How … shall we escape…? refers to a real future event, that is, the last judgment, and so Barclay‘s “how can we escape…?” (compare Translator’s New Testament) is too weak.

How, then, shall we escape must be amplified in some instances to indicate from what one is to escape. Furthermore, the meaning of escape in this context is not that of “escaping from prison” or “getting out of confinement” but rather “avoidance.” Accordingly, How, then, shall we escape…? may be rendered as “How, then, can we possibly avoid being punished…?”

Such a great salvation: great is explicit in the text; Knox‘s “such a message of salvation” is weaker. Pay no attention to … salvation and also a … salvation are stylistically awkward, at least in English. “Pay no attention to the news of such great salvation” is smoother and is what the text means. Several translations make explicit the implied contrast between two “messages,” the law and the gospel: Knox “a message of salvation,” Barclay “a way to salvation,” and Translator’s New Testament “an offer of salvation.”

It may be necessary to make specific the relationship of persons to such a great salvation, that is to say, attention should not be paid to the fact of someone else being saved but to the possibility of the people themselves being saved. Therefore if we pay no attention to such a great salvation may be rendered “if we pay no attention to how God wants to save us in such a wonderful way.”

The Lord in this context must mean Jesus, since God is mentioned separately in verse 4. The Lord was a common title of God in the Old Testament, and the writer of Hebrews has previously shown no hesitation in applying to Jesus Old Testament texts which he believed called Jesus “Lord” and “God” (1.8, 10). However, the writer often uses the name “Jesus” without any title (2.9; 3.1; 6.20; 7.22; 10.19; 12.2, 24; 13.12), so the translator should not replace The Lord by “Jesus” in this passage. If there is any real danger of misunderstanding, “The Lord Jesus” may be used. The emphatic expression The Lord himself may be expressed as “It was the Lord who” or “It was indeed the Lord who.”

The Greek word for announced is usually used of speech rather than writing; King James Version has “spoken.”

The adverb first, though related to the verb announced, must in some languages be related to the subject, since the Lord was the first one to make such an announcement. Therefore The Lord himself first announced must be rendered as “The Lord was the first one to announce.” Otherwise a literal translation of The Lord himself first announced might mean that the first among many statements which the Lord made was a statement about salvation.

Again, the expression this salvation must be expressed in some instances as “this way in which God saves.”

Him after heard is implied, but Barclay‘s “those who actually heard it from his own lips” seems too strong. The context distinguishes between (a) those who heard Jesus directly, and (b) those who handed on the message to the writer and his readers. The two groups are distinguished but not sharply contrasted; both those who heard Jesus with their own ears, and those who heard the message indirectly, are said to “hear” (see Heb. 2.1).

Proved (Moffatt, Knox, Jerusalem Bible, Barclay “guaranteed”; Phillips, New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament “confirmed”): this verb corresponds to the adjective translated true in verse 2. It is important in selecting a rendering of proved to avoid any implication of “argument” or “reasoned discussion.” Here the meaning is “to demonstrate clearly,” and obviously this was by experience. Accordingly, proved to us that it is true may be rendered as “showed clearly to us that it is true” or “… to be trusted.”

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 .