FOR EVERY HIGH PRIEST TAKEN FROM AMONG MEN: Pas gar archiereus ex anthropon lambanomenos (PPPMSN): (Heb 10:11; Exodus 28:1-14; 29:1-37; Leviticus 8:2) (Heb 8:3) (Heb 2:17; Nu 16:46, 47, 48; 18:1, 2, 3) (Heb 8:3; 9:9; 10:11; 11:4; Leviticus 9:7,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)

OT PASSAGES QUOTED IN HEBREWS 5 - Click for complete list of OT Quotations/Allusions

He 5:5 <> Ps 2:7
He 5:6 <> Ps 110:4
He 5:10 <> Ps 110:4

KEY WORDS IN HEBREWS 5 - Click for complete list of Key Words in Hebrews

Eternal - He 5:9
Sacrifice - He 5:1, 3

Irving Jensen writes that...

The main theme of Hebrews may be stated thus: The knowledge and assurance of how great this High Priest Jesus is should lift the drifting believer from spiritual lethargy to vital Christian maturity. Stated another way: The antidote for backsliding is a growing personal knowledge of Jesus (He 2:1, He 2:3). (Jensen, I. L. Jensen's Survey of the New Testament: Search and discover. page 418. Chicago: Moody Press)

Bruce Wilkinson reminds us of the purpose of this epistle and the importance of this middle section (He 4:14-He 10:18) to unequivocally establish the greatness of Christ's priesthood...

Many Jewish believers, having stepped out of Judaism into Christianity, wanted to reverse their course in order to escape persecution by their countrymen. The writer of Hebrews exhorts them to “press on” to maturity in Christ (He 6:1). His appeal is based the superiority of Christ over the Judaic system. Christ is better than the angels, for they worship Him. He is better than Moses, for Moses was created by Him. He is better than the Aaronic priesthood, for His sacrifice was once for all time. He is better than the Law, for He mediates a better covenant. In short, there is more to be gained by suffering for Christ than by reverting to Judaism. Pressing on to maturity produces tested faith, self-discipline, and a visible love seen in good works. (Wilkinson, B., & Boa, K. 1983. Talk thru the Bible. Page 453. Nashville: T. Nelson)

Ryrie summarizes chapter 5...

The qualifications for high priest are stated in these verses, Aaron serving as the model:

(1) he had to be a man (Hebrews 5:1);

(2) he had to be compassionate (Hebrews 5:2);

(3) he had to be chosen by God (Hebrews 5:4, 5, 6);

(4) he had to learn through suffering (Hebrews 5:7, 8).

For every high priest - Each Levitical high priest had 3 essential qualifications according to our writer:

(1) He was appointed on men’s behalf to deal with the things concerning God and as such functioned as the link between God and man.

(2) The priest must be one with men and must have gone through men’s experiences so that his sympathy would be with them.

(3) No man appoints himself to the priesthood but his appointment is of God. The priesthood is not a coveted office to be taken but a glorious privilege to which one is called. This latter point is applicable to all believers today, for all have been made priests in Christ Jesus. It follows that their specific ministry to and for God should not be one they chose, but one they received from God.

High priest (749) (archiereus from arche = first in a series, the leader or ruler + hiereus = priest) (Dictionary articles - Easton's; ISBE) refers to the priest that was chief over all the other priests in Israel. This office was established by God through Moses instructions in the Pentateuch. The high priest functioned as the mediator between Jehovah and Israel performing sacrifices and rituals like other priests, but in addition acting to expiate the sins of the nation on the annual Day of Atonement.

The irony is that the high priest Caiaphas was residing over the Sanhedrin during trial of Jesus, the trial which would lead to His death and pave the way for His eternal High Priesthood!

Eerdman's Bible Dictionary explains that...

The high priest descended from Eleazar, the son of Aaron. The office was normally hereditary and was conferred upon an individual for life (Nu 25:10-13). The candidate was consecrated in a seven-day ceremony which included investiture with the special clothing of his office as well as anointments and sacrifices (Ex 29:1-37; Lev 8:5-35).

