Verses 14-15 form a single sentence in the Greek. Verse 14 partly overlaps in meaning with verse 10, and partly sums up what was said in verses 11-13.
Revised Standard Version‘s “therefore” refers back to verse 11a, which this verse repeats in other words and then somewhat expands. Good News Translation omits “therefore,” perhaps because the connection with verse 11a is too far away to be seen by most readers, and because there is no direct link with the end of verse 13.
The first part of the sentence contains two statements: (a) the children share a common human nature with one another, and (b) Jesus shared this nature with them. The children: the is necessary because the children have just been mentioned in verse 13. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant bring this out by adding as he calls them. New English Bible and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy say “The children of a family,” which is less definite than the Greek. The children may be expressed as “these children,” especially if a reference to “the children” has been made in the previous verse. The phrase as he calls them may be expressed parenthetically as “that’s what he calls them.”
Flesh and blood (literally “blood and flesh”) is a common way of describing human nature, especially in its weakness. The expression of flesh and blood can rarely be translated literally, since people obviously consist of more than flesh and blood. Accordingly, people of flesh and blood may be rendered as “people like all other kinds of people” or “people in every sense of the word.”
Like them is emphatic; Barclay says “in exactly the same way.” Good News Translation reproduces this emphasis by expansion, for there is nothing in the Greek which literally corresponds to became like them and. This phrase is presupposed by shared their human nature (literally “shared them,” that is, shared their flesh and blood).
Became like them may be rendered as “became a person like they are persons,” “became a human being like them,” or “… even as they are.” It may, however, be extremely difficult to render the expression shared their human nature, because a literal rendering would assume that in some way Jesus took from them part of their human nature, since the concept of “sharing” so frequently suggests dividing up something. Therefore, shared their human nature may be expressed as “was a human being just like they are.” In fact, became like them and shared their human nature must often be combined in a single expression, such as “came to be just like all other human beings.”
The phrase about Jesus’ human nature is the focal point of the sentence, both in grammar and in meaning. The writer then goes on to describe the purpose of Christ’s sharing human nature. Barclay and Translator’s New Testament think the writer is referring to the result of this event, but this interpretation suits the structure less well.
He did this must be rendered in some languages as “He became like this” or even more specifically “He became a person.”
Through his death may be expressed as “by his dying” or “by means of his giving his life.”
Destroy does not always imply that the thing destroyed no longer exists. The first meaning of the Greek is “render ineffective” (see 1 Cor 15.26, where Good News Bible translates “defeated”). Here Moffatt has “crush”; Segond, Jerusalem Bible “take away all the power of”; New American Bible “rob … of his power”; Knox, Translator’s New Testament “depose”; Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “reduce to impotence.” The point is that the Devil is so utterly defeated that he is no longer able to do anything, and is thus like the pagan gods mentioned in Isaiah 44.9-20.
A literal rendering of might destroy the Devil might appear to be contradictory to other passages of Scripture, especially those references in the book of Revelation. Therefore it may be important to use some such expression as “take away completely the power of the Devil” rather than to use a literal rendering of “destroy,” which would mean annihilation.
Good News Translation simplifies the structure by putting the Devil before the phrase which describes him, who has the power over death. The idea is that the Devil has both control over death and the power to inflict death. Who has the power over death may be rendered as “who is able to kill” or “who is able to cause people to die.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .