Hebrews 5:8 BSB — MannaFest

Hebrews 5:8

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;

KJV

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

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Commentary

5 voices

Cyril of Alexandria

ON THE UNITY OF CHRIST 755 (444)

It was not while bare and not participating in the limits of his emptying that God the Word became our model, but "in the days of his flesh." Then, quite legitimately, he could employ human limits and pray insistently and shed tears and even appear somehow to need a savior and learn obedience, though a Son. The inspired author is, so to speak, stupefied by the mystery that the Son, existing by nature truly and endowed with the glories of divinity, should so abase himself that he endured the low estate of our impoverished humanity.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Though he were a Son - This is interposed. lest any should be offended at all these instances of human weakness. In the garden, how frequently did he call God his Father! And hence it most evidently appears that his being the Son of God did not arise merely from his resurrection.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Here observe, [1.] The privilege of Christ: He was a Son; the only-begotten of the Father. One would have thought this might have exempted him from suffering, but it did not. Let none then who are the children of God by adoption expect an absolute freedom from suffering.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Though he were a Son - Though the Son of God. Though he sustained this exalted rank, and was conscious of it, yet he was willing to learn experimentally what is meant by obedience in the midst of sufferings. Yet learned he obedience - That is, he learned experimentally and practically.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

He was obedient already before His passion, but He stooped to a still more humiliating and trying form of obedience then. The Greek adage is, "Pathemata mathemata," "sufferings, disciplinings." Praying and obeying, as in Christ's case, ought to go hand in hand.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

9 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καίπερ	kaiper	though	G2539 →
ὢν	ōn	being	G1510 →
υἱός,	huios	a Son,	G5207 →
ἔμαθεν	emathen	He learned	G3129 →
ἀφ᾽	aph᾽	from	G575 →
ὧν	hōn	[the] things	G3739 →
ἔπαθεν	epathen	He suffered	G3958 →
τὴν	tēn	<the>	G3588 →
ὑπακοήν,	hupakoēn	obedience,	G5218 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
leads to
- John 14:15
  If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
- 1 John 5:3
  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
- 1 John 3:21–24
  Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,
Through
Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
leads to
- John 10:18
  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received…
- Hebrews 12:2
  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…
Through
John 4:34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
leads to
- John 6:38
  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 5:30
  I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
- Job 23:12
  I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.

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The Messianic Psalms

Six psalms previewing the life of Christ — from begotten Son (Ps 2) to crucified silence (Ps 22) to the Priest-King at God's right hand (Ps 110). Tri-fold taxonomy: Fulfilled in First Coming · Awaiting Second · Progressively Fulfilled.

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The Humanity of Christ, MannaFest

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Eternal Security, and the Five Warnings of Hebrews

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Once for All — the Finished Sacrifice

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Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — engraving by Gustave Doré

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The Tabernacle

A floor plan of the gospel. Eight furniture pieces, three concentric zones, one veil torn the moment Christ died. Among the most architecturally complete typological structures in Scripture.

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The Priest

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About Hebrews

Christ Presented to the People — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Hebrews: the study guide →Read chapter 5 →The featured study →

Obedience
even the Son's obedience was learned through suffering, grounding believers' own costly obedience

Continue: Hebrews 5 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Hebrews

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Hebrews