Hebrews 3:16
New International Version
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

New Living Translation
And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt?

English Standard Version
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

Berean Standard Bible
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

Berean Literal Bible
For who were those having heard, rebelled, but not all those having come out of Egypt by the leading of Moses?

King James Bible
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

New King James Version
For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?

New American Standard Bible
For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

NASB 1995
For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

NASB 1977
For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

Legacy Standard Bible
For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

Amplified Bible
For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

Christian Standard Bible
For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?

American Standard Version
For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses?

Contemporary English Version
Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses?

English Revised Version
For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Who heard God and rebelled? All those whom Moses led out of Egypt rebelled.

Good News Translation
Who were the people who heard God's voice and rebelled against him? All those who were led out of Egypt by Moses.

International Standard Version
Now who heard him and provoked him? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

Majority Standard Bible
For some heard and rebelled, but not all those Moses led out of Egypt.

NET Bible
For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses' leadership?

New Heart English Bible
For who, when they heard, rebelled? No, did not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?

Webster's Bible Translation
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: yet, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

Weymouth New Testament
For who were they that heard, and yet provoked God? Was it not the whole of the people who had come out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

World English Bible
For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
For who [were those], having heard, [that] provoked, but not all those having come out of Egypt through Moses?

Berean Literal Bible
For who were those having heard, rebelled, but not all those having come out of Egypt by the leading of Moses?

Young's Literal Translation
for certain having heard did provoke, but not all who did come out of Egypt through Moses;

Smith's Literal Translation
For some, having heard, did exasperate: but not all they having come out of Egypt by Moses.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For some who heard did provoke: but not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For some of those listening did provoke him. But not all of these had set forth from Egypt through Moses.

New American Bible
Who were those who rebelled when they heard? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt under Moses?

New Revised Standard Version
Now who were they who heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Who are those who have heard and provoked him? Were they not those who came out of Egypt under Moses, although not all of them?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For who were those who heard and angered him? Was it not all of these who went out from Egypt by Moses?
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
For some, when they had heard, did bitterly provoke; yet, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

Godbey New Testament
for who were those, having heard, who were hardened? yea, were they not all those having come out of Egypt under Moses?

Haweis New Testament
For some, though they had heard, provoked him; yet not all who came out of Egypt by Moses.

Mace New Testament
for some when they had heard his voice, did provoke him: however, not all that were brought out of Egypt by Moses did so.

Weymouth New Testament
For who were they that heard, and yet provoked God? Was it not the whole of the people who had come out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

Worrell New Testament
For who, after having heard, did provoke? nay, did not all who came out of Egypt through Moses?

Worsley New Testament
harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." For some that heard did provoke; but not all that came out of Egypt with Moses.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Peril of Unbelief
15As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” 16For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?…

Cross References
Numbers 14:2-4
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! / Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” / So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:22-23
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times— / not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.

Numbers 14:29-30
Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me. / Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 14:35
I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”

Numbers 14:11
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?

Numbers 14:9
Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”

Numbers 14:27
“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.

Numbers 14:36-37
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land— / those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

Numbers 14:11-12
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them? / I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”

Numbers 14:20-21
“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied. / “Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,

Numbers 14:28
So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.

Numbers 14:32-33
As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. / Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:39-45
And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. / Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.” / But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed! ...

Psalm 95:8-11
do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness, / where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work. / For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.” ...

Exodus 17:1-7
Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. / So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” / But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” ...


Treasury of Scripture

For some, when they had heard, did provoke: however, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

some.

Hebrews 3:9,10
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years…

Numbers 14:2,4
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! …

Numbers 26:65
For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

not.

Numbers 14:24,30,38
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it…

Deuteronomy 1:36,38
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD…

Joshua 14:7-11
Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart…

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Hebrews 3
1. Christ is more worthy than Moses;
7. therefore if we believe not in him, we shall be more worthy punishment than hardhearted Israel.














For who were the ones who heard and rebelled?
This phrase sets the stage for a rhetorical question that draws the reader's attention to the historical context of the Israelites in the wilderness. The Greek word for "heard" (ἀκούσαντες, akousantes) implies not just the act of hearing but an understanding and acknowledgment of what was heard. The Israelites heard God's commands and promises through Moses, yet they chose to "rebel" (παρεπίκραναν, parepikranan), a term that conveys a sense of provocation and bitterness. This rebellion is a reference to the numerous instances in the wilderness where the Israelites doubted God's provision and promises, despite witnessing His mighty works. The historical context here is crucial, as it reminds the reader of the consequences of disbelief and disobedience, serving as a warning to remain faithful.

Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
This phrase emphasizes the collective nature of the rebellion. The reference to "all those Moses led out of Egypt" highlights the miraculous deliverance from slavery, a foundational event in Israel's history. The Greek word for "led out" (ἐξαγαγών, exagagōn) underscores the act of deliverance, pointing to God's power and faithfulness in fulfilling His promise to Abraham. Moses, as the leader, is a central figure in this narrative, representing God's chosen instrument for liberation. The mention of Egypt serves as a reminder of the bondage from which they were freed, contrasting their physical liberation with their spiritual rebellion. This historical context serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of faith and obedience, encouraging believers to trust in God's promises and remain steadfast in their faith journey.

