Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 6:8

"but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned." — Hebrews 6:8 (ASV)

But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected. That is, it is rejected by the farmer or owner and abandoned as worthless. The point of the comparison here is that God would deal in the same way with those who professed to be renewed if they were to become like such a worthless field.

And is nigh unto cursing. It is given over to execration, or abandoned as useless. The word "cursing" here means devoting to destruction. The sense is not that the owner would curse the land in words, or call down a curse on it, as someone does who uses profane language. Instead, the term is used here in its more common meaning: to devote to destruction. Thus, the land would be regarded by the farmer. It would be valueless and would be given up to be overrun with fire.

Whose end is to be burned. This refers to the land. The allusion here is to the common practice among Eastern and Roman agriculturists of burning bad and barren lands. An illustration of this is provided by Pliny: "There are some who burn the stubble on the field, chiefly upon the authority of Virgil: the principal reason for which is, that they may burn the seeds of weeds" (Natural History 18.30). The authority of Virgil, to which Pliny refers, may be found in Georgics 1.84.

"Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros,
Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis."

"It is often useful to set fire to barren lands, and burn the light stubble in crackling flames."

The object of burning land in this way was to make it available for useful purposes, or to destroy noxious weeds, thorns, and underbrush. However, the apostle's purpose requires him to refer merely to the fact of the burning and to use it as an illustration of an act of punishment. So, Paul says, it would be in God's dealings with His people.

If, after all attempts to secure holy living and to keep them in the paths of salvation, they should show no sign of the spirit of piety, all that could be done would be to abandon them to destruction, just as such a field is overrun with fire. It is not supposed that a true Christian will fall away and be lost; but we may remark the following:

1. There are many professed Christians who seem to be in danger of such ruin. They resist all attempts to produce in them the fruits of good living just as surely as some pieces of ground resist efforts to secure a harvest. Corrupt desires, pride, envy, uncharitableness, covetousness, and vanity are as certainly seen in their lives as thorns and briers are on bad soil.

   Such briers and thorns you may cut down again and again; you may strike the plow deep and seem to tear away all their roots; you may sow the ground with the choicest grain, but soon the briers and thorns will reappear and be as troublesome as ever. No efforts will subdue them or secure a harvest.

   So it is with many a professed Christian. He may be taught, admonished, rebuked, and afflicted, but nothing will avail. There is an essential and unsubdued perverseness in his soul, and despite all attempts to make him a holy man, the same bad passions continually break out anew.

2. Such professing Christians are nigh unto cursing. They are about to be abandoned forever. Unsanctified and wicked in their hearts, there is nothing else that can be done for them, and they must be lost! What a thought! A professing Christian nigh unto cursing! A man whose efforts for salvation are about to cease forever, and who is to be given over as incorrigible and hopeless!

   For such a person—in the church or out of it—we should have compassion. We have some compassion for an ox that is so stubborn it will not work and is to be put to death; for a horse that is so fractious it cannot be broken and is to be killed; for cattle that are so unruly they cannot be restrained and are only to be fattened for slaughter; and even for a field that is desolate and barren and is given up to be overrun with briers and thorns. But how much more should we pity a person whose efforts for salvation fail, and who is soon to be abandoned to everlasting destruction!