Hebrews 2:17-3:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.(A) 18 Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
III. Jesus, Faithful and Compassionate High Priest
Chapter 3
Jesus, Superior to Moses.[a] 1 Therefore, holy “brothers,” sharing in a heavenly calling, reflect on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was “faithful in [all] his house.”(B) 3 But he is worthy of more “glory” than Moses, as the founder of a house has more “honor” than the house itself.(C) 4 Every house is founded by someone, but the founder of all is God. 5 Moses was “faithful in all his house” as a “servant” to testify to what would be spoken, 6 [b](D)but Christ was faithful as a son placed over his house. We are his house, if [only] we hold fast to our confidence and pride in our hope.
Footnotes
- 3:1–6 The author now takes up the two qualities of Jesus mentioned in Hb 2:17, but in inverse order: faithfulness (Hb 3:1–4:13) and mercy (Hb 4:14–5:10). Christians are called holy “brothers” because of their common relation to him (Hb 2:11), the apostle, a designation for Jesus used only here in the New Testament (cf. Jn 13:16; 17:3), meaning one sent as God’s final word to us (Hb 1:2). He is compared with Moses probably because he is seen as mediator of the new covenant (Hb 9:15) just as Moses was of the old (Hb 9:19–22, including his sacrifice). But when the author of Hebrews speaks of Jesus’ sacrifice, he does not consider Moses as the Old Testament antitype, but rather the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Hb 9:6–15). Moses’ faithfulness “in [all] his house” refers back to Nm 12:7, on which this section is a midrashic commentary. In Hb 3:3–6, the author does not indicate that he thinks of either Moses or Christ as the founder of the household. His house (Hb 3:2, 5, 6) means God’s house, not that of Moses or Christ; in the case of Christ, compare Hb 3:6 with Hb 10:21. The house of Hb 3:6 is the Christian community; the author suggests its continuity with Israel by speaking not of two houses but of only one. Hb 3:6 brings out the reason why Jesus is superior to Moses: the latter was the faithful servant laboring in the house founded by God, but Jesus is God’s son, placed over the house.
- 3:6 The majority of manuscripts add “firm to the end,” but these words are not found in the three earliest and best witnesses and are probably an interpolation derived from Hb 3:14.
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