As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
Parallel Translations
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As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
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As he also in another place speaketh: Thou arte a prest for ever after the order of Melchisedech.
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As he also in another place speaketh, Thou art a Priest for euer, after ye order of Melchi-sedec.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Hebrews 5:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 110:4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- Hebrews 7:17 for it is testified, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
- Hebrews 7:21 (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ”
- Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
- Genesis 14:18-19 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.
- Hebrews 5:10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
- Hebrews 6:20 where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
- Hebrews 7:15 This is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6 As he saith in another place, or, elsewhere,…
6 As he saith in another place, or, elsewhere, etc. Here is expressed more clearly what the Apostle intended. This is a remarkable passage, and indeed the whole Psalm from which it is taken; for there is scarcely anywhere a clearer prophecy respecting Christ’s eternal priesthood and his kingdom. And yet the Jews try all means to evade it, in order that they might obscure the glory of Christ; but they cannot succeed. They apply it to David, as though he was the person whom God bade to sit on his right hand; but this is an instance of extreme effrontery; for we know that it was not lawful for kings to exercise the priesthood. On this account, Uzziah, that is, for the sole crime of intermeddling with an office that did not belong to him, so provoked God that he was smitten with leprosy. (2 Chronicles 26:18.) It is therefore certain that neither David nor any one of the kings is intended here.
If they raise this objection and say, that princes are sometimes called כהניםcohenim, priests, I indeed allow it, but I deny that the word can be so understood here. For the comparison here made leaves nothing doubtful: Melchisedec was God’s priest; and the Psalmist testifies that that king whom God has set on his right hand would be a |kohen| according to the order of Melchisedec. Who does not see that this is to be understood of the priesthood? For as it was a rare and almost a singular thing for the same person to be a priest and a king, at least an unusual thing among God’s people, hence he sets forth Melchisedec as the type of the Messiah, as though he had said, “The royal dignity will not prevent him to exercise the priesthood also, for a type of such a thing has been already presented in Melchisedec.” And indeed all among the Jews, possessed of any modesty, have conceded that the Messiah is the person here spoken of, and that his priesthood is what is commended.
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What is in Greek, κατὰ τάξιν according to the order, is in Hebrew, על-דברתי ol-deberti, and means the same, and may be rendered, “according to the way” or manner: and hereby is confirmed what I have already said, that as it was an unusual thing among the people of God for the same person to bear the office of a king and of a priest, an ancient example was brought forward, by which the Messiah was represented. The rest the Apostle himself will more minutely set forth in what follows.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain After the likeness or manner as it is afterward…
After the likeness or manner as it is afterward declared, Heb. 7:15.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou…
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Ver. 6. Thou art a high priest, &c.] The former proof was not so evident; but this puts the matter out of all question. A minister should use sound speech that cannot be contradicted; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having nothing reasonably to oppose, Tit 2:8. The Jew would object that Christ was not of the tribe of Levi, therefore no priest. The apostle answers; Yes, a priest, but after another order, and proves it. This is συμβιβαζειν, collatis testimoniis demonstrare, as Paul did, Act 9:22, to confirm and assert.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As he saith also in another place, Thou art…
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a Priest for ever: the Spirit proves his call and investiture into this office, its confirmation to him for ever, by another testimony of the Father about it, penned by David, Psa 110:4, and ratified to be so by the Lord himself, Mat 22:41-45; that he as man was David’s Son: as God-man, David’s Lord, and the grand officer to atone God by his sacrifice for sinners, and to intercede for them. By this word of God to him was he invested with the most glorious priesthood, and settled in that which he must execute for ever, Heb 7:24, having no successor in it.
After the order of Melchisedec; which order was a singular and most excellent one, such as Aaron’s did but imperfectly shadow to us. It was a royal priesthood God installed him in, such as was Melchisedec’s, largely described, Heb 7:1-28. This was by God the Father revealed to David, and prophesied by him to the church, but actually fulfilled as to proclamation and inauguration at his ascension into the holy of holiest in heaven, where he actually in the flesh doth officiate and minister in it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As he saith also in another place,.... Or psalm;…
As he saith also in another place,.... Or psalm; namely, in Psa 110:4 that is, the same person, even God the Father; who spake the words before cited, also expressed the following:
thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec; that the psalm, from whence these words are taken, belongs to the Messiah; see Gill on Mat 22:44 and this very passage is applied unto him by the Jewish writers (c); and had not this been the general sense of the Jewish church at this time, the apostle writing to Hebrews would not have produced it; and it very clearly expresses the priesthood of Christ, the eternity of it, and the order according to which it was; and it being not according to the order of Aaron, but of another, shows the change of the priesthood, and so of the law; of Melchizedek; see Gill on Heb 7:1.
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(c) Moses Hadarsan apud Galatin. l. 10. c. 6. Abot R. Nathan, c. 34.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Psalm cx, 4.
