To what does “because of his reverence” refer to?

Explanation:

The phrase ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας is a prepositional phrase that begins with the preposition ἀπό, which can carry a variety of senses, including from, away from, or as a result of. This preposition modifies the genitive form of ἡ εὐλάβεια, which is normally translated as reverence, or godly fear. But because the preposition ἀπό can carry such a wide variety of meanings, the question is how this preposition modifies τῆς εὐλαβείας in Hebrews 5:7. One way to get at the meaning is to look to the context.³

The author of Hebrews has already introduced the notion that Jesus is a faithful high priest (Hebrews 3:1–2), and that because Jesus is a faithful high priest, he suffered and was tempted like other humans (Hebrews 2:14–18). When we look at the immediate context, we find in Hebrews 5:5 that like Aaron, Jesus did not exalt himself to be a high priest. Rather, he was appointed to be a high priest by God. Immediately following the statement that Jesus was appointed as a high priest we read that when Jesus suffered as a human, he offered prayers to God that were heard ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας (because of his reverence/godly fear). The task of the high priest is to make offerings before God. The author has made a connection between Jesus Christ as high priest and Jesus’ prayers as an offering.^4,5 Does God accept Jesus’ offering? In Hebrews 5:7 we read that he was heard ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας (because of his reverence/godly fear). In other words, since Jesus is a high priest who offered his prayers to God, the most natural translation is to take ἀπό in a causal sense, which means the author is explaining why Jesus’ offering was heard: he was heard because of his reverence/godly fear.⁶ Hebrews 5:8 reinforces this understanding because there we read that although Jesus was a Son, he learned obedience through suffering. In other words, because Jesus suffered greatly, he offered prayers to God, and because his prayers were offered out of a sense of reverent fear, he was heard.⁷

Counterargument:

Based on the context it is hard to see that because of his reverence, Jesus’ prayer was accepted by God. This is because of the way that God is characterized in Hebrews 5:7. There it states that when Jesus suffered, he offered his prayers with tears and loud cries to the one who was able to save him from death. Of course, we know that Jesus does end up dying on the cross, so he was not saved from death. This makes it difficult to decide what the author of Hebrews means when he says that Jesus’ prayer was heard ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας, because it does not seem as though his prayer was heard at all.

Response to counterargument:

The purpose of the author is not to show that God rescued Jesus from physical death, but that God is the one who rescues life from the dead.⁸ In this sense, Jesus was not kept from the experience of death, but because of his obedience to God, death had no dominion over him. This is why even after experiencing death, Jesus was raised by God from the dead.

Explanation:

The author of Hebrews uses the noun εὐλάβεια and the related verb εὐλαβέομαι on two occasions beyond Hebrews 5:7. First, the verb εὐλαβέομαι is used in Hebrews 11:7 to characterize the attitude that Noah had when he constructed the ark. The idea here is that when God commanded Noah to construct the ark, even though Noah could not yet see the rain that was about to come, Noah obeyed εύλαβηθεις (in reverent fear). Next, the same noun εὐλάβεια that is used in Hebrews 5:7 is also used in Hebrews 12:28. In this case, the author exhorts us to offer to God acceptable worship μετὰ εὐλαβείας καὶ δέους (with reverence and awe). In both cases, the notion of godly fear/reverent submission is an appropriate translation based on the context.⁹

Counterargument:

Since the noun εὐλάβεια is used only twice in the New Testament we simply do not have enough information to draw strong conclusions on its meaning. When a term has an ambiguous meaning, we must look to documents from outside the New Testament to provide more clarity. When we do this, we find that εὐλάβεια is closely associated with the noun φόβος (fear).¹⁰ If we take εὐλάβεια to mean something closer to fear, this also fits well with the context. In other words, the reason that God heard Jesus’ prayers is because he was afraid. And what was Jesus afraid of? Since Hebrews 5:7 contains overtones of Jesus’ sorrow in the garden of Gethsemane, we can look there for answers. When we do this, we find that Jesus asks the Father to take the cup from him. The implication is that Jesus knows he will soon be crucified, and because he feared death, he asked God if it was possible for this to be avoided. As a loving Father, God heard his prayer.

Response to counterargument:

It might be that the term εὐλάβεια sometimes carries a sense that is close φόβος (fear), but there is no question that the term is generally used to denote fear as it relates to God.¹¹ This implies that when εὐλάβεια is translated to mean something closer to φόβος (fear), the fear in question is normally a godly fear, and this fits well within the context of Hebrews 5:7. Further, the noun εὐλάβεια is only used twice in the New Testament, but it is also used twice in the Septuagint (Joshua 22:24; Proverbs 28:14), and on both occasions it denotes godly fear/reverent submission. The verb εὐλαβέομαι is closely related, and it is used a total of twenty-two times in the New Testament and the Septuagint combined, and again, in many cases it carries the sense of godly fear/reverent submission (Exodus 3:6; 1 Samuel 18:15; Proverbs 30:5; Jeremiah 5:22).

Explanation:

By stating that Jesus offered prayers with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, the author of Hebrews is alluding to Jesus’ suffering at Gethsemane.¹² In Matthew 26:38 we read that at Gethsemane, Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow and prayed that God would take his cup, while making clear that at bottom his ultimate desire was to do God’s will, and not his own (Matthew 26:39).¹³

If we consider Hebrews 5:7 in light of Jesus’ willingness to submit to the Father’s will in the garden of Gethsemane, we see that εὐλάβεια is best taken as godly fear/reverence. Matthew states that at Gethsemane, Jesus had sorrow to the point of death, and in Hebrews 5:7 we read that Jesus offered his prayers to the one who could deliver him from death. Still, Jesus’ prayers were heard because of godly fear/reverent submission.

From Hebrews 10:5–9 we get further corroboration that Jesus’ willingness to submit to God in the garden of Gethsemane can inform how we interpret Hebrews 5:7. There we read that Christ himself says that God does not desire burnt offerings, but obedience to his will.

Counterargument:

It is difficult to connect Hebrews 5:7 with Jesus’ suffering in the garden of Gethsemane because there is no mention in the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears. Further, there is no indication that Jesus’ request for the cup to pass from him was heard. Added to this, there is a tradition within Hellenistic Judaism that a righteous person’s prayer corresponds with the language of loud cries and tears.^14,15

Response to counterargument:

The fact that the Synoptics do not mention that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears in the garden of Gethsemane does not mean that in fact he did not. It could just mean that the Gospel writers have not recorded this. Further, if there is a tradition in Hellenistic Judaism to characterize righteous persons’ prayers as being made with loud cries and tears, then it makes sense for the author of Hebrews, who is writing to a Jewish audience, to characterize Jesus’ prayers at Gethsemane this way. We know that Jesus was a righteous man, and we know that he experienced intense agony in the garden and in the midst of that agony offered prayers to God. It does not matter whether the cries and tears were audible or not. The fact is that Jesus, the righteous man, cried out to the one who could save him from death, for rescue.¹⁶ Finally, if the author of Hebrews is in fact incorporating an element of Hellenistic Jewish prayer, this further reinforces that the best way to understand ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας is that God heard Jesus’ prayer because of his godly fear/reverent submission.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it takes the preposition ἀπό in a casual sense. This is a fine way to take the preposition as far as it goes, but the more common sense of ἀπό has to do with separation.¹⁷ If we take the preposition in its most common sense. then the phrase ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας is rendered from his fear. In other words, God heard (and saved) Jesus from his fear.¹⁸ Still, in many ways this is a difficult translation to accept because of the harsh ellipsis and saved, which must be added for the phrase to make sense.

Explanation:

We read in the Synoptics that Jesus was filled with dread at the thought of facing the cross and asked God if the cup could pass from him (Matthew 26:38–39). His fear is what motivated Jesus to cry out to God, fearing not only death but the reality of facing God’s judgment by carrying the sins of the world.¹⁹

Counterargument:

When we read about Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane the Synoptics all agree that the thrust of Jesus' prayer is not his desire that the cup be taken from him but his desire that the Father’s will be done (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42). This is made most clear in Matthew’s account where it states that after Jesus finds the disciples sleeping, he wakes them up and prays again, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. Notice that the emphasis here is entirely on Jesus’ desire to follow through on God’s will. Added to this, the text states not that Jesus is afraid but that his soul is overwhelmingly sorrowful.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that even if it is the case that Jesus feared death (a point that is foreign to the Gethsemane reports), εὐλάβεια is best translated as godly fear or reverent submission. This means that unless we have a good reason from the text to depart from the most likely translation, we should be cautious against rendering a term that has minimal support. In the case of Hebrews 5:7, we have little reason to take εὐλάβεια in the sense of fear, which is normally rendered by the noun φόβος. Instead, based on the context and the overall theme of Hebrews, we have good reason to think that because Jesus submitted to the Father’s will (which implies godly fear) his prayer was heard.