Hebrews 7:5

7:5-6a Collecting the tithe was a requirement and an honor for the priests under the law of Moses (Num 18:21-32). • from the rest of the people of Israel: The reference is to the people of Israel as a whole. • Although Melchizedek was not a descendant of Levi, he collected a tenth from Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites. This demonstrates Melchizedek’s eminence over both Abraham and his descendants, including the priests (Heb 7:8-10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 7:5. Τὸν λαὸν, the people) An abbreviated expression, to be resolved into a subject and predicate consisting each of two members. The priests (and Levites) tithe (the Levites and) the people, Num 18:21; Num 18:26; Neh 10:38. So the style of Paul admits, Rom 5:16, note.—κατὰ τὸν νόμον) according to or in the law, ch. Heb 9:19.—ἀδελφοὺς, brethren) with whom they are of the same natural condition. To these, however, are preferred the Levites; to these latter, the priests; to these again, Abraham: to Abraham is preferred Melchisedec.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_7:5. Admission of the relatively privileged position of the Levitical priests.

καί] the explanatory: and certainly.

οἱ μὲν κ.τ.λ.] preparatory to the adversative ὁ δὲ κ.τ.λ., Heb_7:6.

οἱ ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λευῒ τὴν ἱερατείαν λαμβάνοντες] those of the sons (descendants) of Levi who obtain the office of priest. For not all Levites, but only those of them who claimed lineage from the house of Aaron, were entitled to enter upon the priesthood. Comp. Exo_28:1 ff.; Num_3:10; Num_3:38; Num_3:16; Num_18:1 ff., al. Mistaken is the opinion of Delitzsch, Maier, and Moll (in coinciding with Hofmann), that the ἐκ in ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λευΐ is the causal ἐκ of origin: those who receive the priesthood from the sons of Levi, i.e. by virtue of their descent from Levi, in such wise that their person is not taken into account as such, but only in so far as they belong to this lineage. If that had been intended, οἱ ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λευῒ ὄντες καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἱερατείαν λαμβάνοντες must have been written.

ἐντολὴν ἔχουσιν ἀποδεκατοῦν τὸν λαὸν κατὰ τὸν νόμον] have a charge to tithe the people according to the law. Comp. Num_18:20-32; Deu_14:22-29; Neh_10:38-39; de Wette, Lehrb. der hebr.-jüd. Archäologie, 3 Aufl. p. 273 f.; Delitzsch, Talmudische Studien, XIV. Justification of Heb_7:5[81] (in Guerickes Zeitschr. f. d. gesammte luth. Theol. u. Kirche, 1863, H. 1, p. 16 ff.).

κατὰ τὸν νόμον] belongs not to ΤῸΝ ΛΑΌΝ (Seb. Schmidt, Hammond, Starck, Böhme, Hofmann), against which even the non-repetition of the article after ΛΑΌΝ decides; nor yet to ἈΠΟΔΕΚΑΤΟῦΝ (Owen, Delitzsch, Alford, Maier, Ewald), but to ἘΝΤΟΛῊΝ ἜΧΟΥΣΙΝ.

In the closing words, ΤΟΥΤΈΣΤΙΝ ΤΟῪς ἈΔΕΛΦΟῪς ΑὐΤῶΝ, ΚΑΊΠΕΡ Κ.Τ.Λ., Bleek, after the example set by Böhme, erroneously finds the sense: that, although they are the posterity of Abraham, the lauded patriarch, who are tithed by the Levitical priests, yet they are, after all, still the brethren of the latter, i.e. fellow-Israelites; which cannot be so astonishing as when Abraham himself paid the tithes to Melchisedec. On the contrary, the elucidation of τὸν λαόν by ΤΟΥΤΈΣΤΙΝ ΤΟῪς ἈΔΕΛΦΟῪς ΑὐΤῶΝ serves to bring into more striking relief the singularity of the ἈΠΟΔΕΚΑΤΟῦΝ; since elsewhere only the higher receives tithes from the lower, not the equal from the equal (as here an Abrahamides from an Abrahamides), and this singularity of the ἈΠΟΔΕΚΑΤΟῦΝ is then yet further manifested by ΚΑΊΠΕΡ ἘΞΕΛΗΛΥΘΌΤΑς ἘΚ Τῆς ὈΣΦΎΟς ἈΒΡΑΆΜ. The author can therefore only design, by means of Heb_7:5, to characterize the priests as primi inter pares. This superiority, however, in regard to their own fellow-Israelites, the author concedes only in order immediately after, Heb_7:6, to oppose to the same the inferiority in regard to Melchisedec.

ἐξέρχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος τινός] So the LXX. render the Hebrew יָצָא מֵחַלְצֵי פ׳, Gen_35:11; 2Ch_6:9.

[81] The justification consists of the attempted proof that in the post-exilian age the tenth was no longer levied in the first place by the Levites,who had been wont only afterwards to render to the priests the portion pertaining to the same,but the priests themselves had entered upon the right of levying the tenth, which had been originally assigned to the Levites. Nevertheless, however the matter may have stood in this respect, there was hardly any need of a justification of the words Heb_7:5, since no statement whatever as to the mode of receiving the tenths is contained in the same; on the contrary, these words are equally appropriate for indirect as for direct levying of the tithes.

Heb_7:5-7. First point of superiority. The Levitical priests, indeed, take tithes of their brethren, although these brethren, in like manner as they, have descended from Abraham: they have thus, it is true, a pre-eminence above these; but they are inferior to Melchisedec, since this man took tithes of Abraham himself, the common ancestor of the Jewish people, and blessed him.

Heb_7:5-10. Unfolding of the πηλίκος οὗτος κ.τ.λ., Heb_7:4, in that Melchisedec is compared with the Levitical priests, and a threefold superiority of the former over the latter is pointed out.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 7:5 . The significance of this tithing is perceived when it is considered that, although the sons of Levi take tithes of their brethren, this is the result of a mere legal appointment. Those who pay tithes are, as well as those who receive them, sons of Abraham. Paying tithes is in their case no acknowledgment of personal inferiority, but mere compliance with law. But Abraham was under no such law to Melchizedek, and the payment of tithes to him was a tribute to his personal greatness. καὶ adds a fresh aspect of the matter. οἱ μὲν ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λευῒ … “those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly service have an ordinance to tithe the people in accordance with the law, that is, their brethren, although these have come out of the loins of Abraham”. Not all the tribe of Levi, but only the family of Aaron received ( cf. Heb 5:4 ) the ἱερατεία (also in Luk 1:9 ), which Bleek shows to have been used by classical writers of priestly service, while ἱερωσύνη was used of the priestly office. See Heb 7:11-12 ; Heb 7:24 . ἀποδεκατοῖν , “The best MSS. make the infinitive of verbs in - όω to end in - οῖν ” (Westcott and Hort, G., T . ii., sec. 410, and cf. Jannaris, Greek Gram. , 851). The verb occurs only in Biblical Greek, the classical form being δεκατεύω . κατὰ τὸν νόμον follows ἀποδεκ . τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτῶν , κ . τ . λ . Not their fellow-Levites, although it is true that the Levites tithed the people, and the priests tithed the Levites (Num 18:21-24 ; Num 18:26-28 ), but the words are added in explanation of λαόν in order to emphasise the fact that the priests exacted tithes not in recognition of any personal superiority. Those who paid tithes were Abraham’s descendants equally with the priests; it was merely the law which conveyed the right to tithe their brethren καίπερ ἐξεληλυθότας ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος Ἀβρααμ .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Were begotten by Abraham.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

sons of Levi--namely, those alone who belonged to the family of Aaron, to whom the priesthood was restricted. Tithes originally paid to the whole tribe of Levi, became at length attached to the priesthood.

according to the law--sanctioned by Jehovah (Heb 9:19).

of their brethren--with whom, in point of natural descent, they are on a level.

though, &c.--Though thus on a level by common descent from Abraham, they yet pay tithe to the Levites, whose brethren they are. Now the Levites are subordinate to the priests; and these again to Abraham, their common progenitor; and Abraham to Melchisedec. "How great" (Heb 7:4) then, must this Melchisedec be in respect to his priesthood, as compared with the Levitical, though the latter received tithes! and now unspeakably great must "the Son of God" be, to whom, as the sacerdotal archetype (in God's purpose), Melchisedec was made like! Thus compare the "consider," Heb 7:4, in the case of Melchisedec, the type, with the "consider" (Greek, "contemplate attentively," see on Heb 3:1, a stronger word than here) in the case of Christ, the archetype.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. They that are of the sons of Levi] The priests who are of the posterity of the Levites, and receive the priesthood in virtue of their descent from Aaron, have authority from the law of God to receive tithes from the people.

