It will be seen that Hebrews 4:15 is an integral part of this larger

context, and no interpretation is therefore valid that ignores or contravenes

the general direction of the teaching of this context.  A `profession' is in

view; something to `hold fast'; something involving trial and self -denial;

something that may be lost.  Further, with the structure before us, it is

impossible to isolate Hebrews 4:15; we must ever keep in mind the temptation

mentioned in chapter 3.

`Your fathers tempted Me' (Heb. 3:9), said God.  Now whatever

questionable views we may entertain concerning the temptations to which our

Lord was subjected in the days of His flesh, no such thoughts are possible

when we consider the words `Your fathers tempted Me'.  It is not only

repugnant to common sense, but contrary to positive Scripture that God can,

by any possibility, be `tempted' to or by evil.  `God cannot be tempted with

evil' is

the categorical statement of Holy Writ (Jas. 1:13); consequently we are

immediately faced with a fact concerning `temptation' that must influence our

views of Hebrews 2:18 and 4:15.

If we had continued the quotation of Hebrews 3:9 we should have read,

`when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years'.

`Proved' is dokimazo, `to test, try, as a metal'.  This meaning is borne out

by the passages in Hebrews 11, `by faith Abraham, when he was tried (peirazo,

"tempted"), offered up Isaac' (Heb. 11:17).  Shall we say that God tempted

Abraham to sin when He made the great demand concerning Isaac?  God forbid!

not only because Scripture positively declares that God never tempts man to

sin (Jas. 1:13), but also because a reading of Genesis 22 reveals that this

`tempting' was a `testing' of Abraham's faith, `now I know that thou fearest

God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me' (Gen.

The contexts of the references to temptation in Hebrews 2 and 4

introduce such words as `succour', `sympathy' (`cannot be touched with'),

`infirmities', but we can scarcely speak of `sympathy' and `infirmities' when

we speak of `sin' as it appears in Scripture.

The word translated `succour' (Heb. 2:18) and `help' (Heb. 4:16) occurs

once more in Hebrews 13:6, `so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my

Helper'.  This is associated, not with `sin' or `forgiveness', but with the

promise that the believer would never be forsaken and in connection with

`what man shall do' unto us, not what we might inadvertently do ourselves.

Another word which occurs in Hebrews must be included in our

examination and that is the word peira.  This occurs twice in Hebrews:

`By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the

Egyptians assaying (making the attempt) to do were drowned' (Heb.

`Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings' (11:36).

In neither passage can the idea of `tempting' be discovered.  In the

first passage `attempt' gives good English and incidentally reveals that, in

our mother-tongue, the word `tempt' means a `trial' or an `ATtempt'.  The

other reference (Heb. 11:36) is but a variant of the word translated

`tempted', and needs no comment.