“If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?”
The full verse · Hebrews 7:11 · KJV
the , ( the received the ,) was there that should the of , be the of ?
Asked by
Author of Hebrews: the unnamed writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who shows that God has spoken through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), arguing from Psalm 110:4 that Christ is "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" (Hebrews 7:17)
Asked to
Hebrews: the first readers of the letter, who knew the Levitical priesthood and its sacrifices
The Scene
The writer has shown that Melchisedec, "priest of the most high God," blessed Abraham and received tithes from him (Hebrews 7:1-10), and now draws out what that means for the priesthood of Aaron.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe writer asks why God would promise a new kind of priest if the old one already did the job. Psalm 110:4 foretold a priest "after the order of Melchizedek," not after Aaron. Barnes explains that the argument rests on "an express prediction of the coming of a priest of a different 'order'," which "implied that there was some deficiency in the former arrangement." The words in parentheses explain why this matters so much: the law was given under the Levitical priesthood. Barnes says that admission was needed so that "the change of one involved also the change of the other," which the writer states in Hebrews 7:12.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe writer answers his own question through the rest of the chapter. "The priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Hebrews 7:12). The new priest comes from Judah, a tribe that never served at the altar (Hebrews 7:13-14), and He is made priest "after the power of an endless life" (Hebrews 7:16). Then the plain answer: "the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Hebrews 7:19).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsUnder the Law of Moses, priests came only from the tribe of Levi, and the high priests from Aaron's family. Melchisedec was "king of Salem" and "priest of the most high God" in Abraham's day, before Levi was born (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1, 10). The Greek word for "perfection" is teleiosis, completion or fulfilment. The phrase "received the law" translates one Greek verb, nomotheteo, to have laws enacted; the law was given on the basis of that priesthood. Gill notes that the Levitical priests were mortal men whose service could not make the worshippers perfect in conscience.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows that God was not caught by surprise when the old system fell short. He had announced a different priest centuries earlier in Psalm 110:4. The Levitical priesthood was real and God-given, but it was never meant to be final. Its priests died and had to be replaced (Hebrews 7:23), and they offered sacrifice "first for his own sins" (Hebrews 7:27).
Jesus is the priest God promised. "He ever liveth to make intercession" and so "is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him" (Hebrews 7:25). What the law could not do, bring people near to God, Christ does (Hebrews 7:19).
Look Closer
How does the writer know the Levitical priesthood could not bring perfection?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You sent a priest who ever lives to intercede; where am I still trying to draw near to You through something that cannot bring me close?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- What do you rely on to feel near to God, and does it lead you to Christ or away from Him?
- How does it change your prayers to know that Jesus "ever liveth to make intercession" for those who come to God by Him?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
You do not have to reach God through a system that leaves you unsure. The writer's question shows that the old priesthood, good as it was, could not bring people all the way to God. Jesus can. He lives forever, and He brings you near (Hebrews 7:19, 25).
This does not mean the Old Testament priesthood was worthless. God gave it, and it prepared His people for Christ. But now you can come to God with confidence through the priest He promised, not through rituals that must be repeated. Scripture's own application: Hebrews 7:25
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
“For then would they not have ceased to be offered?”