Devine Scripture

Hebrews 3:8

What does Hebrews 3:8 mean?

A plain-English look at Hebrews 3:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Hebrews 3:8 means

The command is negative and urgent: do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness, when they provoked God and put Him to the test. Hardening is a willful resistance to God’s known voice—a stubbornness that turns trials into occasions for complaint rather than trust. The “day of trial” reminds us that difficulty exposes what is inside the heart. This verse warns that past privileges do not prevent present hardness. The history of God’s people includes grievous seasons of resistance; the Spirit uses that record to call us to softened, responsive hearts.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Be not hard of heart, as when you made me angry, on the day of testing in the waste land,

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

ye may not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of the temptation in the wilderness,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the desert,

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

Context

This line begins the Psalm’s recounting of Israel’s failure after hearing God’s voice. It follows the invitation of “Today” with the danger of a hardened response. The reference to the wilderness sets the stage for the next verse’s mention of fathers testing God despite witnessing His works for forty years. The flow emphasizes that exposure to God’s acts does not automatically produce faith. The citation builds to God’s displeasure and oath (verses 10–11), which will be turned into direct exhortations in verses 12–13 to guard one another against similar hardness.

v.7Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice,

v.8This passage

v.9Where your fathers triedmeby proving me, And saw my works forty years.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Hebrews 3:12

    Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God:

  • Exodus 8:15

    But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken.

  • Deuteronomy 9:22

    And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked Jehovah to wrath.

  • 2 Chronicles 30:8

    Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto Jehovah, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve Jehovah your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

  • Job 9:4

    He iswise in heart, and mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?—

  • Proverbs 29:1

    He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

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