Psalm cx, 4.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. He saith also in another place] That…
Verse 6. He saith also in another place] That is, in Ps 110:4, a psalm of extraordinary importance, containing a very striking prediction of the birth, preaching, suffering, death, and conquests of the Messiah. See the notes there. For the mode of quotation here, See the note on "He 2:6".
Thou art a priest for ever] As long as the sun and moon endure, Jesus will continue to be high priest to all the successive generations of men, as he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If he be a priest for ever, there can be no succession of priests; and if he have all power in heaven and in earth, and if he be present wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, he can have no vicars; nor can the Church need one to act in his place, when he, from the necessity of his nature, fills all places, and is everywhere present. This one consideration nullifies all the pretensions of the Romish pontiff, and proves the whole to be a tissue of imposture.
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After the order of Melchisedec.] Who this person was must still remain a secret. We know nothing more of him than is written in Ge 14:18, &c., where see the notes, and particularly the observations at the end of that chapter, in which this very mysterious person is represented as a type of Christ.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As he saith also in another place - Psa…
As he saith also in another place - Psa 110:4. “Thou art a priest forever.” It is evident here that the apostle means to be understood as saying that the Psalm referred to Christ, and this is one of the instances of quotation from the Old Testament respecting which there can be no doubt. Paul makes much of this argument in a subsequent part of this Epistle, Heb. 7 and reasons as if no one would deny that the Psalm had a reference to the Messiah. It is clear from this that the Psalm was understood by the Jews at that time to have such a reference, and that it was so universally admitted that no one would call it in question. That the Psalm refers to the Messiah has been the opinion of nearly all Christian commentators, and has been admitted by the Jewish Rabbis in general also. The “evidence” that it refers to the Messiah is such as the following:
It is a Psalm of David, and yet is spoken of one who was superior to him, and whom he calls his “Lord;” Heb 5:1.
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(2)It cannot be referred to Jehovah himself, for he is expressly Heb 5:1 distinguished from him who is here addressed.
(3)It cannot be referred to anyone in the time of David, for there was no one to whom he would attribute this character of superiority but God.
(4)For the same reason there was no one among his posterity, except the Messiah, to whom he would apply this language.
(5)It is expressly ascribed by the Lord Jesus to himself; Mat 22:43-44.
(6)The scope of the Psalm is such as to be applicable to the Messiah, and there is no part of it which would be inconsistent with such a reference. Indeed, there is no passage of the Old Testament of which it would be more universally conceded that there was a reference to the Messiah, than this Psalm.
Thou art a priest - He is not here called a “high priest,” for Melchizedek did not bear that title, nor was the Lord Jesus to be a high priest exactly in the sense in which the name was given to Aaron and his successors. A word is used, therefore, in a general sense to denote that he would be a “priest” simply, or would sustain the priestly office. This was all that was needful to the present argument which was, that he was “designated by God” to the priestly office, and that he had not intruded himself into it.
For ever - This was an important circumstance, of which the apostle makes much use in another part of the Epistle; see the notes at Heb 7:8, Heb 7:23-24. The priesthood of the Messiah was not to change from hand to hand; it was not to be laid down at death; it was to remain unchangeably the same.
After the order - The word rendered “order” - τάξις taxis - means “a setting in order - hence, “arrangement” or “disposition.” It may be applied to ranks of soldiers; to the gradations of office; or to any rank which men sustain in society. To say that he was of the same “order” with Melchizedek, was to say that he was of the same “rank” or “stations.” He was like him in his designation to the office. In what respects he was like him the apostle shows more fully in Heb. 7. “One” particular in which there was a striking resemblance, which did not exist between Christ and any other high priest, was, that Melchizedek was both a “priest” and a “king.” None of the kings of the Jews were priests; nor were any of the priests ever elevated to the office of king. But in Melchizedek these offices were united, and this fact constituted a striking resemblance between him and the Lord Jesus. It was on this principle that there was such pertinency in quoting here the passage from the second Psalm; see Heb 5:5. The meaning is, that Melchizedek was of a special rank or order; that he was not numbered with the Levitical priests, and that there were important features in his office which differed from theirs. In those features it was distinctly predicted that the Messiah would resemble him.
