Attributed to Jan Tengnagel, The Sacrifice of Aaron, early seventeenth century. Public domain.
Exodus 28 to 29 · Doctrine · Featured Study
The High-Priestly Line
Israel's chief priests from Sinai to the trial of Jesus, set beside the order of Melchizedek in Hebrews 7.
Every high priest of Aaron's line died or was removed, but one Priest whose office never passes to another holds it forever.
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor. You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest. These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.
- First taught
- Exodus 28:1 to 4 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you…”
- Fullest statement
- Hebrews 7:23 to 28 “Now there have been many other priests, since…”
Every high priest of Aaron's line died or was removed, but one Priest whose office never passes to another holds it forever.
Summary
One family held Israel's high priesthood from Aaron until the temple fell in AD 70.
- Exodus 29:29 gives Aaron's holy garments to his sons after him, and Numbers 20:28 records Moses putting them on Eleazar before Aaron died.
- Solomon appointed Zadok in Abiathar's place, and Zadok's line held the office through the first temple to the exile and the return.
- In the second century BC Jason and then Menelaus bought the office from the Seleucid king, and under Rome the governors appointed and deposed the high priests.
- Psalm 110:4 records the LORD's oath that the King is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, and Hebrews quotes it three times.
The Line by Descent
The office began at Sinai with Aaron and passed down his house.
Moses consecrated Aaron at the command of Exodus 28 to 29, as Leviticus 8 records, and the office passed to his son Eleazar and then to his grandson Phinehas. The office belonged to one family, and within that family to one branch. Aaron's house served first at the tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem.
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor. You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest. These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.The LORD names Aaron and his four sons for the priesthood and orders the six garments that set Aaron apart.
Moses consecrated Aaron at the command of Exodus 28 to 29, as Leviticus 8 records, and the office passed to his son Eleazar and then to his grandson Phinehas. The office belonged to one family, and within that family to one branch. Aaron's house served first at the tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem.
The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them. The son who succeeds him as priest and enters the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place must wear them for seven days.The office is handed on with its clothing, since Aaron's garments belong to the son who succeeds him.
After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.This is the first handing on of the office the text records, made on the mountain where Aaron died.
The statute and the anointingExodus 29:9 and 40:15
Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.The priesthood is given to Aaron's house by statute, so no other family may hold it.
Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.”This verse makes the anointing of Aaron's sons the ground of every later priest's claim to the office.
Phinehas and the lasting priesthoodNumbers 25:13
It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”God's promise to Phinehas stands behind the house of Zadok, whose descent from him 1 Chronicles 6:4 to 8 traces.
The names of the tribes over Aaron's heartExodus 28:29 to 30
Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of judgment, as a continual reminder before the LORD. And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.The whole people entered the Holy Place in their high priest, who also bore the means of seeking the LORD's decision for them.
The gold plate on Aaron's foreheadExodus 28:36 to 38
You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Fasten to it a blue cord to mount it on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.Exodus gives the high priest a part in the people's guilt before the LORD, so the office was one of standing in for others.
Matthew Henry draws from the plate a rule for everyone who serves in God's house.
“Holiness becomes his house and household. The high priest must be sequestered from all pollution, and consecrated to God and to his service and honour, and so must all his ministrations be. All that attend in God's house must have Holiness to the Lord engraven upon their foreheads, that is, they must be holy, devoted to the Lord, and designing his glory in all they do.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Exodus 28:36 to 37Puritan
Ten Links From Aaron to Caiaphas
Josephus counts eighty-three high priests from Aaron to the war with Rome (Antiquities 20.10.1).
A chain of ten links in the high priesthood, eight men and two houses, from Aaron at Sinai to Caiaphas in the year of the crucifixion, each with the text that records it.
- Record
- Clothed in the holy garments and anointed at the tent
- Text
- Exodus 40:13
- Record
- Succeeds Aaron and receives his garments on the mountain
- Text
- Numbers 20:28
- Record
- Receives a covenant of permanent priesthood
- Text
- Numbers 25:13
- Record
- Anointed priest on the day Solomon was anointed ruler
- Text
- 1 Chronicles 29:22
- Record
- Kept charge of the sanctuary when Israel went astray
- Text
- Ezekiel 44:15
- Record
- Taken by the captain of the guard at the fall of Jerusalem
- Text
- 2 Kings 25:18
- Record
- Shown to Zechariah standing before the angel of the LORD
- Text
- Zechariah 3:1
8The Hasmoneans
- Record
- Jonathan, Simon and their heirs, rulers of the second century BC
- Text
- 1 Maccabees 14:41
- Record
- The first high priest to examine Jesus
- Text
- John 18:13
10Caiaphas
- Record
- The high priest in the year of the crucifixion
- Text
- John 11:49
Joshua son of Jehozadak, The Hasmoneans, Annas, Caiaphas
From Zadok to the Return
The line passed through the judgment on Eli's house, Solomon's choice of Zadok, the exile and the return under Joshua.
The branch that held the office was settled under the monarchy. Two priestly houses served David: Zadok, of Eleazar's line, and Abiathar, of Ithamar's line and the house of Eli, which stood under the judgment spoken at Shiloh in 1 Samuel 2:27 to 36.
When Solomon removed Abiathar and appointed Zadok, the line of Eleazar, Phinehas and Zadok held the high priesthood alone.
Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Old Testament, takes this faithful priest to be Zadok, whose house replaced Eli's.
The line ran through the first temple to the exile. The king of Babylon put Seraiah the chief priest to death at Riblah, and Seraiah's son Jehozadak went into captivity (2 Kings 25:18 to 21 and 1 Chronicles 6:14 to 15).
The line stood again at the return in Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest beside Zerubbabel the governor (Haggai 1:1).
The line of 1 Chronicles 6, generation by generation1 Chronicles 6:3 to 15; Haggai 1:1
Chronicles traces twenty-three generations from Aaron through Eleazar and Zadok to Jehozadak, who went into exile.
Generation 1
- Aaronson of Amram
Generation 2
Generation 3
- Phinehasson of Eleazar
Generation 4
- Abishuason of Phinehas
Generation 5
- Bukkison of Abishua
Generation 6
- Uzzison of Bukki
Generation 7
- Zerahiahson of Uzzi
Generation 8
- Meraiothson of Zerahiah
Generation 9
- Amariahson of Meraioth
Generation 10
- Ahitubson of Amariah
Generation 11
- Zadokson of Ahitub, the priest Solomon kept
Generation 12
- Ahimaazson of Zadok
Generation 13
- Azariahson of Ahimaaz
Generation 14
- Johananson of Azariah
Generation 15
- Azariahson of Johanan, priest in Solomon's temple
Generation 16
- Amariahson of Azariah
Generation 17
- Ahitubson of Amariah
Generation 18
- Zadokson of Ahitub
Generation 19
- Shallumson of Zadok
Generation 20
- Hilkiahson of Shallum
Generation 21
- Azariahson of Hilkiah
Generation 22
- Seraiahson of Azariah, put to death at Riblah
Generation 23
- Jehozadakson of Seraiah, taken into exile
Generation 24
- Joshuason of Jehozadak, high priest at the return
The tree sets out the line of 1 Chronicles 6:3 to 15 generation by generation, with Ithamar's house beside Eleazar's and Joshua of the return after Jehozadak.
The sons of Zadok in Ezekiel's templeEzekiel 44:15 to 16
But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.Ezekiel sets the sons of Zadok apart for their faithfulness, so the line becomes the measure of a faithful priest.
Joshua in Zechariah's visionZechariah 3:3 to 8
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”The vision shows the line restored after the exile by God's forgiveness of its priest.
Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.The restored high priest points beyond himself to a servant still to come.
Abiathar's descent from Ithamar1 Samuel 14:3 and 22:20; 1 Chronicles 24:3
Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, the grandson of Eli, and Chronicles names Ahimelech a descendant of Ithamar.
A Priesthood Men Bought and Sold
Maccabees, Josephus and the Gospels record how the office was bought, granted and appointed, and who held it at the hearing of Jesus.
