Hebrews 5 7

Hebrews 5:7 kjv

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Hebrews 5:7 nkjv

who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

Hebrews 5:7 niv

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

Hebrews 5:7 esv

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

Hebrews 5:7 nlt

While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

Hebrews 5 verses

Hebrews 5 7 Meaning

Hebrews 5:7 portrays Jesus' intense agony and fervent prayer during His earthly life, most profoundly exemplified in Gethsemane. It highlights His genuine humanity and deep suffering as He pleaded with God, His Father, who possessed the power to save Him from death's dominion. His prayers, marked by strong cries and tears, were heard not because He was spared from physical death, but because of His profound reverence and perfect submission to the Father's will. This acceptance resulted in His ultimate victory over death through resurrection, affirming His suitability as a compassionate High Priest for humanity.

Hebrews 5 7 Context

Hebrews 5:7 is a crucial verse in the epistle's extended argument presenting Jesus Christ as the supreme and ultimate High Priest, superior to the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. Following Hebrews 4's emphasis on Jesus as a sympathetic High Priest who understands human weakness, Chapter 5 begins by defining the role of an earthly high priest: one taken from among men, able to deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, and needing to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the people's.

Verse 7 specifically serves as an example demonstrating how Jesus fulfills these high priestly qualifications. It illustrates His full humanity ("days of His flesh") and His identification with human weakness (prayers, strong cries, tears) while simultaneously showing His unique, sinless qualification through perfect obedience ("reverent submission"). This verse acts as foundational evidence for the subsequent claim in Hebrews 5:8-9 that Jesus, "though He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered" and thus "became the source of eternal salvation." It explains how Christ, through intense suffering and perfect devotion, was "heard" (answered in resurrection, not escape from death) and perfected as our High Priest, establishing Him as approachable and truly sympathetic, having Himself faced the deepest anguish of human experience.

Hebrews 5 7 Word analysis

• During the days of Jesus’ life on earth (ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ - en tais hēmerais tēs sarkos autou): "In the days of His flesh." This phrase emphasizes Jesus' full humanity and incarnate experience, specifically pointing to the period when He physically lived on earth, facing human frailties and trials. It grounds His High Priestly role in His lived experience as a human.
• He offered up (προσενέγκας - prosnenkas): This is a participial form of prospherō, meaning "to bring to," "to present," or "to offer." It's often used in the context of offering sacrifices or gifts to God in the Septuagint and New Testament, implying His prayers were presented as a reverent offering.
• prayers (δεήσεις - deēseis): Refers to general requests or supplications. It indicates a posture of dependency and address to a higher authority.
• and petitions (ἱκετηρίας - hiketērias): More specific and intense than "prayers." Hiketērias signifies urgent, desperate pleas, often accompanied by the humility and helplessness of a suppliant. In ancient Greek culture, an hiketēria was an olive branch carried by those seeking mercy or protection. This highlights the depth of Jesus' need and the earnestness of His pleas.
• with fervent cries (κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς - kraugēs ischyrās): Literally "with strong crying" or "loud outcry." This describes the audible and intense expression of profound anguish, not quiet contemplation. It reveals the extremity of His suffering and internal struggle, contradicting any idea of stoicism.
• and tears (καὶ δακρύων - kai dakryōn): Tears are a universal sign of deep sorrow, distress, or anguish. Their presence confirms Jesus' true human emotion and vulnerability in the face of suffering and the terrifying prospect of taking on the world's sin.
• to the One who could save Him from death (πρὸς τὸν δυνάμενον σῴζειν αὐτὸν ἐκ θανάτου - pros ton dynanamenon sōzein auton ek thanatou): Refers to God the Father, who alone has power over life and death. The "saving Him from death" here does not imply Him being saved from dying physically, but rather being saved from the power or finality of death, i.e., through resurrection and exaltation. It signifies victory over death, not evasion of the cross.
• and He was heard (καὶ εἰσακουσθεὶς - kai eisakoustheis): A passive participle indicating that His prayer was heard and answered. The "being heard" was not a "no" to the cross, but a "yes" to His ultimate deliverance through resurrection and His being made High Priest. This suggests a favorable response from God regarding the efficacy of His prayer, confirming His worthiness and the success of His mission.
• because of His reverent submission (ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας - apo tēs eulabeias): This crucial phrase clarifies why He was heard. Eulabeia means "piety," "reverence," "godly fear," "awe," or "circumspection." It’s not a fear of death in the sense of being scared, but an awe-filled respect and profound submission to God’s will, a fear of displeasing God or failing in His mission. This refers to Christ's perfect devotion and willing obedience to the Father's plan, even in immense suffering, demonstrating His impeccable moral and spiritual standing.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears": This cumulative description paints a vivid picture of the agony in Gethsemane. It highlights the deeply personal, desperate, and intensely emotional nature of Jesus' communion with the Father. The use of multiple terms for prayer (requests, urgent pleas, strong outcries, tears) underscores the unparalleled intensity and depth of His human suffering and dependence. It speaks of a battle of wills that Jesus, through submission, perfectly won.
• "to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard": This phrase introduces the divine capability of God and the ultimate outcome of Christ's prayer. The "saving from death" here must be interpreted in light of the immediate context of Christ's cross and resurrection. He was saved from being held by death's power. The phrase "He was heard" confirms that His prayer, understood as an appeal for strength to complete God's will and ultimate triumph over death, was indeed accepted and answered positively by God, resulting in His resurrection and glorification.
• "because of His reverent submission": This critical causal clause provides the reason for God's favorable hearing. It indicates that Jesus' perfect devotion (eulabeia), characterized by His ultimate obedience and awe-filled respect for God's sovereign will, made His plea acceptable. This submission was His priestly virtue that consecrated Him. It wasn't His fear of dying, but His reverence for the Father and unwavering commitment to His divine purpose, even through suffering, that qualified Him and secured the Father's affirmative response in the form of resurrection.

Hebrews 5 7 Bonus section

• The Gethsemane struggle described in Heb 5:7 demonstrates that even for the Son of God, absolute obedience required immense spiritual and emotional exertion. It underscores that reliance on God through prayer is essential, particularly in the face of overwhelming adversity and the performance of God's will.
• The phrase "save Him from death" (ἐκ θανάτου σῴζειν - ek thanatou sōzein) refers to deliverance from the ultimate power of death, implying victory and release rather than avoiding the physical experience. This is crucial for understanding Christ's resurrection as the direct answer to His prayer and the confirmation of His identity as the vanquisher of death.
• The emphasis on "reverent submission" (εὐλαβείας - eulabeias) provides a deep theological understanding of Christ's obedience. It wasn't merely compliance under duress, but an internal posture of awe-filled devotion and perfect piety towards God's divine plan, which set Him apart from any earthly high priest and validated His perfect sacrifice.
• This verse counters any Gnostic or docetic views which might suggest Christ only "seemed" to suffer. Hebrews adamantly portrays His real human struggle, pain, and submission.

Hebrews 5 7 Commentary

Hebrews 5:7 is a profoundly moving testament to the full and genuine humanity of Jesus Christ, providing crucial insight into His qualification as our High Priest. It transports the reader to the agonizing scene in Gethsemane, revealing a Messiah who was not detached or stoic in the face of suffering, but deeply afflicted, crying out to His Father with overwhelming anguish, symbolized by strong cries and tears. This depiction shatters any notion of Jesus being unaffected by human pain; rather, He fully entered into its depths, thereby making Him uniquely qualified to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15).

The paradoxical statement that He prayed to "the One who could save Him from death" and "was heard" must be understood not as His physical escape from crucifixion, but as His deliverance through death to resurrection, triumphant over its power. God heard and answered by strengthening Him to endure the cross and by raising Him to conquer death's dominion forever. The key to His prayer being heard lies in "His reverent submission." This eulabeia (piety, awe-filled reverence) reflects Christ's unwavering obedience to the Father's will, even when that will entailed excruciating suffering. It signifies His absolute alignment with divine purpose, not a human struggle to avoid discomfort. This perfect devotion and obedience, wrought through the furnace of suffering, rendered His sacrifice complete and His priesthood effective. Through this experience, Jesus' empathetic capacity as our High Priest was perfectly revealed and refined, making Him approachable and effective for all who come to God through Him.