Shared ground
Hebrews 5:11–12 is a deliberate pause in the author’s teaching. The writer says there is “much to say” about the current topic, but it is hard to communicate because the audience has “become dull of hearing” (a decline in listening/receptiveness). This is not framed as a lack of available truth, but a learning problem in the hearers.
The writer also argues from the passage of time: by now they “ought to be teachers,” yet they “again” need someone to teach them the earliest basics. He describes those basics as “the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God,” and he summarizes the situation with a diet image: they need “milk,” not “solid food.”
Where interpretation differs (only where needed)
One main question is what, exactly, the “oracles of God” refers to here. Some read it primarily as God’s prior Scripture and foundational instruction drawn from it. Others read it more broadly as God’s spoken message as received and taught in the Christian community, including core teaching about Christ.
A second question is how to understand “dull of hearing.” Some take it mainly as inability from neglect or lack of practice; others see an element of resistance—people who could understand, but have become unreceptive.
A third question is how sharply “milk” and “solid food” separate “basic” from “advanced” teaching. Some read them as two fairly distinct levels of instruction; others read them as a more general contrast between beginner-level grasp and mature grasp of the same message.
Why the disagreement exists
The passage uses compressed phrases without defining them (“of whom,” “oracles of God,” “milk/solid food”), so interpreters supply meaning from the larger argument of Hebrews. The immediate context points to the author’s planned teaching about Jesus’ priesthood (introduced just before in Hebrews 5:10 and picked up again later), but v. 12 also uses language (“oracles of God”) that can naturally point back to Scripture-based foundations. The word “again” also raises questions about whether they are merely stalled or have actually regressed.
What this passage clearly contributes
Explicitly, it presents a model of spiritual instruction that assumes growth over time: hearing, learning, and eventually being able to teach others. It also frames the community’s problem as a mismatch between their timeline and their capacity to receive deeper teaching. Theologically inferred (not directly stated), the passage implies that the Christian message has both foundational elements and deeper, more demanding instruction, and that failure to attend carefully can hinder understanding—even when the teacher has “many things” ready to explain.
