Passage

Hebrews 5.14

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. 13. For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.

14. But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14, ASV)

WEB

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. (Hebrews 5:12-14, WEB)

KJV

12. 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. 13. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. ^{is unskillful: Gr. hath no experience}

14. 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. ^{of full age: or, perfect} ^{use: or, an habit, or, perfection} (Hebrews 5:12-14, KJV)

YLT

12. for even owing to be teachers, because of the time, again ye have need that one teach you what [are] the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God, and ye have become having need of milk, and not of strong food, 13. for every one who is partaking of milk [is] unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant,

14. and of perfect men is the strong food, who because of the use are having the senses exercised, unto the discernment both of good and of evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the anonymous author of Hebrews. Pauline authorship was doubted in antiquity and Origen concluded that who wrote it, God knows
Audience: Jewish believers under pressure to fall back from Christ into the older covenant observances
Location: unknown; the closing greeting from those of Italy (13:24) points in two directions at once
Time period: most likely before AD 70, since the sacrificial system is discussed as still operating

Theological reading

But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

The verse closes the rebuke that begins at verse 11 and it is the New Testament's clearest statement of how discernment is acquired.

Three terms do the work. Teleion, fullgrown or mature, the same root as the perfecting language at verse 9. Hexin, translated by reason of use, meaning a settled habit formed by repetition. And gegymnasmena, exercised, from the root behind gymnasium, the vocabulary of athletic training.

Put together, the claim is that the faculty for distinguishing good from evil is trained rather than granted. It is not an endowment received at conversion, not a spiritual gift distributed to some, and not a function of raw intelligence. It is the product of repeated practice in making judgments, the way a trained sense distinguishes what an untrained one cannot. This verse is the anchor for G1253 - diakrisis and for Christian Discernment.

The rebuke that precedes it is aimed at arrested development rather than at moral failure: by this time they ought to be teachers and instead need someone to teach them the rudiments again. The remedy implied is not exhortation but exercise.

The milk-and-meat image has been much abused as a way of ranking Christians. In context it diagnoses a condition and prescribes training out of it.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G1253 - diakrisis, diakrisis, Strong's G1253
G5046 - teleios, teleios, Strong's G5046
G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.