According to the law] That is, the Levites received a tenth from the people. The priests received a tenth of this tenth from the Levites, who are here called their brethren, because they were of the same tribe, and employed in the same sacred work. The apostle is proceeding to show that Melchisedec was greater even than Abraham, the head of the fathers, for to him Abraham gave tithes; and as the Levites were the posterity of Abraham, they are represented here as paying tithes to Melchisedec through him. Yet Melchisedec was not of this family, and therefore must be considered as having a more honourable priesthood than even Aaron himself; for he took the tenth from Abraham, not for his maintenance, for he was a king, but in virtue of his office as universal high priest of all that region.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. And verily they, etc. It would be more suitable to render the words thus, “because they are the sons of Levi.” The Apostle indeed does not assign it as a reason that they received tithes because they were the sons of Levi; but he is comparing the whole tribe with Melchisedec in this way. Though God granted to the Levites the right of requiring tithes from the people, and thus set them above all the Israelites, yet they have all descended from the same parent; and Abraham, the father of them all, paid tithes to a priest of another race: then all the descendants of Abraham are inferior to this priest. Thus the right conferred on the Levites was particular as to the rest of their brethren; yet Melchisedec, without exception, occupies the highest place, so that all are inferior to him. Some think that the tenths of tenths are intended, which the Levites paid to the higher priests; but there is no reason thus to confine the general declaration. The view, then, I have given is the most probable.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(5) They that are of the sons.—Rather, those of the sons of Levi that receive, &c. There is an apparent difficulty here. The priests, it is urged, did not receive tithes from the people; the tithe was paid to the Levites, and but the tenth part of this tithe fell to the lot of the priests. Two considerations seem entirely to remove this difficulty. (1) The question is not one of emolument, but of position. The authority to exact tithes was in strictness vested in the priests, the supreme guardians of the laws relating to all religious duties and observances, and the Levites were but their assistants. That the priests received for their own use but a part of the tribute paid by the nation is a matter of no moment here. (2) The Levites themselves paid tithes to the priests, who therefore stood alone in receiving tithes but paying none. It is the positive ordinance of the law, and nothing but this, that raises brethren above brethren, and gives to the priest this claim upon men who would otherwise be on an equality with himself through common descent from Abraham.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. who receive the office of the priesthood] The word used for “priesthood” is defined by Aristotle to mean “care concerning the gods.”

to take tithes of the people according to the law] Indirectly, through the agency of the Levites. Delitzsch argues that after the Exile the Priests collected the tithes themselves. It cannot however be proved that the Priests themselves tithed the people. This was done by the Levites, who gave the tithe of their tithes to the priests, Num_18:22-26, Neh_10:38. There is however no real difficulty about the expression, for the Priests might tithe the people, as Jewish tradition says that they did in the days of Ezra; and (2) Qui facit per alium facit per se. There is therefore no need to alter “the people” (laon) into Levi (Leuin). The Priests stood alone in receiving tithes and giving none.

come out of the loins] A Hebrew expression, Gen_35:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And verily they that are of the sons of Levi,.... Or Levites; who are of the tribe of Levi, whose descent is from him:

who receive the office of the priesthood; as some of them were priests, though not all; and the Levites therefore are sometimes called priests. R. Joshua ben Levi says, that in twenty four places the priests are called Levites; and this is one of them, Eze 44:15 "and the priests and Levites", &c. (k).

these have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law; the ceremonial law, Num 18:20, these they took of all the people of Israel in the rest of the tribes, by the commandment of God, on account of their service in the tabernacle; and because they had no inheritance in the land; and to show that the Israelites held their land of God himself:

that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham; who are their brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh, though of different tribes; and from these they receive, notwithstanding they are the sons of Abraham: but here a difficulty arises, how the Levites that were priests can be said to receive tithes from the people, when they received the tenth part of the tithes, or the tithe of tithes from the Levites, Num 18:26, but it should be observed, that it was not necessary that the Levites should give these tithes to the priests themselves; an Israelite might do it, and so give the Levites the less; on which account the priests may be said to receive from the people; besides, Ezra in his time ordered, that the first tithe should not be given to the Levites, but to the priests, because they would not go up with him to Jerusalem (l).

(k) T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 86. 2. & Becorot, fol. 4. 1. (l) Maimon. Hilchot Maaser, c. 1. sect. 4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

Ver. 5. To take tithes of the people] If tithes be Jewish, saith M. Harris, and yet ministers must have a maintenance, how will men satisfy their consciences in the particular quantity they must bestow upon them? the Scripture speaks only of the tenth part. Can any show us where the old apportion is reversed, and which is that quota pars now that conscience must rest in?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And verily they that are of the sons of Levi - The meaning of this verse is, that the Levitical priests had a right to receive tithes of their brethren, but still that they were inferior to Melchizedek. The apostle admits that their superiority to the rest of the people was shown by the fact that they had a right to require of them the tenth part of the productions of the land for their maintenance, and for the support of religion. But still he says, that their inferiority to Melchizedek, and consequently to Christ as a priest, was shown by the fact that the illustrious ancestor of all the Jewish people, including the priests as well as others, had confessed his inferiority to Melchizedek by paying him tithes.

Who receive the office of the priesthood - Not all the descendants of Levi were priests. The apostle, therefore, specifies particularly those who “received this office,” as being those whom he specially designed, and as those whose inferiority to Christ as a priest it was his object to show.

Have a commandment to take tithes - Have by the Law a commission, or a right to exact tithes of the people. Deu 14:22, Deu 14:27-29.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This is a proof by instance out of the Levitical law, that he who receiveth is greater than he who giveth.

And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood: the seed of Levi the son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, Num 1:48-50; 3:1-5, and not all of them neither, but the sons of Levi descending from Aaron, were separated and consecrated in the priesthood by God’s precept, and vindicated from those who would usurp it, Num 16:1-17:13, and confirmed in it by miracle.

Have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law: God himself gave them a law from heaven to tithe by, and a charge to observe this law, as to all parts of tithes, such as were due to all Levites, Num 18:24, to the high priest only as God’s substitute, Num 18:8-19,25-29; to the Levites, widows, and poor together, Deu 14:22-29. These the same law obliged all the Israelites to pay to these Levites as a homage due from them to God, and so delivered to his substitutes superior unto them, as his priests and ministers, and due to them by his own constitution, being the first-fruits of his own blessing.

That is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: yet these Israelites who were to pay those tithes to these as superior to them in office, were their own brethren by nature, of the same rank, coming out of the same loins of Abraham, but subjected to these priests, who, by God’s ordinance, were set above them in their office; and their receiving tithes was an inseparable property of that superiority.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5-7. First point. The lineal Levites tithe the people—even though descendants of Abraham; but unlineal Melchizedek tithed and conferred blessing on Abraham himself.

5. They… of the sons of Levi—Especially Aaron’s line, to whom, within the tribe of Levi, the priesthood was limited.

Receive—By descent recorded in the genealogical table.

A commandment—A special ordinance according to, and forming part of, the general law. Take tithes… of their brethren, of all Israelites.

Though—Exalting the Levites as tithing sons of Abraham, in order to exalt Melchizedek still higher. The Levites, indeed, tithe the Israelites, though Abraham’s sons; but Melchizedek, far greater, tithed Abraham himself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 5-7. And they indeed of the song of Levi who receive the office of priesthood have commandment to receive tithes of the people according to the Law, that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins of Abraham: but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath received tithes of Abraham. As much as to say, "Let it not be said that the tithing of Abraham by Melchizedek implies no higher priestly prerogative than the tithing of Abraham"s descendants by the sons of Aaron; for there is this difference: They, in virtue only of a special ordinance of the Law, not of original right, were allowed to tithe their brethren, though descended from the same great ancestor; he, though not of them or of the race at all, in virtue of his own inherent dignity, tithes the whole race as represented in its patriarch." (We observe how, in place of the aorist edwke , used when the mere historical incident was referred to, we have here the perfect dedekatwke (as also euloghke in what follows, and dedekatwtai in ver. 9), denoting a completed act, of which the effects and significance remain; Melchizedek, who represents the priesthood after his order, being viewed in permanent relation to Abraham, who represents the chosen race.) And hath blessed him that hath (i.e. the holder of) the promises. But, without all controversy, the less is blessed of the better. The superiority evidenced by bestowal of blessing no less than by receiving of tithe having been thus noticed, the contrast with the Levitical priesthood is continued in the following verses.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sons of Levi take tithes of their brethren -- sprung from Abraham as well as themselves. The Levites therefore are greater than they; but the priests are greater than the Levites, the patriarch Abraham than the priests, and Melchisedec than him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Still the apostle goes on to give Melchizedek the preference above Abraham, and from thence to infer, that Christ, whom Melchizedek typified, was much mor excellent than Abraham, and all the Levitical priests which sprang from him.

