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Hebrews 5 · a question people ask

"though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (5:8). What does the letter say this means?

In the text

These notes don't explain it. Here are the letter's own words: "He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation" (5:7-9). These are the letter's own words, as it gives them, and these notes add nothing to them.

The verses

“He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,”
Hebrews 5:7-9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Hebrews 5

Hebrews 5: Called by God

In Hebrews 5, the author of "the author of eternal salvation" (5:9) is a different Greek word from the author of 2:10; Acts has it as cause (Acts 19:40). And the word behind dull in "dull of hearing" (5:11) comes back as sluggish in 6:12: the New Testament has it only in those two verses.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions