But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not children.
- KJV But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
- BSB If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
- NKJV But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
- NLT If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If you are left without the discipline all God's children share, then you are illegitimate and not true sons. The absence of God's correction would signal you are not really his.
Overview
Pressing the argument further, the author says that to be without discipline would be to lack the mark of true sonship. All genuine children of God partake of his correction; those who never experience it would prove to be illegitimate, outside the family. Thus discipline, far from being a cause for despair, is a reassuring sign of belonging to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Heb 12:6For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
- 1 Pet 5:9–10Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
- Ps 73:1A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- Ps 73:14–15For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
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Original language
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