Bible Strands
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The unnamed author writes to Jewish believers under pressure to abandon Christ and return to the Mosaic system. This verse is the pivot between the claim (v. 14: we have a great high priest) and the invitation (v. 16: approach the throne).
The words — συμπαθῆσαι (sympathēsai) literally means "to suffer with" (sym- + pathos), not merely to observe pity from a distance. The Greek makes the high priest's empathy a shared experience of suffering, not an emotional assessment.
The thread — Hebrews 2:17 states the same identification ("made like His brothers in every way") as the basis for mercy and faithfulness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 supplies the other half of this verse's claim: the one who knew no sin.
Why it lands — The verse removes the last excuse for staying away from God: if the high priest can relate to your weakness, no gap is too wide to bridge. It asks the reader to stop treating the throne as a courtroom and start treating it as a place of help.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 2:17 For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Isaiah 53:4 Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
- 1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- 1 John 3:5 But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
- Philippians 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
- Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
- Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
- Matthew 8:16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
- Hebrews 5:2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is subject to weakness.