Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should se…
Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with…
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned…
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,…
Mark 8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
Luke 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
John 6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 5:10–end
Here the apostle returns to what he had in Heb 5:6 cited out of Psa 110:1-7, concerning the peculiar order of the priesthood of Christ, that is, the order of Melchisedec. And here,
I. He declares he had many things which he could say to them concerning this mysterious person called Melchisedec, whose priesthood was eternal, and therefore the salvation procured thereby should be eternal also. We have a more particular account of this Melchisedec in ch. 7. Some think the things which the apostle means, that were hard to be uttered, were not so much concerning Melchisedec himself as concerning Christ, of whom Melchisedec was the type. And doubtless this apostle had many things to say concerning…
Here he digresses to complain of the low spiritual attainments of the Palestinian Christians and to warn them of the danger of falling from light once enjoyed; at the same time encouraging them by God's faithfulness to persevere. At Heb 6:20 he resumes the comparison of Christ to Melchisedec.
hard to be uttered--rather as Greek, "hard of interpretation to speak." Hard for me to state intelligibly to you owing to your dulness about spiritual things. Hence, instead of saying many things, he writes in comparatively few words (Heb 13:22). In the "we," Paul, as usual, includes Timothy with himself in addressing them.
ye are--Greek, "ye have become dull" (the Greek, by derivation, means hard t…
Of whom we have many things to say - The words περι οὑ, which we translate of whom, are variously applied:
1. To Melchisedec;
2. To Christ;
3. To the endless priesthood.
Those who understand the place of Melchisedec, suppose that it is in reference to this that the apostle resumes the subject in the seventh chapter, where much more is said on this subject, though not very difficult of comprehension; and indeed it is not to be supposed that the Hebrews could be more capable of understanding the subject when the apostle wrote the seventh chapter than they were when, a few hours before, he had written the fifth. It is more likely, therefore, that the words are to be understood as meaning Jesus…
The Church Fathers
What was the subject-matter which led the apostle to write such (words)? The inexperience of a new and just rising Church, which he was rearing, to wit, "with milk," not yet with the "solid food" of stronger doctrine; inexperience so great, that that infancy of faith prevented them from yet knowing what they were to do in regard of carnal and sexual necessity.
To those still lacking perfect faith the heralds of the truth propose only things to do with the humanity. This is the way followed by blessed Peter in addressing Jews. He accommodated his teaching to the limitations of the listeners, saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God," and so on in keeping with this theme. The divinely inspired Paul in proposing the message to the Athenians called Christ the Lord not God but a man.
"Concerning this Christ, there is much to say and it is hard to explain." He says it is because of you, that you are sluggish, and you do not grasp the more perfect things about Him. For having spoken so many humble things about the incarnation, he wished to move on to the divine matters. Therefore, because of your cause, he says, that you are sluggish and do not allow for the perfect things, the word concerning how Christ is a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek is hard to explain. And because you do not understand, for this reason I am not able to interpret it well. "since you have become sluggish." Trials and tribulations, he says, have made you sluggish, and you are not able to listen perfectly to the words.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Mysteries · OF RE — OF RE
Priest · .Melchize — .Melchize
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Of whom we have many things to say,.... Either of Melchizedek, or of Christ, or of his priesthood or of all of these; since the apostle does largely treat of them in the following chapters: he says many things concerning Melchizedek in the seventh chapter, and many things of Christ, and his priesthood, in those that follow; Christ is a large and inexhaustible subject in the Gospel ministry, and what a Gospel minister delights to dwell on; and it is a fund and stock from whence he is furnished with things of the greatest usefulness, and of the utmost importance:
and hard to be uttered; as were many things respecting Melchizedek, mentioned in Hebrews 7:3 and also concerning Christ, and his pr…
Hebrews 5:7-11
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;
7. Qui in diebus carnis suae, quum et precationes et supplicationes obtulisset cum clamore valido et lachrymis ei qui poterat eum ex morte servare, et exauditus esset ex suo metu:
8. Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
8. Tametsi Filius erat, didicit ex iis quae passus est, obedientiam;
9. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
9. Et sanctificatus omnibus qui illi obediunt, factus fuit…
After beginning to discuss Jesus’ appointment as High Priest (5:1-10), the author confronts his audience with a series of exhortations (5:11–6:20). Such a shift in a sermon or discourse was meant to focus the hearers’ attention.
5:11–6:3 This exhortation deals with the recipients’ spiritual lethargy.
5:11 spiritually dull: The Greek term means “sluggish, dimwitted, negligent, lazy.”
