Hebrews 5 is the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The author is anonymous, although the internal reference to "our brother Timothy" ( Hebrews 13:23) causes a traditional attribution to Paul, but this attribution has been disputed since the second century and there is no decisive evidence for the authorship. This chapter contains the exposition about the merciful Christ and the High Priests, followed by an exhortation to challenge the readers beyond the elementary catechism.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 14 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 46 Papyrus 46 (''P. Chester Beatty II''), designated by siglum (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri. Manuscripts among ...

(175–225; complete) *

Papyrus 13 Papyrus 13, designated by siglum 𝔓13 or P13 in the Gregory-Aland numbering, is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament in Greek. It was copied on papyrus in the 3rd century at approximately 225-250 CE.Philip W Comfort and David P Barrett, ...

(225-250; extant verse 1–5) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; complete) * Codex Freerianus (~450; extant verses 5–7) *

Codex Claromontanus Codex Claromontanus, symbolized by Dp, D2 or 06 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1026 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written in an uncial hand on vellum. The Greek and Latin texts are on facing p ...

(~550)

Old Testament references

* Hebrews 5:5: * Hebrews 5:6:

New Testament references

* Hebrews 5:5: Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5

The Merciful Christ and the High Priests (5:1–10)

The verses 1–4 highlight certain qualifications for high-priesthood under the old covenant, as a basis for applying it to Jesus to be the high priest for the new covenant (verses 5–6), who can 'sympathise with our weaknesses' without ever having sinned (verses 7–8; Hebrews 4:15), and was 'made completely adequate' as the savior of his people (verses 9–10).

Verse 1

:''For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.'' This is a general definition of the high priest role in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Verse 4

:''And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

was.'' One must be ''called by God'' to the office of high-priesthood, because the honor of that office is given by God alone (''cf.'' ; ; -).

Verse 5

:''So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:'' ::''"You are My Son,'' ::''Today I have begotten You."'' Citing , which is also quoted in Acts 13:33 and used for exposition in Hebrews 5:5.

Verse 6

:''As He also says in another place:'' ::''"You are a priest forever'' ::''According to the order of Melchizedek"'' Citing . Gill, John
''Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - Hebrews 5:6
/ref>

Admonition on Spiritual Immaturity (5:11–14)

This part gives warnings to the readers in preparation for the serious arguments in chapters 7– 10, because the subsequent teaching about the high-priestly work of Christ will not be comprehended or applied by those who are ''slow to learn'' or continue to avoid ''solid food'', unwilling to study the deeper faith implications, and if so, they can never be ''mature'' Christians.

Verse 11

:''There is much more I would like to say along these lines, but you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand.''

Verse 12

:''For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. '' NKJV *One sign of the slackness in the faith development is the unwillingness (or inability) ''to be teachers'', that is, to explain the faith they learned to other people (cf. ; ; ; 1 Peter 3:15). *"Milk": the appropriate food for an ''infant'', but mature people need ''solid food''. Here, "milk" is equated with "the first principles of the oracles of God" (Greek: ''ta stoicheia tēs archēs tōn logiōn tou Theou''), which could mean 'the guidelines' for interpreting the sayings of God (from a Christian point-of-view).

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Hebrews 05