Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:3

One, of whose father or mother or pedigree there is no mention in the story in Genesis, as being indeed of another race, not of that which is recorded in scripture, see ver. 6. (which notes him to be no priest by descent, as the Levitical priests were, and accordingly their genealogies and pedigrees both on the father’s and mother’s side were preserved exactly,) as neither of his birth nor death, the time of his entering on or leaving his office; and so stands in the story as a kind of immortal priest, without any successor mentioned in his priesthood, (nay, perhaps the last priest of the true God that was in Phœnicia, idolatry presently coming in;) this Melchisedec, I say, is in all this an emblem of Christ, (and so is set down psalm ex,) who is such a priest as he, in respect of the conjunction of priesthood and regal office, of the no predecessors or successors in the line, of the title of king of righteousness and prince of peace, and of his continuing for ever in that office, that is, as long as there should be need of any, (as Melchisedec did, as long as the worship of God continued in Phœnicia.)

Hebrews 7:4

And ye will soon discern what an eminent person this Melchisedec was, when ye but remember that the patriarch Abraham, that had undertaken the service of the true God, and was the stock from whence all the Aaronical priesthood sprang, did himself give him a tithe out of the choicest of the spoils which he took in the victory over the kings.

[a] spoils] The true notion of ἀκροθίνια will be best discerned by considering the parts of it, θῖνες and ἄκρα: θῖνες signifies properly σωροί, heaps, whether of sand or corn, or any other goods. And Phavorinus observes that in the feminine gender it signifies (from that of heaps of sand) αἰγιαλὸς the sea-shore, but in the masculine it is taken for χρημάτων καὶ λίθων, an heap of goods or stones, and the like: so again saith he, p. 110, θῖνες δὲ εἰσιν οἱ σωροὶ τῶν πυρῶν ἢ κριθῶν, the word signifies heaps of wheat or barley; where, by the way, the ἢ πᾶσα ἀπαρχή that follows in the author, must not be taken as an interpretation of θῖνες, but subjoined to ἀπαρχὴ τῶν θινῶν before, and accordingly the punctuation must be altered from what it is in the printed copy, thus, Ἀπαρχὴ τῶν θινῶν (θῖνες δὲ εἰσιν οἱ σωροὶ τῶν πυρῶν ἢ κριθῶν ἢ πᾶσα ἀπαρχή.) Then for the word ἄκρα, it signifies the top, or prime, or choice part of any thing (as ἀκρόδρυα are the prime part of the trees, viz. the fruits upon them, οἱ καρποὶ δενδρικοί.) And then these two put together in composition are the prime, or chief part of whatsoever it is that is meant by θῖνες: and what that is particularly in any place, the matter spoken of must determine. Thus when the notion of θῖνες is that of corn or fruits, &c., then ἀκροθίνια are in the Grammarians αἱ ἀπαρχαὶ τῶν καρπῶν, the prime, or choice, of the fruits, or first-fruits, such as among all men were wont to be consecrated to the gods (not in order of time the first that are gathered, but) for quality the fairest or best of the heap. So when the notion of θῖνες is the heaps of goods taken in war, τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν πολέμων, be it gold or other pillage, χρυσία or σκύλα, then the ἀκροθίνια are the prime and choice of those, ἀπαρχαὶ λαφύρων the prime part of the prey, which generally was dedicated and presented to God (such as is mentioned 1 Sam. xv. 21, under the title of the chief things of the spoil, sheep and oxen, &c. to sacrifice unto the Lord in Gilgal.) And this is by Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon and Euripides called ἀκροθίνια. And there is a memorable place in Arrian’s Κυνηγετ.: Χρῆ, saith he, ἐπὶ θήρα ἄρχεσθαι ἀπὸ θεῶν, &c., καὶ ἀπαρχὸς ἀλισκομένων ἀνατίθειναι, οὐ μεῖον ἢ ἐν τῇ νίκῃ πολέμῳ ἀκροθίνια, “Men ought in hunting to begin from the gods, and to present to them the first-fruits of what they have taken, no less than in a victory in war the chief of the spoils.” So when θῖν signifies the sea-shore, then ἀκροθίνια are the prime of those rarities ἂς ἀνατίθεισαι οἱ ἐξ ἐμπορίας, which the merchants, when they return from a voyage, offer up as ἀναθέματα to the gods. From these so many notations of the word, it comes not only to signify any or each of these, but in general, πᾶσα ἀπαρχή, all the prime, or choice, of any kind; but this καταχρηστικῶς, saith he, by way of abuse, not in the first propriety. Agreeably hereunto, δεκάτη τῶν ἀκροθινίων will here signify a tithe or tenth given to Melchisedek, as to the priest of God (not of the ἀκροθίνια, a tenth part only of them, for that were δεκάτη ἀκροθινίων, but) tenth of all, Gen. xiv. 20, and that tenth paid ἐκ τῶν ἀκροθινίων, out of the choice, or prime, or best of the store, for that was wont to be picked out and dedicated to God. The whole difficulty then remaining will be, not whether he paid a full tithe of all the spoils, for that is already cleared by Genesis, he gave him tithes of all, and by this chapter, ver. 2, δεκάτην ἀπὸ πάντων, a tithe from all, to which ἐκ τῶν ἀκροθινίων is added, not to deny what was before said, but to specify that this tithe of all was

