A Note on Hebrews 5:14

MARK KILEY
Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138

THE GREEK TEXT of Hebrews 5:14 runs as follows:

, . Commentators on Hebrews 5:14 are unanimous that the verse praises the mature ability to discern good and bad. But describing the precis function of in the verse has proved to be difficult. One type of translation of is represented by the Vulgate: pro con suetudine. In the RS V, the verse is rendered: "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil." Many modern versions are similar to the RSV.1 And Michel, among recent commentators, similarly translates: "Erwachsenen (Vollkommenen) aber beghrt die feste Speise, wenn sie infolge des Gebrauchs gebte Sinneswerkzeuge haben zur Unterscheidung von Gut und Bse."2 All these versions make and functionally equivalent, and when considered together, redundant.

NEB: "their perceptions are trained by long use to. . ."; NIV: "who by constant use have trained themselves . . ."; BJ: "ceux qui, par l'habitude, ont les sens moral exerc au . . ." 2 O. Michel, Der Brief an die Hebrer (MeyerK 13; 12th ed.; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966) 230.

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Not all c o m m e n t a t o r s have inclined toward translating as "by practice." Montefiore, for example, translates: "But solid food is for mature men, who, in virtue of their condition, have had their perceptions 3 trained to distinguish . . ." And Hering translates: " ceux qui par leur attitude ont exerc leur sensibilit de manire savoir distinguer . . ." 4 And Spicq, partly on the basis of the Philo passage cited below, translates as " s t a t e " ; " P a r contre la nourriture solide est celle des parfaits qui, par tat, ont les sens entrans au discernement du bien et du mal." 5 Philo's Leg. all. 3.210 provides an interesting parallel to Heb 5:14 because it speaks of the of a child and a wise man: Why, even the bad man does some things that it is his duty to do without acting from a dutiful character ( ). Yes, and the drunken man and the madman now and then utter sober words and do sober deeds, but not from a sober mind; and those who are still quite young children, not from a fixedly rational state ( ) (for nature has not yet trained them to be rational), do and say many things that rational men do and say. But the lawgiver wishes the wise man to be accounted a man of benediction not as the outcome of a passing mood, or of being easily led by others, or as though by chance, but as the result of a fixed state () and disposition () charged with benediction." 6 Thus, Philo offers some justification for understanding precisely as a condition or state. However, in a parallel hitherto unnoticed, the Middle Platonist philo sopher Albinus (mid-second century A.D.) uses precisely as does Heb 5:14, and finally helps to tip the scales in favor of the translations of Montefiore, Hring, and Spicq which render as something like "state": The potential differs from what is termed the "established" (* ) and the actual. For the potential signifies a capacity in the one who has not yet the characteristic () in question; as for instance the child will be said to be potentially a grammarian, a fluteplayer, or a carpenter, but will only then be in possession () of one or two of these when he learns or acquires some one of these characteristics (). He will be any one of these in actuality, on the other
3 H. Montefiore, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (HNTC; New York: Harper & Row, 1964) 101. 4 J. Hring, L Eptre aux Hbreux (CNT 12; Neuchtel: Delachaux & Niestl, 1954) 55. 5 C. Spicq, L'Eptre aux Hbreux (EBib; Paris: Gabalda, 1953) 145. In addition he cites Sir 30.14: . Cf. Quintilian, Inst. Or. 10.1,1: Firma quaedam facilitas quae apud graecos nominatur, as well as Plato, Philebus 1 Id: . 6 LCL, 1.445. Philo is commenting on Gen 22:17.

A NOTE ON HEB 5:14 503 hand, when he can act on the basis of the possession ofthat characteristic () 7 which he has acquired. Albinus says that the child may, by learning or acquiring a characteristic "state" ( ), act in one of several occupations. The characteristic state is a result of the training implied in "learning or acquiring," but is not wholly identified with that training. The state achieved by training then serves as basis for further action. Similarly, the Author of Hebrews exhorts the addressees to leave behind their immaturity and praises "those who on account of their characteristic state (as adults) have their senses trained to discern good and bad."

The passage comes from 26 of the Didaskalikos and occurs during a general discussion of fate and free will. The Greek text is available in Platonis dilaogici secundum Thrasylli tetralogas dispositi (ed. C. Fr. Hermann; Leipzig: Teubner, 1902), 6.179. The English translation of the passage and a short discussion of it are available in John Dillon, The Middle Platonists 80 B.C. to A.D. 220 (Ithaca: Cornell University, 1977) 298.

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