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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
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 it is testified, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
- Exod 6:20–27Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.
- Heb 7:23–28Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death.
- Heb 7:6but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises.
- Matt 4:3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
- Exod 6:18The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-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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