A high priest after the order of Melchizedek: called, tested and made perfect

Hebrews does not name its author. The Eastern church long attached the letter to Paul, and the Western church, which doubted this at first, accepted it by the fourth century. Clement of Alexandria suggested that Paul wrote it in Hebrew and that Luke translated it (reported in Eusebius, Church History 6.14), and Origen concluded that the thoughts were Paul's but the wording another's, adding that only God truly knows who wrote it (Church History 6.25). Tertullian, in the early third century, named Barnabas. Luther proposed Apollos, whom Acts 18:24 describes as well versed in the Scriptures. Calvin did not think Paul wrote it. Others have proposed Priscilla (Harnack), Silas or Luke. Many scholars note that the book's Greek style differs from Paul's thirteen letters, and Hebrews 2:3 says the message was confirmed to the writer's generation by those who heard the Lord, whereas Paul says he received the gospel directly (Galatians 1:11-12). The class follows the early church's own verdict that the author is unknown, and treats the book as part of the canon on its content.

The date is uncertain. Most place it in the AD 60s, before the destruction of the temple in AD 70, since the writer speaks of the priests and sacrifices in the present tense (Hebrews 8:4; 10:1-3) and never mentions the temple's fall. Others allow a later date. 1 Clement, written from Rome about AD 96, appears to use it. The readers are called 'Hebrews' in the title, which appears in early manuscripts, and they are most likely Jewish Christians who were under pressure and tempted to draw back (10:32-39; 12:3-4). Their location is unknown; 13:24, 'Those from Italy send you greetings', may mean the letter was sent from Italy or to it.

The writer calls the work 'a word of exhortation' (13:22). The same phrase is used of a synagogue sermon in Acts 13:15. Hebrews is, then, a sermon sent as a letter, and the sermon's main argument is the superiority of Jesus. Chapter 5 begins the argument that Jesus is a high priest, which the writer announced in 2:17 and 4:14-16.

Hebrews 5 is exposition inside a sermon. The writer alternates between explanation of Scripture and exhortation, and chapter 5 contains both: a definition (verses 1-4), a proof from two psalms (5-6), a portrait of Christ (7-10), and a rebuke (11-14). The method is to place a figure from the Old Testament next to Jesus, to draw the agreements, and then to show what is greater. Here the figure is the Aaronic high priest. The writer also reads Old Testament texts as spoken by God to the Son: Psalm 2:7 and Psalm 110:4 are read as words of the Father to Christ, as they were in 1:5 and 1:13. This is typical of the New Testament use of the Psalms. Psalm 2 is a royal psalm of David's line, and Psalm 110 begins with David's 'Lord' seated at God's right hand; Jesus himself used that psalm (Mark 12:35-37), and Peter reads it of Christ's exaltation (Acts 2:34-35).

Two cautions help.

• The first is about the word 'perfect'. In Hebrews it rarely means moral improvement. The verb teleioo means to bring to the goal or to complete, and in the Greek Old Testament it is used for consecrating a priest to office (Exodus 29:9, 33; Leviticus 8:33). The sentence 'made perfect' therefore describes Jesus being brought through suffering to be fully qualified, not corrected.
• The second caution is about the rebuke in 5:11-14. 'Milk' and 'solid food' do not mean that the doctrine of priesthood is only for advanced believers. They describe readers who had stopped growing and who needed to be brought back to the substance of the faith.

Verses 1–3

The writer begins with a general description of the high priest, taken from the Old Testament law. He is 'appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins'. 'From among men' means he shares the nature of those he represents. His work has two parts: 'gifts' (doron), which are offerings of thanks or devotion, and 'sacrifices' (thusia) for sin. Such a man 'is able to deal gently' with the ignorant and the misguided. The Greek verb (metriopathein) appears only here in the New Testament and describes moderate or measured feeling, neither indifference nor anger. The reason is that the priest is 'beset by weakness'. The Greek verb means that weakness literally surrounds him. In Leviticus 16:6 and 11 the priest offers first for himself, and verse 3 repeats that. Commentators connect the 'ignorant and misguided' with sins done unintentionally, for which the law provided sacrifices (Leviticus 4; Numbers 15:22-31), unlike defiant sin, for which Numbers 15:30-31 gives no sacrifice.

Verse 4

'No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.' Exodus 28:1 records that Aaron was brought near from among the Israelites. When Korah challenged the arrangement, God vindicated Aaron (Numbers 16-17), and when King Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense, he was struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). The priesthood was an office of calling.

Verses 5–6

Christ meets the second requirement, not by claiming the honor but by being called. Two texts prove it. Psalm 2:7, 'You are My Son; today I have become Your Father', proclaims him as the royal Son, and Psalm 110:4, 'You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek', names his priesthood. Neither text mentions Aaron, and the second explicitly names another order (taxis), a word for a rank or arrangement. The writer lets the reader see that Jesus is not an Aaronic priest. The Old Testament itself pointed to a different priesthood. Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14:18-20, and Psalm 110 is headed as David's.

