Hebrews 7:20-28 – The Perfect Priest For Me

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 24 Mar. 2019

Intro

v.20-21 Furthermore, it [the superimposition of a better hope] was not without oath-taking for, inasmuch as, on the one hand, those men are becom­ing priests with­OUT oath-taking, 21 on the other hand, this one WITH oath-taking,

on account of the One who said to Him, “The Lord swore and will not feel differ­ently [μεταμεληθήσεται],You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.’”

v.22 - so much so that Jesus became the assurance of a better covenant.

v.23-24 Also, on the one hand, those priests had become more-numerous on account of their sticking-around being hindered by death; 24 He, on the other hand, on account of His remaining forever, has the intransient priesthood.

v.25 In view of which He is also able to save in any eventuality those who come through Him to God, since He is always living for the purpose of interceding on their behalf.

Four things that flow out of the words of this verse are:

    1. Jesus can save to the extent of all time. His priesthood is forever, so His ministry of salvation is forever, thus all who trust Him to save them can be assured of being o.k. forever. The causal statement which follows, stating that Jesus is “always living” supports this interpretation. He’s going to be around forever, and it is always His job as a priest to be a go-between for us before God.

    2. Jesus has the ability to save completely. This was the position of most commentators I read. Albert Barnes, for instance wrote, “He does not abandon the work midway; he does not begin a work which he is unable to finish. He can aid us as long as we need anything done for our salvation.” “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” (Phil. 1:6)

    3. However, the way I am most inclined to interpret the word pantelos is by its literal meaning “any eventuality.” (Incidentally, Matthew Henry also seemed to take it this way.) This takes it in the sense of whatever point in the commission of sin and experience of its consequences we make our jumping-off point into trust in Christ. He can take us at any point, in any set of circumstances, no matter how much trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into, and He can turn it around for us and save us.

APPENDIX: Side-by-side Greek Text & English Versions of Heb. 7:20-28A

Greek NT

NAW

KJV

18 ἀθέτησις μὲν γὰρ γίνεται προαγούσης ἐντολῆς διὰ τὸ αὐτῆς ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἀνωφελές·

18 So, what has hap­pened is, on the one hand, a displace­ment of a prominent com­mand (on account of its weakness and lack of benefit --

18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weak­ness and unprofit­ableness thereof.

19 οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐτελείωσεν ὁ νόμος, ἐπεισαγωγὴB δὲ κρείττονος ἐλπίδος, δι᾿ ἧς ἐγγίζομεν τῷ Θεῷ.

19 for the Law per­fected nothing), and, on the other hand, a superimposition of a better hope through which we get close to God!

19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

20 Καὶ καθ᾿ ὅσονC οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμο­σίαςD· οἱ μὲν γὰρ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες,

20 Furthermore, it was not without oath-taking for, inasmuch as, on the one hand, those men are becom­ing priests with­OUT oath-taking,

20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:21 (For those priests were made without an oath;

21 ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκωμοσίας διὰ τοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν· ὥμοσε Κύριος, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται· σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα [κατά τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ·E]

21 on the other hand, this one WITH oath-tak­ing, on account of the One who said to Him, “The Lord swore and He will not feel different­ly, ‘You are a priest forever ac­cording to the or­der of Melchisedek’”

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:)

22 κατὰ τοσοῦτο[νF] κρείττονος διαθήκης γέγονεν ἔγγυοςG ᾿Ιησοῦς.

22 - so much so that Jesus became the assurance of a better covenant.

22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

23 Καὶ οἱ μὲν πλείονές εἰσιν γεγονότεςH ἱερεῖς διὰ τὸ θανάτῳ κωλύεσθαι παραμένεινI·

23 Also, on the one hand, those priests had be­come more-num­erous on account of their sticking-around being hindered by death;

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

24 ὁ δὲ διὰ τὸ μένειν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἀπαράβατονJ ἔχει τὴν ἱερωσύνην·

24 He, on the other hand, on account of His remaining forever, has the intransient priesthood.

24 But this man, because he contin­ueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

25 ὅθεν καὶ σῴζειν εἰς τὸ παντελὲς δύναται τοὺς προσερχομένους δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τῷ Θεῷ, πάντοτε ζῶν εἰς τὸ ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν.

25 In view of which He is also able to save in any eventuality those who come through Him to God, since He is always liv­ing for the pur­pose of interced­ing on their behalf.

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.


Comparison of Psalm 110:4

נִשְׁבַּ֤ע יְהוָ֙ה׀ וְלֹ֥א יִנָּחֵ֗ם אַתָּֽה־כֹהֵ֥ן לְעוֹלָ֑ם עַל־דִּ֜בְרָתִ֗י מַלְכִּי־צֶֽדֶק׃

LXX ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ

Heb. 7 ὥμοσε Κύριος, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται· σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα [κατά τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ·M/TR]



1Deut. 32:40 might be a lone exception

2This does not include synonyms for this word, such as the two in Jonah 3:9: “...μετανοήσει ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀποστρέψει...”

AThe Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a standalone difference from all other English translations of a certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added in English not in the Greek. Key words are colored consistently across the chart to show correlations.

BHapex legomenon, building upon eisagw from Heb 1:6

CAlthough most English versions translate comparatively “inasmuch as,” Hanna suggests this is causal. No comment in Vincent or AT Robertson. καθ᾿ ὅσον only occurs three times in the NT – all in Hebrews (3:3; 7:20; 9:27), and three times in the LXX (Exod. 22:16; Deut. 15:8; Ps. 102:12), where it seems to mean more literally “according to the amount of.”

DOnly found in this passage and in Ezekiel 17:18-19 where it is in parallel to the word for “covenant” and refers to a political treaty. Slightly different from the more common orkos found in Heb. 6:16-17.

EThe entire quote is word-for-word identical to the LXX (although it wouldn’t be surprising if the LXX had not been consulted and a translation of the Hebrew had come up with the same words, since it is a pretty straightforward text in Hebrew.) The end of the quote is not in four of the six oldest-known Greek manuscripts, thus not in a handfull of the Byzantine manuscripts and not in the Vulgate or Patriarchal Greek or critical Greek editions and not in most of the ancient Ethiopian versions or modern English versions, but is in the Alexandrinus, the Claramontanus and the Byzantine Majority, and stands as a correction in the Sinaiticus, so it’s in the ancient Syriac versions, the Textus Receptus, and the KJV.

FAlthough the final nun is in the vast majority of Greek manuscripts, it’s not in the six oldest-known. It doesn’t change the meaning though. Three of the six oldest known Greek manuscripts add the word “and” here, so it’s in the critical Greek editions and the NASB, but it’s not in the vast majority of Greek manuscripts, it’s not in the old Greek editions (Greek Orthodox Patriarchal edition or Textus Receptus), and it’s not in the ancient Vulgate, Syriac, or Coptic versions, so I think it is best not added in, so I think the NIV and ESV made the right call here.

GHapex Legomenonalthough in apocrypha: Sirach 29:14-16 An honest man is surety for his neighbour: but he that is impudent will forsake him. Forget not the friendship of thy surety, for he hath given his life for thee. A sinner will overthrow the good estate of his surety.and 2 Maccabees 10:28Now the sun being newly risen, they joined both together; the one part having together with their virtue their refuge also unto the Lord for a pledge of their success and victory: the other side making their rage leader of their battle”

HI suspect that the perfect paraphrastic form here is intended to signal that ginomai, which is normally spelled in perfect tense when the past tense is intended, should be interpreted as truly perfect tense here.

IOnly here and two other places in the Greek Bible: 1 Cor. 16:6; Jas. 1:25

JHapex Legomenon – alpha privative of parabainw