Art Toombs Ministries
Online Bible Commentary
The Priesthood of God
Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.(NKJV)
The early church claimed the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews. Luke, Paul’s amanuensis in his final days, was believed to have translated the letter into Greek by Clement of Alexandria.
The Book of Hebrews is divided into two main subjects. The first part refers to the superiority of Christ (1:1-10:18) and the second part refers to exhortations to obedient living (10:19-13:25).
Previously in this letter we have seen that Christ is superior to the prophets, the angels, mankind, Moses, Joshua, and Aaron. Aaron was the brother of Moses and the first high priest to the Israelites.
In the section from 4:14-7:28 Paul claims the superiority of Christ over the high priests, including Aaron. In this passage he gives the qualifications of a high priest.
When God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, He also started a human priesthood. This priesthood was God’s way of allowing men to come before Him. The priest would be man’s representative before God.
God decreed that priests would come from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, the tribe of Levi was not given their own land during the distribution of the Promised Land among the tribes of Israel.
Only eleven of the twelve tribes actually received their own territory. The Levites were populated throughout the various tribes so that each territory would have their own priests to represent them.
The priests were given land and a home. They were supported through sacrifices and offerings from the people they represented.
Aaron, brother of Moses and the great grandson of Levi, was appointed the first priest (Ex. 28:1). Therefore, the order of the priesthood was known as the Levitical or Aaronic priesthood.
Paul begins this passage by writing “For every high priest taken from among men” (v. 1a). The first qualification of the high priest was that he should be “selected from among men” (v. 1a). In other words, he had to be a man.
Paul continues with “is appointed for men in things pertaining to God” (v. 1b). His main function was to represent men before God.
Paul continues with “that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins” (v. 1c). Much of his time was spent in offering “gifts and sacrifices (to God) for sins” on behalf of men.
Next, Paul writes “He can have compassion” (v. 2a). The second qualification for high priests was to “deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray”.
The Greek word translated “compassion” is the word “metriopathein”, which means “to moderate passions”, hence the form of the word “pathos” in the Greek. The word was used in Aristotelian tradition to mean to moderate passions, so as to avoid extremes. The high priest was to remain calm and compassionate.
Paul continues by writing “on those who are ignorant” (v. 2b). The Greek word translated “ignorant” is the word “agnoousian”. Think agnostic. It is one who has no knowledge of a particular subject.
Paul continues with “and going astray“ (v. 2c). The Greek word translated “going astray” is the word “planomenois”, which means “to wander”, to sin.
The meaning is that high priests should remain calm and compassionate when counseling those who sin out of lack of knowledge. In Old Testament times sacrifices were only able to absolve unintentional sins. There was no forgiveness for intentional sin.
Paul continues with “since he himself is also subject to weakness” (v. 2d). The high priest is to remain calm and compassionate with these people because “he himself is also subject to weakness”, sin.
Next, Paul writes “Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins (v. 3). So, he was required to offer sacrifices for himself, as well as for the people he represents.
The Greek word translated “he is required” is the word “otheilei” which means “ought to”. This carries the meaning of being morally bound to offer sacrifices, in order to fulfill his office as high priest.
Verse three gives an example of a figure of speech called an “ellipsis”. It means that a word has been omitted that does not change the meaning of the sentence. It is done so as to give greater emphasis to the rest of the sentence.
In this case, a second “sacrifice” is omitted in the first part of the verse. It would have read “as well as (sacrifices) for the sins of the people”, but the writer wanted to emphasize that the action was for the sins of the people, and did not want to emphasize the sacrifice itself.
Next, Paul writes “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was” (v. 4). The third qualification for the priesthood was to be appointed, or “called”, by God, like Aaron.
It was an “honor” to be in the priesthood. Men could not just choose the priesthood as a vocation.
Also, they could not be appointed by a non representative of God. Years before, King Herod the Great had appointed men of the upper class in Jerusalem as priests. They were not qualified to be priests, because they were appointed by the state and not by God.
In summary, the qualifications for priests were that they were to be men, they were to be calm and compassionate, and they were to be called by God. They represented men before God.
But Jesus came and changed all that. He became the Great High Priest that all men and women could go directly before without the need of an intermediary.
He represents us before Father God. His spirit lives within all Christians, in the form of the Holy Spirit.
We can talk to Him at any time. He wants that personal relationship with us. He is our very own personal High Priest.