Passage

Hebrews 7.23

Book: Hebrews · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"21. (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever); 22. by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant."

"23. And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing:"

"24. but he, because he abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable. 25. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:21-25, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"21. (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’” 22. By so much, Jesus has become the collateral of a better covenant."

"23. Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death."

"24. But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. 25. Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:21-25, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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 a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) ^{without: or, without swearing of an oath} 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament."

"23. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:"

"24. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. ^{an: or, which passeth not from one to another} 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. ^{to the: or, evermore}" (Hebrews 7:21-25, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"21. and he with an oath through Him who is saying unto him, 'The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest, to the age, according to the order of Melchisedek;') 22. by so much of a better covenant hath Jesus become surety,"

"23. and those indeed are many who have become priests, because by death they are hindered from remaining;"

"24. and he, because of his remaining, to the age, hath the priesthood not transient, 25. whence also he is able to save to the very end, those coming through him unto God, ever living to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:21-25, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Levitical Priesthood

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.