---
title: Hebrews 2:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-2-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-2-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Hebrews 2:17
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Hebrews 2:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "Consequently he was obliged to become like his "brothers" in all respects, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, in order to offer propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people."
- NWT (2013 revision): "Consequently, he had to become like his "brothers" in all respects, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, in order to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people."

## JW Usage

Watchtower Christology has Jesus reverting to spirit existence (Michael) after the resurrection. The Hebrews 2:17 requirement that the high priest be "made like his brothers in all respects" sits uncomfortably with that picture, but is rarely engaged head-on. When cited, the verse is treated as a description of the earthly-ministry incarnation — a temporary likeness that Jesus shed at his resurrection.

## Protestant Usage

Hebrews 2:17 is half of the Melchizedek-priesthood argument. A high priest must share the nature of the people he represents — "made like his brothers in all respects" — and Hebrews 7:25 adds that he "always lives to plead for them" (NWT). If Jesus is no longer truly human, he is no longer truly priest. If he is no longer priest, no one is interceding (Romans 8:34). The doorstep question: "Who is interceding for you right now?" Pair with Hebrews 7:24 ("his priesthood has no successors") — a non-human Jesus cannot fulfil a permanent human-shaped priesthood.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders hilaskesthai as "offer a propitiatory sacrifice" in both 1984 and 2013 — preserving the sacrificial-mechanism language Hebrews requires. The choice is unremarkable in isolation, but matters as a *contrast* with the NWT's broader pattern at 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 2:8, and Romans 11:6, where charis ("grace") is consistently softened to "undeserved kindness." Hebrews 2:17 keeps the harder sacrificial language because the verse cannot be smoothed without breaking the high- priest argument the book is building.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus Must Be a Man Now — The Melchizedek Priesthood](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/melchizedek-priesthood.md) — "He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25) [Deity of Christ]