Hebrews 5:1-3

 

 

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Hebrews 5:1 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 (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: Pas gar archiereus ex anthropon lambanomenos (PPPMSN) huper anthropon kathistatai (3SPPI) ta pros ton theon, hina prosphere (3SPAS) dora te kai thusias huper hamartion,e
Amplified: FOR EVERY high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in things relating to God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: Every high priest who is chosen from among men is appointed on men’s behalf to deal with the things which concern God. His task is to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins, (Westminster Press)
KJV:  For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
NLT:  Now a high priest is a man chosen to represent other human beings in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers their sacrifices for sins.  (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Note that when a man is chosen as High Priest he is appointed on men's behalf as their representative in the things of God - he offers gifts to God and makes the necessary sacrifices for sins on behalf of his fellow-men.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: For every high priest, since he is taken from among men, on behalf of men is constituted as such with reference to the things which pertain to God, in order that he may continually be offering both gifts and sacrifices for sins,  (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: For every chief priest -- out of men taken -- in behalf of men is set in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,

References

Albert Barnes
Brian Bell
John Calvin
Adam Clarke
Steven Cole
Steven Cole
Thomas Constable
Dan Fortner
Scott Grant
Dave Guzik
Hebrews Project
Matthew Henry
F B Hole
Jamieson, F, B
S Lewis Johnson
William Kelly
John MacArthur
John MacArthur
J Vernon McGee
Phil Newton
A W Pink
A T Robertson
Gil Rugh
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
Ray Stedman
Ray Stedman
Today in the Word
Marvin Vincent
Drew Worthen
Precept Ministries
Today in the Word

Hebrews 5
Hebrews:5
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 5:11-6:3 Grow Up!
Hebrews 5:1-10 The Kind of Priest You Need

Hebrews 5

Hebrews 5:1-1- Called Of God An High Priest
Hebrews 4:14-5:10 Our Compassionate High Priest
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 5:1-4
Hebrews 5
Hebrews Commentary Notes
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 5:1-10 Our High Priest (audio) MP3
Hebrews 1-6 Commentary
Hebrews 5-6 the Danger of Being Close
Hebrews 5:1-9 Jesus Christ, the Perfect Priest

Hebrews 5 Intro  5:1.mp3   5:2.mp3  5:3-6.mp3
Hebrews 5:1-10 Jesus Christ: Qualified as High Priest
Hebrews 5:1-4 Christ Superior to Aaron
Hebrews 5 Word Pictures
Hebrews 5:1-10 The High Priestly Ministry of Aaron
Hebrews 5:2 Compassion on the Ignorant (2529) Pdf
Hebrews 5:2 Compassion on the Ignorant (1407) - Pdf
Hebrews 5:2 Compassion on the Ignorant - Sermon Notes
Hebrews 5:2 Our Compassionate High Priest

Hebrews 5 Expositional Comments
Hebrews 5:1-4 The Qualifications of a Priest (book)
Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10  Strength at Wits End (sermon)
Hebrews 5:1-10; Hebrews 5:1-10
Hebrews 5: Word Studies
Hebrews 5:1-5 Why Do We Need A Priest?
Hebrews Inductive Study Pt 1
Hebrews 5:1-10 Hebrews 5:1-10

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; Numbers 16:46-48; 18:1-3 ) (Heb 8:3; 9:9; 10:11; 11:4; Leviticus 9:7,15-21)

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; Numbers 16:46-48; 18:1-3)

Appointed (2525) (kathistemi 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 16:46-48,18:1-3, (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.

Under the old economy, even after the covenants w Abraham and Moses, God was unapproachable. At the Fall, God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden and man no longer had access to the Lord’s presence. (Ge 3:10,24). In the wilderness, the people were warned not to come too near Sinai, (Ex 19:16,21,22,23,24 Ex 20:18-26) where God chose to manifest Himself to Moses when giving the covenant of the law. In the Tabernacle and in the Temple God was behind a veil and could be approached only through the high priest.

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; Leviticus 9:7,15-21)

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." (Lu 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.

 

Hebrews  5:2  he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: metriopathein (PAN) dunamenos (PPPMSN) tois agnoousin (PAPMPD) kai planomenois, (PPPMPD) epei kai autos perikeitai (3SPMI) astheneian,
Amplified: He is able to exercise gentleness and forbearance toward the ignorant and erring, since he himself also is liable to moral weakness and physical infirmity  (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay
: in that he himself is able to feel gently to the ignorant and to the wandering because he himself wears the garment of human weakness. (
Westminster Press)
KJV:  Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity
NLT:  And because he is human, he is able to deal gently with the people, though they are ignorant and wayward. For he is subject to the same weaknesses they have. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: He must be able to deal sympathetically with the ignorant and foolish because he realises that he is himself prone to human weakness.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: who is able to exercise moderate and tender judgment with respect to those who are ignorant and with respect to those who are being led astray, since also he himself is completely encircled with weakness. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: able to be gentle to those ignorant and going astray, since himself also is compassed with infirmity;

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; 1 Timothy 1:13 ) (Hebrews 12:13; Exodus 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.

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.

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 (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 (2 Pe 2:12; 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 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.

Matthew Henry adds that

"Man in this his degenerate state is of a straying nature, thence compared to a lost sheep; this must be sought and brought back, and guided in the right way, Ps 119:176. (See Spurgeon's Note) He is weak, and ready to be imposed upon by the wiles and subtleties of Satan, and of men lying in wait to seduce and mislead."

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; 20:10-12; Luke 22:32; 2 Corinthians 11:30; 2 Corinthians 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. (see note Hebrews 7:28)

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).

Perikeimai is used by Jesus to describe the fate of those who cause one of the little ones to stumble declaring that

it would be better for him if with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. (Mark 9:42)

Paul uses perikeimai  to describe a chain hung around him, binding him...

For this reason therefore (because Paul felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar), I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel (The messianic hope, incarnate in Jesus Christ, the fulfiller of OT promises). (Acts 28:20)

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

Ro 6:19, 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).

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, 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.