This verse develops and supports the statement that its readers have become slow to understand (see Revised Standard Version‘s “For”). The verse contains a contrast between what the readers should be and what they are. Good News Translation‘s yet and Barclay‘s “but in point of fact” bring out this contrast more clearly than Revised Standard Version‘s more literal “though.” Phillips makes the contrast even stronger by bold restructuring: “At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves….” Good News Translation does not express the idea of inner obligation in Revised Standard Version‘s “ought.” It was a common belief that any mature person should be able to teach someone else. Teachers here does not mean specialized professional instructors. For this reason it may be more natural to use a verbal expression such as “by this time you should be teaching other people” (Moffatt; similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

There has been enough time may be rendered as “Already enough time has passed,” but the use of a term meaning “already” and an expression of obligation may be sufficient to render There has been enough time for you to be teachers; for example, “Already you should have become teachers” or “… should have become those who could teach others.”

Most modern translations and commentaries agree with the UBS Greek text, Good News Translation, and Revised Standard Version, which have someone rather than King James Version‘s “one.” Someone suits the context better. The translation should be indefinite, since the reference is not to any individual; Phillips shows this by using the plural, “teachers.” 6.1-2 explains what is meant by the first lessons of God’s message (see the comments on these verses).

You still need someone to teach you may be rendered rather impersonally as “it is still necessary for someone to teach you.” In some languages this must be expressed as an obligation: “you must have someone to teach you.”

The first lessons: the Greek includes some repetition for emphasis; it is literally “the elements of the beginning.”

God’s message is literally “God’s sayings.” This is not the usual expression for referring to the Old Testament; it refers rather to basic elements of his revelation in general. Phillips translates “the ABC of God’s revelation to men”; similarly New English Bible. Elementary Christian teaching (see 6.1) may be included.

The first lessons of God’s message may often be rendered as “what one learns first about God’s message,” “what one ought to learn at the very beginning about what God has declared” or “… what God has said.”

You still have to drink milk: Revised Standard Version‘s second “you need” is literally “you have become and are people who need.” Once “have become and are” has been expressed in verse 11, it need not be reemphasized here. Good News Translation, by changing “need” into have to, makes it clear that the readers’ immaturity is unusual and wrong. Barclay, however, goes further than Good News Bible‘s second still by translating “It is milk you have come to need,” suggesting that the readers are even becoming less mature than they were. This fits in very well.

The connection between the first lessons of God’s message and the final sentence of verse 12, namely, Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk, may not be clear unless the basis for this figurative statement is made evident by introducing the fact of “being like children,” as occurs in the first part of 5.13-14. It may therefore be important to transfer the reference to “being like children” into verse 12; for example, “You are like children, and instead of being able to eat solid food you still must drink milk.” This provides an excellent basis for what follows in verses 13 and 14.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .