Hebrews 2:14 teaches that Jesus became fully human, sharing in our flesh and blood, so that by dying he could destroy the devil’s hold over death and free people who had lived their whole lives in fear of it. The author of Hebrews wrote this letter to a group of Jewish Christians who were tempted to drift back toward old religious patterns, and he wrote it to encourage them with the greatness of Christ.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…
Hebrews 2:14 (WEB)
What Hebrews 2:14 Means
The verse begins by pointing to the children of God, the people the author has just described as Jesus’s brothers and sisters. Because they are human beings made of flesh and blood, Jesus took on the same kind of humanity. The word “partook” means that he shared fully in that human condition, not that he only appeared to be human.
The purpose of that sharing is stated next: “through death.” Jesus entered the human experience of dying in order to deal with death itself. The phrase “bring to nothing” means to render powerless or to put out of action, not to erase existence. The verse names the devil as the one who held “the power of death,” which points to the lie and accusation the devil uses to keep people bound by the fear that death ends everything in judgment.
The verse does not promise that believers will never die, and it does not describe the devil as no longer active in the world. It describes a decisive defeat of the one who used death as a weapon, and it sets up the freedom spelled out in the next verse.
The Context of Hebrews 2:14
The letter to the Hebrews is anonymous, though church tradition has long associated it with Paul, and scholars today mostly regard its author as an unnamed teacher who knew Jewish Scripture and the temple system well. Its audience appears to have been believers under pressure, perhaps tempted to fall back into the security of Jewish ritual or to give up the faith under persecution.
Verses 11 through 13 emphasize that Jesus is not ashamed to call believers his brothers, and they quote Scripture to show his solidarity with them. Verse 14 explains how that family bond was made possible, through shared humanity. Verses 15 through 17 then describe the result, freedom from a lifelong slavery to fear and a merciful high priest who understands human weakness. Read in that setting, the verse is not a abstract statement about the devil but a pastoral explanation of why the incarnation matters for ordinary, frightened people.
Key Phrases in Hebrews 2:14
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(WEB)
Paul celebrates the victory over death in the resurrection, using similar language about the sting of death being taken away. Reading it alongside Hebrews 2:14 shows that the defeat of death is a central theme across the New Testament.
Romans 8:15
For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
(WEB)
This verse describes believers receiving a spirit of adoption rather than a spirit of fear. It directly echoes the freedom from lifelong bondage to fear that Hebrews 2:14 describes.
A Short Prayer From Hebrews 2:14
Lord Jesus, you chose to share our flesh and blood and to walk fully into the reality of human life. Thank you for facing death for us and for breaking the power that once held us in fear. When my own fears rise up about illness, loss, or the unknown, remind me that you have already been there and already won. Help me to trust your faithfulness and to live with courage rather than dread. Make me willing to follow you without shrinking back. Amen.
