For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.
Parallel translations
- KJV For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
- BSB And every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
- NKJV For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.
- NASB For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
- NLT For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.
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
Every house has a builder, and the builder of all things is God. This subtly points to the divine identity of the one who built God's house.
Overview
This parenthetical statement reinforces the previous verse: since God is the ultimate builder of everything, and Jesus is presented as the builder of the house, the verse quietly affirms Christ's deity. It guards the argument from being merely about human comparison. The greatness of the house's builder reflects the greatness of the Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Heb 1:2has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Heb 3:3For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.
- Esth 2:10Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.
- Esth 3:9If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:4 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.