Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Hebrews
Chapter 5: A Priest After the Order of Melchizedek
Having named Jesus our great High Priest, the writer now shows that He truly qualifies. A high priest must be able to deal gently with sinners and must be called by God, not self-appointed. Christ meets both: God Himself appointed Him a priest "for ever after the order of Melchisedec," and in "the days of his flesh" He entered so fully into our weakness that He offered prayers "with strong crying and tears," and "learned obedience by the things which he suffered." Then a gentle rebuke: the readers should be teachers by now, but have grown "dull of hearing."
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Hebrews chapter 5. For each verse or natural group you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, the Old Testament passage being quoted and how the writer applies it, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus where the text touches the deity of Jesus Christ and the oneness of God. Hebrews 5 shows both the true humanity of our High Priest, who prayed and suffered as one of us, and His divine appointment by God to an eternal priesthood. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Taken from Among Men
A high priest must share humanity to deal gently with sinners, and must be "called of God," not self-appointed. Christ meets both requirements perfectly.
Called by God
Christ did not seize the office; "he that said unto him, Thou art my Son" also called Him "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
Prayers and Tears
In genuine humanity He prayed "with strong crying and tears" and "learned obedience by the things which he suffered," becoming "the author of eternal salvation."
Dull of Hearing
The readers should be teachers, but need "milk" again. Maturity comes to those who use the word until their "senses" are "exercised to discern both good and evil."
Called of God, as Was Aaron (Hebrews 5:1-6)
A true high priest needs two things: sympathy with sinners and a divine call. The writer lays out the pattern in the old priesthood, then shows that Christ satisfies it, appointed by God to an eternal order.
The Marks of a High Priest
"For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron."
Greek Study
"have compassion," metriopatheō (μετριοπαθέω). To deal gently, to moderate one's feelings, to bear patiently with the failings of others rather than flaring in anger. A true priest handles sinners with measured gentleness, not harshness.
Explanation
The writer lays out what a high priest is and does. He is "taken from among men," a fellow human, "ordained for men in things pertaining to God," to represent them before God and "offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Because he shares human weakness ("compassed with infirmity"), he can "have compassion on the ignorant." The old priests were so bound up with human frailty that they had to offer sacrifices for their own sins too. And crucially, "no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." The priesthood is not a career to grasp but a calling to receive; God appoints His priests.
Gospel Focus
Every mark of a true high priest here points straight to Jesus. He was "taken from among men" — real humanity; He "can have compassion," for He too was "compassed with infirmity" (4:15); and He "taketh not this honour unto himself," but was called of God. Yet one line quietly sets Him above Aaron: the earthly priest must offer "for himself" because of his own sin, while our sinless High Priest offers only for us. So the pattern of the priesthood is both met and surpassed in Christ — for the one God, in order to be our Priest, first became one of us.
A Priest Forever
"So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
Old Testament Source
Two psalms are joined. "Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee" is Psalm 2:7, already quoted in chapter 1 of the Son's unique standing. "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" is Psalm 110:4, from the same psalm whose first verse ("Sit thou at my right hand") the New Testament quotes most often. God, in these psalms, both declares the Son and appoints Him an eternal priest of a different order than Aaron's.
Greek Study
"order," taxis (τάξις). A rank or arrangement — a whole different class of priesthood. Christ is not a priest of Aaron's line at all but "after the order of Melchisedec" (Hebrew Malki-tsedeq, "king of righteousness"), a priesthood traced not through descent but through the direct word of God. And it is "for ever" (eis ton aiōna) — where Aaron's priests died and were replaced, this one never ends.
Explanation
Christ's priesthood rests on two divine declarations, not on His own ambition. The same God who said, "Thou art my Son" (Psalm 2:7) also declared, in Psalm 110:4, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Sonship and priesthood are both given, both spoken by God. And by reaching back to Melchisedec — a priest-king who blessed Abraham centuries before Levi was born — the writer signals a priesthood older, higher, and permanent, one not bound to Aaron's line at all. This single word "Melchisedec" is the seed the whole argument of chapter 7 will unfold.
Gospel Focus
"Christ glorified not himself." Even the Son did not seize the priestly honor; it was given Him by God. This is not because the Son is a lesser being, but because in becoming our High Priest He took the role of the sent and the appointed one, the Servant. The same God who says "Thou art my Son" also says "Thou art a priest for ever." And that priesthood is "after the order of Melchisedec," not Aaron, a priesthood without beginning of days or end, eternal. So our High Priest is not one in a line of dying men who must be replaced, but the eternal One, God manifest in flesh, who lives forever to represent us. The next verses will show how fully He entered our humanity to do it.
The Obedient Son and the Dull Hearers (Hebrews 5:7-14)
In His genuine humanity the Son prayed, suffered, and learned obedience, becoming the source of eternal salvation. Then the writer breaks off to rebuke his readers, who have grown too dull to receive the deeper truths.
He Learned Obedience
"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec."