Verses 7–8

'During the days of Jesus' earthly life', literally the days of his flesh, he 'offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.' The words for prayers (deeseis) and petitions (hiketeriai) are the language of one who begs as a suppliant. The scene is commonly connected with Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:41-44, though some early manuscripts lack verses 43-44; compare John 12:27), and may include the language of the Psalms of lament (Psalm 22 and 116). The Greek says he asked to be saved ek thanatou, 'out of death', and many commentators take 'was heard' to mean that God answered by raising him. 'Reverence' (eulabeia) is godly fear, not terror. 'Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.' The sentence does not say he was disobedient before. It says that obedience was learned in practice, through suffering, and the word 'Son' makes the point sharper: sonship did not exempt him from the cost.

Verses 9–10

'And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.' The word for source (aitios) means cause or author. His qualification is complete, the salvation is eternal, and it comes to 'all who obey Him'. Then the verdict: 'designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.' The writer has now brought the discussion back to the theme he stated in 2:17.

Verses 11–14

The writer stops. 'We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.' 'Dull' (nothroi) means sluggish and appears again in 6:12. The charge is that they 'ought to be teachers' by now but 'need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God's word'. The remark shows that teaching others was an expected part of maturity in the congregation. The picture of 'milk' and 'solid food' appears also in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2. The mature (teleioi) are those 'who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil'. The training word (gegymnasmena) is the root of 'gymnasium'. Maturity is a discipline, not a degree.

Hebrews 5 supplies the Bible's most explicit definition of priesthood. A priest is a man taken from the people, called by God and not self-chosen, who acts for the people before God by offering what deals with sin. This definition stands behind everything the Old Testament says about priests in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers (see the previous classes). The definition has two sides: the priest must be of the people, so as to sympathise, and must be appointed by God, so as to have access. Hebrews says that Jesus meets both conditions fully. He shares the nature of those he represents (2:14-18; 4:15), and he is God's Son appointed by oath (5:5-6; 7:20-21).

The chapter also joins two lines of Old Testament promise that Israel never saw joined in one person. Psalm 2 is a royal psalm. Psalm 110 declares that David's Lord is both king (110:1-2) and priest (110:4). Under the law, no king could be priest (2 Chronicles 26:16-21), and no priest was king. Zechariah 6:13 had spoken of a priest on a throne. Hebrews shows that both promises are fulfilled in Jesus, from Judah and not Levi (7:14).

The suffering of the Son is a third doctrine. Hebrews teaches the full humanity of Jesus (2:14, 17) and his sinlessness (4:15) together. He prayed in distress, was tested and learned obedience; yet he is called without sin and 'holy, innocent, undefiled' (7:26). The Bible does not resolve this by diminishing either side. It treats the real cost of his obedience as the way his priesthood was made fit for those who suffer. Finally, the passage adds the idea that salvation is 'eternal' and that it reaches 'all who obey Him'. Most commentators take obedience here as faith in action (compare 'the obedience of faith' in Romans 1:5; 16:26), not as an added condition to grace.

The whole chapter is about Christ, and its Old Testament links fall into three kinds.

• The first is promise: Psalm 110:4 is a promise of a coming priest-king, and Hebrews says it is fulfilled in Jesus.
• The second is type: the Aaronic high priest, with his appointment, his gentleness, his weakness and his offering for sin, is a pattern that Jesus fulfils and surpasses. He does not offer for his own sins (7:27).
• The third is fulfillment of the Son language of Psalm 2:7, which the New Testament applies to his resurrection (Acts 13:33) and his supremacy (Hebrews 1:5); the words at his baptism (Mark 1:11) echo it.

The portrait of 5:7-8 is the most direct account in the New Testament of the inner life of Jesus in his passion. 'Loud cries and tears' recalls Gethsemane, where Jesus said his soul was deeply grieved to the point of death and asked that the hour pass from him (Mark 14:34-36), and Luke 22:44 (absent from some early manuscripts) records his anguish. The author of Hebrews has already said that Jesus 'suffered when He was tempted' and so is able to help those who are tempted (2:18), and that we have a high priest who can sympathise with our weaknesses (4:15). Hebrews 5:2 ties this back to the Aaronic priest, who could deal gently because he shared weakness. Jesus shares the weakness without sin.

The title 'high priest' is applied to Jesus only in Hebrews. Other books speak of his priestly work without using the word: he intercedes (Romans 8:34), he is the advocate and propitiation (1 John 2:1-2), and he gave himself as a sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2). Hebrews 5 is the place where the explicit identification is made and its Old Testament ground laid. The chapter then looks ahead to what the writer says in 7:1-28 about Melchizedek, and in 8:1-10:18 about the new covenant and the one sacrifice.