The Nugget:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
My Comment:
The Scripture is described as quick and powerful. In today’s English, we would say “alive and powerful.” The Bible is powerful for it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Bible is powerful for it can bring spiritual life to the reader as the Holy Spirit enables understanding.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1427 for Hebrews 4:12.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1446 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Hebrews 4:12.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:
Hebrews 4:12. the word of God. Gr. logos, Mk 9:32n. He %6:5 & 11:3 (Gr. rhēma). *13:7. Jb +*23:12. Ps 119:96. Is *40:8. *49:2. Je +*15:16. *23:29. Ho 6:5. Mt *4:4-10. Lk 8:11. Ac *4:31. 16:32. Ro 7:14. +9:6. +*10:17. 2 C *2:17. +*4:2. Ep *6:17. Ph 2:16. Col +*3:16. 2 T +**3:15, 16. 1 P **1:23. 1 J 5:7. Re *20:4. is quick. or, living. Gr. zaō (S#2198g, 2 C 1:8). T#1029. He 3:12. 10:31. Dt 32:47. Ps 110:2. +*119:50, 130. Ec 12:11. Is **55:11. Je **23:29. Jn 6:51, 63, 68. Ac 7:38. Ro +*1:16. 1 C 1:24. 2 C *10:4, 5. Ph 2:16. 1 Th **2:13. Ja **1:18. 1 P +*1:23. 2:4, 5g. powerful. Gr. energēs (S#1756g, Phm 6). Ps 19:8. Je 23:29. Ho 6:5. Mt 7:29. Mk 1:22. Lk *4:32. Ro *1:16. 1 C 1:18, 24. *16:9g. 2 C 10:4, 5. 1 Th **2:13. 2 Th 2:8. Phm 6. sharper. Gr. tomōteros (S#5114g, only here), to cut, as if by a single stroke (see Strong). Ps 45:3. 57:4. 59:7. 64:3. *149:6. Pr *5:4. Is *11:4. *49:2. 51:16. Ho 6:5. Ac *2:37. *5:33. Ep *6:17. Re *1:16. *2:16. *19:15, 21. twoedged. Gr. distomos (S#1366g, only here and Re 1:16; 2:12). He %11:34. Jg 3:16. Ps +149:6. Pr 5:4. Lk %21:24. 2 C 2:15, 16. Re 1:16g. 2:12g. sword. Gr. machaira (S#3162g, Ro 8:35). Jsh 11:11. 1 S 21:9. Ps 57:4. 59:7. 64:3. Is 49:2. Zc 9:13. Ep 6:17g. Re 19:15. piercing. Nu 5:18. 1 K 10:3. 2 Ch 9:2. Ac 2:37. *16:14, 32. 26:27, 28. dividing asunder. Gr. merismos (S#3311g, only here and He 2:4). This clause is often popularly understood to support “trichotomy,” the doctrine that “soul” is distinct and discrete from “spirit,” and that man is a trinity consisting of body, soul, and spirit. There can be no proper analogy drawn between the Divine Trinity of the Godhead who are equal in power and glory and of the same substance, and an alleged trinity in the human nature of body, soul and spirit, for to which Person of the Trinity shall “body” be equated, when the body is considered inferior to the soul and spirit? Likewise, soul being considered inferior to spirit, to which Person of the Trinity shall each be equated? The analogy, when pressed, breaks down immediately, and if held, is a fruitful source of heresy, as it has been throughout church history, though not all trichotomists are heretics! Elsewhere in Scripture man is consistently spoken of as “dichotomous” (Ro +*8:10n; Mt 6:25. Ja 2:26), consisting of two elements, body and soul, sometimes expressed body and spirit, the soul and spirit being the same element (Ge +2:7n). Here, the text in the original does not say soul is divided from spirit, but that soul and spirit are divided from the joints and marrow, speaking of man as dichotomous. Others understand the text to mean “the piercing of the soul and the spirit, even to their joints and marrow” (Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 485), and point out it is not stated that there is a “dividing between soul and spirit” but a dividing of, indicated in Greek by “a series of genitives, each one in itself naming something which is divided” (J. Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1, p. 243). See related notes (Ge 2:7n. 1 Th 5:23n). Ge +2:7. 15:17. Ro +8:10. 1 C 15:44. Ph 1:27. 1 Th +5:23n. Ju 19. soul. Gr. psychē, Mt +10:28. 1 C 2:14. 15:45. Ja 3:15. Ju 19. spirit. Gr. pneuma, FS121A3, Mt +27:50. Pr 20:27. 1 C +*2:11. 1 Th +5:23n. joints and marrow. Pr 20:27. Jn 2:25. and is a discerner. Gr. kritikos (S#2924g, only here), decisive (“critical”), that is, discriminative (Strong). Ps *139:2, 4. Is 11:4. Je +*17:10. Am +*5:12. Mt 22:11. *23:28. Jn 12:48. 1 C 4:5. *14:24, 25. Ep *5:13. Re *2:23. thoughts. Gr. enthumēsis [(S#1761g), deliberation (Strong): Rendered (1) thought: Mt 9:4. 12:25. He 4:12. (2) device: Ac 17:29]. Jb +*42:2. Is 30:28. *66:18. Ml +**3:16. Mt 1:20. 9:4. Mk 8:17. Lk 5:22. Jn 8:7. Ac 8:22. intents. Gr. ennoia (S#1771g, only here and 1 P 4:1), thoughtfulness, that is, moral understanding (Strong). Mk 3:17. Lk 18:4. Jn 5:42. 1 P 4:1g. of the heart. ver. 7. He 3:8, 10, 12, 15. 8:10. 10:16, 22. 13:9. 1 Ch 29:17. 2 Ch 1:11. Ps 44:21. 90:8. 95:8, 10. Pr 24:12. Je 31:33. Lk 24:32.
heb 4.12 for the word of god is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
to the heart.
encouraging cross refs
1. jer 23.29 is not my word like as fire: saith the lord; and like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces?
2. hosea 6.5 therefore have i hewed them by the prophets; i have
slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as
the light that goeth forth.
3. jn 6.63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing;
the words that i speak unto you, they are the spirit, and they are life.
4. jn 6.68 then simon peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life.
5. 2 tim 3.15 and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in
christ jesus.
6. 1 pe 1.23 being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.