The high priest was bound to a higher degree of ritual purity than ordinary Levitical priests. He could have no contact with dead bodies, including those of his parents. Nor could he rend his clothing or allow his hair to grow out as signs of mourning. He could not marry a widow, divorced woman, or harlot, but only an Israelite virgin (Lev. 21:10-15). Any sin committed by the high priest brought guilt upon the entire nation and had to be countered by special sacrifice (Lev 4:1-12). Upon a high priest’s death manslayers were released from the cities of refuge (Nu 35:25, 28, 32).  (Eerdman's Bible Dictionary)

Archiereus occurs only in the Gospels (Matthew - 25 times, Mark 21 times, Luke 15 times, John 20 times, Acts 22 times and Hebrews - see below). The references to the high priests in the Gospels and Acts refers primarily to their bitter opposition to Jesus Who the writer of Hebrews identifies as our everlasting High Priest.

Clearly archiereus is a key word in the book of Hebrews, and a review of  these 17 verses reveals various characteristics (see underlined sections) of Jesus role as the great High Priest (some of the uses of high priest obviously do not refer to Jesus but to the Jewish high priests).

Hebrews 2:17 (note) Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 3:1 (note) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

Hebrews 4:14 (note) Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 4:15 (note) For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 5:1 (note) For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;

Hebrews 5:5 (note) So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee";

Hebrews 5:10 (note) being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:20 (note) where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:26 (note) For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

Hebrews 7:27 (note) who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 7:28 (note) For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

Hebrews 8:1 (note) Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

Hebrews 8:3 (note) For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

Hebrews 9:7 (note) but into the second only the high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

Hebrews 9:11 (note) But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

Hebrews 9:25 (note) nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own.

Hebrews 13:11 (note) For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.

Taken (2983) (lambano) means to take or grasp. It can indicate both benevolent and hostile actions, and have as object either people or things; e.g. take a wife, collect taxes, accept a verdict, take a road, and fig. take courage. It is used with a material subject, as when, for example, fear or terror seizes men.

The point is that the High Priest must be a man, a partaker of our nature.

In the time of the Romans, the office of High Priest had become corrupt and in fact was something that would go to the highest bidder. The term of office was also no longer for life, and thus there were often several persons living at one time who had borne the office and still retained the title of "high priest". It was into this religious morass that the writer explains to this Jewish readers the purity of the new order of the priesthood.

IS APPOINTED ON BEHALF OF MEN: huper anthropon kathistatai (3SPPI): (Heb 8:3) (Heb 2:17; Nu 16:46, 47, 48; 18:1, 2, 3)

Appointed (2525) (kathistemi [word study] from kata = down + histemi = stand) means literally to set down and then to assign to someone a position of authority over others. The passive voice indicates the High Priest did not do this himself.

Nu 16:46, 47, 48, 18:1, 2, 3, (same verb Heb 2:7) KJV = "ordained". He appointed by the Law according to Heb 7:28. Heb 5:1, 7:28, 8:3 Present is gnomic = that which is always true.

On behalf of (5228)  (huper) means for the sake of = marker of a participant who is benefited by an event or on whose behalf an event takes place. Priests formed a link/bridge between God and man.

Recall the dramatic OT illustration of the priest Aaron acting on behalf of men when God declared that He was going to consume the entire congregation of Israel instantly (Nu 16:45) because they had grumbled against Moses and Aaron ([Nu 16:41] the context = Korah's rebellion [Nu 16:1, 2, 3]) and his subsequent Divine destruction [Nu 16:30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 25] which seems to have been insufficient warning that God was serious!)....

Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!. Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. (Numbers 16:46, 47, 48)

Comment: Notice how Aaron "took his stand between the dead and the living", with the result being that the "plague was checked". Is this not but a shadow of our Great High Priest, Christ Jesus, Who has "taken His stand" on Calvary on our behalf, yea, even between "the dead (the unrepentant thief) and the living (the repentant thief"? All mankind stands on the edge of an eternal "plague" of the righteous wrath of a Holy God, and the only Hope is the atoning sacrifice of the Great High Priest Christ Jesus.

Adam Clarke: By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter (Nu 16:1-50), we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them. Reader, forget not the Lord who bought thee.

THE
UNAPPROACHABLE
GOD!

Under the Old Testament "economy", even after the covenants with Abraham (unconditional) and Moses (conditional), God was still unapproachable. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam sinned, God drove Adam and Eve out of paradise and thus began man's tragic punishment of no longer having direct access to the Creator’s presence (Ge 3:10,24). In the wilderness, the people were warned not to come too near Mt. Sinai, (Ex 19:16,21,22,23,24 Ex 20:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) and God's manifest presence. In the Tabernacle and in the Temple God was "hidden" from man in the Holy of holies behind a veil and could be approached only through the high priest (only the high priest having access once per year and even that requiring the shedding of blood - Lev 16:1-34, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17)

IN THINGS PERTAINING TO GOD IN ORDER TO OFFER BOTH GIFTS AND SACRIFICES FOR SINS: ta pros ton theon hina prosphere (3SPAS) dora te kai thusias huper hamartion: (Heb 8:3; 9:9; 10:11; 11:4; Lev 9:7,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)

Offer (4374) (prosphero from prós = to, toward + phéro = bring) means to carry or bring something into the presence of someone usually implying a transfer of something to that person carry to, bring (to). Thus prosphero describes an offering, whether of gifts, prayers, or sacrifices.

Repeated exactly in Heb 8:3 (offer both gifts & sacrifices). Prosphero occurs 19x/17v in Hebrews out of a total of 47 uses in NT and is never used in the Pauline epistles! Prosphero has its source in the sacrificial vocabulary of the LXX.

Gifts (1435) (doron from didomi = to give) means that which is given. The "gifts" offered were for thanksgiving, and the sacrifices were for repentance to seek forgiveness. Note that 5 of 18 NT uses of doron are in Hebrews (click uses)

Doron is also used to describe the offering box for placing one's gifts or offerings, Luke recording Jesus words regarding a poor widow compared the rich

for they (the rich) all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." (Lk 21:4)

Tradition taught there were 13 offering boxes in Temple and receptacles leading down to the boxes were made in the form of trumpets, so that sound of coins falling into boxes was conspicuous.

Sacrifices (2378) (thusia from thuo = to sacrifice) means that which is offered as a sacrifice. Webster's = act of offering to a deity something precious! Ponder that thought!

Lev 6:20 "This is the offering [LXX = doron] which Aaron and his sons are to present to the LORD on the day when he is anointed..." (Comment: The Septuagint (LXX) of Leviticus uses doron more than 40x's referring to offerings.)

Harry Ironside observes that...

The high priest was to present his brethren's gifts and sacrifices for sins. Note the distinction between gifts and sacrifices. On the cross our Lord presented the sacrifice for sins. In Heaven now, He offers our gifts of worship and praise. (Ironside Expository Commentary on Hebrews)

The primary function of the OT priest was to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. Sin disturbs the relationship which should exist between man and God and puts up a barrier between them and the sacrifice was meant to restore that relationship and remove that barrier. As discussed later in Hebrews, the Jewish priestly sacrifices only covered the transgressions of the people but could never make the worshipper perfect in conscience because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins and provide complete remission and forgiveness. As Harry Ironside alludes to, this efficacious work was carried out by a greater, perfect High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Octavius Winslow Devotional on Hebrews 5:1-2 -- Overlook not the fitness of the Lord Jesus to meet all the infirmities of His people. There are two touching and expressive passages bearing on this point. "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Wondrous view of the Incarnate God! That very infirmity, Christian reader, which now bogs you to the earth, by reason of which you can in no wise lift up yourself- your Savior bore. Is it sin? Is it sorrow? Is it sickness? Is it want? It bowed Him to the dust, and brought the crimson drops to His brow. And is this no consolation? Does it not make your infirmity even pleasant, to remember that Jesus once bore it, and in sympathy bears it still? The other passage is - "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." Touched with my infirmity! What a thought! I reveal my grief to my friend; I discern the emotions of his soul. I mark the trembling lip, the sympathizing look, the moistened eye-my friend is touched with my sorrow. But what is this sympathy-tender, soothing, grateful as it is-to the sympathy with which the great High Priest in heaven enters into my case, is moved with my grief, is touched with the feeling of my infirmity?

Let us learn more tenderly to sympathize with the infirmities of our brethren. "We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." Oh for more of this primitive Christianity! The infirmity of a Christian brother should by a heartfelt sympathy become in a measure our own. We ought to bear it. The rule of our conduct towards him should be the rule of our conduct towards our own selves. Who would feel bound or disposed to travel from house to house, proclaiming with trumpet tongue, and with evident satisfaction, his own weaknesses, failings, and infirmities? To God we may confess them, but no divine precept enjoins their confession to man. We unveil them to His eye, and He kindly and graciously veils them from all human eyes. Be this our spirit, and our conduct, towards a weak and erring brother. Let us rather part with our right hand than publish his infirmity to others, and thus wound the Head by an unkind and unholy exposure of the faults and frailties of a member of His body; and by so doing cause the enemies of Christ to blaspheme that worthy name by which we are called.

