The Meaning of Hebrews 10:24 Explained

Hebrews 10:24

KJV: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

YLT: and may we consider one another to provoke to love and to good works,

Darby: and let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works;

ASV: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  let us consider  one another  to  provoke  unto love  and  to good  works: 

What does Hebrews 10:24 Mean?

Context Summary

Hebrews 10:11-25 - The New And Living Way Open To Us
Note the contrast between the standing of the priests and the sitting of the Priest. The one indicated incompleteness, the other a finished work. All that needed to be done for our final and entire deliverance from sin was accomplished when Jesus returned to the Father. It is for us to pass in large demands and claims. The bank is full, but we must draw on it.
It is a great help, in the study of the Old Testament, to notice how explicitly the writer here attributes to the Holy Spirit the words spoken by one of the old prophets. What a comfort it is to know that God forgets our sins when we have confessed and forsaken them!
The way of prayer and faith was new, for our Lord had just opened it; living, because only those alive in Christ can tread it. The rending of the Temple veil was emblematic of the open vision of God, given through Calvary. But we must be true, believing, reliant on His death and pure through His cleansing, John 13:5-8. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hebrews 10

1  The weakness of the law sacrifices
10  The sacrifice of Christ's body once offered,
14  for ever has taken away sins
19  An exhortation to hold fast the faith with patience and thanksgiving

Greek Commentary for Hebrews 10:24

Let us consider one another [κατανοωμεν αλληλους]
Present (keep on doing so) active volitive subjunctive of κατανοεω — katanoeō The verb used about Jesus in Hebrews 3:1. To provoke Our very word “paroxysm,” from παροχυνω — paroxunō Unto love and good works (agapēs kai kalōn ergōn). Objective genitive. So Paul seeks to stir up the Corinthians by the example of the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:1-7). [source]
To provoke [εις παροχυσμον]
Our very word “paroxysm,” from παροχυνω — paroxunō Unto love and good works (agapēs kai kalōn ergōn). Objective genitive. So Paul seeks to stir up the Corinthians by the example of the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:1-7). [source]
Let us consider one another [κατανοῶμεν ἀλλήλους]
Take careful note of each other's spiritual welfare. For the verb see on James 1:23. It denotes attentive, continuous care. Comp. Hebrews 3:1. [source]
To provoke [εἰς παροξυσμὸν]
Lit. with a view to incitement. Only here and Acts 15:39. From παροξύνειν tosharpen. Hence to stimulate. In Acts 15:39, the result of provocation; irritation or contention. Here the act of incitement. Twice in lxx, Deuteronomy href="/desk/?q=de+29:27&sr=1">Deuteronomy 29:27); Jeremiah href="/desk/?q=jer+32:3&sr=1">Jeremiah 32:3, Jeremiah 32:7); for the Hebrew קֶצֶף anger, wrath, altercation. The Hebrew derivation is from קָצַֽף a splinter. The new economy demands mutual care on the part of the members of the Christian community. Comp. 1 Corinthians 12:25. They must stir up each other's religious affections and ministries. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Hebrews 10:24

Acts 15:39 The contention was so sharp [ἐγένετο παροξυσμὸς]
More correctly, there arose a sharp contention. Only here and Hebrews 10:24. Our word paroxysm is a transcription of παροξυσμὸς . An angry dispute is indicated. [source]
Acts 15:39 A sharp contention [παροχυσμος]
Our very word paroxysm in English. Old word though only twice in the N.T. (here and Hebrews 10:24), from παροχυνω — paroxunō to sharpen This “son of consolation” loses his temper in a dispute over his cousin and Paul uses sharp words towards his benefactor and friend. It is often so that the little irritations of life give occasion to violent explosions. If the incident in Galatians 2:11-21 had already taken place, there was a sore place already that could be easily rubbed. And if Mark also joined with Peter and Barnabas on that occasion, Paul had fresh ground for irritation about him. But there is no way to settle differences about men and we can only agree to disagree as Paul and Barnabas did. [source]
1 Corinthians 13:5 Easily provoked [παροξύνεται]
Easily is superfluous, and gives a wrong coloring to the statement, which is absolute: is not provoked or exasperated. The verb occurs only here and Acts 17:16. The kindred noun παροξυσμός , in Acts 15:39, describes the irritation which arose between Paul and Barnabas. In Hebrews 10:24, stimulating to good works. It is used of provoking God, Deuteronomy 9:8; Psalm 105:29; Isaiah 65:3. [source]
1 Corinthians 13:5 Seeketh not its own [ου ζητει τα εαυτης]
Its own interests (1 Corinthians 10:24, 1 Corinthians 10:33). Is not provoked (ου παροχυνεται — ou paroxunetai). Old word. In N.T. only here and Acts 17:16 which see. Irritation or sharpness of spirit. And yet Paul felt it in Athens (exasperation) and he and Barnabas had παροχυσμος — paroxusmos (paroxysm) in Antioch (Acts 15:39). See good sense of παροχυσμος — paroxusmos in Hebrews 10:24. Taketh not account of evil Old verb from λογος — logos to count up, to take account of as in a ledger or notebook, “the evil” (το κακον — to kakon) done to love with a view to settling the account. [source]
1 Corinthians 13:5 Is not provoked [ου παροχυνεται]
Old word. In N.T. only here and Acts 17:16 which see. Irritation or sharpness of spirit. And yet Paul felt it in Athens (exasperation) and he and Barnabas had παροχυσμος — paroxusmos (paroxysm) in Antioch (Acts 15:39). See good sense of παροχυσμος — paroxusmos in Hebrews 10:24. [source]
Galatians 5:26 Provoking one another [προκαλεω]
Old word παροχυσμον — prokaleō to call forth, to challenge to combat. Only here in N.T. and in bad sense. The word for “provoke” in Hebrews 10:24 is πτονουντες — paroxusmon (our “paroxysm”). Envying (πτονος — phthonountes). Old verb from phthonos Only here in N.T. [source]
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue [φιλαδελφία μενέτω]
Φιλαδελφία in Paul, Romans 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9. As a proper name, Revelation 1:11; Revelation 3:7. It is not necessary to suppose that the admonition implies signs of estrangement among those addressed. Comp. Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 10:24; Hebrews 12:12-15. [source]

What do the individual words in Hebrews 10:24 mean?

And we should think one another toward stirring up to love to good works
καὶ κατανοῶμεν ἀλλήλους εἰς παροξυσμὸν ἀγάπης καλῶν ἔργων

κατανοῶμεν  we  should  think 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: κατανοέω  
Sense: to perceive, remark, observe, understand.
ἀλλήλους  one  another 
Parse: Personal / Reciprocal Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀλλήλων  
Sense: one another, reciprocally, mutually.
εἰς  toward 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
παροξυσμὸν  stirring  up 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: παροξυσμός  
Sense: an inciting, incitement.
ἀγάπης  to  love 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἀγάπη  
Sense: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence.
καλῶν  to  good 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: καλός  
Sense: beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable.
ἔργων  works 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.