The argument lies thus: "The law allowed Aaron and the other priests to take tithes of their brethren that sprung from Abraham; but Melchizedek received tithes of Abraham, who was none of his people, yea, and blessed Abraham also, which is a demonstration that he was greater than Abraham; and consequently it is evident, that Christ is greater than the Jewich priests; to bless authoritatively is an act of superiority; Now Melchizedek blessed Abraham, he is therfore greater than Abraham: because he that blessed is greater than he whom he blesseth.

Behold here the excellency of the office of God’s ministers, namely, to bless the people in God’s name: They bless authoritatively, they bless declaratively, they bless optatively. God help them to take heed, lest, by their miscarriages, they prove a snare and a curse unto them whom they ought to bless.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. The sons of Levi. The Aaronic priesthood, all of them of the tribe of Levi. Take tithes of the people according to the law. They require the enactment of the law in order to collect tithes of the people, their own brethren. The tithes are paid, not because of their great spiritual dignity, but because the law compels it.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

5. ἱερατείαν. Defined by Aristotle to mean “care concerning the gods.”

ἀποδεκατοῖν. The Priests only took tithes of the people indirectly, through the agency of the Levites. Delitzsch argues that after the Exile the Priests collected the tithes themselves. It cannot however be proved that the Priests themselves tithed the people. This was done by the Levites, who gave the tithe of their tithes to the priests, Num 18:22-26, Neh 10:38. There is however no real difficulty about the expression, for the Priests might tithe the people, as Jewish tradition says that they did in the days of Ezra; and (2) Qui facit per alium facit per se. There is therefore no need to alter “the people” (λαὸν) into Levi (Λευΐν). The Priests stood alone in receiving tithes and giving none.

ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος. A Hebrew expression, Gen 35:11.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] Continuation of ver. 4, setting forth the reason of the πηλίκος. And (‘et quidem:’ the E. V. “and verily,” is rather too strong) they of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood (or, and perhaps more properly, ‘they of the sons of Levi, when they receive the priesthood:’ in either case meaning the family of Aaron, not as Wolf, al., the whole tribe of Levi, which indeed was appointed by God to receive tithes, see Num 18:20: the words οἱ ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Λ. will not admit of this interpretation. The Writer speaks of the custom, whereby not all the Levites, but the priests only, received tithes. λαμβάνοντες, as frequently, ‘capessentes,’ taking as of course and right: Xen. Cyr. i. 5. 2, ὁ δὲ Κυαξάρης.… τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔλαβε τῶν Μήδων. ἱερατείαν, the office of priest: mostly a late word, Dion. Hal., al.: but also found in Aristot. Pol. vii. 8, τὴν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπιμέλειαν, ἣν καλοῦσιν ἱερατείαν. In vv. 11, 12, 24, ἱερωσύνη is used in the same sense. If any distinction is to be made between the two words, it would rather seem to be the opposite of that laid down by Schulz and others: ἱερατεία seems more to denote the service of the priest, ἱερωσύνη the office and power. So in Aristot. above: so Herod. iii. 142, ἱερωσύνην … αἱρεῦμαι αὐτῷ τε ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖσι ἀπʼ ἐμεῦ αἰεὶ γινομένοισι, τοῦ Διὸς τ. Ἐλευθερίου,—and Demosth. p. 1313. 20, προεκρίθην ἐν τοῖς εὐγενεστάτοις κληροῦσθαι τῆς ἱερωσύνης τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ) have commandment to take tithes of (δεκατεύω is the Greek form, -όωthe Hellenistic. See reff.) the people according to the law (the words κατὰ τὸν νόμον have been joined by Seb. Schmidt, Hammond, al., to τὸν λαόν: “the (people according to law):” i. e. either God’s people, who were under the law, or those who according to the law were the λαός, in distinction from the priests and Levites, as οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς καὶ ὁ λαός, Exo 19:24. But, though an article after λαόν would not be, as commonly supposed, absolutely required in such a construction (witness οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν χριστῷ, τοῖς κυρίοις κατὰ σάρκα, and the like), yet it is difficult to imagine the construction without it here. Bleek would refer the words to ἐντολὴν ἔχουσιν, justifying it by ch. 9:19, λαληθείσης γὰρ πάσης ἐντολῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὑπὸ Μωυσέως, where however it is far better to join it with λαληθείσης. If it there belonged to πάσης ἐντολῆς, we should certainly expect either τῆς, or τῶν, κατὰ τὸν νόμον.

