For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
Parallel translations
- WEB For every house is built by someone; but he who 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 1:2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
- Heb 3:3For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
- Esth 2:10Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.
- Esth 3:9If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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
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