Hebrews 7:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hebrews 7:5
And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
commandment
ἐντολὴνentolēn
G1785
injunction · noun — accusative singular feminine
of
ἀποδεκατοῦνapodekatoun
G586
to tithe (as debtor or creditor) · verb — present active infinitive
people
λαὸνlaon
G2992
a people (in general · noun — accusative singular masculine
to
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
law
νόμον,nomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
that
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
of
ἀδελφοὺςadelphous
G80
a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — accusative plural masculine
their
αὐτῶν,autōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
brethren
ἀδελφόςadelphós
G80
a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m…
though
καίπερkaiper
G2539
and indeed · conjunction
out
ἐξεληλυθόταςexelēluthotas
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second perfect active participle, accusative plural masculine
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
loins
ὀσφύοςosphuos
G3751
the loin (externally) · noun — genitive singular feminine
Abraham
Ἀβραάμ.Abraam
G11
Abraham · 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
Leviticus 27:30-33 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
2 Chronicles 31:4-6 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged i…
Numbers 16:10-11 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
Numbers 18:21-32 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the serv…
Numbers 17:3-10 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
Numbers 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve:…
1 Kings 8:19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
Nehemiah 13:10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled ever…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 7:1-10
The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited once and again before out of Psa 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 Testament is in Gen 14:18, etc., and in Psa 110:4. Indeed we are much in the dark about him; God has thought fit to leave us so, that this Melchisedec might be a more lively type of him whose generation non…
sons of Levi--namely, those alone who belonged to the family of Aaron, to whom the priesthood was restricted. Tithes originally paid to the whole tribe of Levi, became at length attached to the priesthood.
according to the law--sanctioned by Jehovah (Heb 9:19).
of their brethren--with whom, in point of natural descent, they are on a level.
though, &c.--Though thus on a level by common descent from Abraham, they yet pay tithe to the Levites, whose brethren they are. Now the Levites are subordinate to the priests; and these again to Abraham, their common progenitor; and Abraham to Melchisedec. "How great" (Heb 7:4) then, must this Melchisedec be in respect to his priesthood, as compared…
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 proceeding to show that Melchisedec was greater even than Abraham, the head of the fathers, for to him Abraham gave tithes; and as the Levites were the posterity of Abraham, they are represented here as paying…
The Church Fathers
He says, "even though they have come out of the loins of Abraham." Although the Levites are in all other respects equal in rank with the other tribes, nonetheless because the other tribes give tithes while the Levites receive them, the Levites are clearly superior. But if this is the case, then clearly also the same principle applies to Abraham and Melchizedek, the giver and recipient, respectively. Consequently, the type of Christ [Melchizedek] is greater than the patriarch Abraham. But if he is greater than Abraham, he is much greater than the priests. And if the type is greater than Abraham, what would anyone say concerning Christ himself?
It confirms that he who was in the figure of Christ was greater than the priests of the Jews. The Levites, he says, being more honorable than the rest of the people, receive the tithes. For what is taken from brothers who have the same father? Therefore, it is evident that the tithes are a symbol of honor and of being more sacred. Thus, Melchizedek, being a foreigner and without genealogy, would not have received tithes from the patriarch unless he was greater than him. For Abraham would not have given to one who was not truly greater. If he is greater than the patriarch, it is evident that he is much greater than the priests among the Jews. "to tithe the people." To tithe means, for example, to take tithes from them; for the Levites were receiving tithes from the people.
Through Abraham, who gave him the tenth part, the house of Levi, which had to be generated by him, took the tenth part in him. The Levites, even though they took the tenth part, did not take it from strangers but received the tenth part from themselves; in fact, they took the tenth part from their brothers, the sons of Abraham. Therefore, Abraham, to whom the promise of priesthood was made, gave the tenth part to Melchizedek, who was not inscribed in the Levitic generation. And to Abraham it had been promised that all nations would have been blessed in him. So why did he need the blessing of an uncircumcised man? Does not this show and prove that, if Abraham had not been inferior to Melchizedek, he would not have demanded to be blessed by him? And so the mortal sons receive the tenth part, and in the same manner Melchizedek, who was mortal, lived at that time to be a witness for Abraham, for the indisputably true Melchizedek's blessing destined to the seed of Abraham.
Dictionary and topics
Brother — (1.) In the natural and common sense (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:1, 19). (2.) A near relation, a cousin (Gen. 13:8; 14:16; Matt. 12:46; John 7:3; Acts 1:14; Gal. 1:19). (3.) Simply a fellow-countryman (Matt.…
Abraham · Is blessed by Melchize — Is blessed by Melchize
Levites, The · The tithes given to, for their support — The tithes given to, for their support
Melchizedek · A priest and type of Christ — A priest and type of Christ
Priest · .Melchize — .Melchize
Priests · Revenues of: Tenth of the tithes paid to the Levites — Revenues of: Tenth of the tithes paid to the Levites
Succession · Of priests, irregularity in — Of priests, irregularity in
Tithes · Paid by Abraham to Melchize — Paid by Abraham to Melchize
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).
And verily they that are of the sons of Levi,.... Or Levites; who are of the tribe of Levi, whose descent is from him:
who receive the office of the priesthood; as some of them were priests, though not all; and the Levites therefore are sometimes called priests. R. Joshua ben Levi says, that in twenty four places the priests are called Levites; and this is one of them, Ezekiel 44:15 "and the priests and Levites", &c. (k).
these have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law; the ceremonial law, Numbers 18:20, these they took of all the people of Israel in the rest of the tribes, by the commandment of God, on account of their service in the tabernacle; and because they…
Hebrews 7:4-10
4. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
4. Considerate autem quantus sit hic, cui et decimas dedit de spoliis Abraham patriarcha.
5. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
5. Atque ii quidem qui sacerdotium accipiunt, qui scilicet sunt ex filiis Levi, praeceptum habent a populo decimas sumendi juxta legem, hoc est, a fratribus suis licet egressis ex lumbis Abrahae:
6. But he whose descent is not counted from them rec…
7:5-6a Collecting the tithe was a requirement and an honor for the priests under the law of Moses (Num 18:21-32). • from the rest of the people of Israel: The reference is to the people of Israel as a whole. • Although Melchizedek was not a descendant of Levi, he collected a tenth from Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites. This demonstrates Melchizedek’s eminence over both Abraham and his descendants, including the priests (Heb 7:8-10).