The commandment referred to, on the ordinary construction of the first words of the verse would be Num 18:20-32. But it seems more natural to understand those first words as I have given them in the alternative there, and then κατὰ τὸν νόμον falls into its place easily: ‘Those of the sons of Levi, when they are invested with the priesthood, receive commandment to tithe the people according to the law.’ On the ways in which the right of tithe was understood at different times, and how it became at length attached to the priesthood only, see Bleek’s note), that is, their brethren, though come out of the loins of Abraham (the formula ἐξέρχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς ὀσφ. for to spring from, as an ancestor, is only Hellenistic, arising from the rendering by the LXX of the Heb. יָצָא מֵחַלְצֵי, as in reff. Compare ἐκ τῶν πλευρῶν σου, 3 Kings 8:19; ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, Gen 46:26.

The meaning is very difficult to assign. Certainly it cannot be as Bleek, after Böhme, “Abrahamidas quidem, sed fratres tamen:” for this quite reverses the τουτέστιν and καίπερ. I take this to be intended: by the first clause, τουτέστιν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτῶν, that the Levitical tithe right was all within the limits of one race, a privilege ‘de Abrahamide in Abrahamidem,’ and therefore less to be wondered at, and involving less difference between man and man, than the tithe right of Melchisedek over Abraham, one of different race, and indeed over all his progeny with him. Then the second clause, καίπερ ἐξεληλυθότας ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος Ἀβρ., is inserted to shew the deep subjection of the ordinary Abrahamid to the Melchisedek priesthood, seeing that, notwithstanding his privilege of descent, he was subjected to his own priest, his brother, who in turn paid tithes in Abraham to Melchisedek).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If Melchisedec was greater than Abraham, he was greater than Abraham 's descendants, including the tribe of Levi.

They that are of the sons of Levi who receive, etc. [οι εκ των υιων λευει λαμβανοντες] . Those out of the sons of Levi who become priests. Not those who receive the priesthood from the sons of Levi. Not all Levites were priests, but only those of the house of Aaron.

The office of the priesthood [την ιερατιαν] . Only here and Luk 1:9. A commandment [εντολην] . A special injunction, See on Jas 2:8; Eph 2:15.

To take tithes [αποδεκατοιν] . See on ver. 4.

That is of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. The people, the brethren of the Levites, are descended from their common ancestor, Abraham, yet the Levites exact tithes from them.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. καὶ ol μὲν ἐκ τ. vl. ΔΛ... λαμβ.] ‘ And to come to particulars (er. 8,9), while the descendants of Levi on receiving (or, as receiving) the priesthood...’ The phrase is capable of several interpretations. The wholo may form a compound subject, ‘ they ἐκ τῶν vi, A. that receive the priest's office’; or the second part may be predicative, ‘they ἐκ τῶν vl. ΔΛ.) 88 (on) receiving the priest's office.” And again, tho proposition ἐκ may be derivative (‘those who traced their doscent from’), or partitive (‘those from among’). The parallel clause ὁ μὴ ἐξ αὐτῶν γεν. appears to be decisive in favour of the ‘derivative’ sense of ἐκ, and to favour the predieative interpretations of lepar. λαμβ.

At the samo timo the description of the priests as descended ‘from the

...} Tho priesthood gavo a real preominonce, but still it did not ulter the essential relationship of all Abraham’s descendants, Nor did ita claims extead beyond them. We might have expected naturally that the right of tithing (like the privilege of blessing) would have been exercised only by one

superior by birth. Hore however the office itself ostablished a difference among brethren. Thus the two clauses taken together indicato the dignity of the Levitical priesthood, and at the same time the narrow limits within which the exercise of its power was confined. This priesthood rested upon a definite and limited institution.

For ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος see Gen. xxxv. 11 (Lxx.).

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.