It is impossible (verse 6 in Good News Translation) begins the sentence in Greek (compare Revised Standard Version). It is a strong expression which is used also in 6.18; 10.4; 11.6. The writer does not say for whom It is impossible. The implication is that it is impossible not only for man but even for God. In some languages it may be better to translate “No one can bring them back.” In Greek the sentence is a statement, not a rhetorical question as in Good News Translation. Good News Bible introduces a question in verse 4, perhaps to avoid word-for-word repetition with verse 6.
Languages vary greatly in the extent to which they use rhetorical questions in ordinary speech or writing (see the comment on 1.5). Among European common language translations, only Bible en français courant follows Good News Bible in introducing a question here. In the case of languages which do not normally use rhetorical questions to express strong doubt, it may be necessary to modify the question For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? and make it a negative statement; for example, “Those who abandon their faith cannot be brought back to the point of repenting again.” This is a kind of summary statement which anticipates much which occurs later in verses 4-6.
Abandon their faith may be expressed as “cease believing” or “cease to trust in Christ.” And be brought back to repent may be expressed as “cause to repent again.”
They were once in God’s light: God’s is implied. As once emphasizes, these words refer, not to a state, but to a single event, probably baptism; Bible en français courant has “they once received God’s light,” and Barclay “once people have been enlightened” (compare Translator’s New Testament). The meaning is similar to after the truth has been made known to us in 10.26; see also 10.32. Once and once and for all are favorite words in Hebrews; see 9.7, 26, 27, 28; 10.2, 12; 12.26, 27.
Though the concept of light is often related to moral truth, this is not so in all languages. In some languages a literal rendering of They were once in God’s light might simply mean that they were standing in the sunlight. An equivalent might be “They once recognized God’s truth,” “… the truth that comes from God,” or “They once acknowledged the message from God as being true.”
They tasted heaven’s gift: the metaphor changes from light to food. Both are basic human experiences, and most translations keep the metaphors. They may be replaced if necessary by equivalent metaphors or by literal expressions. Barclay says “experience the heavenly gift” (similarly New English Bible). Heaven is a stylistic variant for “God.” Translator’s New Testament has a more general expression, “They have experienced God’s generosity”; Bijbel in Gewone Taal and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have “gifts.” The writer seems to refer to a particular gift received from God at the beginning of the Christian life. Indeed, this whole passage refers to specific events, so heaven’s gift or “God’s gift” is better. This phrase is closely linked with They were once in God’s light, and once may apply to both phrases: “They once received God’s light and tasted his gift.” The gift, like the light, is probably associated with baptism, but it is the commentator’s task, not the translator’s, to say what the gift is.
The Holy Spirit (compare 2.4) has a glossary note in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, since it is an expression largely limited to church use. It may be necessary to translate “God’s Holy Spirit” in languages where “Holy Spirit” alone would be misunderstood or not understood at all. In several parts of the New Testament, it is said that individual Christians receive different gifts from the Holy Spirit, but this is not emphasized here. The writer simply states that believers receive the Holy Spirit together, in common with one another. In much the same way as received their share of, the writer said in 5.12 that young Christians “live on” milk. Moffatt‘s “participated in” or New American Bible‘s “become sharers in” therefore seems slightly better here than received their share of (Bijbel in Gewone Taal) or “a share of” (Jerusalem Bible, Barclay, Translator’s New Testament). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Phillips have simply “received the Holy Spirit.” A literal translation of received their share of the Holy Spirit might wrongly suggest that the Holy Spirit is a substance which can be divided up and be distributed to believers. This implication may be avoided by translating “they together with others received the Holy Spirit.”
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 .