Jesus Our Champion
HEBREWS 2:10
CONSIDER THESE EIGHT EXCELLENT ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF HEBREWS 2:10. You will notice there are no less than six different renderings of the keyword “Champion”
NAS Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
NKJ Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
ESV Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
NET Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
NIV Hebrews 2:10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
KJV Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
DBY Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings.
NLT Hebrews 2:10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
THE GREEK WORD FROM WHICH WE GET THE CONNOTATIONS IS ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos), which BDAG, Bauer, Danker, Ardnt, and Gingrich, probably presently the world’s foremost biblical Greek Lexicon, defines as…
- 1. one who has a preeminent position, leader, ruler, prince: Ac 5:31; 3:15, where meaning 3 is also possible.
NAS Acts 5:31 “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
NAS Acts 3:15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
- 2. one who begins something that is first in a series, thereby providing impetus for further developments: in bad sense (not in Scripture)
- 3. one who begins or originates, hence the recipient of special esteem in the Gr-Rom. world, originator, founder: Hb 2:10; 12:2.
NAS Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
NKJ Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
ESV Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
NET Hebrews 12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
NIV Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
KJV Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
DBY Hebrews 12:2 looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith: who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured the cross, having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
NLT Hebrews 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
CERTAINLY, WE CAN ALL AGREE, I THINK, ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos), HOWEVER IT IS TRANSLATED, IS A CAPTIVATING WORD, and certainly we can see Jesus exalted with any of these connotations. The challenge for the Bible student is to ascertain as closely as possible which nuance of the Greek word the writer of Hebrews favored in this passage.
CONNOTATION – having the power of implying or suggesting something in addition to what is explicit. In the context of words, the first definition for a word in a dictionary would be the explicit meaning, the denotative meaning. DENOTATIVE – having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming; in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term. The second, third, etc. definitions of a particular word are the connotative meanings. These are helpful linguistic or literary terms that help us understand words. But as necessary and helpful as these terms are, ultimately it is the context in which individual words are found that determines the meaning of words. Words are ultimately defined by context, not by dictionaries.
“A TRANSLATION OF ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos), SENSITIVE TO THE CULTURAL NUANCES OF THE TERM IN HELLENISM (the Greek culture of the times) and appropriate to the literary context of v. 10 is ‘champion.’ This translation is to be preferred to others which have been proposed (above – TAR) because it does not restrict the interpretation of ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos) to the perspectives of v. 10 alone, but takes into account the distinctive color of the paragraph as a whole…
IT IS LIKELY THAT THE ORIGINAL READERS, MAINLY JEWISH CHRISTIANS IMMERSED AS THEY WERE IN A GRECO-ROMAN WORLD QUITE FAMILIAR WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES POSSESSING SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES, WOULD HAVE INTERPRETED ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos) ALONG THE LINES OF HERCULES.
THIS LIKELIHOOD, MORE THAN ANY ONE SINGLE FACTOR, IS PROBABLY WHY I LEAN TOWARD “CHAMPION.”
“JESUS IS THE ‘CHAMPION’ WHO SECURED THE SALVATION OF HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE SUFFERINGS HE ENDURED IN HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH THEM, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THROUGH HIS DEATH.” – Lane
“PIONEER” WOULD BE MY SECOND CHOICE OF POSSIBLE TRANSLATIONS, if for no other reason than it is the first choice of Daniel B. Wallace, my favorite Greek scholar and whose book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, is the book I have chosen to teach Intermediate Greek from to almost 20 years at the seminary. Here is an excellent quote from NET Notes which favors the “Pioneer” approach: 15 sn The Greek word translated pioneer is used of a “prince” or leader, the representative head of a family. It also carries nuances of “trailblazer,” one who breaks through to new ground for those who follow him. It is used some thirty-five times in the Greek OT and four times in the NT, always of Christ (Acts 3:15; 5:31; Heb 2:10; 12:2).
OTHER SCHOLARS I RESPECT TAKE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VIEWS. For one example, F. F. Bruce writes, “He is the Pathfinder, the Pioneer of our salvation; this is the meaning of the word ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos), rendered ‘author’ here on the ARV and ‘captain’ in the AV. He is the Savior who blazed the trail of salvation along which alone God’s ‘many sons’ could be brought to glory. Man, created by God for His glory, was prevented by sin from attaining that glory until the Son of man came and opened up by His death a new way by which man might reach the goal for which he was made. As His people’s representative and forerunner He has now entered into the presence of God to secure their entry there.”
I MAY BE SWITCHING MY VOTE FROM CHAMPION TO PIONEER…
IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHAT THE DENOTATIVE MEANING IS OF THE GREEK WORD ἀρχηγός (ar-kay-gos), ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, USING BDAG AS MY MAIN SOURCE, I WOULD SAY “LEADER, ON WHO HAS A PREEMINENT POSITION.
“IT WAS ‘FITTING’ (OR APPROPRIATE) THAT IN BRINGING ‘MANY SONS TO GLORY’ THE FATHER SHOULD DO SO THROUGH THE WORK AND SUFFERINGS OF HIS ETERNAL SON. The fitness of God’s scheme of salvation lives in the self-giving that was involved, which is consonant with God’s gracious nature. The ‘sons’ are the elect, whom He chose in Christ ‘before the foundation of the world… having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself’ (Eph. 1:4-6). Christ came from glory – a lonely figure in a world of sin. However, he does not return alone, but as the leader of a numberless multitude of redeemed sinners!
“CHRIST IS THUS ‘THE CHAMPION OF THEIR SALVATION’ (2:10). A military leader, wounded in the battle, might nevertheless lead his troops home, triumphant in victory. So, suggests the writer Christ leads the sons of God to glory. More than that, his sufferings were necessary and sufficient means of victory and deliverance. IT IS IN THIS SENSE THAT THE FATHER MADE HIM ‘PERFECT (I.E., COMPLETE) THROUGH SUFFERINGS’.
“IT IS CENTRAL TO THE MESSAGE OF HEBREWS THAT CHRIST’S WORK OF DELIVERANCE IS COMPLETE. HE IS THE PERFECT SAVIOR BECAUSE HE SAVES PERFECTLY. There is nothing partial, conditional, or temporary about the salvation that in in Christ. Nothing is left to chance. Nothing is left to man’s fallible ‘decision’ or ‘commitment’. Jesus’ work of atonement is a finished work of grace that has completely and eternally saved His elect. Their entrance into ‘glory’ is assured.” – Andrews
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
