Hebrews 7 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
c. AD 60-70
Location
Unknown (possibly Rome or Jerusalem)
Audience
Jewish Christians tempted to return to the old covenant system
Situation
The author argues that Jesus' priesthood according to Melchizedek's order is superior to the Levitical priesthood, making the old covenant obsolete
Key Background
The Levitical priesthood was central to Jewish worship and identity. Showing Jesus as a better priest from a different order was radical—it meant the entire temple system was being replaced.
This was king of and of the Most High God. He met as was coming back from defeating the kings, and he
Abraham gave him a of everything he'd won. Now, first of all, his name means of And then, of Salem" means of
He has no no no His life has no beginning and no end. He's been made to resemble the of — he remains a
Think about how significant this man was — even Abraham, the gave him a tenth of what he'd captured in battle.
Now, the law requires those of who become priests to collect a from the people — that is, from their own brothers and sisters — even though they all came from Abraham.
But this man — who wasn't even from their family line — collected a tenth from Abraham and the one who had
And no one can argue with this: the lesser person receives favor from the greater.
In the one case, collect the tenth. But in the other case, it's someone who is to be
You could even say that himself — the one whose descendants collect the tenth — actually paid a tenth through Abraham,
because he was still in the of when Melchizedek met Abraham.
Now, if the Levitical priesthood could have — and the whole legal system the people received was built on it — why would there still be a need for a different kind of priest, one described as being rather than Aaron"?
Because when the the law that goes with it has to change too.
The person all of this is being said about belongs to a completely different — one that has never had anyone serve at the
It's obvious that our Lord came from and Moses never said anything about priests coming from that tribe.
And what we're saying becomes even more obvious when a different priest shows up who is like Melchizedek —
someone who became a priest not because of a but because of the power of a that be
Because God confirms it: "You are a — like Melchizedek."
So on one hand, the old rule gets because it was and the
The law never But now something better has been introduced — a that actually us to
And this didn't happen without God making an The others became priests without any
but he became a priest with an oath, when God said to him: has a and will not 'You are a priest forever.'"
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the of a
Under the old system, there had to be lots of priests because them from in office.
But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood is — it never transfers to anyone else.
That's why he is to those who come to through him — because he is always alive, always to on their
This is exactly the kind of high priest we needed — one who is from from those in and the
He doesn't need to offer every day the way those other high priests did — first for their own then for the people's. He did this and for all when he up
The appoints with as high priests. But the that the appoints the who has been