This verse, like verse 13, contains three statements. The first and second are introduced by try and the third by because, giving a reason for the previous instructions. Peace and holy life are both to be understood in a broad sense. Peace is total well-being, as in 7.2 and 11.31, but here there is a special emphasis on good human relationships. “Holiness” (holy life) is total dedication to God, as in verse 10, where a different but related Greek word is used. The relation between peace and holy life is understood differently by translators, and also by the punctuation added by different editors of the Greek text. Is it (a) only “holiness,” or (b) both “peace and holiness,” without which no one will see the Lord? (a) Most translations link “holiness” but not “peace” with the words “without which no one will see the Lord” (Revised Standard Version); for example, Bible en français courant “for, without a holy life, no one will be able to see the Lord”; New American Bible “that holiness without which no one can see the Lord.” (b) Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, on the other hand, appears to link both “peace” and “holiness” with “see the Lord”: “Be concerned for peace with all men and for a perfect life. Who(ever) misses that will not see the Lord” (so also Bijbel in Gewone Taal and probably New English Bible). The punctuation of the UBS Greek text favors (a), but it is impossible to be certain. The matter cannot be settled by appeal to the Old Testament texts. Try to be at peace with everyone echoes Psalm 34.14, but this text says nothing about seeing God. Phillips puts “without which no man shall see the Lord” in quotation marks, but if this is a quotation, its source has not been found.
Some commentators think that with everyone means “with all the members of the Christian community,” as in 13.24. However, this is not what the Greek means, and there is no convincing evidence to show that the letter is addressed to a divided community. The deeper, positive meaning of peace is in the writer’s mind, not just the absence of quarrelling.
Try to be at peace with everyone may be translated by an idiom; for example, “Try to have a quiet heart in your relationships with everyone” or “As you live with others, be sure to try to always sit down in your hearts.” In some languages to be at peace with everyone must be expressed as a negative; for example, “to live with everyone without quarreling,” “… without bickering,” or “… without harsh words.”
Some translations, including Bible de Jérusalem and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, have “consecration” or “sanctification” instead of “holiness.” This emphasizes God’s role in making people “holy,” rather than the human effort to live a holy life. The two aspects are involved, both in “holiness” and “peace.” However, since the sentence begins with an imperative, Try to be at peace (literally “Follow peace”), Good News Translation is perhaps right to conclude that here the writer is thinking primarily of something which his readers must do.
It may be possible to translate a holy life as “a life which is dedicated to God.” Or it may be necessary to render try to live a holy life as “try to live like a person who is dedicated to God” or “… who is completely dedicated to God.”
In translating no one will see the Lord it is best to employ an expression for the Lord which is capable of referring either to God or to Christ. If this is not possible, a reference to God is slightly more probable.
If try to live a holy life is rendered as “try to live like one who is completely dedicated to God,” then the phrase without it must often be restructured as a clause; for example, “unless you do.” Therefore the final clause of this verse may be rendered as “because no one will see the Lord unless he lives such a life” or “because you will not see the Lord unless you live that way.”
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 .