Passage

Hebrews 7.4-10

Book: Hebrews · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also King of Salem, which is King of peace; 3. without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abideth a priest continually."

"4. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the chief spoils. 5. And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office have commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins of Abraham: 6. but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath taken tithes of Abraham, and hath blessed him that hath the promises. 7. But without any dispute the less is blessed of the better. 8. And here men that die receive tithes; but there one, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9. And, so to say, through Abraham even Levi, who receiveth tithes, hath paid tithes; 10. for he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him."

"11. Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? 12. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Hebrews 7:2-12, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, “king of righteousness”, and then also “king of Salem”, which means “king of peace”; 3. without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually."

"4. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best plunder. 5. They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham, 6. but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises. 7. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8. Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives. 9. We can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes, 10. for he was yet in the body of his father when Melchizedek met him."

"11. Now if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12. For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law." (Hebrews 7:2-12, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. ^{without descent: Gr. without pedigree}"

"4. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 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: 6. But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. ^{descent: or, pedigree} 7. And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8. And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him."

"11. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Hebrews 7:2-12, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. to whom also a tenth of all did Abraham divide, (first, indeed, being interpreted, 'King of righteousness,' and then also, King of Salem, which is, King of Peace,) 3. without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, and being made like to the Son of God, doth remain a priest continually."

"4. And see how great this one [is], to whom also a tenth Abraham the patriarch did give out of the best of the spoils, 5. and those, indeed, out of the sons of Levi receiving the priesthood, a command have to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, their brethren, even though they came forth out of the loins of Abraham; 6. and he who was not reckoned by genealogy of them, received tithes from Abraham, and him having the promises he hath blessed, 7. and apart from all controversy, the less by the better is blessed, 8. and here, indeed, men who die do receive tithes, and there [he], who is testified to that he was living, 9. and so to speak, through Abraham even Levi who is receiving tithes, hath paid tithes, 10. for he was yet in the loins of the father when Melchisedek met him."

"11. If indeed, then, perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for the people under it had received law, what further need, according to the order of Melchisedek, for another priest to arise, and not to be called according to the order of Aaron? 12. for the priesthood being changed, of necessity also, of the law a change doth come," (Hebrews 7:2-12, 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
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Quoted in

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.