Hebrews 5:13

For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.

BSB

For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

KJV

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

ASV

For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.

BBE

For everyone who takes milk is without experience of the word of righteousness: he is a child.

Original Greek

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The early church

"For every one that partaketh of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe." What is "the Word of righteousness"? He seems to me here to hint at conduct also. That which Christ also said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees", this he says likewise, "unskilled in the word of righteousness," that is, he that is unskilled in the philosophy that is above, is unable to embrace a perfect and exact life. Or else by "righteousness" he here means Christ, and the high doctrine concerning Him. That they then were "become dull," he said; but from what cause, he did not add, leaving it to themselves to know it, and not wishing to make his discourse hard to bear. But in the case of the Galatians he both "marveled" and "stood in doubt", which tends much more to encourage, as it is the language of one who would never have expected that this should happen. For this is what the doubting implies. Thou seest that there is another infancy, Thou seest that there is another full age. Let us become of "full age" in this sense: It is in the power even of those who are children, and the young to come to that "full age": for it is not of nature, but of virtue.
John Chrysostom · d. 407Homilies on Hebrews

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 11–14

Dull hearers make the preaching of the gospel difficult, and even those who have some faith may be dull hearers, and slow to believe. Much is looked for from those to whom much is given. To be unskilful, denotes want of experience in the things of the gospel. Christian experience is a spiritual sense, taste, or relish of the goodness, sweetness, and excellence of the truths of the gospel. And no tongue can express the satisfaction which the soul receives, from a sense of Divine goodness, grace, and love to it in Christ.

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Cross-references

14

Topics

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.