Hebrews 7:20

And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) This and the next two verses constitute one sentence, the third verse answering to the first, and Hebrews 7:21 being parenthetical. Hitherto no reference has been made to the remarkable opening of Psalm 110:4, so often quoted: these three verses are occupied with the thought of the oath—or rather (for a very uncommon word is used, one that answers well to the importance of the thought) the “swearing of an oath.” This is a further illustration of the words of Hebrews 7:15, “a different priest.”

He was made priest.—Some supplement is needed to give clearness to the English sentence; but one of general meaning, such as “all this was done,” will best answer the purpose.

Benson Commentary

Hebrews 7:20-22. And inasmuch as, &c. — Here is another argument from the words of the psalmist, to prove the appointment of a new priesthood, the removal of the old, and the superior excellence of the new to the old; not without an oath — Which argues the weightiness of the matter, and the eternal continuance of Christ’s priesthood. “The apostle’s reasoning here is founded on this, that God never interposed his oath except to show the certainty and immutability of the thing sworn. Thus he sware to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, Genesis 22:16-18; and to the rebellious Israelites, that they should not enter into his rest, Deuteronomy 1:34-35; and to Moses, that he should not go into Canaan, Deuteronomy 4:21; and to David, that his seed should endure for ever, and his throne unto all generations, Psalm 89:4. Wherefore, since Christ was made a priest not without an oath, that he should be a priest for ever, &c., that circumstance showed God’s immutable resolution never to change or abolish his priesthood, or the covenant established thereon. Whereas the Levitical priesthood and the law of Moses being established without an oath were thereby declared to be changeable at God’s pleasure.” — Macknight. The Lord sware and will not repent — Hence also it appears that his priesthood is unchangeable. God not only sware that he would make him a priest for ever, but sware also that he would never repent of doing it. By so much, &c. — By how much the priesthood of Christ was better than the former, by so much the testament, or rather covenant, of which he was to be surety, was better also. The word covenant frequently occurs in the remaining part of this epistle. The original word means either a covenant, or a last will and testament. St. Paul takes it sometimes in the former, sometimes in the latter sense; sometimes he includes both. The word surety or sponsor, may here mean one who has undertaken, on our behalf, to satisfy divine justice for our sins, making atonement for them; and to give to all that sincerely, earnestly, and perseveringly ask it, grace sufficient to enable them to perform the conditions of the covenant, and thereupon to receive its blessings. But it is proper to observe, that the Greek commentators explain the word εγγυος, here rendered a surety, by μεσιτης, a mediator, which is its etymological meaning. “For it comes from εγγυς, near, and signifies one who draws near, or who causes another to draw near. Now, as in this passage a comparison is stated between Jesus, as a High-Priest, and the Levitical high-priests; and as these were justly considered by the apostle as the mediators of the Sinai covenant, because through their mediation the Israelites worshipped God with sacrifices, and received from him, as their king, a political pardon, in consequence of the sacrifices offered by the high-priest on the day of atonement, it is evident that the apostle, in this passage, calls Jesus the High-Priest, or Mediator, of the better covenant, because through his mediation believers receive all the blessings of the better covenant. And, as the apostle had said, (Hebrews 7:19,) that, by the introduction of a better hope, εγγιζομεν, we draw near to God, he, in this verse, very properly called Jesus εγγυος, rather than μεσιτης, to denote the effect of his mediation. See Hebrews 7:25. Our translators, indeed, following the Vulgate and Beza, have rendered the word surety, a sense which it hath, Sir 29:16, and which naturally enough follows from its etymological meaning. For the person who becomes surety for the good behaviour of another, or for his performing something stipulated, brings that other near to the party to whom he gives the security; he reconciles the two. But in this sense, the word εγγυος, is not applicable to the Jewish high-priests. For to be a proper surety, one must either have power to compel the party to perform that for which he hath become his surety, or, in case of his not performing it, he must be able to perform it himself. As little is the appellation, surety of the new covenant, applicable to Jesus. For since the new covenant doth not require perfect obedience, but only the obedience of faith; if the obedience of faith is not given by men themselves, it cannot be given by another in their room, unless we suppose that men can be saved without personal faith; I therefore infer, that they who speak of Jesus as the surety of the new covenant, must hold that it requires perfect obedience, which not being in the power of believers to give, Jesus hath performed it for them. But is not this to make the covenant of grace a covenant of works, contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture? For these reasons, I think the Greek commentators have given the true meaning of the word εγγυος in this passage, when they explain it by μεσιτης, Mediator.” — Macknight.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:11-25 The priesthood and law by which perfection could not come, are done away; a Priest is risen, and a dispensation now set up, by which true believers may be made perfect. That there is such a change is plain. The law which made the Levitical priesthood, showed that the priests were frail, dying creatures, not able to save their own lives, much less could they save the souls of those who came to them. But the High Priest of our profession holds his office by the power of endless life in himself; not only to keep himself alive, but to give spiritual and eternal life to all who rely upon his sacrifice and intercession. The better covenant, of which Jesus was the Surety, is not here contrasted with the covenant of works, by which every transgressor is shut up under the curse. It is distinguished from the Sinai covenant with Israel, and the legal dispensation under which the church so long remained. The better covenant brought the church and every believer into clearer light, more perfect liberty, and more abundant privileges. In the order of Aaron there was a multitude of priests, of high priests one after another; but in the priesthood of Christ there is only one and the same. This is the believer's safety and happiness, that this everlasting High Priest is able to save to the uttermost, in all times, in all cases. Surely then it becomes us to desire a spirituality and holiness, as much beyond those of the Old Testament believers, as our advantages exceed theirs.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And inasmuch as not without an oath - In addition to every other consideration showing the superiority of Christ as a priest, there was the solemnity of the oath by which he was set apart to the office. The appointment of one to the office of priest by an oath, such as occurred in the case of Jesus, was much more solemn and important than where the office was received merely by descent.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. Another proof of the superiority of Christ's Melchisedec-like priesthood; the oath of God gave a solemn weight to it which was not in the law-priesthood, which was not so confirmed.

he was made priest—rather supply from Heb 7:22, which completes the sentence begun in this verse, Heb 7:21 being a parenthesis, "inasmuch as not without an oath He was made surety of the testament (for, &c.), of so much better a testament hath Jesus been made the surety."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This is a further proof of the excellency of Christ’s priesthood above Aaron’s, taken from his constitution in it by oath. He who is made a priest by oath, is a better and a greater priest than any made so without it; but so is Christ. Kay oson is a comparative, answered Hebrews 7:22, insinuating by how much the cause constituting or confirming an office of priesthood is more excellent, by so much the effect and office must excel, receiving greater power for some more excellent end. This orkwmosia is as much as a double oath, apo tou omnuein orkon. By the swearing of an oath by God the Father was the gospel High Priest constituted an eternal one after Melchisedec’s order; and it addeth so much the more strength and glory to the sanction. This is testified by David, Psalm 110:4. The Levitical priests were made by a Divine designation, and with external rites were consecrated; but Christ was constituted a Priest by oath, as our translators well supply it out of the following verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And inasmuch as not without an oath,.... Our version supplies as follows,

he was made priest; which well agrees with what is said in the next verse; the Syriac version renders it, "and which he confirmed to us by an oath"; that is, the better hope, Christ and his priesthood, said to be brought in, and by which men draw nigh to God; this is established by the oath of God himself referring to Psalm 110:4 afterwards cited in proof of it.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

(10) Another argument, by which he proves that the priesthood of Christ is better than the priesthood of Levi, because his was established with an oath, but theirs was not so.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Hebrews 7:20-22. As one element in the superiority of the everlasting priesthood after the manner of Melchisedec, assigned to Christ, over the Levitical priesthood has been already implicitly brought forward, Hebrews 7:18-19, namely, that the goal, for the attainment of which the strength was lacking to the Levitical priesthood, is really attained by the everlasting priesthood. A second point of superiority in the new order of things over the old follows in Hebrews 7:20-22. Of less moment than the everlasting priesthood of Jesus must the Levitical priesthood be; for the former was constituted by God by virtue of a declaration upon oath, the latter without a declaration upon oath. Hebrews 7:20-22 form again a single period, the protasis being contained in καὶ καθ ̓ ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας, to which then καὶ τοσοῦτο κ.τ.λ., Hebrews 7:22, corresponds as the apodosis, while all that intervenes (οἱ μὲν γάρ, to the end of Hebrews 7:21) is a parenthesis. Wrongly do Chrysostom, Theodoret, Erasmus, Calvin (in the translation), Er. Schmid, and others join καὶ καθ ̓ ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας, too, to the closing words of Hebrews 7:19 : and, indeed, a hope which is better, inasmuch as it is not brought in without an oath. So also Luther: “and moreover, which is a great thing, not without oath;” while, with not less violence, Lud. Cappellus, who, in enclosing Hebrews 7:18-19 within a parenthesis, and taking καὶ καθ ̓ ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας with Hebrews 7:17, gives as the sense: “Deus constituit Christum sacerdotem secundum ordinem Melchisedec, et quidem non sine jurejurando.”

