The epistle to the Hebrews 5:1-4

Hebrews

5:1-4

Preliminary Arguments

3. Jesus our Great High Priest

ii] The characteristics of a high priest

Argument

The Rhetor has just introduced us to Jesus' service as our great high priest, and so now he takes a moment to explain the characteristics of a high priest before touching on Jesus' qualifications in v5-10.

Issues

i] Context: See 4:14-16.

ii] Background: A general introduction; See 1:1-4.

iii] Structure: The qualifications of a high priest:

A high priest offers sacrifice for sin, v1;

A high priest identifies with his people, v2-3;

A high priest is called of God, v4.

iv] Interpretation:

Continuing to look at "the high priest's position, his characteristics and the service he offers", Koester, our author now examines these characteristics as they relate to the Aaronic priesthood, although now in reverse order. In examining the priestly office, he touches on its function, v1, personal quality, v2-3, and finally its divine authorisation, v4.

First, the Rhetor defines the service of a high priest, his offering of sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, v1. Second, the characteristics of a high priest: empathy and identification, v2-3. Third, the position of a high priest: called and authorised, v4. In the third element of the argument, v5-10, these characteristics will be applied to Christ, the Son, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The Rhetor will show that Jesus is a unique high priest, far superior to any of the descendants of Aaron, and is therefore, someone who enables us to boldly approach the throne of God's grace for mercy.

In detailing Jesus' qualifications as high priest, the Rhetor not only wants to show that Jesus' appointment as high priest comes with a Biblical authority, but that his qualifications are superior to those of the Aaronic priesthood. Again, we get the sense that the Rhetor is seeking to address a theological problem infecting his audience, namely that Jesus' atonement for sin is somehow deficient and needs supplementing (Christ supplemented is Christ supplanted). Jewish believers, infected by the virus of a limited atonement, could easily look to the support of Israel's liturgical tradition and its Levitical atonement rituals.

Allen nicely lists five reasons given for the superiority of Jesus' high priestly service:

He is without sin, 2:17-18, 4:15;

He did not need to offer sacrifices for his own sin, 5:3;

He offered himself as a perfect sacrifice, 5:7-18;

His death on the cross was a sacrifice offered once and for all, 9:13-14, 25-26;

He mediates an eternal covenant superior to the Sinai Covenant, 8:1-2, 9:15.

v] Homiletics: Jesus, our Royal Priest.

[illustration] The author of Hebrews has discovered a fascinating piece of theology about Jesus. Not only has God the Father authorised Jesus as the divine Son, Davidic messiah, Lord, but he has also authorised him as the eternal High Priest. Of course, the Levitical priests were not from the house of David, but our author has discovered that a priest going by the name of Melchizedek was also the king of Jerusalem. When David captured Jerusalem, he inherited both the crown and priestly role of Melchizedek. So, the Davidic Christ, Lord, reigning king of the universe, is also our merciful high priest, representing us before the throne of the living God.

As we struggle through life, we are constantly tempted to abandon our loyalty to Jesus. Far too often we drift off into disloyalty. Our only hope lies in divine mercy. Thankfully, we have a high priest possessing God's own authority, a high priest who is willing to represent us before the throne of God, a high priest who is not only able to empathise with our failings, but cleanse us when we fail. Jesus is our own personal royal priest.

Text - 5:1

The qualifications of a high priest, v1-4: i] his service - offering sacrifices for sin, v1. In the opening verse, the Rhetor defines the prime function of a high priest who is of the order of Aaron. The high priest is appointed by God in service to God's people to offer sacrifice for the people's sins. The Rhetor doesn't bother going into the details of this issue. He doesn't tell us whether he is speaking of general offerings for sin, or the Day of Atonement offering for the sin of the people.

gar "-" - for. A marker of logical development, see gar 1:5; here introducing an extended explanation running through to v10.

lambanomenoV (lambanw) pres. pas. part. "is selected" - being chosen. The NIV treats the participle as a predicate nominative, asserting a fact about the "high priest", but it may also be treated as attributive, "who is selected from men", Moffatt.

ex + gen. "from among [the men / people]" - out of, from [men]. Expressing source / origin and emphatic by position; "a man taken from his fellow men and on their behalf", Cassirer.

kaqistatai (kaqisthmi) pres. pas. "appointed" - established, ordained, authorised. Passive followed by an accusative of respect. The context of the book of Hebrews shows us that the Rhetor is thinking specifically of the appointment of the high priest to offer special sacrifices for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement. So, the prime function of a high priest is "to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." Through his high-priestly service, Jesus maintains our relationship with God; he "represents" us in the matter of our weaknesses / sins.

uJper + gen. "to represent" - for, on behalf of [men]. Representation; "on behalf of the people."

proV + acc. "towards [God]" - [things] towards [god]. Here expressing reference / respect; "with respect to the things pertaining to God"

iJna + subj. "to" - that [he may offer gifts and sacrifices. Introducing final clause expressing purpose; "in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." It is possibly that the hina clause is epexegetic, specifying "appointed", "namely, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins". The construction te kai gives the sense "both gifts and sacrifices", serving to draw a distinction between the two, so not "gifts, that is, sacrifices". "Gifts" tends to refer to offerings which do not involve the shedding of blood. Together these offerings are "on behalf of sin".

uJper + gen. "for" - on behalf of [sins]. Representation; "on behalf of sin" = "for the removal of sins."

ii] The characteristics of a high priest - identification, v2-3. The second characteristic of a high priest is his identification with sinners. A high priest acts with moderation, he restrains his judgments towards those he serves, because he shares the same weakness that they share, ie., he is a sinner just like them. This is why the earthly high priest must make a sin offering for himself as well as the people.

