This verse prepares for the warning in verses 26-31. General commentaries discuss what this verse may tell us about the circumstances in which the readers lived. This, however, does not directly concern the translator, and the meaning of the text itself is generally plain.
Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch reverses the order of the first sentence so as to make the meaning clearer: “Some have formed the habit of staying away from meetings of the Christian community. That is not good; instead, you must rather encourage one another.” As in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, it may be better to render the clause as some are doing at the beginning of verse 25. As some are doing may be more effectively expressed in a negative manner; for example, “some people are not attending the meetings of the congregation.” Such a statement may then be followed by a positive exhortation, “but we must go on meeting together.”
Encourage: it may be necessary to anticipate the question “Encourage them to do what?” In this case, “give one another courage,” “strengthen one another,” “cause one another to have courage,” or “cause one another to have strong faith” are possible translations. The word may mean “encourage by words,” “exhort,” as perhaps in 3.13, where Revised Standard Version has “exhort” and Good News Translation help. Jerusalem Bible (not Bible de Jérusalem) makes the meaning very specific: “encourage each other to go,” implying “to meetings of the community.” This is possible since verses 26-31 could be understood as an encouragement not to abandon the Christian community and its faith, because judgment is near (verses 27, 30). However, there does not seem sufficient evidence to abandon the wider meaning encourage (by word and deed).
The attributive phrase all the more may be expressed as “more and more” or “even more than we have done.”
The Day of the Lord: Day is emphasized in Greek as the last word in this long sentence. Of the Lord is implied, as it often is in the Old Testament expression meaning “in that day…,” for example, Isaiah 2.11 and Jeremiah 39.17 (RSV; see also 1 Cor 3.13). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is still more explicit: “the day on which the Lord comes,” understanding “the Lord” as “Jesus,” which is probably correct. In some languages it will have to be made explicit whether “Lord” is a reference to “Lord Jesus” or “Lord God.” “The day” without some addition is meaningless to most modern readers. Some translations write with a capital letter, “Day,” but this does not help when the verse is read aloud. Jerusalem Bible and some other translations add a note. Knox, Barclay, and Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale have “great day”; Phillips “final day.” In general, the expression the Day of the Lord refers to a time of judgment, and this fits the context of verses 26-31. Therefore the Day of the Lord may be translated as “the Day when the Lord will judge.”
It is often impossible to speak of “a Day coming near,” for in most languages days do not move. It is often possible, however, to say “the Day of the Lord is soon,” “the Day of the Lord will soon happen,” or “we are very near to the Day of the Lord.”
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 .