καί] coupling on a farther link in the chain of enumeration, as Hebrews 7:8-9; Hebrews 7:23.

καὶ καθ ̓ ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας] sc. ἱερεύς ἐστιν γεγονώς; and inasmuch (Hebrews 9:27) as He has become priest not without a declaration upon oath, i.e. He has not become so without God having sanctioned His appointment to be a priest by a declaration upon oath (namely, by virtue of the oath, with which the declaration, Psalm 110:4, is introduced). Only this mode of supplementing is warranted by the connection, as is shown partly by the οἱ μὲν γὰρ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες immediately following, partly by the circumstance that the author is still engaged in the exposition of the Scripture statement, Hebrews 7:17, this statement thus containing for him the gist of the matter; as, accordingly, this declaration of Scripture is repeated anew, Hebrews 7:21, and then likewise the εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες recurs in the further member of the thought, Hebrews 7:23 f. The explanation therefore of Seb. Schmidt, Wolf, Heinrichs, Böhme, Kuinoel, Ebrard, Alford, Kurtz, and others is to be rejected, when to καθ ̓ ὅσον οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας they supplement from the apodosis διαθήκης ἔγγυος γέγονεν; as also that of Storr, Schulz, Bleek, de Wette, Tholuck, Bisping, Delitzsch, Moll, and Hofmann, when they supply τοῦτο (sc. ἐπεισαγωγὴ κρείττονος ἐλπίδος) γίνεται (γέγονεν).

οἱ μὲν γάρ] namely, the Levitical priests.

χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας] since nothing is related in Scripture of an oath of God, when He destined Aaron and his posterity to be priests.

εἰσὶν γεγονότες] forms one idea: have become. Wrongly, Paulus and Klee: are priests who have become so without an oath. Böhme (and so also Hofmann): “sunt sacerdotes, sed sine juramento (illi quidem singuli deinceps) facti”—which must have been expressed by εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας γεγονότες. Still more widely mistaken the view of Michaelis ad Peirc.: “fuerunt, i.e. esse desierunt,”—which is grammatically as well as logically impossible. The tempus periphrasticum εἰσὶν γεγονότες marks the fact already belonging to the past as still extending onwards into the present.

ὁ δέ] namely, Christ.

μεθ ̓ ὁρκωμοσίας] sc. ἱερεύς ἐστιν γεγονώς.

