Hebrews 7

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of God Most High. He met Abraham as Abraham was coming back from defeating the kings, and he blessed him.

1For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

NoteMelchizedek appears in only three verses of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 14:18-20. Abraham, coming back from defeating a coalition of kings who had carried off his nephew Lot, is met by this king-priest, who brings out bread and wine and blesses him. "The slaughter of the kings" means the defeat of those kings in battle, not a massacre afterward. Salem is generally taken to be an older, shortened name for Jerusalem. "The most high God" renders the title used in the Genesis story, El Elyon, God Most High.

2And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness," that is, king of what is right. Then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace."

2To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

NoteThe argument here rests on the sound of the Hebrew names. "Melchizedek" divides into melek, king, and tsedeq, righteousness. "Salem" resembles shalom, peace. Drawing meaning out of a name this way was ordinary practice among ancient interpreters. The tenth is a tithe, the customary gift of a tenth of one's income or plunder to a god or to his priest.

3He is without father, without mother, without family line, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. He is like the Son of God, and he remains a priest without stopping.

3Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

NoteIn Israel a man could serve as priest only by proving descent from Levi through Aaron, and priestly family records were kept and checked. Genesis gives Melchizedek no parents, no ancestry, no birth and no death; he simply appears and disappears. The writer argues from that silence in the record. He is not claiming Melchizedek had no human parents, but reading what the page does and does not say.

4Now think about how great this man was. Even Abraham, the father of our whole people, gave him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.

4Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

Note"Patriarch" means founding ancestor of a people. "The tenth of the spoils" refers to goods captured in battle; the Greek word means the top of the heap, the choicest part of what was taken.

5The law commands the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own relatives, even though those relatives are also descended from Abraham.

5And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

NoteThe tribe of Levi was set apart for service at the sanctuary and given no farmland of its own, so it lived on the tenth collected from the other tribes (Numbers 18). "Come out of the loins of Abraham" is an old way of saying descended from him. The point is that Levites collect from relatives who are their equals in ancestry.

6But Melchizedek, whose family line did not come from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who held God's promises.

6But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

Note"Him that had the promises" is Abraham, to whom God promised land, descendants, and blessing reaching all nations (Genesis 12).

7And no one can argue with this: the lesser person is blessed by the greater one.

7And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

NoteIn this culture a blessing ran downward, from the greater person to the lesser: father to son, king to subject, priest to worshiper. That social fact is the whole weight of the argument.

8In the one case, the men who collect the tenth are men who die. In the other case, the one who collects it is spoken of as one who goes on living.

8And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

NoteThe contrast is again between what the record reports. Levite priests are men who die and are replaced, generation after generation. Of Melchizedek, scripture reports no death, so the writer speaks of him as one who goes on living.

9You could even say that Levi, whose descendants collect the tenth, paid a tenth himself through Abraham.

9And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.

Note"As I may so say" flags a deliberately loose way of putting things. The writer knows he is stretching a point and says so before making it.

10For Levi was still in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.

10For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

NoteAncient thinking treated a descendant as in some sense already present in the body of his ancestor before birth, so what the ancestor did could be counted as done by the descendant. That assumption is what makes the argument work.

11It was on the basis of the priesthood of Levi's descendants that the people received the law. So if that priesthood could have made things complete, why was another priest still needed, one in the line of Melchizedek instead of the line of Aaron?

11If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

Note"Perfection" here means completion, bringing something all the way to its intended goal, not moral flawlessness. Aaron was Moses' brother and Israel's first high priest; every lawful priest traced descent from him, so "the order of Aaron" means the regular Israelite priesthood.

12For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.

12For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

13The one these things are said about belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.

13For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.

Note"Gave attendance at the altar" means served as a priest, doing the work of slaughtering, burning and presenting offerings at the altar in the sanctuary. Only men of Levi's tribe did that work.

14For it is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe.

14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

Note"Sprang out of Juda" means descended from Judah; Juda is the older spelling. Judah was the royal tribe, the tribe of David, and pointedly not the priestly one.

15And the point becomes even clearer when another priest appears who is like Melchizedek,

15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

16one who became a priest not by the law of a fleshly commandment, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.

16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Note"Carnal" in 1611 English meant simply of the flesh, bodily, without the sexual sense it now carries. "A carnal commandment" here means the rule about bodily descent, being born into the right family. "Endless life" translates a word meaning indestructible, a life death cannot undo.

17For this is said about him: "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek."

17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

NoteThis is a quotation of Psalm 110:4, a psalm addressed to a king. The single line about Melchizedek is the hinge of the entire chapter, and it is quoted again in verse 21.

18So the earlier command is set aside, because it was weak and did not accomplish anything,

18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

Note"Disannulling" is an old word meaning cancellation or setting aside. "Unprofitableness" means uselessness for this particular purpose, not worthlessness in every respect.

19since the law made nothing complete. And a better hope is brought in, and through it we come near to God.

19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

Note"Draw nigh" means come near, and it carries a physical picture. Under the older system ordinary worshipers could not enter the sanctuary; priests could go only so far, and the high priest alone entered the innermost room, once a year.

20And none of this happened without an oath. Others became priests without any oath,

20And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

21but Jesus became a priest with an oath, sworn by the One who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.'"

21(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

Note"Sware" is the old past tense of swear. "Repent" in 1611 English meant change one's mind or think better of something; the line says God will not go back on the oath, not that God will not sin. The quotation is Psalm 110:4 again.

22Because of that oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better agreement between God and people.

22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Note"Surety" is a legal term: the person who stands behind someone else's debt or promise and is liable if it is not kept. "Testament" renders the Greek word diatheke, which covers both a last will and a binding agreement between parties, which is why English Bibles alternate between "testament" and "covenant" for the same word.

23Also, there were many of those other priests, because death kept each of them from staying in the job.

23And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:

Note"Were not suffered to continue" means were not allowed to keep the office; "suffer" in 1611 English usually meant permit. Over the centuries of the temple, dozens of men held the high priesthood in turn.

24But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood never passes to anyone else.

24But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

Note"Unchangeable" translates a word that can mean either not passing on to a successor or simply permanent, and the sentence does not choose between the two.

25So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to speak to God on their behalf.

25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Note"To the uttermost" can mean completely, all the way through, or it can mean for all time. The Greek carries both senses and the sentence does not settle which is meant. "Make intercession" means to plead on someone's behalf, the way an advocate speaks for a client before a judge or a courtier speaks for someone before a king.

26This is the kind of high priest we needed: one who is holy, who does no harm, who has no stain of wrong, who is set apart from sinners, and who has been lifted higher than the heavens.

26For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Note"Became us" means was fitting for us, suited to what we needed; it has nothing to do with becoming something. "Harmless" in 1611 English meant innocent, free of malice, rather than merely not dangerous. "Undefiled" carries a ritual sense: a priest had to stay clear of whatever made him unfit to serve, such as contact with a corpse.

27He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, as those high priests do, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered up himself.

27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

NoteUnder the law the high priest offered a sacrifice for his own sins before he could offer one for the people, most visibly on the Day of Atonement each year (Leviticus 16), while sacrifices were also offered at the temple every morning and evening. "Once" here means once for all, a single act that never needs repeating.

28The law appoints as high priests men who are weak. But the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son, who has been made complete forever.

28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

Note"Infirmity" means weakness, covering both moral frailty and mortality. "Consecrated" translates the verb behind "perfection" in verse 11: brought to completion, fully qualified, arrived at the intended goal, rather than made morally pure.