Hebrews 7:16

Hebrews 7:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
• New International Version (NIV)one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.
• English Standard Version (ESV)who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.
• New King James Version (NKJV)who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.

Context of Hebrews 7:16

14We know that our Lord came from Judah's tribe. Moses never said that priests could come from Judah's tribe. So we see that the old law has changed. 15What we have said becomes even clearer now. Another kind of priest has come, who is a priest like Melchizedek. Jesus did not become a priest because of a law about which family he came from. He became God's priest because of his powerful life that nothing could ever destroy. 17The Bible speaks about him as a priest like this: ‘You will be a priest for ever, in the same way that Melchizedek was God's priest.’ 18So the old law about priests no longer has authority. It was weak and it could not help people.

Hebrews 7:16 word by word

ὃς οὐ κατὰ νόμον ἐντολῆς σαρκίνης γέγονεν ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whoὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• is madeγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• notοὐou · noG3756
• afterκατάkata · according toG2596
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• of aἐντολήentolē · commandmentG1785
• carnalσαρκικόςsarkikos · fleshlyG4559
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• the powerδύναμιςdunamis · powerG1411
• of anζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• endlessἀκατάλυτοςakatalutos · indestructibleG179

Cross-references for Hebrews 7:16

• Hebrews 9:9This is like a picture that means something for us today. It teaches us about the gifts and sacrifices that people offered to God, to worship him. When someone gave those things to God, it could not make him clean again in his mind.
• Hebrews 10:1God's laws which he gave to Moses are like a shadow of the good things that would come later. But those laws do not show exactly what those good things are like. They say that the priests must continue to offer the same sacrifices on behalf of the people, year after year. So those sacrifices can never make the people completely clean when they come to worship God.
• Galatians 4:3In the same way, we were children like that in God's family. We were slaves to the bad spirits that rule this world.
• Colossians 2:14We are guilty of many wrong things that are against God's laws. But Christ died on the cross on our behalf. He paid the debt of our sins. It is like he has destroyed the list of all the debts that we should pay to God.
• Hebrews 7:3Nobody wrote down that Melchizedek had a father or a mother. Nobody wrote down that he had any ancestors. Nobody wrote about when he was born or when he died. In that way, it seems like Melchizedek was a priest for ever. He is like the Son of God who continues to be a priest for all time.
• Revelation 1:18I am the one who always lives. I died once. But look! Now I am alive and I will be alive for ever. I have authority over death and over Hades, the place for dead people.

Commentaries on Hebrews 7:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Who 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, · 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. But after the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Who 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-25Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-17This change in how God appoints priests (Hebrews 7:11–14) is clear through Jesus being appointed as a different kind of priest. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is a priest forever. His resurrection from the dead shows he has the power of an indestructible life. Since his priesthood, in the order of Melchizedek, is superior to the Levites' (7:1–10), he replaces them as priest.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. carnal ... endless--mutually contrasted. As "form" and "power" are opposed, 2Ti 3:5; so here "the law" and "power," compare Ro 8:3, "The law was weak through the flesh"; and He 7:18, "weakness." "The law" is here not the law in general, but the statute as to the priesthood. "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…Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 7:16

• Jesus Continued
• Melchizedek
• Priest
• Succession
• Types

In the dictionaries

• Attendance
• Carnal
• Harmless
• Life
• Melchizedek
• Separate
• Adam in the New Testament
• Christ, Offices of
• Congregation
• Endless

Commentaries on Hebrews 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings