independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentdashed = verbless / suspended
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Every high priest — taken from men, called by God 5:1–4
vv. 1–3 — the office defined: solidarity and sacrifice
1
Πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων λαμβανόμενος ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καθίσταται τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν,independent — the gnomic profile — γάρ grounds 4:14–16; the attributive λαμβανόμενος kept internal
ἵνα προσφέρῃ δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίας ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν,purpose — the appointment's purpose — the whole cult in τε … καί
2
μετριοπαθεῖν δυνάμενος τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν καὶ πλανωμένοις,participial — the second mark — μετριοπαθεῖν, the mean between apathy and indulgence
ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς περίκειται ἀσθένειαν,cause — ἐπεί — weakness worn like a garment (περίκειται)
3
καὶ δι' αὐτὴν ὀφείλει,independent — coordinate finite — δι' αὐτήν picks up the ἀσθένεια of v. 2
καθὼς περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ,comparative — elliptical — 'as (he offers) for the people'
οὕτως καὶ περὶ αὑτοῦ προσφέρειν περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν.content — complementary infinitive — οὕτως answers καθώς; unlike Christ (7:27)
v. 4 — the honor not self-taken
4
καὶ οὐχ ἑαυτῷ τις λαμβάνει τὴν τιμήν,independent — the decisive mark — ἑαυτῷ fronted; the office a conferred τιμή
ἀλλὰ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ,participial — the ellipse — '(he takes it) being called'; the divine call constitutive
καθώσπερ καὶ Ἀαρών.comparative — Exod 28:1; Num 16–17 — Aaron the paradigm; verb supplied
So also Christ — appointed by God, perfected through suffering 5:5–10
vv. 5–6 — not self-glorified: appointed by the One who spoke
5
Οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἐδόξασενindependent — the rule of v. 4 applied — ἑαυτόν parallel to ἑαυτῷ
γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα,content — epexegetic infinitive — the office not self-assumed
ἀλλ' ὁ λαλήσας πρὸς αὐτόν·independent — elliptical — supply ἐδόξασεν; God the speaker is the appointer
Υἱός μου εἶ σύ,content — Ps 2:7 — the enthronement decree (cf. 1:5)
ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε·content — Ps 2:7 — 'today', read of the exaltation; intensive perfect
6
καθὼς καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λέγει·comparative — the second testimony joined to the first — Scripture as God's living speech
Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ.content — Ps 110:4 (LXX 109:4) — the priestly oracle, the homily's text for ch. 7; verbless
vv. 7–10 — the days of his flesh: obedience learned, perfection reached
7
ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦrelative — on αὐτόν (= Christ) — the frame of the relative period, suspended until ἔμαθεν (v. 8)
δεήσεις τε καὶ ἱκετηρίας πρὸς τὸν δυνάμενον σῴζειν αὐτὸν ἐκ θανάτου μετὰ κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς καὶ δακρύων προσενέγκαςparticipial — Gethsemane — the priestly verb προσφέρω (v. 1) of his own prayers; ἐκ θανάτου, out of death
καὶ εἰσακουσθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας,participial — ἀπό read causally — heard because of his reverent submission, not spared the cup
8
καίπερ ὢν υἱός,participial — concessive (καίπερ) — sonship no exemption; construes with ἔμαθεν below
ἔμαθεν ἀφ' ὧν ἔπαθεν τὴν ὑπακοήν,relative — the period's finite verb at last — paronomasia ἔμαθεν/ἔπαθεν; relative attracted (ἀφ' ὧν)
9
καὶ τελειωθεὶς ἐγένετο πᾶσιν τοῖς ὑπακούουσιν αὐτῷ αἴτιος σωτηρίας αἰωνίου,relative — coordinate with ἔμαθεν — τελειωθείς vocational (2:10), not moral; ὑπακούουσιν echoes ὑπακοήν
10
προσαγορευθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀρχιερεὺς κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ.participial — the seal — Ps 110:4 resumed; inclusio with v. 6, opening the way to ch. 7
The rebuke — dull of hearing, milk not solid food 5:11–14
vv. 11–12 — the charge: dull, needing the ABCs again
11
Περὶ οὗ πολὺς ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος καὶ δυσερμήνευτος λέγειν,independent — περὶ οὗ — Melchizedek, or the whole priesthood theme; verbless predication
ἐπεὶ νωθροὶ γεγόνατε ταῖς ἀκοαῖς.cause — ἐπεί — the difficulty located in the hearers, not the subject; perfect of regression
12
καὶ γὰρ ὀφείλοντες εἶναι διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν χρόνον,participial — concessive — hung on its subject's charge of dullness while construing forward with ἔχετε
πάλιν χρείαν ἔχετε τοῦ διδάσκειν ὑμᾶς τινὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν λογίων τοῦ θεοῦ,independent — πάλιν the damning word — the ABCs over again; τινὰ read as 'someone'
καὶ γεγόνατε χρείαν ἔχοντες γάλακτος, οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς.independent — periphrastic perfect — a settled regression to infancy
vv. 13–14 — the metaphor unpacked: infants and the mature
13
πᾶς γὰρ ὁ μετέχων γάλακτος ἄπειρος λόγου δικαιοσύνης,cause — why milk convicts — ἄπειρος, without practiced skill; verbless
νήπιος γάρ ἐστιν·cause — the reason beneath — νήπιος, the un-grown, opposite of τέλειος
14
τελείων δέ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφή,cause — the δέ-half completing v. 13's γάρ — τελείων fronted, emphatic
τῶν διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα ἐχόντων πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ.participial — apposition to τελείων — ἕξις, Aristotle's habituation; senses drilled like an athlete's
Analysis. Hebrews 5 falls into three shapes. Verses 1–4 are the gnomic profile of the office: three flush-left present-tense main verbs (καθίσταται, ὀφείλει, λαμβάνει) state what holds of every high priest — taken from men, appointed for men, bound to offer for his own sins too, never self-appointed — with the compassion-clause (μετριοπαθεῖν δυνάμενος) and its ἐπεί ground hanging beneath, and Aaron a verbless comparison at the bottom. Verses 5–10 apply the profile to Christ in one arc: two independent statements — the negated ἐδόξασεν and the elliptical ἀλλ' ὁ λαλήσας (supply 'glorified him') — carry the twin psalm citations as content lines (Ps 2:7; Ps 110:4), and then the great relative period ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις opens as a suspended frame from which the Gethsemane participles (προσενέγκας, εἰσακουσθείς) and the καίπερ-concession hang, resolving at last in the finite ἔμαθεν and its coordinate ἐγένετο, sealed by προσαγορευθείς — the name Melchizedek closing the inclusio with v. 6. Verses 11–14 are the rebuke: a γάρ-chain descending from the verbless Περὶ οὗ line through milk to infancy, with the δέ-counterpart (solid food for the mature) completing the antithesis. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας (v. 7) is read causally — he was heard because of his reverent submission — not 'delivered from his fear'; σῴζειν ἐκ θανάτου is deliverance out of death (resurrection), not exemption from dying; καίπερ ὢν υἱός is a true concession (no concessive type exists, so it stands as a participle with the concession named in the tag); the wordplay ἔμαθεν/ἔπαθεν is flagged rather than smoothed; περὶ οὗ (v. 11) is left open between Melchizedek and the whole priesthood theme; τινὰ (v. 12) is read as 'someone', not 'which elements'; and the sentence-opening concessive ὀφείλοντες (v. 12) is hung on the dullness-clause it presupposes while construing forward with ἔχετε.