Limitless Word
and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.
Hebrews 2:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?
  • KJV God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
  • NKJV God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
  • NASB God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
  • NLT And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

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

God Himself confirmed the gospel message through signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Spirit. The witness to salvation rests on God's own testimony.

Overview

The apostolic message was authenticated not merely by human witnesses but by God's accompanying acts of power and the distribution of the Holy Spirit's gifts. This divine corroboration removes any excuse for treating the gospel lightly. The phrase 'according to his own will' grounds these gifts in God's sovereign purpose rather than human merit.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Acts 14:3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
  • Mark 16:20And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.
  • Eph 1:5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
  • Eph 4:8–11This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”
  • 1 Cor 12:4–11There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
  • Rom 15:18–19I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
  • Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
  • Acts 19:11–12God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
  • John 4:48Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
  • Acts 3:15–16You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
  • John 15:26When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.
  • Acts 2:32–33God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
  • Eph 1:9And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
  • Acts 4:10then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 2:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

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.

How Hebrews 2:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.