Hebrews 2:17-18
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
Because Jesus became fully human, experiencing all our weaknesses and sorrows, He is uniquely qualified to be our compassionate and trustworthy High Priest before God. This profound empathy, gained through His own suffering, enables Him to truly understand and help us as He makes atonement for our sins.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Having established that Jesus is superior to angels and that he came to help humanity, the author explains why he had to become human. To truly serve as our High Priest, Jesus needed to fully experience human life, including its suffering and temptations, so he could be a compassionate and faithful mediator between God and people. This human experience qualified him to make atonement for our sins, a role crucial for God's justice and mercy to be satisfied on our behalf.
Why did Jesus have to become like us, even in suffering?
The text emphasizes that Jesus's humanity wasn't an accident, but a deliberate necessity for His priestly role. The word 'therefore' (wherefore) links His incarnation directly to His mission. Because He came to 'help' humanity (Hebrews 2:16), He had to fully enter into our human experience. This meant not just having a human body, but experiencing everything that pertains to being human—temptations, sorrows, and pain—except for sin itself.
This wasn't a mere formality. It was essential for Him to be a 'merciful and faithful high priest.' Without this shared humanity, He couldn't truly represent us before God or understand our struggles.
What does it mean for Jesus to be both 'merciful' and 'faithful' as our High Priest?
This verse introduces Jesus's unique priestly qualifications: mercy and faithfulness. These aren't just nice qualities; they are foundational to His role.
Ask a follow-up
Together, these attributes paint a picture of a priest who is both deeply understanding of us and utterly reliable in His service to God on our behalf.
What is this 'propitiation' Jesus accomplishes, and why is it so vital?
The ultimate purpose of Jesus's humanity and His priestly ministry is to 'make propitiation for the sins of the people.' This is a profound concept, referring to the act of appeasing God's righteous judgment against sin through a sacrificial offering.
Jesus, as our High Priest, offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. His death wasn't just a demonstration of love; it was a divine transaction that satisfied God's justice, thereby reconciling us to Him. This act covers our sins, turning away God's rightful wrath and opening the way for forgiveness and relationship.
It's important to understand that God Himself initiated this propitiation (Romans 3:25), foreordaining it as the means by which His justice and love could both be fully expressed.
Understand the original words
archiereus · Greek Noun
The central mediator between God and humanity. He represents the people before God, offering sacrifices to secure atonement, and serves as the ultimate fulfillment of the Levitical priesthood.
eleēmōn kai pistos · Greek Adjective
Describes a state of compassionate care and reliable trustworthiness. It implies a heart that feels the pain of others and a character that remains steadfastly committed to the covenantal obligations.
hilaskomai · Greek Verb/Noun phrase
The act of satisfying the righteous wrath of God against sin. By His sacrificial death, Christ provided the atonement that turns away judgment and reconciles sinners to a holy God.
hamartia · Greek Noun
Acts of transgression or disobedience against God's law. Sin is a failure to conform to God's moral character, resulting in separation from Him and requiring divine sacrifice for forgiveness.
paschō · Greek Verb
Physical or emotional distress, pain, or hardship. In the life of Christ, it includes the totality of His earthly life leading up to the cross, serving as the basis for His deep empathy toward His people.
peirazō · Greek Verb
The experience of being tested or solicited to do evil. While God tests His people for the purpose of growth, Satan tempts with the intent to lead into sin; Christ endured these trials without yielding.
The context of the Second Temple's destruction and the ongoing suffering of the Jewish people underscores the urgency for a permanent, merciful, and faithful high priest. The verse highlights how Jesus's humanity makes Him uniquely qualified to offer reconciliation where the old system, now defunct, had ultimately fallen short.
c. 70 AD
Destruction of the Second Temple
The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple, ending the sacrificial system described in Leviticus.
c. 60-65 AD— this verse
Writing of the Book of Hebrews
The author, likely Paul or another early Christian leader, writes to a community of Jewish Christians facing persecution and internal doubt. The verse emphasizes Christ's superior priestly role.
c. 135 AD
Bar Kokhba Revolt Crushed
Rome's suppression of the Jewish revolt led to further dispersion and suffering for the Jewish people, making the need for divine mercy and a faithful mediator even more acute.
This passage directly parallels the idea of the Suffering Servant being 'pierced for our transgressions' and 'crushed for our iniquities,' making atonement for 'the sin of many' – a concept that beautifully echoes Christ's work as High Priest to make propitiation.
Leviticus 16:11-16This describes the Old Testament High Priest's role on the Day of Atonement, entering the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the sins of the people. Jesus, as the true High Priest, fulfills this ceremonial act with His own sacrifice.
Philippians 2:7-8This passage speaks of Christ 'emptying himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men' and humbling himself to death. This voluntary sharing in humanity is the very foundation for His role as a merciful High Priest.
Romans 3:25God himself 'put forward [Jesus] as a propitiation by his blood.' This verse illuminates that the propitiation was God's own provision, underscoring that Christ's high priestly work was divinely ordained and initiated.
Hebrews 4:15This verse directly states that 'we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.' This highlights the 'merciful' aspect of Jesus' high priesthood, stemming from His shared humanity.
wesleyHebrews 2:17: "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
2:17 Wherefore it behoved him - It was highly fit and proper, yea, necessary, in order to his design of redeeming them. To be made in all things - That essentially pertain to human nature, and in all sufferings and temptations. Like his brethren - This is a recapitulation of…
ellicottHebrews 2:17: "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
(17) Wherefore. —Since it is “the seed of Abraham,” His brethren, that He would help. In all things.—These words must be taken with “made like.” In all respects (the single exception does not come into notice here, see Hebrews 4:15) He must be made like to “the brethren” (a r…
Because Jesus became fully human, experiencing all our weaknesses and sorrows, He is uniquely qualified to be our compassionate and trustworthy High Priest before God. This profound empathy, gained through His own suffering, enables Him to truly understand and help us as He makes atonement for our sins.
Having established that Jesus is superior to angels and that he came to help humanity, the author explains why he had to become human. To truly serve as our High Priest, Jesus needed to fully experience human life, including its suffering and temptations, so he could be a compassionate and faithful mediator between God and people. This human experience qualified him to make atonement for our sins, a role crucial for God's justice and mercy to be satisfied on our behalf.
Having established that Jesus is superior to angels and that he came to help humanity, the author explains why he had to become human. To truly serve as our High Priest, Jesus needed to fully experience human life, including its suffering and temptations, so he could be a compassionate and faithful mediator between God and people. This human experience qualified him to make atonement for our sins, a role crucial for God's justice and mercy to be satisfied on our behalf.
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when te…" — Because Jesus became fully human, experiencing all our weaknesses and sorrows, He is uniquely qualified to be our compassionate and trustworthy High Priest before God. This profound empathy, gained t…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
