Hebrews 5

¹ For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

² The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness.

³ Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself.

⁴ Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.”

⁶ As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,

⁸ though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

⁹ Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,

¹⁰ named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

¹¹ About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.

¹² For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.

¹³ For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.

¹⁴ But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

Around Hebrews 5

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Hebrews 5 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The writer describes what a high priest is. He is taken from among people and appointed to act for them before God, offering gifts and sacrifices for sins. Because he is surrounded by weakness himself, he can deal gently with the ignorant and those who go astray. No one takes this honor for himself, and he must be called by God, as Aaron was.

Christ did not glorify himself to be made high priest either. God said to him, You are my Son, and in another place, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh he offered prayers and petitions “with strong crying and tears”, and though he was a Son, he learned obedience by what he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Then the writer stops short, and rebukes his readers. There is much to say about Melchizedek, but they have become dull of hearing. They should be teachers, yet they need someone to teach them again, for they “need milk, and not solid food.”

Background

The author sets out to show that Jesus is a priest of a different kind from Aaron’s line, using Psalm 2 and Psalm 110. Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14 and is taken up fully in the next chapters. The sharp rebuke to the readers shows that this is a pastoral letter to a community in danger of settling for less. The author is unknown, and the letter is usually dated to the first century. Christians have read the line about being made perfect in different ways.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 18 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes