The passage
      v10. God's ultimate purpose for his creation is to gather a people to himself in order that they may share in the Creator's glory. To achieve this end, it was "fitting" (a right thing for him to do) for God to provide the way to glory through the suffering of Jesus. Jesus was the "author" of this salvation in the sense of being its pathfinder, or pioneer. That is, Jesus cuts out the pathway for us to travel; he identifies with sinful humanity, remaining obedient unto death and so, as the perfect saviour (high priest), he provides a perfect pathway to glory.
      v11. Jesus, the one and only holy (perfect, set apart for God) son of God, has now entered glory. Those who follow the pathway cut by Jesus, not only share his holiness, a holiness which will be fully realized in glory, but they share his status as a son of God. In Christ we become sons of God.
      v12-13. Three Old testament passages are quoted to support the contention that Christ is our brother:
        i] Ps.22:22. The early church treated Psalm 22 as a messianic Psalm fulfilled by Christ during his life. Jesus the messiah had praised God and put his trust in God. In typical Hebrew parallelism, God is praised in the presence of "my brothers" and the "congregation" ie. the assembly of believers, the church.
        ii] Isa.8:17b. This rather obtuse reference links Christ and his brethren (the righteous remnant of Christ's day) with Isaiah and his disciples (the righteous remnant of Isaiah's day). Isaiah was rejected, his words ignored, just as Jesus was rejected and ignored. Yet, Isaiah, like Jesus (and the righteous remnant in Christ), continued to trust in the ultimate victory of the living God.
        iii] Isa.8:18a. Isaiah and his children served as a sign to Israel of God's intentions for his people. This is particularly seen in his children's names which mean "remnant will return" and "hasten booty, speed spoil". For Christ, his remnant people, the church, his "children" ("those whom you gave me out of the world"), his brethren, are similarly a sign to the powers of this age.
      All three of the above verses establish the solidarity of Christ with his disciples.
      v14. The pathway cut by Jesus had to be cut by a real person. Jesus had to be born naturally, live naturally and die naturally; he had to share the "humanity" of his "brothers". Through this role, Jesus himself took the sting of death, and by his dying, drew the sting from his brothers. In so doing, he renders the powers of darkness powerless.
      v15. Through his death, Jesus frees his brothers from the bondage of fear, particularly the fear of death. Before Christ, resurrection was but a forlorn hope. In the reality of Christ's resurrection, we find hope.
      v16. Those who Jesus "takes hold of" ("helps") and leads along the pathway, are not "angels", but the family of faith. They are the true sons of Abraham, Gal.3:7.
      v17. To take his brothers along the pathway to salvation, it was necessary for Jesus to be as his brothers; he had to be truly human. The writer to the Hebrews now ties the "pathfinder" role of Christ with that of his priestly role. A high priest must be one with the people he represents before God. This identification enables Christ to be "merciful" toward his brothers - he is able to sympathize with their state and so speak for them. Also, it enables Christ to be a faithful, reliable pathfinder. As the perfect high priest, Christ can "make propitiation for the sins of the people" - atone for our sins and therefore turn aside the judgment that is due us.
      v18. Having such a pathfinder, such a high priest, who has cut our pathway to eternity, atoned for our sins, assured our salvation and is now reigning in eternity, we have little to fear in the face of life's challenges. Jesus has faced all that we face and more and was victorious. He is therefore well able to aid us in our struggle, our "time of testing".

Facing the test
      The writer to the Hebrews is addressing a group of Christians who are "sore tested" by life's vagaries - tested even to the point of giving up their faith. The powers of darkness were squeezing in on them. To help them through the time of testing he lifts their eyes to one who "is able to help." He reminds his readers that they are "brothers" of Christ, the "pathfinder" and "high priest" of "glory". Jesus has gone the way of glory for us so that we might share glory with him. So, fear not.
      When the walls of life squeeze in on us and begin to suffocate us, the best way of pushing out the barriers is to look to the one who has completely destroyed all barriers, even the barrier of death.

v11
      ex enoV panteV "are of the same family" - from one all. Either: "have the same Father (God)", TEV, or the same origin in Adam (possibly Abraham), "are all one stock", NEB.
      di hJn aitian "so" - because of, on account of this reason/cause. "Because of which", Caudill.
      ouk epaiscunetai (epaiscunomai) pres. "is not ashamed" - Jesus does not take the view that his authority and status is lessoned by classing believers as brothers.

