Passage

Hebrews 5.8

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. as he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. 7. Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,

8. though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;

and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation; 10. named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 7. He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,

8. though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, 10. named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 7. 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; ^{in that: or, for his piety}

8. 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; 10. Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 5:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. as also in another [place] He saith, 'Thou [art] a priest, to the age, according to the order of Melchisedek;' 7. who in the days of his flesh both prayers and supplications unto Him who was able to save him from death, with strong crying and tears, having offered up, and having been heard in respect to that which he feared,

8. through being a Son, did learn by the things which he suffered, the obedience,

and having been made perfect, he did become to all those obeying him a cause of salvation age-during, 10. having been addressed by God a chief priest, according to the order of Melchisedek, (Hebrews 5:6-10, 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

Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

The verse has troubled readers since antiquity, and the trouble is worth facing rather than smoothing.

Though he was a Son concedes the tension the author knows his sentence creates. Sonship in this letter carries divine status, and learning implies a prior lack. The Greek has a wordplay the English cannot carry: emathen (learned) against epathen (suffered).

The orthodox reading distinguishes what is learned from what is acquired. The Son did not move from disobedience to obedience, since 4:15 has him without sin. What he came to have was obedience under the conditions of suffering, which is knowledge by experience rather than by information, and which he could not have possessed apart from the incarnation because there is nothing in the divine life to obey. Learning of that kind implies no moral defect, only a real humanity in real circumstances.

Verse 9 completes the thought: having been made perfect, where teleiotheis means brought to completion or to the goal, not morally improved. The same verb describes the consecration of a priest in the Septuagint, which fits the passage's argument exactly.

The pastoral consequence is the one 4:15 draws. The sympathy of this high priest is not condescension from outside the experience.

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.

G5218 - hypakoe, hypakoe, Strong's G5218
G5207 - huios, huios, Strong's G5207

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Hebrews 5

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.