Melchisedek - see the notes on Heb 7:1 ff.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Some may perhaps wonder why St. Paul does not…
Some may perhaps wonder why St. Paul does not dwell more in this epistle on the eucharistic sacrifice; but until the Hebrews understood the bloody sacrifice on the cross, they could not be supposed to understand the unbloody sacrifice of the altar. The holy Fathers observe, that the sacrifice of Melchisedech, (Genesis xiv. 18.) offered in bread and wine, prefigured the unbloody sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ at his last supper. See Clement of Alexandria, lib. 4. Strom. chap. viii.; St. Cyprian, lib. 2. ep. 3. ad Cæul.; Eusebius of Cæsarea, lib. 5. Dem. Evang. chap. iii.; St. Jerome, ad Marcel.; St. Augustine, ep. 95. ad Inn. Pap.; St. Ambrose; St. Epiphanius; St. John Chrysostom; &c. apud Bellarmine, lib. 1. de missa. chap. vi. Hence it follows, that the holy Eucharist is truly and properly a sacrifice as well as a sacrament, as the paschal lamb or passover of the old law was both a sacrament and sacrifice. For either our Saviour offered sacrifice at his last supper under the forms of bread and wine, or he cannot be called a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech. For the different orders of priests are chiefly distinguished by their sacrifice; (see ver. 1.) and if it be supposed that our Saviour only offered a bloody sacrifice, he would with more propiety have been called a priest according to the order of Aaron, and not of Melchisedech. See St. Augustine, lib. 16. de Civitat. Dei. chap. xxii.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He is here called simply "Priest"; in Heb 5:5,…
He is here called simply "Priest"; in Heb 5:5, "High Priest." He is a Priest absolutely, because He stands alone in that character without an equal. He is "High Priest" in respect of the Aaronic type, and also in respect to us, whom He has made priests by throwing open to us access to God [BENGEL]. "The order of Melchisedec" is explained in Heb 7:15, "the similitude of Melchisedec." The priesthood is similarly combined with His kingly office in Zac 6:13. Melchisedec was at once man, priest, and king. Paul's selecting as the type of Christ one not of the stock of Abraham, on which the Jews prided themselves, is an intimation of Messianic universalism.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. After the order of Melchizedek—Christ was no descendant…
6. After the order of Melchizedek—Christ was no descendant of Aaron, and so could be no high priest in the hereditary Jewish line. High priest he can be only by an origination high, at least, as Aaron’s own origination at first was. For this the inspired precedent is found in the most memorable words of Psa_110:4, (a psalm quoted as Messianic by the Messiah himself, Mat_22:44,) where the Messiah is addressed by God as priest, not in the line of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. And here first occurs the name of that primeval and typical priest-king, which figures largely in our author’s future argument.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. in another place] Psa_110:4. This Psalm was so…
6. in another place] Psa_110:4. This Psalm was so universally accepted as Messianic that the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the first verse of it “The Lord said to His Word:”
after the order] al-dibhrathi, “according to the style of.” Comp. Heb_7:15, “after the likeness of Melchisedek.
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after the order of Melchisedec] The writer here with consummate literary skill introduces the name Melchisedek, to prepare incidentally for the long argument which is to follow in chapter 7; just as he twice introduces the idea of High-Priesthood (Heb_2:17, Heb_3:1) before directly dealing with it. The reason why the Psalmist had spoken of his ideal Theocratic king as a Priest after the order of Melchisedek, and not after the order of Aaron, lies in the words “for ever,” as subsequently explained. In Zec_4:14, the Jews explained “the two Anointed ones (sons of oil) who stand by the Lord of the whole earth “to be Aaron and Messiah, and from Psa_110:4, they agreed that Messiah was the nearer to God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Thou art a priest for ever . .…
(6) Thou art a priest for ever . . .—On Psalms 110 see the Note on Heb_1:13. The fourth verse, here quoted, is the kernel of the Psalm, and supplies the theme for a large portion of this Epistle, especially Hebrews 7. As the promise of 2 Samuel 7 was the prelude to the revelation of the second Psalm, the divine declaration recorded in Exo_19:6 may have prepared the way for the promise of Psa_110:4. The king of Israel was the type of the Son of David; and in the consecrated people, who, had they been faithful, would have remained the representatives of all nations before God, was dimly foreshadowed the Anointed Priest.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 6. A priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.…
6. A priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. Christ's priesthood continues while time endures. He is not of the order of Aaron, but of Melchizedek, a king as well as a priest. See Gen. 14:18, 19. For a fuller discussion of the priesthood of Melchizedek, see notes on chapter 7:1–10.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Gen 14:18").
Melchisedec
(See Scofield "Gen 14:18").
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Melchisedec was a suitable type of Christ as High Priest, because:
(1) he was a king-priest Gen 14:18; Zec 6:12; Zec 6:13
(2) his name means, "my king is righteous" (cf) Isa 11:5 and he was king of Salem (i.e. "peace," cf Isa 11:6-9.)
(3) he had no (recorded) "beginning of days" (cf) Joh 1:1 nor "end of life" (cf); Rom 6:9; Heb 7:23-25, nor
(4) was he made a high priest by human appointment Psa 110:4. But the contrast between the high priesthood of Melchisedec and Aaron is only as to person, "order" (or appointment), and duration. In His work Christ follows the Aaronic pattern, the "shadow" of which Christ was the substance.; Heb 8:1-6; Heb 9:1-28.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This prophecy is from a Psalm of David.
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he also says
To whom God is speaking can be stated clearly. AT: "he also says to Christ" (See: Ellipsis)
in another place
"in another place in the scriptures"
after the manner of Melchizedek
This means that Christ as a priest has things in common with Melchizedek as a priest. AT: "in the same way that Melchizedek was a priest"
translationWords
priest
eternity
Melchizedek
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.