Hebrews 5:8-14

5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. ¹  5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 5:10 and he was designated ²  by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek. ³ 

The Need to Move on to Maturity

5:11 On this topic we have much to say ⁴  and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish ⁵  in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, ⁶  you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. ⁷  You have gone back to needing ⁸  milk, not ⁹  solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

[5:8]  ¹ sn There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emaqen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epaqen).

[5:10]  ² tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.

[5:10]  ³ sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Or “dull.”

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “because of the time.”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א² A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B² C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.