Of course, at this point Jesus doesn't align with the high priests who came before him. Although Jesus identifies with us due to his incarnation, his empathy is related to his humanness, not his sinfulness. Jesus also doesn't identify with them in relation to their competence. Jesus can deal with all sin, whereas those who came before could only deal with unintentional sin.

dunamenoV (dunamai) pres. pas. part. "He is able" - being able. As for "being chosen", v1, this participle is taken by the NIV as a predicate nominative, asserting a second fact about the "high priest". Again, it could be attributive, "who is able to deal gently", or even adverbial, final, expressing purpose, "so that he can deal gently ...."

metriopaqein (metrioaqew) pres. inf. "to deal gently with" - to have compassion on, moderate emotions, act with consideration towards, deal gently with. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "is able". An earthly high priest can act with moderation because he stands where the people stand, he is a sinner, just like them.

toiV aJgnoousin dat. pres. part. "those who are ignorant" - to the ones being ignorant [and going astray]. The participle, along with the participle "going astray", serves as a substantive, dative of direct object after the meta prefix infinitive "to deal gently with", which takes a dative of persons / association. The two participles together are possibly a hendiadys, so Bruce, serving to identify unintentional sins. The high priest can only deal with certain types of sin. He can only offer sacrifices for those who "go astray through their ignorance" - unintentional sin. The sacrificial system could not cope with deliberate or defiant covenant violation / rejection, Num.15:28-30.

Yet, this is probably not the point the Rhetor is making. The verb planaw, "to go astray", is used of rebellion against God, of wilful idolatry, so the two participles are likely referring to the two types of sin that the high priest has to deal with, unintentional and intentional. As the audience well knows, no Levitical sacrifice can wash away intentional sin, all you can do is throw yourself on the mercy of God. This exposes a major difference between Christ's unique order of high-priestly service and the service of those who came before; Christ can deal with intentional sin.

This issue is related, although not the same as unforgivable sin. The Rhetor is well aware of the sin of trampling Christ underfoot, of neglecting so great a salvation, of crucifying Jesus again, cf., 10:29, 6:6, 2:3. This is not intentional sin as such, it is full-on rebellion. The unforgivable sin of Covenant rejection amounts to the rejection / denial of Christ (sin against the Holy Spirit), and such is unforgivable.

epei "since" - since, because [he and = also concerning him = himself]. Introducing a causal clause, "because he himself is clothed in weakness", Barclay.

perikeitai (perikeimai) pres. "is subject" - is bound by, surrounded by [weakness]. "Is beset with weakness", ESV.

kai "-" - and. The intended use of this conjunction here is unclear. Logical development, explanatory, is the intent of this verse, so possibly a wJste kai sense is intended, inferential, "accordingly". Due to human weakness, his inherent sinfulness, the high priest is bound to offer sacrifices for himself as well as the people.

di (dia) + acc. "[This] is why" - because of [it]. Causal, introducing a causal clause. "It / this" is the high priest's own sin, ie., "since he himself is subject to weaknesses", v2. "For this reason", Berkeley.

ofeilei (ofeilw) pres. "he has to" - he is obligated [as (kaqwV, comparative) concerning (peri, reference) the people, thus / so (ou{twV, inferential) also (kai, adjunctive) concerning himself]". "for his own sins" is emphatic by position. Probably referring to the separate Day of Atonement sacrifice for the priest and the people.

prosferein (prosferw) pres. inf. "to offer" - to offer, bring (as in/for a sacrifice). The infinitive is usually classified as complementary, but it may also be taken to introduce an object clause / dependent statement of perception / cause expressing in what sense he is obligated, namely, "to offer (sacrifices) for sins."

peri + gen. "for" - for [sins]. Here instead of uJper + gen., expressing advantage; "on behalf of."

iii] The position of a high priest - authorised by God, v4. The final characteristic of the high priest is that he is called / appointed by God. The Rhetor could have, at this point, outlined how the choice of high priest in Israel had turned into a political appointment and had been virtually invalid since the monarchy, so enhancing Christ's superior priesthood. The audience would probably be making that comparison themselves. None-the-less, the Rhetor is more interested in making the point that Christ's appointment as high priest aligns with the Biblical pattern of divine appointment.

eJautw/ dat. pro. "on himself" - [and not certain = anyone] to himself [takes the = this honour]. Dative of interest, advantage; "And no one takes this honour for himself."

alla "but" - but, Strong adversative standing in a counterpoint construction, "not ...., but ..."; "the honourable office which he holds is not one a man just takes for himself. No, he is called to it by God", Cassirer.

kaloumenoV (kalew) pres. pas. part. "he must be called / when called" - he receives this honour being called. If we assume the ellipsis "he receives this honour", then the participle is probably adverbial, temporal, "he receives it when he is called", so Alford, NIVII, or instrumental, expressing means, "by being called / by his call", so Harris. NIV73 takes the participle as a predicate nominative with "high priest" assumed, so asserting a fact about the high priest, "he is called" = "he must be called". Not "called" in the sense of "invited", but in the sense of "appointed by divine authority."

uJpo + gen. "by" - by [god]. Expressing agency; "by God."

kaqwsper "just as" - just as. Comparative conjunction.

kai "-" - also" - and [aaron]. Adverbial, adjunctive; "just as also Aaron."

Hebrews Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

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