SIL Translator’s Notes on Hebrews 5:5

Paragraph 5:5–10

After the author described the call and duties of a high priest of Israel in 5:1–4, he applied this description to Jesus Christ in 5:5–10.

5:5a

So also Christ: Here the phrase So also introduces a comparison. It means “in the same way also.” It links 5:4 with 5:5: No one can claim the honor of being high priest unless God calls him (5:4). In the same way, Christ also did not take that honor for himself. He became high priest because God called him.

Some other ways to introduce the comparison are:

That is how it was with Christ (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
In the same way, Christ (Good News Translation)
-or-
Likewise also Christ

Introduce this comparison in a natural way in your language.

Christ: For information about how to translate Christ, see the note on “Christ” in 3:6a.

did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest: The phrase did not take upon Himself indicates that Christ did not take the glory of being a high priest on himself. He was not the one who decided that he should be the high priest. As 5:5b indicates, it was God who appointed him.

Some other ways to translate this meaning are:

did not choose himself for the honorable work of being high priest
-or-
did not decide on his own to take the privilege of being high priest
-or-
did not become the high priest by appointing himself for that honor

5:5b

but He was called by the One who said to Him: This part of the verse is more literally, “but the one who said to him.” The word but implies a contrast with 5:5a (“Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest”). It implies that someone else glorified him and made him high priest. That person was God. The Berean Standard Bible supplies the passive phrase was called by to imply that.

Some other ways to translate the contrast with 5:5a are:

Refer to God giving Christ the glory of being high priest. This option supplies the contrast with “did not take upon Himself the glorify” in 5:5a. For example:

Instead, the glory was given to him by God, who said (God’s Word)
-or-
it was God who gave him the honor of being the high priest

Refer to God calling, appointing, or choosing Christ. This option supplies the comparison with “be called” in 5:4. For example:

but God chose him (New Century Version)
-or-
he was appointed/called by God

Refer to God telling Christ. This option is a more literal translation of the Greek text. For example:

It was God who told him (Contemporary English Version)

Use a natural option in your language.

who said to Him: The phrase who said to Him introduces a quotation from Psalm 2:7. The author also quoted this same verse in 1:5. Here it implies that when God said this, he was appointing Jesus to be the high priest. Some other ways to introduce the quotation are:

God said to him (New Century Version)
-or-
God who declared to him

5:5c–d

Here in 5:5c–d the author quoted from Psalm 2, just as he did in 1:5. Scholars call Psalm 2 a “messianic psalm” or a “royal psalm,” because it refers to the Messiah whom God promised to send as king. God fulfilled these promises when Christ came to the earth many years later. Remember that the words “Christ” and “Messiah” have the same meaning. Translate this quotation in the same way as you did in 1:5.

You are My Son; today I have become Your Father: Christ has always been God’s Son, so this quotation does not refer to his birth. It refers to the time when God gave him glory as his Son. In the context it also specifically implies the honor of being the high priest for God’s people. Translate the quotation in the same way as you did in 1:5b–c. For more information, see the notes on 1:5b–c.

You…Your: The pronouns You and Your are singular and refer to Christ, the Son.

I: The pronoun I refers to God.

© 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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