The two sides of the question appear in chapters 5:, 6: In both the "dull" of hearing

or the "slothful" are mentioned (same word in each case). Heb. 5: 11,12: "Ye are dull of

learning.....ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again"; here is the

parallel with the A.V. "let them slip". Heb. 6: 12-19: "That ye be not slothful, but

followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises". These are

"anchored", and this passage parallels the R.V. rendering, "drift away from them". On

the whole the grammatical form and the general teaching of the epistle inclines to the

second meaning--that the lack of diligence was fraught with the danger of slipping away.

The argument of the verses which follow is to the effect that, if Israel had to give

earnest heed to the message sent by prophets or angels lest they should fail of entering

into the rest that remained for them, those who have had the word spoken to them, not

merely by prophets or even angels, but by the Son Himself, must even more diligently

heed the words spoken, for it is impossible, we shall learn, to renew such unto repentance

if they should "fall away"--or, in the words of the verse before us, "how shall we escape

if we neglect so great salvation".

The apostle leads to this question by reverting to an argument parallel with that of the

opening of the first chapter. God spoke in the past by many agencies, now He has spoken

in the Son. Here the form of the argument is repeated, the details being altered:--

The apostle does not say "the law", but "the word", a term which is wider and

embraces the whole of the old covenant. It will be found that the two covenants came

with new laws. There can be no difficulty in connection with the law being given by the

mediation of angels, even though the Scripture definitely declares that "God spake all

these words". The problem would meet us in Heb. 1: 1 where God speaks, yet uses the

mouth of a prophet. Stephen, speaking to Israel, said, "ye received the law by the

dispensation of angels" (Acts 7: 53). The apostle teaches that the law was "ordained by

angels in the hand of a Mediator". The awful accompaniments of the giving of the law at

Sinai are presently to be compared with the wonderful miracles that were wrought to

confirm the testimony of the Lord and the apostles. The word spoken by angels was

"stedfast" (bebaios). It is the word used for establishing a promise (Rom. 4: 16); for the

hope of the believer which rests upon "an oath for confirmation" (Heb. 6: 16-19); for the

establishing of a covenant over the dead body of the appointed victim (Heb. 9: 17); and

for the confirmation of the prophetic promise (II Pet. 1: 19).

In the verbal form bebaioõ the word occurs again in Heb. 2: 3, "was confirmed".

This fact helps us to see the force of the word "stedfast" better. Both the old and new

covenants have been miraculously confirmed, and that confirmation added to the degree

of the guilt on the part of those who broke the terms. This is brought out in Heb. 6:,

and again from another standpoint in  Heb. 10: 28, 29.  "Every transgression and

disobedience"; the word are nearly synonymous, they indicate a transgression