Hebrews 7:16
in Hebrews 7one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life:
KJV
Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
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This verse in Hebrews 7
Commentary
15 notes on this verseWho is made - Appointed to this high office by God himself, not succeeding one that was disabled or dead, according to that law or ordinance directed to weak and perishing men, who could not continue by reason of death. This is probably all that the apostle intends by the words carnal commandment, εντολης σαρκικης· for carnal does not always mean sinful or corrupt, but feeble, frail, or what may be said of or concerning man in his present dying condition.
This site's exposition
another priest like Melchizedek appears
on Hebrews 7:15-17
The case grows even more clear when another priest like Melchizedek appears. Aaron's priests served by descent, and this one serves by the power of an indestructible life, which His resurrection shows. Psalm 110:4 seals it: You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
This site's exposition
the power of an indestructible life
Adam Clarke takes the law of succession as an ordinance for frail men, each priest filling a seat that death had emptied. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set commandment against life. A law can give a command, but it has no life to give, and Christ holds that life in Himself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"who has not become a priest according to the law of a fleshly commandment." For Christ has become a high priest, not according to the law of a commandment concerning flesh, but according to the power of an everlasting life. What is according to the …
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS · Written before 373.
proposed
Paul says, "If perfection had been attainable" through the Levitic house, "for under it the people received the law"—that is, through its agency the law of the people was declared—"what further need would there have been" to elevate another priest from another place, "rather than …
"But according to the power of an endless life. For He testifieth, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec"; that is, not for a time, nor having any limit, "but according to the power of an endless life," that is, by means of power, by means of "endless life." And yet this does not follow after, "who was made not according to the law of a carnal commandment": for what would follow would be to say, "but according to that of a spiritual one." However by "carnal," he implied temporary. As he says also in another place, "carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation." "According to the power of life," that is, because He lives by His own power.
Yea and I am showing another difference also (he would say): not only from the tribe, nor yet only from the Person, nor from the character of the Priesthood, nor from the covenant, but also from the type itself. "Who was made not according to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. He became" (he says) "a priest not according to the law of a carnal commandment": for that law was in many respects unlawful. What is, "of a carnal commandment"? Circumcise the flesh, it says; anoint the flesh; wash the flesh; purify the flesh; shave the flesh; bind upon the flesh; cherish the flesh; rest as to the flesh. And again its blessings, what are they? Long life for the flesh; milk and honey for the flesh; peace for the flesh; luxury for the flesh. From this law Aaron received the priesthood; Melchisedec however not so.
He is saying it is possible to bring out the likeness between the one and the other: as one did not have successors to his priesthood, so neither did the other transmit it to another—which he referred to as "bodily descent" because the law required …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
359. – His reasoning is this: If a new priest arises, this will not be according to the Law of a carnal commandment, but according to the Law of eternal and incorruptible life; the reason being that the first was according to that Law. It …
He, Melchizedek, was not like the priests under the Law; they received the priesthood from the Law containing carnal commandments: circumcise the flesh, wash the flesh, rest in the flesh, and you shall be deemed worthy of carnal blessings. Melchizedek was not so, but by …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Some thing the law of the carnal commandment refers to the external rites of consecration, and the carnal offerings that were made; but the power of an endless life to the spiritual living sacrifices proper to the gospel, and the spiritual and eternal privileges purchased by Christ, who was consecrated by the eternal Spirit of life that he received without measure.
Not after the law of a carnal commandment - Not according to the Mosaic law, which consisted chiefly of commandments that were carnal, compared to the spirituality of the gospel.
Who was made,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"Carnal," as being only outward and temporary, is contrasted with "endless," or, as Greek, "indissoluble." Commandments is contrasted with "life." The law can give a commandment, but it cannot give life (Heb 7:19).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who is made - That is, the other priest is made, to wit, the Messiah. He was made a priest by a special law. Not after the law of a carnal commandment - Not according to the Law of a commandment pertaining to the flesh. The word “carnal” means “fleshly;” and the idea is, that the Law under which the priests of the old dispensation were made was external, rather than spiritual; it related more to outward observances than to the keeping of the heart. That this was the nature of the Mosaic ritual in the main, it was impossible to doubt, and the apostle proceeds to argue from this undeniable truth. But after the power of an endless life - By an authority of endless duration. That is, it was not concerned mainly with outward observances, and did not pass over from one to another by death, but was unchanging in its character, and spiritual in its nature. It was enduring and perpetual as a priesthood, and was thus far exalted above the service performed by the priests under the former dispensation.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὃς | hos | who | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| κατὰ | kata | according to | G2596 → | 468 times |
| νόμον | nomon | a law | G3551 → | 192 times |
| ἐντολῆς | entoles | of a commandment | G1785 → | 67 times |
| σαρκίνης | sarkines | fleshly | G4560 → | |
| γέγονεν | gegonen | has been constituted | G1096 → | 667 times |
| ἀλλὰ | alla | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| κατὰ | kata | according to | G2596 → | 468 times |
| δύναμιν | dunamin | [the] power | G1411 → | 119 times |
| ζωῆς | zoes | of a life | G2222 → | |
| ἀκαταλύτου· | akatalutou | indestructible; | G179 → |
ὃςwho
hosG3739 →1405 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
κατὰaccording to
kataG2596 →468 times
νόμονa law
nomonG3551 →192 times
ἐντολῆςof a commandment
entolesG1785 →67 times
σαρκίνηςfleshly
sarkinesG4560 →
γέγονενhas been constituted
gegonenG1096 →667 times
ἀλλὰbut
allaG235 →635 times
κατὰaccording to
kataG2596 →468 times
δύναμιν[the] power
dunaminG1411 →119 times
ζωῆςof a life
zoesG2222 →
ἀκαταλύτου·indestructible;
akatalutouG179 →
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
Revelation 1:18the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
it leads to
- Romans 6:9
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.
- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Romans 14:8–9
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- Psalms 68:20
Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.
- Romans 6:9
Through
Colossians 2:14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Ephesians 2:14–16
For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Isaiah 44:22
Through
Colossians 2:20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
it leads to
- Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 2:8
Where this verse is studied
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About Hebrews
This page draws on 14 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); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; 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.