Honor and glorify the Spirit, who thus so graciously and so kindly sympathizes with our infirmities. Pay to Him divine worship, yield to Him divine homage; and let your unreserved obedience to His commands, your jealous regard for His honor, and your faithful hearkening to the gentle accents of His "still, small voice," manifest how deeply sensible you are of His love, His grace, and His faithfulness, in sympathizing with your sorrows, in supplying your need, and in making your burdens and infirmities all and entirely His own.

Nor let us forget that, so condescending is Jesus, He regards Himself as honored by the confidence which reposes our sorrows upon His heart. The infirmity which we bring to His grace, and the sin which we bring to His atonement, and the trials which we bring to His sympathy, unfold Jesus as He is-and so He is glorified. Consequently, the oftener we come, the more welcome we are, and the more precious does Jesus become.

HE CAN DEAL GENTLY WITH THE IGNORANT AND MISGUIDED,: metriopathein (PAN) dunamenos (PPPMSN) tois agnoousin (PAPMPD) kai planomenois (PPPMPD): (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15) (Numbers 15:22-29; 1Timothy 1:13) (Hebrews 12:13; Ex 32:8; Judges 2:17; Isaiah 30:11)

Sins of ignorance -- both accidental & sudden passion - as opposed to high-handed sins of presumption.

People who sinned "willingly" had no provision in the Levitical system.

Can (dunamai) describes inherent ability to do some task. The one who is taken or appointed to be a high priest is continuously able to deal with the ignorance and deception of those for whom he ministers.

Deal gently (metriopatheo from métrios= moderate + páthos = passion) means to be moderate in passion, and so to be gentle in one's attitude toward another; to treat with mildness or meekness; to hold one's emotions in restraint. To pity or feel for.

This word does not indicate that an earthly high priest is to pass over the sin of his fellow man without any regard at all. On the other hand he is not allow himself to be caught up in his passion and pity for the sinner but he is rather to have a controlled feeling of sympathy. This word metriopatheo stands in opposition to the Stoic word apathes which means “indifferent". Metriopatheo conveys a sense of balance between indifference and sentimental indulgence.

The idea of the verb metriopatheo is to be moderate or merciful toward, signifying not merely to showing compassion, but acting with mercy, bearing with each person according to his ignorance, weakness, and circumstances. On one hand it means to excuse as far as possible so as to be ready to pardon but when punishment is required, to administer it with gentleness.

Barclay explains that...

The priest must be bound up with men in the bundle of life. In connection with this he used a wonderful word—metriopathein. We have translated it to feel gently; but it is really untranslatable.

The Greeks defined a virtue as the mean between two extremes. On either hand there was an extreme into which a man might fall; in between there was the right way. So the Greeks defined metriopatheia (the corresponding noun) as the mean between extravagant grief and utter indifference. It was feeling about men in the right way. W. M. Macgregor defined it as “the mid-course between explosions of anger and lazy indulgence.”

Plutarch spoke of that patience which was the child of metriopatheia. He spoke of it as that sympathetic feeling which enable a man to raise up and to save, to spare and to hear.

Another Greek blames a man for having no metriopatheia and for therefore refusing to be reconciled with someone who had differed from him.

It is a wonderful word. It means the ability to bear with people without getting irritated; it means the ability not to lose one’s temper with people when they are foolish and will not learn and do the same thing over and over again. It describes the attitude to others which does not issue in anger at their fault and which does not condone it, but which to the end of the day spends itself in a gentle yet powerful sympathy which by its very patience directs a man back to the right way. No man can ever deal with his fellow-men unless he has this strong and patient, God-given metriopatheia. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

Ignorant (50) (agnoeo from a = without + noeo = to perceive, understand) means to be unaware of and here describes those erring or continually committing faults arising from continual (present tense) want of discernment, knowledge, or insight. The idea is that the result and importance of one's conduct as unperceived by the individual carrying out the conduct.

Peter used agnoeo to describe the false teachers writing that they...

like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed (2Pe 2:12-note; Lv 4:13;5:18).

Atonement for sins of ignorance was required by the Levitical law as a means of educating the moral perception, and of showing that sin and defilement might exist unsuspected: that God saw evil where men did not, and that his test of purity was stricter than theirs.

Moses alludes to sins of ignorance (or those committed unintentionally) in Numbers writing...

22 'But when you unwittingly (unintentionally) fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the LORD has spoken to Moses,
23 even all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the LORD gave commandment and onward throughout your generations,
24 then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering, and its libation, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25 'Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.
26 'So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error.
27 'Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering.
28 'And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven.
29 'You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. (Numbers 15:22-29)

Misguided (4105) (planao [word study] from plane which describes "a wandering" and gives us our English word "planet") means literally made to wander and so to be led astray or made to err from the right way, the highway of truth and holiness.

