Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 4:2

"For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard." — Hebrews 4:2 (ASV)

“We have had the gospel preached to us” (GK 2294) uses the verb that became the technical term for preaching the Gospel (though the word can also mean simply “heard good news”). Israel of old, like Christians in the author’s day, heard the Gospel. The first half of the verse makes it clear that on the score of hearing God’s Good News, there was not much difference between the wilderness generation and the readers. The stress is on the readers. They have the message, and they must act on it, in contrast to the Israelites of old who did not. “The message they heard” brought them no profit. The last part of this verse can be taken in either of two ways (see NIV note for the second option). The meaning is either “It [the word] was not mixed with faith in them that heard,” or, “They were not united by faith with them that heard” (i.e., with real believers, men like Caleb and Joshua). The main thrust is plain enough: It is not enough to hear the message; it must be acted on in faith. This is the writer’s first use of “faith” (GK 4411), a term he will employ frequently. This word means “faithfulness” as well as “faith,” but the latter preponderates in the NT. Sometimes faith in God is meant and sometimes faith in Christ. In this letter it is often the former . Here the term points to the right response to the Christian message—the attitude of trusting God wholeheartedly. The writer speaks of “those who heard” without specifying what it was they heard. But there can be no doubt that he is looking for a right response to what God had done and to what God had made known.