Limitless Word
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
Hebrews 6:5 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,
  • KJV And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
  • BSB who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—
  • NKJV and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
  • NASB and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

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

These same people had tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the coming age. Their experience of God's blessings was rich and genuine in some real sense.

Overview

Continuing the description, the writer notes their experience of God's word and a foretaste of the powers belonging to the age to come. The language stresses how far such persons had come in their exposure to grace. This heightens the gravity of the warning that follows in verse 6.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Luke 8:13Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.
  • 1 Pet 2:3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:
  • Matt 13:20–21What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
  • Mark 4:16–17These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.
  • 2 Pet 2:20For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
  • Heb 2:5For he didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels.
  • Mark 6:20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

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 6:5YouTube · 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 6:5 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.