Jesus use of planao gives us a sense of its meaning...

"What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? (Mt 18:12)

Isaiah wrote that...

All of us like sheep have gone astray (Hebrew = ta'ah = wander like a nomad, lose one's direction, here in an ethical sense; Lxx = planao), Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Note that the verb planao is in the passive voice which indicates an outside force or influence (e.g., the unregenerate heart in unbelievers, the power of sin rendered ineffective but unfortunately still latent in believers) is causing the deception that leads one down the wrong path. The present tense indicates the sad truth that men and women are continually being led astray from God, even to the point that they refuse to believe that in the end they will be judged by Him (cf notes Revelation 20:11; 20:12; 20:13; 20:14; 20:15).

SINCE HE HIMSELF ALSO IS BESET WITH WEAKNESS: epei kai autos perikeitai (3SPMI) astheneian: (Hebrews 7:28; Exodus 32:2-5,21-24; Numbers 12:1-9; 20:10, 11, 12; Luke 22:32; 2Corinthians 11:30; 2Corinthians 12:5,9,10; Galatians 4:13 )

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. (He 7:28-note)

Beset (4029) (perikeimai from peri = around + keimai = be laid down) means to be located around some object or area and thus to be around,  to surround, to encircle and then to hamper.

Perikeimai is in the present tense and thus describes that which continually surrounds (or continually besets).

Beset describes a heavy millstone around one's neck or chains around a prisoner. The priest himself has weakness continually lying around him "like a chain".

Weakness  (769) (astheneia from a = without + sthénos = strength, bodily vigor) means literally without strength or bodily vigor = want of strength = lacking strength. Literally astheneia refers to bodily diseases or ailments (Lk 5:15, 13:11, 12, Jn 5:5, 11:4, 28:9). Another meaning of astheneia is incapacity to do or experience something, an inability to produce results, a state of weakness or limitation (1Co 15:43; 2Co 11:30; 12:5, 9, 10, 13:4; Ro 8:27; Heb 4:15; 5:2; 7:28; 11:34) Paul's use in 1Co 2:3 conveys the sense of weakness in terms of courage.

Richards writes...

This group of words expresses powerlessness. The weak are without strength, incapacitated in some serious way. (Expository Dictionary)

Weakness - Figuratively, can mean general impotence, weakness (Ro 8:3-note, Ro 8:26-note).

Ro 6:19 (note), expression, “weakness of your flesh” = resident weakness of flesh due to sin which must always be recognized by the believer and who must seek to fight it (Ro 8:13-note).

Ro 8:26 “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness,”  (Comment: referring to the resident weakness of the flesh.)

In Mt 8:17-note, from Isa 53:4, He (Christ on the Cross) took our infirmities (astheneías), which means that, in His humanity, He took upon Himself the consequences of our sins without sinning Himself. He became mortal so that He could die for us.

AND BECAUSE OF IT HE IS OBLIGATED TO OFFER SACRIFICES FOR SINS AS FOR THE PEOPLE SO ALSO FOR HIMSELF: kai di auten opheilei (3SPAI) kathos peri tou laou houtos kai peri autou prospherein (PAN) peri hamartion: (Heb 7:27; 9:7; Exodus 29:12-19; Leviticus 4:3-12; 8:14-21; 9:7; 16:6,15)

Because of it (the weakness of his flesh) - The priest had no alternative, but was morally bound because of the fact that he too was a sinner in need of God's mercy.

For sins - (Lev 16:6 Heb 7:27) The sacrifices were for the expiation of sins. Expiation has to do with reparation for a wrong, the satisfaction of demands of justice thru paying a penalty. Guilt is said to be expiated when it is visited with punishment falling on a substitute. Expiation is made for our sins when they are punished not in ourselves but in another who consents to stand in our room thereby effecting reconciliation, the sin being “covered” by vicarious satisfaction.

For the people so also for himself - The human high priests were conscious of their own failures (including the fact that their conscience was not perfect) and had to offer a satisfactory sacrifice for themselves as well as for the people. In this practice we see the superiority of our Great High Priest Christ Jesus Who needed no offering for Himself, but gave Himself in love for others.

Andrew Murray - The Holiest of All - Comment on Murray's Book by D. A. Carson in his New Testament Commentary Survey says...

