Hebrews 2 15

Hebrews 2:15 kjv

And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Hebrews 2:15 nkjv

and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Hebrews 2:15 niv

and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Hebrews 2:15 esv

and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Hebrews 2:15 nlt

Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

Hebrews 2 verses

Hebrews 2 15 Meaning

Hebrews 2:15 declares that the Son of God came into humanity's experience, participating in flesh and blood, so that through His death He might free those who, through the lifelong fear of death, were held in spiritual slavery. It emphasizes Christ's empathetic identification with humanity's mortal condition and His decisive victory over death's dominion and the devil's power, thereby liberating humanity from existential dread and spiritual bondage.

Hebrews 2 15 Context

Hebrews 2:15 is situated within the book's larger theological argument establishing the absolute supremacy and efficacy of Christ as God's ultimate revelation and High Priest, superior to angels and the Levitical priesthood. Specifically, chapter 2 emphasizes that Christ, though temporarily made "a little lower than the angels" (Heb 2:7, 9), did so for the purpose of salvation. He suffered and died (Heb 2:9) to "destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14). Verse 15 immediately follows, articulating the liberating outcome of this decisive victory: the freeing of humanity from the pervasive, lifelong fear of death that previously held them in bondage. This human participation and death were necessary for Christ to become a "merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb 2:17) capable of making atonement and helping those who are tempted. The original Jewish Christian audience of Hebrews faced potential apostasy due to persecution or longing for the perceived familiarity of Judaism. The writer encourages perseverance by continually highlighting Christ's superiority and the finished nature of His redemptive work, including victory over death, which removes a primary source of fear and temptation to compromise their faith. In the Greco-Roman world, the fear of death was omnipresent, often addressed by stoicism's attempt at indifference or epicureanism's dismissal of after-life, or through various cultic practices. The author here offers the ultimate Christian answer: the bodily victory of Christ.

Hebrews 2 15 Word analysis

• And (καὶ - kai): A simple conjunction connecting the preceding statement about Christ destroying the devil's power (Heb 2:14) to the consequence: liberating humanity.
• deliver (ἀπαλλάσσω - apallassō): This Greek verb means "to release from," "to set free," or "to rid of." It implies an emancipation from something burdensome, painful, or enslaving. It signifies a complete severance from the power of the oppressor, indicating a definitive act of liberation, not merely a temporary respite.
• those (τούτους - toutous): Refers back to "the children" (Heb 2:14), signifying humanity, the very ones Christ identified with by sharing their "flesh and blood."
• who (ὅσοι - hosoi): Connects the delivered ones to their specific condition.
• through (διὰ - dia): Indicates the means or agency. Their fear of death was the conduit through which they were enslaved. It's not the fear itself that directly enslaves, but being caught in or by it.
• fear (φόβος - phobos): In this context, it signifies a profound dread, terror, or anxiety. It's an overwhelming apprehension of death and what lies beyond, rooted in human sinfulness and the awareness of judgment (cf. Heb 9:27).
• of death (θανάτου - thanatou): Refers to physical demise, but more broadly, the theological consequences of death – separation from God, judgment, and the ultimate punishment of sin. For humanity, before Christ's victory, death represented the end of all hope and the irreversible penalty for sin.
• were subject to (ἔνοχοι - enochai + verb 'to be' implied): The noun enochos (ἔνοχος) means "liable," "guilty," or "held accountable." Here, it’s used in an active sense, meaning they "were held" or "were controlled by." It implies a condition of legal or moral obligation, a binding state.
• bondage (δουλεία - douleia): This term means "slavery" or "servitude." It depicts a state of involuntary subjection, where one's will is not one's own, and life is lived under a pervasive and oppressive power. Here, the power is the "fear of death." This fear becomes a tyrannical master, influencing choices, stifling true living, and stealing joy.
• all (παντὸς - pantos): Emphasizes the totality and comprehensiveness of the enslavement.
• their lives (τοῦ ζῆν - tou zēn - lit. "the living"): Indicates the duration of this bondage. It was not episodic but a constant, lifelong burden from which there was no natural escape. Every aspect of life, every decision, was potentially shadowed by this pervasive dread of mortality.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "through fear of death": This phrase highlights the cause of the bondage. It's not just death itself that terrifies, but the fear of it – the anxiety, the unknown, the inevitable loss, and the looming judgment that pre-Christian humanity inherently faced. This fear held immense psychological, emotional, and spiritual power over people, constantly whispering doubts and extinguishing hope.
• "were subject to bondage": This describes the consequence of that fear. It's not a superficial worry but a deep, debilitating slavery. Humanity was not free to live fully because of this pervasive dread. This "bondage" meant living in perpetual anxiety, making decisions not from true freedom but from an attempt to avert or postpone the inevitable, ultimately failing to enjoy the abundant life God intended.

Hebrews 2 15 Bonus section

The "fear of death" is intrinsically linked to humanity's awareness of sin (Rom 5:12, Rom 6:23), as "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). Therefore, to conquer the fear of death, one must first address the power of sin. Christ's victory on the cross achieved both. His atoning sacrifice removes the guilt of sin, which in turn disarms the ultimate power of death over the believer. Thus, the liberation described in Hebrews 2:15 is fundamentally a liberation from sin's condemning power, manifested as spiritual and ultimate physical death. This provides believers with not only emotional relief from dread but a spiritual transformation that affects their entire existence, leading to eternal security.

Hebrews 2 15 Commentary

Hebrews 2:15 provides the liberating outcome of Christ's redemptive work presented in the preceding verse. Having established that Jesus shared fully in humanity's "flesh and blood" (Heb 2:14), the author now clarifies why: to break the iron grip of death's terror over humanity. This verse paints a vivid picture of pre-Christian existence as a life lived under a suffocating weight – "bondage" – directly caused by the "fear of death." This fear isn't just a simple emotion; it's a deep-seated, paralyzing dread of the ultimate unknown and the inescapable consequence of sin, an inherent awareness of mortality and judgment that permeated every aspect of existence "all their lives."

Christ, by dying and rising again, disarmed the devil (Heb 2:14) who leveraged death as his primary tool of intimidation and control. Through His own victory over death, Jesus emancipated believers from this oppressive spiritual slavery. It means that Christians are no longer held hostage by the existential anxiety that defined the pre-Christian human condition. The sting of death has been removed (1 Cor 15:55-57), replaced by the confident hope of resurrection and eternal life with God. This newfound freedom allows believers to live courageously, pursue God's purposes without being inhibited by the fear of their physical end, and to truly experience the abundant life offered in Christ, viewing death not as an enemy, but as a passage into God's presence (Phil 1:21).