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Christ has the characteristic of a High-Priest primarily by His capacity to sympathize with human weakness.
Heb_5:1-3
[Heb_5:1.— Ëáìâáíüìåíïò , not taken=who is taken, as if applying to that particular class of high-priests that are taken from among men, in antithesis to Christ; but being taken, as a universal and indispensable attribute of high-priests, viz., that they be taken from among men, and an attribute, therefore, which must be shared by Christ.— ὑðὲñ ἀíèñþðùõ , on behalf of men.
Heb_5:2.— ìåôñéïðáèåῖí , not exactly have compassion upon, but, “deal moderately, and hence tenderly with;” Moll, das richtige Mass im Mitleiden einhalten.— ôïῖò ἀãíïïῦóéí êáὶ ðëáíùìÝíïéò , on the ignorant and erring, or straying. The (Gr. Art. not repeated; hence both participles belong to the same subject.
Heb_5:3.— ὀöåßëåé , ought, i. e., is bound, is under obligation.— êáèþò , according as, marking equality of relations.—K.].
Heb_5:2. That he may offer—for sins—Although äῶñá denotes, Gen_4:4; Lev_1:2-3; bloody sacrifices, and èõóßáé , Gen_4:3; Gen_4:5; Exo_2:1; Deu_5:15, those which are bloodless, still the combination, äῶñÜ ôå êáὶ èõóßáé , points here, as Heb_8:3; Heb_9:9, to the well-known distinction between offerings made without bloodshed (expressed by äῶñá , gifts), and those which require the shedding of blood (expressed by èõóßáé , sacrifices). The words ðåñὶ ἁìáñôéῶí belong neither to èõóßáé alone (Grot., Beng., etc.), nor to both nouns conjointly, but to the verb ðñïóöÝñῃ , indicating that the high-priestly offerings in question—for those of priests in general are not here referred to—in which may be included gifts, may be conceived as expiatory. The author is stating precisely the purpose of the high-priest’s religious ministry and mediation.
As one who can deal gently, etc.— Ìåôñéïðáèåῖí , is a term that past over (Diog. Laert. vit. phil. 5:31) from the School of the Peripatetics into general use, and which has a double contrast, on the one hand, with the ἀðÜèåéá , passionlessness, which the Stoics demanded of the wise man, and on the other, with excess of passion ( ðÜèïò ) in those who were passionately excited. It is commonly understood, in too narrow a sense, of moderation in anger, and of indulgence and gentleness toward the short-coming; for it applies, in general, to the preserving of the proper mean in our emotions, and hence in the case of sufferings denotes stead fastness. This quality was specially necessary for the high-priest; for all crimes, without distinction, could not be equally expiated by sacrifices. On the one hand, therefore, he must not allow himself to be moved by false sympathy to unwarranted offerings, nor, on the other, to be provoked by the constantly recurring demands for intercession and sacrifice, to impatience and hard-heartedness. Wilful and determined transgression of the law demanded even still the infliction of the appointed punishment. For sins that were committed áִּéַã øָîָä , with upraised hand, i.e, in a spirit of haughty violence and insolent defiance of the law of God, the offender was to be cut off from the congregation by death, Lev_4:13 ff.; Num_15:22 ff. Sins, on the other hand, which were committed in error ( áִּùְׁâָâָä ), so that in the moment of their commission there was but an indistinct consciousness of their nature, admitted expiation by sacrifice. The subject of expiation must then take the victim to be offered from his own possessions, and bring it to the priest who put it to death as a substitute for its owner, after previously ascertaining whether the offence in question fell under the above mentioned category. The expression, ôïῖò ἀãíïïῦóé êáὶ ðëáíùìÝíïéò , is, however, by no means to be restricted to men who have committed unwitting and involuntary offences; for, on the great day of Atonement, even sins which were not committed thus in error ( áִּùְׁâָâָä ), and which admitted in the course of the year no expiatory sacrifice, could, under the condition of repentance, receive expiation. Those persons, therefore, are intended, who, in distinction from the impious mockers at the law, disregarded, in their natural and hereditary sinfulness, the Divine will, and by yielding to temptation, fell into error.
