Revised Standard Version‘s “For” can be omitted in translation; like the beginning of a new paragraph, it serves only to mark the beginning of a new stage in the discussion.

God has not placed the angels as rulers may be rendered as “God has not made the angels rulers” or “God has not caused the angels to rule.” God is understood; pronouns are often best replaced by nouns at the beginning of a section.

The new world to come is an improvement on earlier editions of Good News Translation, which had the unusual translation “the world he was about to create,” and is supported by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant. World, as in 1.6, means “the inhabited world.” Phillips renders this phrase as “the future world of men”, and Bijbel in Gewone Taal “the dwelling-city of the future.” The writer is thinking of human society, not of a particular place. In all other passages in which Hebrews uses this Greek verb “about-to-be,” there is some reference to the renewal of this world through Christ, never to its creation.

The phrase the new world to come may be especially difficult to render, since a more or less literal rendering of world is likely to be understood in the sense of “earth.” In some cases it may be necessary to translate the new world to come as “the new way in which people are going to live.” The focus here is far more upon the culture than upon any kind of physical earth.

The phrase the world of which we speak may be rendered as “this is what I am talking about” or “this new kind of life is what I am talking about.” However, in some languages one cannot use a term such as “speak,” since in reality the author of Hebrews is communicating in writing. Therefore one must render the world of which we speak as “the kind of life which I am writing about.”

It is not until 13.19 that the writer uses a verb form that calls for the pronoun “I” when translated. Elsewhere, as in the present verse, he uses forms that call for the pronoun we. There is, however, no evidence that Hebrews was written jointly by more than one author, and it was common in ancient times for writers to refer to themselves as “we.” In languages and cultures where this is not natural, “we” should be translated as “I.”

For speak, see discussion on 1.1-2. Since the author is in fact writing, not speaking, it may be better in some languages to translate “write.”

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 .