διὰ τοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν] i.e. in the sense of the author: by God, not: by the psalmist (Rambach, Heinrichs), although certainly the statement, Psalm 110:4, that God hath sworn and will not repent of this oath, forms not a constituent part of the words of God Himself, but a remark of the psalmist, with which he introduces the words of God. Yet, when in the psalm it is said that God has sworn, and of this oath He will not repent, and then there is adduced as the subject-matter of this oath the declaration: σὺ ἱερεὺς κ.τ.λ., this is tantamount to saying that God has declared by virtue of an irreversible oath: σὺ ἱερεὺς κ.τ.λ. As, accordingly, the psalmist is relating the words of God, so does he also relate the oath which preceded them.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Hebrews 7:20-22. Another element in the superiority of the covenant established upon the priesthood of Jesus is that in the very manner of the institution of His priesthood it was declared to be permanent. The long parenthesis of Hebrews 7:21 being held aside the statement of 20–22 reads thus: “And [introducing a fresh consideration] in proportion as not without an oath [was He made priest] … in that proportion better is the covenant of which Jesus has become the surety”. The parenthesis of Hebrews 7:21 is inserted to confirm by an appeal to Scripture [Psalm 110:4] the fact that by the swearing of an oath the Melchizedek priest was appointed, and to indicate the significance of this mode of appointment, viz.: that repentance or change of plan is excluded. That is to say, this priesthood is final, eternal. And the superiority of the priesthood involves the superiority of the covenant based upon it. The oath signifies therefore the transition from a provisional and temporary covenant to that which is eternal. καθʼ ὅσον. This form of argument is frequent in Philo, see Quis. Rev. Div. H., 17, etc. οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας, “not without oath-swearing”; the clause may be completed from that which follows, “has he been made priest,” as in A.V., although Weiss maintains that this is “sprachwidrig” and that the broken clause “kann natürlich nur aus dem Vorigen ergänzt werden”. But it is most natural and grammatical to complete it from the sentence in which it stands: “As not without an oath, so of a better covenant has Jesus become surety”. The parenthesis thus furnishes the needed ground of this statement. He became surety by becoming priest, and as priest he was constituted with an oath. οἱ μὲν γὰρ “For the one [that is, the Levitical priests] εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες “have been made priests” Vaughan renders “are having become priests—are priests having become so”. So Delitzsch, Weiss and von Soden. Westcott says: “The periphrasis marks the possession as well as the impartment of the office;” and on the “periphrastic conjugation” see Blass, sec. 62; Stephanus Thesaurus s.v. εἰμί, and cf. Acts 21:29, ἦσαν γὰρ προεωρακότες.]. ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκ. “but the other [the new priest] with an oath,” μετὰ of course not being instrumental, but “interposito jurejurando”; where and how this oath is to be found is next explained, it is διὰ f1τοῦ λέγοντος … “through Him that saith to him. The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art,” etc. There is no call to translate πρὸς αὐτόν “in reference to Him”; neither is there any difficulty in referring the words ὤμοσε … μεταμελ. to God. “Though the words are not directly spoken by the Lord, they are His by implication. The oath is His” (Westcott). On the distinction between μετανοέω and μεταμέλομαι see Trench, Synonyms, 241. “He who has changed his mind about the past is in the way to change everything; he who has an after care may have little or nothing more than a selfish dread of the consequences of what he has done.” This, however, does not apply to the LXX (from which the quotation of this verse is taken) where both words are used to translate נָחַם. Cf. 1 Kings 15:29; 1 Kings 15:34. κατὰ τοσοῦτο “by so much,” that is, the superiority of the new covenant to the old is in the ratio of eternity to time, of what is permanent and adequate to what is transitory and provisional. κρείττονος διαθήκης “of a better covenant” [“id est, non infirmae et inutilis. Frequens in hac epistola epitheton, κρείττων, item αἰώνιος, ἀληθινὸς, δεύτερος, διαφορώτερος, ἔτερος, ζῶν, καινὸς, μέλλων, νέος, πρόσφατος, τέλειος” (Bengel)], here first mentioned in the Epistle, but whose character and contents and relation to the “foregoing” covenant are fully explained in the following chapter. Here already its “betterness” is recognisable in this, that it supersedes the older, and is itself permanent because perfectly accomplishing the purposes of a covenant.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. inasmuch as not without an oath] This is the sixth point of superiority. He has lingered at much greater length over the fifth than over the others, from the extreme importance of the argument which it incidentally involved. The oath on which the Melchisedek Priesthood was founded is that of Psalm 110:4. The word used for “oath” is not the common word horkos (as in Hebrews 6:17), but the more sonorous horkomosia.

Bengel's Gnomen

Hebrews 7:20. Καθʼ ὅσον, inasmuch as) Supply from what follows, He was made a priest. The Apodosis is in Hebrews 7:22, κατὰ τοσοῦτον, by so much.—ὁρκωμοσίας) A magnificent compound.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 20-22. - And inasmuch as not without an oath [properly, swearing of an oath, ὁρκωμοσίας] he was made priest: (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith unto him, Thou art a Priest for ever); by so much of a better covenant hath Jesus become surety. The significance of the Divine oath, in connection with the promise to Abraham, has been dwelt on above: the oath of Psalm 110. is here similarly referred to, as imitating a priesthood that rests on no mere temporary ordinance, but on the immutable Divine counsels. (Observe the first occurrence here of the word διαθήκη, introducing in the way of hint (as is usual in the Epistle) an idea to be afterwards expanded, as it is in Hebrews 8. and 9. The meaning of the word will be considered below.) Hebrews 7:20

Vincent's Word Studies

Not without an oath (οὐ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας)

The A.V. is, on the whole, better than Rev. by inserting he was made priest. Ὁρκωμοσία only in Hebrews. In lxx see Ezekiel 17:18; 1 Esdr. 9:93. For an oath rend. the taking of an oath.