The possessive relationship in the phrase Our High Priest may have to be expressed differently in some languages; for example, “The High Priest on our behalf” or “He who serves as High Priest for us.”

The Greek contains a double negative: “we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize….” Most translations simplify this by making it into an emphatic positive statement. This may be expressed as “Our High Priest is one who completely sympathizes with our weaknesses” or “… is one who understands well our weaknesses.”

A literal translation along the lines of Revised Standard Version could be misunderstood in some languages as a contradiction: “we have a great high priest [verse 14] … we have not a high priest….” The meaning is “Our High Priest is not one who cannot sympathize….”

In this verse a comparison begins between Jesus and the Old Testament priest, who offered sacrifices on behalf of those who had disobeyed the Law without intending to do so (Num 15.22-29). The comparison will be developed in 5.2-3. This is the point of the reference to our weaknesses, and translators should avoid any term which could include deliberate sin. The writer believes there are other sins so serious that they cannot be forgiven or wiped out (10.26; compare Num 15.30-31). Our weaknesses may be best expressed as “how weak we are” or “how little strength we have.”

To feel sympathy means to understand someone “from inside,” that is, “to feel with him.” Often it means “to share his suffering,” but the idea of suffering is not stressed here, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “who has no understanding for our weaknesses.” The Greek word used here is related in form to the verb translated be gentle in 5.2 and is similar in meaning.

If, as has been suggested, a positive expression rather than a double negative is used in the first part of verse 15, the adversative phrase On the contrary should be replaced by a conjunction such as “For.” The second sentence in verse 15 (Good News Translation) simply provides the reason why Jesus Christ as High Priest is able to be fully sympathetic.

Some translators have mistakenly interpreted who was tempted in every way that we are as “who wanted to sin in every way that we do.” It is, of course, better to translate “whom the Devil tried to make sin in every way that he tempts us.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .