2:12–13

In 2:12–13 the author of Hebrews quotes four statements from the OT. He indicates that these quotations were statements that Jesus said to God or about God. The quotations support what the author said about Jesus not being ashamed to call us his relatives (“brothers and sisters”). He is not ashamed to become human like us and suffer as a human being.

2:12

This verse is a quotation from Psalm 22:22. Psalm 22 is called a “messianic psalm” because it tells about the Messiah whom God promised to send to save people. The author of Hebrews quotes words that the Messiah spoke in the psalm. He indicates that Jesus spoke these words to God.

Verse 12 has two parallel poetic lines. In some languages it may be more natural to combine the two parts of the quotation into one sentence or to change the order of the parts. See the General Comment on 2:12a–b at the end of 2:12b for an example.

2:12a

He says: The words He says introduces another quotation from the OT. In the quotation, Jesus spoke to God. In many languages it may be helpful to begin a new sentence here and introduce the quotation in a fuller way. For example:

He says to God (Good News Translation)
-or-
For he said to God (New Living Translation (2004))

I will proclaim Your name to My brothers: This statement is a quotation from Psalm 22. The author of Hebrews quotes it as a poetic way to say that Jesus will tell people about God. He will tell them about God’s character and about what he has done.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

I will tell my people what you have done (Good News Translation)
-or-
I will make your fame known to my brothers (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Then, I will tell my fellow Israelites about you (New Century Version)

to My brothers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to My brothers includes both male and female siblings here, as it usually does in the New Testament.

In this quotation Jesus referred to believers as his brothers to indicate that they are part of God’s family with him. They are God’s sons and daughters. The word brothers does not refer here to members of Jesus’ physical family while he was on earth.

2:12b

I will sing Your praises: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I will sing Your praises is more literally “I will sing praise/hymns to you.” It has a similar meaning to “I will proclaim your name” in 2:12a. It means that Jesus will sing praise to God.

Some other ways to translate the clause are:

I will praise you with songs/hymns.

Your: As in 2:12a, Your refers to God.

in the assembly: The phrase in the assembly is parallel to the phrase “to my brothers” in 2:12a. The word in means “among” or “in the presence of.” The word assembly refers to the group of God’s people who are meeting together. Some other ways to translate in the assembly are:

in their meeting (Good News Translation)
-or-
among all your people (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
when they come together (Contemporary English Version)

assembly: The Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as assembly refers to a group of people who are meeting together. In the New Testament the word is often translated as “church.” In the OT, which is quoted here, it was used for the whole Israelite community. See church, other uses in Key Biblical Terms.

General Comment on 2:12a–b

The two statements in 2:12 have similar (parallel) meanings. The parallel phrases are indicated here with underlining or italics (the order has been adjusted to match the Greek):

12a
I will proclaim your name to my brothers

12b
in the assembly I will sing your praises.

Notice that in Greek, the order of the similar phrases are reversed in 2:12b. This makes the phrase a chiasm, which emphasizes that Jesus claims us as his brothers and sisters. In some languages this order may not have that meaning, and it may be confusing. If that is true in your language, you may need to express this emphasis in a different way. For example, in some languages it may be more emphatic to begin the two clauses with this part of the meaning. For example:

To my brothers, I will declare your name. In the presence of the congregation, I will praise you.

© 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.