Hebrews 5:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Blessed Paul now intends to show that this New Covenant is far better than the Old. He does this by developing his thoughts from afar. In the New Covenant there was nothing material or figurative. There was no temple, no holy of holies, no priest clothed in such ornaments, and no legal rites. Everything was higher and more perfect. There was nothing bodily, but all was spiritual. Since spiritual things do not act as powerfully on the weakest people as bodily things do, the apostle sets forth this whole teaching. Observe his wisdom. He begins with the first priest, constantly calling him high priest, and first shows in him the difference between the New and the Old Covenants. For this purpose he first defines what a priest is. He shows the qualities of a priest and the signs of priesthood.

"For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God." Paul now wishes to show that the New Covenant is far better than the Old. First of all, he begins to compare the priesthood of the Old Testament priests with the priesthood of Christ. He shows the great superiority of the latter. Yet an obstacle met him here. Much that ought to belong to priests did not belong to Christ. He did not come from the priestly tribe. He was not a priest on earth. He was not appointed by men. In short, the form of His priesthood had no bodily expression, such as bells and tablets with the commandments, which the Old Testament priests had. Everything was spiritual. Therefore Paul first lists what Christ has in common with the other high priests.

He is chosen from among men and appointed for men to the highest service of God, in order to offer Him gifts and sacrifices for sins. Gifts are offerings of inanimate things or objects, such as oil, bread, wine, grain, and wheat or barley flour. Sacrifices were clean and healthy animals presented for slaughter on the altar. Among the Hebrews, these sacrifices and gifts were brought to the tabernacle both for sins and as a sign of thanksgiving, every day and every evening. Special gifts and sacrifices were brought on feasts. For the most part, priests received these sacrifices and brought them before the tabernacle. But the hierarch offered them in special cases, at special solemnities, and on feasts.

After speaking of the type of the Sabbath, he turns to the proof that the priests of the people of Israel were also appointed as a type of the Son. For every high priest, he says, who is taken from among men, that is, chosen and anointed, is appointed before God on behalf of men. Through him the gifts of God are conveyed to them, and he offers before God gifts and sacrifices that were offered for their sins.

The Apostle said, "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our infirmities, but One tempted in all things according to our likeness. Yet without sin." Therefore he necessarily added this also, teaching that even according to the law it was not an angel who was appointed to minister as priest for men, but a man for men.

He has the same nature, is surrounded by the same passions, knows the weakness of nature, shows condescension to those who stumble, and gives a helping hand to those who sin. From his own qualities he also regards the qualities in his neighbor. Therefore it was also ordained for him to offer sacrifices not only for the people, but also for himself.

"For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God." "Chosen from among men for things pertaining to God," that is, as mediator before God. "That he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." "Gifts" meant what was offered to God through the high priest voluntarily, and not by requirement of the Law. A "sacrifice" meant what was fulfilled according to the prescription of the Law.

The hierarch proclaims the sacred name of the rank to which he consecrates a man, and the name of the one being consecrated. By this mystical action he shows that, as a God-loving sacred minister, he is only the herald of God's will. He does not raise those being consecrated to priestly ranks by his own grace. Rather, he is moved by God toward every hierarchic sanctification. Thus Moses, the sacred minister under the Law, did not raise Aaron to the rank of priesthood until he was moved from above. This was so although Aaron was his brother and seemed to him God-loving and worthy of the sacred rank. Only by the will of God, the source of sacred ministry, did Moses hierarchically accomplish the consecration to the sacred rank.

He describes the characteristics of the High Priest according to the law. "Every High Priest," he says, "is taken from among men," that is, he is not an angel, but one of men like other men. This is the first characteristic. He is appointed, that is, designated as High Priest, to offer gifts and sacrifices to God for sins. This is the second characteristic, namely mediation for the forgiveness of sins.

The ordinary features that characterize the ministry of human high priests are also present in Christ as the true High Priest. What are the features of every high priest chosen from among men (Heb 5:1-4)? First, he is appointed for men themselves in service to God. The chief work of this service is to offer gifts and sacrifices for the sins of men. Second, since he is beset with human weakness, he must naturally be inclined to show compassion to ignorant and erring people. Therefore he must offer sacrifices for sins not only for the people, but also for himself. Third, he must not receive the honor of the high priesthood from himself. He must receive it from God, as one called by Him, like Aaron.

In unfolding more fully the teaching that Christ is a wholly true and trustworthy High Priest, the apostle first marks the essential conditions required of anyone who undertook the service of high priest. For γάρ connects the following discussion with the exhortation in verse 16. These conditions are as follows. First, the high priest must necessarily be a man, a weak being subject to various infirmities. Therefore he must not only serve as a mechanical representative of humanity, offering bloodless and bloody sacrifices to God. At the same time, he must also show condescension and moderate his irritation, μετριοπαθεῖν, toward those who sin without obstinacy and conscious defiance. Compare Num 15:22-31 and Lev 4:2, 13-22.