What About Hebrews 13:17?

A Follow-Up on the Morphing of Church Leadership

After last week’s post on church leadership, and its historical morphing into a position of authority, I thought I should address the topic one more time. Whatever the reaction to the post, I suspect several of you probably asked the question that is the title of this post. It’s a question that should be asked, and I don’t want to shy away from an answer.

This is the KJV’s rendition of the first sentence of Hebrews 13:17:

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls…”

The author’s context of verse 17 is church leadership, and, unfortunately, the KJV imports its interpretive bias into the text. I’ll say again, the influence of the KJV cannot be underestimated. For three centuries, the KJV was the primary English Bible for the English-speaking world, and referred to as The Authorized Version. Over the past 130 years, other English translations have emerged, reflecting additional literary discovery, including older Greek manuscripts. However, since 1611, English speaking churches, including American denominations, dined on the main course of the KJV, and held it in high esteem.

This post is not about other mistranslations in the KJV, but mistranslation is certainly a factor in this discussion.

Last week, I mentioned Wycliffe and his refusal to use “bishop” for “overseer” in his 1526 English translation. In the early 17^th century, when the KJV was being compiled, King James demanded his translators use “bishop”. Being the King of England, as well as the head of the Church of England, there was very little resistance to King James’ demand.

I want to focus on two words and two phrases in Hebrews 13:17. They are:

• Obey

• Leaders

• Rule over

• Watch for your souls

It shouldn’t be complicated, but we’ll take them one at a time for simplicity.

Obey

First, there is no Hebrew or Aramaic word for “obey”. In Hebrew, the word used in the context of obedience is shema, or to listen and pay attention. It certainly flows that listen includes some act of compliance, because without compliance, there is no evidence of listening or paying attention. To Jews, “listen” was the appropriate term. Since the Letter to the Hebrews is written in Greek, why would that matter? Because the audience was Hebrew, and the Greek word the author used to communicate is also translated in the NT as “to be persuaded” and “pay attention”. That seems clear to me. But, thanks to the influence of the KJV, 62% of English Bibles still use “obey” in this verse, including most of our favorite translations.

Leaders

To be fair, there is merit for interpreting this word as “governor” or “ruler” within a civil context. But, in a church context, the preferred translation is “guide”, or “one who goes before”. That sounds like a shepherd, doesn’t it? Maybe not, if you look at the next phrase.

Rule Over

It’s easy to see how “obey” would be used, if the translated sentence context includes “them that rule over you”. There is nothing in the text about “ruling over”. The literal phrasing is “your leaders”, not “them that rule over you”. With good translations on the first three elements, then, the phrasing is better as: “Listen and pay attention to those who lead and guide you”.

Ten percent of the English translations use “authority”, as in “have authority over you”. I’m guessing they were influenced by the KJV wording of “obey” and “rule over” to arrive at authority. As we mentioned last week, church leaders were not intended to be governing authorities; rather to be spiritual mentors, guides, and shepherds.

Watch for your souls

The last phrase indicates why sheep should submit and listen. It describes the focus of church leadership, “watching over souls”, and the gravity of their task. It exhorts sheep to submit (cooperate – from an earlier post), because leaders will someday give an account.

Summary and Alternative Translation

We noted, above, the tone of the KJV rendition of Hebrews 13:17. Here is my non-professional interpretation of the same portion of the verse: “Listen and be persuaded by those who guide you; cooperate with them, since they watch over your souls…”

I think I understand how we’ve gotten into this situation, and the influential role the KJV translation of this verse played. And I think this passage, if differently translated, supports the philosophical criticism I shared last week.

I ask myself if I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill, and I don’t think I am. I know there are good Bible students who read some of these posts, and I know that many, if not all, of them grew up hearing this verse as stated in the KJV. Surely, the verse would be on their minds, just as it was on mine. If so, I don’t want to leave the impression that I’m just picking and choosing scripture to support a view that we need a re-think on church leadership. I’m certainly open to a counter argument supporting the status quo, as long as it’s more than “it’s how we’ve always done it.”

It’s a huge assumption that I am right about this; but if so, how do we put the genie back in the bottle? That question should also be asked, and should be addressed. Since church organizational structures have been ingrained for generations, it is naïve to think that churches could easily re-invent the way they operate.

Should the difficulty of the task prevent us from taking steps in a better direction?

My gut tells me that leaders, who were chosen for their spirituality and wisdom, if they are agreed that change is warranted, can begin to address the issue in a way that can be accomplished, over time, with little upheaval or discord. Actually, that is the function of a spiritual leader, or shepherd – moving the sheep to where they need to be – in green pastures beside still waters. Remember, “time makes more converts than reason.”