God & Savior

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6
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Study notes

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.

Explanation

The writer has just mentioned Enoch, who was commended as one who pleased God (11:5). Faith means trusting both that God is real and that He is good to those who seek Him.

Original language
  • πίστεως (pisteōs): faith
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · Strong's G4102G · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Faith.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 3

  • ἀδύνατον (adunaton): unable
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G0102 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Impossible.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 4

  • εὐαρεστῆσαι· (euarestēsai): to please
    Greek · Verb, aorist, active, infinitive · Strong's G2100 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    To please.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 5

  • πιστεῦσαι (pisteusai): to trust (in)
    Greek · Verb, aorist, active, infinitive · Strong's G4100 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    To believe.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 6

  • προσερχόμενον (proserchomenon): to come near/agree
    Greek · Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), participle, accusative, singular, masculine · Strong's G4334 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Drawing near.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 10

  • ἔστιν (estin): to be
    Greek · Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · Strong's G1510 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    He exists, is.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 14

  • ἐκζητοῦσιν (ekzētousin): to seek out
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, dative, plural, masculine · Strong's G1567 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Earnestly seeking.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 17

  • μισθαποδότης (misthapodotēs): rewarder
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G3406 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Rewarder.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Hebrews 11:6, word 19

Cross-references
  • Hebrews 11:5 · Surrounding passage

    Enoch was commended as one who pleased God.

  • Jeremiah 29:13 · Background

    You will seek Me and find Me when you search with all your heart.

  • Romans 14:23 · Same theme

    Everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι· πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχόμενον τῷ θεῷ ὅτι ἔστιν καὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθαποδότης γίνεται.

  1. χωρὶςchōris“Without”
    Preposition · from χωρίς · “without” · Strong's G5565
  2. δὲde“now”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  3. πίστεωςpisteōs“faith”
    Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · from πίστις · “faith” · Strong's G4102G
  4. ἀδύνατονadunaton“[it is] impossible”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · from ἀδύνατος · “unable” · Strong's G0102
  5. εὐαρεστῆσαι·euarestēsai“to please [Him];”
    Verb, aorist, active, infinitive · from εὐαρεστέω · “to please” · Strong's G2100
  6. πιστεῦσαιpisteusai“To believe”
    Verb, aorist, active, infinitive · from πιστεύω · “to trust (in)” · Strong's G4100
  7. γὰρgar“for”
    Conjunction · from γάρ · “for” · Strong's G1063
  8. δεῖdei“it behooves”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · “be necessary” · Strong's G1163
  9. τὸνton“the one”
    Article, accusative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  10. προσερχόμενονproserchomenon“drawing near”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), participle, accusative, singular, masculine · from προσέρχομαι · “to come near/agree” · Strong's G4334
  11. τῷtō“<the>”
    Article, dative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  12. θεῷtheō“to God”
    Noun, dative, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  13. ὅτιhoti“that”
    Conjunction · “that/since” · Strong's G3754G
  14. ἔστινestin“He exists”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  15. καὶkai“and [that]”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  16. τοῖςtois“to those”
    Article, dative, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  17. ἐκζητοῦσινekzētousin“earnestly seeking out”
    Verb, present, active, participle, dative, plural, masculine · from ἐκζητέω · “to seek out” · Strong's G1567
  18. αὐτὸνauton“Him”
    Personal pronoun, accusative, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  19. μισθαποδότηςmisthapodotēs“a rewarder”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “rewarder” · Strong's G3406
  20. γίνεται.ginetai“He becomes.”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from γίνομαι · “to be” · Strong's G1096
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)

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