Hebrews 7:5

Now the Levitical priests had commission by law to receive tithes of all Jews that came from Abraham, as Levi did, that is, from their own countrymen:

[b] people according to the law] Τὸν λαὸν here signifies the Jews, that people called oft τὸ ἔθνος, the nation, and ὁ λαός, the people, as when Caiaphas prophesies that it was expedient that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not, and many the like; and so here, with an addition, τὸν λαὸν κατὰ τὸν νόμον, the people that were under the Mosaical law, that is, punctually the Jews. And this is more probable than that κατὰ τὸν νόμον should belong to ἀποδεκατοῦν, tithe, according to the law, for that had been said before in ἐντολὴν ἔχουσιν, they have commandment, and needed not again be so suddenly repeated; and secondly, the τουτίστι, that is, that follows, seems to set τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτῶν, their brethren, as an interpretation of what went immediately before, which cannot be of the κατὰ νόμον ἀποδεκατοῦν, tithe according to law, but will very readily be so of the τὸν λαὸν κατὰ τὸν νόμον, the people according to the law, in this notion of it, that people to which the law was given, the legal people, the people of the Jews.

Hebrews 7:6

But Melchisedec, who was no kin to Abraham, nor of that people, a stranger to him, received tithes from him, (which is an argument of greater dignity than to receive it only from his own people,) and blessed him who was so special a favourite of God’s as to receive promises of such a nature, so oft repeated to him.

Hebrews 7:7

And this is a clear argument that Melchisedec was a greater person than Abraham.

Hebrews 7:8

And in the Levitical law they that receive tithes die, succeed, and are succeeded, their succession of one after the death of another is recorded in the scripture, and so their death punctually set down: but in that place of Genesis Melchisedec hath no other mention made of him but that he liveth, no kind of mention of his death.

Hebrews 7:9

So again, if you compare it, you shall find that Levi also, who under the law hath the privilege of receiving all the tithes, did in Abraham’s person (as the sons are included in the parents) pay tithes to Melchisedec; which shews again the dignity of that priesthood above the Levitical.

Hebrews 7:10

For Levi was in the loins of his great grandfather Abraham, and as it were included in him, and so may be said in some sense to have done what he did, and paid what he paid.

Hebrews 7:11

This is an argument that the Levitical priesthood was not so perfectly able to make a perfect expiation of sin, (although it be true that it was instituted by the law of God for that time;) for if it were, there would then have been no need, as it seems there was, that God should institute another sort of priest, to wit, his own Son, to be such a priest as Melchisedec was, and not such an one as Aaron.

Hebrews 7:14

Now this is clear by our Saviour’s being of the tribe of Judah, a tribe from whence the priests were not to come.

Hebrews 7:15

And more clear by the distinct words concerning him, of his being such a priest as Melchisedec was, not as Aaron.