(16) For.--The connecting link is the thought of "the provocation." A slight change in the accentuation of the first Greek word effects a complete change in the sense: For who when they had heard did provoke? Nay, was it not all that came out of Egypt through Moses? Those who were disobedient were the people whom God, through Moses, had but now delivered from bondage! The two exceptions (Numbers 14:30) are left out of account in the presence of the multitude of rebels. There can be little doubt that the above translation (now generally received) presents the true meaning of the verse. It will be remembered that the oldest MSS. give no evidence on such points as accentuation, and therefore leave our judgment free. In modern times Bengel was the first to point out the true form of the Greek word; but one of the ancient versions (the Peschito-Syriac), and at least three of the Greek Fathers, are found to give the same interpretation. It will be seen at once that, with this arrangement of the words, the present verse is similar in structure to the two following.

Verses 16-19. - For who, when they heard, provoked? Nay, did not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses. That both these clauses are interrogative, and not as taken in the A.V., is now the prevalent view. The reasons for thus understanding them are

(1) the analogy of the two following verses, both of which are interrogative, and in the first of which a question is similarly answered by putting another; and

(2) the sense required. If the clauses were assertions, they could only be meant to express that the provocation was not universal, inasmuch as Joshua and Caleb (and it might be some few others) remained faithful. But to say this is unnecessary and irrelevant to the argument, the drift of which is to warn by "the example of unbelief;" and could τινὲς ("some") possibly be used to denote the whole congregation with the exception of so few? It is to be observed, too, that the ἀλλ οὐ at the beginning of the second clause is a proper Greek expression (equivalent to "nay") in the case of one question being answered by another (cf. Luke 17:7, 8). This verse, then (γὰρ retaining its usual sense of "for"), begins a proof, put in the form of a series of questions, of the preceding implied proposition, viz. that the retention of Christian privilege is dependent on perseverance, and that the privilege may be forfeited. In order to show this fully, the history of Numbers 14, referred to in the warning of the psalm, is examined in connection with the successive expressions of the warning; and it thus appears that all who came out of Egypt by Moses (the small exception of the faithful spies being disregarded) provoked God, and so forfeited their privilege, and that the cause of their failure was sin, disobedience, and, at the root of all, unbelief. The conclusion is obvious that, as their example is held out in the psalm as a warning to us, we may, all or any of us, similarly forfeit our higher calling. That the psalm is a warning to us, the rest it points to being the rest won for us by Christ, is more fully shown in the following chapter. We observe how the leading words in Psalm 95. are taken in succession in the three successive verses - παραπικρασμός in ver. 16, προσώχθισα in ver. 17, ὤμοσα in ver. 18 - and how answers to the three questions suggested by these words are found in Numbers 14. - to the first, in vers. 2, 10, etc., "all the children of Israel," "all the congregation;" to the second, in vers. 29-34, with citation of the words used; to the third, in vers. 21-24. It is to be observed, further, that it is not simply ἀπιστία, but its exhibition in actual sin and disobedience (τοῖς ἀμαρτήσασι τοῖς ἀπειθήσασι), that is spoken of as calling forth the Divine wrath and the Divine oath. The second of the above words implies more titan "believed not" (as in the A.V.); ἀπειθεῖν differs from ἀπιστεῖν in implying disobedience or contumacy. And this view of the case of the Israelites agrees entirely with the historical record, where an actual rebellion is spoken of a refusal to go on with the work they had been called to. It suits also the application to the case of the Hebrew Christians, among whom (as has been said) it was not only wavering of faith, but, as its consequence, remissness in moral duty and in the facing of trial, of which the writer of the Epistle had perceived symptoms, and on the ground of which he warns them to take heed lest growing indifference should be hardened into apostasy. But in both instances, as faith is the root of all virtue, so want of it was the cause, and again the growing result, of moral decadence. And so the argument is summed up in the concluding verse, And we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

. . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

who were the ones who
Τίνες (Tines)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5101: Who, which, what, why. Probably emphatic of tis; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what.

heard
ἀκούσαντες (akousantes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 191: To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear.

[and] rebelled?
παρεπίκραναν (parepikranan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3893: To embitter, provoke, irritate. From para and pikraino; to embitter alongside, i.e. to exasperate.

[Were they] not
οὐ (ou)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

all
πάντες (pantes)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

those
οἱ (hoi)
Article - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Moses
Μωϋσέως (Mōuseōs)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3475: Or Moses, or Mouses of Hebrew origin; Moseus, Moses, or Mouses, the Hebrew lawgiver.

led
διὰ (dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

out of
ἐξ (ex)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

Egypt?
Αἰγύπτου (Aigyptou)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 125: Egypt. Of uncertain derivation.


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NT Letters: Hebrews 3:16 For who when they heard rebelled? No (Heb. He. Hb)
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