Hebrews 7:3-4 NIV

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 7:3

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 7:3

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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:3

Verse 3 3.Without father, etc. I prefer this rendering to that of “unknown father;” for the Apostle meant to express something more emphatic than that the family of Melchisedec was obscure or unknown. Nor does this objection disturb me, that the reality does not correspond with the figure or type, because Christ has a Father in heaven, and had a mother on earth; for the Apostle immediately explains his meaning by adding without descent, or kindred. He then exempts Melchisedec from what is... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:4

Verse 4 4.Now consider, etc. This is the fourth comparison between Christ and Melchisedec, that Abraham presented tithes to him. But though tithes were instituted for several reasons, yet the Apostle here refers only to what serves his present purpose. One reason why tithes were paid to the Levites was, because they were the children of Abraham, to whose seed the land was promised. It was, then, by a hereditary right that a portion of the land was allotted to them; for as they were not allowed... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 7:1-3

For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (this description belongs to the subject of the sentence, being merely a recapitulation of the facts recorded in Genesis, the language of the LXX . being used; what follows belongs properly to the predicate, being of the nature of a comment on the facts recorded); first, being by interpretation King... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 7:1-3

Melchizedek a type of Christ. "For this Melchizedek, King of Salem," etc. The various extraordinary conjectures as to the personality of Melchizedek "we may safely treat as fanciful and unneeded. The typology connected with Melchizedek does not require that he himself should be regarded as any superhuman person, but merely exalts the human circumstances under which he appears into symbols of superhuman things. Everything combines to show that Melchizedek was a Canaanitish king who had... read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 7:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 7:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 7:1-3

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