Greek Study
"learned," emathen (ἔμαθεν). Learned by experience. The Son did not learn to obey as one who had been disobedient, but came to know obedience experientially by living it through suffering, tasting in His humanity what obedience costs.
"author," aitios (αἴτιος). The cause, source, or origin of a thing. Christ is the aitios, the very source, of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.
Explanation
"In the days of his flesh" points to Jesus' earthly life, and especially to Gethsemane, where He "offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears." He prayed to the One "able to save him from death," and "was heard in that he feared", that is, His reverent submission was heard, and He was brought through death in resurrection. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." The eternal God, having taken flesh, walked the human road of obedience and learned it by experience through suffering. "Being made perfect", brought to the appointed goal, not morally improved, He "became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." His obedience is the source of ours.
Gospel Focus
These verses guard a precious truth: the incarnation was real. "In the days of his flesh," the one God, having truly become man in Jesus, prayed with tears, felt the horror of death, and learned obedience by suffering. How can God, who cannot be improved, "learn" obedience? Only by taking a genuine human nature and living out a real human obedience within it. This is not a second divine person praying to a first; it is the one God, in the humanity He assumed, offering prayers to the God able to save Him, submitting reverently, and being brought through death. The Son who prayed in Gethsemane is the same LORD who upholds all things; He entered our weakness so completely that He wept and cried out, and in that very humanity became "the author of eternal salvation." God did not save us from a distance; He came near enough to weep.
Milk or Strong Meat
"Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Greek Study
"dull," nōthros (νωθρός). Sluggish, slow, lazy in mind. Not that they could not understand, but that they had grown spiritually slow and inattentive.
"exercised," gegymnasmena (γεγυμνασμένα). Trained like an athlete (from the word behind "gymnasium"). Discernment is not a gift dropped from the sky but a faculty developed by constant use of the word.
Explanation
The writer wants to teach the deep truths of Melchizedek's priesthood, but he pauses because his readers are "dull of hearing." Their problem is not intelligence but sluggishness; by now they "ought to be teachers," yet they need to be retaught "the first principles of the oracles of God." They still need "milk," the basics, and cannot handle "strong meat," the solid teaching of mature believers. And he names how maturity comes: "by reason of use," by exercising their spiritual senses on the word until they can "discern both good and evil." Growth is not automatic with the passing of time; it comes from actively using and obeying the truth. A believer who never exercises what he knows stays a babe.
Gospel Focus
The rebuke is meant to move us forward, not to shame us into paralysis. These readers "ought to be teachers," yet still need "milk." Maturity, the writer says, belongs to those who "by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" — spiritual growth comes by using what we know, not merely hearing it. And the deep truth he is straining to teach them — the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ — is "strong meat," reserved for hearts that press on. The remedy for dullness is not less of Christ but more: to grow up into the fuller knowledge of our great High Priest, and refuse to stay a babe.
Chapter 5 in Review
Hebrews 5 shows that Christ truly qualifies as our High Priest. A high priest must sympathize with sinners and be "called of God, as was Aaron." Christ did not glorify Himself, but was appointed by the One who said, "Thou art my Son," and, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." And He entered our humanity so fully that "in the days of his flesh" He prayed "with strong crying and tears," and "though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered," becoming "the author of eternal salvation." The writer then rebukes his readers for being "dull of hearing," needing "milk" when they should be teaching.
For the Apostolic reader the treasure of this chapter is its unflinching picture of the incarnation. The eternal Son, God manifest in flesh, truly prayed, wept, feared death, and learned obedience through suffering in the humanity He took. This is no second God praying to a first; it is the one God, having become man, living out a real human life of reverent submission, so that He might become our sympathetic and eternal High Priest. And He is called to an eternal order, "after Melchisedec," not a dying line. So we have a Saviour who both came near enough to weep with us and is exalted enough to save us forever, and we are called to grow up into Him, not staying babes but exercising our senses on the word until we are of full age.
- A high priest must sympathize with sinners and be "called of God," not self-appointed (5:1-4).
- God appointed Christ "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" (5:6).
- "In the days of his flesh" the Son prayed "with strong crying and tears" (5:7).
- "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (5:8).
- Maturity comes to those who "by reason of use" exercise their senses on the word (5:14).
Questions for Reflection
- How does it comfort you that your High Priest prayed "with strong crying and tears"?
- What does it mean that the Son "learned obedience" in His genuine humanity?
- Are you still living on "milk," or growing into "strong meat" by using the word?
- Are your spiritual "senses" being exercised to discern good and evil, or growing dull?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Old Testament passages cited by Hebrews 5 are listed below so every quotation can be checked in its original setting.
- "Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee": Psalm 2:7 (compare Hebrews 1:5).
- "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek": Psalm 110:4.
- The call of Aaron to the priesthood: Exodus 28:1; Numbers 16-17.
- Supporting texts on Christ's prayers and obedience: Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:41-44; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 2:17-18; John 12:27.