Bible Commentaries
Hebrews 5

Verses 1-14

V 1-4 Description of a High Priest— Description rather than definition, although the mediatorial function of priesthood between God and mankind, which is of the essence of priesthood, is very clearly in the forefront.

1. A man ’from amongst men and on behalf of men accredited to (approach) God’—that is a priest.

2-3. As a representative of mankind he must be compassionate with the ignorant and erring, being endowed with a compassion flowing from his own sense or experience of human weakness. Hence lie offers—so it was with the OT priesthood—for his own sins as well as for the people’s. Note that the verb which is used for ’compassionate’ (µet???paTe?+??) is remarkable (found only here in the Greek Bible). It means measured or, as we should say, intelligent sympathy. ’Compassed with infirmity’ is also a striking phrase partially paralleled by the ’besetting, ever-ready, pressing sin’ of 12:1.

4. Being accredited to God, a priest is not self-constituted. He does not take the honour ’of his own proper motion’, but is called by God immediately, or mediately like Aaron.

V 5-10 Application of the Description to Christ— The description is applied in inverse order: Christ’s vocation first, 5, 6, and fellowship in human suffering second, 7-10.

5-6 Vocation— It was not Christ who glorified or honoured himself with the dignity of priesthood. It was the One who spoke to him the oracle of Ps 2. This whole phrase, including the citation, is probably only a periphrasis for ’His Father’. There is no specific sacerdotal appointment in the words: ’Thou art My Son’ (although in reality divine Sonship confers every dignity on the humanity of Jesus), but in the wonderful interlacing of thought discernible in this Epistle the oracle of the super-angelic Son, 1:5, is here, 5:5, joined to the great sacerdotal oracle of Ps 109. Besides, the royal Ps 2 and the royal Sacerdotal Ps 109 are twin poems of David’s highest inspiration. The divine eclaration: ’Thou art a priest’ is only cited here to show Christ’s divine appointment, but in ch 7 all the riches of its theology will be set forth.

7-10 The Suffering Priest— Gethsemani rather than Calvary is the scene here, some words of which, 7, appropriately figure on the façade or the Church of the Agony on Mount Olivet. Christ is presented in his weakness, and St Paul realized, bettef than John Maldonatus (who makes the remark) could ever realize, that nowhere was Jesus more evidently one of our weak human selves than in Gethsemani. Being innocent, he could not offer sacrifice for his own sins, like the Aaronic High Priest, but he could pray (for himself and for us) out of the anguish of the mortal weakness which he deigned to take for our salvation.

7. Note that ’the days of his flesh’ are the days of his mortality, and that ’prayers and supplications’— petitions and entreaties—aptly describe the words uttered under the olive trees. The Gospels do not mention tears and loud prayer, but these go together with the ’sadness unto death’ and with the audibility of Christ’s words ’a stone-throw’ away. St Paul does not say that Christ prayed to be saved from death, but that he prayed to ’him who was able to save him from death’. The interpretation ’he was heard (by being released) from his fear’, though adopted by many commentators, is scarcely probable; the Vg rendering ’heard for his reverence’ being more in keeping with the usual NT meaning of e???ße?a, 12:28, e??aß??µa?, 11:7, and e??aß??, Lk 25; Acts 2:5; Acts 8:2; Acts 22:12.8. Although ’Son’ (without addition or article in Gk), ’he learned obedience by the things which he suffered’. Christ acquired experimental knowledge in the school of experience. The hardness of obedience he learned by obeying through most difficult sufferings even to the acceptance of a death involving the utmost pain and shame. The thought of Heb here joins the great Pauline text of Philippians 2:8. The paronomasia ?µaTe? ?F’?? ?paTe? was a familiar Gk commonplace (p?Te? µ?T?? [Aeschylus], paT?µata µaT?µata [Herodotus]).

9. This verse carries us back to the declaration of 2:10. Christ eternally glorified with the merit of his suffering— ’consummated’—became (at that moment) for all who obey him a cause of eternal salvation. Thus the eternally efficient Saviour of all men, who call themselves and are his disciples by obedience, is the One called by God ’the high priest according to the order of Melchisedech’.

V 11-VI 20 Admonition of Reproach and Encouragement— The admonition is a trumpet-call to attention before the exposition of a great theme. It begins with reproach addressed to backward pupils, 5:11-14; warns them with terrifying severity of the danger of apostasy, 6:1-8; raises their spirits by reminding them of the promise attaching to their good deeds in the past and the present, 9-12; and inspires confidence by holding up the example of Abraham, 13-20.

V 11-14 Hebrew Backwardness— 11. On the Melchisedechian priesthood of Christ the Apostle has much to say that is difficult of exposition especially to a circle of dull hearers like the Hebrews. Their dullness is described as being ’hard of ears or hearing’, but the Apostle clearly refers to their slow, sluggish, heavy dullness of spirit. It is a moral fault due to their lack of zeal for progress.

12. Scholars brought to the school of Christ so many years ago should now be masters, but alas! they still need to get lessons in the very elements or A B C of Christian doctrine. The’ elements (st???e?+?a) of the beginning of the words of God’ are the rudimentary truths contained in the catechesis or catechism of first instruction. The Apostle calls these rudiments ’milk’ or ’baby food’ in contrast to the solid instruction imparted to those spiritually grown up, cf.1 Corinthians 3:1ff.; but note that in 1 Peter 2:2 milk stands rather for a pure wholesome food. 13. He who belongs to the milk category is ’unskilful in the word of justice’, not proficient in the practice of Christian life. Actually he is a babe in the matter of moral progress. 14. Solid food is for the perfect who have reached the development of their age as Christians, this development being the result of habitual exercise of their faculties of moral perception (a?sTðt???a) for the discernment of good and evil. Both ????, which is permanent facility acquired by exercise, and a?sTðt???a with the generic meaning of ’senses’ are hapax legomena in NT, but St Paul uses ??sTðs??, Philippians 1:10, to denote ripe judgement in moral things.