Hebrews 13:21

Context

The author of Hebrews is not named in the text. The recipients were a Christian community struggling to keep the faith amid persecution and discouragement, and they are commonly thought to have been Jewish Christians. Chapter 13 contains a series of practical exhortations on brotherly love, hospitality, and respect for leaders. Verses 20–21 form the benediction that concludes these exhortations, and verses 22–25 are a brief postscript and greetings.

Verse 20 confesses that "the God of peace" brought Jesus again from the dead "through the blood of the everlasting covenant." This passage is often noted as virtually the only place in Hebrews that directly mentions the resurrection of Jesus. Verse 21 consists of a petition addressed to that God and a doxology, a brief hymn of praise ascribing glory to God.

Interpretation

The Greek verb rendered "make perfect" carries the sense of "to set right" or "to equip." In the Gospels the same word is used of mending nets.

• Reformed reading: Reformed interpreters stress that it is God who enables good works and God who works in believers "that which is wellpleasing in his sight." They read the verse as showing that sanctification (the process of being made holy) depends entirely on grace.
• Wesleyan reading: Wesleyan theology reads the verse as a picture of cooperation, in which God first grants the ability and the believer responds to that grace "to do his will." The expression "make perfect" is also sometimes connected with the Christian's growth toward perfection.
• Reading as a prayer: Some interpreters emphasize that the verse is less a doctrinal statement than a benediction offered by a pastor on behalf of the congregation.

Debates and Issues

• The recipient of glory: Grammatically, "to whom" may refer either to God, the subject of the sentence, or to Jesus Christ, named immediately before. Commentators are divided on the question. If the latter reading is adopted, the verse is used in Christology as evidence for the deity of Jesus.
• Manuscript variants: Some manuscripts read "in you" rather than "in us." The wording of "in every good work" and the length of "for ever and ever" are also known to vary slightly among manuscripts. Whichever reading is adopted, however, the meaning does not change significantly.
• The question of how divine sovereignty relates to human action connects to the debate over predestination and free will.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean Protestant churches, the benediction is usually based on 2 Corinthians 13:14 (numbered 13:13 in Korean Bibles). Separately, Hebrews 13:20–21, which contains this verse, is sometimes quoted as a closing prayer or words of blessing at the end of worship. The Revised New Korean Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) slightly modernized the older Korean wording of the phrase "make perfect."

Related Passages

• Hebrews 13:20
• Philippians 2:13
• Ephesians 2:10
• Philippians 1:6
• 2 Corinthians 13:14