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John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:18

For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment ,.... Not the moral law; though what is here said of the commandment may be applied to that; that is sometimes called the commandment, Romans 7:12 it went before the promise of the Messiah, and the Gospel of Christ, and the dispensation of it; it is in some respects weak; it cannot justify from the guilt of sin, nor free from the power of it, nor secure from death, the punishment of it, nor give eternal life; though it has a power to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:19

For the law made nothing perfect ,.... Or no man; neither any of the priests that offered sacrifices, nor any of the people for whom they were offered: it could not perfectly make atonement for sin; nor make men perfectly holy or righteous; it could neither justify nor sanctify; neither bring in a perfect righteousness, nor bring men to perfect holiness, and so to eternal life and salvation: but the bringing in of a better hope did ; not the grace of hope; that is not something newly... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:20

And inasmuch as not without an oath ,.... Our version supplies as follows, he was made priest ; which well agrees with what is said in the next verse; the Syriac version renders it, "and which he confirmed to us by an oath"; that is, the better hope, Christ and his priesthood, said to be brought in, and by which men draw nigh to God; this is established by the oath of God himself referring to Psalm 110:4 afterwards cited in proof of it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:21

For these priests were made without an oath ,.... The priests of the tribe of Levi, and of the order of Aaron, were installed into their office, and invested with it, without an oath; no mention is made of any when Aaron and his sons were put into it in Moses's time; nor was any used afterwards, neither by God, nor by the priests, nor by the people; it is true indeed that after the sect of the Sadducees arose, the high priest on the day of atonement, was obliged to take an oath that he would... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:1

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem - See the whole of this history largely explained in the notes, See Genesis 14:18 ; (note), etc., and the concluding observations at the end of that chapter. The name Melchisedec, צדק מלכי is thus expounded in Bereshith Rabba, sec. 43, fol. 42, יושביו את מצדיק matsdie eth Yoshebaiv , "The Justifier of those who dwell in him;" and this is sufficiently true of Christ, but false of Jerusalem, to which the rabbins apply it, who state that it was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:2

Gave a tenth part of all - It was an ancient custom, among all the nations of the earth, to consecrate a part or tenth of the spoils taken in war to the objects of their worship. Many examples of this kind occur. This however was not according to any provision in law, but merely ad libitum , and as a eucharistic offering to those to whom they imagined they owed the victory. But neither Abraham's decimation, nor theirs, had any thing to do, either with tithes as prescribed under the Mosaic... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:3

Without father, without mother - The object of the apostle, in thus producing the example of Melchisedec, was to show, That Jesus was the person prophesied of in the 110th Psalm; which psalm the Jews uniformly understood as predicting the Messiah. To answer the objections of the Jews against the legitimacy of the priesthood of Christ, taken from the stock from which he proceeded. The objection is this: If the Messiah is to be a true priest, he must come from a legitimate stock, as all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:4

Consider how great this man was - There is something exceedingly mysterious in the person and character of this king of Salem; and to find out the whole is impossible. He seems to have been a sort of universal priest, having none superior to him in all that region; and confessedly superior even to Abraham himself, the father of the faithful, and the source of the Jewish race. See Hebrews 7:7 . The patriarch Abraham - Ὁ πατριαρχης· Either from πατηρ , a father, and αρχη , a chief... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:5

They that are of the sons of Levi - The priests who are of the posterity of the Levites, and receive the priesthood in virtue of their descent from Aaron, have authority from the law of God to receive tithes from the people. According to the law - That is, the Levites received a tenth from the people. The priests received a tenth of this tenth from the Levites, who are here called their brethren, because they were of the same tribe, and employed in the same sacred work. The apostle is... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:6

Blessed him that had the promises - This is a continuation of the same argument, namely, to show the superiority of Melchisedec; and, in consequence, to prove the superiority of the priesthood of Christ beyond that of Aaron. As in the seed of Abraham all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, Abraham received a sacerdotal blessing from Melchisedec, who was the representative of the Messiah, the promised seed, to show that it was through him, as the high priest of the human race, that... read more

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