Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
Parallel translations
- WEB without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
- BSB Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.
- NKJV without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
- NASB Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.
- NLT There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Melchizedek appears in Scripture without recorded father, mother, genealogy, or beginning and end of life, so he resembles the Son of God and remains a priest continually. His timeless portrayal pictures Christ's eternal priesthood.
Overview
The writer reasons from the silence of the Genesis record: Melchizedek's lineage, birth, and death are not mentioned, so as presented in Scripture he stands as a type of an eternal priesthood. This does not claim he was literally without parents, but that his portrayal images the Son of God. Christ alone fully fulfills this, being truly without beginning or end and a priest forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Heb 7:17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
- Exod 6:20–27And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
- Heb 7:23–28And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
- Heb 7:6But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
- Matt 4:3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
- Exod 6:18And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
- 1 Chr 6:1–3The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 7:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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