Hebrews 5:12
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Cross-reference
Hebrews 5:13 explains why milk-users are unskilled in righteousness — directly defining the 'babe' rebuked in verse 12.
In Hebrews 6:1, the author urges leaving elementary principles — the direct next step after rebuking their need for milk.
Isaiah 28:9 uses the same milk-weaning metaphor for those ready for solid teaching — the direct source of this imagery.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2 uses the same milk/meat metaphor for spiritual babes — a classic parallel describing inability to handle deeper teaching.
1 Corinthians 3:2 uses the same milk/solid food metaphor for spiritual immaturity, directly echoing the condition described in Hebrews.
1 Corinthians 14:20 urges maturity in thinking, not childishness — a parallel call to grow beyond the basic milk stage.
Romans 15:14 affirms believers are 'able to instruct one another' — the opposite of Hebrews' charge that they need to be taught again.
Mark 8:17 similarly rebukes the disciples for lack of understanding, mirroring the rebuke of spiritual dullness in Hebrews.
Matthew 15:16 has Jesus rebuking disciples with 'still without understanding,' directly parallel to the rebuke for needing milk.
Jeremiah 31:34 envisions no need for teaching because all know God, directly contrasting the need for basic teaching in Hebrews.
Ezra 7:10 models the ideal: study, practice, then teach — contrasting with the audience's stagnation on milk.
Ephesians 4:11 lists teachers as a gift — the very role Hebrews says they ought to have, providing background for the rebuke.
Ephesians 4:14 warns against being children tossed by doctrine — the same spiritual immaturity metaphor as milk vs solid food.
1 Peter 2:2 uses the same milk metaphor positively for growth, contrasting with the rebuke for needing basic teaching.
In Luke 24:25, Jesus rebukes disciples as 'slow of heart to believe' — a parallel rebuke for spiritual dullness like Hebrews' call to move beyond milk.
1 Corinthians 14:19 prioritizes intelligible instruction — supporting the need for clear, basic teaching that builds up.
Colossians 3:16 urges rich mutual teaching — the mature goal the audience has failed to reach.