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    Hebrews · 28 verses

    Hebrews 7

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    Levi pays a tenth to Melchizedek while still in Abraham’s loin, a remarkably early piece of bookkeeping.

    The priest who arrives without a family treevv. 1–10

    Melchizedek appears as king of Salem and priest of God Most High, meeting Abraham on his return and receiving a tenth of everything. His titles are wonderfully tidy—king of righteousness, king of peace—while his biography is left entirely untidy: no parents, genealogy, first day, or last day. Abraham gives; Melchizedek blesses; and then Levi, generations away in the argument, is counted as having paid through Abraham. The chapter’s accounting is boldly ancestral: Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor when the meeting took place.

    A priesthood changed, and death loses its officevv. 11–28

    The argument turns from Melchizedek’s strange permanence to the need for another priest. If the Levitical priesthood had made perfection possible, there would be no need for one from a different order; but the new priest belongs to Judah, a tribe with no altar-service in Moses’ account. This priest is appointed not by succession but by indestructible life, and Jesus receives the office with an oath. The earlier priests were many because death prevented them from remaining in office. Jesus, by contrast, lives forever, so his priesthood does not need a replacement rota. The final contrast is between weak men appointed by the law and the Son appointed by the oath, made perfect forever.

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Heb 7:1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

    2. Heb 7:2and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”

    3. Heb 7:3Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.

    4. Heb 7:4Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder.

    5. Heb 7:5Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham.

    6. Heb 7:6But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

    7. Heb 7:7And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

    8. Heb 7:8In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on.

    9. Heb 7:9And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham.

    10. Heb 7:10For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor.

    11. Heb 7:11Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron?

    12. Heb 7:12For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.

    13. Heb 7:13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

    14. Heb 7:14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.

    15. Heb 7:15And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,

    16. Heb 7:16one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life.

    17. Heb 7:17For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

    18. Heb 7:18So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless

    19. Heb 7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

    20. Heb 7:20And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath,

    21. Heb 7:21but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”

    22. Heb 7:22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

    23. Heb 7:23Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.

    24. Heb 7:24But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.

    25. Heb 7:25Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

    26. Heb 7:26Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

    27. Heb 7:27Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

    28. Heb 7:28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 349 passages were voted onto 28 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 25Romans 8:34Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
    • 251 John 2:1–2My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
    • 251 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
    • 25Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
    • 25John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
    • 1Genesis 14:18–20Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—
    • 21Psalms 110:4The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
    • 25Ephesians 2:18For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
    • 25Isaiah 45:22Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
    • 25Romans 5:2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
    • 27Hebrews 9:12He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
    • 27Hebrews 9:28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
    • 14Micah 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
    • 25Hebrews 7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
    • 25Hebrews 11:6And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
    • 262 Corinthians 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

    Onward

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