At the popular and sometimes devotional level, one may still purchase the much-reprinted book by Andrew Murray, The Holiest of All...Despite (or perhaps because of) the doctrinal bias toward "higher life" tradition, the book remains a collection of marvelously pious and spiritually-minded gems strung out on a string of abysmal exegesis.

THE HIGH PRIEST BEARING
GENTLY WITH THE IGNORANT.
Hebrews 5:1-3.

WE know how much the Epistle has already said of the true humanity and sympathy of the Lord Jesus. In Hebrews 2. we read: It became God to perfect Him through suffering; Since the children are sharers of flesh and Mood, He also in like manner partook of the same. It behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren. In that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. And in Hebrews 4. we have just heard, We have not a high priest who is not able to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who hath in all things been tempted like as we are. And yet the truth is counted of such importance, that once again our attention is directed to it. It is not enough that we have a general conviction of its truth, but we need to have it taken up into our heart and life, until every thought of Jesus is interpenetrated by such a feeling of His sympathy, that all sense of weakness shall at once be met by the joyful consciousness that all is well, because Jesus is so very kind, and cares so lovingly for all our feebleness and all our ignorance, Let us listen once again to what the word teaches. Every high priest being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that He may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Here we have the work of a high priest, and the first essential requisite for that work. His work is in things pertaining to God: he has charge of all that concerns the access to God, His worship and service, and has, for this, to offer gifts and sacrifices. And the requisite is, he must be a man, because he is to act for men. And that for this great reason that he may be one who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring, for that he himself also is compassed with weakness; and who by reason thereof is bound, as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. At the root of the priestly office there is to be the sense of perfect oneness in weakness and need of help. In priestly action this is to manifest itself in sacrificing, as for the people, so for himself. And all this, that the priestly spirit may ever be kept alive for the comfort and confidence of all the needy and weary, he must be one who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring.

Glory be to God for the wondrous picture of what our Lord Jesus is. A priest must be God's representative with men. But he cannot be this, without being himself a man himself encompassed with weaknesses, and so identified with and representing men with God. This was why Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. The high priest is to offer as for the people, so for himself. Offering for himself was to be the bond of union with the people. Even so our blessed Lord Jesus offered (Hebrews 5:7), prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, yea, in all that, offered Himself unto God. And all this, that He might win our hearts and confidence as one who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring. God has indeed done everything to assure us that, with such an High Priest, no ignorance or error need make us afraid of not finding the way to Him and His love. Jesus will care for us---He bears gently with the ignorant and erring.

Have we not, in our faith in the priesthood of Christ, been too much in the habit of looking more at His work than at His heart? Have we not too exclusively put the thought of our sins in the foreground, and not sufficiently realised that our weaknesses, our ignorance and errors--that for these too a special provision has been made in Him who was made like us, and Himself encompassed with weaknesses, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring. Oh, let us take in and avail ourselves to the full of the wondrous message: Jesus could not ascend the throne as Priest, until He had first, in the school of personal experience, learnt to sympathise and to bear gently with the feeblest. And let our weakness and ignorance henceforth, instead of discouraging and keeping us back, be the motive and the plea which lead us to come boldly to Him for help, who and bear gently with the ignorant and erring. In the pursuit of holiness our ignorance is often our greatest source of failure. We cannot fully understand what is taught of the rest of God, and the power of faith, of dwelling within the veil or of Christ dwelling in our heart. Things appear too high for us, utterly beyond our reach. If we but knew to trust Jesus, not only as He who made propitiation for our sins, but as one who has been specially chosen and trained and prepared, and then elevated to the throne of God, to be the Leader of the ignorant and erring, bearing gently with their every weakness! Let us this day afresh accept this Saviour, as God has here revealed Him to us, and rejoice that all our ignorance need not be a barrier in the way to God, because Jesus takes it into His care.

1. Oh the trouble God has taken to win our poor hearts to trust and confidence. Let us accept the revelation, and have our hearts so filled with the sympathy and gentleness of Jesus, that in every perplexity our first thought shall always be the certainty and the blessedness of His compassion and help.

2. How many souls there are who mourn over their sins, and do not think that they making their sins more and stronger by not going with all their ignorance and weakness boldly to Jesus.

3. Do learn the lesson: the whole priesthood of Jesus has but this one object, to lead thee boldly and joyfully to draw near to God, and live in fellowship with Him. With this view trust Jesus as definitely with thy ignorance and weakness as with thy sins.