Melchisedek (i.e. Malkitsedek) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art…
Hebrews 7:15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
Hebrews 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 7:11–end
Observe the necessity there was of raising up another priest, after the order of Melchisedec and not after the order of Aaron, by whom that perfection should come which could not come by the Levitical priesthood, which therefore must be changed, and the whole economy with it, Heb 7:11, Heb 7:12, etc. Here,
I. It is asserted that perfection could not come by the Levitical priesthood and the law. They could not put those who came to them into the perfect enjoyment of the good things they pointed out to them; they could only show them the way.
II. That therefore another priest must be raised up, after the order of Melchisedec, by whom, and his law of faith, perfection might come to all who obey…
For--proving His life to be "endless" or indissoluble (Heb 7:16). The emphasis is on "for ever." The oldest manuscripts read, "He is testified of, that Thou art," &c.
Adam Clarke on Hebrews 7:17
For he testifieth - That is, either the Scripture, in the place so often quoted, or God by that Scripture.
Thou art a priest for ever - This is the proof that he was not appointed according to the carnal commandment, but according to the power of an endless life, because he is a priest for ever; i.e. one that never dies, and is never disabled from performing the important functions of his office; for if he be a priest for ever, he ever lives.
John Gill on Hebrews 7:17
For he testifieth,.... That is, either David, the penman of the psalm, or rather the Holy Ghost, the enditer of it, or God in the Scripture, in Psalm 110:4 of this form of citing Scripture; see Gill on Hebrews 2:6.
thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; see Hebrews 5:6.
John Calvin on Hebrews 7:15-22
Hebrews 7:15-22
15. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
15. Idque magis etiam liquet, siquidem ad similitudinem Melchisedec exoritur sacerdos alius;
16. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
16. Qui non juxta legem mandati carnalis factus fuit, sed secundum potentiam vitae insolubilis.
17. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
17. Testatur enim ad hunc modum, Tu serdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedec.
18. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness t…
The Church Fathers
"For it is testified." And that, he says, Christ has not become a priest according to the law of a fleshly commandment. The testimony indicates the Father; for the Father testifies to him, saying, a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. For if he says, according to the law he was made, he ought to have been made according to the order of Aaron.But now, since it is written according to the order of Melchizedek, it is evident that he is not made according to the law, but according to a different, more divine manner.
For it is testified of him, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Behold how in the clearest terms he speaks of Christ as a perpetual priest in virtue of His power and indissoluble life. How then is it possible for the Priest to be indissoluble whilst the Tabernacle, of which He is the minister, is subject to be dissolved? For he says: A minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, thus here, as also in Heb. vi, 16, 17, and 20, and x, 34, expressly declaring it to be true and indissoluble.
It is better to be in doubt about hidden matters than to quarrel about what is uncertain. Let us turn to what is true and firm, to what most assuredly keeps any Christian and good Catholic from doubting or quibbling. That is, through the sacrament, bread and wine offered to God become for us the true body and blood of Christ, according to the words of the Lord himself and the sacred Scriptures composed by the Holy Spirit. This sacrament the Catholic church offers daily on its altar "after the order of Melchizedek" by the true pontiff, Jesus Christ, with mystical understanding and an ineffable dearth of speech, because surpassing grace goes beyond everything.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Christ, The High Priest · After the order of Melchizedek — After the order of Melchizedek
High Priest, The · Inferior to Christ in: Being of the order of Aaron — Inferior to Christ in: Being of the order of Aaron
Melchizedek · A priest and type of Christ — A priest and type of Christ
Priest · .Melchize — .Melchize
Succession · Of priests, irregularity in — Of priests, irregularity in
Types Of Christ · Melchizedek — Melchizedek
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This change of how God appoints priests (7:11-14) has been made very clear by the appointment of Jesus as a different priest. He, like Melchizedek, is a priest forever: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead shows that he has the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. Because his priesthood in the order of Melchizedek is superior to that of the Levites (7:1-10), he supersedes them as priest.