Heb_5:3-4. Since he himself is compassed with infirmity—offerings for sin.— ἈóèÝíåéá is here, as at Heb_7:28, that native moral weakness with which man is encompassed not so much as by a garment (Lün.), as by light, or by the skin, so that he can in no condition of earthly life be conceived as separated from it. The classical form ðåñßêåéìáß ôé (found elsewhere in the New Testament only Act_28:20), expresses admirably this condition, so entirely independent of human will. Ὀöåßëåé points not exclusively to the legal requisition (Böhm., Hofm.), and not exclusively again to a moral necessity, which lies in the very nature of the case, as springing from the like state of infirmity, (Bl., Lün.). Both are blended in the conception of the author (Del.). For not only does the law take for granted (Lev_4:3-12) that the high-priest may also in the course of the year find himself under a necessity of offering sin offerings for himself, but on the great festival of atonement, the high-priest, after accomplishing the customary morning sacrifices, was obliged to lay aside the so-called golden garments, and in simple priest’s clothes, yet of Pelusian linen, descend from the bathing apartment into the inner fore-court, there lay his hands on the bullock that stood as a sin offering between the court of the temple and the altar of burnt offering, and offer intercessory prayers, first for himself and his house, then for the entire priesthood, and finally for all Israel; prayers which Del. in his history of Jewish poetry, p. 184, 185, has given and explained. The first prayer of intercession ran thus: O Jehovah, I and my house have trespassed, have done wickedly, have committed sin before Thee. O, in the name of Jehovah (according to another reading, O Jehovah) expiate, I pray Thee, the trespasses and the evil deeds and the sins where-with I have trespassed, and have sinned against Thee, I and my house, as written in the law of Moses Thy servant; “For on this day will he make an atonement for you, to cleanse you: from all your sins shall ye be clean before Jehovah,” (Lev_16:30). It was only as having himself received expiation that the high-priest could make atonement for the priesthood and the congregation according, to the principle: Let an innocent person come and make expiation for the guilty, and not a guilty person come and make expiation for the guiltless. ÐñïóöÝñåéí stands absolutely as at Luk_5:14; Num_7:18; comp. Reiche Comm. Crit. III. 35.
2. Among sacrifices, those which relate to the restoration of that fellowship of man with God, which sin has interrupted, are of the greatest importance; inasmuch as the religious life of the human race in its actual course turns upon, and as it were revolves about, the realization of the atonement, as about its central point in the mutual relations of sin and grace.
3. The institution of the priestly office therefore originates in the necessities of men who are to be reconciled to God. But for this reason again the priests themselves are taken from men, inasmuch as any genuine intercession with God requires that they know, from their own experience, the necessities of sinful men. But from this again it necessarily follows, that they are under obligation to offer expiatory sacrifices, not merely for others, but also for themselves, until the appearance of the sinless High-priest, Jesus Christ.
Starke:—An evangelical teacher, although he walks worthily of the Gospel, must still, in the proper estimate of his own weaknesses, deal with all sinners, in the midst of severity, with tender sympathy and love, by which he will find all the happier entrance into the consciences of his hearers (2Ti_2:24).—The priesthood is certainly to be respected, and they who are called to it are to be honored; but they are not to be too highly and sacredly regarded; for they are also encompassed with infirmity, and are obliged, in due order, to pray as well for the forgiveness of their own sins, as of those of others. (2Co_4:7).
Rieger:—God has, even from ancient times, foreshadowed the blessings and the consolations which we have to enjoy in a high-priest, and in the access to God, which is obtained by means of him. It is a feature of the good and gracious counsel of God, that He takes from the midst of men those whom He deems worthy of this calling and employment. For those who are taken, it is an admonition that, apart from that which their office assigns to them, they are in like circumstances with their brethren; and, for those whom they are to serve in their ministry, it is surely encouragement that to some in their midst, freedom to draw near to God has been thus largely opened.—Such a High-priest taken from among men, had thus no ground of self-complacency to exalt Himself above others; but rather to exercise a sympathizing and gentle spirit toward all, and to be well aware of the two abiding sources of sin, viz: ignorance and error.
Heubner:—The need of a priestly office manifests itself in all religions and among all nations. This should make us give attention to the genuine priest.—The office of priest is not instituted for his own sake, but for the sake of others. He is to be a leader of others to God, and his sacred service should be to him a pleasure.—A sympathizing heart, love, is the most indispensable quality of a priest. He is to know men, their weakness, their deficiency, and this should make him sympathizing and attentive; and he should reflect upon his own weakness, in order to become the more patient. Lowliness and self abasement make us sympathizing.
Footnotes:
Heb_5:1.—The lect. rec. äῶñÜ ôå êáß , has the sanction of Sin., A. C. D.*** E. K. L., and all the minusc.
Heb_5:3.—Instead of äéὰ ôáýôçí , should be read with Sin. A. B. C* D* 7, 80, äé ’ áὐôÞí . [This is intrinsically better, as the unemphatic áὐôÞí , it, suits better than ôáýôçí , this, with the incidental and parenthetical character of the verse.—K.].
Heb_5:3.—The lect. rec., ἑáõôïῦ , is found in Sin. A. C. D.*** E. K. L., and in nearly all the minusc.
Heb_5:3.—Instead of ὑðὲñ ἁìáñôéῶí , ðåñὶ ἁì . is, after Sin. A. B. C.* D.* 17, 31, 47, 73, 118, approved by Griesb., and received by Lach. and Tisch.