Hebrews 7:1-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 7:1-10

The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited once and again before out of Ps. 110:4; Jesus, a high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Now this chapter is as a sermon upon that text; here the apostle sets before them some of the strong meat he had spoken of before, hoping they would by greater diligence be better prepared to digest it. I. The great question that first offers itself is, Who was this Melchisedec? All the account we have of him in the Old... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 7:1-28

We come now to a passage of such paramount importance for the writer to the Hebrews and in itself so difficult to understand that we must deal with it in a special way. Hebrews 6:1-20 , ( Hebrews 6:20 ), ended with the statement that Jesus had been made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This priesthood after the order of Melchizedek is the most characteristic thought of Hebrews. Behind it lie ways of thinking and of arguing and of using scripture which are quite strange to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:1

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem ,.... Various have been the opinions of writers concerning Melchizedek; some have thought him to be more than a man; some, that he was an angel; others, that he was the Holy Ghost; and others, that he was a divine person superior to Christ, which needs no refutation; others have supposed that he was the Son of God himself: but he is expressly said to be like unto him, and Christ is said to be of his order; which manifestly distinguish the one from the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:2

To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all ,.... Or tithes, as in Genesis 14:20 . Philo the Jew F2 De Congressu, p. 438. renders the Hebrew phrase, מעשר מכל , just as the apostle does δεκατην απο παντων , "a tenth part of all", or "out of all"; not of all that he brought back, as Lot's goods, or the king of Sodom's, or any others; only of the spoils of the enemy, as in Hebrews 7:4 which is no proof of any obligation on men to pay tithes now to any order of men; for this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:3

Without father, without mother, without descent ,.... Which is to be understood not of his person, but of his priesthood; that his father was not a priest, nor did his mother descend from any in that office; nor had he either a predecessor or a successor in it, as appears from any authentic accounts: or this is to be interpreted, not of his natural, but scriptural being; for no doubt, as he was a mere man, he had a father, and a mother, and a natural lineage and descent; but of these no... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 7:4

Now consider how great this man was ,.... Melchizedek, of whom so many great and wonderful things are said in the preceding verses: and as follows, unto whom the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils ; of Abraham's giving tithes to him; see Gill on Hebrews 7:2 and Melchizedek's greatness is aggravated, not only from this act of Abraham's, but from Abraham's being a "patriarch", who did it; he was the patriarch of patriarchs, as the sons of Jacob are called, Acts 7:8 he is... 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

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