Hebrews 7:16

For by that it is manifest that Christ, who is now our priest, and installed to it after his resurrection, was not made a priest by any law that provides for the mortality of priests, and so appoints them in a succession, as the Aaronical priesthood was, but by that Spirit that powerfully raised him from the dead, never to die again, and so to be a priest for ever.

Hebrews 7:17

According as the psalmist testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever &c.

Hebrews 7:18

And indeed that this Mosaical law should be evacuated there was reason, because it was so unable and uneffectual to do that which was designed, viz, the expiating of, or cleansing from sin.

Hebrews 7:19

For the Mosaical law got no man any freedom from sin, was able to give no man strength to fulfil the will of God, and could not purchase pardon for any that had broken it. This therefore was to be done now afterwards by the gospel, which gives more sublime and plain promises of pardon of sin, which the law could not promise, of an eternal and heavenly life to all true penitent believers: which gracious tenders, now made by Christ, give us a freedom of access to God, and confidence to come and expect such mercies from him, to lift up pure hands, &c. 1 Tim. ii. 8; and in all reason we are to make that use of it, and not to fall off from Christ to Mosaical observances.

[c] draw nigh] What is the importance of ἐγγίξειν here, will appear by the Hebrew הרב, which signifies promiscuously to draw nigh, and to offer. From it comes the ordinary word Corban, which the evangelists render a gift, viz., that which is presented and consecrated to God in the temple, and the place where the offerings were laid up was also called by that name, and τὰ δῶρα, gifts, Luke xxi. 4. So כבש signifies also both to draw nigh, and to offer. From the first notion of it the word ἐγγύς, near, seems to be derived, the consonants or radicals in both being the same, and accordingly it is fitly rendered by ἐγγίξω, to draw near. So Exod. xix. 22. Οἱ ἐγγίζοντες ἱερεῖς Κυρίῳ, the priests that draw nigh unto the Lord; and Lev. xxi. 21. Οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τοῦ προσεναγκεῖν θυσίας, He shall not draw nigh to offer sacrifices. And this and the other signification of the Hebrew words are here both contained under the word ἐγγίξω to draw nigh, which is here answerable to either of those Hebrew: for that is the meaning of it here, that we by our high-priest Christ are made a kind of priests ourselves, enabled to draw nigh to God, and offer up ourselves to him, to present our bodies to him a living sacrifice, Rom. xii. 1, to lift up pure hands, 1 Tim. ii. 8, that is, to do as the priests were wont to do. This the vulgar Latin seems to have considered, when he renders ἐγγίξειν here offerre, to offer; not as Lucas Brugensis conjectures, as if he had read προσεναγκεῖν, but out of the exact critical notation of the word and προσεγγίξειν among these writers and the translators of the Old Testament.

Hebrews 7:23

And the Levitical priests are a number of men succeeding one another, by whom provision is made for the mortality of the men, which otherwise will bring it to an end.

Hebrews 7:24

But Christ, being now no longer mortal, hath no successor in his priesthood, his priesthood passes not from him to any other.

Hebrews 7:25

By all which evidences it appears, to our present comfort, that he living for ever can intercede for ever for us, bestow on us whatever we stand in need of, and so from time to time relieve and succour against all temptations those that are true sincere Christians, that serve Christ with all their hearts, that adhere constantly to him.

Hebrews 7:26

And this was a sort of high priest that we sinful weak creatures had need of, one that being mercifully disposed is also uncapable of suffering any hurt, of being defiled or corrupted, or consequently of dying, ver. 25, and to that end is advanced to a pitch above our sinful corruptible condition here;

Hebrews 7:27

Who hath no necessity oftentimes, as upon the great day of expiation once a year, (see ch. x. 11,) to offer sacrifice, first for his own, then for the people’s sins, as the high priest did under the law. All that was necessary for him to do, in proportion to those offerings of the Levitical priest, was performed by him at once, by his death upon the cross; by which he both offered for himself, that is, made expiation as

¹³ covenant, διαθήκης. ¹⁴ a priesthood that passeth not away. ¹⁵ perpetuity, εἰς tō warṭṭhēs. ¹⁶ free from evil, undefilable, ἄκκος, ἀμίαντος. ¹⁷ upon a day, καθ’ ἡμέραν.