Hebrews 5:11

3. Parenthetic rebuke for dulness, and liability to apostasy, encouragement, Hebrews 5:11 to Hebrews 6:20.

11. Of whom Our author, after Pauline fashion, suspends his discourse to make a digression, and will return to the point at Hebrews 7:1. The passage is in Paul’s most severe and magisterial style of rebuke; almost equal to 1 Corinthians 4:18-21. He charges the Hebrews with unappreciative slowness and infantile incapacity, (10-14;) he invites them, by God’s permission, with himself, to leave the elements and go on to completeness, (Hebrews 6:1-3;) warning them, (4-8,) that for those who have heretofore fallen from a high spiritual Christianity, no repentance is possible. Changing, then, to a more cheering tone, he is persuaded that they are not of that apostate class, (9-12,) and lays before them God’s oath-bound assurance that he will save the persevering believer, ending by bringing us back to where he began his admonishing digression, namely, at Melchizedek, 13-20.

Of whom Concerning whom namely, Melchizedek; but Melchizedek in his typical relations to Christ.

Hard to be uttered Rather, difficult for you to interpret when uttered.

Are Rather, have become; namely, under the influence of your aversion to the suffering Messiah. That error narrowed their views, so that the grand mysteries of the eternal priesthood were excluded. To hitch at a given error is to prevent all progress in truth and to render people dull of hearing: that is, torpid and slow in their receptive powers. The Greek word for dull seems to be compounded of ωθεω , to move, with νη a prefix negative, and, therefore, signifies immobile, unmovable by the stirring truths of religion, and so unready to learn new truths, and to gain new Christian life and activity.