Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7 is the seventh of the thirteen chapters of Hebrews. At the end of chapter 6 (Hebrews 6:20), Jesus is said to have been made an eternal high priest "after the order of Melchisedec"; chapter 7 explains the meaning of this statement. "Order" here denotes rank or line.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: Melchizedek, king of Salem, meets Abraham on his return, blesses him, and receives a tenth from him. His name is interpreted as "King of righteousness," and "King of Salem" as "King of peace."
• Verses 4–10: The lesser is blessed by the greater, and Levi, who was still in the loins of Abraham, is said in effect to have paid tithes to Melchizedek.
• Verses 11–19: Perfection could not be attained through the Levitical priesthood. Therefore the Lord, who sprang from the tribe of Judah, became a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and through this a better hope was brought in.
• Verses 20–22: Jesus was made priest with an oath and became the surety of a better covenant.
• Verses 23–25: The other priests died and were continually replaced, but Jesus lives forever and makes intercession.
• Verses 26–28: Jesus, the holy high priest, has no need to offer sacrifices daily, for He offered up Himself once for all.

Key Verses

• Hebrews 7:25: "he ever liveth to make intercession for them." This is a representative verse on the intercession of Christ, that is, His interceding between humanity and God.
• Hebrews 7:27: "this he did once, when he offered up himself." This verse teaches that the sacrifice of the cross is not repeated.

People and Places

• Melchizedek: King of Salem and priest, who appears in Genesis 14.
• Abraham: Blessed by Melchizedek, to whom he gave a tenth.
• Levi: A son of Jacob and the ancestor of the Levites.
• Aaron: The first high priest of the Levitical line.
• Salem: The city Melchizedek ruled, commonly identified with Jerusalem.

Interpretive Notes

• Many interpreters understand the words "Without father, without mother" in verse 3 as using the absence of any genealogy for Melchizedek in Genesis to present him as a type of Christ. Some, however, hold that Melchizedek was Christ Himself appearing in the Old Testament.
• Verses 17 and 21 quote Psalm 110:4. Chapter 7 is structured as a joint exposition of Genesis 14 and this psalm.
• Protestants cite the word "once" in verse 27 as grounds for rejecting the understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice. The Catholic Church, by contrast, teaches that the Mass does not repeat the sacrifice of the cross but makes it present.
• Verse 4 is cited in the tithing debate as evidence that tithing existed before the Law. Opponents argue that this was a one-time offering from the spoils of war and therefore can hardly serve as a norm for regular giving.
• The "better testament" (covenant) of verse 22 leads into the discussion of the new covenant in chapter 8.

In the Korean Church

Sermons on tithing frequently cite verses 4–10 of this chapter together with Genesis 14.