v12
      legwn pres. part. "he says" - saying. The participle is adverbial, eg. "he is not ashamed to call them brothers when he says / because the scripture/psalmist/the Lord says: ..." The first of three quotes from the Old Testament supporting the contention that believers are Christ's brothers.
      en mesw/ ekklhsiaV "in the presence of the congregation" - in midst of congregation. "When the believers gather for worship I will praise you", TH.

v13
      egw "I" - The position is emphatic.
      pepoiqwV (peiqw) perf. part. + fut. verb to-be "I will put [my trust in him]" - I will put [my confidence upon him]. A periphrastic future, ie. a simple verb expressed in a roundabout way.
      epi "on" - upon. "I will lean my weight upon God", TH.
      ta paidia "the children" - Meaning, the remnant children of Israel, therefore "believers".

v14
      paraplhsiwV adv. "he too" - likewise, in like manner. "In exactly the same way", Barclay.
      metescen (metecw) aor. "he too shared" - shared, had a part in. Aorist may indicate an allusion to the incarnation, "he himself participated in their nature", Moffatt.
      twn autwn "in their humanity" - the same things. "he too shared ours (ie. our humanity)", NEB.
      iJna + subj. "so that ..... [he might destroy]" - A final (purpose) clause, so NIV etc.
      dia + gen. "by [his death]" - through, by means of [death]. "His" is assumed, "through death", NEB, NRSV...

v15
      apallaxh/ (apallassw) aor. subj. "free [those]" - he might set free, liberate. Possibly introducing a second part to the purpose clause introduced in v14, "so that by his death ..... and also (so that) he might free those ....", "and might also set free", Phillips. It is also possible that this verb introduces a consecutive (result) clause, "and in this way set free those", TEV.
      oJsoi pro. "who" - as many as
      enocoi hsan douleiaV "held in slavery" - were being subjected to slavery. Probably best handled in a figurative way, "lived their whole lives a prey to the fear of death", Phillips. Interestingly, slavery is used of slaves to the law, sin/guilt, ignorance/self and death/Hades, but our writer identifies the slavery to fear and promises freedom from it. If, in the victory of Christ, we are liberated from annihilation, separation from God, then we have nothing to fear in death.

v16
      dhpou adv. "surely" - of course, certainly, surely. It goes without saying, "after all", Knox.
      epilambanetai (epilambanomai) pres. "he helps" - he takes hold of / he takes interest in, assists, helps, cares for. The sense "takes hold", "takes to himself", NEB, is the traditional translation, a translation that rests on the idea that Jesus took on human nature when he become a man. "It is plain that for this purpose he did not become an angel; he became a man, in actual fact a descendent of Abraham", Phillips. The sense "helps", TEV, is more widely accepted today. Jesus did not "make himself the angel's champion", Knox.

v17
      wfeilen (ofeilw) imperf. "he had to" - he was obligated, he must. "It was necessary that he ...."
      kata panta "in every way" - in every respect.
      iJna + subj. "in order that" - that. The construction serves to introduce a final (purpose) clause. "In order to be their merciful and faithful (to God) high priest", TEV.
      ta proV ton qeon "in service to God" - the things to God. "The things toward God", "matters pertaining to God", Attridge, is the literal sense, but is somewhat unclear. Jesus is a high priest whose service to God reflects the divine, particularly in his mercy and faithfulness; he is a "merciful and faithful high priest in all things divine", Moffatt.
      to iJlaskesqai (iJleskomai) inf. "that he might make atonement" - to make atonement for. The articular infinitive here serves to create a purpose clause; Christ's priestly service, in the offering of his own self, is performed "so that" he might........" The meaning of this verb is open to some debate. It can be taken to mean "to be merciful", and thus used here of "sins forgiven, wiped away, blotted out." "So that the people's sin would be forgiven", TEV. The debate tends to focus on the verb meaning either, "expiation" (make amends for sin) or "propitiation" (turn aside the righteous judgment of God with respect to sin, ie. from the sinner to the sacrifice, namely Christ). Christ's high priestly service either served to "expiate the sins of the people", NEB, "so as to atone for the sins of the people", Caudill, or "make propitiation for the sins of the people", Bruce.