is that there is no hiding oneself in any part of our being from God. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Hebrews 4:13 is the only NT use.

The perfect tense pictures this as a permanent state.

MacArthur adds that trachelizo had two distinct uses in ancient times:

It was used of a wrestler taking his opponent by the throat. In this position the two men were unavoidably face to face. The other use was in regard to a criminal trial. A sharp dagger would be bound to the neck of the accused, with the point just below his chin, so that he could not bow his head, but had to face the court. Both uses had to do with grave face-to-face situations. When an unbeliever comes under the scrutiny of God’s Word, he will be unavoidably face-to-face with the perfect truth about God and about himself. (MacArthur, John: Hebrews. Moody Press or Logos)

Thayer has the following entry for trachelizo...

1. to seize and twist the neck or throat; used of combatants who handle thus their antagonists (Philo, Plutarch, Diogenes Laërt, others). 2. to bend back the neck of the victim to be slain, to lay bare or expose by bending back; hence, tropically, to lay bare, uncover, expose

God's sharp Word shows us where we are wrong not only in what we do, but in how we think and feel. We would like to hide our guilt but we cannot. God has perfect knowledge of what is going on in His world, even to the point of knowing the very thoughts of our hearts. This calls us to repent before we have to face the final judgment.

Barnes writes that...

The design of the remark here is, to guard those to whom the apostle was writing from self-deception --since they could conceal nothing from God.  (Albert Barnes. Barnes NT Commentary)

Barclay summarizes the three potential meanings of trachelizo writing...

(i) It was a wrestler’s word and was used for seizing an opponent by the throat in such a way that he could not move. We may escape God for long enough but in the end he grips us in such a way that we cannot help meeting him face to face. God is one issue that no man can finally evade.

(ii) It was the word that was used for flaying animals. Animals were hung up and the hide was taken off them. Men may judge us by our outer conduct and appearance but God sees into the inmost secrets of our hearts.

(iii) Sometimes when a criminal was being led to judgment or to execution, a dagger, with point upwards, was so fixed below his chin that he could not bow his head in concealment but had to keep it up so that all could see his face and know his dishonour. When that was done, a man was said to be tetrachēlismenos. In the end we have to meet the eyes of God. We may avert our gaze from people we are ashamed to meet; but we are compelled to look God in the face.

Kermit Eby writes in The God in You: “At some time or other, a man must stop running from himself and his God—possibly because there is just no other place to run to.” There comes a time to every man when he has to meet that God from whose eyes nothing ever can be concealed (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

TO THE EYES OF HIM WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO: tois opthalmois autou pros on emin ho logos: (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 7:21,22; 25:31,32; John 5:22-29; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; Romans 14:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15)

To the eyes (3788) (ophthalmos) anthropomorphic description of God, Who sees all and knows all. You cannot hide, be you a saved or unsaved sinner.

God's eyes see all the facts in our inmost hearts. Surely every servant of Christ today needs to gaze into this revealing mirror and be honest with himself and God.

To do (3056) (logos) means account or something said. Literally it says "to whom the account is to us", "to whom is our word" or "with whom our matter is". The idea is with whom our final reckoning has to be made.

The ESV and the NIV render it...

to whom we must give account.

Guzik exhorts us to...

Remember the context. The writer to the Hebrews trusts that he has pierced the hearts of his audience, who were contemplating “giving up” on Jesus. In this passage, he has made it plain that they can’t give up on Jesus can keep it “hidden” from God. The word of God has discovered and exposed their condition. (David Guzik. The Enduring Word Commentary Series)

Ryrie writes that it is

A play on the Greek term for "word"; i.e., if our lives conform to "the word of God" (v. 12), then our word (account) in the day of judgment will be acceptable to God. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)

Other versions offer an easier to understand rendering -

NKJV: "to Whom we [must] [give] account"

NIV: "to whom we must give account"

NLT = "This is the God to Whom we must explain all that we have done."

We must give a personal account to God for what we have said and done in our own lives. A personal relationship to God requires personal responsibility. Everyone, including believers (not to pay for our sins for our sins have been paid for! How did we redeem the time He gave us?, etc.), must render an account to God for the life lived on earth. This should motivate us to obedience realizing nothing can be concealed from Him. (See note Romans 14:12)

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He's Watching - In this age of electronics, we have all become aware of bugging devices. A person's office, hotel room, or telephone can be monitored so that every sound is picked up. This is accomplished through highly sensitive microphones that are so small they can easily be hidden. Heads of state, government officials, and business people in strategic positions must be exceedingly careful of what they say, especially when entering a strange setting. The awareness that they might be overheard is sure to make them think twice before they speak.

Did you ever stop to think that God sees everything we do and hears everything we say every moment of the day? Hebrews 4:13 says that "all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

This truth is both comforting and sobering--comforting because God stands ready to deliver us when we are in trouble (Ps. 33:18-19), and sobering because "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3). What a profound effect this should have on the way we live!

The next time you are tempted or in trouble, remember that God is watching and listening. —Richard De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

There is no time of day or night,
No place on land or sea
That God, whose eye is never dim,
Does not see you and me. --DJD

To know that God sees us brings both conviction and comfort

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Today in the Word  (click here) has the following devotional...

Wednesday, April 8, 1998
Read: Hebrews 4:12-16

In [Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. - Ephesians 3:12

TODAY IN THE WORD - The British pastor Charles Spurgeon once made this observation about our need for the application of the Scriptures: ""When a soldier is wounded in battle, it is of little use for him to know that there are those at the hospital who can bind his wounds and medicines there to ease all the pains which he now suffers. What he needs is to be taken there and the remedies applied. It is thus with our souls. To meet this need there is one, the Spirit of truth, who takes of the things of Jesus and applies them to us.""

Although the writer of Hebrews may not specifically have had the comforting power of God's Word in mind here, Spurgeon's point is helpful. Only the Word of God, applied with surgical precision by the Spirit of God, can meet the needs of the human heart.

Why did the author mention the Scriptures at this point (v. 12)? Because sin is so deceitful (Heb. 3:13) and the danger of drifting away so real that our only safe guide is the Word of God.

The Word is so potent that it can expose the deepest motives of our hearts. We need this penetrating work desperately, as did the Hebrews, because ""the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"" (Jer. 17:9). God's Word can reveal our tendency toward waywardness and help keep us on the path of faithfulness to Christ.

We have another source of help and strength in our struggle. In addition to the living written Word, we have the living incarnate Word in the Person of Jesus Christ.

In verse 14, Jesus is presented in His ministering role as our great High Priest. Jesus took the blood of His sacrifice into the heavenly sanctuary, just as Israel's high priest took the blood of animal sacrifices into the inner sanctuary of the temple to make atonement for sin.

We are encouraged to approach Jesus in our weakness because He was tempted in every way that we are tempted (v. 15). The difference, of course, is that Jesus never succumbed to temptation. He never sinned.

Instead of Jesus' sinlessness being a barrier between Him and us, we are encouraged to come to Him for mercy and grace in our time of need (v. 16).

TODAY ALONG THE WAY - With today's passage we begin the second section of our study, the superiority of Christ's priesthood (see the April 1 study for our brief outline of the book of Hebrews).

We're in for several weeks of encouragement and blessing as we consider Christ's priestly work on our behalf. That ministry is available to you today, especially if you are facing a time of need. Bring your burden, problem, or sin to the Lord right now and thank Him for His mercy and grace to deal with it. (See Moody Bible Institute's Today in the Word)

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