Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Hebrews 7:11-28, A priest from Judah, by oath, for ever
If the Levitical priesthood had brought perfection, no other priest would have been promised. Jesus comes from Judah, a priest by the power of an indestructible life and by God's oath, the guarantee of a better covenant; Levitical priests died and offered daily for their own sins, but he lives for ever and offered himself once for all.
Hebrews 7:11-28, in every translation this tool compares.
The writer argues that God's promise of a priest like Melchizedek in Psalm 110 shows that the old priesthood from Levi could not bring people to completion. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, which had no priestly role, so his priesthood rests on his risen life and on God's oath rather than on family descent. Levitical priests died and had to keep offering sacrifices, even for their own sins, but Jesus lives for ever and offered himself once, which makes him the guarantee of a better covenant.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/high-priest\/","n":"The high priest","s":"The head of Israel's priests, from Aaron's line, who offered for his own sins and then the people's and alone went into the holy of holies, once a year. By the first century Herod and Rome named and removed him at will.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/melchizedek\/","n":"Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem","s":"The king of Salem and priest of God Most High who blessed Abram and received a tenth of the spoil (Genesis 14). Psalm 110 promised a priest for ever in his order, and some Jews of the period made him a heavenly figure.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/messiah\/","n":"The Messiah, son of David","s":"The anointed king most Jews expected from David's line, who would free Israel from its enemies. Nobody expected him to be killed.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/oaths-and-vows\/","n":"Oaths and vows","s":"Calling God, or something holy, to witness that you speak the truth or will keep your word. People swore by lesser things to keep God's name safe if they broke it.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/day-of-atonement\/","n":"The Day of Atonement and the mercy seat","s":"Once a year the high priest went into the holy of holies with sacrificial blood, for his own sins and then the nation's. It was the one fast the law commanded, and the mercy seat on the ark was the place the blood was brought.","r":""}
The writer faced Scripture's own word that the Levitical priesthood was perpetual (Exodus 40:15); his answer is that Scripture itself promised a newer one, sworn with an oath (Keener). Carson, Moo and Morris note that arguments like 7:11, which question whether the Sinai code's rules for worship were final, mattered only to readers tempted back to Judaism. The Dead Sea Scrolls expected two anointed figures, a king from Judah and a priest from Levi; Psalm 110 lets one figure fill both roles (Keener; the cultural backgrounds notes; Wright and Bird). Josephus states the rule the writer sets aside: the high priesthood belonged to the blood of Aaron alone, "though he were a king" (Antiquities 20.10). Keener thinks the many priests of 7:23 means their mortality, though readers who knew Jerusalem politics would think of Rome appointing and deposing high priests. Before the Day of Atonement the high priest was guarded from defilement (Keener; the cultural backgrounds notes), and Josephus records a kinsman serving for one day when the high priest Matthias was defiled by a dream (Antiquities 17.6.4). Day after day in 7:27 may merge the priesthood's daily offerings with the high priest's yearly one (Keener).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to Hebrews 7:11-28, and on Hebrews 5:6, 7:11-19, 7:20-21, 7:22-25, 7:26 and 7:27
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Hebrews 5:6, 7:22 and 7:26
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17.6.4 and 20.10, trans. William Whiston
- N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, The New Testament in Its World, ch. 30, The Argument of Hebrews, section 4
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 17, Hebrews, Purpose
