Now should be understood in a temporal sense; it is not a conjunction to show some kind of connection in thought.

Help is not the same word as in verse 16, but the meaning is the same.

The temptations of Jesus are mentioned here for the first time and then emphasized later. The same Greek word for tempted means both “tempt” (encourage to do wrong) and “test.” The first meaning is appropriate here, as it is in 4.15; the second is appropriate in 3.8-9 and in 11.17. The relation between tempting and suffering in this verse is not clear; the literal translation of tempted and suffered is “suffered, having been tempted (over a period).” Barclay takes the two closely together (“went through the ordeal of suffering”; Translator’s New Testament “tested by suffering”), but not all of Jesus’ temptations or testings were linked with suffering. Good News Translation is therefore probably right to join tempted and suffered, in that order, by and. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “what was demanded of him” tries to bring out the full meaning of “tempted-tested” in non-church language, although by whom is not expressed.

It is rare that one can combine in a single word the meaning of both “tempted” and “tested.” It is possible to translate those who are tempted as “those who are encouraged to do wrong” or, in the active form, “those whom the Devil encourages to do wrong.”

He himself was tempted may be expressed as “he himself was encouraged to do wrong,” but it is probably better to use a specific reference to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil; for example, “the Devil himself tried to get Jesus to do wrong.” In reference to the temptation of Jesus it is probably better to use an expression such as “tried to,” in order to indicate clearly that the Devil did not succeed in causing Jesus to sin.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .