Hebrews 7:12
in Hebrews 7For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
KJV
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
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This verse in Hebrews 7
Commentary
14 notes on this verseFor the priesthood being changed,.... Not translated from one tribe, family, or order, to another, but utterly abolished; for though it is called an everlasting priesthood, yet that is to be understood with a limitation, as the word "everlasting" often is, as relating to things under that dispensation; for nothing is more certain than that it is done away: it was of right abrogated at the death of Christ, and it is now in fact; since the destruction of Jerusalem, the daily sacrifice has ceased, and the children of Israel have been many days without one, and without an ephod.
This site's exposition
when the priesthood is changed
on Hebrews 7:12-14
The law tied the priesthood to Levi, so when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well. Christ belonged to a different tribe, Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
If the priesthood according to the law contained perfection, he is saying, on the grounds that through it everything according to the law was fulfilled, why is the giving of another one intended? Why on earth is the promise made to give it not according …
The mystery of the divine plan is worthy of admiration: as Christ the Lord, eternal king as he is, was styled our high priest, so the tribe of Judah, which was formerly kingly, attained the priesthood through the Lord.
What need was there then of another priesthood? "For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change of the law also." But if there must be another priest, or rather another priesthood, there must needs be also another law. This is for those who say, What need was there of a new Covenant? For he could indeed have alleged a testimony from prophecy also. "This is the covenant which I made with your fathers." But for the present he contends on the ground of the priesthood. And observe, how he says this from the first. He said, "According to the order of Melchisedec." By this he excluded the order of Aaron. For he would not have said "After the order of Melchisedec," if the other had been better. If therefore another priesthood has been brought in, there must be also another Covenant; for neither is it possible that there should be a priest, without a covenant and laws and ordinances, nor that having received a different priesthood He should use the former covenant.
In the next place, as to the ground of objection: "How could He be a priest if He were not a Levite?" Having overthrown this by what had been said above, he does not even think it worth answering, but introduces it in passing. I said (he means) that the priesthood was changed, therefore also the Covenant is. And it was changed not only in its character, or in its ordinances, but also in its tribe. For of necessity it must be changed in its tribe also. How? "For the priesthood being changed [or transferred]," from tribe to tribe, from the sacerdotal to the regal tribe, that the same might be both regal and sacerdotal.
When I compare the impoverishment of my insufficiency with the greatness of the gift I have received, I too should cry out in those words of the prophet, "Lord, I have heard your word and was afraid; I have considered your works and trembled." What indeed could instill as much anxiety and fear as labor for the frail, elevation for the lowly, dignity for the undeserving?
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For the priesthood being changed." See how skillfully he introduces the new covenant. Whenever, he says, there has been a change of the priesthood, so that it is no longer according to the order of Aaron, but a priest arises according to the order of …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Now he shows how the law is gradually abolished, and in its place another covenant is introduced. For if the priesthood is changed, then it is necessary that the law also be different, for a priest does not exist without a covenant and laws and …
350. – The second consequent is that it also does away with the Law which was administered by it. He states this when he says, When there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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 him; and, blessed be God, that we may have perfect holiness and perfect happiness by Christ in the covenant of grace, according to the gospel, for we are complete in him.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
For--the reason why Paul presses the words "after the order of Melchisedec" in Ps 110:4, namely, because these presuppose a change or transference of the priesthood, and this carries with it a change also of the law (which is inseparably bound up with the priesthood, both stand and fall together, Heb 7:11). This is his answer to those who might object, What need was there of a new covenant?
The priesthood being changed - That is, The order of Aaron being now abrogated, to make way for that which had preceded it, the order of Melchisedec.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the priesthood being changed - According to the prediction in Ps. cx., that it would be. When that occurs, the consequence specified will also follow. There is made of necessity a change also of the law - The Law so far as it grew out of that, or was dependent on it. The connection requires us to understand it only of the Law “so far as it was connected with the Levitical priesthood.” This could not apply to the ten commandments - for they were given before the institution of the priesthood; nor could it apply to any other part of the moral law, for that was not dependent on the appointment of the Levitical priests. But the meaning is, that since a large number of laws - constituting a code of considerable extent and importance - was given for the regulation of the priesthood, and in reference to the rites of religion, which they were to observe or superintend, it followed that when their office was superseded by “one of a wholly different order,” the Law which had regulated them vanished also, or ceased to be binding. This was a very important point in the introduction of Christianity, and hence, it is that it is so often insisted on in the writings of Paul. The argument to show that there had been a change or transfer of the priestly office, he proceeds to establish in the sequel.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| μετατιθεμένης | metatithemenes | When is being changed | G3346 → | 6 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἱερωσύνης | hi'erosunes | priesthood | G2420 → | 3 times |
| ἐξ | ex | from | G1537 → | 911 times |
| ἀνάγκης | anagkes | necessity | G318 → | 17 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| νόμου | nomou | of law | G3551 → | 192 times |
| μετάθεσις | metathesis | a change | G3331 → | 3 times |
| γίνεται. | ginetai | takes place. | G1096 → | 667 times |
μετατιθεμένηςWhen is being changed
metatithemenesG3346 →6 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἱερωσύνηςpriesthood
hi'erosunesG2420 →3 times
ἐξfrom
exG1537 →911 times
ἀνάγκηςnecessity
anagkesG318 →17 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
νόμουof law
nomouG3551 →192 times
μετάθεσιςa change
metathesisG3331 →3 times
γίνεται.takes place.
ginetaiG1096 →667 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 66:21“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Exodus 19:6
And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
- Isaiah 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their…
- 1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 1:6
who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
Ezekiel 16:61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.
it leads to
- Galatians 4:26–31
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- Hebrews 8:13
By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
- Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 4:26–31
Where this verse is studied
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About Hebrews
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; Leo the Great, SERMON 3.1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.