The descent from Zadok held for a time after the return, through the house of Onias, and then it broke. Jason and then Menelaus bought the office from the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Maccabees 4).
The Maccabean leaders Jonathan and Simon took the office by a king's grant and by the people's decree (1 Maccabees 10:20 and 14:41). Their Hasmonean heirs joined the high priesthood to a royal crown, and these priest-kings came from outside the line of Zadok.
Under Herod and then Rome the office became a political appointment, granted and revoked at will. Josephus records that one governor, Valerius Gratus, deposed four high priests in turn (Antiquities 18.2.2).
Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered.At this hearing the high priest of Aaron's office sat in judgment on the Priest Hebrews names in the order of Melchizedek.
You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also for the scattered children of God, to gather them together into one.This is the one saying of a high priest of Aaron's line that the New Testament calls prophecy.
The price of the office under Antiochus2 Maccabees 4:7 to 8 and 4:24
Second Maccabees, which the Catholic and Orthodox churches receive as Scripture and Protestant churches read as history, gives the sums. Jason promised the king three hundred and sixty talents of silver, and three years later Menelaus outbid him by three hundred talents.
Annas and his sonsJosephus, Antiquities 18.2.1 and 20.9.1
Annas held the office from AD 6 to 15 and kept his power after Rome deposed him. Josephus records that five of his sons served as high priest after him, a thing that had happened to no other high priest.
Joseph Caiaphas, the recordJosephus, the Gospels and an ossuary
A table of six facts about Joseph Caiaphas, from Josephus, the Gospels and his family's ossuary.
| Fact | Record |
|---|---|
| Name | Joseph, who was also called Caiaphas |
| Office | High priest, about AD 18 to 36 |
| Appointed by | Valerius Gratus |
| Removed by | Vitellius, the governor of Syria |
| Family | Son-in-law of Annas |
| Attested | An ossuary, a stone box for bones, inscribed for the family of Qayafa and found in Jerusalem in 1990 |
The box is twice inscribed Joseph, son of Caiaphas, and Josephus names the high priest Joseph, who was also called Caiaphas.
The vestments in Roman keepingJosephus, Antiquities 18.4.3
Josephus records that under Rome the high priest's vestments were kept in the tower of Antonia, and that Vitellius gave them back into the priests' keeping.
What the Text Leaves Unsaid
Both silences concern the passing of the office.
A Better Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek
Hebrews 7 reads the LORD's oath in the Psalms against the line of Aaron.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High— and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.Hebrews 7 builds on this meeting, which stands centuries before the law of Aaron.
The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”David records the LORD's oath to the coming King, the charter of a priesthood no son of Levi could hold.
A table of six rows that sets the order of Aaron beside the order of Melchizedek, each row with its verse in Hebrews.
| Hebrews | The order of Aaron, by descent | The order of Melchizedek, by oath |
|---|---|---|
| Hebrews 7:16 | A priest by a law of succession | A priest by the power of an indestructible life |
| Hebrews 7:20 to 21 | Priests made without an oath | Jesus made a priest with an oath |
| Hebrews 7:23 to 25 | Many priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office | One priest, who has a permanent priesthood and always lives to intercede |
| Hebrews 7:27 | Daily sacrifices, first for their own sins | One sacrifice once for all, when He offered up Himself |
| Hebrews 7:14 | The tribe of Levi | The tribe of Judah, of which Moses said nothing about priests |
| Hebrews 8:5 and 9:24 | A copy and shadow of what is in heaven | Heaven itself, in the presence of God |
Psalm 110:4 in the argument of HebrewsHebrews 5 to 7
Besides Genesis 14, Psalm 110:4 is the only Old Testament text that names Melchizedek, and Hebrews builds its argument on it.
Hebrews quotes the oath of Psalm 110:4 three times, names the order of Melchizedek three times more, and once speaks of a priest like him.
| Text | What Hebrews does |
|---|---|
| Hebrews 5:6 | quotes the oath |
| Hebrews 5:10 | names the order of Melchizedek |
| Hebrews 6:20 | names the order of Melchizedek |
| Hebrews 7:11 | names the order of Melchizedek |
| Hebrews 7:15 | speaks of another priest like Melchizedek |
| Hebrews 7:17 | quotes the oath |
| Hebrews 7:21 | quotes the oath |
A priest without a genealogyHebrews 7:3
Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.Hebrews turns what Genesis leaves unsaid about Melchizedek into the mark of a priest who remains for all time.
Matthew Henry explains why Scripture leaves out Melchizedek's genealogy.
“This must not be understood according to the letter; but the scripture has chosen to set him forth as an extraordinary person, without giving us his genealogy, that he might be a fitter type of Christ, who as man was without father, as God without mother; whose priesthood is without descent, did not descend to him from another, nor from him to another, but is personal and perpetual.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Hebrews 7:3Puritan
What the names and the key word meanMelchizedek, Salem, Zadok and aparabatos
A table of four words with the meaning each carries and the verse where each stands.
| Word | Meaning | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Melchizedek, Malki-Tsedek | King of righteousness | Hebrews 7:2 |
| Salem | Peace, so that the king of Salem is the king of peace | Hebrews 7:2 |
| Zadok, Tsadok | Righteous, the name of the house Ezekiel sets apart | Ezekiel 44:15 |
| aparabatos | Untransferable, said of a priesthood that passes to no successor | Hebrews 7:24 |
How the High Priesthood Has Been Taught
Matthew Henry, Cyril of Alexandria, John Wesley and Tertullian read Eli, Joshua, Annas, Caiaphas and the priest of Hebrews 7.
died 220 · Tertullian
On Modesty
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Tertullian names the purpose for which the sinless high priest of Hebrews 7:26 came.
“For to this end had He come, that, being Himself pure from sin, and in all respects holy, He might undergo death on behalf of sinners.”
Tertullian · On Modesty · on Hebrews 7:26Patristic
died 444 · Cyril of Alexandria
Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Cyril explains how the counsel of an unjust high priest could still be true.
“Behold, the very thing of which we were speaking, the very thing which the Jews were secretly exercising themselves to bring into effect, this their high priest openly counsels them to do, even to kill the Christ; saying that it would be for the nation, although the nation was unjust. And he makes a true statement, his words being verified not by the perversity of the people, but by the power and wisdom of God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 · on John 11:50 to 51Patristic
1662 to 1714 · Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Henry lists what God had given Eli's house before He judged it.
“He advanced him to the priesthood, entailed it upon his family, and thereby dignified it above any of the families of Israel. He entrusted him with honourable work, to offer on God's altar, to burn incense, and to wear that ephod in which was the breast-plate of judgment.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on 1 Samuel 2:28Puritan
1662 to 1714 · Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Henry reads the vision as proof that the priesthood outlived the failures of its priests.
“Yet Joshua was permitted to stand before the angel of the Lord. Though his children did not as they should, yet the covenant of priesthood was not broken. Note, Christ bears with his people, whose hearts are upright with him, and admits them into communion with himself, notwithstanding their manifold infirmities.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Zechariah 3:3Puritan
1703 to 1791 · John Wesley
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on John 11:50
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Wesley sets the high priest's unwitting testimony beside Pilate's.
“So God overruled his tongue, for he spake not of himself, by his own spirit only, but by the spirit of prophecy. And thus he gave unawares as clear a testimony to the priestly, as Pilate did to the kingly office of Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on John 11:50Evangelical
1703 to 1791 · John Wesley
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament
The quotation1 quotation, 1 paragraph
Wesley explains why Jesus was taken first to a man who no longer held the office.
“Annas had been high priest before his son-in-law Caiaphas. And though he had for some time resigned that office, yet they paid so much regard to his age and experience, that they brought Christ to Annas first. But we do not read of any thing remarkable which passed at the house of Annas; for, which reason, his being carried thither is omitted by the other evangelists.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on John 18:13Evangelical
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry, John Wesley, John Wesley
Where Readers Differ
Readers differ on whether the Hasmonean priest-kings held the office rightly, and on who Melchizedek was.
The Hasmoneans held the office by lawful decree1 Maccabees 14:41 · Second Temple history
The Jews and priests consented to the Hasmonean office, to stand until a faithful prophet should arise (1 Maccabees 14:41).
Against it stands Ezekiel 44:15, which sets the sons of Zadok apart to approach the LORD, and the Hasmoneans were outside that house.
The Hasmoneans were usurpersThe Pesher on Habakkuk (1QpHab), as Geza Vermes reads it · The Qumran sect
The Habakkuk Commentary found at Qumran sets a Wicked Priest against the community's Teacher of Righteousness. Vermes, with the other holders of the Maccabean theory, identified him with Jonathan or Simon, the Maccabean brothers.
Against it stands the descent of Mattathias, the Hasmoneans' father, a priest of the course of Joarib and so of Aaron's blood (1 Maccabees 2:1).
Melchizedek was a king of Salem who prefigures ChristAmbrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith 3 · Patristic
Ambrose held Melchizedek a holy man and priest of God who prefigures the Lord, a historical king of Salem who worshipped God Most High, and he rejected the reading that he was an angel. Ambrose's reading takes Genesis 14 at its plain sense.
The objection is drawn from Hebrews 7:3, which gives him no beginning of days or end of life and seems to point past an ordinary man.
Melchizedek was ShemRashi on Genesis 14:18, after Nedarim 32b · Rabbinic tradition
Rabbinic tradition, which Rashi records from the Talmud at Nedarim 32b, identified him with Shem, son of Noah, who by the chronology of Genesis 11 was still living in Abram's day. The reading keeps the priesthood inside the family of the covenant.
The objection is that Hebrews 7:3 builds on a man with no recorded genealogy, while Shem's genealogy stands in Genesis 11.
Melchizedek was a heavenly figure11QMelchizedek, as A. S. van der Woude edited it · The Qumran sect
The Qumran scroll 11QMelchizedek, written about 100 BC, casts him as the leader of God's angels who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belial. The scroll is a measure of how large the name stood by the first century.
The objection is that Genesis 14:18 calls him king of a city who brought out bread and wine.
Melchizedek was the Son of God appearing as a manTeachers answered by Marcus Eremita; Epiphanius, Panarion 55 · Patristic
Teachers refuted by Marcus Eremita made Melchizedek an incarnation of the Word, and Epiphanius lists a sect of Melchizedekians among the heresies in his Panarion, section 55.
The objection rests on the grammar of Hebrews. Hebrews 7:3 says he is like the Son of God, and Hebrews 7:15 speaks of another priest like Melchizedek, so the letter compares two figures and states a resemblance between them.
Books to Read Next
Four works that record or comment on the high priests, each free to read online.
The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston
Flavius Josephus · 1737
Books 18 and 20 tell of Annas, Caiaphas and the Roman governors who appointed and removed them.
Read at Project GutenbergThe Wars of the Jews, in Whiston's translation
Flavius Josephus · 1737
Book 6, chapter 2, records the day the daily sacrifice failed in the siege of AD 70.
Read at Project GutenbergThe First and Second Books of the Maccabees, in the King James Apocrypha
Unknown authors · 1611
These two books are the chief sources for the high priesthood under the Seleucid kings.
Read at Project GutenbergCommentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry · 1706
Henry comments verse by verse on Exodus 28 and 29 and on Hebrews 7.
Read at the Christian Classics Ethereal LibraryA Great Priest Over the House of God
Aaron carried the names of the tribes into the Holy Place. Hebrews 10:19 to 22 asks every believer to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus and to draw near with a sincere heart.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston (1737)
- Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, translated by William Whiston (1737)
- The First and Second Books of the Maccabees, King James Version (1611)
- Rashi on Genesis, in Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary, M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (1929 to 1934)
- Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith, book 3.
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on John 11:50.
- STEP Bible TBESG lexicon, Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0.
- John Chapman, Melchisedechians, The Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10 (New York, Robert Appleton, 1911)
- Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old Testament, on 1 Samuel 2:35.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
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